7:53 Perhaps it is the majesty of the Seder night. Perhaps it is the inspirational journey from exile to redemption. Or perhaps it is the prominent focus on family. What is it about Chag HaPesach that inspires children and adults alike? Clearly, the excitement is in the air and it captures the neshamah of every Jew. Throughout the world, families converge to celebrate the chag and to share in its glory and splendor: Bonds are forged. Legacies are transmitted. The festival of Pesach is another extraordinary educational opportunity for the entire family. It emphasizes both the privilege and the obligation to serve as a precious link in the glorious chain of our mesorah, our heritage. The haggadah tells us: In every generation an individual is required to regard himself as though he personally exited Egypt. My Rebbi, Rabbi Shmuel Brudny, zt"l, Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva explained that each generation has its own form of spiritual, physical or emotional enslavement and, in each generation, the Jew is charged with a Divine mission – to undergo the transition from servitude to redemption. The Egyptian exile represents the root of every exile we have so tragically endured throughout the ages. It also serves as a paradigm for all forms of human challenges. Each individual, commensurate with his unique abilities and consistent with the pressures of his era, responds according to that Divine mission. From Yetzias Mitzrayim to the generation of Yehoshua, followed by each subsequent generation until contemporary times… the Jew who lives in each era adds his personal perspective and experience of "departing Egypt," of confronting and overcoming challenge. Regardless of personal hardships we may confront in our daily lives, on Pesach night we draw strength and inspiration from the Exodus in an effort to overcome challenge. This concept appears in the symbolic custom of yachatz at the Seder, whereby the middle matzah is divided into a larger and smaller piece. Quoting his father, Rabbi Shimon Schwab, zt"l commented that the smaller matzah, the poor man's bread, represents Olam HaZeh, this world, with its trials and tribulations. It remains on the seder table along with the bitter marror and charoses, realistically reflecting both the sweet and bitter experiences of life in this world. The larger piece, however, which is concealed and designated for later use as the afikomen, represents Olam HaBah, the world to come, which is concealed from us during our sojourn in this world. Perhaps the festival of Pesach affords us the opportunity to pause and to reflect, to cherish and to appreciate that which we have. The seder experience teaches us that if we are confronted with specific challenges, we can overcome them. It reminds us of the incredible miracles, often taken for granted, that the Almighty performs on our behalf – even today. And it reminds us of the pivotal role of each of us in this world – parents and grandparents to transmit a legacy, and children to ensure its continuity. Have a wonderful Shabbos and a Chag Kosher V’Sameach! APRIL 18-MAY 1 Pesach Vacation • • • • • • MAY 2 School Resumes-Regular Start בס’’ד פרשת מצורע | י”א ניסן תשפ''ד | 2024, 19 April Only at Plaza Leasing: Sales and Rentals simplified! All of your vehicle needs in one place! Call 216-707-9000 or email [email protected]
| | Early Childhood We are in awe and inspired by the devotion and the commitment of our teachers to excellence. Beyond their roles in lovingly nurturing and attending to the daily needs of our students, they have demonstrated remarkable devotion throughout the preparations for Pesach. Tirelessly guiding the children through a diverse range of activities, from singing and dancing to intricate tasks of coloring, cutting, and gluing, they have also imparted the profound significance of Pesach, Yetizias Mitzrayim and the Seder. Equally essential to our operation are our secretaries, whose adept support ensures the smooth functioning of our preschool. From managing materials, facilitating copies, and contributing to creative computer-based tasks, they play a vital role in supporting our teachers and maintaining the administrative efficiency of our institution. With sincere gratitude and much hakaras hatov that we extend our heartfelt thanks and recognition to our exceptional team and staff and wish them a very well deserved Chag Kosher V’Sameach with their families. Kindergarten As Pesach draws near, the kindergarteners are excitedly practicing their Mah Nishtana, and finishing up their projects, to be used at the Seder. Morah Blech’s class made their own “kos”, which they will proudly use to drink the arba kosos. The kindergarteners are well prepared for the Seder, and look forward to sharing with their family. Chag Kasher V’sameach! Learning to read CVC words with the letter O found the kindergarteners making as many “Fruit Loop words” as they could come up with, and then enjoying those O’s. And, as a special treat for home, they each received a small box of Cheeri-O’s, and a Magic Spoon, which changes color when used for hot or cold. Oh, what fun reading is!
