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Parshat Vayeshev
Shabbat Mevarchim
December 23, 2016 - 23 Kislev 5777

Shabbat Candle Lighting - by 4:40  pm
Shabbat Ends - 5:48 pm
DVAR TORAH - Thoughts from the Principal & Educational Director
The essence of Chanukah commemorates two distinct miracles, the Chashmonaim's unexpected victory over the Assyrian Greeks, and of course, the miracle of the pure olive oil that sustained the Menorah of the Beit HaMikdash for eight days. What is interesting about these two components of the holiday is that throughout the sources discussing Chanukah, only one of these events is mentioned. The text of Al-HaNisim contains the story of the Chashmonaim's victory, but makes no mention of the oil, and the Talmud, which discusses Chanukah, focuses on the miracle of the oil. 

Rav Aaron Lichtenstien points out that these two miracles relate to vastly different contexts. 1 The Maccabi victory took place on the battlefield, whereas the miracle of the oil took place in the holy and serene confines of the Beit Hamikdash. War is often a time rife with moral conflicts that can cause even the most ethical person to lose his dignity and ethical bearings. The Beit Hamikdash, in this sense, is the precise opposite of the battlefield, representing an idyllic, serene atmosphere of holiness and closeness with G-d. Warfare threatens the spirit, whereas the Temple uplifts it. 

Significantly, the Chashmonaim insisted on establishing a single holiday to celebrate both events in both contexts. They perhaps sought to emphasize the fact that our success as a nation is measured by our achievements both in the realm of the purity and serenity of the Mikdash, as well as by our success in our unpleasant and unwanted but vital struggles with the unfortunate realities of the world. Just as the miracle of Chanukah would have been incomplete had success been achieved in only one of the two areas, similarly, our success requires triumphing in both the "Mikdash" and the "battlefield." 

It is important to realize that Judaism requires us to excel across the varied landscapes of our life. Just as the Chashmonaim combined the victory in battle with the miracle of the oil, so must we, as a nation, focus our attention both on the "Mikdash" and on the "battlefield."

The lessons of the Parsha and of Chanukah teach us to strive for greatness and excellence, both in the sacred realm of Torah and prayer, and in the more complex areas in which we engage for the benefit of ourselves and our nation. Without continual effort for growth in both areas, we, as well as our service to G-d, is incomplete. At Hillel Academy, we understand the crucial importance of this dichotomy. As we continue to educate the future leaders of the Jewish people, we prepare our students to fight for our faith. Sometimes the enemy is a physical one, sometimes spiritual. Sometimes it arrives at our border and sometimes we uncover it within us. Without spirituality, no battle strategy will succeed, but without a united army, our spirituality may not be enough to save us from ourselves. However, as we see from the lessons of our history, we can be victorious. With G-d's help, compassion, and dedication.  May the lessons of the Chashmonaim give us strength to succeed in all areas of our lives.  

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Chanukah!
Rabbi Weinberg can be reached at sweinberg@hillelpgh.org .

Featured Videos
Happy Chanukah!
Happy Chanukah!

Scholarship Fund Dinner Video
Life Hacks
Welcome to our new life hacks section!  Life hacks are easy strategies or techniques that you probably never thought of that can be used to "hack" every day problems--or manage your time and daily activities in a more efficient way. Some hacks are so useful that they come in handy every day, so we thought it would be fun for the Hillel family to share our favorite hacks with each other! 

THIS WEEK'S HACK: 
Is your child sick at home, sniffling, sneezing, and feeling miserable? Take an empty tissue box and use rubber bands to attach it next to a full box. Then your child has a garbage container for his or her used tissues!



For last week's hack - go here -  http://bit.ly/HH_12_16_16

If you have a favorite hack you'd like to share, email hillelhappenings@hillelpgh.org.

This Week in Pictures





The kindergarten celebrated finishing the Aleph-Bet with a siyum. Mazel Tov!
  
Mrs. Wimer's 12th grade AP Psychology class attempted to classically condition Mr. Garwood's pet rats, Meanie and Stripey. While the girl's class worked with Nigel. 

Razili brought in her favorite painting to share with her class on her birthday!
The Bnot taught kindergartners a new way to play dreidel. 

First graders excitedly prepare for their Chumash presentation!

Second grade has been working with a variety of manipulatives during their math lessons. 

The pre-nursery class learned about shadows, specifically the difference during the summer and winter months. 


Nursery learned to do the dreidel dance in their dreidel customs.

First grade eagerly anticipates their Chumash presentation.  


Rabbi Sutofsky can be reached at Asutofsky@hillelpgh.org
 
Rabbi Levy can be reached at  Olevy@hillelpgh.org for questions. 

 

Do you know how to do the dreidel dance?  The Bnot do, and they taught it to all the ECC classes. So, if you have a child in the ECC just start singing, "I had a little dreidel..." and see what happens.






This week in ECC Science, in honor of the letter 'F,' we used a flashlight to learn about reflections.
The reason that we can see reflections is because light bounces like a ball.  To demonstrate, two students  stood on opposite sides of an "X" taped to the floor.  We bounced a ball to each other so that the ball hit the floor on the X.  The ball went straight down to the floor, then back up, tracing out a "V" shape.  Each teacher held the end of a piece of yarn that was taped to the floor underneath the X.    While we held the yarn, we bounced the ball back and forth to each other.    The path of the ball was similar to the path traced out by the yarn.
The Art Department
Brought to you by the  Joshua L. Sindler, z"l Creative Classrooms, Art and Music Endowment Program
The 5th and 6th grade boys began an Op Art unit.  Op Art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. The students are creating their optical illusions using the art elements of line, shape, color, value, perspective, movement, and rhythm.



