From the Principal

I’ve had the pleasure this week of being a witness to our Year 10 students’ learning through the Night of Science and Wonder held yesterday afternoon and the presentations of global awareness projects in Geography yesterday morning. Both were impressive events and demonstrated the students’ enthusiasm for learning, particularly when they are able to choose to research topics that are relevant to them now and in the future.

Year 10 Geography Elective students have this term been working on projects around the global goals, under the watchful eyes of their teacher David Whitcombe and Dr Kate Sinclair from GCL (Global Citizen Leaders). The students selected a global goal, such as Clean Water, Poverty and Gender Equality, and developed plans to raise awareness about the related issues while also raising funds to assist communities that have significant problems in these areas. Many of their plans involved education of our students about the issues and I look forward to hearing more from the students next term as they enact their projects. Our thanks go to Dr Sinclair for the time and energy she has given to the students and to David Whitcombe for his support of the project this term.

Year 10 students have been working on their first-hand investigations in Science recently and had developed posters that summarized their work so that they could explain their processes and outcomes to their parents and teachers. It was a great testament to the power of learning to have a positive benefit on all to be in the Science labs yesterday, hearing the students’ enthusiasm and excitement in teaching us about their projects. Projects covered an amazing range of topics such as black holes, the physics of skateboards, the benefits of music on concentration, how planes fly, what colour light is best for plant growth, what temperature is best for yeast and so on. Congratulations to each Year 10 student and to their Science teachers on this very successful learning event.

Sedarim

This week has been full of Pesach celebrations and rituals, with each Primary class having their own special seder and the High School seders being held today (read the Primary page also for more details of their seders). Many parents and grandparents enjoyed watching their young children confidently playing parts and speaking in Hebrew as they enacted the Pesach events. Planning and rehearsing for these events take considerable time and effort for our Jewish Life staff and I congratulate them and the students on the success of each event and express our thanks for their hard work.

We particularly thank our P & F co-chairs Ruby Berkovic and Jen Opit, and other members of the P & F, who assisted with each seder this week. This was a great commitment and their help was much appreciated.  

Year 12

Our Year 12 students will be undertaking their Half-Yearly Examinations early next term and so will be doing some preparation during the holidays. Just as some students need to be reminded to include time for rest and relaxation, others need more encouragement to use their time wisely and efficiently to help them feel confident as they approach the examinations. A balance is important – there should be some time for rest, time with family and celebrations, time for socialising and exercise, as well as time for study/major works etc. We wish them well as they work towards their goals for success in this part of their HSC program.

March of the Living

We wish all the best to our Year 11 students who are setting out for the March of the Living Experience to Poland and Israel during the holidays. This has always been a very moving and life-changing experience for our students and this year is sure to be no exception. We look forward to welcoming them back to school next term and to hear their stories of the journey.

 Coming up

• First day of Term 2 for students, Thursday 27 April – students return in winter uniform
• Yom HaZikaron, 1 May
• Yom HaAtzmaut, 2 May
• Year 12 Half-Yearly Examinations, 3 – 10 May
• Breakfast with Emanuel, Wednesday 17 May, 7:30 am the Little Space at Bondi Junction
• Year 7 Study Skills Parents and Students evening, Tuesday 23 May, 6 pm
• Breakfast with Emanuel, Wednesday 24 May, 7:30 am, PwC Barangaroo

Please note the changed running times for the 697 School bus, starting from 26 April, as advertised in Ms Chopard’s page in this bulletin.

Quote of the week

‘The time is always right to do what is right.’ [Martin Luther King, Jr.]

I wish you all Chag Sameach for Pesach and a wonderful holiday enjoying time with your children. I look forward to welcoming them all back on 27 April.

Shabbat Shalom

Emanuel School Foundation

WHY A FOUNDATION?

As the Chairman of the Emanuel School Foundation I am often asked why a school – any school – needs a foundation. With the cost of private schools at a premium, the assumption of surplus and “plenty” abounds.  However, this assumption does not hold true across the community. There are many parents who are passionate about a Jewish education for their children but simply cannot afford it.

At Emanuel, with the spirit of tikkun olam embedded in the philosophy of Mind, Spirit, Being, it is particularly apt that we have a foundation to assist with bursaries, scholarships and in certain cases of financial difficulty in participating in school programs such as the Year 10 Chavayah experience.

Our Foundation is committed to helping as many in our community as possible receive an education – a Jewish education, an Emanuel School education.  

I am particularly proud that we are able to educate students who will, with Emanuel’s philosophy, be committed to the Jewish community, their heritage, ethical living and the State of Israel. Together we work to develop caring and contributing members of the Jewish community and Australian society.

As we approach the festival of Passover I am reminded how this story is one of the oldest and most inspiring stories of hope ever told. It speaks about the strength of a nation, and it is a story that more than a hundred generations of our ancestors handed to their children and that we do likewise millennia later.  We are the guardians of this narrative and of the history of our people.  I hope through our Foundation we too can give hope to others and continue to build an even stronger Emanuel community.

More information on our Foundation is available here.  

Charles Aronson

Chairman

Winter Uniforms

Maxine Chopard – Assistant to Deputy Principal

Winter Uniform Reminder

Please remember Terms 2 and 3 are Winter Uniform Terms.

High School:

• School blazer is to be worn to and from school. Blazers can be hung in lockers during the day
• Long or short trousers (boys) and grey pleated skirt or grey long or short trousers/pants (girls)
• Maroon pullover
• Long sleeved winter shirt (boys) and long sleeved winter blouse (girls)
• Black school socks (boys) and white school socks or opaque tights black (girls)
• Black leather or synthetic shoes (not runners)
• Grey, black or maroon gloves and scarf (optional).
• School tie and senior tie for Year 12.

‘Beanies’ are not permitted.

The Emanuel school bag is a compulsory school item.

Also BUS 697 has new running times from 26 April 2017.

From the Primary School

Emma Clemens and Natanya Milner

Get Reading Right

“More than any other subject or skill, our children’s futures are all but determined by how well they learn to read” by Dr Alex Granzin.

Earlier this term, we were lucky enough to have Jo-Anne Dooner from ‘Get Reading Right’ present on the synthetic phonics approach that we have introduced into our K-2 literacy programs at Emanuel this year. Jo-Anne highlighted the complexity of the English language and the reasons that learning to read, write and spell in English can be so complex. She highlighted the main vocabulary that is important in this synthetic phonics approach:

–       Phoneme: The smallest speech sound in a word

–       Grapheme: The way we write a phoneme.

–       Blending: Joining phonemes together to read words

–       Segmenting: Pulling phonemes apart to spell words

–       Decodable books: Books with words that need to be decoded (without picture prompts) so children cannot guess

–       Camera Words: High frequency, irregular and high utility words eg. the, was, are, today, about

The main components of our literacy programs include: Oral Language (speaking, listening and oral vocabulary), Reading (phonological awareness and phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension) and Writing (handwriting, spelling, grammar and composing).

