December 21, 2012 / 8 Tevet, 5773
The next Shabbat Bulletin will be on January 11, 2013 / 29 Tevet, 5773
Table of Contents
Shabbat Table Talk
ECC Children and Faculty
Prepare for a Very Special
Dedication Ceremony
Schechter Parent Carmi Plaut
Inspires Students and Faculty
with His Art
Sixth Graders Gain Skills as
They Perform for Younger
Students
Who Knew the Web-Based
Evernote Program Would Be So
Useful for Sixth Grade
Language Arts Project
College-Age Alumni Visit
Schechter
Alumni News: Linda Knowlton
Goldstein (SSDS '79)
Solomon Schechter
Day School of
Shabbat Shalom
As we prepare for Shabbat, our thoughts and prayers remain with the
families and community of Newtown, Connecticut.
May the memories of their loved ones,
zichronam livracha, be for blessing.
Metropolitan Chicago
Locations, Phone
Numbers, and Website
Sager Solomon Schechter
Day School (K-8)
3210 Dundee Road
Northbrook, IL 60062
847.498.2100
Solomon Schechter
Early Childhood Center
with the Marvell D. and
Stanley J. z"l Ginsburg
PreK Program
4500 Dempster Road
Skokie, IL 60076
847.942.7613
www.schechter.org
Candle Lighting Time
Our beautiful children enjoyed sufganiyot last week,
thanks to our Parent Organization.
Click below to see a short video of our very special dedication
ceremony at our Early Childhood Center.
Friday Dec. 21
Vayigash
4:05
Click here for candle lighting
times for 5773.
Thank You for
Donating to
Solomon Schechter
Day School
Scroll down for more on the Dedication Ceremony
We appreciate the
financial support of our
community. Through your
generosity, Solomon
Schechter Day School is
able to deliver the highest
quality General and
Judaic Studies Education.
Click Here to make a
donation!
You Can Plant a Tree
in Memory of
Noah z"l Pozner, the
youngest child who was
killed in Newtown, CT
People around the world
have been deeply
touched by the horrific
events in Newtown, CT.
Veronique Pozner
requested that trees be
planted in Israel
in memory of her son
Noah z"l so that his
memory can live on.
To memorialize him and
everyone who died in this
massacre,
Hadassah will be planting
a grove of trees in the
Hadassah Forest of the
Beersheva River Park
in Israel.
Hadassah invites people
to participate in the
planting of this grove by
purchasing trees at $18
each, online.
A personalized eCertificate will be emailed
Shabbat Table Talk
with Rabbi Daniel Rosenberg
Parashat Vayyigash
The parsha begins in the middle of a very
dramatic scene: Yosef, in his identity as the
viceroy of Egypt, is testing his brothers and
has threatened to keep Binyamin as a slave
in punishment for "stealing" his silver cup.
Yehudah, who had once not shown great
concern for Yosef, steps forward to intercede.
He explains the whole process of how Yaakov, their aged father, even
agreed to allow Binyamin to go to Egypt: Yehudah had taken
responsibility for him, and promised his safe return. Yehudah is
impassioned, and offers himself to stay as a slave while Binyamin goes
home to his father, saying to Yosef: "How can I go up to my father,
without the boy with me?" Yehudah has grown enormously as a person
since Yosef was a youth, and takes very seriously his responsibility for his
youngest brother - and for how his father trusts him.
In response, Yosef is overwhelmed with emotion. The Torah tells us his
self-revelation to his brothers in a series of verses without anyone else
speaking. We can easily imagine that Yosef is speaking quickly and trying
to fit almost 20 years of not seeing his family into one big blurt. After
saying, "I am Yosef -- is my father still living?" he pulls his brothers
physically close to him to have his marathon speech to them. He tells
them to go home and get their father and the whole tribal family, and bring
them down to Egypt -- to Goshen, near but not in the capital, where Yosef
can have them close by and take care of them for the remaining five years
of the famine. He is ready to take responsibility for them, despite the
years apart. His love for his father, and his appreciation for family, quickly
rise to the top.
Questions to take away:
Many teachers this week are reflecting and feeling deeply about the
responsibility of educating and caring for other people's children. Who
depends on you to take care of them or help them with important things?
How do you show them that you take this responsibility seriously?
to you as a confirmation
of your donation.
To donate now, please
click here.
Zichronam livracha, may
their memories be for
blessing.
