From the Principal

Andrew Watt – Principal – celebrating Crazy Hat Day in style

Speaking on difficult issues

The incursion of Russian troops into Ukraine has resulted in death, destruction of property and the displacement of many people. With a Jewish President and Prime Minister, Ukraine is the home of a large Jewish community, with deep historical roots. The invasion has impacted many families within the Sydney diaspora. Some fear the potential escalation to a global war between countries with nuclear capabilities. The number of refugees crossing the border increases each day.

What is the role of the School in responding to this escalating conflict? We can provide support and reassurance for students with family connections to Ukraine and to those who are suffering anxiety around both the uncertainty and the media coverage of the destruction and loss of life. Parents are encouraged to monitor the mental health of their children and to access external or internal (School) psychological support, if required.

It is not the role of the Principal to adopt a political position, or to proffer personal opinions on the underlying motivations that led to the conflict. It is, however, appropriate for our students to engage deeply with the complexities of the Ukraine crisis, as we seek to make sense of what is happening and how it may impact us, both now and in the future. Perhaps more importantly, we can encourage our students to explore how we can support the refugee families leaving Ukraine. The invasion of Ukraine was raised in our High School Assembly this week. An excerpt of my address is included below:

I want to finish on what we can do to support the people of Ukraine, who are experiencing much suffering. For Ukrainian families in Australia, there may be a great temptation to leave our country and join the battle. However, our government has warned that doing so would put at risk their citizenship and that they may not be able to return. Many of us across our nation are calling out in protest of this invasion and subsequent destruction and loss of life. Perhaps our role can be to offer support for the millions of refugees who have been displaced and no longer have a home? Financial support of refugee agencies will provide much needed food and shelter, and in the longer term, the ability to re-home families and ensure that their children still receive an education. There are also agencies that need funds to provide medical assistance, through hospitals, doctors, and medicines. Perhaps our role can be to lobby our local members to provide space for Ukrainian refugees in Australia, in Sydney, in our community? The need will be great, even if the battle was to end soon. This is something for all of us to think about; how we can best help those in need.

Rabbi Bergman – a “Glocal citizen”

Rabbi Sergio Bergman, President of the World Union for Progressive Judaism and former Argentinian Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, visited the School to share his thoughts and workshop ideas with the students about sustainability and our collective role in enacting change as Jews and as Global citizens.

Rabbi Bergman shares his passion for bringing about change both locally and globally as a “Glocal” citizen

Rabbi Bergman initially met with our Primary School Sustainability Leaders and High School Sustainability Va’ad (student committee) and then with our Year 11 Jewish Studies students. In our soon-to-be-published Strategic Plan 2022-2024 titled Making a Difference: Informed and Ethical Changemakers, we speak of our graduates as Compassion Advocates who are driven to improve the world around them. When sharing their insights with Rabbi Bergman about climate change, sustainability and their role in bringing about change, it was obvious that our future young leaders have internalised their responsibility as Compassionate Advocates, both now and into the future. Rabbi Bergman encouraged the students to live as “Glocal citizens” – individuals who are not only committed to local change but to also seek out and enact global change – a pertinent message for us all.

A recent article published in The Australian Jewish News reported how a terrorist bomb attack, coordinated by Iran and Hezbollah, changed Rabbi Bergman’s life. It makes for interesting reading and gives us insight into a leader who has been named as one of the world’s 100 most influential leaders in the fight against climate change.

We are grateful to the Union of Progressive Judaism for arranging Rabbi Bergman’s visit. Look out for student responses to Rabbi’s visit by clicking on the article “What can we do?”.

Living with COVID-19

With the relaxation of COVID-19 safety measures and requirements to conduct RAHT surveillance, schools across NSW are experiencing increasing numbers of both staff and student COVID-19 cases. We have requested High School Year Groups or Primary classes who have reached a threshold number of cases, household contacts and symptomatic children, to remain at home for two days, to reduce risk of further and widespread infections. Our hope is that this measure will allow symptoms to emerge in those students who have yet to test positive but are symptomatic. Our strong recommendation is that our students continue to wear masks indoors, as the wet weather has increased the time in classrooms. Parents are encouraged to monitor their children closely for symptoms and to keep them at home if even minor symptoms appear.

