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Good Things Happen Every Day
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The Silver Academy
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Rachel Zilbering, Principal
We have so much going on at The Silver Academy in the next few weeks. Here are some highlights:
Friday, November 4th, 2:30 PM
Please join us for our monthly Kabbalat Shabbat celebration - no rsvp is necessary!
Monday, November 7th, 6:00-8:00 pm - Parent Cafe
At The Silver Academy, we want our parents to be active participants in their child's education. Please join us for a discussion of morals and ethics centered around the "Mensch Periodic Table". This engaging workshop will be led by Rabbi Gewirtz. Our Parent Cafe is also open to friends of The Silver Academy. Please RSVP to [email protected]
Tuesday, November 8th - Election Day
Our student council elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8th. I am proud of our students for taking the initiative to run for office!
Also on Election Day, our 7th and 8th grade students and parents will be hosting a bake sale as a fundraiser for their upcoming Israel trip. Even if you do not vote at the Jewish Home, please take a drive down Linglestown Road for a treat or a cup of coffee to help support the kids.
Thursday, November 17th - Annual Campaign Souper Kickoff
Our chefs have been hard at work preparing soup for this upcoming event. If you make a pledge, you will be entitled to a soup of your choice. Last year we sold out, so I encourage you to order early. Email Shari Dym, [email protected], with your order.
I hope to see you all at one of these events.
Shabbat shalom.
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Inside the Classroom
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2nd Grade General Studies
Mrs. Brandy Hurley
As part of our Native American unit, second graders constructed their own Native American houses. After learning about various house designs and the natural resources that were used to build them, each student chose which house they wanted to build. The challenge was to use as many natural resources as possible when constructing their models. As you can see in the pictures, these industrious students came up with some very creative ideas!
3rd Grade Judaics
Mr. Ellis Rosenberg
How can it be November already? The Third Grade has accomplished quite a bit of learning during the first quarter of the school year. For example, in our Shabbat Mevorchim story that we're reading in Hebrew, we just found out that Morah Chagit assigned homework over Shabbat! How can that be? In our Tal Am "B'Hatzlacha" workbook, we're discussing different techniques to help us be successful learners. Our study of chumash has students diving into Parashat Vayera. In the beginning of the Parasha, we learned that Hashem performed the very important mitzvah of Bikur Cholim, visiting the sick, as He checked on Avraham when Avraham was "under the weather". Our third grade had a chance to perform this mitzvah last week by visiting Rebetzin Friedman to cheer her up while she is house bound. Our hope is that the third grade students will continue to go beyond just learning mitzvot, and will also implement the mitzvot as a guide in their daily lives.
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D'var Torah for Parshat Noach
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The following is the Dvar Torah from Isaac's Bar Mitzva speech this Shabbat
In this week's Parsha, Noach, G-d speaks to Noah after he survives the flood and gives him permission to kill animals for food. This has always puzzled me. If man were not allowed to kill animals for food at the time of his creation, why was man allowed to eat meat after the flood? Since man was originally not allowed to kill animals for meat, doesn't that mean that it is unethical to eat meat? But if that's the case, then what changed after the flood? Nachmanides explains that the reason why man was originally not allowed to kill animals for meat is because animals have a degree of life and sentience resembling that of a human being. They have awareness and understanding. They run from danger. Because of this, man could not kill an animal for his own pleasure. This is why, Nachmanides goes on to say, even when meat was allowed to be eaten after the flood, man was not allowed to benefit from an animal's soul; just its meat. Man could not eat its blood which is closely related to its soul.
So why was he allowed to slaughter an animal to eat its meat after the flood? Why were animals suddenly considered so much more dispensable than they were in the pre-flood era? Not only are we allowed to eat meat today, but the Sages encourage us to enjoy meat on Shabbat and Holidays.
One answer is that it is because the animals survived the flood only because of Noach's efforts. According to Ramban, the animals owed their lives to Noach and his descendants, who gained rights over them, including the right to consume them. Noach and his family worked hard to keep the animals alive on the ark and offered sacrifices to G-d after the Flood, for which G-d guaranteed that he would never again destroy the earth and its animal life. Thus, Noach and his descendants earned the right to use the animals for their needs.
The second answer comes from Malbim and Kli Yakar. They maintain that the human race that restarted after the flood through Noach and his family reached a higher spiritual level than the pre-Flood generation - culminating in the family of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. There was now a wider gap between the level of an animal and that of a human than before the flood. Eating animals became desirable because, from a spiritual point of view, when a higher form of life consumes a lower one, it serves to elevate the lower one because it becomes part of something greater than itself. The Talmud Tractate Pesachim states that the most appropriate meat consumption is that of Torah Scholars when it will
truly
be a path of elevation for the animal because the nutrition it provides them will make possible their righteous actions. In essence, it takes an individual with broad spiritual horizons to properly relish a steak.