Kol Hakavod to our
Four Alumni
Who Produced Videos
for the Jewish Day School
Video Contest
Kol Hakavod to:
Gabe Chasnoff
(SSDS '95)
Meital Hoffman
(SSDS '12)
Aaron Senser
(SSDS '04)
Talia Weiss
(SSDS '10)
Thank you again to
everyone who viewed and
voted for these videos.
Attention
Facebook Users!
Wondering why you don't
always see our posts in
your newsfeed? Facebook
recently made some
changes that will affect
how we communicate
with you.
What do you think Yosef was feeling when he offered to be responsible
for his family's welfare? If you were Yosef (and hadn't seen your family for
many years), how close would you want your family to be while you took
care of them?
Solomon Schechter Early Childhood Center (ECC)
Children and Faculty
Prepare for a Very Special Dedication
Where does God live? What is Jewish in our classroom?
Why does our classroom doorpost need a mezuzah?
What does the Sh'ma mean to us?
These are a few of the questions the children and faculty at our ECC
investigated during the past months. At Morning Meeting conversations
and dialogues with Ezra-Habonim, The Niles Township's Jewish
Congregation Rabbi Jeffrey Weill, our youngest students revealed their
serious thinking and shared their questions. To find the answers, they
explored in books, examined artifacts, and searched at home with their
parents.
In the Sadnah (Project Room), they used their creativity and imagination
as they rolled clay and learned how to create beads to string on their tree
branch mezuzot. They painted and glazed the beads in bright, beautiful
colors and explored different wires to wrap the fabric on their mezuzot.
If you want to see
Solomon Schechter's
posts in your newsfeed,
please visit our page,
click on LIKED and then
"Show on news feed."
Even better, select
"Get notifications."
On Friday, December 14, the ECC students and teachers were ready to
celebrate Hanukkah with their Schechter community and dedicate their
beautiful home by installing their hand-crafted mezuzot on the doorposts
of their classrooms. This was also an opportunity to honor Beth and Jeff
Kopin for establishing the Marvell D. and Stanley J. z"l Ginsburg PreK
Program, named for Beth's parents, and for establishing the Kopin Family
Kindergarten Incentive Fund.
This is the best way to
stay up-to date!
Please share with your
Schechter friends and
family.
These are our official
Facebook pages:
Solomon Schechter
Community page
Solomon Schechter
Alumni page
Schechter News
The PreK and Kindergarten children sang and danced, delighting the
audience with their unique performance! The Solomon Schechter Choir
and Dance Troupe also thrilled the audience with songs and dances!
Before moving to the classrooms to hang the mezuzot, everyone
gathered together to recite the blessings on a special Hanukkiah.
Torah Readers
4th Grade
Vayigash 12/17 & 12/20
1.) Naomi Spiro
2.) Lena Bromberg
3.) Rachel Hochberg
5th Grade
Vayigash 12/17 & 12/20
1.) Aaron Brown
2.) Sam Dorfman
3.) Jason Ross
6th Grade
Vayigash 12/17 & 12/20
1.) Ann Kushnir
2.) Helen Spellberg
3.) Eden Kahn
7th Grade
Vayigash 12/17 & 12/20
1.) Shira Hirsch
2.) Gaby Ecanow
3.) Jacob Flignor
8th Grade
Vayigash 12/17 & 12/20
1.) Zach Harris
2.) Talia Simmos
3.) Ariella Small
Return to Top
SSDS Quick Business
Connections
Find out more about
Schechter's
J2J Networking Group!
"Installing the mezuzot on the doorposts of the classrooms was one of the
highlights of the morning," said Irene Sufrin, ECC Principal. "The mezuzot
are now hanging at the right height for the children whose Jewish lives at
school are enhanced and developed every morning when they enter their
classrooms. Now when they sing or sign the Sh'ma with their classmates
they know the mezuzot, installed lovingly on their classroom doors,
contain the words of the Sh'ma."
Click here to see information
and links to subscribe to the
SSDS QBC group, join the
LinkedIn Group, join J2J or
contact members for more
information.
Return to Top
Community News
2013 Worlds of Wisdom
and Wonder Winter
Programs
For students in prekindergarten
through 8th grades
Unique, Challenging
Programs for Students
in
Art
Chemistry
Computers
Creative Writing
Robotics
More!
Programs are to be held in
Buffalo Grove,
Chicago, Elmhurst,
Naperville and Oak Forest
"The
ECC in so many ways is our miracle and our hope for our future," said
Linda Foster (pictured below with Beth Ginsburg Kopin in front of one of
the mezuzot). "It was important for us to continue the Schechter light in
the Skokie area, and also to continue to build our enrollment. Because of
the generosity several years ago of the Kopin family, we were able to start
the Marvell D. and Stanley J. Ginsburg z"l PreK Program, which now has
led to our ECC.Now we have our beautiful ECC and we are fortunate to
have such tremendous leadership in Principal Irene Sufrin and such
extraordinary teachers who are so dedicated to the philosophy of our
Early Childhood Center."