Happy Crazy Hat Day

Crazy Hat Day is one of my favourite experiences in the calendar. Each year, the students don creations that rival haute couture in the fashion centres of the world. Today, the students didn’t disappoint!

Canteen

The canteen will be closed on Wednesday 16 March for the Fast of Esther.

Mazal tov

Mazal tov to Aidan Sheps, Year 11, who recently took part in the inaugural 2022 World Jewish Youth Assembly, under the auspices of the World Jewish Congress. Aidan was assigned to a committee consisting of three other students in the Asia-Pacific region to develop a series of resolutions on the topic Zionism in the Modern World.

Quote of the week

“Change begins within ourselves and, one by one, we will be many who make a difference. I do not repair the world without changing the world within me, and each of us is a leader for change.” Rabbi Sergio Bergman

From the Head of Jewish Life (acting)

Daphna Levin-Kahn – Acting Head of Jewish Life and Head of Jewish Studies 7-12

Calling: Your name – Vayikra (Leviticus), Chapter 1, ויקרא

This Shabbat, we begin the next book of the Torah; the middle book, known as Vayikra.

The names of each parashah, weekly portion of the Torah, come from the first meaningful or relevant word in the first verse of that Torah portion that in some way communicates the overall idea or topic of the parashah itself.

The first verse of this parashah seems somewhat repetitive:

א .וַיִּקְרָא אֶל־מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר י-י אֵלָיו מֵאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד לֵאמֹֽר׃

(1) And God called (“Vayikra”) to Moshe and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying.

Rashi explains that when the term “Vayikra” is used, it is a term of endearment or affection, as expressed by the ministering angels when addressing each other, as it is said (Isaiah 6:3) “And one called unto another [and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts]”. This type of ‘calling’ singles out the person we are calling by demonstrating the love we have for them, such as the (often amusing) nicknames we have for our children, partners or siblings.

Others, as Rabbi Kamins mentioned in assembly this week, suggest that at this point of the Torah narrative, Moshe believes his job is done; he has brought the People out of Egypt, they have received the Torah and they have just completed and dedicated the Mishkan, the mobile desert temple. But, no! God calls him back to his leadership task, “Moshe; your job is not done yet, there is much yet to teach the B’nei Yisrael….” And the book of Vayikra is filled with those teachings.

We find this word, this ‘calling’, with one of the earliest callings in the Torah, when God brings Adam to see or meet each animal in turn, “to see what he (Adam) would call them”

(ב:יט) – וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא־לוֹ הָֽאָדָם נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה הוּא שְׁמוֹ׃

“And whatever Adam called each living creature, that would be its name.” (Genesis 2:19)

This ‘calling’ is an identification of the deep essence of each living being as recognised by Adam, the first Human to give “names” to creatures. So perhaps in this parashah, “Vayikra”, God is calling to Moshe’s essence – to his life’s purpose as leader, his “calling”.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l explained this further. He connects Rashi’s concept of a term of affection as being, “called to a mission in love”. “This is the source of one of the key ideas of Western thought, the concept of a vocation or a calling, i.e. choosing a career or way of life not just because you want to do it, nor because it offers certain benefits, but because you feel summoned to it. You feel this is your meaning and mission in life. This is what you were placed on earth to do.

Why does the word Vayikra appear here, at the beginning of the third and central book of the Torah? Because the book of Vayikra is about sacrifices, and a vocation is about sacrifices. We are willing to make sacrifices when we feel they are part of the mission we are called upon to do.

Each of us is unique. Even genetically identical twins are different. There are things only we can do, we who are what we are, in this time, this place and these circumstances. For each of us God has a task: work to perform, a kindness to show, a gift to give, love to share, loneliness to ease, pain to heal, or broken lives to help mend. Determining what that task is, hearing Vayikra, God’s call, is one of the great spiritual challenges for each of us.”

Rabbi Sacks ended his thoughts with a beautiful motto for life: When what we want to do meets what needs to be done, in that space is where we find our calling; our soul’s “Vayikra”.

Shabbat Shalom

Ma Koreh

Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Life Primary

Each fortnight, the Jewish Life staff gather together for a ‘lunch and learn’, to engage in professional learning and discussion. This week Morah Erika, a prodigious baker, shared different Purim food traditions with us from Jewish communities around the world, whilst exploring the meaning and origin of perhaps the most well known contemporary Purim food… Hamantaschen!

