From the Principal

Andrew Watt – Principal

The end is in sight! As we welcome back our students to the final weeks of our e-Manuel remote learning program, we are cautiously excited at the prospect of a return to face-to-face, on-campus teaching and learning. Term 4 is always very busy and productive, marked by our end-of-year celebratory events. Our hope is that we may be in a position to enjoy some ‘live’ events, where our students can group together safely, and our parents can participate online. Only time will tell!

Protecting the safety of our Emanuel School Community

Many of our staff and families are understandably anxious about the return to on-campus learning. It is hoped that the measures outlined below will provide some level of reassurance that the School has identified and managed key risks, via its COVID- Safe Plan. 

Permanent measures that support the ongoing operation of schools, irrespective of the COVID-19 pandemic include:

• limiting entry on campus to vaccinated staff and visitors
• promoting vaccination of all eligible individuals
• exclusion of sick student, staff, and visitors
• monitoring and promoting appropriate hand hygiene
• ensuring adequate ventilation
• installing CO2 monitors in every classroom on P-12 campus
• placing HEPA Units in each Kornmehl and Primary School classroom
• implementing appropriate environmental cleaning. 

The temporary measures that take into consideration student age, grade/Year Group, and vaccination status include:

• providing a parent handbook, with key information related to infection control
• moving HSC examinations offsite
• mandating mask wearing for Years 3 to 12
• strongly encouraging mask wearing for Kindergarten to Year 2
• maintaining physical distancing (especially teacher to student)
• ensuring appropriate hand hygiene (providing hand sanitiser)
• reinforcing appropriate protocols for coughing and sneezing
• cohorting (Stage Groups of 50-164) before/after school and at breaks
• staged arrivals and departures
• distancing measures for visits to school clinic (only one person in each space)
• parent commitment to quick collection of ill children from clinic
• canteens – order only and separate collection points
• private transport to and from school, where practicable
• singing, woodwind musical instruments banned
• getting tested swiftly if symptomatic
• contact tracing in combination with quarantine and isolation.

Your B’yachad Box

Over 800 people will be attending Emanuel B’yachad – our biggest and brightest event of the year! Our Capital Appeal and Emanuel B’yachad Committees have been very busy preparing for what will be a sensational evening. While Margaret Lowe, Tany Milner and I will be ‘entertaining’ you, it really is the students who will be the stars of the show! 

Each household that registered before the cut off date of 6 October will receive a hand delivered B’yachad Box containing an array of goodies for the interactive parts of the evening. Look out for your specially prepared box which will be delivered by our Capital Appeal Ambassador parents between Wednesday 13 and Sunday 17 October. I am especially grateful to these parents who have volunteered their time to share their love of our School and encourage participation in Emanuel B’yachad. They truely are great Ambassadors for all that is wonderful about our School and Community.

I look forward to seeing you online next week Sunday 17 October at 7.30 pm to help celebrate and create our bright future. In the meantime, enjoy the video below – it’s all about community!

Mazal tov

• Gemma Odes (Year 7) has been selected to join the Under 14s squad in the Football NSW Program – a magnificent achievement!
• Mariah Lewy (Year 10) represented Emanuel School in a virtual choir made up of only 10 students from various Jewish schools across Australia. This group performed a beautiful version of the Australian National Anthem in perfect harmony for the JNF Australia Annual Gala Event, held on Tuesday.
• Elise Kitchener (Year 9) has been accepted as a member of the Sydney Jewish Museum Youth Committee.
• Joshua Moses of Year 11 was accepted into the National Youth Science Forum 
• After great deliberation by the UIA judges due to the tough competition and high level of finalists, we are delighted to congratulate the Emanuel School UIA Shorashim Project 2020 winner, Ruby Friedman. 

Quote of the week

“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live.” ~ George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist

Head of Jewish Life

Rabbi Daniel Siegel – Head of Jewish Life

 את האלוהים התהלך נח – and Noach walked with God
With which God are we walking?

When God is about to destroy Israel, for the people’s betrayal in the incident of the Golden Calf, He says but two words that asks us all to decide with which God we are walking: 

הניחה לי /Hanichah li – “Let Me be”.

Seeing the word נח (Noach/Noah) in God’s request, our tradition sees God asking Moshe to be like Noach and not intervene. When God says,אמחה את האדם  “I will blot out the human race”, He goes unchallenged by Noach, so that we soon read וימח את כל היקום – “He blotted out all existence”. 

