A lthough this week was shortened by a snow day, so much learning happened!

We are so proud of our Talmidos who are making progress in their learning and are mastering new skills.

They are investing effort in their studies and in their Middos- Yagata u'matzasa ta'amin! We can't wait to see all our Hishtadlus cards filled up and entered into a raffle!

This week, we also introduced our new PBIS initiative; Restroom Area "CROWN" expectations. We learned that proper and dignified behavior extends to all areas, even the bathroom. Care, Respect, Ownership, Willpower and Nachas in the restroom area means to respect others' privacy, to keep a clean restroom area, to responsibly use soap and paper towels, to go straight to our destination and back to class, and of course, to say Asher Yatzar with kavanah!

Reminder to all parents: next week is a carpool week and that traffic on carpool

days is reversed. Thank you for your cooperation!

And now for a peek into our classrooms....

After many weeks of waiting Ateres preschool girls brought home their bean plants that took root weeks ago!! Baruch HaShem they grew and gave the girls lots of practice watering and caring for their precious plants !! !!! Growing is building great minds!!!

Kitah Aleph has been continuing the shipur bedibur program. This week was extra special as the curriculum focused on the importance of respecting everyone. The class compared their similarities and their differences. They also spent time exploring their personal strengths and middos in which they excel. Together they realized that it is their differences that make them each so unique and special. All this discussion gave more and more reason for them to see each other in a new light and realize the respect of which their friends are so deserving.

Adar is here and our room is filled with simcha and nachas . We would like to congratulate each and every third grader that worked so hard learning the brachos for the contest. I must say everyone is a winner since they are so careful now to say the right bracha with kavana and out loud so that everyone could answer amen!

The finalist in the contest are: Gitty E., Baila M. and Ahuva S., 2: Eva S., and 3: Daniella B. "Congratulations for a job well done"

Wednesday we started school late but this did not stop kitah gimmel for continuing to grow in mitzvos and maasim tovim. When morah walked into the classroom the girls were seated in their seats saying tehilim.

Later on Avigail, without being asked, cleaned up our classroom so we could bentch to Hashem in a beautiful place,

Devorah Leah taught the class a big lesson of emes. Morah rewarded the class after our plane arrived all the way up, morah made a mistake and skipped many places, but Devorah knew that that was not right, and she came to tell morah the truth.

WOW! What a great lesson to all.

This week Kitah Daled began a new program called Lev Shomea. It was given over by Mrs. Liff, and helps the girls with expression of their feelings. It was so interesting and will be continued to be given over every Monday. Kitah daled played a fun game for safa in which a girl picked an item out of the bag and the rest of the girls had to write down on their white boards what it is called in Hebrew. In Chumash we spoke about the dreams of Paroah, and the girls got to come up with interesting ideas about what they would say the dreams meant. Batsheva and Rikki even came up with a comic strip about it!

Kaila Katz is a bas Kohen, and we discussed how in the time of the mishkan, the kohen brought the karbanos. And when the BHMK will be built very soon, her father will be one of them to do the avoda. We also told the girls who are bas laivi that their fathers and brothers will be getting the kohen ready for his avoda, and doing the singing in the BHMK.

This week Kitah Hei began Parshas Va'ayra in Chumash! Their skills have improved so much since the beginning of the year and they are mastering the pesukim of this new parsha with impressive speed. the girls approach each pasuk with enthusiasm, excited to see what will unfold, they can't wait to continue moving along. In the class's Lev Shomeah program, the girls explored emotions, what they signal to us, and

which emotions can go hand in hand. They had fun reading scenarios and acting out emotions that may result from them. The class is catching on to these new concepts beautifully and are looking forward to next week’s lesson!

Although we had a mini vacation this week because of the snow, Kitah Vav still enjoyed a productive week. We celebrated a siyum for Parshas Nasso with a pizza party! It was so beautiful to hear all the different personal lessons that our students felt they learned from the Parsha. May we continue to complete many more Parshios!

Have a lovely Shabbos!

ד“פרשת כי תשא תשע" The Weekly Newsletter of Ateres Bais Yaakov

ד"בס

פרשת תצוה תשע"ט

NSHEI CORNER

We hope everyone had a wonderful and productive week. The Nshei is starting to take orders for staff Mishloach Manos. Please log on to ateres.org to place your order and show your hakaras hatov to the wonderful teachers and staff.