The five main areas of reading are phonological and phonemic awareness (including rhymes),  phonics,  fluency (automatic word recognition, ie. being able to read at a functional speed so that attention and memory can be used for comprehension), vocabulary and comprehension. Jo-Anne focused on the importance of the first four areas being automatic so that attention can be given to comprehension. She states that children should not move through camera words until they can very quickly recall them.

Jo-Anne reminded us that learning to read and write is hard so we need to remember to be patient, supportive and curious. Jo-Anne reminded us that our children need to be ‘learning resilient’ and parents need to support them calmly but also expect their children to ‘step up’.

Her final message was: Read with your child everyday!

Please see the article from the Year 1 teachers for some more insight into phonics in the classroom.

Sedarim

This week we had seven Sedarim celebrations from Year K through to Year 6. Each grade had their own special ceremony or performance. It was lovely to have so many parents and family members share in these wonderful events. Thank you to the Hebrew and Jewish Studies Department for their incredible work to organise the Sedarim. It takes such a lot of time and energy to create such a beautiful range of events and is truly a team effort within the Hebrew and Jewish Studies team. Thank you especially to Hagit Bar-On, Adam Carpenter, Stacey Rosenfeld, Holly Dillon, the P&F and parent helpers for their tireless efforts. Thank you also to Michelle Goldman and Danny Burley for their engagin accompaniment and Ofer Levy for taking such beautiful photos for us. We are so lucky you have them all in our community.

Year 6 Gratitude Day

On Wednesday Year 6 participated in Gratitude Day. This is a special event to thank the Year 6 students for their fantastic work in their leadership of the Primary School. Each Year 6 student has a leadership portfolio including Madrichim, House Captains, Jewish Life, Art, Chess, SRC, Debating, IT, Charity, K-2 Play and Gross Motor. For the Term 1 Gratitude Day, students visited a local park and spent time at  Attractivity. Thank you to the Year 6 teachers for organising this event. Thank you to the Year 6 students for your leadership of the Primary School and your innovative, exciting and creative initiatives in your portfolios this term.

Years 3-6 Cross Country

On Thursday this week we had the Years 3-6 Cross Country Carnival at Queens Park. All students were encouraged to participate in this long distance event. It was great to see such enthusiasm and house spirit throughout the races. Thank you to Stuart Taylor, Adam Ezekiel and Sharon Fairfax for organising the event.

iPad Golden Rules

In the Primary School we have ‘iPad Golden Rules’ to assist students in purposeful and valuable use of technology that enhances learning. These Golden Rules have been outlined below.

Years K-2

1. No iPad at recess or lunch.
2. Only use the iPad you have been given for the lesson.
3. iPads closed in 5, 4, 3, 2,1.
4. Teacher chosen apps only.
5. Store in iPad trolley.
6. Do your best work.

Years 3-6

1. Only use apps that form part of the learning activity.
2. Only use school email and airdrop for communication related to learning (ask for permission).
3. Only play educational games at school.
4. Close your case when requested by your teacher (by the count of five).
5. Store your device in the iPad trolley at the end of the day and plug it in for charging.
6. Only use your iPad during teacher directed learning time.
7. When walking your iPad must be closed.
8. iPads are not to be used at lunch unless you are completing a learning task with a teacher.
9. Do not listen to recreational music when using your iPad.
10. Use the photo/video/audio functionality of device appropriately. Always ask permission before taking or sharing photos or videos.
11. Use the internet responsibly. Remember that teachers have the right to search internet history, camera roll images and downloaded apps. Students are not to clear internet history.

Upcoming Dates

• 27 April: First Day Term 2, Primary Lice Check
• 1 May: Y3-6 Yom HaZikaron
• 2 May: YK-6 Yom HaAtzmaut Celebrations
• 4 May: Y4-6 Before School Sport Training Commences
• 4 May: YK for 2018 Showcase, 8:45-9:45am Angles Leadership and Learning Centre
• 4 May: Y5 for 2018 Information Night, 7:00-8:30pm Millie Phillips Theatre
• 5 May: Monash Commemorative Service – House Captains attending, 11:00-12:25pm St Catherine’s School
• 9 May-11 May: Y3 and Y5 NAPLAN
• 10 May: Y4 Pathways Parent Information Night, 7:00-8:30pm Angles Leadership and Learning Centre
• 12 May: Mother’s Day Breakfast and Stall

Term 2 K-2 Assembly 2:00-2:50pm Millie Phillips Theatre

• 5 May (Week 2): eActive Dance Group
• 19 May (Week 4): Y2 Hebrew
• 2 June (Week 6): Shavuot, school closed
• 16 June (Week 8) 2T Mrs Strub
• 30 June (Week 10): Music Assembly

Primary Gifted and Talented

Colleen Elkins – Gifted and Talented Co-ordinator K-6

K-6 Gifted and Talented (G&T)Program

To reflect on the G&T program from K-6 for Term 1, I thought it might be helpful to do two things: a) collect some snippets and comments from the participants in G&T lessons (completely unscripted and reported below) and b) meet with teachers and G&T staff to review practices and summarise progress.

Firstly, from the students:

A scenario in Year 2 Mathematics whilst investigating metres, centimetres and millimetres.

Student 1: What about nanometres?

Student 2: What’s a nanometer?

Teacher: Let’s look it up.

Student 1: (gasping) it says there are 1 000 000 nanometres in a millimetre!

Where is my piece of paper? I am going to write this down, put it in my pocket

and keep it for my whole life! 

Student 3: Can we see if there is something smaller than a nanometre? (giggle)

Year 4 Literature

Since I’ve been in Extension Reading I’ve been reading much thicker and longer books.

 It is very interesting and I especially like learning about the ancient world!

Extension reading is such fun because a lot of stuff I think I know, I actually don’t, so I get to learn lots of things.

Year 1 Mathematics Lessons

We learn about stuff at a really hard level like Year 3 or Year 5. Sometimes we plus (add) really hard stuff. I like challenges.

It’s exciting because you don’t know what you’re going to do.

It’s my favourite subject because it’s really hard.

As a practitioner in the field one often hears the statement that: ‘A gifted child is gifted all of the time’. For this reason, it is our duty to cater for these students in as many areas of their school life as possible. To this end, planning meetings are used for the extensive sharing of expertise about the characteristics of gifted students and to ensure that the content level and design of curriculum will engage and challenge these students.

Meetings have occurred over the last two weeks to reflect and collaboratively plan for Term 2. It is delightful to see how excited teachers get about providing for their most capable students. We are lucky to have such inspired teachers at Emanuel School. G&T provisions will continue to take the form of either a withdrawal group or a small group working with a teacher in the classroom.

Below are a few interesting websites that you/your child may like to investigate.

