ECC Weekly Newsletter 
March 2, 2018 - 15 Adar 5778
Parashat Ki Tisa
ECC Highlights
Robin's Message
Dvar Torah
Thoughts of the Rav
80th Anniversary Dinner and Concert
Parent-Teacher Conferences
2-Year-Old Class Newsletter
3-Year-Old Class Newsletter
4-Year-Old Class Newsletter
Alumni Newsletter
PTA Skating Party
Baseball Tournament
Social Time!
ES, MS, and US Newsletters
Reminders
TUESDAY,
MARCH 6TH IS AN EARLY 3:00PM DISMISSAL DUE TO A FACULTY MEETING.

Please check the Lost and Found table and coat rack outside the Elementary School office if you are looking for a missing item.
 
For the boys: Every day during davening, we say the bracha for tzitzit, so please make sure your son wears some or keeps in his backpack a pair of tzitzit and a kippah.

If you have any recyclable materials, please send them in for our classes to use. Examples are:
 
-Paper towel/toilet paper rolls
 
-Paint color samples
 
-Scraps of contact paper, wallpaper, or cloth
 
-Small pieces of tile
 
-Any other crafty loose parts!
 
Please send in dress-up clothes, especially authentic doctor clothes and supplies. Thank you!
 
Whether you are a parent, alumni or faculty member, your Maimo Moments are welcomed and appreciated.
How To Subscribe to the Calendar
For step-by-step instructions for subscribing to the Maimonides Early Childhood Center calendar on your mobile device or computer, CLICK HERE.
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From Robin Meyerowitz 
Dear Parents,
 
I hope you had a great Purim!

This was an exciting week! The students acted out, listened to, and experienced the Purim story in many different ways. Each classroom had their own palace and costumes. It was fun and educational! 
I am looking forward to watching and listening to them learn about Pesach.
 
I hope to see many of you at the Gad Elbaz concert on Thursday, March 8 (see details below). Dinner begins at 5:00 p.m. Please let us know if you need your child to stay in Extended Day (5:45 p.m. pickup) that evening.

The teachers are hard at work right now preparing for Parent-Teacher Conferences (see details below). They have assessed every child in the school on all different aspects of their development: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, and language. They are busy finishing up each child's portfolio and developmental report. We can't wait to share your child's progress with you! Please don't forget to sign up for your preferred conference time.

Tuesday, March 6 is an early 3:00 p.m. dismissal for an ECC/ES Faculty meeting.
 
Shabbat Shalom,

Robin 
Dvar Torah
by Rabbi David Saltzman      

רְאֵה קָרָאתִי בְשֵׁם בְּצַלְאֵל בֶּן אוּרִי בֶן חוּר לְמַטֵּה יְהוּדָה.
See, I have called by name Betzalel the son of Uri, the son of Chur, of the tribe of Judah.
 
In the parasha this week, the Torah elaborates on some of the details regarding the construction of the Mishkan. We are told that Betzalel - the son of Uri, the son of Chur - will be the one to build the Mishkan. The question is, why does the Torah need to mention Betzalel's grandfather? It is understood why his father is mentioned, as this is a way to determine Betzalel's family and lineage. What is the Torah adding by including Chur, the grandfather of Betzalel?
 
The Torah tells us earlier that Aharon and Chur, who was the son of Miriam, were appointed to be in charge when Moshe ascended to Har Sinai. After that appointment, Chur is never mentioned in the Torah again, until now. What happened to this important character? Where did he go? The Midrash states that when Bnai Yisrael were building the Golden Calf, only one person rejected the idea and defended G-d's honor. Chur rallied against the people and rebuked them for their actions. The people were outraged and murdered Chur! The Midrash states that the appointment of Betzalel has a direct link to this incident with his grandfather. Since Chur defended the honor of G-d and sacrificed his life doing so, as a demonstration of hakarat hatov to Chur and his martyrdom, his grandson was chosen to build the Mishkan, which also served as atonement for the people. This explains why Chur is mentioned in connection with the appointment of Betzalel.
 