Still looking for a way to fulfill your Give and Get obligation? If you would like to volunteer packaging and distributing mishloach manos, please email nshei@ateres.org.

Have a wonderful Shabbos!

Ateres Nshei

Chany Silverman, Sarina Kurtz, Aliza Mytelka

Dear Ateres Parents,

The parshiyos of Terumah and Tetzaveh follow

the exclamation of na’aseh v’nishma which

concludes parshas Mishpatim. Each parsha

begins with the word v’yikchu, you

should take. Terumah commences

with viyikchu Li teruma—take

for Me (Hashem) and

Tetzaveh opens with viyikchu

eilecha-take for you. What is

it about the building of the

Mishkan that helps us make

this transition from taking and

giving to Hashem to acquiring for

ourselves? What can we learn from it today?

One approach is found in how Chazal explain

the relationship between matan Torah and the

hakomas hamishkan.

Chazal teach us that the relationship of hakoras

hatov - expressing appreciation, is integrally

bound up with the matan Torah experience.

Indeed, it is only after Klal Yisrael receives the

most precious of gifts, our priceless Torah, that

Hashem Yisborach directs us to build a Mishkan

and fashion the Aron to hold the Luchos, a

Menorah to illuminate our lives, a Shulchan to

dedicate our worldly assets to the Borei Olam

and construct two distinct mizbachos to harness

our mesiras nefesh which provide the sweet

fragrance and aroma that should innately

surround every Jew.

The reality is that the Mishkan itself was to be

our tool to express the ultimate sense of

appreciation to Hashem Yisborach for elevating

our stature, as He selected us as His

chosen people. Though priceless in

value, we somehow attempt to

thank Hashem for bestowing

His royal status upon us,

giving us His Torah and

calling us His children. This

we express through our drive

to fulfill viyikchu Li—to give to

Hashem—as we build and serve in

the Mishkan. Once we have

generously been thankful to Him

we are allowed to enjoy vikchu

eilecha to take for ourselves the

gifts of health, happiness and

nachas he has bestowed upon us

each and every day.

Only by giving to Him do we truly

take for ourselves!

But there is more, another nuance

that deepens the message. One

cannot help but notice that the venue of

viyikchu eilecha is prefaced with the charge

v’ata titzaveh es bnai Yisrael – you should

command klal Yisrael. Although the technical

tzivui of the parsha is related to the preparation

of oil for the menorah, Chazal teach us that the

essence of the beginning of the parsha is really

is about the transmission of our Mesorah

through Torah Shebaal Peh as represented by

the menorah. We are being taught v’ata

titzaveh – you must command and transmit the

Torah to another generation. Each Jew must

view this responsibility as a personal obligation.

For only through the authentic transmission of

mesorah will we be able to serve as the ohr

la’amim Hashem Yisborach intended.

When we combine these two ideas we are left

with a profound message. Indeed, we are being

taught that the pivotal criterion in transitioning

from viyikchu li into viykchu eilecha

is our fidelity to the transmission of

Torah shebaal peh. When we follow

through on our responsibility to pass

the torch of Torah forward, bestow

that legacy to our children and cloak

them with the mantle of leadership

to themselves be transmitters of

Torah we are then empowered to

actualize all of His gifts for a life

filled with the Yiddishe Nachas for

which we strive.

Best wishes for a lovely

Shabbos.

Rabbi Aaron Fink, Dean

V’chai Bahem

Mrs. Sarah Salvay, Principal Mrs. Chava Devorah Kahn, Asst. Principal Mrs. Kayla Stimmel, Junior High

V’asisah lo zer zahav saviv (30:3)

The mizbeiach hazahav, the incense

alter was adorned with a crown.

So, too, were the Aron and

the Shulchan.

Chazal teach us that these three

crowns represent the Kesser Torah,

(Aron), the Kesser Kehuna

(Mizbeiach) and the Kesser Malchus

(Shulchan). Mifarshim also describe

these crowns as being representative

of the three vital concepts we make

the focus of our daily growth. The

Aron is Torah. The Mizbeach reflects

Avoda or Tefila and the Shulchan

represents parnassah. When we

master the spiritual dimension

embodied by limud haTorah, avodas

haTefilah and the healthy pursuit of

parnassah we can be zoche to the

fourth crown, the kesser shem tov

she’olah al gabeihein!