For students: www.timeforkids.com/     

www.kidsites.com/sites-edu/science.htm

www.freerice.com (especially good for vocabulary building)

www.abc.net.au/btn/ (news in student speak and topical issues).

Websites for parents and students

www.hoagiesgifted.org/gifted_101.htm

Websites for Parents

www.sylviarimm.com/parentingarticles.html

I wish you all a lovely break.

From Year 6 Art Leaders

Art Leaders Excursion to Sabbia Gallery

Last Friday, the Year 6 art leaders, Talia Rabin, Georgia Meyerowitz, Jordin Sank, Isabelle Cahn and Ella Hart, visited the Sabbia Gallery in Glenmore Road Paddington, with Ms Heilpern to view a ceramics exhibition that links with our Visual Arts program, Pots That Tell Stories. We all enjoyed the exhibition and thought that the detail and techniques in the pots were incredible. We loved the style and paintings on the pot that were about the wildlife around Hermannsburg. While we were at the gallery, we talked about colour, painting techniques, shape, detail, what stood out, and how they displayed the pots. We learnt a lot and enjoyed seeing the amazing pots.

Ella Hart

Phonics Fun from Year 1

Rolene Silver

Talia Hynek

In Year 1, students have been learning lots of different phonemes (sounds) and the ways that these phonemes can be represented by graphemes (letters). For example, the phoneme /ee/ (long e sound) can be represented by the graphemes: ee/ea/y/e and the more difficult representations: e_e/ei/ey/ie.

English is complicated! There are 26 letters (graphs) of the alphabet, 44 phonemes and over 100 combinations of letters to make these sounds. We do lots of different activities to learn our phonemes, graphemes and Camera Words. Check us out having phonics fun below with crosswords, fab and fake sorting, puppet shows, find-a-words, quick-tick, roll and spell and whiteboard work.

Bring on Term 2!

Year 1 Teachers,

Talia Hynek and Rolene Silver

Primary EActive Term 2

Adam Ezekiel – PDHPE Teacher

Bookings for Primary EActive in Term 2 are now open! In Term 2 the following activities will be offered:

• Basketball (Years 3-6)
• Tennis (Years 3-6)
• Dancing (Years K-2)
• Dancing (Years 3-6)
• Hip Hop Dancing (Years 3-6)
• Multi-Sport Games (Years K-3)
• Karate (Years K-6)
• Futsal (Years 3-6)
• Netball (Years 3-6)
• Gymnastics (Years K-6)
• X-Country Training / Fitness (Years 3-6)
• Swimming (Years 3-6)

Primary Extra-curricular Clubs

Emma Hill – Primary Teacher and Extra-Curricular Leader

Term 2 Extra-curricular Clubs

All Term 2 Clubs can be viewed online through the Parent Portal in the ‘Extra-Curricular’ tab (see below). Parents are now able to enrol students online for the majority of paid clubs using our Parent Portal link:

https://myportal.emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au/parent/extra-curricular/

Please note classes have minimum enrolment numbers. Classes will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

 Mondays

Advanced Junior Engineers 3:40 – 4:25pm

Beginners Junior Engineers 3:40 – 4.25pm – NEW

ChiFUNese Mandarin 3:35 – 4:35pm – Beginner

Tuesdays

Typing4Kids 3:45 – 4:45pm

Wednesdays

Dramatic Action 3:30 – 4:30pm

Thursdays

JeSTAR 3:45 – 5pm

Art Club 3:45 – 4:45pm – NEW

Please contact clubs directly if you have any questions. For all other queries please contact Emma Hill – ehill@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

From the Primary Library

Ginette Cameron Gardner – Teacher/Librarian

Today is the last day of Term 1 and students have been borrowing reading material for the holidays. Many parents are also borrowing for their child(ren).

We have a strong reading culture in the Primary School and loan rates per capita are high.

Many parents and students have already started to enter their reading for the Premier’s Reading Challenge.

The students in Years 2 to 6 can check their ID and password with their class teachers. New students and Year 1 students can commence making a list of the title and author of the books they have read so that they are prepared to enter them en masse when they receive their ID and password next term.

We welcome the whole Emanuel Community to come and borrow great reading for the Holiday period.

Happy reading

Visual Arts after school

Two new after school classes are available for students who want to enrich their practice in Visual Arts.The classes will provide the opportunity for keen students to develop their artmaking skills in clay, sculpture, lino printing and more.

Extra-curricular Visual Arts

Who: Years 7 – 8

When: Tuesdays 3.45pm – 4.45pm

Where: Visual Arts room L31

Commencing term 2:  Weeks 2 – 9

Cost: $110 (all materials provided)   

Primary Art Club

Who: Year 3 – 6

When: Thursday 3.45pm – 4.45pm

Where: Primary Visual Arts room L34

Commencing term 2:  Weeks 2 – 9

Cost: $110 (all materials provided)

Sarah Clark – Visual Arts Teacher

Run by: Visual Arts Teacher, Sarah Clark

For all enquiries please contact: sclark@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au 

Limited spaces available.

From the Head of Jewish Life

/דיינוDayeinu

The one word, besides matsah, most often associated with Pesach and the Seder is dayeinu.

Little known, however, is how Dayeinu entered into our Pesach ritual and celebration.

Scholars contend that the Dayeinu (“It is sufficient for us”) passage made its way into the Haggadah precisely because (of the assertion that) it was “not sufficient for us”. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, spoke the following words in his Easter homily:

“O ungrateful Israel, come here and be judged before Me for your ingratitude…

How high a price did you place on the ten plagues, the crossing of the Re(e)d Sea…

the gift of manna from heaven…the gift of Law…and the Land as an inheritance?”

The Dayeinu passage is a direct counter statement by the Rabbis, as these sample lines demonstrate:

“Had He not brought judgements (plagues) against them, it is sufficient for us.

Had He not split the Red Sea, it is sufficient for us.

Had he not satisfied our needs forty years in the desert and not fed us manna, it is sufficient for us.

Had he not given us the Torah, it is sufficient for us.

Had He not brought us into the Land of Israel, it is sufficient for us.”

Indeed, the Bishop’s opening and closing words, respectively, “O ungrateful Israel” and “all the benefits accrued you” are met with the following opening and closing words of Dayeinu: “How many levels of goodness has God bestowed upon us” and “How much good, doubled and redoubled has God done for us”.

Significantly, Melito’s observations were not unfounded. Throughout the Biblical Exodus narrative, we hear from the complaining Israelites who are not satisfied and are presented as ungrateful by both God and Moses for “all the benefits accrued them”, particularly those cited by this Bishop. And, the Rabbis and any reader of the Bible, Christian or Jew, knows this.