A common thread with the variety of Purim treats and foods was a connection to Haman and ‘feasting’ on his defeat. Many Sephardi communities, including Morocco, made a purim bread called Ojos de Haman (Eyes of Haman), containing hard boiled eggs for eyes and strips of dough to represent an imprisoned Haman.

For Persian Jews, a Purim treat to eat and give as mishloach manot is a baked, savoury yeast biscuit filled with a soft creamy date filling known as Ba’ba Tamar. Iraqi Jews feast on a variety of baked treats included baklava, almond macaroons, sambusak (baked dough pockets filled with cheese), fried dough pockets filled with spiced chickpeas and malfouf (rosewater flavoured almond cigars made from filo pastry).

Not only did we get to learn about this Purim treat, we were able to sample some!

The Yiddish word מאָן־טאַשן (mon-tashn) for a traditional delicacy, literally meaning “poppyseed pouches or pockets”, was transformed to hamantashen, likely by association with Haman.

The word tash means “pouch” or “pocket” in Yiddish, and thus may refer to Haman’s pockets, symbolising the money that Haman offered in exchange for permission to destroy the Jews.

What can we do?

Lunch and learn with Rabbi Bergman

Leah Joshua, Pepper Banki, Rabbi Bergman, Ethan Winter and David Knoll AM

On Friday 4 March, Ethan Winter and I were fortunate enough to have an audience with Rabbi Bergman. Rabbi is an advocate for climate change and is a social activist. He has held the position of Minister of the Environment and Sustainable Development in Argentina. He is the only Rabbi who has held a position in parliament outside of Israel. He talked about some of the things that he did to combat climate change and we all need to make a personal commitment to changing some of our habits such as being mindful of how much water we use.

He challenged us to add a 5th question to our Seder this year – “What can we all do to combat climate change?”. It was such a wonderful opportunity to be included in this event and we have taken away a lot of food for thought as to how we can look after our School community in a more sustainable way. By Pepper Banki, Year 6 Environment Leader

Meeting with Rabbi Bergman was an educational and exciting experience. I really loved the discussions we had about climate change and the UN global goals. The Rabbi shared some insightful and unique ideas, expanding my knowledge of the path we need to take to ensure a sustainable future. By Leah Joshua, Year 7

On Friday we were given the privilege of meeting with Rabbi Bergman, a very engaging and insightful experience. One of our key takeaways was his analogy of climate change being a symptom of an illness, as opposed to the illness itself. This made us realise that in order to remedy the disastrous impacts of climate change, we have to start at the root of the problem, not simply put a band aid on the wound. From the discussion, we also reflected on what we as a school are doing well, such as composting and soft-plastic recycling, and how each of our small actions can affect the big picture. By Lilly Goldberg and Eden Grynberg

Meeting the Year 11 students

Rabbi Bergman had the Year 11 students contemplating profound ideas around Jewish living to improve the world. He explained that he did not leave Judaism behind when he left his position as a community rabbi to become Argentina’s first ever Minister of the Environment, rather his Jewish service and Jewish values were forefront in helping him make Argentina a better place for all Argentinians, not just Jews. He challenged the students to find what they are passionate about, what they want to do in the world, and use that to initiate their contribution to the Tikkun Olam plan – using Jewish values as one of the ways in which humanity can truly make a difference.
By Daphna Levin Kahn, Acting Head of Jewish Life

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Purim

We introduced the story of Purim to the children this week. We are exploring this Jewish festival through many different languages: music and song, drama, drawing, collage, painting, emotions, language, puppets and more. We use a range of three-dimensional props and puppets to bring the story to life and set the scene:

“In the land of Persia, in a little town called Shushan… there was a king named Achashverosh, who lived in a palace with a queen named Vashti…”

We embraced the characters and their different personalities and values. For example, we discussed the bravery and honesty of Queen Esther, the loyalty and faith of Mordechai, the determination of Queen Vashti and the way she stood up for herself.

On Purim, we celebrate the bravery of Queen Esther, a very smart Jewish woman who was married to King Achashverosh. When Esther learned that Haman, who worked for the king, was plotting against the Jews, she summoned the courage to tell the king about Haman’s malicious plan and saved her people.

