When He instructed Noach to build the ark, G-d specified the structure’s precise dimensions — 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits tall (6:15). Rav Amnon Bazak points out that the only other time in the Torah where we find G-d specify specific building measurements is in Sefer Shemot, when
G-d commands Bnei Yisrael to build the Mishkan (tabernacle) and its furnishings. Additionally, these two contexts mark the only instances in the Torah where we find the phrase “mi-bayit u-mi’chutz” (“inside and out”). Noach is instructed to apply pitch on both sides of the ark (6:14), and the aron hakodesh was plated with gold in its interior and exterior (Shemot 25:11).
Rab Bazak asserts that the Mishkan (and later the Temple), and the Ark in particular, was the place where G-d concentrated His presence on earth. The human parallel to the Temple is Noach’s ark, where all of humanity was confined during the period of the flood. Just as G-d’s infinite presence was, in some way, concentrated within the walls of the inner chamber of the Temple, similarly, all of humankind existed within the walls of the ark during the flood.
Upon emerging from the Ark, Noach was commanded to populate and inhabit the earth. Humanity was not to be contained in the
teiva
; rather it was to flourish throughout the world. Perhaps, this too is the message of the aron. While Hashem’s presence manifests itself in the Holy Ark, this too is not the intended state. Our mission is to unlock this spirituality and allow G-d’s presence to fill the earth. May we all continue to fulfill this mission together where we can see Hashem’s presence in all that we do.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Weinberg,
Principal
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The Donald and Chantze Beit Medrash in the Boy’s School now houses a very special set of
sifrei
Torah. A gift from the Kanal family, these scrolls have had an extraordinary journey — from Poland to Hillel Academy.
They were buried by Eleventh Grader Reuven Kanal’s great-great-grandfather, Aryeh Leib Dworkin, to hide them during World War Two. He returned to dig them up after the War, and gifted them to his daughter, Rachel, and her new husband Elimelech Mark) Kanal. When the Kanals emigrated to the United States in 1952, the
sifrei
Torah came with them.
Five years ago, one of the scrolls was restored and made kosher once again, and Reuven was able to
lain
from it for his bar mitzvah. Afterwards, the Kanal family wanted to find a meaningful home for it — and generously decided that Hillel Academy would be the perfect place. At the time, Emanuel Kanal said “People think Hillel Academy is about teaching, jobs, and careers, and it’s really about the future.”
“It’s awesome to have the Torah in the new building because it is an excellent opportunity to learn first hand about what became of Judaism during the holocaust,” says Reuven. “One emotion I feel today is pride in what my great-great-grandfather accomplished. He could have just left the rumors of buried
sifrei
Torah alone, but he chose to dig them up. It’s going to give Hillel Academy a chance to show the students something that was actually from the Holocaust and made it through.”
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The Hillel Academy Cross Country team raised over $350 for the Dayna’s Donors Kidney Walk by having a bake sale at the East End Cross Country Championship on Oct 7. The team not only ran and competedhard, but baked all of the treats. This National Kidney Foundation effort seeks to raise awareness about kidney disease and appreciate the donors who help save lives. There is another fundraiser on Nov 4 at the Pittsburgh Zoo.
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The Fourth Grade boys stamped their names into cookies using cuneiform, exactly the way this lettering was stamped into clay tablets in ancient days.
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Preschool Science in the Lab has started for the year. Our first lesson is about horns and antlers. The students get to see, hold and compare a variety of real horns and antlers and connect those to the animal that made them. They even get to blow a real bull horn! —Mr. Garwood
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The Bnot Sheirut played giant Chutes and Ladders!
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Mr. Sutton’s 7/8
th
Grade girls World Cultures class learned about the history and etiquette of using chopsticks, and then had a relay race to build a tower using only chopsticks.
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Clubs have started! Ms. Garcia from Bodyography teaches the girls ballet and the importance of stretching, while the Bnot Sheirut’s Israeli Cooking Club produces tasty treats each week!
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Angela and Christie from Rite Aid held a Flu Clinic at the school on Monday, where faculty and staff were able to get their annual flu shots —and a lollipop (of course).
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Students in Mrs. Friedman’s Ivrit class make learning fun by using technology to hear and see the language at play! The High School Girls, meanwhile, made crosswords.
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Some enterprising Fourth Graders and honorary Fourth Grader Mr. Werber entertained themselves during a rainy lunch recess by recreating the entire Star Wars pantheon in origami. Here we have Yoda! Click on the picture above to see Ezra Mandelbaum introduce you to the rest, including Darth Paper!
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Do you know how to floss? Rena Goldwasser and Daniella Sahel do! Wonder why this photo is a bit blurry? Check out the real-speed version by clicking the photo above or this link:
FLOSS-OFF!
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Anyone for cupcakes? Third Grader Kayla Swedarsky poses with some decorated treats, while Sixth Grader Galya Belman demonstrates what happens when you eat all the leftover green frosting, or as we like to put it, double-down on the dragon tongue look. Not scary at all. Nope.
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Look who the Admon family found in Jerusalem over Sukkot! Hillel Academy alumni who met up included: Tovia Jacobs, Boaz Bachrach, Jared Sufflebeam, Avigdor Felder, Yosef Cohen-Melamed, Yoni Admon, Moshe Wasserman, Ezra Kraut, and Avi Admon (picured at dinner with Jordan Margolis), Shira Nimchinsky, Rivky Saxon, Liora Nimchinsky, Rachel Cohen, Chana Kaminsky (not pictured), and current Hillel Academy students Tamar, Michal, Nava and Yaell Admon. Last year’s Bnot Sheirut Raz Ozeri and Shira Weinberger were there too, along with Naomi Morgenstern.