In creating and inserting Dayeinu into our Haggadah, we see our Rabbis, then, as presenting us with a remarkable, radical re-reading of the Exodus narrative. Our tradition teaches that our Seder is to be a re-enactment of the Exodus story by virtue of each of us personally experiencing liberation from the enslavements of our mitsrayim (Egypt). Accordingly, in this Dayeinu passage, our Rabbis are presenting not a revisionist but a redemptive narrative (Haggadah). Let not our ancestors’ enslavement be ours, as well. The fear of unmet needs should never become for us, as it was for the Israelites, a litany of unlimited wants.

Today, the rollicking refrain of Dayeinu is a reminder of the rampant and reckless excess confronting present day society. פרעה, the Hebrew word for Pharaoh includes the root word פרע signifying unbridled and unrestrained desire and behaviour.

In considering our personal lives, our family, community and planet, let us not become ourselves the Pharaoh we seek to escape. At our seder, let us resolve to live the word Dayeinu, “it is sufficient for us” so no one need survive upon the “bread of affliction” and together we can drink from the “cup of redemption”.

הא לחמא עניא, דאכלו אבהתנא בארעא דמצרים, כל דכפין ייתי ויכול, כל דצריך ייתי ויפסח השתא עבדין, לשנה הבאה בני חורין

This is the Bread of Affliction which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Whoever is hungry come and eat. Whoever is in need come and share Pesach with us. Now we are enslaved may we work to soon be free.

 ~Haggadah~

Divrei Torah

Student Divrei Torah

The following student Divrei Torah were written for and delivered in our Years 8 -11 Minyanim, respectively. Rabbi Siegel

Georgia Kahane – Year 8

Today we continue reading the third book of the Torah, Vayikra, as this week’s parashah is Tsav.

In Tsav we learn about the different sacrifices that God told Moses, Aron and his sons to make. These sacrifices were to thank God and to apologise for wrong doing.

The teachings from the Book of Vayikra, such as those in this week’s parashah, concerning ritual sacrifice, seem less relevant today for multiple reasons, such as the lack of a Temple and because sacrificing animals seems really cruel.

But sacrifices in the Mishkan, and later in the Temple are part of our heritage. In the period of time that we are talking about, sacrificial gifts were a primary way to express thanks to God.

I know at first glance; animal sacrifice may seem like a ‘stone age’ practice. But, it can also be seen as representative of a world view in which animals were considered precious, eaten rarely, and with respect.

Everyone has probably loved an animal at some point in his/her lives, whether it be a pet or that one dog in the window of the pet shop that looks really sad. But today, animal species becoming extinct, while sad, isn’t rare. We frown upon our ancestors killing of animals as described in the Torah, but are we any better?

We have driven so many animals to extinction because we hunt them ceaselessly. Animals are driven to extinction, such as lions, rhinos, elephants, and more, because of trophy hunting and profit. There are only about 20,000 lions left in Africa, and every nine and a half hours a rhino is shot and killed for its horns and every hour five elephants are killed for their tusks.

We kill sheep, cows and chickens for food and we kill tigers, elephants and sharks for profit or decoration. I think we need to think about our practices, and not simply frown upon the ancient ones.

But there are still ways we can help. We can help stop animal cruelty in our lives and treat animals with the respect that they deserve by giving money or time to organisations like Voiceless: The Animal Protection Institute. Voiceless speaks out for animals and makes their cause known to Australians.

Let us all treat each other and the animals around us with respect, and don’t frown upon the ancient traditions of animal sacrifice without taking a closer look at our own practices.

Georgie Kahane

Rachel Turtledove – Year 10

Lara Rutstein – Year 10

What rituals do you follow or have in your own life?

This week’s parashah is Tsav, meaning Command! It is a long one, describing the various sacrifices offered in the Mishkan; the Tabernacle (and later in the Temple) which God instructs Moshe to command Aharon to institute. “Sacrificing” is a major ritual that occurs and is described multiple times in the Torah.

We will summarise the content of the different aliyot in this Torah portion.

The first aliyah involves God telling Moshe to command Aharon to remove ashes from the altar, daily. This is the first order of the day in the Temple service. This is necessary as Aharon is commanded to keep the fire burning and never let it die out.

The sacrifices are purification rituals for the individual as well as the community. So, for the first offering, the burnt offering, the kohen gadol, the high priest, gets dressed in his fine linen and gathers the ashes that would have been burning in the fire and places them next to the altar. Then he changes his clothes and takes the ashes to a place far from the camp and the general area, all while ensuring that the fire doesn’t die out.

The second aliyah speaks about the priestly meal offering which is brought by the kohen gadol, twice a day. This is unlike the common kohen, who brings his offering only on the day of his inauguration. This aliyah also describes the laws of the sin offering and the guilt offering. The sin offering involves an animal being slaughtered and eaten, however, it must be eaten in a holy place. Anything or anyone that touches this offering is considered holy. The guilt offering, likewise, involves an animal being slaughtered, and the priest making sure the fat from the meat smokes as a fire offering to God.

Then, the third aliyah includes additional laws of the peace offering but, in addition to this, explains the portions of the offering that have to be shared with the kohanim (the priests).

The remainder of the aliyot describe the first seven days of the inaugural process for Aharon and his four sons. Moshe officiated the entire inaugural process. Aharon and his sons were not allowed to leave the Mishkan the entire time and had to do things such as bathe and dress there. Moshe sanctified them, making them the holiest of holy priests.

The idea of practising rituals, and their need to be meaningful, is evident and prominent in this week’s parashah. But first, what is a ritual?

Well, according to Google, a ritual is “a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order”. However, a ritual can also refer to a consistent series of actions or behaviours that can be followed by someone.

So, in this parashah, if the high priests were only told to “sacrifice the animal,” it would not be as much of a meaningful ritual compared to how they were told to prepare the animal and do everything before sacrificing it. The small, detailed things they were told to do before sacrificing the animal made the ritual more meaningful and important, as well as ensuring that it was established as a ritual, instead of it just being something that some people do.

Everyday, we have rituals that we follow, whether we see them that way or not. Footy night with our families, games night, holiday meals and just sitting around the dining room table every night with one another. These are all rituals.

As well as this, there are marriage rituals and rite of passage, like Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremonies. In life, we all need rituals, they are a way to create memories that you can cherish for a lifetime and truly add to the overall experience. If we did not have rituals in our daily lives, we would be lacking in some of the most powerful tools for expressing our identity. Rituals provide another way of giving focus to our desires and needs in life.

So we ask again, what rituals do you already have in your own life? And, which upon thinking, do you now recognise you have been practising without realising it? There may be many more than you know. Either way, which rituals do you want to begin in your life and which do you want to abandon?

Rachel Turtledove and Lara Rutstein

Year 9 visit Rose Bay Seniors

Paying a Pre-Pesach Visit to Rose Bay Seniors

Madeleine Liger – Year 9

On Monday, our Year 9 Jewish Studies class with Rabbi Siegel went to the B’nai B’rith Retirement Village in Rose Bay. The afternoon was spent speaking with the residents of the home and learning about their lives and families.

