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Upcoming Events
January 19-26
Winter Break- School Closed
January 30
Rabbi Sufrin Parenting & Parasha Shiur at Beth Jacob
February 3
PTA Bingo Night
February 10
Motzaei Shabbat Learning
February 16
Professional Development-
Pupil Free Day
February 19
President's Day
No School
February 25
PTA Purim Carnival
February 28
Ta'anit Esther, Early Dismissal: 6th-8th 1:00pm, Pre-1st-5th 2:00pm, PN- K Regular
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The Hillel Hebrew PTA presents
Bingo
Night! PLAY FOR A CHANCE TO WIN 2 DISNEYLAND TICKETS AND MANY OTHER WONDERFUL PRIZES! Join us for the fun on
Saturday, February 3rd, 2018
in the Lower Gym from
7 to 9PM.
Save the date for the Winter Wonderland Purim Celebration on
Sunday, February 25th
.
Sponsorship opportunities are available now!
Your birthday child will get to choose a new book for the library with a dedication to him or her inside, check it out first, and have their picture proudly on display in the library. Kids love to see their names in the books! Excess funds will be used for recreational supplies like games, balls, hula hoops and jump ropes.
The next birthday celebration will be Monday, February 26th.
Co-Sponsor a Rosh Chodesh Breakfast for the teachers and staff in honor of your child's bar mitzvah, birthday, or teacher; or in honor or memory of someone you love. The teachers
really appreciate
this gesture
! The next Rosh Chodesh breakfast is February 15. Sign up online in advance for any month. $100, or add multiple times to your cart to contribute $200 or $300 if desired.
This months
breakfast
sponsored by
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To all of the Pre-1 teachers, Thank you
for all of your hard work.
We greatly appreciate all you do!
The Rabbani Family-
In memory of Kayleen And Meagan Rabbani's grandfather, Esmael ben Shalom (ז׳׳ל) & special thanks to all the teachers & staff
The Hillel PTA-
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication
to our students.
Give your children the gift of healthy food. A fun and enjoyable treat! Fruit cart sign-up entitles your student to a bag of fresh fruit once a week during the entire school year. Fruit cart is available for
Grades Pre-1 to 8
on Wednesday
mornings.
Sign up online here
for the remainder of the year.
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Mazal Tov
Morah Leeat Avrahami on the birth of a baby boy!
Guy & Moran Amzaleg on the birth of a baby boy!
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Parnas Hayom
Parnas
HaYom
is a beautiful way to honor a yarzheit, merit a refuah shelemah, or celebrate a simcha. Dedicating the Torah learning of students at Hillel to mark an occasion helps us to imbue both a love of learning and appreciation for the value of Torah scholarship.
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ISSUE NO. 016
Happy Winter Break
Friday, January 19, 2018
3 Sh'vat 5778
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Full Ownership
By Rabbi Sufrin, Head of School
 Four days before the exodus from Egypt, the Jewish people were commanded to prepare a lamb for the קרבן פסח -- "the Paschal Lamb." Why the necessity of four days advance preparation?
Earlier in Jewish history, we see a similar situation whereby four days is also the requisite time for appropriate readiness. When Gd gives Avraham the command to offer his son Yitzchak as a sacrifice for the עקידת יצחק -- "the binding of Yitzchak, He shows him the place where Yitzchak is to be sacrificed four days after his initial command. Rashi explains that Gd's purposeful timing was intended to allow Avraham the time to think through and fully comprehend what was being asked of him.
Prior to יציאת מצרים -- "the Exodus from Egypt" the Jews were negatively influenced by the Egyptian culture in which they lived. A significant part of that culture was idolatry and paganism which included viewing a sheep as a Deity. In
Parashat Bo
, when the Jewish people are commanded to slaughter a sheep, they are given four days to effectuate the sacrifice. Rashi teaches that the reason for these days of preparation was for the Jews to show that they effectively and indisputably purged themselves of their idolatrous state of mind.
Doing a
mitzvah
by rote is commendable, doing it out of understanding brings the action to a totally new level. The message in our generation is that Gd seeks for us to take ownership over our commitment towards Him.
As we begin this week of winter break, I wish all a
Shabbat Shalom
and I hope you find the family time meaningful and refreshing.
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By Revital Elgrably
This year, the fifth grade Judaic Studies department is focusing on connecting our learning to the pillars of Character Counts. In Navi class, we see how the different Shoftim
emulate the values the pillars stand for.
As leaders, they tried to impart these values as they led Bnei Yisrael on the right path.
One of the
Elementary School Leadership
committees the students take part in is the Character Counts committee.
This group is empowered to create games, team-building activities and programs. In doing so, they empower others to recognize and strengthen their middot.
The fifth graders were given a special opportunity to step up as leaders in our Elementary School. The Character Counts Committee, along with the Rosh Chodesh Committee, put together a video that demonstrates what the six pillars stand for. The video was presented in the Rosh Chodesh Assembly along with guiding questions for each teacher to discuss with their classes.
This movie showed scenes of the Character Counts pillars that each group worked on. The group of caring - אהבה - showed the importance of including everyone and not allowing anyone to feel excluded.
The group of trustworthiness and fairness - יושר ונאמנות - showed the importance of being honest, and the importance of fairness by
giving others the benefit of the doubt.
The group of citizenship - קהילה - asked representatives of our הלל קהילה, what קהילה means to them? The group of respect - כבוד - showed respect by helping each other, being kind and polite and by giving respect to teachers.
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Music, the Universal Language
Andy Chagi, Music Teacherr
 Music is the universal language of the world. In an orchestra, all musicians read the same notes and rhythms. They play their instruments beautifully. Here at Hillel, we learn Hebrew first, English second, and then the language of music.
By the time Hillel students finishes 5th grade, they can read all notes on the treble and bass clef. They can also read and count rhythmic notation in 4/4 time. Our students understand eighth notes, quarter notes, half notes, dotted half notes, and whole notes.
Students learn how to count notes by clapping each beat of each note. Students understand that all notes are only played once but are held for time value of that note. Students learn notes in alphabetical order, and they learn that "up" is a higher note, "down" is a lower note. They demonstrate their musical knowledge by performing songs on their instruments.
Below is a picture of our students reading treble and bass clef notes while counting out rhythmic melodies.
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