Moshe’s response is of one walking with a different God. God’s planned destruction of Israel is met by מחני מספרך/“Blot me out of Your book”. Whereas Moshe intercedes for his people, Noach, and the God with whom he walks, sees no one else but himself/Himself. The result is that Moshe’s God repents (וינחם/va – yinachem) of the evil he proposed against His people, whereas God’s repentance (וינחם/va – yinachem) that He created humans, in the time of Noach, leads to their destruction. 

Perhaps it is the use of the word וינחם/va-yinachem repent, which contains the word Noach, in both the case of Moshe and Noach, leading to two critically different results, that explains the Kabbalist, Isaac Luria’s assertion that Moses was a reincarnation of Noach who served to rectify (“tiken”) his sins and the cosmic damage he created. 

If we walk with a God that excludes our walking with our fellow human beings, we bring destruction to humanity and our world. Through human intercession, the biblical God is seen as evolving; His error needing rectification even as does that of humans. Remarkably, in His saying to the prophet Isaiah “For they are the waters of Noach, for Me” our tradition sees God as now understanding that Noach is to be seen as a partner in bringing about the flood, not being a partner to those he might have saved from its destruction. 

At Emanuel, we encourage our students and each other to walk the path of shared humanity. To be responsible is to hold ourselves accountable. This is the way of God.

וירא ה׳ אל אברם ויאמר אליו התהלך לפני והיה תמים

God appeared to Avram and said to him: Walk before Me (extending yourself and Me to others), only then can you become blameless/whole.

Primary News

Natanya Milner – Head of Primary School

Welcome to Term 4. I feel like I am writing to you so much lately so I will spare you another long communication from me. Instead, I thought I would mention a couple of lovely things to start the term off.

The sports department is encouraging students to get active and asked the staff to submit different sports and activities that they enjoy. Thanks to Kristy Genc and Indiana Faithfull who developed a fun video. I would like to thank them for their efforts. 

I would like to thank the P&F for staying so engaged and positive during such a challenging time. I have the great pleasure of attending the P&F meetings and am so grateful for their passion and energy to support the children and the School. Their latest initiative is the wonderful Sukkot chain…take a look at their page. I would like to thank Ruby and Jen for their endless support!

I will send a letter next week with all of the return details and look forward to seeing children back on campus soon!

Coffee anyone?

Michelle Favero, Capital Appeal Director and Manager, Marketing & Communications

A weak hazelnut soy latte, extra hot with one Equal (not Stevia please)

It’s been a while since I sat down for a cuppa. I’m starting dream about coffee with friends – three of us sipping our gourmet treats, sharing our trials and tribulations while the world rushes by at a much faster pace than we’ve become used to.

I’m one of those people whose coffee order results in excessive eye rolls – “I’ll have a weak hazelnut soy latte, extra hot with one Equal (not Stevia please)”. This ultimately results in a coffee that costs at least $5, but it leaves me smiling – so worth it. I may, at times (and especially during the lead up to the Capital Appeal), treat myself to another weak hazelnut soy latte, extra hot with one Equal (not Stevia please) later in the day (but before 4.00 pm – I do love my sleep). 

Over the past months you will have seen many articles, social media posts, videos, adverts and emails about the Capital Appeal and state-of-the-art building that with transform our campus and help create our bright future. You may also be one of the 800 people who will be together online next week Sunday for Emanuel B’yachad. What you may not know, though, is that the equivalent of a single weak hazelnut soy latte, extra hot with one Equal (not Stevia please) a day, over three years, equates to just over $5,000 – that’s a lot of coffee. If every Emanuel family swapped their one coffee a day for those three years, we’d raise over $3 million. Not only would you be making a huge difference to the future of our children and community, you’d also be reducing your caffeine intake – it’s a true win:win! Stephen Covey would be proud!

Stairs to the Future

Artist’s impression of the Stairs to the Future

If coffee’s not your thing, you may consider naming one of our Stairs to the Future – these 48 stairs connect the ground floor spaces and classrooms in our newly developed building to that of the first and second floors. Your children will literally be climbing the stairs to their futures every day.

The number 18 in gematria equals chai/life. Not by chance, one Stair to the Future could be yours to name for your children or family or to recognise a loved one, for $18,000. Each stair will feature a favourite children’s book – the Harry Potter stairs are sure to be popular!

We still have a number of stairs looking for families who want to take the step to celebrate their children and the community’s future. Should you wish to discuss this further, please email capitalappeal@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au and we’ll be in contact. We may even enjoy a coffee together!

Primary Extra-Curricular Term 4

Emma Hill – Primary Teacher and Coordinator of Extra-Curricular Programs

We are pleased to resume our Extra Curricular activities in Term 4. Due to current regulations we will be running a reduced number of activities. The Extra-Curricular schedule page will be regularly updated throughout the term to incorporate any changes to our program. 

