From the Acting Principal

Margaret Lowe – Deputy Principal

A great loss to the School, Jewish and wider communities

Brian Sherman AM, a dedicated member of the Founding Emanuel School Board and long-time supporter of the School sadly passed away on Sunday. Brian’s ongoing guidance and commitment to Emanuel helped shape its future, from a tiny school in 1983 with 53 students to the thriving school we have today. Brian and Gene were actively engaged Emanuel parents – their daughter Ondine graduated from the School in 1990 – and later proud Emanuel grandparents of Cy, Zach and Milo, who are current Emanuel students.

The Sherman Family has continued to show their love and support for the School in many ways. The Sherman Art Precinct was officially opened on 23 August 2015. Since then, countless Visual Arts and Digital Media students have sculpted, painted, printed, drawn, photographed, filmed, curated, imagined, critiqued and discussed their way into the fascinating and boundless world of Art. The Emanuel School community has a deep and authentic connection with the creative arts, its traditions and future. This connection has been enabled and enriched by the spaces, facilities and great potential that the Sherman Art Precinct has offered us each day.

Brian epitomised the values on which the School is built and which are clearly visible on the stairway leading up to the Sherman Art Precinct. Through his many and varied contributions to the world, he actively demonstrated the importance of community, justice, generosity, compassion and responsibility – our School values.

Brian was a true דוגמה אישית Dugma Ishit (role model) and his legacy will continue to be celebrated for generations to come. We wish Gene, Emile, Caroline, Ondine, Dror and family long life.

May his memory be for a blessing now and for always.
יהי זכרו ברוך מעתה ועד עולם

Public holiday

Thursday 22 September 2022 has been declared a public holiday and a day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II. Emanuel School will be closed. We will be open on Friday 23 September 2022 for the last day of Term 3. Activities planned for Thursday 22 September 2022 will be moved to other times or cancelled and parents will be notified.

Reporting incidents of anti-semitic bullying

In light of a recent increase in reporting of anti-semitic and religious discrimination at a number of different Sydney high schools, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies has launched a new online portal for Jewish students and families across NSW to report incidents of anti-semitic bullying. To report an incident, go to www.nswjbd.org/bullying.

Primary Grandparents Day

This morning over 450 grandparents shared a wonderful and much-anticipated morning with their grandchildren, celebrating Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah, followed by hands-on activities in the Primary classrooms. This is the first time we have held Primary Grandparent Day since 2019 due to COVID. It was wonderful to see the two generations praying and singing together. This event is a massive undertaking and I thank Tany Milner, Adam Carpenter, Hagit Bar-On, Stacey Rosenfeld, the Jewish Life department, Primary teachers, Maintenance team, Gena Yeomans, Michelle Favero, Belinda Levin and Sonia Newell for bringing our grandparents together for such a memorable morning.

Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen

The Emanuel School Foundation invites you to a special screening of Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen at the Jewish International Film Festival.

“The best part of a documentary like Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen is how it peeks into the thinking of those rare people who can piece together the impossible movie jigsaw puzzle, in order to show us our world, our community, our families, and ourselves.” Nell Minow, movie critic

Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Daniel Raim, shares behind-the-scenes footage and never-before-seen stills as well as original interviews with Norman Jewison (director of Fiddler on the Roof), Topol (Tevye), composer John Williams, production designer Robert F. Boyle, film critic Kenneth Turan, lyricist Sheldon Harnick, and actresses Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh, and Neva Small (Tevye’s daughters).

This promises to be a real treat and an opportunity to enjoy a night out with the Emanuel community. Bookings are now open – click here.

Mazal tov

Year 12 Drama students, Myles Cohn’s and Isabella Filipczyk’s HSC Individual Performances have been nominated for possible inclusion in the 2022 HSC Showcase season as part of OnStage.
Leila Siale and Joshua Jacobson, Year 3, competed in the Primary Todd Woodbridge Tennis Cup and received an encouragement award for their good sportsmanship and continued effort on the court during the tournament.
This week, Sports Colours were awarded to students who have excelled on the sporting field over many years.
- Ben Rozen, Gavin Robinson and Hannah Kim, Year 12, were awarded Grey Sports Colours for achieving the required points for sporting achievement over three years or more.
- Sam Milner and Mahley Rosen-Tal, Year 12, received Maroon Colours for achieving the required points for sporting achievement over five years or more.
The Year 7/8 Maroon and Year 9/10 White netball teams won their Finals at the Sydney Schools Netball Competition.
- Emanuel Year 7/8 Maroon Team: Jemma Adler, Layla Aronstan, Hayley Kanevsky, Madison New, Summer New, Madison Starkey, Samara Strougar and Indigo Trope
- Emanuel Year 9/10 White Team: Ruth Durbach, Gabriella Freed, Ruby Friedman, Franki Kurlanksy, Meika Laishevsky, Kenya Martin, Ella Sherman, Ashley Urbach, Jemma Adler and Hayley Kanevsky

Quote of the week

“Brian’s (Sherman) involvement in animal rights was ahead of its time and he brought a contemporary view to the way the Australia Museum managed animal specimens.” ~ Professor Tim Flannery

What motivates us

Coordinator of Informal Jewish Life (HS) | Chavayah Coordinator | Jewish Studies Teacher | Tutor | Acting Year 7 Coordinator

What motivates us?

What motivates you? Why do you do what you do?

Why do you crack that joke at that inappropriate time. Maybe because you value the laughs you might get over fear of the potential repercussions?

Why don’t you pick up rubbish you see on the street or in your common property? Would you pick it up if you received a can of *insert favourite drink* every time you picked up some rubbish? Or tickets to a concert? What if I told you that if you were caught leaving your trash around you would be fined?

What about the positive things you do? Why do you do them? Why are you kind?

What motivates you? Is it reward and punishment or is it something else? Does your motivation lie in a story that you tell yourself about who you are, where you come from, what you are connected to and who you are supposed to be?