We performed songs like Dayeinu and Mah Nishtanah to help our hosts anticipate with smiles the upcoming Pesach holiday. And, we served them tea while we enjoyed the various biscuits and cold drinks they provided us. Before we left we distributed gift boxes of Matsah, wishing our hosts chag sameach.

It was interesting to hear about all the memories and stories they shared with us and it was fun to perform and get our new friends to join in when singing the songs. It was a great experience teaching us about the special bond religion plays in joining us all together, from different generations, to celebrate Pesach.

We share with you below, some photos from our visit.

Ma Koreh

Weekly Torah Portion:

Shabbat HaGadol Parashat Tzav Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36 צו

In Parashat Tzav, the five major types of קרבנות korbanot (sacrifices) are discussed again. This time Moshe speaks specifically to the  כוהניםKohanim (Priests), including his brother Aaron and his sons, rather than to the entire Jewish people. As Moshe is now talking to the “professionals,” the information is more detailed and geared more specifically to the responsibilities of Kohanim. These details include the taking of the ashes from the altar out of the camp, the Kohanim’s clothing, rules for who may eat the priestly portion of the sacrificial offerings and how it is to be eaten, and the importance of keeping the fire going on the altar. The parashah ends with a description of the consecration of the Tabernacle and the ordination of Aharon and his sons as Kohanim. The משכן Mishkan is now ready to be used.

Family Discussion

During the time of the משכן Mishkan and Temple, the Israelites bought offerings and sacrifices to express thanksgiving and gratitude. What does gratitude mean for us in our lives today?

• Why is it important to express gratitude for the blessings and positives in our lives?
• What might we miss out on when are not grateful?
• What are some different ways we can show gratitude?
• Share things that you are grateful for in your life.
• How can we learn to appreciate ourselves and those around us more?

Yiddish Phase of the Week

Expand your Pesach Experience via the Internet

Pesach music – traditional and contemporary

Passover Rhapsody – A Jewish Rock Opera music video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRWNrk7FxG4

Six13 – Uptown Passover (An Uptown Funk for Pesach):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Q7Jo7FkLH4

The Maccabeats – Les Miserables:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmthKpnTHYQ

The Maccabeats – Dayenu:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZgDNPGZ9Sg

Chava Alberstein – Had Gadya:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHdVYy5B6JM

Moshe Oshey – Chady Gadyo:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr4LSdALxpI

Making Connections – Contemporary Slavery and the Seder

As we retell and remember our historic experience of slavery and freedom at Pesach, the Seder provides opportunities to raise awareness on the scourge of slavery, with an estimated 21 million people enslaved in our world today.  

Slavery in the supply chain of goods we buy: Take a survey to see your slavery footprint

http://slaveryfootprint.org

End Slavery Now: Learn more about slavery and what can be done to help end it

www.endslaverynow.org/learn/slavery-today

Free the Slaves: Organisation devoted to liberating slaves today:

www.freetheslaves.net/about-us/mission-vision-history/

Pesach Seder supplements to raise awareness and action on contemporary slavery:

www.freetheslaves.net/take-action/faith-in-action-ending-slavery/

New Symbolic foods for the Seder Plate to represent contemporary slavery:

http://forward.com/opinion/172965/a-statement-on-your-seder-plate/

 A Taste of Pesach at Emanuel

Here is a sample of what took place this week in the lead up to Pesach in the Primary School this week

Year K: Students told the Pesach story of the Jewish people’s journey from slavery to freedom with lots of joyous singing, dancing and acting. Kornmehl students were special guests at this seder.

Year 1: Pesach Seder – a more traditional sit-down seder run by the children involving drama, dancing and singing.

Year 2: Pesach Seder – a more traditional sit-down seder led by the students in Hebrew and English, involving drama, dancing and singing. Proud parents and grandparents joined the students in a festive dance to conclude the seder.

Year 3: Parents and grandparents enjoyed a Pesach Seder conducted by the students in Hebrew, involving singing, dancing dramatic performances, a visit from Eliyahu HaNavi and plenty of matzah.

Year 4: Students, their parents and grandparents enjoyed a Pesach learning experience exploring the symbolism of the number 4 in the Seder: 4 names for Pesach, 4 cups of wine, 4 children, 4 questions. Students researched these areas in groups and shared their learning in presentations. They then joined their families to create Pesach related art on those themes.

Year 5: Students performed an upbeat Pesach concert, retelling the Pesach story through drama, dance, and singing traditional and contemporary Pesach songs. Students created movies exploring the concepts of freedom and slavery, interviewing teachers to learn more about what freedom means to them.

Year 6: This was a learning Seder experience filled with singing, questions and answers, quizzes, a rap battle between Moshe and Pharaoh and student presentations and reflections on the 10 plagues (traditional and contemporary), the 4 children and dayeinu.

 Thank you – Todah Rabbah תודה רבה

It would have been impossible for these events to occur without the help and support of many people in the Emanuel School community. So, a big thank you to everyone involved in this week’s celebrations, with special mention to:

• Ruby Berkovic and Jen Opit, P&F powerhouses who made it all happen  
• Our parent volunteers who assisted in set up and clean ups
• The parents and grandparents who came and supported these events
• Ofer Levy and Derek Manoy for taking photos
• Danny Burley and Michelle Lowy for bringing their music talents to our Pesach celebrations during rehearsals and performances
• Ben Marshall and Nathanael Clarke for IT support
• Miriam and Gayle in the Canteen for donating and preparing all the eggs for the seder
• The Jewish Life Leaders and Year 6 helpers who made charoset for the students
• Maintenance for all the schlepping and all the set ups, pack ups, set ups, pack ups…
• The Primary class teachers for their time and support
• The Hebrew and Jewish Studies teachers for their energy in preparing the students
• Stacey Rosenfeld and Holly Dillon for making everything happen
• The wonderful Primary students who rehearsed, prepared, sung, danced and performed so beautifully.

Year 7 Synagogue Day

The Great, Emanuel and Coogee Synagogues

Last Tuesday 28 March, Year 7 visited The Great, Emanuel and Coogee Synagogues as well as Chabad Double Bay. By visiting these synagogues, students explored the shared values, similarities and differences between the various streams within Judaism represented by these synagogues and their clergy. We hope that this will help nurture a culture of respect and understanding amongst our students as they begin the Bar/Bat Mitzvah years and their own Jewish journey.

Here are some of our students’ reflections and messages of appreciation to the Rabbis we met.

The great synagogue

When we entered the synagogue the first impression we got was a warm and cozy feel. It had a vintage grandeur that made me feel comfortable and amazed at the same time. It was interesting learning about the history of the synagogue and its relation to the architecture. We loved learning about how this orthodox synagogue had so much history but was also rising to modern times. It was definitely an experience to remember.

Thank you, Rabbi Elton.