There are a number of optional sport activities (including EActive) offered on Zoom whilst students are learning from home, as advertised in the latest Ma Nishma. These activities are provided free of charge and can be booked online via the Parent Portal.

The Term 4 Extra-Curricular schedule is now available online and activities are open for booking.

Club information, including enrolment and booking details, are now online on the Primary Extra-Curricular schedule page on the Parent Portal.

K-12 Sport

Kristy Genc – Director of Sports K-12

Congratulations

Gemma Odes – Year 7

Congratulations to Gemma Odes, Year 7, who was recently selected for the Football NSW Institute Program. This is the official elite development program for female players in NSW, and it is an outstanding achievement to be selected. Best of luck with the upcoming football season, Gemma!

Term 4 sport registrations

A revised program of optional sport activities will be offered via Zoom for Term 4, weeks 1 – 4. Sessions will be 30-45 minutes in length to allow students the opportunity to also have off-screen time. These sessions will not require payment, but registrations are essential.

Primary options: 

• Years 4-6 Basketball Ball Handling Program 
• Years 1-2 Dancing
• Years 3-6 Dancing 
• Years K-6 Martial Arts
• Years 3-6 Yoga
• Years 3-6 Fitness

Register here 

High School options: 

• Years 7-9 Basketball Ball Handling Program 
• Elite Basketball Ball Handling Program 
• Years 7-12 Yoga
• Years 7-12 Dance
• Years 7-12 Fitness 

Register here

Further information is available on the Parent Portal Sport Page. 

Sport programs, for when face-to-face learning returns, will be communicated once updated government guidelines are available. 

K-6 Inter-House Step Challenge: Wednesday 6 October 2021 – Friday 22 October 2021

Students in Years K-6 are invited to take part in the Inter-House Step Challenge. The aim of the initiative is to encourage students to make physical activity part of their daily routine, including during break times and before and after class.

Further information will be provided to students on Stile and can be found on the information page in the Term 4 Primary Sports Kit.

All students are encouraged to get involved and contribute to their House scores.

The winning House will be announced in Week 4.

2.9 million followers

Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations

Heading to better times with family and friends

We all look forward to next Monday, with the anticipated lifting of current COVID restrictions for Greater Sydney LGAs and we hope it won’t be too much longer before travel to NSW regional LGAs will also be allowed. Over the past couple of weeks, no doubt many of our readers took the opportunity to spend time outside enjoying the good weather at picnics with family or friends abiding by the current rulings. Check this link for the latest COVID rulings updates. 

2.9 million followers

Michael Khedoori in action

How often do you watch TV and see someone you know on the big screen? In September, on ABC Weekend Breakfast, a young man was literally jumping from building to building – it was alumnus Michael Khedoori (Class of 2019). He had already been interviewed a couple of days earlier for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Michael says “I am a professional parkour athlete, specialising in speed and agility, competing in both international and nation-wide competitions. Parkour is aimed at getting people from point A to point B as fast as possible, but you really make it anything you want. At the moment, with COVID restrictions, I am still able to work with many brands on social media and just keep my daily training. I first got involved in parkour as I was trying to find a sport in the summer that worked for me and that I enjoyed”. Michael is a social media influencer and content creator with over 2.9 million TikTok followers! Once interstate and overseas travel is allowed, Michael will participate in the many competitions again as he has done in the past and we wish him all the best in his career as a professional parkour athlete.

Remember September 2021

Over for another year, this year’s event was an amazing success, raising a record $1.5m for pancreatic cancer research. Alumnus Ben Wilheim, founder of Remember September, and his committee thank everyone who participated this year and look forward to our School Community’s continued support again next year.  

What’s new? Ask The Daily Aus

Alumnus Sam Koslowksi (Head Madrich, Class of 2012) together with Zara Seidler co-founded The Daily Aus to bring friends up to speed with the news. It’s now a hit with hundreds of thousands of young Australians.

Grandparents – where are you?

We acknowledge that grandparents are important vital members of our School Community, and we hope many of them take the opportunity to read Ma Nishma each week. It is a great way to stay connected with us all, no matter where in the world you live. Unfortunately, we are missing up-to-date email contact details for many of our grandparents, so please send through grandparent contact details so they too can read about what is happening at School, albeit it all online for now.  They will also receive our Grandparents and Friends newsletter.  You can see past issues of this newsletter along with our alumni newsletters online. Living interstate and/or overseas, means some of “our” grandparents never have an opportunity to come to School, so connecting electronically can be really meaningful and a great way for them to see what their grandchildren are doing at School in spite of the distance apart.