Please note that our
students do not need to
be tested or identified
gifted to be eligible; just
bright, motivated, and
eager for new
challenges!
Click here to visit the
website for more
information including
course descriptions.
You can also call 847-9010173 or email
info@centerforgifted.org
Online applications are
accepted or they can be
printed mailed, faxed,
emailed or dropped off at
the offices in Glenview.
Click here for a flyer with
program dates and
locations.
_________
World Class 2-Day
Basketball Camp
with Premier Coach and
Former NCAA and
Professional Player
TAMIR GOODMAN
Tamir Goodman presents
Coolanu Israel, a world-class
basketball camp designed to
improve skills for 3rd - 7th
grade boys and girls of all
levels, in a positive and
Jewishly spirited
environment.
Schechter Parent Carmi Plaut Inspires
Students with His Art
Experienced coaches and
high school and college aged
madrichim
(assistant coaches) are
invited to apply.
December 26
and
December 27
Schechter second graders were recently treated to a visit by Carmi Plaut
(father of Lila, 2B), an artist who specializes in Jewish art and works in a
variety of media. Carmi paints, sculpts, and also does cartooning. He
engaged students by demonstrating how they might draw Hanukkah
symbols on their own "dreidel hats." Our "dreidel heads," as Carmi fondly
referred to our students, were thrilled to use their new skills to decorate
their hats.
Bernard Weinger JCC
Northbrook, IL
$100 for both days
Daily Schedule: 10:00am 3:00pm
About Tamir Goodman
Dubbed the "Jewish Michael
Jordan" by Sports Illustrated
magazine, Tamir played
Division I college basketball
and pro basketball in Israel
and America. He is now
committed to sharing his
inspirational journey and
basketball expertise with
thousands of young athletes
across the country and
around the world.
Click here for a flyer with
details.
For more information,
contact Bernard Weinger
Front Desk at 224.406.9200
_________
Succeeding with Learning
Disabilities
The second grade team thanks Carmi Plaut for taking the time to visit with
and inspire both our students and teachers.
Sixth Graders Gain Skills as They Perform
for Younger Students
Tuesday, January 22
7:00pm
Eileen Gold Kushner
will share her story of how
she overcame learning
disabilities to become a
successful businesswoman
with three McDonald's
franchises. Kushner coauthored the book Smart on
the Inside with special
education teacher Kathy
Young. They will discuss
how parents and teachers
can encourage children who
learn differently to believe in
themselves and succeed
with perseverance.
A few weeks ago, two sections of sixth graders read Isaac Bashevis
Singer's short story, Zlateh the Goat. The students studied the author and
discussed the plot with each other. Language Arts teacher Carol Miller
turned the story into a play, and her students have been busy rehearsing
the script and working during lunch and recess to create the scenery for a
play. A total of six casts will present the play to Sager kindergarten, first
and second graders.
Northbrook Library
201 Cedar Lane
Northbrook
847.272.6224
In the Auditorium
A book signing will follow.
Click here for more
information.
__________
Have you heard about
Ramah Sameach?
"My
students are very excited to have the sixth graders perform," said second
Ramah Day Camp is calling
all 3 to 5 year old
preschoolers. We don't
want you to miss out on
these fun-filled mornings.
grade teacher Elaine Braverman. "These kindergarten, first, and second
grade audiences are the best," added Lynn Graham. "As teachers, we
love this project because it gives the students an opportunity to practice
fluency, improve their presentation skills, and develop confidence."
Our upcoming events are on
Owen Stern (pictured in top photo), who plays the part of Zlateh, says, "I
love crawling around and pretending I am a goat -- a talking goat! The
hardest part is saying my lines without laughing."
Sunday, January 20
(Tu B'shvat)
Sunday, March 17
(Pesach)
at
Ramah Day Camp
98 West Hintz Road
Wheeling
The morning will be filled
with singing, playing,
cooking and an art activity.
All walk-ins are welcome. If
possible rsvp to
info@ramahday.com
Hope to see you there!
__________
Please send all Community
News to Millie Cave at
millie.cave@schechter.org
Who Knew the Web-Based Evernote Program
Would Be So Useful for Sixth Grade
Language Arts Project?
