8:02 When Rabbi Shneur Kotler, zt"l, Rosh Yeshiva, Beth Medrash Govoha, Lakewood, New Jersey observed shiva upon the untimely passing of his son, Rabbi Meir, zt"l, large crowds of people came to offer their condolences. Yet, no one seemed to find the words to console the bereaved Rosh Yeshiva and Rebbetzin until Rabbi Yisroel Spira, zt”l, the Bluzhever Rebbe came and expressed that though he had never been envious of others, today he was envious of them. The Rebbe explained that his own daughter (a remarkable young woman) and her husband (an exceptional talmid chacham) and their child were brutally murdered by the Nazis and that their burial places are unknown – a fact which still breaks his heart decades later. "Your awareness of Rav Meir's final resting place coupled with the fact that he left a child who will forever perpetuate his life should bring you comfort," said the Rebbe. Rabbi Malkiel Kotler, Rav Shneur’s son and successor, later remarked that the Bluzhever Rebbe’s comforting words at that most difficult time infused his father with a new neshama, soul. The mitzvah of v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha, to love one's fellow as himself, appears in this week's parsha (19,18). Whether sharing one's joy, sharing one's grief (as in this story), or in the context of any interaction – we are expected to find the appropriate words and place in our hearts to love one another. The Talmud teaches that an individual is created with three partners: the Almighty, and the child’s father and mother. When a person honors his parents, the Almighty considers it as if He lived among them and they honored Him (Kedushin 30B). In his writings, the Bluzhever Rebbe expanded this concept to include the mitzvah of v'ahavta l'reacha kamocha. Thus, one is obligated to love his fellow Jew because the Almighty is a partner in his creation as well. By loving our fellow Jew, we express our love for Hashem. Therefore, when two Jews treat each other in a kind and respectful manner, the Shechina, the Divine Presence, maintains Its presence among them. “And just to be sure,” quipped the Bluzhever Rebbe, “know that the numerical value of ahava, love, is thirteen. Double it (two Jews interacting in with love) and it totals 26, the numerical value of the name of Hashem!” Have a wonderful Shabbos! APRIL 30 & MAY 7 Parenting Series 8:00 p.m. at Klein Campus (see attached flier) • • • • • • MAY 9 Lag B’Omer • • • • • • MAY 25 Erev Shavuos Boys Divisions Only (Reg. Start) Grades 1-6 12:00 Dismissal Jr. High Boys 12:30 Dismissal • • • • • • MAY 26 Shavuos - NO SCHOOL • • • • • • MAY 28 Boys (1-4) Regular Schedule Boys (5-8) 9:00 Minyan בס’’ד פרשת אחרי מות-קדשים | ז' אייר תשפ''ג | 2023, 28 April N.Y. prices with Midwest service only at Plaza Auto Leasing! Call Will Evans at 216-707-9000 or email [email protected] for your next vehicle!
| | Junior High School Last Friday, the Junior High School was addressed by Rabbi Yaakov Schwartz, grandfather of two Junior High talmidim and Menahel at Talmudical Academy (TA) of Baltimore. Rabbi Schwartz spoke of the equal emphasis the Torah places upon bein adam lamakom and bein adam lachaveiro and then lauded our school as “one of the premier schools in the country.” The seventh grades celebrated the completion of the second perek of Meseches Makkos with a gala barbecue on Wednesday. The program featured divrei Torah from almost every talmid and words of inspiration from Rabbi Kahn. Rabbi Simcha Dessler lauded the accomplishment and connected it to the yahrzeit of veteran Academy mechanech, Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Katz, zt”l. He also spoke about the gift of Eretz Yisrael, the mekomos hakedoshim, and those who perished there throughout its rich history, sharing the story of one such victim in 1873. Rabbi Dessler reminded us that their brachos are ours and their challenges are ours too. Yeshiva Ketana Our third and fourth grade boys gathered for a Rosh Chodesh assembly last week. On Wednesday, the Yeshiva Ketana enjoyed a meaningful, interactive, video conference live from Eretz Yisrael, focusing on kedushas Haaretz and the beauty of the land. Mazal tov to Rabbi Klein’s talmidim on completing Parshas Ki Sisa and Parshas Pekudei. They have now completed learning all of Sefer Shemos which they began at the end of third grade! The class had a pizza siyum to celebrate this special occasion. May they continue learning and making more siyumim! The following boys in 5th and 6th grade scored a 95% or higher on their Sefer Shmos bechina prior to the Pesach break: Moshe Abrin, Nosson Altose, Reuven Dessler, Menachem Elkan, Azriel Gancz, Chaim Gold, Yehoshua Gutman, Menachem Heifetz, Yishai Keller, Mordy Kiss, Aaron Klahr, Shlomo Kutoff, Shlomo Maimon, Chaim Mann, Akiva Raher, Shimshon Roffman, Sruli Rudner, Moshe Salamon, Yosef Sokol, Zecharia Moshe Spector, Yaakov Tolchinsky and Yitzy Yuspeh. A large percentage of the boys scored nicely on the bechina which covered the weekly Parshas Ha’shavua bechinos. Pictured here are some of the participants of the "Veromamtanu - raising our level of speech" challenge.
