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Good Things Happen Every Day
at
The Silver Academy
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Rachel Zilbering, Principal
rzilbering@silveracademypa.org
This Monday, on Martin Luther King Day, The Silver Academy hosted Mitzvah Day / Bring a Friend to School Day. On a day when most schools were "off", we were "on", and it was great!
Our day started with a haircutting assembly. We had 4 students, 2 parents and 1 staff member donate their hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. Each person had at least 8 inches of hair cut off as the entire school watched. We appreciated Nicole and Nicole of The Color Bar Hair Solon, who donated their time to cut the hair.
This year, we had 2 special mitzvah projects for the students and their friends. The first project was letter writing for soldiers in the IDF. We spoke about the sacrifices that the young men and women make to keep Israel safe. Our second project was an art project for a family with a chronically ill child. The students were all so pleased to bring a little bit of happiness to a family who needs the support.
After our friends went home, we were treated to a puppet show by "Kids on the Block". However, this was not just an entertaining puppet show, it had an educational message about inclusion and disability awareness. In the context of a puppet show, the students had meaningful conversations about this important topic.
Between the mitzvah projects, we also managed to have some fun. We had a great time playing games in the gym and taking a turn in the swimming pool in the afternoon.
It was a great day to give back with service and have special friends at school. Thanks to everyone for their hard work making it a success!
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Inside the Classroom
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4th and 5th Grades General Studies
Mrs. Jessica Wenzelburger
jwenzelburger@comcast.net
For the last two weeks, the fourth and fifth graders have been focusing on their geography skills. The fourth grade created their own maps of Pennsylvania by marking cities, rivers, mountains, and land forms on their maps. The fifth grade used a variety of materials of their own choice to create their own islands with unique names and land forms. By completing these activities, the students learned how to read maps, use a compass, work on spacial relationships, and practice their time management skills. You can see these maps on display in front of the 4th and 5th grade classroom!
3rd Grade Judaic Studies
Mr. Ellis Rosenberg
erosenberg@silveracademypa.org
It has been a pleasure watching the third grade mature during the school year to the point that they led the Friday afternoon Kabbalat Shabbat service recently, including the delivery of a D'var Torah by our own Yaakov Reid. We have continued our studies in the Torah portion of Va'Yarah, and we are now learning about one of Hashem's ten tests for Avraham, that of the binding of Isaac. Do you know how old Isaac was at the time of the binding? Ask a Silver Academy third grader! Our command of the Hebrew language, its vocabulary and usage, has been growing daily! We've learned some rules (in Hebrew) to help us become better students. All of this is in addition to spiraling our knowledge of Chanukah and anticipating our studies of Tu B'Shvat. Last but not least, we work daily to make the Periodic Table of Mensches part of our daily lives.
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D'var Torah
on Parshat Vayechi
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by Talya Klapper, 7th Grade
In this week's parasha, Shmot, Pharoah's daughter, who had found Moses in the Nile, brings Moses to the palace when he is about three years old and raises him as a prince. The Torah tells how one day, Moses saw an Egyptian man beating a Hebrew man, and how he (Moses) killed the Egyptian. The Torah then says that Moses had to flee Egypt to save his own life.
This is the verse that introduces the story.
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וַיְהִי בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וַיִּגְדַּל משֶׁה וַיֵּצֵא אֶל אֶחָיו וַיַּרְא בְּסִבְלֹתָם וַיַּרְא אִישׁ מִצְרִי מַכֶּה אִישׁ עִבְרִי מֵאֶחָיו:
Now it was in those days that Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and saw their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man of his brothers.
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How he did not see their burdens before? It couldn't be that he was too young to know about the Hebrew slavery because the Torah says that he was old enough to kill an Egyptian man and run away from Egypt.
Rashi explains what happened that day:
נתן עיניו ולבו להיות מיצר עליה
He directed his eyes and his heart to be distressed over them
[from Midrash Exodus Rabba 1:27]
Rashi means that although he surely had seen the slavery before, he hadn't felt pain before. The day that he would defend his Hebrew brother and kill the Egyptian slave master was the day that Moses decided to care. And it changed his life and our history.
Often, feelings don't come by themselves. We have to decide to feel a certain way, and we must try to feel it strongly. If this was true for Moshe, such an unusually fine person, it's certainly true for us. Mitzvot are done much better if we think about what we are doing and understand the importance of it. Then we can have a strong feeling about our actions and do them with the proper care and enthusiasm.
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School Notes and Reminders
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Open House & Student Showcase
We invite parents, community members,
and prospective families to join us as we celebrate
our school and students' work!
Thursday, February 9 -
7
:00-8:00 pm
The Silver Academy,
Wolfson Cafeteria
Hear from students, parents, and faculty as we showcase every aspect of our school and open our doors to the community.
Please RSVP by Febraury 5th to Adam Grobman at agrobman@silveracademypa.org, or register online here:
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Shabbat Across Harrisburg
Please join us for a series of
Shabbat
programs
at our local synogogues!
Everyone is welcome to attend!
Your next opportunity to attend...
Friday, January 27th at Chisuk Emuna
5:45 Family Service with Rabbi Ron Muroff
6:30 Dinner
Cost: $15 per Adult, $5 per child/ $36 per family
(Checks Payable to Chisuk Emuna)
by January 24
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JCC HBG Basketball
Come Support Our Basketball Players!