Parashat Ki Tavo is part of the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), in which Moshe is reminding the people of their story, their covenant, their responsibilities, the rewards for adhering to them and the punishments for failing to do so.

In Ki Tavo we are warned that if we do not keep God’s covenant that:
וְהָיְתָ֤ה נִבְלָֽתְךָ֙ לְמַֽאֲכָ֔ל לְכׇל־ע֥וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וּלְבֶהֱמַ֣ת הָאָ֑רֶץ וְאֵ֖ין מַחֲרִֽיד׃
“Your carcasses shall become food for all the birds of the sky and all the beasts of the earth, with none to frighten them off.”

We also get the rewards in this parasha. The “good stuff” like a land flowing with milk and honey and other such blessings.

These blessings and curses made me think about the question of motivation. What motivates us? Are we trying to do the right thing to avoid punishment or reap rewards? Do we follow rules for fear of what may happen to us if we don’t, or, because we want to feel good about ourselves for improving our lives?

These are always important questions to ask ourselves, but I also think that when it comes to Judaism, it’s not so clear cut. I am not sure that today, in 2022, we are so motivated by reward and punishment, especially when it comes to our Judaism. I mean yes, we know that the more good we put into the world, the more good exists in the world and the same applies to evil (or just nastiness). But how many times do we see people getting away with bad things or greatness being unrewarded? What about in a Jewish context? There are some Jews out there who don’t keep a fair few mitzvot and don’t think twice about the punishment that may come. For example, the parasha says that if you don’t keep the covenant “ה’ will strike you with consumption, fever, and inflammation”. Do people think about that when they drive on Shabbat? I’m not so sure they do…

There is something else vital that motivates us to be Jewish that also appears in Ki Tavo.

In Moshe’s list of mitzvot and laws for this week’s reading, he requires the Jewish people to tell their story. It is a slimmed down version of our story. Basically, we are all one family who ended up in Egypt where we were made to be slaves and then God saved us. What is so interesting about this is that this is the first time that we were commanded to tell our story. It is an obligation and a religious act for every citizen of the nation. This act is accompanied by many commandments to ״זכור״ “zachor”, “remember”. The phrase “Remember that you were a slave in Egypt” is mentioned five times in Devarim alone! Throughout the book of Devarim, Moshe warns the people 14 times not to forget who we are and where we came from.

It is important to note that we are not required to tell a history of the Jews, we are required to remember. Ancient Hebrew doesn’t even have a word for history, rather we use ״זיכרון״ “zikaron”, “memory”. History is his story, memory is my story and for the Jewish people, our story. What is so remarkable about the Jewish story is that it was not only the ruling class or the literate who tell the story, it is all of us. It is our collective responsibility; we are a nation of storytellers. We are a part of an unbroken chain of storytelling, and I think that is what motivates us, the story of who we are and where we come from. The values that we are custodians and protectors over the world, that inform us of how the world may look and who we might become. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, may his memory be a blessing, wrote that: “Judaism is less about truth as a system than about truth as a story. And we are a part of that story. That is what it is to be a Jew”.

So, I ask you again, what motivates you?

What story do you want to tell and to be told about yourself and what part do you have to play in the bigger stories in your life, that of your community, your people, your family, your country, your world?

Shabbat Shalom

Ma Koreh

Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Primary

After a few years of COVID interruptions, it was with great excitement we welcomed over 400 grandparents and friends to our Rosh Hashanah event today.

Our celebrations began with a Shabbat and Rosh Hashanah ceremony with all the Primary students and our special guests in the Lehrer Family Building (MPH). This provided grandparents with an opportunity to experience a regular Friday morning at Emanuel School, where Shabbat is celebrated with singing, blessings, ruach, a story from Rabbi Ninio and words of wisdom and blessing from Rabbi Kamins. To mark this special event, we invited grandparents and their grandchildren to recite the Shabbat table blessings and enjoyed a musical performance by the Infants Choir and Perlman String Ensemble. The MPH was not only filled with multiple generations of the Emanuel Community, but also the ruach of our students as Morah Bar-On, accompanied by Josh New on piano, led the singing of Shabbat songs. We farewelled Aaron Glass, who sounded the shofar for us, who graduates from Emanuel School next week, having started at Kornmehl Pre-school. The ceremony concluded with a moving rendition of the High Holy day prayers zochreinu and aveinu malkeinu.

Following the ceremony, our guests joined students for joint activities and workshops. These workshops allowed students and their guests to learn, share and work together in preparation for Rosh Hashanah and, in many cases, visit their grandchildren’s classrooms.

Activities included:

Year K: making round Rosh Hashanah challah, creating cards and making a shofar at the Shofar Factory
Year 1: shaping and painting a ceramic plate and bowl for apples and honey
Year 2: creating Rosh Hashanah bingo game and card
Year 3: making round Rosh Hashanah challah, creating cards and visiting the shofar factory
Year 4: creating a rimon (pomegranate) canvas to decorate the Rosh Hashanah table
Year 5: experiencing a Sephardi style Rosh Hashanah with symbol foods
Year 6: reflecting on the book of Jonah and creating a visual representation and interpretation of the text in a paper midrash

We concluded the day with a morning tea nosh and a shmooze, entertained by the talented Senior Jazz Ensemble.

Thank you to the grandparents and friends who joined us today. It was lovely to welcome you back to school!

An event of this size required significant planning and involvement from many. A huge thank you to the Hebrew and Jewish Life staff, the Primary Staff and the Security, Maintenance, Administration and Marketing Teams for their involvement in planning and organising today. Thank you to Ofer Levy, photographer, for taking photos today. Look out for these in next week’s edition of Ma Nishma.

Shabbat Shalom

Primary News

Katie Brody – Director of Students K-6

Support writing development at home without lifting a pencil!

