YESHIVA DERECH HATORAH FAMILY ALBUM VOLUME 9 NUMBER 6 NOVEMBER 7, 2014 CANDLE LIGHTING 4:26 PM 14 CHESHVAN 5775 Dvar Torah — Vayeira This Sunday, 11/9 Ktivat Ha’otyot For our Sefer Torah Campaign At the Sendzischew Home **** Tuesday, 11/11 Staff Development Day NO SCHOOL **** Tuesday, 11/25 7:00 PM -9:30 PM YDH High School Parent-Teacher Conferences **** Thursday-Sunday, 11/27-11/30 Thanksgiving Recess NO SCHOOL Malachim warned Lot that Sodom would be destroyed and that he should escape to the hills. When Lot warned his sons-in-law, they laughed it off saying, “The city is filled with laughter, song and happiness; how can you say that the city will be overturned?”(Midrash Rabba Bereishit) The retort of Lot’s sons-in-law is a bit bizarre. It seems that they did not mock Lot for his belief that his G-d could overturn the city instantly, rather they merely thought such a merry city, filled with laughter and song in the streets, could never be silenced. They believed in Hashem and His power, but thought He would not punish such a cheerful city. The question one might ask is why? Why did laughter in the air convince Lot’s sons-in-law that Hashem would not destroy the city? What impact would a cheery atmosphere have on Hashem’s decision? The Midrash is exposing a very common weakness found in many human beings. We find it hard to believe that there will ever be a change in our status quo. Even though Lot’s sons-in-law knew that Hashem had the power to destroy them - and their lives were at stake - still, they rejected the lifesaving advice because they could not believe that their wonderful existence would ever change. Too often we trap ourselves in the cage of our present situation – both for good and for bad. When life is going well for us, when our families are healthy B”H and we can pay our bills, we sometimes forget the Source of that good fortune and that the next minute the tables can turn, Chas V’shalom. We must realize that Hashem is granting us this Bracha every second of the day. Say the T’filla of Modim daily with intense concentration, for every day is a gift. Conversely, when things are not going so well, we must constantly strengthen ourselves to turn to Hashem and daven in the firm belief that He will instantaneously change things. Let us never allow the “static” of our situation to make us complacent in our appreciation for the gifts Hashem grants us and always see His messages for what they really are. From Mrs. Sima Schulgasser, Early Childhood Coordinator With the Chagim now past, our children are quickly falling into routine and starting to learn Alef Bet, ABCs, Parsha of the Week, Brachot, and Benching - each class on their own level. The two Kindergarten classes have started answering questions on the Parsha on Thursdays, and the child who answers the most questions gets to take our PARSHA KING sefer home over Shabbat. The Pre-1A children are also asked questions and get a sticker PARSHA PRO for correct answers. Five stickers, and they get a prize! On Friday Rosh Chodesh, the children celebrated Chodesh Mar Cheshvan by popping popcorn right in their classrooms. They learned the reason we call the new Chodesh MAR Cheshvan. Just ask any Pre-Schooler, and he/she will tell you why! As a special Parshat Noach treat, Nature Company visited each of our classes and introduced the children to several live animals. They presented a fun-filled puppet show, told stories, and gave the children a fascinating, educational lesson on Hashem’s creatures. There is always something exciting going on in our Early Childhood Division! A Look Into Morah Rabi’s 3rd, 6th & 8th Grade Classes We are happy to be in 3rd grade, and we’re making nice progress in Hebrew language. We are working hard at reading and reading comprehension. We learned a nice song about , and soon we will learn about vegetables, and we will have a vegetable party. Then we will learn about fruit and have a fruit party. We also enjoy reading stories about Gedolei Yisroel and . In 6th grade, we like our Hebrew books very much. When we learn about an interesting story, we perform a play about it in class. We started writing in our stories that we made up, and we like it very much. We feel like we are really writers because we can write about anything we want. In reading, if the whole class finishes 2500 pages in total, Morah will give us a party. We can’t wait for that to happen. In 8th grade, we are learning with enthusiasm and we are making nice progress in Hebrew, especially in speech and comprehension. We have started writing beautiful stories and songs for the yearbook so that we will have nice memories of our friends and school. We are continuing to write in our , and we are expressing ourselves. It helps us very much in Hebrew. After Pesach, we will start practicing for the Hebrew Regents. We hope to finish this year with a lot of success in Hebrew. “Talmid HaShavuah”- 10/28 - 10/31 Grade 1 — Shimon Abitbol, Ariel Cahane, Yonatan Korchak Grade 2 — Ziv Vayner, Uriel Wolff Grade 3 — Etiel Altheim, Eliran Kahn, Moshe Katash, Yecheskel Silverstein Grade 4 — Gavriel Friedman, Yehuda Gelfand Grade 5 — Menachem Danino, Zecharia Weiss Grade 6 — Menachem Shtaynberger, Joseph Velenski Grade 7 — Eli Rosenbaum, Rafael Saperstein Grade 8 — Natanel Salman, Yaakov Schlamowitz Student of the Month - October Grade 1 — Grade 2 — Grade 3 — Grade 4 — Grade 5 — Grade 6 — Grade 7 — Grade 8 — “Student of the Week”- 10/27 - 10/31 Grade 1 — Ariel Cahane Grade 2 — Avraham Chandler Grade 3 — Eliav Samouha Grade 4 — Dov Hochman Grade 5 — Moshav Maxwell Grade 6 — Boruch Deutsch (Sci.), Menachem Shtaynberger (Math), Michael Chakov (SS), Jackson Levy (ELA) Grade 7 — Naom Weinstock (Sci.), Noam Abrahams, Daniel Twizer (ELA), Oren Harar (Math), Zohar Lebhar (SS) Grade 8 — Binyamin Tannenbaum (Sci.), Natanel Salman (Math), Yosef Kuperman (SS & ELA) Yair Galan Uriel Wolff Binyamin Silber Eliyahu Rosenberg Hillel Goldstein Gavriel Silberman Noam Weinstock Yitzchak Mavashev ETEL GOLDSTEIN CHESED FUND If you would like to acknowledge a simcha/honor, or convey your condolences to someone, the YDH Etel Goldstein Chesed Fund can do it for you. Please send in the information and a $5.00 donation to the YDHWO, c/o Shelley Babich Librarian). On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, Election Day, YDH students assembled to elect officers of the G.O. (Governmental Organization) cabinet, as well as their class representatives. Below are the results of the student ballots. G.O. CABINET OFFICERS PRESIDENT - Daniel Ben Hamou, Grade 8 VICE PRESIDENT - Moshe Yusupov, Grade 7 SECRETARY - Elimelech Stevens, Grade 8 VICE SECRETARY - Jack Mosseri, Grade 7 BUDGET SECRETARY - Joshua Blumkin, Grade 7 ASSISTANT BUDGET SECRETARY - Daniel Steiner, Grade 6 SERVICE SQUAD LEADER - Avi Daskal, Grade 8 ASSISTANT SERVICE SQUAD LEADER - Michael Chakov, Grade 6 CLASS REPRESENTATIVES Grade 5 Menashe Abitbol and Uriel Alpin Grade6 Gavriel Silberman and Menachem Shtaynberger Grade 7 Zack Ovits and Dani Silverstein Grade 8 Yitzchak Mavashev and Izzy Sendzischew Congratulations to all the winners! A hearty thank you to all the candidates, campaign managers and students for an exciting election season! This week, the 9th & 10th Grades gave from their precious learning time to go to Masbia to prepare food for the needy. This is very appropriate for this week where " say: " ". The YDHHS Bulldogs played admirably in their unfortunate loss to Hillel Academy in Deal, NJ. (score again unavailable!) Stay tuned for exciting happenings being scheduled! The refers to as , my beloved. The say showed his love of Hashem by constantly talking to others about Hashem. The Pasuk says: " ", refers to the people who , through proclaiming the truth about Hashem, made into believers. When someone loves something so much, he can’t stop talking about it. Rashi says: " " your main topic of speech should be Torah. We should ask ourselves, “How do we get Hashem and his Torah on the tip of our tongue?” Perhaps we can offer the following suggestion: In the ' it is explained the translations of the different names of Hashem that are said during davening. We are supposed to think about the appropriate translation every time we say the name of Hashem. Doing this would go a long way towards having Hashem’s reality penetrate into our lives. Once Hashem is more on our minds, hopefully Hashem and his Torah will be more on the tip of our tongues. Have a good Shabbos! Rabbi Meir Jurkowitz 11th-12th Grade Rebbe Special Events Co-coordinator IMPORTANT REMINDER Parent-Teacher Conferences Tuesday, November 25th, 7:00 PM— 9:30 PM Please take advantage of this opportunity to meet your son’s teachers and be updated regarding his progress. Look forward to seeing you there, Rabbi Ungar REMINDER October 2, 2014 Dear Parents: Several times throughout your child’ s schooling at YDH, we require the correct spelling of his/her Hebrew and English names. From imprint on his first Siddur to his High School Diploma, we need his/her first name(s) and last name correctly spelled, both in Hebrew and English. Please use the boxes on the reverse side of this sheet (one per letter) to give us the correct spelling, and we will keep it on file. Wishing you continued nachat. Sincerely yours, Rabbi Elimelech Chanales, Principal Mr. Yehuda Goldstein, General Studies Principal Continue to send in your box tops for education. Put them in an envelope with your grade listed on it and have it sent to the Library! You can find box tops on Kleenex tissues and cereal in addition to many other products. Thank you for supporting our school and thank you Morah Shelly for your help in coordinating this project. Lillian Eliezer and Malka Husarsky YDHWO Presidents YESHIVA DERECH HATORAH WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION Dear Parents: To facilitate the ordering of Chessed Dollars, we would appreciate your using this order form. It should be sent with your son or mailed back to Mrs. Sima Sabo (1st floor office), or you may email her at [email protected]. We will have your order for next-day pick-up. Special orders (over) may take up to a week. Listed below are the gift certificates which are always available. Please indicate the amounts you are ordering next to each one. Payments by check (made payable to YDHWO) must be enclosed. If you are paying by cash, you must pay at time of receipt. Thank you. DERECH HATORAH WOMEN’ S ORGANIZATION CHESSED $ _______ SHOPRITE _______ WALDBAUMS _______ PATHMARK _______ HOME DEPOT _______ OLD NAVY _______ BARNES & NOBLE _______ TOYS R US _______ MACYS _______ FOOD BASICS _______ STOP & SHOP _______ METRO CARDS _______ ($19.05 OR $38.10) STAMPS _______ (SHEET OF 20 FOR $9.20) SPECIAL ORDER: ___________________ _______ ___________________ _______ ___________________ _______ _______ TOTAL NAME _________________________________CLASS___ TEL. # ___________DATE _________ Special Order YESHIVA SHOP GIFT CERTIFICATES 5 Banana Republic Baskin Robbins Bloomingdale’s J C Penney Kay Bee Toys K-Mart Loehmann’s Marshall’s Payless Shoes Saks Fifth Avenue Sterns Syms T J Maxx 10 20 25