We have kept the facts of the story very simple, focusing on the characters such as the bad, mean man – Haman, who wanted to chase all the Jewish people away from Shushan. In the end, he is asked to leave the city and the heroine of the story, the lovely and kind Queen Esther saves the Jewish people. Through the telling of the story the children are exposed to some new concepts: the fact that they are Jewish, that they are part of a community, that there is a cyclical nature to Judaism as Purim is celebrated each year, and lots of different feelings and emotions, that come into this colourful story.

While discussing the different Purim characters, we linked their behaviours, feelings and attitudes to the Zones of Regulation and Alert program.

We posed different questions to the children, such as: How do you think Haman’s engine was running when Uncle Mordechai didn’t bow to him? How do you think Queen Esther was feeling when she went to talk to the king, how do you think Queen Esther’s engine was running when she heard about Haman wanting to punish the Jewish people?

Xander: Red because he wanted the Jewish people to bow down to him.
James: Haman’s engine was red and angry.
Sam: The king’s engine was green because he’s a good king.
Ana: Blue and red because they’re upset because of the Jewish people.
Dean: Haman’s engine was red because he’s angry at the Jewish people.
Freddie: Green because I think the king is feeling happy.
Adrienne: Sad because Haman is letting all the Jewish people go.
Claudia: Queen Esther’s engine was yellow and orange. She was worried about Haman.

The festival of Purim is such a bright, happy and fun one, full of different sensory experiences. The shaking of the rashanim, the creation of brightly coloured masks, the dressing up in colourful clothes, as well as the sweet and tasty Hamantaschen.

The classrooms have been a hive of activity as the children immerse themselves in the creative activities on offer. There is a festive atmosphere in the rooms as the children delight in trying on different silly wigs and masks as well as making good use of the shakers to create some noise… all in preparation for our Purim parade on Thursday 17 March 2022.

After the story was told, the children were invited to the table to engage in a creative mask making experience. Different materials were provided for the children to decorate a mask – glitter, colourful crayons, sequins, pom poms, feathers and more. We look forward to seeing how these masks allow the children to take on the persona of different characters. We have also been making rashanim (shakers). We will be using the rashanim to drown Haman’s name when we have our Purim parade.

Each classroom has a table set up with lots of colourful costumes, wigs, hats, masks and rashanim. We provoked their thinking, by looking closely at all the items and doing a “see, think and wonder” routine.

Noam: It’s a racha-a thing that makes noise on Purim. I already bought my dinosaur costume.
Raphi: I see dressing up things. I have a doctor costume.
Luc: I have a pirate costume.
Gia: I’ve got a Cat in the Hat.
Ethan: I have Thomas the Tank Engine.
James: I like the hats.
Noa: Masks are fun.
Dylan: So many birthday things.
Zach: Things to play with.
Cleo: We eat hamantaschen.
James: We dress up.
Matteo: We get food, and we pass it to people. (Mishloach Manot)
Ana: We shake our shakers.
Dean: It’s all about Haman.
Mia: I like having hamantaschen.
Freddie: We need shakers, so we celebrate Purim.
Michael: I know we dress up and we wear fancy clothes.
Juliette: I like Queen Esther because she’s a queen and queens are so pretty.
Adrienne: I like princesses and mermaids to dress up as.
Claudia: Esther was too scared to tell the king she was Jewish.

Local Heroes

Sonia Newell – Development Officer – Alumni & Community Relations

Trivia this week

It’s Purim next week and traditionally we eat Hamentashen. Did you know there are many ways to spell this triangular filled-pocket pastry? Hamantash (pl.hamantashen) can also be spelled hamentash, homentasch and even (h)umentash. The prune (plum jam) hamentash was invented in 1731 by David Brandeis of Jung-Bunzlau, Bohemia, whilst the oldest and most popular filling is poppy seed.

Westfield Local Heroes

In previous years, we have had members of our Emanuel and extended community nominated for and winning these annual awards – alumna Rikki Stern (Class of 2016) won in 2019 for her work establishing the Australian branch of Cancer Chicks and Pink Hope. Laya Slavin, founder of Our Big Kitchen (OBK) was a winner in 2020, whilst past parent Lisa Saunders, together with her husband Adrian, founders of Arnie’s Recon, a social enterprise offering free pick up and recycling of e-waste, were winners last year, as was Chana Kavka, founder of Friendship Circle and Friendship Bakery.