Mirabelle Mirvis and Anna Davis

Chabad double bay

Dear Rabbi Berger

On behalf of Emanuel School year 7, we would like to give you a massive thank you. Your amazing words touched us, and the uniqueness of your stories really explained what you were trying to tell us, in a way that was entertaining and enjoyable for everyone. The importance of your words also impacted on our future, and how we are going to cherish it, as well as to maximise it. You are truly inspiring to all you lecture to, and the moral of all of these lectures give an extremely significant life lesson to children even at the age of 12. Personally, you have made me realise how grateful and happy I should be, and the way that I shall take on life’s challenges and difficulties. I hope to hear more from you soon.

Hunter Weinberg

Emanuel Synagogue

Dear Rabbi Ninio

I really appreciate the talk yesterday. I loved all of the facts and different opinions! I learnt so much and I thank you for the experience.

Wishing you a wonderful pesach!

Jasmine Barea ??

I liked going to all the Orthodox shuls and then going to a Progressive shul to see the difference between them even though they are both counted as Jewish Synagogues. I liked the Emanuel shul better because boys and girls are equal and that’s what I believe in. I learnt that the bimah normally is in the middle of the shul but it is now in the front. I also learned that most of the synagogues have stained glass windows with no animal or human images on them. Overall I thought the Synagogue Day was a excellent experience for all the Year 7s.

Tori Shapiro

COOGEE Synagogue

Dear Rabbi Gestetner

I hope you are doing well! I just wanted to mention how great your shul is and how amazingly you are running that shul. My grandpa was the founder of that shule (Mikki Schwartz) and he would always go to that shul every Friday and always sit in the spot closest to the wall and Bimah. As well as that, you also married my parents (Karen and Ron Bowen). Anyway, I really enjoyed everything you talked about and I think your shul is really gorgeous and and beautiful. This shul means so much to me considering that my Grandpa who passed away was the founder and was there every Friday for Shabbat. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us about Coogee Shul.

Eliza Bowen

Morah Gaida, Remy Waller, Jasmine Barea, Rabbi Gestetner, Eden Glass, Ben Cohen, Myles Cohen at Coogee Synagogue

Casey Flior, Rabbi Yanki Berger, Matthew Lowy and Justin Faul at Chabad,, Double Bay

Rabbi Triguboff, Rabbi Ninio and Reverend Zwarenstein at Emanuel Synagogue

Year 7 students admire the Menorah at The Great Synagogue

From the Head of Music

David Gwilliam – Head of Music

Deadline – Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program

The deadline for new enrolments, notification of changes or intention to discontinue private tuition or Infants String Program for Term 2, has now passed.  All students currently receiving private music tuition and students participating in the Infant Strings Program will be automatically entered into tutor schedules for next term, committed to the full term of lessons and liable for the full term of fees. Please contact me, by email to music@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

Final call for Music Campers

We have a wonderful group of talented students registered to attend our annual Emanuel School Music Camp in June. Our participants list is being finalised and a detailed information letter with a packing list will be sent out to attendees next term. If you are unsure whether you have registered or not, please check that your name is on the lists on the noticeboard in the Music Department.   

Information about Music Camp, eligible ensembles and how to sign up has been published in Ma Nishma over several weeks this term and mailed directly to the parents of students in all eligible ensembles. Hard copies of the information have been displayed in the music department. Some parents have asked whether they are too late to sign up. We are still accepting bookings but please register as soon as possible via the links below.  

To register and pay for Music Camp 2017, please paste the following link into your internet browser:  www.trybooking.com/PBPZ

 To complete the online permission note, please paste the below address into your browser: https://goo.gl/forms/IVsKejmwo8M9hUZK2

For your reference, here are the Music Camp 2017 dates for your diary:

Monday 5 June: students arrive at Emanuel at 8.30am (for departure at 9.00am sharp).

Wednesday 7 June: depart Naamaroo and return to school by 5.30pm to go home with parents.

Thursday 8 June:  camp continues at school from 9.30am sharp.

Thursday 8 June:  Showcase Concert at 6.15pm, concluding by 7.40pm.

Year 10 PDHPE

Ray Francis – Head of PDHPE

Year 10 PDHPE ‘5 Pools Challenge’

Congratulations to Year 10 who participated in the inaugural ‘5 Pools Challenge’ as a culminating event of their PDHPE program during Term 1.

Students were challenged to travel 14 km from Malabar to Bondi, swimming in five ocean pools along the way.

The journey began by travelling through the new National Park on Malabar Headland, before continuing along the coast via Mahon Pool Maroubra, Wylies Baths Coogee, Clovelly Pool, Bronte Pool and finally Icebergs in Bondi.

These pools have supported the fitness and wellbeing of generations of Sydneysiders lucky enough to live in the east, so hopefully Year 10 will get to do the same in the years ahead.

Well done to everyone who rose to the challenge.

High School Swimming

Association of Independent Co-Educational Schools (AICES) Swimming Championships

On Thursday March 30, ten of Emanuel’s elite swimmers represented the Combined District Secondary Sports Association (CDSSA) at the AICES Swimming Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. It was fantastic to see such a dedicated swim squad attend this representative event.

Jared Elbourne and Gabriella Goodridge

Gabriella Goodridge had a busy program swimming in several events on the day. She was victorious in the 50m Freestyle and placed third in the 50m butterfly.

Jared Elbourne competed in six events on the day and came away with a gold medal in the 50m breaststroke. Gabriella and Jared have now both qualified to represent AICES and Emanuel School at the Combined Independent Schools (CIS) Swimming Championships to be held early next month.

It was exciting to have two Emanuel relays also compete on the day, with our school and association finishing in good places on the overall points table.

Congratulations to our CDSSA swimming representatives on a very successful event: Jordan Behr, Jade Berson, Dylan Christie, Jared Elbourne, Gabriella Goodridge, Dylan Herdan, Mark Kang, Matthew Lowy, Jack Smagarinsky and Daniel Van Sluys Erlich.

ACIES 2017 team. From left to right: Dylan Christie, Matthew Lowy, Gabriella Goodridge, Jack Smagarinsky, Jade Berson, Dylan Herdan, Daniel Van Sluys Erlich, Jordan Behr and Mark Kang

Kristy Reed

PDHPE Teacher

High School EActive

Kristy Reed – Sports Co-ordinator & PDHPE Teacher

High School EActive

Bookings for Term 2 are now open and there are still places in most of the options. Registrations close on Tuesday and places are filling quickly so it is important that registrations are completed at www.trybooking.com/FNNJ

Activities offered in Term 2 include:

• 14 Boys basketball training and competition
• 16 Boys basketball training and competition
• Open boys basketball training and competition
• Girls netball competition
• Girls fitness
• Boys fitness
• Rugby development program
• Swim squad training
• Gymnastics
• Tennis
• Year 7/8 boys and girls basketball development squad
• Pilates
• Indoor trampolining at Skyzone
• Running group
• Crossfit NEW!
• Hip Hop dancing NEW!