Just as Hashem showed hakarat hatov to Chur for his sacrifice, we must have hakarat hatov for those who expend time and effort on our behalf to make the school run smoothly, keep the building clean, and concern themselves with the many logistics and details that keep the daily routines humming. 
 
Thoughts of the Rav    
by Rabbi David Saltzman

The Rav asks: How is it possible to stand upright in prayer in front of G-d when we daven Shemona Esrei? Really we should prostrate ourselves, praying bent over as we plead to G-d for our lives. What allows us the audacity to speak to G-d while standing upright, in a near-equal manner?
 
The answer is in the parasha this week. The source for tefilla b'amidah (standing upright during prayer) may be the description of the process by which the 13 middot were given to Moshe. It is a detailed and unprecedented description of Moshe standing with Hashem and calling out His name. "Calling in Hashem's name" is indicative of the closeness of the relationship as you eliminate the distance between two parties. Another example given is when Moshe and Hashem stand together, and there is a beautiful description in the Talmud of Hashem wrapping Himself in a talit as if He is our shliach tzibbur.
 
These examples, from the process of how the 13 middot were given to Moshe by Hashem, allow us to stand upright in prayer, to come close and pray as if with Hashem, instead of only to Hashem.
 
Dinner and Concert with Gad Elbaz on Thursday!
Maimonides is 80 years strong!  Join us next Thursday, March 8 as we celebrate our 80th Anniversary with dinner at 5:00 p.m. and a concert featuring Israeli superstar Gad Elbaz at 6:00 p.m.  All Maimo families, faculty and staff are welcome to attend, but you must reserve your spot by this coming Monday, March 5 .  
Click here to sign up!
 
For more information, visit www.maimonides.org.
 
Parent-Teacher Conferences
It's time to sign up for spring Parent-Teacher Conferences!  The registration website will open on Monday, March 5 at 9:00 p.m. and close on Monday, March 12 at 10:00 p.m.

Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences for the Early Childhood Center, Elementary School, and Middle School (the Upper School does not have spring conferences) will be taking place:
  • Wednesday, March 14 - noon dismissal, conferences 2:00 - 8:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, March 15 - no school; ES/MS conferences 11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., ECC conferences 2:00 - 8:00 p.m.
The registration website can be found at https://pickatime.com/maimonides/spring2018 . Please note that the link will not work until the website opens for conference registration.

If you did not receive your student(s) ID and registration information, please contact the division office.
 
2-Year-Old Class Newsletter
Dear Parents,
 
This week was all about Purim! Due to all of the Purim fun and excitement, we are focusing on pictures in our newsletter this week. We hope you enjoy this week's photos.
 
Shabbat Shalom,
 
Morot Laura and Tzipi
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Purim is here! Let's have some fun.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Just making sure that her baby doll is okay.



  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Playing a game called "Where in the World." Find a place on the soft globe, then find the same place on the wall map.
 
 
    
 
Look what we get to do in Art class--draw animals on the floor!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Look at this castle we made from Magnatiles, one of the best toys since Legos
 
 
 
 
Some of the terrific props for Morah Tzipi's Purim story. 
  
 
 
 
Look, we have a new rocking horse in our room! Let's start with going for a ride in the hallway. 
 
 
 
Listening with anticipation to the Purim story. 
 
    
 
Look what we made - hamantashen!
 
 

 
This table has been very popular this week. 
 
 
 
 
We really love riding and pushing bikes outside on the pavement.
 
 
 
Our room looks magical! A special thank you to Sara Block for the pretty lights.
 
 
 
 
Packing up our mishloach manot to bring home to our families. 
 
 
 
 
Reading the real megillah we have in our room.
 
 
 
We all joined in! 
 
 
 
 
Morah Robin came in to play with us on Wednesday. The students all wanted to share their cars with her. 
 
 
 
 
Morah Mimi's and Morah Sara's daughters joined us for a visit last week.
3-Year-Old Class Newsletter 
 
Dear Parents,
 
This week was all about Purim! Due to all of the Purim fun and excitement, we are focusing on pictures in our newsletter this week. We hope you enjoy the photos from this week!