2022 nominations are now open, with $20,000 as the winner’s cheque this year. We would love to see some of our community nominated this time. Nominations close on Monday 21 March 2022

The Nurse

Liat Granot (Class of 2021) along with a few others from her year have headed down to Canberra to study at ANU this year. No sooner did the university year start and Liat successfully auditioned for the ANU Shakespeare Society production of Romeo and Juliet. She says “it is very exciting indeed – I’m playing The Nurse again which is both hilarious and very exciting as I found I remembered most of my lines from when I played The Nurse in the School production in 2019”. We wish Liat and the other graduates a wonderful time in Canberra and we look forward to hearing more about their journeys.

AJ America

Speaking about Canberra, Emanuel alumna AJ America (Head Madricha 2012) is a graduate of ANU, where she completed her PhB with Honours in History. She is a performer, conductor and creative producer.

She is the Artistic Director and founder of Luminescence Chamber Singers and Children’s Choir which has an upcoming production in Sydney on Sunday 10 April 2022 that may be of interest to some of our readers.

Call out for 2022 Careers Event

We are seeking alumni who left school 10 years ago or less to come back to speak to our current Year 11 and Year 12 students.

When: Wednesday 18 May 2022
Time: 8.30 am – 11.00 am

This is an informal and small-group setting where groups of 5-10 students will rotate to chat to Alumni from all professions – healthcare, design, the creative industries, businesses, human services, the STEM areas, Law, government or anything else.

We are also seeking alum still studying for a student-group. The pathway is what interests us, regardless of whether if it was smooth or bumpy! Can parents please pass this request on to your older children who were students at Emanuel. They can contact Sonia Newell or Claire Pech, our Careers Advisor to confirm their attendance/interest.

Jewish International Film Festival (JIFF)

Alumnus Sean Torban, founder of Talking Holocaust, has organised a Movie Night as part of the JIFF and he invites members of our School community to join him at The Ritz Cinema in Randwick on Sunday 13 March 2022.

Check out the many other wonderful films to be shown at this festival, including Emanuel grandparent Vic Alhadeff’s Torn By War.

Friendship Bakery

Located at Mark Moran Vaucluse, you can visit the Bakery at 2 Laguna Street Vaucluse Monday to Wednesday from 8.00 am to 2.00 pm for their yummy salad bar, quiches, pastries and coffee and on Fridays from 8.00 am to 2.00 pm for their Shabbat Shop. Orders for Care Packages and for Purim can be done online.

Friendship Circle (FC)

Some of our students begin their volunteering journey with FC when they are here in High School and then continue beyond Year 12. Benjamin Torban (Class of 2021) is one such FC volunteer. He was part of the recent Junior Getaway and he says “being able to be part of a camp that the kids never forget and remember as some of their favourite memories felt great. Working with Friendship Circle is a great experience and a great way of having a positive impact on others’ lives. Benjamin apologised for having so many “greats” in his message, but he then also added “it’s such a great experience, and I encourage senior high school students to get involved as of now”. Volunteers are still needed for upcoming weekend and holiday camps organised by FC for children and young adults with disabilities. The Young Adult Melbourne Getaway is on Friday 1 April 2022 – Sunday 3 April 2022. Some of our readers with older children who might be interested to volunteer for this weekend, should get in touch with Emma Sharp to register. FC is also planning a fun and exciting Day Camp from Monday 11 April 2022-Thursday 14 April 2022 for their younger members, with orientation scheduled for Sunday 10 April 2022. Register here.

Meantime, if you have any questions, about Friendship Circle and/or if you or someone you know would like to join their programs as a participant or a volunteer, please email: hello@sydneyfc.org.au.

International Women’s Day 2022

There were many Facebook posts to acknowledge Tuesday this week, 8 March 2022, as the celebration of International Women’s Day. One striking post was by Executive Council of Australian Jewry – ECAJ, with three quotes from inspirational women, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Golda Meir and Gal Gadot.

Emanuel parent Daphna Tal was recently voted as a finalist for the Bondi Environmentalist of the Year award in the 4^th International Women’s Day Awards Bondi, for her business Greenline Cleaning, an innovative Australian business that manufactures and supplies green certified and food safe approved cleaning products to all industries. We congratulate Daphna and hope she is announced the winner.

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 Sonia Newell.

Shabbat shalom, stay safe and have a great weekend.