The Emanuel School Instructional Model for Teaching Writing K-6 encompasses a range of key steps, each grounded in educational research. With the key aim of developing our students’ ability to independently produce quality writing, the teaching and learning process gradually builds a student’s skills in relation to stage appropriate application of the Ten Elements of Effective Writing (see below). After speaking, listening and reading, writing is the most complex skill in language learning. This is why our team, along with a literacy consultant, built the instructional model. We have streamlined our teaching of writing across K-6.

One of the earliest and most essential steps towards quality writing, actually involves no writing at all. The learning and teaching cycle, prior to getting the students engaged in writing, includes having students work out what they already know in relation to the field of study and then building additional shared understandings. The emphasis, way before students write a text, is also on developing students’ spoken vocabulary related to the topic and the recall of accurate content (as well as an ability to conduct research to gather information). This stage involves explicit teaching as well as hands-on activities full of content, videos, apps, excursions, guest speakers and research. Importantly, these experiences are interactive so that students have an opportunity to use, hear and see the language associated with the topic and build their knowledge.

Parents often ask teachers what can be done at home to support and boost learning progress. When it comes to home life these days, however, there is not often a great deal of extra time given the busy schedule of many families. Luckily, the following set of recommendations involve no preparation, require no sitting down to formalised tasks and can be done during a car ride, during a weekend excursion, at dinner time or as part of an existing bedtime routine!

FIRST TO TEN!
The focus of this suggestion is all about creating a verbal list of related vocabulary. Vocabulary words are the main tools of expression, the building blocks of a cohesive text and the ‘meta-language’ of a topic. Pick a topic of interest or a topic relating to your child’s life. Even better, decide on a topic being studied at school (which can be found in the Overview sent out at the start of each term). Together, think of ten great words that relate to that topic. Example one: Fairy Tales – enchanted, cottage, spell, wicked, magnificent, potion, triumph, charming, damsel, carriage. Example two: Electricity – circuit, power, spark, current, light, component, electron, insulator, conductor, generator.

GENERAL KNOWLEDGE MASHUP!
The aim here is to broaden one’s knowledge base – your child’s general knowledge about the world. Reading with and reading to children is well-known to broaden knowledge about different cultures and environments. It is helpful to read about or watch programs that raise issues of sustainability and innovation. Age appropriate exposure to current affairs and poignant historical events is another incredibly impactful way to learn at home. Similarly, exposing children to great works of literature allows them to ‘see’ characters and their inner conflict, their challenges and how they bounce back from life’s experiences or grow and mature.

KNOWLEDGE TREASURE HUNT!
Why not take the children to see the latest museum exhibition, tour a range of art galleries (classic and modern), visit a zoo, bird aviary, butterfly house or reptile park! These rich learning experiences build a phenomenal bank of knowledge that impacts both reading and writing development. Last holidays we took our kids to Warragamba Dam. Under the guise of a lovely long drive and a picnic lunch, we saw such an incredible example of engineering and innovation whilst learning about water management that impacts the whole state. We wandered through the display area, marvelling at the information we hadn’t known. It was fantastic!

90 SECOND CHAT
The aim here is to talk in detail about one topic for 90 seconds. The challenge is to remain on topic, elaborate with relevant details and raise a range of related facts or details on one topic. This is especially possible if your child has already completed a ‘First To Ten’, a ‘General Knowledge Mashup’ and a ‘Knowledge Treasure Hunt’. With all of that knowledge now stored in their long term memory, they have a very solid foundation for writing once at school in the lessons devised by the teachers.

Ten elements of effective writing

These elements are the building blocks of quality writing. The first 5 elements address a student’s ability to build ideas effectively and the last 5 elements address a student’s ability to transcribe with accuracy.

Audience – The writer’s capacity to orient, engage and affect the reader
Text structure – The organisation features appropriate to the type of text
Ideas – The creation, selection and crafting of the content
Language techniques as appropriate to the purpose – imaginative, informative or persuasive
Vocabulary – The range and precision of language choices
Cohesion – The control of related ideas over the whole text, achieved through the use of referring words and text connectives
Paragraphing – The segmenting of text into sections that assists the reader
Sentence structure – The production of grammatically correct, meaningful sentences
Punctuation – The use of accurate and appropriate punctuation to aid reading of the text
Spelling – The accuracy of spelling and the difficulty of the words used.

Grandparents Day

What an incredible day it was today with literally hundreds of cherished grandparents and special friends on campus after so many years. The excited buzz from students was palpable and the pride and love in the eyes of all the visitors made the day one to remember!

Being together for a special Rosh Hashanah assembly, as well as a wide range of meaningful experiences in the classrooms, made this event one to remember. It was wonderful to learn together and to welcome our community onto the school campus for this beautiful occasion.

Knowing You Changes Me

On Thursday 15 September 2022 our Year 5 students transformed into a person of eminence or a changemaker that has inspired them in some way. As the name implies, the students built their knowledge about a range of inspirational changemakers and how they have changed them personally. By understanding the life journey of the person, their motivations, their actions and their achievements, students gained an appreciation for the determined. On Thursday morning, dressed as their most influential changemaker, students spoke in character about ‘their journey’, showcasing the depth of their research and their ability to embody the mindset of this eminent or inspirational person.

Primary Extra-Curricular Information – Term 4

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

Extra-Curricular activities for Term 4, 2022
Including Music, Sport, and Recreational activities

Our Term 4 Extra-Curricular schedule is now available online. This includes a range of music, sport, and recreational activities. Many activities have set enrolment numbers so please ensure you enrol your child early to avoid disappointment.

We offer a wide range of Extra-Curricular activities at no extra cost. These activities are led by Emanuel teachers at lunchtimes. Please click here for further information about these clubs. Students may join these clubs by approaching the listed teacher.

The Extra-Curricular schedule on the Parent Portal is regularly updated throughout the term, so please refer to this if you have any questions about the scheduling of activities. There are email links on each activity to help direct you to the relevant person if you have any additional questions.

