Miriam Itzkowitz – Year 9

Word of the Week

PALLIATE to reduce the violence of a disease

Welcome

Jesse Koslowski to Year 8 Szenes.

 Exchange Program

We will soon farewell Natasha Gering (10), who will be spending three months in France on an exchange program. We wish her a rewarding time and look forward to hearing about her experience.

 HSC Examination update

• HSC examinations are on for the next few weeks. We wish the class of 2017 lots of luck in anticipation of their amazing results!
• Reminder: Don’t use the printer or normal entrance in or to the Millie Phillips Theatre. HSC exams are taking place and noise can be a distraction. There are other printers around the school too, so not all hope is lost!

Welcome back everyone! Hopefully you all had an amazing break! We recently celebrated Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur among other Jewish festivals. Yom Kippur is a time of repentance and forgiving for our sins and wrong-doings. This is also our chance to forgive people for their misbehaviour.

This got me thinking. We had some tragic events over the holidays. There was a mass shooting in Las Vegas. Dozens of people were murdered. Who do we blame? Who do we forgive? Can we forgive them? While that is the idea of Yom Kippur, can we really forgive someone for such terrible actions?

Some would argue, of course not! The person responsible for these people’s deaths can never be forgiven. However, what if I told you it wasn’t entirely his fault or that there are other people to blame who are at fault? Playing devil’s advocate, strictly speaking, we could say that the people who wrote the Second Amendment or whoever invented guns are responsible. While the man did buy the guns and kill the civilians, he was enabled to do so by the examples given. So, who do we blame? And can we forgive them?

See, this is where I’m puzzled because on one hand this wasn’t necessarily their intention in mind, but on the other hand, they could have foreseen something like this happening and make rules around guns’ uses. While this is open to discussion and entirely subjective, I think the main thing we need to think about is intention. If someone intentionally goes out of their way to hurt someone for no good reason, then we can’t forgive them. But if someone makes an honest mistake, then we can. As I said, this is completely open-ended, however, I think that it is important to think about world issues during this time and think about how we can relate it to our Jewish lives and think about our actions.

Have a great term everyone!

Mazel Tov

• Ms McMahon (now Mrs Minton) on her wedding late last term.
• Ms Philp on her wedding in the holidays
• Mr Bloom who will be getting married this weekend

Reminders

• No hat no play. Yes! It is that time of year again. The brightly shining sun is here! Please wear a hat at recess and lunch if you’re going to be sitting/eating out in the sun!

Quote of the Week

Let no man pull you low enough to hate them.

Martin Luther King, Jr

Puzzles

Try to make as many words as you can out of this word!:

FLOCCINAUCINIHILIPILIFICATION

Floccinaucinihilipilification is the act of regarding something as useless.

E-mail me your answers at itzkowitz.miriam@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au.

Whoever comes up with the most will get a prize.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Shabbat Shalom