Music Matters 🎶

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Here, and on our portal page, you will find announcements about our busy Music program, so please check in regularly.

The Extra-Curricular Music Program is now in full swing. You will find the rehearsal schedule here for all our ensembles and choirs. On the second tab of the spreadsheet, you will find ensemble descriptions and the level expected to join.

Those interested in playing their instrument or singing as part of a group should get involved, especially if you want to be eligible for Music Camp in Term 2. If you are concerned that you have missed out, please look at the Extra-Curricular Music tile on the Portal.

If this page doesn’t answer your questions, please email Ms Springford.

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

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 enrolments for next term. The deadline for new enrolments, notification of changes or intention to discontinue for Term 2, is today. All students currently receiving private music tuition and students in Years K-2 who are currently participating in the Infant Strings Program will be automatically re-enrolled into tutor schedules for Term 2 along with students commencing lessons for the first time. T

o enrol or discontinue please visit our Music Portal Page and use the links to the relevant online forms. Formal notification of intention to discontinue must be received now to avoid being committed to the full term of lessons and liable for fees. Please contact music@emanuelschool.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

The schedules for Term 2, 2022 will be created at the end of term and emailed during April term break.

Music Department Instagram page

Please follow us and ensure your Instagram account is set to private and your name is visible, so we know who you are.

Now is the time to get involved in our Music Competition. Anyone who sings or plays an instrument is eligible for the performance component. For anyone who composes music or writes songs, you can enter the composition component. All entrants get House Points. Please see our separate article for more information.

Coming soon! – Music Camp 2022
Please turn to the separate article in Ma Nishma.

Music Camp 2022

Diana Springford – Head of Music

Coming soon
Music Camp 2022!

The annual Emanuel School Music Camp is a wonderful celebration of our vibrant music culture and the talents and hard work of our young musicians. Students unite in a shared love of music, for an exciting immersion in rehearsals, performances (some serious, some fun, some ensemble, some solo). It’s an opportunity to work together in the pursuit of excellence and engage with the work of some very special guest conductors and/or composers. Emanuel School music staff join with a team of highly skilled professional musicians to develop and hone students’ musical skills in preparation for an exciting showcase concert.

Emanuel School Music Camp is a four-day camp from Monday 20 June 2022 – Thursday 23 June 2022. The first three days are held in the beautiful bush setting of Lake Macquarie Outdoor Recreation Centre in Balcolyn and the final day is held at School. Students return to Emanuel School on the evening of Wednesday 22 June 2022, to be collected by parents in the early evening. Camp continues on Thursday 23 June 2022 with an all-day rehearsal, a BBQ dinner for students and our Music Camp Showcase Concert in the MPH on the Thursday evening.

All members of participating ensembles in Years 4 -11 are expected to attend Music Camp at a cost of approximately $570.00 for the four days. Attendance for Year 12 students is encouraged but optional. Year 12 students who are interested in attending should speak to Ms Springford.

Full details regarding Music Camp will be published in Ma Nishma soon and emailed to parents, including the list of participating ensembles, the cost and procedure for registering to attend.

Music Competition 2022

Remington Owen – Music Teacher 5-12

Submit your videos!

Emanuel School, I am thrilled to be able to release the submission link for the Music Competition. We are so excited to see what you have composed and practised. Before I give you the link, here is a reminder about what we are looking for:

If you are a performer, please record yourself playing or singing your chosen piece. You can use a backing track if you like.
If you are a composer, please send us a recording (you can perform it too if you like) of your piece/song.
Your video needs to be clear and of a good standard. If the piece you are recording isn’t perfect, that’s ok – but if you are selected for the Showcase Concert, it will need to be as good as it can be.
Do your best! We are excited to see and hear some amazing music.

The link to submit your recordings is here

If you are selected for the showcase evening, you will be contacted in Week 8. The submission deadline is Wednesday 16 March. If you are having any troubles with submitting your recordings, please do not hesitate to email me.

K-12 Sport

Kristy Genc – Director of Sports K-12

Years 3-12 Cross Country

On Monday 21 March 2022, the Years 3-12 Cross Country will be held at Queens Park. All students in Years 3-10 will attend the event, and Year 11 and 12 students who would like to compete are to register their interest with the Sports Office. Year Groups will attend at staggered times throughout the day, and the full schedule of events can be accessed on the Representative Sports Page of the Parent Portal.