The Term 4 Extra-Curricular Schedule is available now via the Parent Portal

FUSE Cup

Please use this form to sign up to Fuse Cup. Any questions about Fuse Cup can be directed to Miss Lord or Mr Aghion at esports@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

Primary Holiday Programs

Holiday fun with two new exciting programs these school holidays

Cooking & sewing class

Booking: Please register your interest using this form.
Contact: Lisa Starkey (Emanuel Design & Technology Teacher) at lstarkey@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au

CodeCamp

After the Bell

Adam Ezekiel – Director of Students

After The Bell 2022

After The Bell is an event run by ESSLY (Eastern Suburbs School Leaders for Youth) and is a combined schools initiative focusing on the safekeeping and wellbeing of our youth. This event is a collaborative approach to share strategies and amplify support of adolescent wellbeing through school leaders, staff and parents coming together.

Wellbeing leaders from schools in the Eastern Suburbs meet each term as we believe there is enormous value and under utilised potential in schools collaborating, sharing ideas and resources to support our community.

Our key focus is working together to raise awareness and provide parents with strategies to help them manage teenage behaviour.

We believe that it is essential for parents to see that our schools stand united, with shared values on social issues.

We have come together to organise an event (see flyer below), which Waverley College is hosting for parents on Thursday 13 October 2022. Guest speakers include:

Yasmin London, an ex-World Champion athlete, Police Officer and now Director of ySafe, Australia’s largest provider of online safety education. Yasmin has built a team that empowers over 1 million young Australians and their communities to take control of their digital journey.
Student voice from a range of schools to share their experience of returning to school after lockdown and remote learning.
Panelists with staff from a range of schools to discuss the issues of:
- School refusal
- Anxiety
- Sleep
- Disordered eating
- Self harm.

Tickets are $10.00 and can be purchased here, with proceeds going to Headspace.

Machane Ayekah

Alice Milner – Year 10

Sari Laishevsky -Year 10

Six days of pure perfection. The description for such may not generally apply when asking to recount a week spent with all 80 kids in your Year, but alas, in the eyes of Alice Milner and Sari Laishevsky, this fits almost perfectly. Flashback eight days, we were not nearly in the same mindset. Rather, we found ourselves heavily doubting the ability for our Year to gain the same connection previous years had acquired and raved about. In short, we were not hopeful. And in fact, we (Alice and Sari) weren’t really friends. We were friendly, sure, but until we were put in the same family group, did we create a bond beyond an awkward wave in the halls as Alice mistook Sari for her twin. Now, Alice can confidently say she can tell the difference between Meika and Sari Laishevksy.

The fateful day of 31 August 2022 arrived and an unimaginable amount of luggage arrived with it. We arrived in the mo’adon (the main hall) and shortly after, were split into family groups. The Year consisted of five family groups, in which most pe’ulot took place. Most pe’ulot revolved around exploring our Jewish identity through the discovery of our personal values, connection to Judaism and its traditions.

We also had discussions based around personal identity and the ways we can improve cultures in our Year group. It began with our madrichim creating discussion topics, with each allocated a room that we could come and go from. Some of these included, ‘Mr Bloom teaches you, can you teach Mr Bloom?’ or ‘Why take a Gap year?’. After these discussions we were encouraged to create our own topics. In fact, Alice ran a conversation called, ‘Clique and Connect’ where the group uncovered some underlying issues surrounding our Year’s interactions. We really enjoyed these conversations because it was such an awesome opportunity to talk with our peers in a more open, deeper environment.

Our night times were always filled with energy and fun, usually the product of a half hour’s worth of RUACH! We danced and sang with each other during those songs, jumping, squatting, lying on the floor and shouting with each other. It was a sweaty, disgusting, stinky room but nonetheless the scent of our spirit lived onto the next night. Our nights also included some very fun activities, such as Cafe D, where we split into groups outside our mishpachot (families) and had prompted conversations with each other over pretzels (of which we fought over). Our conversations would get deeper as the next course of snacks arrived.

Friday preparations for Shabbat included practising the songs, decorating the shabbos table and cheder ochel (dining room) and writing notes for each other. We were each assigned a person to write a letter to, and this far into the camp we had quite a lot to say to one another, even to people we barely knew. After shabbat preparations had finished and shabbat was yet to arrive, we went to the mo’adon, all dressed up in our Shabbat best for a lovely prayer service. After the service, we escorted each other towards the cheder ochel, where our Shabbat dinner commenced. After everyone had finished eating, our letters began to arrive, and a few tears were shed.

And then, Mr Bloom– JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL – tried to spe – I’M AT A PAYPHONE TRYING TO CALL HOME – ak to us but kept being interrup – I’M JUST A POOR BOY NOBODY LOVES ME – ted by our singin – OH BABY GIVE ME ONE MORE CHANCE – g which probably went on for longer than it should h – HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE – ave. Finally, after quite some time, we kept quiet.

Huge thanks to Romy McCorquodale and Willow Gelin for leading the Saturday Shabbat Torah service. Not only was it a lovely program but it was an amazing experience watching two powerful female voices claim the Jewish stage.

By the final night, the Year had fallen in love with one another, literally. Sari and Alice, the new friends, sat together surrounded by the people we spend everyday with at school. We sang songs underneath a warm blanket, heated by the sparks of the bonfire we circled around, beneath a radiant starry sky. It was honestly a brilliantly unforgettable experience.

The six days of pure perfection (a now accurate description in our eyes) was unfortunately coming to an end. Our final pe’ulah included the entire Year, eyes closed seated in the mo’adon. We were all assigned different coloured beads and as our colour was called, we opened our eyes and responded to the prompts provided by Mr Bloom, tapping the person on the shoulder that we felt it applied to. Some prompts included,‘someone you feel comfortable with’, ’someone you’re glad you got to know’, ‘someone who always brings the ruach’, etc. The pe’ulah was a gorgeous way to close Ayekah camp. This was such an incredible bonding experience and such a beautifully, emotional time.