| | Girls Elementary Before midwinter, we presented Tehilas Elisheva, a comprehensive Tehillim program led by Miss Devoiri Libersohn, in which each girl contributes to finishing Sefer Tehillim. The program is in memory of our beloved and unforgettable Morah Elisheva Plaut. Last Thursday, we celebrated a special siyum on completing the entire sefer. In honor of this meaningful accomplishment, we asked a harpist to come to the Girls Elementary, and led by Mrs. Resnick, the girls sang beautiful songs from Sefer Tehillim. Afterward, they enjoyed delicious portions of ice cream and waffles. Everyone left the event with feelings of sincere accomplishment and beautiful smiles. May the pure tefillos of the tinokos shel bais raban that emanated from this program be an aliya for Mrs. Plaut's neshama and a zechus for all of us. Mazel Tov to Mrs. Goldstein's sixth-grade class on completing Parshas Behaaloscha. The girls celebrated with an exciting siyum and enjoyed making and savoring servings of refreshing milkshakes, a perfect erev Pesach treat! If you pass the classrooms, you will hear our girls singing so beautifully as they become familiar with the meaningful words of the Haggadah and will be well prepared at the seder. We wish everyone a Chag Kosher V’Sameach and look forward to welcoming the girls back after yom tov!
| | Yeshiva Ketana Mazel tov to Dovid Ginsburg, our first grade talmid in Rabbi Eiserman’s class, on the occasion of his making a siyum on Meseches Sukkah. While this is a momentous feat for any child, to accomplish this at such a young age is quite noteworthy. Dovid learns extra at home which serves as a beautiful lesson for his friends. Baruch Hashem, he is already well into his next mesechta and he eagerly looks forward to making more siyumim in the future, b’ezras Hashem. May he and all of our talmidim go m’chayil el chayil! Mazel tov to Yosef Eliezer Kutoff on his siyum of Maseches Avos. His Rebbe, Rabbi A.L. Mann, and his fourth grade classmates, joined together in celebrating his wonderful accomplishment. Yosef had the zechus of his grandfather, parents and brother in attendance, as well. May he grow in limud haTorah and continue bringing wonderful nachas to his entire family. We welcomed Rabbi Boruch Hirschfeld to give a bechina to Rabbi A.L. Mann’s fourth grade on Mishnayos Meseches Pesachim. We are proud of our boys! Pictured is Rabbi Eiserman's first-grade class on their amazing trip to Bexley Park for a lively game of football led by Rabbi Grodko. The boys made a true kiddush Hashem. Girls Elementary (continued) General Studies: After many weeks of learning about the solar eclipse, the experience awed everyone! Thank you, parents, for sharing pictures of your daughter experimenting with the solar UV beads, working through activities and enjoying the extras included in the student eclipse bags! Our students are learning how to use cardboard to create prototypes and models of various learning tasks. This week our 6th graders were introduced to ways to create a model without using any glue or tapewhich is much harder than expected! Thank you, Mrs. Geberer, for the out of the box learning using so many boxes!
| | Yeshiva Ketana (continued) Pictured are the three classes who collected the most money in the Yeshiva Ketana for Maos Chitin: Rabbi Matitia’s grade 3, Rabbi Udman’s grade 6, Morah Burnstein’s grade 1. Tizku lmitzvos! Junior High School Rabbi Aaron Simcha Baum’s seventh grade hosted a well- deserved deluxe Siyum on the second perek of Makkos this week. They had an extravagant fleishig siyum with dancing and a kumzitz by Aharon Drazin and Chaim Katz. It was enhanced with divrei Torah from Rabbi Simcha Dessler, Yoni Cohen and Mordy Kiss. The annual Ashreichem program began Rosh Chodesh Nissan and runs through the 13th of Sivan. The incentive, always well received, culminates with a gala siyum for talmidim and their parents on June 19th in our community. The program is an opportunity for our talmidim to learn, thrive, and shteig! Yavne High School Last week, Mrs. Bracha Spector’s 8th grade Chumash class had the distinct treat of having shatnez expert, Rabbi Heinemann come to Yavne and give a visual and hands on class all about this relevant mitzva. He shared with them fascinating insights into the makeup of wool and linen, a live demonstration how to comb and spin wool, stories stressing the importance of checking for shatnez… Thank you, Mrs. Spector, for reinforcing and bringing the Chumash text that the girls are learning to life. At the Yavne Junior High Nissan assembly, Mrs. Schwartz and Nissan G.O. heads, Esther Miriam Cohen, Chani Faintuch, Chavala Gruen, Chayala Jacobowitz, Chaya Kaye, Sara Lesha Kushner, and Nechama Meystel prepared a beautiful video. In this month of “Freedom”, “Becoming Hashem’s Chosen Nation”, and preparation for “Matan Torah”, the girls interviewed students and teachers and asked them to share - What makes them proud to be a Jew – How they feel different as a Jew - How they practice self-control and feel like a ben chorin . The responses were varied, inspiring, and impressive. A special thank you to Nechama Meystel for the video. The girls also decorated and enjoyed “Havdala – bein Yisroel La’amim” cookies.