Students will run according to their age groups and are to wear their PE uniform to school on the day. The school Cross Country Carnival also serves as a selection for the cross country teams that will go on to compete in the representative pathway events.

Primary Futsal winners

The Emanuel 10 Years Boys Futsal Team competed at the Football NSW Schools Regional Futsal Championships at Alexandria on Monday. The team played very well, for what was for many of the players their first Futsal Gala Day. The boys were undefeated on the day and had a convincing win over International Grammar School in the Grand Final, winning 5-0.

Well done to Levi Brody, Jake Chesler, Taal Ismin, Ravi Keller, Joshua Marishel, Luca Schwartz and Toby Stein. This team will now compete in the State Championships in Term 3.

AICES Basketball Championships

Congratulations to Alexander Kirievsky, Sacha Rosen and Ben Shapiro who recently competed as part of the CDSSA Opens Boys Basketball Team at the AICES Championships. The CDSSA team played extremely well, taking out the championships with a win of the Hunter Region Independent School team in the Grand Final. A special mention to Alex, who has been selected in the AICES Opens Basketball Squad.

Events coming up

Monday 14 March 2022: CDSSA Swimming Championships
Friday 18 March: 2022 ASISSA Swimming Championships
Monday 21 March 2022: Years 3-12 Cross Country Carnival
Wednesday 23 March 2022: CDSSA Netball Championships
Tuesday 29 March 2022: CDSSA Touch Football Championships

Primary Debating Leaders

On Tuesday 15 February 2022 we held the debating try-outs. This was for Years 5 and 6 students who wanted to try and get into competitive debating. It was for the IPSHA debating competition. IPSHA stands for Independent Primary School Heads of Australia. They run many different competitions for various extra-curricular activities across Primary schools.

This year, Emanuel Years 5 and 6 students will combine their skills and efforts to participate with Mrs Butler as their coach and coordinator. Everyone did an excellent job at the try outs, but we could only accept six students for each team, and there were two teams in total. The students who are not in the IPSHA team will have a chance to be in the Emanuel Cup Debating Club which starts in Term 2 this year. This is an in-school club which is hosted by Mrs Wynhausen. Students will first learn the basics – speaker roles, how a debate runs, what adjudicators look out for, etc! Then they will be able to compete against other students at Emanuel in teams.

The first IPSHA debate will be in Term 2 – Week 2. We are so excited to start debating and will have meetings every Friday in order to train, prepare and compete.This will be a great opportunity for us to sharpen our skills. The debates will be in every Week B on Fridays during and after lunch. It will be at local schools, and we will go on a school bus to get there.

It will be a fun and educational experience for us all!

By Camilla Levine and Jessica Dworkin
Year 6 Debating Leaders 2022

Careers

Claire Pech – Careers Advisor

A lot of the publications I read tend to list the ‘Top 10 skills of the future’, the ‘Top 5 most critical work skills’, the ‘Top 3 things you need to be hired’ and so on.

The list below is from the World Economic Forum, comparing 2015 list to 2020. 2022 looks pretty similar, while 2025 projecting into the future mentions stress-tolerance, social-influence and more programming skills.

One thing is clear – how you deal with people matters. I tell our students this, how you engage with, how you deal with and how you treat people counts, matters and has effect. This is why being in a team is such a great life skill for your career. Leading a team, being led in a team, negotiating conflict, working out solutions – all of these skills are critical for your resume and future career. I would argue – way more so than your HSC syllabus!

Hard Skills vs Soft Skills

The list on the left (Hard skills) is usually what we can put on resumes, LinkedIn profiles and quantify with data. The list on the right (Soft skills) is much harder to showcase, but very easy for our interviewer to figure out when they meet us. This is why our interactions with people really matter as we are skilling up in how we deal with people.

Here are some examples where you can gain experience in these skills:

Communication (e.g giving a presentation at assembly, in class, hosting a debate)
Flexibility (being able to change roles at last minute, or move your thinking to understand the other side)
Determination (training for a big event, always ‘turning up’, completing a major work)
Teamwork (this is critical – join teams, be a part of a team, be in a society, belong to something)
Ability to Learn – new skills – so try often to learn to do new things (parallel parking!)
Problem Solving – this is why Maths is so important!
Loyalty – be a good friend, be a good sibling, or team mate
Resilience – pick yourself up, when you don’t succeed and carry on
Self-discipline – show that you can work on your own to get the task done. If you find this really hard, be able to ask for support and help.
Tech Skills – new tech skills are critical for success, learn new skills where you can, new software, trial new products etc

Career-ready skills can be developed in school. Sometimes a customer service part-time job at a company like McDonalds or our local café can be some of the best interpersonal training we will ever get.