Ayekah has been an unforgettable experience that has changed the way we view ourselves and one another, both connecting us through our similarities and differences. We can confidently say that we have fallen in love with each other and cannot wait to continue the bonds we have created on Chavayah.

Our very own hero

Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations

Primary Grandparents and Friends Day

We have had an absolutely wonderful time here at School this morning with hundreds of our students’ grandparents and special friends on campus for this year’s Primary Grandparents and Friends Day. The excitement was palpable – we know how much everyone has missed having this event for a couple of years due to COVID. Watch this space in next week’s Ma Nishma for a full report and lots of photos.

Vale Brian Sherman AM

On behalf of Gesher, I would like to offer our sincere condolences to the Sherman family on the recent passing of their beloved husband, father and grandfather Brian Sherman AM, a wonderful gentleman and major supporter of our School from the very start. Please see our Acting Principal’s page for an official School tribute.

Our Westfield Local Hero

Pictured from left to right: Lauren Akres, Josh’s son, Tai (Class of 2018), Josh and his wife Lisa, father-in-law Ray Doobov and daughter Saya (Class of 2021)

Mazal tov to past parent Josh Oshlack and The Rhythm Village, who, as the winner for Westfield Bondi Junction, receives the $20,000 prize to extend his therapeutic music programs. Josh said: “I am so happy…I’m very far from competitive but it’s so lovely to win, and now we get to offer music programs to Friendship Circle and three local schools for kids with special needs. Thank you so much to Emanuel School community for voting for me and supporting this great cause”.

JEMS (Jewish Education Matters)

Some of our students alongside students from other Jewish and non-Jewish Schools attend JEMS for their after-school program and many of their other activities on offer including Camps, Bar and Bat Mitzvah programs and numerous volunteering opportunities. They bake/cook at Our Big Kitchen (OBK) in Bondi on a regular basis and last week they held a Year 7-8 honey cookie bake for old age homes and hospitals in the Eastern Suburbs. Two of our Year 7 students, Max Elias and Kira Rothschild, were there busy baking in preparation for these special pre-Rosh Hashanah deliveries. JEMS also delivered over 160 jumbo chocolate chip cookies to their JEMs Graduates who are about to sit the HSC including Year 12 Emanuel students Talia Kleviansky and Sierra Afutu.

Making music together long after leaving School

Sarah Kummerfeld, Mimi Greenbaum and Erin Radomsky

Three former students – Sarah Kummerfeld, alumna (Class of 1997) and current parent, Mimi Greenbaum (Class of 2012) and Erin Radomsky (Class of 2017) all play violin together in the Woollahra Philarmonic Orchestra and are pictured here at the Orchestra’s concert last weekend. Sarah says: “Mimi and Erin had somehow recognised me earlier in the year as an alum despite finishing school 15 and 20 years after I did. They were both glowing with enthusiasm telling me about the string program they went through at school. Real world evidence of the Instrumental Program having a life-long impact”.

Habonim Dror Hadracha Seminar for Year 10 students

A message from Jewish Life Leader, alumnus Josh New, which he would love you to please pass on to our Year 10 students: “This Friday 21 October 2022 – Sunday 23 October 2022, Habonim Dror is running our yearly Hadracha Seminar. This seminar is an amazing opportunity for Year 10 students who are interested in student leadership in their final years of High School. It will help build skills around writing and running engaging activities and working with all different types of students. It’s a super fun weekend away that I still cherish from when I was in Year 10!”.

Changemaker Awards 2022
Honouring young people making a difference in our community

Last chance to nominate High School students or our younger alumni you know who would be worthy of one of these awards. B’nai B’rith Alfred Dreyfus Anti-Defamation Unit and JNF Australia are honouring individuals in our community who have made a difference and in the process, inspire others to get involved. This year, the Awards program has streamlined the nominating process and there are now only three nomination categories with prize money as shown:

Youth Volunteers for under 18’s: $1500
Young Adult Volunteers 18 to 36 years of age: $3000
Joshua Levi Professional Award 18 to 36 years of age: $5000

Nominations close 30 September 2022.

We look forward to sharing our news and yours, so if you have photos and/or news you would like to share with us, please send to Sonia Newell.

Shabbat shalom, stay safe and have a great weekend.

Music Matters

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Welcome to our Music Matters page! 🎶

Term 4 dates and events

Week 1: Private Music Tuition may resume on the first day (13 October 2022) as per tutor schedules.
Week 2: Years 3-6 Instrumental Program (IP) will resume, as will weekly ensemble rehearsals.
Week 4: Night of Song – Wednesday 2 November 2022 – all choirs will perform.
Week 6: Twilight Concerts (tutor-nominated performances) – Wednesday 16 November 2022 and Aladdin Jr performances.
Week 8: Instrument Stocktake and Maintenance Days – Tuesday 29 November 2022 and Wednesday 30 November 2022 (all instruments to be returned for a day of checking and servicing).
Week 9: Primary and High School end of year presentation events will be in Week 9.

Recent student performances

Our Year 11 Elective Music class presented their Performance Showcase in the Theatre last week. The range of performances was a real pleasure to hear and reflective of lots of hard work and joy in music. Mazel Tov to the students who reprised their assessment performances on piano, voice, viola and guitar, at a small recital for the very appreciative audience of clients at the Burger Centre on 8 September 2022. Special thanks to Mr Adam Majsay for organisation of both the events and piano accompaniment.

At High School Assembly, we were treated to an uplifting rendition of Alicia Keys’ Fallin’ performed by Mariah Lewy (Year 11).

Last Sunday, Claire Trevelyan held a piano recital for her private students with performances by Eitan Melman and Elke Berger (Year 1), Stevie Zurnamer, Leo Schlesinger and Leo Marishel (Year 2), Sam Hart (Year 4), Julia Manoy (Year 7) and Max Tsipris (Year 8). Kol Hakavod to the students for their work.