Return to Top
Did you know that the web-based Evernote program
can be used to allow students to communicate electronically
in innovative ways with teachers?
With the help of Schechter Technology Coordinator Debbie Harris, sixth
graders in Adrienne Eisenmann's Language Arts classes have created
Evernote accounts to share their journal entries with their teacher. Mrs.
Eisenmann can respond to the journal entries and check students'
spelling and grammar.
Mrs.
Eisenmann highlights any errors so the students can easily see what
words were spelled incorrectly or which words were not capitalized. "This
interactive process of journal writing has been extremely successful," said
Mrs. Eisenmann. "Many students enjoy communicating on the computer
and expressing themselves in this way. In fact, one student said that her
hand does not hurt as much from writing in this manner and she really
looks forward to these writing assignments."
"It's been very exciting to see how easily the 6th graders have become
accustomed to using Evernote with Mrs. Eisenmann," added Debbie
Harris. "They really enjoy being able to type their journals and getting
responses from their teacher. It's almost like magic for them! Mrs.
Eisenmann thought of this project when I was teaching the teachers how
to use Evernote to share items with their colleagues -- she immediately
thought 'out of the box' and came up with a different use for it. I'm
especially pleased that we're able to use Evernote not only on our laptops
and desktops, but on the iPads as well. It's a great all-around solution."
College-Age Alumni
Visit Schechter
Pictured
from left are: Linda Foster, Adam Schneider, Betsy Forester, Daniel
Warshawsky, and Nathan Bennett.
On Tuesday, December 18th, college-age alumni already home from
winter break reunited at Schechter to reconnect with Schechter faculty
and each other. Even those who didn't know each other at Schechter
quickly realized that they had so much in common. They reminisced about
their days at Schechter and how Schechter impacted their lives.
Dashielle Bark-Huss (SSDS '05), currently a senior at Columbia College
in the school's fashion design program said, "At Schechter, my teachers
really paid attention to me and catered to my level -- they challenged me
and helped me develop my curiosity." When speaking about her favorite
Schechter memories she added, "I loved being in the musical and putting
on skits for Hebrew class." Dashielle will be performing more skits next
semester. She was recently accepted to Columbia College's comedystudies program, which is a full semester at Second City!
Nathan,
Daniel, and Dashielle Bark-Huss have fond memories of their time spent
performing in the Sager musical.
During their visit, they had a chance to watch a rehearsal with current
students, musical accompanist Danny Kahn,
and director Dr. Andy Rosenson.
Nathan Bennett (SSDS '08), a freshman at Northwestern said, "My best
memory is of the Israel trip -- it was cool to be in Israel with my
classmates and teachers and be able to see how everything that we
learned at Schechter all came together in Israel."
Adam Schneider (SSDS '07), now a sophomore evolutionary biology
major at Dartmouth College, recalled several of his favorite teachers.
"Mrs. Hakimian got me really excited about science," he said. "We had so
much fun in her class. Mrs. Graham and Mrs. Miller also had a huge
impact on me -- I really developed my writing skills in their classes."
Dashielle
and Noreen Ohcana.
Alex Siedband (SSDS '04), an industrial design major at University of
Illinois, said, "Schechter was a big part of my life. I learned a lot here. My
sixth grade teacher Roberta Chernowsky really helped me develop my
study skills and I always knew she really cared about me. I also got a
sense of my Jewish identity at Schechter. To this day, I can go anywhere
and participate in services...you never lose what you learn at Schechter."
Daniel Warshawsky (SSDS '07) said that Schechter gave him a
foundation for how to think, be creative, and solve problems. He loved
going on trips with the band and had great memories of his time spent in
the musical. He was excited to learn that the song he performed with
close friend Charlie Schwartz (SSDS '07), "Always look on the bright
side of life," will also be in this year's musical. "My Schechter education
had a huge impact on me and I love coming back to visit my teachers.
They are always so excited to see me and are as interested in my life now
as they were when I was a student here."
Francine Ephraim, Alumni Associate, said, "It was great to get to know
these young alumni who are already doing great things in the world." She
added, "We hope to do another college-age alumni gathering later this
school year.
Alumni: let us know what kind of event you would like!" Please contact
Francine Ephraim, Alumni Associate to contribute your ideas
at francine.ephraim@schechter.org.
Alumni News
Linda Knowlton Goldstein (SSDS '79)
Linda Knowlton Goldstein (SSDS '79) attended
Solomon Schechter from kindergarten through 7th
grade, when her family moved to California in
1978. Both of her older brothers attended
Schechter as well -- Ron (SSDS '70) was in the
first graduating class and Randy was in the fourth
graduating class. (SSDS '73)
Linda studied neuroscience at Brown University.