    
   
Hillel Athletics
 
Mazel Tov
Mikhail and Diana Lemkov and big brother Ben, on the birth of a baby girl!

Gladys Margolis on the birth of a grandson to alum, AJ!

Around Town




If you are interested in volunteering or know someone who might be, please contact   dkraut@hillelpgh.org.
Hillel lunch menu, click here
Lunch order form - click here

YMS ASSOCIATES
Position Description

Windows Support Engineer (Remote & Field)
A Shomer Shabbos, well-established New York based IT Services Firm, with over 700 clients nationwide, is seeking an experienced Windows Support Engineer to service their Pittsburgh area clients. This would involve working remotely from home as well as making field visits as needed to clients in the Greater Pittsburgh area. We need a tech savvy IT professional who is able to deal with diverse technical environments and maneuver through, troubleshoot, and resolve technical problems. If you are the person that other IT professionals seek out for advice, then this is the position for you. You should be comfortable with dealing with Level 2 and 3 issues. Experience working for a Managed Service Provider is a plus.

You should be a highly motivated individual that is self-directed, energetic and driven to meet the needs of a  customer environment. Responsibilities include the support, administration, and maintenance of desktops, servers, and networks. You will work with the latest technologies performing configurations, and support of operating systems and applications; participate in remote site administration; and production support activities.
  • Configure new computer hardware and software (mostly Windows based).
  • Perform upgrades and configuration of desktop and related peripherals
  • Troubleshoot desktop and server issues
  • Take service calls and either resolve them or pass them on appropriately
  • Utilize Service Desk system to maintain records of requests and responses for support issues
  • Software installs and upgrades
  • Assist in the administration of a Windows environment

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:
  • Competency in supporting, diagnosing, troubleshooting computer system, software and networking issues on PCs and related equipment
  • 3 years - Windows Desktop Operating Systems
  • 1 year - Windows Server
  • 3 years - Enterprise Antivirus Software (Symantec, McAfee)
  • 3 years - Active Directory experience and Group Policy
  • 3 years - MS Exchange
  • Printer Administration
  • 2-3 years Managed Service Provider experience is preferred but not required
OTHER REQUIREMENTS:
  • Excellent people skills (you need to really have excellent people skills as you will be representing the company)
  • Ability to concisely describe or summarize a problem and steps taken to diagnose and resolve it, in writing
  • Ability to deal with a diverse population, including strong accents
  • Willingness and ability to learn new skills and use new types of information
  • Responsibility and reliability
  • Ability to prioritize and perform triage
  • Discretion and good sense in dealing with clients
  • Willingness to see a problem through to its resolution
Excellent compensation plus benefits (insurance, vacation, 401K, etc.). In addition, a car is needed in order to complete field calls - all transportation expenses are paid for by the company.

To apply for this position please email your resume to dfoster@ymsassociates.com




Save the Date: The NCSY Q will be Saturday night Feb 18th 2017.  The Q is a team based, multimedia fundraiser that you don't want to miss.

Girl's Oneg:  Every Shabbos afternoon in the PZ Educational Building from 3:00-4:00 for all girls K-6. Join us on Parshas Vayeshev, December 24, for a special Chanukah activity!


 
 
CENTRAL SCHOLARSHIP AND LOAN REFERRAL SERVICE
                                          of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh
                                                               Administered by:
                                                  Jewish Family & Children's Service
               5743 Bartlett Street · Pittsburgh, PA 15217 · (412)422-5627 · Fax (412)428-8200

Attention:  Financial Aid Offices, Guidance Counselors, and Youth Organizations
 
Applications for need-based college scholarships for the 2017-2018 school year are available from the Central Scholarship & Loan Referral Service (CSLRS) of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.  This program is administered by Jewish Family & Children's Service.  The funds are made available through the generosity of families who have established endowments through the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, Jewish Community Center, National Council of Jewish Women, Jewish Women International of Pittsburgh (formerly B'nai B'rith Women), The Pittsburgh Foundation, and Rodef Shalom Congregation.
 
All awards are distributed on the basis of demonstrated financial need .  Depending on the scholarship fund, other factors such as academic achievement, field of study, school attending, and Jewish and general community involvement will also be considered. In addition, the applicant must be Jewish, reside in Allegheny, Westmoreland, Beaver, Butler or Washington County for at least two years, and need financial assistance to attend an accredited institution of higher education
 
We would appreciate your assistance in aiding local students by publishing an announcement about the work of the Central Scholarship committee. We are enclosing a brochure that explains our process. The 2017-2018 CSLRS on-line application is available at http://www.centralscholarship.org.  All applications are due February 9, 2017.
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at (412) 422-5627 or e-mail me at alowenberger@jfcspgh.org.
 
Sincerely,
 
Alayne Lowenberger, Director
Central Scholarship & Loan Referral Service
Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh

When you  #StartWithaSmile , Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. Bookmark the link  https://smile.amazon.com/ch/25-1067130  and support us every time you shop.


 
Please send condolence notices to  HillelHappenings@Hillelpgh.org.