Earlier today, we celebrated the biggest audience ever at Grandparents and Friends Day with a crowd-pleasing performance of Aunty Antichinus by a combined Infants Choir and Perlman Strings Ensemble (all K-2). Guests were further entertained during morning tea, by our Senior Jazz Ensemble students, supported by their ensemble conductor, George Nikolopoulos.

HSC performances

Kol Hakavod to our Year 12 HSC music students who are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief with the performance and composition components of their Music HSC successfully completed last week. Congratulations to Rebecca Pillemer, Gabrielle Utian, Myles Cohn and Ben Cohen for their hard work and high-quality performances. I would like to thank their tutors and teachers who have worked with them for so long over the years: Gillian Selikowitz (piano), Andrea Catzel (voice), Stefano Caroleo (percussion), Christina Leonard (saxophone), Stephen Kramer (composition). A very special thank you to Mr Remi Owen and Mr Danny Burley who are their classroom teachers and who have supported them so beautifully over their two-year journey. Having completed the practical component of their Music HSC and having submitted their compositions, these students now have only a written examination to complete during the normal HSC examination period. Good luck to you all!

Private Music Tuition and Infant Strings Program

Thank you to those who have already advised us of changes to private tuition and Infant Strings Program (ISP) enrolments for next term via the online forms on our Music Portal Page. The deadline for new enrolments or intention to discontinue for Term 4 passed on 2 September 2022. All students currently receiving private music tuition and students in the K-2 Infant Strings Program will be automatically re-enrolled along with students commencing lessons for the first time. Please contact music@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

The schedules for Term 4 will be created at the end of term and emailed during October term break.

Extra-Curricular Music Program

You may be thinking about extra-curricular activities for Term 4. Current memberships will rollover automatically. Please email Ms Springford if you are not currently a member of an ensemble and are interested in signing up. Our weekly ensemble rehearsal schedule describing ensembles in more detail on a second tab.

Please visit our Music Portal Page for information about:

Private Music Tuition (beginning and discontinuing)
Ensemble and Choir membership for K-12 students
Infant Strings Program (ISP) for K-2
Performance opportunities
Borrowing an orchestral instrument.

Night of Instrumental Music concerts

Jonah Bloom -Year 6 Music Leader

Zachary Salamon – Year 6 Music Leader

On Wednesday 24 August 2022, the Music Department put on the Night Of Instrumental Music concerts. This concert featured all of the school’s instrumental ensembles including all of the Primary School IP groups. The first half of the concert was dedicated to the strings, and the second half for concert bands.

We enjoyed hearing all of the Primary School performers, particularly the IP groups who have not had another public performance opportunity this year. A fun fact is that across both concerts there were over 300 students involved in the Night of Instrumental Music.

Everyone who played was amazing, and some of our favourite items were the perfect prodigy Pearlman Strings, the brilliant Bernstein Concert Band and the Krazy Kool Korngold Strings. A highlight of the night was being able to watch the High School instrumental ensembles, including the Copland Concert Band, Mendelssohn Strings and Emanuel Big Band. It is inspiring for us to see the range of ensembles available to us when we keep playing our instruments next year in High School.

We hope that everyone who came had a great time and we are so excited for next year’s concerts.

We would like to thank the Music Department for organising the concert, all of the teachers who helped to supervise us, our IP and ensemble leaders for teaching us our instruments and to Ofer Levy for taking photos.

Sustainable design

Georgia Meyerowitz – Year 11

Lucia Meyer – Year 11

Keeping soft plastics out of landfill

Emanuel School would like to officially introduce our new soft plastics bin!
The basketball court welcomes a shiny new bin that allows a new sustainable means of disposing rubbish, reflecting Emanuel’s values of preserving the environment. The purpose of this bin is to collect soft plastics that will be collected from school and recycled and repurposed into items such as heavy-duty outdoor plastic furniture and roads. We are very proud to integrate this sustainable practice.

Designing and creating the new soft plastics bin was a fun process. The idea of designing a new bin sounded exciting, so when Mrs Starkey asked for volunteers, we jumped at the opportunity. Ourselves – Georgia and Lucia – as well as Rebecca Salamon and Zarah Gorelik (Year 7) all took part in designing and creating the bin. We all met together in the Design Lab to first discuss how we will design the bin. We began brainstorming and were all open to each other’s ideas. We collaborated so well as a team, eventually finalising the design. After spray painting a base onto the bin, we created stencils with help from Mr Peacock and Crystal Rimmer. The process of creating the stencils was quite extensive, so while waiting for them, we began painting the details of our design onto the bin. When the stencils were finished, we spray painted them on and the bin was finally finished. The process was really enjoyable, and we are all very happy with the result.

To date the students have done a wonderful job of disposing of their soft plastic waste correctly and we thank students and staff for their ongoing support to keep feeding our bin with the unavoidable soft plastic we often come across.

Todd Woodbridge Tennis Cup

Mateusz Rabenda – Head of Tennis

Years 3-4 Todd Woodbridge Tennis Cup

On Monday 5 September 2022, the Emanuel Year 3-4 Tennis Team had the opportunity to compete at the Todd Woodbridge Tennis Cup at Centennial Parklands, playing against other students in the region. This new Primary School competition uses modified equipment, numeric scoring, and mixed gendered teams. The emphasis is on encouraging participation, providing a positive tennis experience, growing friendships, and allowing students to represent the school in a team environment.

Emanuel students played many matches and performed great against other schools, including Scots College, Kincoppal, Ascham, and St Francis Primary School. There was great enthusiasm among our Primary tennis players, and all students are to be commended. Emanuel placed fourth overall on the day, with the combined Scots and Ascham team, winning the tournament.

Congratulations to the following students for representing Emanuel:

Taal Ismin, Samuel Hart, Joshua Jacobson, Amelia Levin, Eden Marczak, Naomi Mirvis, Charlize Melnikoff, Leila Siale, Simon Smagarinsky and Harry Wine.

