Parshat Nitzavim continues with Moshe Rabbeinu’s final speech to Bnei Yisroel. After describing the rewards that will come to Bnei Yisroel if they follow the path of G-d, the verse states:
11. For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12. It is not in heaven, that you should say: 'Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?' 13. Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say: 'Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?' 14. But the word is very nigh unto you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.
This very moving and poetic verse is most simply understood to mean that we all have the ability to acquire the crown of Torah. However, the Ramban explains that this verse specifically refers to the Mitzva of Teshuva. At this time of year, Teshuva is in the air. We say Selichot in the middle of the night and search for ways to better ourselves for the coming year. Unfortunately, for many of us, this process can be daunting, and even seem impossible. This verse reminds us that we all have the ability to do Teshuva. In fact, the word Teshuva itself is a reminder of that. The word Teshuva is from the root
shin
,
vav
,
bet —
which spells shuv, which means to return — to return to our innate human desire to do good, and to cling to justice and righteousness. Teshuva is not an esoteric concept that requires us to change who we are; rather it’s an introspective voyage to remove what we are not.
At school this is something we see every day. At Hillel, we are lucky to see our students grow from toddlers, or even infants, into adults. The innocence and tenderness of small children is something that is unique and spectacular. As they grow, their innate goodness never leaves. Even when we are jaded, sometimes cynical adults, our inherent goodness is still there. As Rosh Hashana approaches, it is important that we journey inwards to find that inner goodness that we know is there.
May this year be a year of blessings for our entire community.
Shanah Tovah.
Rabbi Weinberg,
Principal
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Mrs Huff’s AP Computer Science classes learned about binary messages by making binary message devices (or what some of us older people called “telephones”).
What do you think they’re saying?
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Mrs Yolkut’s 5/6th Grade and 7/8 Grade Girls Torah Sheba'al Peh Elective played a fun variation of Run See Build, as well as a game of telephone, to try to answer the question--why do we have the written Torah and the Oral Torah-why isn't just one enough?
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The Ninth Grade girls learned about the scientific method in Miss Mia’s class. She explains: “I was conducting the initial demonstration where I put milk in a petri dish and a few drops of food coloring. Then I added a drop of dish soap to the middle of the petri dish. The food dye "ran" away from the drop of soap. This caused the dye to look like fireworks. The students were observing the fireworks. The students then used the scientific method to find out whether the fireworks worked better if we used Skimmed Milk vs. Whole Milk.”
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Look around. How many people do you see wearing glasses? Perhaps not so many pairs on young people — but what about your teachers? A lot, right? That’s because our eyes are older and the muscles are less flexible. During this year’s in-service, a poll was conducted to see what percentage of the teachers have corrected vision. This includes wearing glasses, contact lenses, or having had eye surgery. The results were eye-opening! Of the 35 people who responded, a whopping 80% used vision correction of some kind.
Only one teacher had undergone surgery to correct his vision — Mr. Sutton, who had a procedure called corneal crosslinking. As he says: “ I had something called keratoconis. When I was a kid I was very allergic to grass and hay, and we lived on what is essentially a farm minus the killing of animals. So I would constantly rub my eyes.
This eventually damaged the fibers that keep the eyes stretched evenly with every direction. My vision changed. I discovered one day three years ago that I no longer needed my glasses. I was perfectly willing to just accept that I was Spiderman and had outevolved my need for glasses, but mom insisted we check it out.
So I found out about the keratoconis, the damaged fibers which changed the shape of my eye. Luckily it changed for the better, allowing for greater focus. But that would change soon, and my vision would deteriorate without corneal crosslinking. The procedure is pretty quick, but I am phobic of eye stuff so it seemed like forever. They pour a medication into the eye, along with firing a laser for a few minutes. This freezes the process. I was really lucky with the timing, as they froze it right before it started to get worse.
So now I don't need glasses, because a degenerative condition improved my vision.”
Next time you see Mr. Sutton, just remember this: he’s had laser beams fired into his eye. You probably don’t want to find out if he can shoot laser beams back out….
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Mr Sutton’s laser beam eyes in action...
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Mrs. Myers’s Seventh Grade classes have been learning about the history of the English language, much of which came from other places. The Vikings brought with them Old Norse words, which mixed with Anglo-Saxon to make Old English. The first King of England’s grandfather was one wonderfully named Harald Bluetooth, a king of Norway and Denmark. The wireless Bluetooth symbol is named after him: it combines the ancient runes for H and B to form the modern symbol.
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Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily photos, updates, and fun quizzes and contests!
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Each year has four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and pumpkin spice. As soon as schools open their doors for another academic year, the pumpkin spice comes out. You can’t escape it. But what is pumpkin spice, exactly? This is what it consists of:
18 parts ground cinnamon
4 parts ground nutmeg
4 parts ground ginger
3 parts ground cloves
3 parts ground allspice
The first known pumpkin pie recipes were published in a book called
American Cookery
by Amerlia Simmons in 1796. Here it is recipe number two (they originally spelled “pumpkin” “pompkin!"
