1. religion and spirituality
2. judaism

December 26, 2014
4 Teves 5775
Volume 18, Issue 16
Dates to Remember:
 T 12/30 – Parent
Teacher Conferences
 Th 1/1 – Asara B’Teves,
FRIDAY SCHEDULE
 M 1/5 – Parent Teacher
Conferences
Thank you to our
Rosh Chodesh Teves
Sponsors, Mr. & Mrs.
Kimyagarov.
Tech Smart
presented by Magen
A Workshop for
Parents this Monday
at 8PM at Young
Israel of Queens
Valley.
An innovative
program designed to
teach all of our
children about
responsible digital
citizenship.
This program will be
brought to Bnos
Malka’s 6th – 8th
grade students.
REMINDERS:
There will be no
bus service from
Mon,
Dec.
29
through Thu, Jan 1.
ASARA B’TEVES:
The entire school
will be running on
a Friday schedule.
Dismissal will be at
12:45 PM.
Candle Lighting 4:16
Rabbi Michael Weichselbaum
Menahel
Wow!! We’ve had a very exciting
‫ חנוכה‬here at Bnos Malka. We’ve had
beautiful Pre1A and Kindergarten
presentations as well as parties, guest
lecturers, Color War and we even
managed to get some learning in!! The
highlight,
I
believe,
was
our
Intergeneration Day at which our 3rd and
4th grade students had the opportunity
to spend time with and learn a little more
about a special, older relative. While
everyone was entitled to take away their
own lesson from Intergeneration Day, I
learned that whereas I used to believe
that grandparents were old, the truth is
that they are very young. It makes me feel
better about myself.
Speaking of family time, given
today’s economic realities (especially for
frum families with several young
children) setting a budget is a common
exercise. Knowing what items are too
important to sacrifice is as important as
knowing what must be slashed even
when doing so is painful. In this week’s
‫פרשה‬, we meet with two such
circumstances. When ‫ בני ישראל‬arrived
in ‫ מצרים‬as total strangers, (the Dream
Act had not yet been instituted), they
relied on ‫ יוסף‬for all of their needs.
When it came to feeding the children the
‫ פסוק‬tells us that, ‫ לחם לפי הטף‬was
provided, “bread according to the needs
of each child”. By telling us specifically
that the children received bread
according to their needs, the Torah is
teaching us, explains Rav Hirsh, that the
adults must cut back on their portions
during difficult times and that it is
forbidden to do the same for children.
Whenever possible, even during times of
famine, children may not be made to
suffer. How can we expect a healthy
future if our children do not receive a
healthy childhood?
The other example of economizing
takes place earlier in the ‫פרשה‬. After
‫ יוסף‬reveals his identity to the brothers,
he tells them not to bother bringing
down their possessions with them. Rav
Yakov Kaminetsky explains that due to
their vast wealth, it was impossible for
the family to have enough horses,
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Shabbos Ends 5:25 
donkeys and camels with which to
transport their belongings to ‫מצרים‬. Yet
we are taught that there were some items
which ‫ יעקב‬insisted they must bring with
them. Stopping in ‫באר שבע‬, they take
along ‫ עצי שטים‬which were planted by
‫אברהם אבינו‬. These were to be used by
‫’יעקב‬s great grandchildren when they were
commanded to build the ‫ משכן‬hundreds
of years later.
I think that the lesson that we can
glean from the teachings of Rav Hirsch
and Rav Kaminetsky is that one is
permitted to sacrifice the present but he
many never sacrifice our future. Healthy
bodies will ‫ בע''ה‬lead to healthy spirits and
minds. Boards of wood planted by a ‫צדיק‬
in holy soil will provide an appropriate
sanctuary for the ‫ שכינה‬which in turn will
lead to the growth of a holy nation.
‫מעשה אבות סימן לבנים‬. Our
forefathers were cognizant that their every
deed and word would affect their progeny
forever. This is true in our time as well. I
am always impressed and greatly
appreciate all of the sacrifices which you
as parents make on behalf of your
children. In the merit of your sacrifices
may you all be ‫ זוכה‬to raise children who
will bring Yiddishe nachas to you, your
families and to all of ‫כלל ישראל‬.
Class Milestones
Pre-1a - Mrs. Tzivia Cohen
Winter is now officially here, but Pre1a has been learning about it for a while
now! The girls have listed what they know
about the season, including: the weather,
what we wear, what we do (activities), etc.
They have enjoyed being read a number of
fiction and non-fiction books about winter
and even making one of their own! The
girls’ ability to blend is improving every
day and they now know over 14 sight
words! Wow! In math, the Pre-1a girls
have been focusing on ordinal numbers
and the 5 frame. The classes are enjoying
the exciting math and reading related
projects and can't wait to continue the
theme next week! While it may be getting
colder outside, the Pre-1a girls’ skills are
just getting warmed up!