וכתר שם טוב עולה על גביהן

200 Summit Park Road ∙ New Hempstead, NY 10977 ∙ tel. 845-368-2200 ∙ fax 845-368-2210 ∙ office@ateres.org

First grade has such exciting news! They have completed their third reading textbook as well as their first reading workbook. This reading workbook has given the girls the skills to develop how to read, write, and comprehend what they read. The girls will begin their fourth reading book and second reading workbook next week. They were so excited! This week they also completed their second “Explode The Code”. This workbook has helped them to achieve long term goals in reading and writing.

On another note, the class has been listening to a story called "The One Hundredth Day of School" written by Abby Klein. The girls are getting ready to celebrate the hundredth day of school on February 28th. Such a fun day. It's really unbelievable that we are halfway through the year. The class has grown academically as well as socially.

One snow day did not set Mrs. Baron’s second graders back. On Wednesday the girls showed a high level of responsibility. They did both Monday and Tuesday’s homework. A special thank you to Nava because she realized that since we had a snow day, the class was not prepared to do Wednesday night’s math homework. Wednesday’s scheduled lesson was solving chain operations. We remedied this problem by having a double math lesson. Simi did a good job associating the definition of the word chain with how it applies to math exercises. The girls quickly realized that careful reading of math symbols was integral to finding the correct answer. The reason is that chain operations require two operations-addition and subtraction.

The continent we learned about is North America. We are studying Black bears because they range widely through the still forested areas of North America. The following is something fascinating we learned. A newly born brown bear can weigh less than one pound. Yet it is called the giant of the bears, weighing up to 1,600 pounds and standing 9 to even 11 feet tall. If human babies grew this much, as adults they would weigh over 6,000 pounds!

Happy birthday wishes to a very darling student, Rikki!

Third grade accomplished so much this week! They began learning about fractions in math. The girls did various activities to help practice the concept. They are moving full speed ahead in cursive and have almost learned all of the lower case letters. Congratulations to Ahuva Schonfeld and Elky Worch on reaching the second reading milestone of ten books! Mrs. Feldman continues to be so proud of her hardworking girls.

Mrs. Paley’s fourth graders have started a new math chapter- all about fractions. This week the girls learned how to write fractions, find fractions on a number line, and estimate what fraction of each region is shaded. The girls are off to a great start. The class has also started making fractions equivalent and are looking forward to a math arts and crafts project next week.

The fourth graders have been working on finding the theme of a story and poems.

First, the class read CLAUDINE’S TACK ATTACK which shows how even a small act of courage can make a difference. Next, we read a legend, SIR IVAINE, where the character learned it’s important to think things through before taking action. Last, the girls read the poem, A FORK IN THE ROAD, and concluded that this poem is about making good decisions in life.

Fourth Grade’s cursive is beautiful. Every week the girls write sentences and paragraphs in cursive. Keep up the good work, Fourth Graders!

This week in Mr. Kanrich’s fifth grade students worked in partner teams and got to know what it was like to live in colonial America examining the legal structure and system of land division.

This week Miss Grohman’s sixth grade class did an OUTSTANDING job creating presentations, dioramas and activities for their book reports!! They are also really conquering the division in math!! They also heard and are looking forward to writing letters to their pen pals! Have a great shabbos!

We had an action packed week in the Ateres JHS. Our eighth graders took their long-awaited graduation and committee pictures. They traipsed outside in the cold to take their class pictures as well. We can’t wait to see the beautiful results! Immediately following yearbook pictures, we had an inspiring and uplifting Yom Iyun on the power of Tefila via “C”: Communicate, Concentrate, and Connect. Mrs. Hoffman baked delicious muffins, and we had a hot cocoa bar. Miss Mulivor prepared a thought-provoking worksheet on Tefila that was completed in partners. Mrs. Batsheva Berger was our guest speaker, and she discussed the tremendous koach of Tefila. We played a wacky game of telephone to drive home the message of “communication.” The event culminated with the girls davening mincha with newly acquired insight in their tefila, putting into practice all they learned.

On Thursday, the Junior High had their long awaited chessed trip to Olam Chessed! The girls helped open the many boxes and sorted the contents into different categories. They got a glimpse of the essential chessed this warehouse provides to many needy families. In addition to getting a big mitzvah, they had a great time! Thank you to the mothers who volunteered to drive: Mrs. Rosenberg, Mrs. Steinfeld, Mrs. Greenberg, and Mrs. Zimerman.