Good luck!

Let’s sign

Rebeca Gaida – Hebrew Teacher Primary

Israeli sign language/שפת הסימנים הישראלית

Shalom! שלום

This week we have two videos from our students Dalia and Jessica Lopis and Aaron Eisenberg showing you how to ask and answer the question: What is your name? In Hebrew there are two ways of asking what your name is depending on who you are asking:

מָה הַשֵּׁם שֶׁלְּךָ ma hashem shelcha (m) or
מָה הַשֵּׁם שֶׁלָּךְ ma hashem shelach (f)

In Israeli sign language you use the same signs and it doesn’t matter about what gender you are.

The answer will always be “הַשֵּׁם שֶׁלִּי hashem sheli״- my name is…

In Israeli sign language you get to decide what symbol will represent your name so that you don’t have to spell it out every time. For example my sign looks like someone playing the guitar because I like to play music.

To win this week’s prize send me a short email of you having a conversation asking someone their name and them replying with their name. Then make up a sign that will represent your name.

Toda, תודה

Parent webinars

Parent Safety Group

Thank you to our volunteers for last week
(Monday 28 February 2022 – Friday 4 March 2022)

Gary Gordon, Jerry Solomon, John Sweller, Glynn Prosser, Derek Pal, Rochelle Hersch, Shaun Gross, Kirsty Greenfield, Judi Berman, Simon Revelman, Mia Kalinko, Sarah Kummerfield, Evelyn Marczak, Larry Narunsky, Avner Silberman, Adam Pozniak, Lynn Ross, Nicky Stiassny, Meital Winter, Benjamin Opit, Naomi Hersh, Leon Kantor, Deborah Zolot and Ryan Melman

P&F

Justine Hofman – Head of P&F

Hi everyone,

What a wild week it’s been and so disappointing that the weather has got in the way of us getting together. I hope we can get together soon with some new dates outlined below.

New dates: Friday Chills

Friday 18 March 2022: K-2 families only 3.30 pm – 4.30 pm. Pending weather and covid numbers.

Friday 8 April 2022: K-6 families 3.30 pm – 4.30 pm. Last day of Term 1.

Final days: Emanuel P&F X OBK Purim Bake-Off

Our Big Kitchen is getting close to its goal of baking 10,000 Hamentaschen for those less fortunate around Sydney. Thank you to those who have helped so far. There are a final few days to get involved so grab a few Emanuel friends.

Time: 10.00 am – 12 pm on Monday 14 March 2022 – Thursday 17 March 2022
Where: Our Big Kitchen – 36 Flood Street Bondi, NSW 2026
Register here to attend (No cost)

Events cancelled

Purim Disco: cancelled (due to COVID restrictions on campus)
Friday Chills K-2: Friday 11 March 2022 cancelled (due to weather)
Emanuel Family Autumn Camping: cancelled (due to campsite flooded/closure)

Events to diarise

Friday 18 March 2022 (tentative): Friday Chills K-2 families ONLY
Friday 8 April 2022: Friday Chills K-6 families
Friday 6 May 2022: Mother’s Day (Breakfast and Stalls)
Friday 26 August 2022: Father’s Day (Breakfast and Stalls)
Friday 4 November 2022 – Sunday 6 November 2022: Emanuel Family Spring Camping

Shabbat Shalom!

Community Notices

For more information and booking details here

Recipe of the Week

Each week we’ll bring you a tasty recipe passed down by Emanuel families, from the Emanuel School Community Cookbook, The Family Meal.

From the kitchen of Shana Danon

Five C’s Salad

Ingredients

12 carrots, grated
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
4 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp curry powder, or more if you like a stronger flavour
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup roasted cashews

Directions

Mix carrots, coconut and currants in a salad bowl.
Mix curry powder with mayonnaise and stir through salad.
Sprinkle cashews on top just before serving.

Serves 4-6

Ma Nishma