We are excited that many of our grandparents will be joining us for our biggest and brightest event, Emanuel B’yachad – Emanuel Together on Sunday 17 October 2021 at 7.30 pm.

Jewish Changemaker Awards 2021
Nominations close on the 15 October 2021

There is still time to get nominations in and with so many of our current High School students and past students in the Jewish community making the world a better place through their amazing volunteering efforts, they deserve to be nominated for these awards. If your children or grandchildren fit this brief, please nominate them to win.

Through the Jewish Changemaker Awards, JNF Australia, B’nai B’rith NSW and The Australian Jewish News are honouring individuals in our community who have made a difference. Seven incredible young adults aged 14 to 36 from around Australia will be recognised for their outstanding contributions to Jewish Community, Australian Society and to Israel. We would love to see more of our students recognised for their wonderful volunteering efforts, so please send through their nominations. This year there is a new award “The Joshua Levi Young Professional Award”. 

The Shabbat Project 2021 – 22 October 2021 to 23 October 2021
together, whoever, whatever, wherever 

In years gone by, The Shabbat Project was lit up with giant spectacles – challah bakes, Shabbat dinners and Havdalah concerts that brought together thousands of people.

This year, the pandemic has taught us that life’s better together, big or small. Whether you are able to host a big event for the community, or a smaller event for those in your bubble, virtual or in person, knowing that we are all celebrating The Shabbat Project together has the power to unite us all. 

We look forward to sharing our news and yours, so if you have photos or news you would like to share with us, please send to: snewell@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Shabbat shalom and have a great weekend.

Changes

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Welcome back to Term 4! Private music tuition, ISP and Instrumental Program (IP) classes have all resumed as of the first day of term.

Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program

Schedules for Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program have been emailed to parents, using the same link as previous terms, so you should all be able to access and bookmark your schedules on your device. Tutor Zoom ID codes are embedded at the top right of each Private Tuition Schedule.

Ensembles and Choirs are differently different this term 

Last term we had weekly materials posted every week on Reshet or Stile that any ensemble or choir member could access, whenever they liked, depending upon their interest or inclination. This term, with the vague promise of being able to rehearse in real groups one day, we are planning specific projects for singers/instrumentalists that resemble their old ensembles/choirs and that will turn into rehearsals once we are allowed to rehearse. Currently the projection is that we return to school at Level 3+ conditions. Level 3+ conditions state that NO ensembles or choirs may rehearse, no matter how innocuous the instrument. So, we wait for an announcement about ensembles and choirs with bated breath and are poised to begin again whenever that announcement is made. 

Projects for Stage Based Groups – two options for each Stage

For choirs, string ensembles, concert bands and small bands, there will be a project for each of you that can turn into stage-based rehearsals once we are allowed to rehearse. These projects will have the bulk of learning materials posted in Week 2 for students to access and rehearse as they like, in preparation for rehearsals that might happen from Week 5. These projects include stage-based projects for ensembles of body percussion, standard percussion instruments and cup percussion, virtual choir projects, and stage-based string ensembles, rock bands and jazz bands.

Learning to Improvise Course – for Stage 2-5 instrumentalists

For any instrumentalist who is interested in learning to improvise (beginners, novices and experienced players), we will have a scaffolded improvisation course run by Eamon Penner-Dilworth, Matilda Grieve and Marty Farrugia on Stile (for Primary School) and Reshet (for High School).

• Current members of choirs and ensembles will be emailed the information pertinent to them.
• Stile and Reshet are now updated according to Term 4 plans.
• Click here for full explanations and a schedule of projected rehearsal times for when we can rehearse.
• If you are not a current ensemble or choir member but would like to be added to these courses/projects, please email Ms Springford.

Reducing anxiety

Adam Ezekiel – Director of Students 7-12

Parent resources

• School TV – Transition Back to School

As lockdown restrictions are slowly being lifted to varying degrees, we are entering a time of transition and adjustment. Many young people may be excited at the prospect of restrictions being lifted, whilst others may be feeling mixed emotions. Reactions will differ depending on how well they cope with stress and change. Keeping a check on your child’s mental health and wellbeing as they adjust to new routines, will be vitally important.

There is still a lot of uncertainty ahead of us, so focusing on the things you can control or enjoy doing, can help establish predictability and familiarity for the whole family. Adult carers need to provide young people with reassurance by acknowledging any concerns and fears they may have at this time. Consider this to be a normal reaction, however it may be best to focus more on their feelings and emotions, rather than the practicalities at this stage.

• Free Webinar – ‘Risk taking’ – why do teens do the things they do? What can parents do to keep them as safe as possible?