On a special note, two Emanuel students, Leila Siale and Joshua Jacobson, were awarded an encouragement award for producing good sportsmanship and significant effort on the court during the tournament.

We would like to congratulate all the participants, and thank them for participating in this tournament and displaying courage and enthusiasm on the tennis court, which will positively impact their development as tennis players.

Netball success

Kristy Genc – Director of Sports K-12

Sydney Schools Cup Netball winners

This term, five Emanuel netball teams have taken part in the weekly Sydney Schools Netball Competition. Each week, teams have participated in early morning training and the Tuesday afternoon competition, hosted by Emanuel.

The Term 3 program provides the perfect opportunity for those new to school netball, as well as the more experienced players, to take part in friendly games with Moriah College and Kesser Torah College.

Throughout the term, teams worked on individual skill and game play and worked well in developing positive team work amongst their peers.

Two of the five teams progressed through to the grand final games this week, and both teams came away victorious over Moriah College, with convincing wins in both the Year 7/8 and Year 9/10 divisions.

Congratulations to the following grand final winning teams:

Emanuel Year 7/8 Maroon Team:
Jemma Adler, Layla Aronstan, Hayley Kanevsky, Madison New, Summer New, Madison Starkey, Samara Strougar and Indigo Trope

Emanuel Year 9/10 White Team:
Ruth Durbach, Gabriella Freed, Ruby Friedman, Franki Kurlanksy, Meika Laishevsky, Kenya Martin, Ella Sherman, Ashley Urbach, Jemma Adler and Hayley Kanevsky

Well done to all players who have continued to develop their skills and taken part in the Term 3 Netball Program.

Rugby wrap up

Heath Morley – PDHPE Teacher, Head of Rabin House

This year the Emanuel Rugby Program had its largest intake of students, with teams across the junior, intermediate and opens division. The winter season program included weekly training sessions and competition matches, throughout Terms 2 and 3.

The Intermediate and Opens teams had the privilege of representing Emanuel in the annual preseason fixture against Sydney Grammar School in Term 2. Congratulations to the Opens team, who won this match for the first time in our five year relationship with the Sydney Grammar School Rugby Program.

As a NSWCIS School, Emanuel rugby students had the opportunity to take part in the representative pathway. Congratulations to: Ethan Epstein, Joshua Gordon, Boaz Hadad, Charlie Kerlander, Jordan Kutalyov, Koby Michael, Gavin Robinson, Ben Rozen, Yoni Springer and Jonah Trope, who were selected to represent CDSSA at the AICES Rugby Championships.

A special mention to Ben Rozen who progressed through the pathway and was selected in the 1st XV AICES Rugby Team. As part of this team, Ben went on to play at the NSW Schools Rugby Championships against Country NSW 1st XV.

This year the David Horwitz Rugby Cup (DHRC) recommenced following two years of disruptions due to COVID. Emanuel participated in all three divisions of the competition, plating against Moriah College, Kesser Torah College, St Andrew’s Cathedral School and SEDA College.

The Emanuel junior rugby team worked on their skills throughout the season and enjoyed winning matches against Moriah and St Andrews. The team had the unique opportunity to combine forces with Kesser Torah on several occasions to play against other teams, and enjoyed the experience of playing with students from another school and forming new relationships amongst the Jewish rugby community. I am confident that these junior players will continue to develop as a team in the years ahead.

The Emanuel Intermediate Rugby team were victorious in both matches played against Kesser Torah College and were unlucky to lose their first encounter against Moriah. Learning from this first meet, Emanuel went on to win their second match against Moriah, displaying the skills that they had developed over the course of the season in spectacular fashion, scoring five tries to one. Congratulations goes to the intermediate squad who were awarded the joint David Horwitz Premiership Cup holders with Moriah for 2022.

The Emanuel Opens Rugby Team played the first round of the David Horwitz Cup against Moriah. It was a hard-fought match with Emanuel scoring the first two tries initially through their back line players, Jonah Trope and Mahley Rosen-Tal, off the back off some excellent go forward from Ben Rozen, Luca Moses, Justin Faul and Gavin Robinson. Moriah replied with two consecutive tries late in the first half to make the score 12-12 at half-time. Emanuel struck first after half-time with a blindside play off the scum on the halfway from Sam Milner, who scooted down the sideline and side stepped the cover defence to score under the posts. Unfortunately Moriah were able to successfully control possession of the ball and territory for a large majority of the game and made the most of their opportunities, scoring three unanswered tries to win the match 29-19.

Emanuel and Moriah 1st XV met again in the Jewish Day Schools Cup at Easts Rugby Home ground, Andrew Petrie Oval, on Thursday 8 September 2022. This game was much like the first match with every possession, ruck and maul fiercely contested and points were hard to come by initially as both teams defended like their lives depended on it. Moriah was first to score, however Emanuel fought their way back into the game with Jonah Trope stepping, weaving and fending to score under the points. Unfortunately, Emanuel were unable to make the most of their try scoring opportunities and Moriah took their chances and were able to find a way over the line, winning the match 17-7.

It was a great afternoon of rugby, with both teams displaying their skills, and it was pleasing to see so many supporters from both schools making the match a memorable experience for the students and the community. The JDS Cup is always a special event on the calendar, and we look forward to hopefully bringing home the trophy in 2023.

Drama

Samantha Bauer – Head of Drama

Year 11 Showcase

Congratulations to the Year 11 Drama students who performed with style at the Showcase last week.

The audience were thoroughly entertained. The student’s work was extremely mature and provocative, exploring sensitive and poignant ideas.

I am extremely proud of this wonderful bunch of creative students!

Thank you, Ofer Levy, for the wonderful photos.

ONSTAGE nominations

Congratulations to Myles Cohn and Bella Filipczyk for their ONSTAGE nominations!