 If you have any questions please email Kristy Reed (High School Sports Co-ordinator) on: kreed@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Rabin Bugle

Shabbat Shalom Rabinites

The holidays have arrived! It’s Friday and two weeks of fun, rest and recovery lay ahead and wonderful term behind us. Camps, carnivals, competitions and concerts have this term brightened up our weeks, as we settled into routines, schedules and a busy new school year.

Rabin House ‘grew’ this term with the new Year 7s starting their High School journey and we also welcomed new students across the Year Groups to Emanuel School and the Rabin family. We have already shared many laughs, fond memories and this is just the first term!

Our Years 11 and 12 students have continued to lead by example and been fine role models for the younger students. House Captains, Peer Support and Madrichim leaders have organised events, supported a range of initiatives and kept the House spirit going. It has been great to also see many students who do not hold formal leadership positions take initiative, pursue their passions and engage their peers and the wider community. Rabin House would like to especially commend Eli Picker, Adam Riesel, Adena Sheps, Brianna Gadley, Romy Berson, Lauren Faul on their efforts and for being generous with their time.

Students in Year 11 have the opportunity to participate in the March of the Living Program. It is a journey of growth and discovery and we wish Edan Amsalam, Alanah Borman, Romy Berson, Jonathan Mane, Danielle Miller, Kiara Rosen-Tal, and Arielle Werner a safe and rewarding journey, as they travel through Europe and Israel and strengthen their bond with our culture and history.

This week, Rabin House gave Mr Rembson a wonderful and heartfelt farewell in our House Assembly and wished him and his partner a wonderful time in Europe over the next three terms. Today was really special for me. It meant a lot. Thank you to every student, the Tutors and our House Captains for the moment. I did not expect anything like this and it is a moment and memory I cherish and will always carry with me. Mr Rembson.

A quick reminder that Adam Ezekiel, will be acting Head of House for Rabin in Terms 2, 3 and 4. Mr Ezekiel’s contact details are: Phone (02) 9398 8388 – Extension 338. Email: aezekiel@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

That’s the Bugle this week. We leave you with a couple photos from the term with Purim celebrations and Rabin’s successful Swimming Carnival. Have a great holiday.

Kol Szenes

Mazal Tov to the following Szenesians

Eden Levit – Year 6 and Ellie Morris – Year 7

KANGA Cup

Congratulations to Ellie Morris (7) whose team capped off an excellent season by winning the KANGA Cup, which is the biggest soccer tournament in the southern hemisphere. The team was also awarded the Maccabi best team of the year. Ellie now plays for UNSW. Well done Ellie!

 Cross Country Age Champions

12 Years girls Olivia Beinart (7)

16 Years girls Cleo Woolf (10)

16 Years boys Jake Hyman(10)

Touch Football Grand Final winners including Year 10 students:

Tasha Lapidge, Zoe Miller and Alexa Narunsky.

CDSSA Touch Football Representatives

Jared Kleviansky (10), Elijah Grynberg (9), Jake Kurlansky (11), Jake Hyman (10)

 CDSSA Swimming Representatives

Mark Kang (7), Max Leveton (11) and  Matthew Lowy (7)

From our House Captains, Isabella Kidman and Charlie Wrublewski

Welcome to the last week of school Szenesians!! After a long 10 week term, we are finally approaching holidays. Here is a brief update of what happened this term!  In House Assemblies, we have been heavily focusing on mediation for the last two weeks of term. The Szenes Leadership team wanted to advocate mindfulness and a calm approach to school life, especially when the last weeks of term can often induce excess stress, given that important assessments and Performances of Understanding are due. We have also focused on happiness and taking a holistic approach to stress and life itself. We hope you have enjoyed the Assemblies as much as we have and taken something form the activities to contribute to your everyday life.

During the holidays, we will celebrate Pesach. This is an important festival in Judaism to evaluate how lucky we are and appreciate what we have, whilst we speak about our ancestors. This week the High School prepared for Pesach. On Friday morning, Years 7-11 participated in a Seder. Each Year Group were with another Year Group as they focused on an important element of the Pesach story, facilitated by our Jewish Life Leaders. Year 12 participated in their chocolate Pesach Seder at the end of the day, whilst discussing contentious issues including slavery and oppression. We hope everyone will enjoy their Seders and Pesach celebrations, a great way to end a busy term.

We wish safe travels to all the Year 11s including Szenes students Sara Bortz, Jake Kurlansky, Max Leveton and Liron Smith who will take part in a once in a life-time experience whilst on the March of the Living program. They will leave for Poland and Israel on 19 April. We are sure it will be an amazing and insightful trip, enjoy!!

Liron wrote about the impending program: ‘my motivation in attending on this trip is to experience a wonderful change within myself to open my horizon to the world outside the Eastern suburbs ‘bubble’. Thank you Ms Hastings for the wonderful gifts of a diary and candle.’

To everyone in Szenes House, we hope your holidays are an opportunity to reflect on the School term, relax but most of all have fun!! We wish all the Year 12s good luck when studying for Half-Yearly Examinations during their holidays as well. Thank you for being the best House this term, we cannot wait for another great one!!

Tashi Gering updated us on some recent Year 10 Activities

Last Friday, Year 10s had the wonderful opportunity of participate in the Five Pools Challenge. This was a PDHPE expedition where we walked from Malabar to Bondi, stopping at swimming destinations in the pools and on the beaches. The weather started off seeming abysmal and high-tide prevented us from swimming in some pools, but the sun came eventually came out turning into a beautiful day. The swimming not only helped us de-stress and build up fitness, but many students used it as an opportunity to raise money for a fundraiser called Swim Safe. Swim Safe teaches young Ethiopian children how to swim to lower the risk of drowning. Not only was Friday lots of good fun, we managed to raise money for each lap we took.

On Thursday, The Night of Science and Wonder was held and parents, teachers and students alike were baffled with the creativity displayed and the sheer scientific talent of the Year 10 students. Each student had the opportunity to investigate and research a topic that they were interested in, designing an experiment based around that topic. The students then presented their findings on posters and displays that proved to be motivational in furthering and nurturing future scientific interest and motivating others.

Coming Up

Many Emanuel School students will be participating in the Maccabi Games, including the following Szenes students:

Junior Netball – Gina Seligsohn (11) and Shai Stern (11)

Junior Basketball – Amy Collins (11) and Jake Hyman(10)

Futsal – Joel Epshteyn (11)

Soccer – Justin Sarif (10) and Oscar Beck (10).

Reminders

Next term is winter uniform which includes blazers and ties.

Quotation of the Week

Passover is one of my favourite times of the year. This is when the whole community and family gets together to remember who we are and why we are here.

Jennifer Wagner

Chag Sameach

Szenes House

. 