| | Yavne High School (continued) Top HAC raffle sellers earned lunch at Mendel’s. Yavne High School gathered before Pesach break, to reflect on and appreciate the beautiful winter semester we just completed. To carry over the growth experienced this year to our vacation, two beautiful programs were introduced: Likras Shabbos-Headed by Leah Ribiat and Gitti Meisels under the dedicated leadership of Mrs. Chaya Samowitz. The program aims to make the 7 Shabbasos between Pesach and Shavuos (the seven weeks of the Omer) elevated and to take advantage of the treasure that Shabbos truly is. With a custom magnet for the fridge and a beautifully designed chart, we are all looking forward to getting started. In addition, our Chessed heads introduced a Pesach program called “HOME” H–helping O–out M-means E-everything, encouraging the girls to grab the zechus of being part of the Pesach preparation. Yavne girls are all going home with custom haggados which were filled by the students with divrei Torah given over by various Rabbonim and teachers. Mrs. Samowitz also prepared and distributed magnificent cards to use throughout the Seder. Additionally, many students prepared divrei Torah to share with their classmates. It was truly impressive to hear the girls present with original ideas, quality sources and confidence. We hope the girls will share at the Seder and give you the pleasure of hearing these divrei Torah as well. Wishing you all a Chag Kosher V’Sameach! Maos Chitin Campaign We were once again pleased to assist our brothers and sisters here and in Eretz Yisrael thanks to the generosity of our students. Yasher koach to the following classes who brought in the highest amounts in their respective divisions: Yeshiva Ketana: Rabbi Matitia’s third grade; Junior High: Rabbi Manne’s seventh grade; Girls Elementary: Morah Sima Schneider’s third grade; Kindergarten : Morah Katz and Morah Orit; Yavne: 8th grade. Runners up: Rabbi Udman’s sixth grade, Rabbi Dafner’s 7th grade, Mrs. Burnstein’s first grade, Mrs. Domb’s sixth grade, Yavne’s 12th grade.
Condolences to • Rabbi Shlomo Stern on the loss of his mother, Mrs. Margarete Stern , ה“ע המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים. | | Family Fun Guide It is our pleasure to bring you the 5th edition of the HAC Family Fun Guide! Chol HaMoed this Pesach is short so we took the liberty of adding some additional sections for spring and summer enjoyment! Our sincere thanks to our volunteers for compiling the list, Mrs. Liat Shyken and Mrs. Leonie Jacobs; and to Mrs. Shana Goldberg for her artistic talent. The book should have come home with your youngest HAC student, please check their bag. If you didn’t get one please reach out to Mrs. Shirah Stern at 216-773-2282. Mishpacha Magazine The Pesach edition will be delivered this week to Grand Judaica. The next magazine will be distributed in school when school resumes after Pesach. HAC Pre-Pesach Video If you have not seen the Academy’s pre-Pesach video clip, click here and enjoy! Mazel Tov! • Rabbi & Mrs. Zalman Noach Berkman on the birth of a son • Mr. & Mrs. Moshe Greenberg on the birth of a son Mazel Tov to Mr. & Mrs. Sanford Weinberg. • Mr. & Mrs. Josh Grodko on the birth of a son Mazel Tov to Dr. & Mrs. Michael Harris. • Mr. & Mrs. Chaim Kaufman on the birth of a daughter Mazel Tov to Rabbi & Mrs. Nachman Jacobovitch. • Rabbi & Mrs. Ariel Klein on the birth of a grandson to Tzvi & Nechama Klein • Rabbi & Mrs. Elozor Mann on the birth of a great grandson to Dovid & Adina Friedman
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