Shabbat Shalom,

Morot Leisa, Shayna, and Sara
 
 
        
For our journals this week, we wrote all about what we each did during our vacations.  
 
 
 
 
We drew pictures and the Morot wrote our words.
 
 
 
 
One morning, the students had the opportunity to explore the differences between a Torah and a Megillah scroll
 
 

 
 
Bella enjoyed exploring the megillah
 
 
 
 
Music class this week was extra special! Even Morah Linda's puppet, Mousie, came in costume for Purim! 
 
 
 

The children each got a turn during music class to practice giving mishloach manot to their friends.



 
At outside time, some of us got silly and made snow boards out of a wagon. It was a lot of fun!
 
 
 
 
 
During open time, we were very busy building a Shushan palace in the block area.
 
 
 
 
 
 
The children had a great time making Mishloach Manot using fire hats and fun goodies we got from the fire station.
 
 
 
 
 
 
We made our own ra'ashanim/graggers! First, we scooped our own rice into bags.
 
 
 
 
 
Then we added the color of our choice to the rice.
 
 
 
 
 
Finally, we scooped out our colored rice into our graggers.
4-Year-Old Class Newsletter

Dear Parents,
 
This week was all about Purim! Due to all of the Purim fun and excitement, we are focusing on pictures in our newsletter this week. We hope you enjoy this week's photos.
 
Shabbat Shalom,
 
Morot Mimi, Irit, Nechi, Marggie, and Chera 
 

 
We looked at images of the Purim story and drew our own versions.
 
 
 
 
 
 
We baked our own hamantaschen!
 
 
 
  

We wove ribbon into strawberry baskets for our
mishloach manot packages.
 
 
 
All done, now let's fill it!  
 
 
 
 

We wrote in our journals about our vacations when we got back on Monday. Everyone had great stories to tell!
 
 
 
 
  

 
Working on our mishloach manot baskets

   
  
  


Rolling out the dough for the hamantaschen


 
We acted out the story of Purim. Here all the girls lined up for King Achashverosh, played by Yosef, so he could pick a new queen.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mordechai is telling Queen Esther she has to save the Jewish people.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Queen Esther accuses the wicked Haman of trying to kill her and all the Jews!
 
 
 
 
The Jewish people ran the bad guys (here played by Morah Mimi) out of town after King Achashverosh said that they could fight back. 
 
 
 
The children made pictures from the story of the Megillah, or just some of their own pictures for Purim.
 
Alumni Newsletter Online
The monthly alumni newsletter for February is now online, and can be found here. This issue's articles include:
  • Young Grad's English Skills Help Dominican Ballplayers Pursue Their Dreams
  • Retired Alumnus Now a Volunteer with Religious Families in Galilee Community
  • Maimonides Alumni Here and There
  • Class Notes 
If you would like to receive the alumni newsletter each month, contact Mike Rosenberg at (617) 232-4452 x 405 or mrosenberg@maimonides.org .
 
PTA Skating Party

 
Ezra Schwartz Memorial Baseball Tournament
There are still three weeks until spring, but planning is already well underway for the second Ezra Schwartz Memorial Baseball Tournament in Sharon, scheduled for April 19-22. Visiting teams will be from the Frisch School, Yeshivah of Flatbush, and Yeshiva University High School of Los Angeles (YULA). Ezra, זק"ל , a 2015 Maimonides graduate and varsity baseball player, was killed by a terrorist in Israel in November 2015. The tournament was established by family and friends to honor Ezra's passion for baseball and create a fun environment in which to remember him. More information can be found at http://ezraschwartzbaseballmemorial.com/
 
Social Time!
There's so much going on here at Maimo! Be sure to check out our social media to get the inside scoop (with lots of great photos) on happenings at school.  
 
 
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
 
See what's happening in other divisions
Lots of wonderful things are happening at Maimonides School!

If you'd like to take a peek at what's happening in the other divisions, click to visit the Elementary School, Middle School, or Upper School newsletter pages.

If you would like to contact a specific school office, please use these emails:
ecc@maimonides.org