Each year the Board of Studies presents ONSTAGE, a selection of performances and projects from Higher School Certificate Drama students. Student selection is based on outstanding performances or projects in the subject. Each year our Drama excursion to ONSTAGE is one of the highlights and we are so proud that these two young actors are being considered as part of the program.

ONSTAGE will be held at the Seymour Centre, Sydney in February 2023, so watch this space.

Myles Cohn

Bella Filipczyk

Celebrating all things French!

French Day

The Year 8 French Day was really fun and super exciting. All three French classes were mixed together and then split up into groups. We were each named after a French town or city. During the day our project was to create a promotional film about Emanuel. We all directed our own movie about Emanuel. We also got to walk around the School with friends. We brought our own French food to make a delicious vegetarian French picnic with our groups. There was a competition for the best French Picnic, and the best movie.

The Year 9, Year 11 and Year 12 French class students were available to help us with anything we might need during the day including help with scriptwriting, acting, narrating in French and filming. We had free rein over the campus, so we had access to all the beautiful sights of the School to make our movie as cool as possible. There was also a certain amount of time that we had to film and edit the whole movie, it was about two hours from periods 3-6. Creating the film was a great challenge to do in that time. For some of us the favourite part was trying the French Orangina, for others the best part was the shared picnic lunch as it was really creative, and we could make and bring whatever we wanted and share it with others. It was also a highlight getting to see all the other group’s films at the end of the day.

Overall, the day was a great experience and really fun, we all learned a lot and I’m glad we all participated. Merci!

By Taj Ottavanio, Elke Selinger, Noa Rosenzveig, Toni Sher, Jemma Adler, Amelia Kertesz, Jessi Levin, Ben Vernik, Jamie Nabarro, Hannah Greengarten, Madison New, Adam Solomon and Charles Roth

Gifted & Talented

Craig Moss – Co-ordinator of Gifted & Talented 7-12

Congratulations to the Year 8 Chess Team

Well done to the Year 8 Chess A Team who reached the Semi-Final of the Metropolitan Secondary Schools Chess Competition.

After finishing first in their division during Term 2, the team progressed to the knockout stages, eventually bowing out in a very competitive semi final against Sydney Grammar.

It has been another successful year for the team, who have been competing together since Year 5. Thanks also to Dylan Vitek who stood in as a replacement in their quarter final win against Cranbrook.

UN Youth NSW Voice 2022 Public Speaking Competition
Expression of interest

Do you have an innovative solution that could change the world? Want to show the world that young people have big ideas too? Interested in learning new skills and being inspired?

If yes, then you may be interested in entering the UN Youth NSW Voice 2022 Public Speaking Competition!

Voice is a unique public speaking competition that invites New South Wales High School students from Years 7-10 to solve real issues that affect our community, our country and our world. Whatever the issue may be, we want to hear you pitch your big ideas. Voice asks students to think outside the box and put their design thinking skills to the test in order to develop innovative and creative, yet feasible, solutions to real-world problems.

To find out more visit the UN Youth website. If you would like to take part, please complete this expression of interest form as soon as possible.

FPS Community Problem Solving

Community Problem Solving is a stand out extra-curricular project run through the Future Problem Solving Program. Students select a real world problem from their community, identify a solution, and then actively implement their action plan to address the problem.

Three groups from Emanuel entered this year. Below is an example of what one group is currently doing. The final project reports are due before the end of Term 3.

Asylum Speakers
Let’s grow the conversation!

We are two Year 8 students who are currently doing a community problem-solving project. We are looking at how we can help refugees and asylum seekers who are in community detention and waiting for a response on their immigration application. We have a main focus on children in these situations.

Trauma that children in detention experience would scar any child for life.

“My father and brother were killed. I saw death on the way here. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have to be”, says an unaccompanied child in detention. 41% of children-asylum-seekers came to Australia because of a fear for their safety, including threats and terrorism.

We would also like to raise awareness within our community about the hardships faced every day by young people in community detention. Our area of concern is the mental and physical well-being and the development of children (including the lack of education and how this affects them later in life). Our long term plan is to offer an after-school program entailing art, music, and sport as well as cultural and geographical excursions. This would create long-lasting opportunities for children to learn and thrive.

If you want to support us so that asylum seeker children have the same rights and experiences as any other Australian child and learn more about this important topic please visit our Instagram page or listen to our podcast on Spotify. Both are under @asylum.speakers.

Happy learning.

PSG

Thank you to our volunteers for last week
(Monday 5 September 2022 – Friday 9 September 2022)

Paul Berkovic, John Sweller, Nadine Yamen, Ron Efrat, Robert Sandy, Odin Kay, Yossi Biton, David Vitek, Gil Laishevsky, Peter Nothman, Doron Kalinko, Daniel Butt, Vlad Yakubson, Ben Reid, Harley McKenzie, Jessica Sikar, Brandon Gien, Larry Simon, Benjamin Zipser, Natalie Cromer, Sol Caganoff, Leigh Goldberg, Peter Nothman, Rami Weiss, Lisa Bognar, Shai Simhi, Karen Drutman, Shirley Goldrei and Tom Goldman.

Help keep our kids and community safe: sign up to PSG here

Holiday Trading Hours

Revised trading hours

Emanuel School Uniform Shop will close for the school holidays on Tuesday 20 September 2022 at 5.00 pm and will open again for trading on Thursday 13 October 2022 at 1.00 pm.

Please note that the uniform shop will now be closed on Thursday 22 September 2022, to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Other closures are: Monday 17 October 2022 (Shemini Atzeret) and Tuesday 18 October 2022 (Simchat Torah).

Throughout the school term our opening hours are:

Monday 8.00 am – 11.00 am
Tuesday 1.00 pm – 5.00 pm
Thursday 1.00 pm – 5.00 pm

You are welcome to purchase from the online uniform shop, passphrase ES1983.

All orders will be completed when the store reopens.

Contact details:

Phone: 9326 5445
Email: emanuel@midford.com.au

Ma Nishma