So does this mean that we have to take a "righteousness test" before we buy kosher meat at Giant? No. But it is a reminder that we must be sensitive to the nuanced Jewish attitude towards eating meat by understanding that we are responsible to elevate the animal that is now fused with our being through study, prayer, and charitable acts. So go and enjoy that tasty burger, but know that you have to follow it up with positive actions that transcend yourself and bring you closer to G-d.
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Catching up with Classmates
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Lillian Aronson
I attended the Yeshiva Academy of Greater Harrisburg from 1976-1984 and then graduated from Susquehanna Township High School. I had a very small graduating class at the Yeshiva Academy (4 girls and 1 boy), but I really enjoyed having this close knit group of friends. I enjoyed science and our ability to compete yearly in the Pennsylvania Science Fairs. My most interesting memory was when I brought in my two snakes for "show and tell." My science teacher asked if it was ok to keep the snakes in the science room so that other students could observe them. The following day, one of the snakes had escaped his cage and my mother was convinced that I might be the first child kicked out of the Yeshiva! We never did find the snake.
Following High School, I attended Boston University and Lehigh University, graduating in 1992. Following graduation from Lehigh, I attended veterinary school at the University of Pennsylvania. After a one-year Internship at Penn, I moved to California and completed a small animal surgical residency at the University of California, Davis (1993-1997).
During my surgical residency, I received training in microvascular surgery and kidney transplantation, and from
1994-1996 was the coordinator of the renal transplant program for animals at the veterinary school at Davis. Following my residency, I joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania as a soft tissue surgeon and started Penn's renal transplant program for companion animals which is now the largest such program in the world. In addition to the kidney transplant program, my other surgical interests include oncologic, cardiovascular and urinary tract surgery. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to lecture in both Europe and South America. Recently, I had a textbook published on "Small Animal Surgical Emergencies."
I met my husband Rich in 2000 (he liked my dog), and we were married in 2001. We have four children; Bella (12), Leo (11), Jordi (8) and Benzi (6) all of whom attended or are attending Jewish day schools. As you can imagine, over the years we have had a menagerie of animals that we have rescued from various situations. Currently, we have a cat named Elliot and a dog named Sally Cupcake.
I have wonderful memories of my time at the Yeshiva. My educators at the Yeshiva, reinforced and expanded the Jewish values I was taught at home...Jewish values that I have passed on to my own children. The friendships that I made at Yeshiva Academy are lifelong.
Do you love hearing what's going on with friends and classmates from your past years here at The Silver Academy? We want to help you connect with former students through our new feature article, "
Catching up with Classmates".
We would love to hear from you so that we can post your story and share your life events such as recent
engagements, weddings, babies, graduations, new jobs, etc
. Sharing nachas is always wonderful! If you are interested in sharing your story, please send a note to Shari Dym at [email protected].
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School Notes and Reminders
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Please Join Us!
The Parent Cafe is a three session series of educational classes for our parents designed to learn with and from The Silver Academy'a finest teachers.
- Our first session will be "Morals and Ethics",
taught by Rabbi Gewirtz.
- Please RSVP to Mandy Cheskis at [email protected]
- Adult guests are welcome...please bring a friend!
DON'T FORGET
Parent-Teacher Conferences!
Nov 15, 6:30-8:30 and
Nov 16, 1:00-4:00
ORDER YOUR SOUP NOW!
PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS...
The Silver Academy invites you for a one day sneak preview
of our school!
November 28, 2016
9:00 am - 12:00
ORDER YOUR CHALLAH HERE...
Offers Weekly Order and Delivery To Students and Teachers
- Order your challah at this website: challahwithatwist.com
- Place your order by Thursday.
- Challah will be delivered to our school on Fridays for students to bring home.
- Send check to school, payable to Challah with a Twist
- Questions? Please call Varda Gewirtz at 717-919-1358.
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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. |
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ICE CREAM ON FRIDAYS...Remember your $1
The Silver Academy will be selling ice cream every Friday for $1. Bring in your dollar each Friday or bring in $5 or $10 to be added to your account. Proceeds support the 7th-8th grade Israel trip.
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Community Events
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR!
for info about tickets, voting and participants.
Silver Academy students will be performing in this musical event.
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Silver Snapshots
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Student Field Trip -
Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and PA State Capitol
Students in grades 3-8 attended the Harrisburg Symphony's "Young Person's Concert", hosted by
Maestro Stuart Malina. It featured music from Hindemith and Beethoven. Following the concert, students toured the PA State Capitol and its grounds.
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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 10ยข 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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