| | Yavne High School This week, our seventh grade Yavne students enjoyed a Chumash siyum with Mrs. Sefi Katz at Issi’s. Yavne 8th grade Iyar G. O. team: Rivka Chana Moreno, Chaya Mendelson, Devorah Leeson, Rivka Schwager, Bailey Lempel, Avigail Olgin, Devorah Makalsky, and Eliana Kupfer (pictured l to r) at our welcome back assembly. Mrs. Shani Kohn introduced a sefira initiative called the “Kadma” program. K=kavod, D=derech eretz, M=midos, A=awareness. She inspired, enlightened, spoke straight to the heart and compelled our Junior High to strive for increased awareness in being "בזה זה כבוד נוהג" Our students enjoyed a special Rosh Chodesh treat (muffins & iced coffee) in honor of Rosh Chodesh, sponsored by G.O. Mishmeres: Yavne has once again joined the international Mishmeres “Lunch Brake” program which focuses on using the days of sefira to further improve our speech especially during school breaks. Our incredible Mishmeres heads are also running a chizuk program simultaneously. The chizuk program will follow the order of the ABC, and the ABC cupcakes were enjoyed by all at the introductory assembly. In-town Shabbaton is coming soon!!! Our talented Shabbaton heads prepared an exciting breakout and the entire student body is gearing up to prepare and participate in our second in-town Shabbaton which will take place IYH the Shabbos after Lag B’Omer at the Oakwood campus. Our cooks, under the leadership of Mrs. Rochie Kutoff have already begun whipping up delicious baked goods and desserts. We look forward to seeing the talents of all our students shine through the games, songs, workshops, multimedia, and more which they will be contributing to the Shabbaton program. Under the leadership of three seniors, Huvi Levine, Avigayil Stelzer and Dafne Stern, a brand new program was introduced to Yavne students. The program, titled “Stand Up” aims to create awareness and sensitivity in the way we relate to others around us and to strengthen the respect we show others, especially adults. Weekly kabbalos, videos, self evaluations and raffles are all focused on encouraging us to “Stand Up” Strive To Achieve Necessary Derech Eretz. The feedback from both students and staff members was heartwarming as they expressed how meaningful the program is to them. All over Cleveland, the effect of the shul program is felt as the ezras nashim in every neighborhood is full with Yavne students taking advantage of this opportunity. As part of the weekly incentives, students who went to shul over Pesach vacation went on a surprise trip! We are proud of our students’ enthusiasm for this opportunity and look forward to continued nachas!