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“I worked as the temporary front desk lady at Hillel Academy during Hillel Camp, I attended 5 concerts around Pittsburgh (mostly country artists), volunteered at Girl Scout Camp in Erie, visited my Grandma in Florida, and spent a lot of time with friends and family!” — Mrs. McDougall
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“I took about a billion photos of Nigel and Corbin this summer. Not sure I did much else!” – Mrs. Wimer
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“I painted lots of bird’s eggs for a new wrapping paper I introduced to my online shop.” — Mrs. Myers
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“Visited the Cascade Mountain Range outside Seattle and walked on snow wearing summer clothing! Snow that was nine feet deep and solid!” Mrs. Oshlag
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“We adopted three rats. Their names are Mac, Dennis, and Charlie and they are three chubby brothers and I love them very much.“ — Mr. Sutton
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“We traveled to Sandusky, Ohio for our son to participate in the 2018 Golden Spikes Classic Baseball All Star Tournament. It was a very fun experience and we enjoyed a beautiful shabbos afterwards in Cleveland as well.” — Rabbi Sutofsky
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CLUBS
CLUBS BEGIN OCTOBER 3rd — Registration ends Friday 7th!
Grades K - 3
BALLET, CROSS COUNTRY, ISRAELI COOKING, MITZVOZ / MIDDOS, SNAPOLOGY,
SOCCER SHOT, VIOLIN
Grades 4 – 8 Boys
ART, ASSEMBLE, CROSS COUNTRY, LEAGUES, MISHMAR, MISHNA, MITZVOS / MIDDOS, ODYSSEY OF THE MIND, SCIENCE FAIR, SNAPOLOGY, VIOLIN
Grades 4 – 8 Girls
ART, ASSEMBLE, BASKETBALL, CROSS COUNTRY, ISRAELI COOKING, MITZVOS / MIDDOS, ODYSSEY OF THE MIND, SCIENCE FAIR, SNAPOLOGY, VIOLIN
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The next issue of the Hillel Happenings will be Thursday October 11.
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Jewish Women’s League Pittsburgh Community Directory
*If you are new to the community, know anyone who is, or have a change in contact information, please let us know immediately.
*If you would like to place an ad in the 2019 edition of the directory, the deadline is approaching.
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The Hillel Happenings is published on Thursdays. Please submit stories, photos and ads by Wednesday afternoon to:
Thank you!
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Hillel Gear spotted here!
(Thanks Leah Brown!)
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Once again this year, Hillel Academy will be participating in the Box Tops for Education Program. My name is Barbara Uebing and I’m thrilled to be the Box Tops Coordinator. Clipping Box Tops is an easy way for you to help our school buy what it needs. Box Tops are each worth 10 cents and they quickly add up to real cash for our school. This school year, our school’s earnings goal is $2000.00.
To help our school, just look for pink Box Tops on products, clip them, and send them to school. Pre-K — Fourth Grade will be having a friendly collection contest to help motivate school supporters to clip Box Tops. When sending in Box Tops, please be sure to write your child’s name and grade on the outside of the envelope or baggie. For more information on the Box Tops for Education program, including a list of participating products and school’s progress, visit
www.BTFE.com
. Be sure to become a member to receive exclusive coupons and recipes and learn about extra ways for our school to earn.
I hope you’re excited for everything we can do this year with Box Tops! If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at
buebing@hillelpgh.org
. I’m here to make our school’s Box Tops for Education program a huge success this year.
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EARN MONEY
FOR HILLEL ACADEMY
SIMPLY BY USING YOUR
GIANT EAGLE
ADVANTAGE CARD
From now until March 16, you can earn funds for Hillel Academy by using your Giant Eagle Advantage Card every time you shop or fill up at Get Go Gas stations through their Apples for the Students program. Register your card today to help us raise much-needed funds. It’s easy: just go to
www.GiantEagle.com/AFTS
to link your card to Hillel Academy’s account using the School ID number 0454.
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Interested volunteers please contact
Dan Kraut
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When you #StartWithaSmile, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh. Bookmark the link and support us every time you shop.
https://smile.amazon.com/ch/25-1067130
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MISSION STATEMENT
At Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh, we educate young men and women with unlimited capacity who compete in a superior manner in all challenges undertaken. Our students are Torah observant models of exemplary character, who love G-d, the Jewish people, and the land of Israel. To say that our students possess a love of learning, confidence and the ability to think critically, merely highlights the value of a Hillel education. What we ultimately achieve each day, and have been achieving for 70 years, is the gift of instilling each student with the foundation for a life spent actively serving and leading the Jewish community and society.
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Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh | 412 521-8131 | hillelhappennings@hillelpgh.org | www.hillelpgh.org
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