This Positive Choices webinar, presented by Paul Dillon, will briefly examine the history of ‘teenagers’, rebellion and the different ‘temptations’ that have existed over time. Using the latest research on the developing brain, it will also discuss why adolescence is a period of ‘risk-taking’ and the reasons why young people make the decisions they do during this time.

Sleepovers, parties and gatherings provide teens with valuable opportunities to develop important socialising skills but are not ‘risk-free’.

• NSW Police Legacy Child Safety Handbook 

This is a comprehensive resource to assist parents, carers and teachers on a range of topics essential to child safety. Over the past 10 years most NSW primary schools have received hard copies of this most important child safety handbook and have distributed them to the parents and carers of their pupils.

• ​​Three ways to protect our kids against the Delta variant 

This is an article republished in Generation Next. Generation Next describes itself as ‘a social enterprise providing education and information to protect and enhance the mental health of young people.”

• Return to school tips for parents

Strategies to help your kids or teens to reduce anxiety

Dr Jodie Lowinger has provided two videos from her Parent Tips Video Series that might be of interest to some parents:

• Strategies to Reduce Anxiety: Part 1

• Think of worry as a bully you can stand up to and boss back 
• Build in a pause using the power of breathing 

• Strategies to Reduce Anxiety: Part 2

• How to communicate to your children that feelings are ok and we have the power to choose how we respond to our feelings
• Build a language around emotions by talking about them and labelling the different feelings

Who is Sharon Philippsohn?

Sharon Philippsohn – Capital Appeal Director

Each month, we find out more about a nominated staff member. 

SPOTLIGHT ON … SHARON PHILIPPSOHN

What is your role at Emanuel School?
Capital Appeal Director

How long have you been at Emanuel School?
Since May 2019. I started when everyone came back to school after the first COVID lockdown.

What do you enjoy about working here?
Everyone is so friendly. Staff I’ve never met will say hi as we walk past each other. Also I loved hearing the happy little voices of the kindergarten students outside my office window when we were all on site.

What have you learnt about yourself at Emanuel?
In the last few months I’ve learnt that I really miss working with other people. It’s lovely to be able to work from home but I miss the people.

What is your favourite memory?
So far it’s been having the opportunity to work with an amazing team of volunteers on the Capital Appeal, but I’m pretty sure if you asked me this question after 17 October it will be the joy of coming together for Emanuel B’yachad after we’ve been apart for so long.

What do you do to unwind/ what do you enjoy doing outside school hours?
I love travelling, going to sporting events, spending time with my three nephews, playing board games, reading crime/mystery novels and watching TV with one of my two cats sitting on my lap.

Sharon and her nephew, Boaz, at a Swans Game

Do you have a hidden talent and if so, what is it?
I am pretty good at baking and decorating cakes and cupcakes. My nephews have been very excited by the birthday cakes I’ve made for them.

What do you wish you could tell your 12 year old self?
You don’t need to have all of the answers yourself. If you surround yourself with the right people you will be able to achieve so much more than you can on your own, and it will be much more enjoyable.

If you could pass on any wisdom to your students, what would you share?
You don’t need to decide what you want to be when you grow up before you leave school. You can, and probably will, have several career changes in your life. If you find something you’re passionate about straight out of school, fantastic. Otherwise your experience and knowledge from previous jobs and careers will help direct you to something you love and hopefully can make a living out of.

Online uniforms

P&F

Ruby Berkovic and Jennifer Opit

Hello Everyone,

We hope you all had a wonderful term break!

We are so excited about the lifting restrictions and that the community will all be able to come together, in person, in the near future.

P&F meeting

P&F meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 7.00 pm on Zoom. Everyone is welcome so please join us as your support and input is valued.

Email Ruby Berkovic if you would like to attend the next meeting which will be held on Wednesday 3 November 2021.

Sukkot Bikkurim – Give and Connect

A huge thank you to the overwhelming number of people that participated in our Sukkot initiative. We were thrilled to be able to donate a truck-full of non-perishable items to Addi Road Food Pantry to help provide food relief to vulnerable families in lockdown.

We were also able to create a beautiful paper chain, covered in gorgeous illustrations and messages, that symbolically connects our community. This is now hanging on campus.

Thank you to Justine Hoffman for driving this initiative.

Paper Chain

Addi Road

Term 4

Unfortunately, although restrictions are lifting, there is still too much uncertainty to proceed with things like our challah distribution and the Camping Trip, but we look forward to next year when we can resume all of these and connect in person once again.

Weekend Brian Teaser

Question: What coat is best put on wet?

Have a great weekend,

Jen and Ruby

Community events

http://nswjbd.org/kristallnacht