Following college, she remained in Providence to
serve the governor of Rhode Island in the Office
of Intergovernmental Relations. She subsequently
worked raising funds for film preservation at The
American Film Institute, in Washington, D.C., and, later, in Los Angeles.
She is currently a film director and producer, and her latest film
Somewhere Between is a film about identity formation, family, adoption,
and race. It is currently being shown in theaters across the country.
Somewhere Between was inspired by Linda's seven-year-old daughter,
Ruby. "When my husband and I adopted her from China, we had no idea
what lay ahead," she said. "We became a family in an instant. But as I
began to think about Ruby's future, I started to wonder how her coming of
age would differ from mine. I began talking to older girls who had been
adopted from China and brought to the U.S., and plunged into a world not
just of identity but of what it means to be who we are."
Somewhere Between premiered at the prestigious Hot Docs Film
Festival in Toronto in 2011, where the film won the Audience Award. The
film has played at festivals across North America, and started its national
theatrical release in 2012 at the IFC Center in NY. It has played across
the country all fall, and will open at the Music Box Theater in Chicago
January 11th, 2013 for a week's run. It is for children 13 years of age and
up.
For tickets go to http://somewherebetweenmovie.com/ Linda and
the subjects of the film will be at the screenings during the opening
weekend, January 11 - 13.
Before Somewhere Between, Linda co-directed and co-produced the
feature-length documentary, The World According to Sesame Street. The
film examines Sesame Street's international co-productions, made
primarily in some of the world's political hotspots, including Kosovo,
Bangladesh, and South Africa. The film made its World Premiere in
competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival as an Official Selection in
the U.S. Documentary category.
Previously, Linda produced the New Zealand film Whale Rider (2002),
which was the winner of the Audience Awards at several film festivals.
Prior to that, she initiated the development of The Shipping News. She
made her feature-film producing debut in 1999 with both Mumford, written
and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, and Crazy In Alabama, directed by
Antonio Banderas. Somewhere Between is her second documentary,
which she directed and produced. She is currently developing both fiction
and documentary films and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and
daughter.
When asked about Schechter, Linda said, "I have so many incredible
memories from my years at Schechter -- too many to list! I truly believe
that the care and dedication of the teachers made a true impact in helping
to shape me into the person I am today. The sense of community created
at Schechter and its importance is reflected thematically in all of my films."
Linda added that her best friend is someone she met in first grade at
Schechter, Evie Ellis Posner (SSDS '79).
Linda is pictured with her brothers (from left) Ron and Randy.
Linda shared quite a few Schechter memories. Fran Cohn, her first grade
teacher, came to meet her at her house before the school year started
and it was "so exciting!", music with Roz Epstein -- "she was always so
passionate and funny," Lag B'Omer overnight trip to Okonomowoc, being
a part of the March for Soviet Jewry and the response to the Nazi
demonstration in Skokie, going out to the sports field on Yom Ha'Shoah
and being asked to count six million blades of grass...."
"And I loved performing in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat," she added.
Randy Goldstein (SSDS '73) lives in Berkeley, CA. Randy has a son
who is a mechanical engineer who recently made aliyah, and a daughter
who is running a school garden program in Oakland, CA. He has spent
his entire career working in the fields of energy and the environment with
a wide variety of energy sources and technologies. Most recently, he was
a co-founder, director and CEO of OptiSolar Inc., which developed largescale solar farms across North America. Prior to that, Randy co-invented
the OrCrude process and co-founded OptiCanada, which used the
technology in an oil sands project in Canada.
Ron Goldstein PhD (SSDS '70) lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Judy.
They have five children and four grandchildren. He is a
Professor at Bar-Ilan University in The Mina and Everard Goodman
School of Life Sciences, and is president of the Israel Stem Cell Society
and was featured last May in a Shabbat Bulletin. Click here to read the
article.
______________________________
Do you have alumni news you'd like to share? Have you moved?
Graduated? Had a baby? Won an award? We'd love to know!
Please email Francine Ephraim, Alumni Associate, to share your news.
Pass it On!
We hope you have enjoyed reading about the exciting programs and
activities at Solomon Schechter Day School. If you know someone who
would enjoy reading about our Schechter community, please forward this
to them! Send all comments to tami.warshawsky@schechter.org.
A partner in serving our community, supported by the Jewish United Fund/Jewish
Federation.