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

Post-School Destinations 

Every year we provide data about our post-school destinations for the previous year group. I always find this is a really interesting exercise. For nearly 2 years I have the privilege of hearing about the students’ aspirations. I find it fascinating to hear where they gained entry to and more often, delighted that they got their first choices! So with our 2016 cohort, 89% chose to enter into tertiary institutions. 55% of those got into their first choice and 80% got into their first or second. I think this is a fantastic statistic. There was an interesting split of 72% choosing single degrees and 28% choosing double degrees. This double degree statistic is something that I am trying to increase, so our students have more skills in a multitude of areas and as a result are more competitive in the job market. This is not to mention the fact that institutions are actively pushing them.

The most interesting statistic for me is the wide range of areas our students have chosen. I think this group – different to other groups – have shown a wider range of interests, with a stronger focus in communications. 

Also there has been a change with this group in terms of university preferences with a decrease in interest in University of Sydney and a big increase with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). 8% of our students will be heading off to ANU. When I first arrived at Emanuel students almost cried at the mention of moving to Canberra – so this is a great branch out!

Mr David Goldman – Psychology

We were very lucky to have Mr David Goldman come out to speak to our students about his own career in Psychology but also about the wider field and skills that you need for the profession and where the profession can take you. I know students were very interested in his dealings with trauma victims, also with his work in the prison service and working in psychiatric hospitals. I have no doubt it gave students a real insight into this very popular field.

TAFE

Anyone who is keen on TAFE and currently in Year 10 or Year 11 can trial a ‘Get Into TAFE’ course during the May/June months. If you are keen please let me know ASAP as places book out fast and forms are due by 10 May. You can contact the relevant TAFEs (Ultimo, Randwick etc to get an Expression of Interest Form, or contact me directly). This is also fully subsidised.

 US College Fair

This will be held  from 5:30 pm–7:30 pm on Thursday, 4 May at Redlands Hall, 272 Military Road, Cremorne for Arizona State University, Central Penn College, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, Fairleigh Dickinson University, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of South Carolina, Whitworth University. Contact Simone Salier (ssalier@redlands.nsw.edu.au) for more information. https://educationusa.state.gov/events/us-college-fair

Year 5 Showcase

From Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Pesach explorations

This week we have continued our learning around the festival of Passover and all the wonderful traditions, stories, characters, songs, food and creative experiences.

The groups have all spent time making Matzah Pizza’s, Matzah pancakes and have also been to the matzah factory.

The children have learnt a variety of wonderful songs: When Moses was, One morning when Pharaoh awoke in his bed, Bang bang bang, Dayeinu, Listen, King Pharaoh, How did Moses cross the Red Sea, Ma Nishtana, and Who knows one, to name but a few.

On Friday, we all participated in our own interactive Kornmehl Pesach Seder. The children were so excited to participate in this long awaited Chag. The tables looked beautiful and the food was delicious. Each child participated in dressing up and dramatising the story and we all had a wonderful time.

Thank you to all our parent helpers: Mrs Sharon Miller, Mrs Sam Butt, Mrs Lissa Prosser, Mrs Samantha Schwartz, Mrs Janice Eliovson, Mrs Niva Burke, Mrs Natalie Lufthaus, Mrs Naama Merritt, Mrs Evelyn Marczak and Mrs Lisa Strous. Your help is very much appreciated by all the teachers and the children.

The Dolphins joined the Year K Pesach Seder on Thursday morning. Many thanks to Morah Hagit and all her teachers for inviting us and including the Pre-school in such a meaningful and special Seder.

Parent Club

Many thanks to our Parent Club Co-ordinators – Mrs Gail Stein, Mrs Sharon Miller and Mrs Lissa Prosser for all their hard work and commitment this term, in making sure everything runs smoothly and for the wonderful and exciting activities and initiatives they have implemented this year for parents. It is heart-warming to have you all involved and your enthusiasm is most appreciated and valued. Next term we are looking forward to the following events:

• Carla Port – Occupational Therapist talk to parents on School Readiness on Tuesday 9 May at 7pm in the Pre-school
• Movie Night on Sunday 18 June from 5pm to 7.30pm
• Parent Drumming Workshop – TBC (pending numbers and interest)

Please diarise these dates early.

Mother’s Day Breakfast

We look forward to sharing Mother’s Day with all our special Mums on Monday morning, 15 May at 8.30am in the Pre-school. The children look forward to this special morning together.

We require five dads to volunteer their time to help set up and get ready for the Mother’s Day breakfast at 7.30am on 15 May. Please let Terry know if you can help.

We wish you all a Chag Sameach – a happy Pesach and a restful holiday.

We look forward to seeing you all back at Pre-school on Thursday 27 April.

Connecting our Community

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS – GESHER

We invite you to join us for breakfast. 

Hope you can join us at one of the two upcoming Breakfast with Emanuel sessions.

RSVP by 10 May for catering purposes: snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

This is not a fundraising event and there is no charge to attend.

Do you know a young Changemaker in our community?

The 2017 B’nai B’rith/JNF Jewish Changemaker Awards nominations are now open.  There are two age groups and several categories in each, whereby the wider community can recognise and acknowledge the inspiring contributions made by young Jewry in our society. Anyone can nominate. As a member of the organising committee for this event (in a voluntary capacity) I have, over the years, seen and read about some of the most amazing volunteering work done by younger members of our community, often done quietly behind the scenes. To quote Peter Smaller, JNF National President and Dan Springer, CEO, in last year’s official program, “This is the platform to recognise and celebrate our young activists, encouraging them to continue their incredible work and become our future leaders”.

It would be great to see some of our High School students and alumni nominated again this year and the process to do so is easy: www.jnf.org.au/changemaker

More than 20 Emanuel High School students and alumni have been nominated for these awards over the years and several have been winners in the various categories.  Alumnus Nathan Holloway (Class of 2004) was joint winner last year, along with Sophie Levy, for the 2016 Young Adults Leadership Award, whilst as a Year 12 student, Jacob Riesel won the Youth category Contribution to Australian Society Award.  Alumnus Jeremy Spinak (Class of 2000), current President NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, won the Leadership Award in 2015, and current student Liron Smith, now in Year 11, won the 2014 Youth Contribution to Australian Society.  

For more information see poster on the community pages.

Emanuel nominees

Wishing you and your family a wonderful break, and Chag Pesach Sameach.

Any news you would like to share with our School Community, please send to: snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

From the Parents and Friends

Ruby Berkovic and Jennifer Opit

We can’t believe the term is over!

We just wanted to say a huge thank you to all the wonderful volunteers that helped with the seven Seders this week! Everything ran so smoothly because of your assistance and it is greatly appreciated.

There is so much to look forward to in Term 2. Early on, we have the Mother’s Day Breakfast and our Mums at the Movies Night! We hope to see you there.

Enjoy your Term Break!

Mums at the Movies

Mothers Day Breakfast

Challah Orders

Emanuel Midford Uniform Shop