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This week’s Facebook Poll
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Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for daily photos, updates, and fun quizzes and contests!
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On Tuesday, the Fifth and Sixth grades toured replicas of Christopher Columbus’s ships, the Niña and Pinta, which were docked at Station Square, and serve as a floating museum. Columbus used the Niña, a caravel, for all three of his voyages to the New World, sailing it a total of 25,000 miles.
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What’s the difference between a ship and a boat?
Generally speaking, you can put a boat on a ship, but you can’t put a ship on a boat.
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Hillel Academy Fifth and Sixth Graders went on a guided tour of Christopher Columbus’s ships in an experience that brought American History to life! These ships, built by hand in Brazil in 1991, are floating museums which sail around the western hemisphere with a crew of volunteers. These ships are caravels, a common trading vessel used during the Age of Discovery. Our Fifth and Sixth Graders were privileged to learn firsthand about this fascinating era in history, to complement the American History they are both learning — Fifth Grade is focusing on early American History, while Sixth Grade is learning about the nineteenth through twenty-first centuries. — Mrs. Oz
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We have a new teacher in the school this year. Her name is Mrs. Huff and she is the STEAM coordinator. For those of you who don’t know what STEAM is, it stands for “Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.” This is the first year that Hillel Academy has a STEAM Coordinator, and because Mrs. Huff has held similar positions before and is a former science teacher and technology coach, she thought this would be a good fit. She says that her favorite aspect of STEAM “is taking Science and Engineering into classes that you wouldn't normally think they would fit and making people look at that class / subject in a different way.”
In addition to coordinating STEAM activities, Mrs. Huff teaches an AP computer science class. The class is an exploration of all things computer-related, including the history of binary communication, coding using JavaScript, cyber security, and how the internet and computing are affecting the global population.
Mrs. Huff is originally from Florida and lived there for 28 years before moving to Pittsburgh almost two years ago. She says “The weather lately reminds me of Florida — hot and humid. I thought I could escape it! I am ready for the crisp fall days to begin, but not so excited for the snowy winter just yet.” She went to school at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida. She got both her bachelor’s degree (B.A. Middle Grades Science Education) and master’s degree (M.Ed- Education Leadership)there.
One of Mrs. Huff’s responsibilities is running the after school Clubs. When asked which club she’d belong to, she says “Science is my one true love, so for this question, the answer is easy. I would love to be in the Science Fair club. This year students will have the opportunity to practice their science skills with hands on experimenting and then they will develop their own projects to take to competition. I would be there in a heartbeat!”
She travels over an hour each day to get to school — #dedication! She says she uses that time to catch up on news by listening to talk radio on the way in and unwinds by listening to country and Americana music on the way home. Now for some interesting and fun facts: Mrs. Huff’s favorite part of Hillel is the people and how friendly we are! ☺She has one dog, a five year old Maltese. She has a plush Beaker in her office and says, “I love Beaker because he is the comic relief in serious situations. No matter what Dr. Honeydew volunteers him for, he continues to be a loyal assistant/test subject — and who doesn't chuckle at a high-pitched, frantic “MEEP-MEEP”!
Mrs. Huff is a bit of a world traveler and her favorite place was Curaçao in the Caribbean, where “the buildings are all a gorgeous pastel, the water is crystal clear and the food is amazing!” She says she would go back in a heartbeat. You can always find sweet tea, leftover pizza, and lettuce in her fridge! And finally, the topic you've all been waiting for — how does she get her eyeliner so on point?! She confides that the keys are practice and patience. “Rome wasn’t built in a day!” And she assures us that there’s no need to break the bank over it — she uses a liquid liner from Dollar Tree.
Make sure you give her a shout-out if you see her in the many halls of Hillel. Welcome!
— Shoshana Kisilinsky
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WTAE’s Chief meteorologist Mike Harvey visited Hillel Academy on Wednesday to teach students about the weather. He was accompanied by Mr. Crazy Cary from the Carnegie Science Center. Students learned about the causes of extreme weather, weather safety, and volcanoes. His visit was even broadcast on the evening news! Watch
HERE
.
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Mr. Crazy Cary demonstrates the awesome power of an tornado by shooting a pencil through a block of wood! Watch the student’s reaction by clicking
HERE
!
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PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR:
If you have not yet picked up your calendar,
please do so from the main office. Thank you!
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A pale pink girl’s headband with charming ribbon pouf has made friends with a blue flower-decal elastic hairband in the Hillel Academy Lost & Found. Bonding over a mutual love of hair, these two have found a lasting joy in adversity, and continue to support and comfort one another until their owners collect them. When this happens, they plan on maintaining their friendship by becomming pen pals!
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Much-loved boy’s baseball mitt seeks owner! Does this mitt belong to you or someone you know? Nothing Miss Leah can do can comfort it as it spends each long and lonely day weeping and reminiscing about all the good times it and its owner had on the baseball field. “I just miss him so much!” the mitt cries, “and I know my owner misses me too!” Please rescue this noble mitt before it breaks our hearts!
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SIXTH GRADE WORDSEARCH
Download a PDF of this wordsearch by clicking on the picture of it or
HERE
.
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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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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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