See you at the game!
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News from Our Develeopment Office
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Thank you to our EITC Donors!
EITC Donor Appreciation Event!
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Catching up with Classmates
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Adam Goldsmith
Yeshiva Academy Class of 2003
After graduating from the Yeshiva Academy in 2003, I went on to Susquehanna Township High School and then Indiana University (Bloomington), where I majored in Finance. After graduating from Indiana and studying abroad at Tel-Aviv University in Israel, I moved to New York City to work for J.P. Morgan in Asset Management. I have held multiple roles with J.P. Morgan over the past five years, and currently am managing bond portfolios for large corporations. Enough of the boring stuff...I got married this past year to an amazing JEWISH girl! We met at Indiana, she was impressed that I could lay tefilin and daven shacharit, and the rest is history. She is from New York, works in finance, but most importantly, is a black belt in karate.
There are so many memories from the Yeshiva, but one that comes to mind is the pregame warmup before our Yeshiva basketball games at the JCC. We would stand in the hallway by the corner of the gym and bust through the doors like we were professional athletes, running in line around the perimeter of the court to our roaring fans on the bleachers.
Here are a few other memories I remember well: Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at lunch, Hersheypark on Sukkot, waving our benchers after benching, Rabbi Gewirtz putting every shoresh on the classroom wall and, of course, his famous checks (although I didn't get many), Mrs. Gaughan and science fair, Rosh Chodesh luncheons, getting the tooth box from Mrs. Hartman, and so many more.
I am proud to say that the friendships I made at the Yeshiva have lasted, as my best friends in this world are alumni. Zach Spitz, Harris Schatz and Dan Hoffman were all groomsmen in my wedding and we talk on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis. Their speeches at my rehearsal dinner listed too many Yeshiva stories to count here - and most of which are probably less appropriate to share.
I owe the Yeshiva so much and am thankful for so many lessons I was taught: a love for Israel, the importance of being Jewish, the impact of charity, but most importantly, just be a good person.
Thank you YA!
JCC/YESHIVA Boys Basketball
2001 Team Members Include
:
Adam Goldsmith, Avi Gordon, Daniel Hoffman, Hillel Mindlin, Harris Schatz, Jordan Sanderson, Elliot Solomon, Jack Voystock
Do you love hearing what's going on with friends and classmates from your past years here at The Silver Academy?
If you are interested in sharing "your story", recent engagement, wedding, baby, graduation, new jobs, or other news, please email Shari Dym at sdym@silveracademypa.org.
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Community News
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Hebrew Language Classes
Do you want to learn to speak Hebrew? Then Kesher Israel Congregation has the answer for you!
When? Thursday evenings, at 6:00 pm,
(started Jan 6th, but you can still join!)
Where? KI, 2500 North 3rd St., Harrisburg
Who? Anyone..free and open to the public
Ella Shaked has many years teaching Hebrew at high school and college levels. She currently teaches Hebrew at Franklin and Marshall College. Ella is a native of Israel and has worked as a journalist at Ma'ariv, a leading Israeli daily newspaper.
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Order Your Challah Here
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Challah With a Twist
Offers Weekly Order and Delivery To Students and Teachers
- Order your challah by Thursday at this website: challahwithatwist.com. It will be delivered to school on Friday.
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Send check to school, payable to Challah with a Twist
, or use
.
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"Challah With a Twist", (a.k.a. Varda Challah), has been providing home baked challah for the Harrisburg community for over 20 years.
Varda Gewirtz, 717-919-1358 |
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Silver Snapshot
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Mitzvah Day/Bring a Friend to School Day
Students brought friends to our school for
a half day of Mitzvah projects and fun!
The whole school watched as students' and parents' hair was cut to donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. The donated hair will be used to make wigs for people who have hair loss due to health issues. The beauticians were from "Color Bar" beauty salon, owned by Nicole Spitz...A Silver Academy grad! Thanks Nicole (and her coworker, Nicole)!
Fun in the gym playing limbo and four corners!
Making cards for members of the IDF! Thank you soldiers!
Designing a "shooting star" page for an uplifting book to send to children experiencing severe health issues.
"Kids on the Block" - Disability Awareness Program
Swimming at the JCC pool is always a hit!
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Silver Summary is for Grandparents too!
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Click Here to...
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Don't Miss These
EASY, Ongoing Fundraising Opportunities!
Clip BoxTops 4 Education symbols on General Mills, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, Nestle Juicy Juice, Progresso soups and others. Each is worth 10¢ and can be redeemed by The Silver Academy for cash! Please visit the
Box Tops 4 Education
website for more details.
Giant Gift Cards
Purchase these dollar for dollar in the school's office, and then spend them the same as cash. The Silver Academy earns 5% - that's $50 earned for every $1,000 sold! You may also purchase by calling Susan at 717-608-0190.
SHOPAROO
This is how it works...Download the free Shoparoo App on your phone and use the code VuG13074. You will then complete a profile and pick The Rabbi David L. Silver Yeshiva Academy. Then after you complete a shopping trip, take a picture of the receipt using the camera on your phone with the app open. It is that easy! Once a year, Shoparoo sends the school a check from the percentages!
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