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Chanukah at Bnos Malka
 – Mrs. Shana Teitz
The 5A students, together with Class 5, were busy working in
groups to prepare the halachos of Chanukah and share their
information with their fellow classmates. They used posters,
power point on the computer and prizes to do this. They even
formulated questions to be used on their Chanukah test. We
ended our learning sessions by watching “Living Lessons” which
left us with inspirational stories about Chanukah. The girls were
then happy to perform, in ‫עברית‬, the story of Chana and her 7
sons. The highlight was a joyous party of games, food and fun at
my home. The girls did a great job of helping. A grand time was
had by all!
 – Mrs. Sharon Herzberg
Our girls are reading beautifully, and have already
completed letter ayin. We are almost finished learning the whole
Aleph Bet and soon we will be able to read EVERYTHING!
Please keep reading at home - it is the best thing you can do for
your daughter's reading.
Once we finish learning the whole Aleph Bet, we will be
able to daven from our siddurim. To this end, we are practicing
very hard for our Siddur play. We are sure you are hearing your
daughters say their parts and sing their songs at home. The
excitement is growing day by day!
Now that Chanukah is over, we are starting our unit on
Choref - Winter. Our girls are learning all about winter clothes,
the parts of the body and many verbs. We are speaking and
writing using our new vocabulary. It is exciting and fun! Shabbat
Shalom.
6th Grade SS – Ms. Ellie Shulman
In social studies, we have been investigating what life was like
in ancient Egypt. This correlates nicely with The Egypt Game that
the girls have been reading in their English class. In class, we
have explored the power of the pharaohs and how they differed
throughout the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms of ancient
Egypt. We have also discussed the social hierarchy of ancient
Egypt and how jobs were typically passed down in a family.
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2A – Mrs. Amanda Rosenfelt
Class 2A had a fun filled week! Between learning all about
Chanukah, and diving into the deeper world of Chumash, the
girls have been learning so much! We spent the week learning
the story of Chanukah and trying to understand what it means
to be a “Gibor”. The girls learned that just like the Macabim
conquered certain things in order to become a Gibor, we as well
can overcome certain difficulties in order to become stronger.
In Chumash, we have been focusing on the traveling of
Avram Avinu and his family. The girls learned the different
places where Avram set up camp. We also focused on the
reason that Avram set a mizbeach for Hashem. From here the
class learned that just like Avram Avinu always showed hakaras
hatov to Hashem, so to, we should also remember to always
show appreciation for the good that is given to us. I am so
proud of my class!
Some people might have been sad to see ‫ חנוכה‬go, but for our 3rd & 4th
graders, the day after ‫ חנוכה‬was Intergeneration Day! This special day
allows our students, their parents and grandparents to enjoy a program
just for them. We started with warm words of welcome from Rabbi
Weichselbaum. Then our Executive Director, Mr. Salzbank, spoke about
his family and the importance of knowing your family history. The
students and their relatives had the opportunity to rotate through four
specially designed stations. The girls interviewed their parents and
grandparents about what school was like for them. They also made an
extensive family tree with help from the “older” generation. The students
also decorated “you and me” t-shirts & decorated delicious brownies.
We hope our students were able to gain a sense of what their parents’
and grandparents’ educational experiences were like. Some figured out
that they even enjoy the same subjects! We thank the parents and
grandparents who were able to come and share with our students to
help make our Intergeneration Day a huge success.
5th, 7th, 8th Grade Math – Mrs. Chaya Brand
5th Grade - We have just completed our unit on adding and
subtracting decimals, and I was so happy to see how well the girls
did on that test. We then moved on to chapter 4 and discovered
patterns of multiplication and how we know which direction and
how many times to move the decimal point. We noticed how
numbers can get larger or smaller based on the type of number
you multiply them by. The girls are doing great thus far and I
look forward to seeing continued success from them.
7th Grade - We have been busy with operations of rational
numbers and we have used number lines to show the sums and
differences. We have also learned how to use equivalent fractions
as well as the long division algorithm to change fractions into
decimals. We are wrapping up our lessons and next week we will
be getting ready to begin reviewing for our upcoming midterm.
8th Grade - The 8th graders have been working hard on various
types of linear equations. They have worked with simple linear
equations as well as those that are in disguise. They applied their
7th grade knowledge of solving proportions to solve these types
of equations, and have even been able to check them. We then
moved on to writing and solving equations when given a word
problem. We are wrapping up our lessons and next week we will
be getting ready to begin reviewing for our upcoming midterm.