| | Kindergarten Our classes are all hard at work learning about sefiras ha’omer, Shavuos, getting ready for Siddur party performances, and of course mastering Kriah skills. We love our kindergartners and their smiling faces say it all! Girls Elementary Mazel tov to all our third grade classes on the completion of Parshas Vayishlach. The girls celebrated this occasion with an exciting siyum. They enjoyed playing relay-races in the gym and earned cards which spelled out "Let's enjoy an icy treat!" Thank you to their moros for helping the girls reach this milestone. To celebrate the completion of Sefer Tehillim, Miss Kohn's fourth grade was treated to a special party, in which they highlighted the mesiba unit they learned in Lashon. The gain was two-fold; the girls practiced their kriah and reviewed their Lashon unit too. It was an incredible learning experience! After mastering the tefilla of Baruch She’amar, Mrs. Dimarsky's class translated phrases from this tefilla and depicted them with beautiful illustrations. What a meaningful, hands on way to internalize the davening we say each day! General Studies The first grade girls all celebrated making their published books. Each class wrote their own book to be published which they all were so very proud of. An exciting accomplishment for all of them! Congratulations to the 5th grade students of the week! Mrs. Warn’s girls earned their awards based on overall class effort, participation and respect in the classroom. Mrs. Stoll’s girls earned their student of the week awards for being positive and always seeing things with an ayin tova. Congratulations to: Sori Gottesman, Orli Stern, Adira Lempel, Adina Alon, Perry Kauffman, Miriam Meisels, Rikki Radcliffe, Chava Mann, and Chani David! We are incredibly proud of our girls who placed in the final round of the 6th Grade Spelling Bee: Rikki Tenenbaum, Esti Klahr, Chana Greenfeld, and Chasya Ginsburg. Runner up was Menucha Goldberg while Adina Reichman was the overall champion!
School Calendar 2023-24 Inside the Academy | Page 5 | April 28, 2023 Mazel tov! Rabbi & Mrs. Naphtali Burnstein on the birth of a grandson to Yehoshua and Baila Burnstein Mr. & Mrs. Shmuel Feuer on the birth of a grandson to Yomo & Chayala Feuer. Mazel tov to Mr. & Mrs. Murray Koval The Ginsburg and Kupfer families on the engagement of Adina to Ben Follman (Lakewood) Rabbi & Mrs. Nachum Sokol on the engagement of Hudi to Yitzchok MiƩleman (Toronto) Please note that the first day of school next year is Wednesday, August 30th and winter vacaƟon is scheduled for January 28-February 4. Next year’s school calendar is posted on our school website. Please visit hƩps://www.hac1.org/apps/pages/schoolcalendar for more details.
The Power of Jewish Education 2030 South Taylor Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio 44118 P: 216.371.0446 F: 216.371.2523 W: www.jecc.org Advancing Professional Growth Parents, Nominate Your Children’s Most Inspiring Teacher for the Libbie L. Braverman Award The Libbie L. Braverman Award recognizes a teacher who has demonstrated dedication, devotion and creativity in Cleveland Jewish Schools, and has significantly contributed to developing creative methods or materials to the Jewish education profession. Eligibility: Any teacher in a Jewish Education Center affiliated school, pre-school through grade 12 is eligible for a nomination. Nomination must be made by a parent whose child is currently enrolled in the school. Nominate this teacher online by visiting www.jecc.org/bravermanaward/ Submissions due by May 24, 2023 The award will be presented at the Jewish Education Center’s Annual Celebration and Educator Awards Ceremony in March 2024.
Full Page- $200 Half Page- $100 Quarter Page- $50 Business Card- $25 Greeting- $10 Tehilla Altose Oriya Baskin Sarah Leeba Bloom Meira Bresler Temi Drandoff Shaina Drazin Eliana Farkas Gitti Fertig Shalva Finegold Chana Fleksher Estie Frank Shulamis Frank Aidel Friedman Dina Goldberg Deadline: Monday, May 1, 2023 Yitti Greenberger Riva Halpern Leah Horowitz Elisheva Lebovics Huvi Levin Devorah Naomi Maimon Yehudis Mann Simcha Matitia Yehudit Netanel Tehila Newman Bracha Pister Reena Reichman Sorala Rivkin Yocheved Romanoff Dina Rossman Esther Samowitz Tova Sauber Yael Schultz Malka Chaya Schwartz Aviva Shyken Avigayil Stelzer Dafna Stern Chana Leah Thav Hadassa Weinerman Esty Witkes Dassi Wolovitz To Place an Ad: Go to hac1.org/yearbook. Follow the prompts for ad size, text of ad, and payment. Submit your ad and sit back and enjoy!
Support Hebrew Academy by ordering your labels from either of these companies and they will donate a portion of your purchase back to school. campaigns.mabelslabels.com and choose Hebrew Academy of Cleveland from the list labeldaddy.com/hac Ordered new coats for my kids and for convenience, I had them shipped directly to school’s lost and found Getting ready for camp? Turning over your closets?