This week, Miss Mulivor’s class completed perek daled in Chumash. Mazal Tov! They learned about the mitzvah of guarding our health physically as well as guarding our “spiritual health” in ruchnius. It is exciting to know that we can fulfill a mitzvah even while in gym class!

Mrs. Stern’s 7th and 8th grade classes are reading, “To Build a Fire,” by Jack London. They are really enjoying the suspense of this story!

Lots of progress is being made in all sections of the yearbook. The features have been all written, and Mrs. Eisenstein is proud of the hard work the girls are putting into their creative writing. Picture pages are coming together beautifully. Please note that the ad deadline is March 1st. Information and ad blanks were sent home as well as emailed to all parents. Please submit your ads before the deadline.

This week in Mr. Kanrich’s eighth grade class, students examined various geometric figures, looking for congruency in different types of angles. The seventh grade math class learned some more advanced problems involving percentages.

In Miss Benisti’s (Mrs. Kahn’s substitute) class this week, the eighth grade learned about how the agricultural economy slowly changed into an industrial economy. They then discussed corporations and stock exchanges.

By: Mrs. Sarah Salvay

Chinuch insights inspired by Mishlei

Eleventh grade Ateres students recently returned from their trip to Odessa, Ukraine, where they volunteered and

taught at the Tikva orphanage for two weeks. When students are asked about their impressions of the trip, a common refrain goes something like this:

"We went to Ukraine thinking that we were the ones who were going to give, yet we feel that it is us who gained. We went there thinking that we were the ones who were going to teach and inspire, yet we are the ones who learned and came back inspired beyond words".

This illustrates an additional angle in our study of the pasuk: "Barzel b'varzel yachad, v'ish yachad pnei re'eihu", "Like iron sharpens iron, so too a person sharpens his friend's mind" (Mishlei 27, 17).

The Anaf Yosef comments on the sentence structure of the verse and notices a discrepancy.

In the first part of the pasuk, the verb "yachad" follows "barzel b'varzel", whereas in the second part of the pasuk, the verb "yachad" is in the middle, between "ish" and "p'nei re'eihu". He explains that in the case of iron, it is "iron to iron sharpens", meaning that one of the metal objects is the "sharpener", while the other is the object that is being sharpened. The sharpener, in the process of sharpening, may become blunt.

However, in the case of two people engaged in an exchange of thoughts, the verb "yachad" is in the middle. This signifies that, unlike the metal which might undergo some loss when sharpening another piece of metal, both minds involved in the learning process reap benefits. Even if one mind is more developed, has more knowledge or experience than the other, not only does it not lose out, but on the contrary, it becomes enhanced.

In her research on the power of dialogue in education, Jane Vella, Ed.D., highlights how learning is best achieved through dialogue.

Dia means 'between', logos means 'word'. Hence, dia + logue = the word between us. The "word" between teachers and students and between parents and children is the connective force that bridges the gap as both sides are engaged in stimulating learning. If it is one-sided, or if the perceived distance between both parties in the learning process is too great, as in the "sage-on-the-stage" model, the dialogue will limp. For true dialogue to occur, both instructor and pupils must be actively learning.

We are reminded of the famous words of Rav Chanina: "u'mitalmidai yoser mikulam"; I have learned from my teachers and from my peers, but I have learned even more from my students.

As parents and educators, we have so much to gain and discover through our encounters with our children. Their inquisitive questions, their relentless curiosity and their imaginative spirits can give another dimension and add depth and color to the way we used to think about an issue. The "But why Mommy? But why Daddy?" force us to consider notions that we took for granted and reexamine our cognitive constructs.

Our children also teach us through their struggles. Parents often express how the child who presented with the most challenges and who required the most help is the one who taught them the most; taught them about parenthood, about what it means to really love, taught them to redefine success, and ultimately, taught them about who they are at their core, as parents and as people.

May we cherish the opportunity for growth as we partake in meaningful dialogue with our children, and may we treasure the reciprocal inspiration that comes from "v'ish yachad p'nei re'eihu". It's a win-win.

From the desk of Mrs. Kayla Stimmel

Mrs. Kahn Kvels A Peek into the Week “Mishlei” Parenting Proverbs

Mrs. Salvay introducing the Lev Shomeah initiative

Mrs. Salvay conducting a PBIS workshop with the second grade

Growing great minds in Preschool

Sixth grade book report presentations