Gr. 6 Mishnah Lesson Comes Alive with (Virtual) Trip to Israel

Students in Ms. Elisheva Ausubel‘s Grade 6 Mishnah classes enjoyed a lesson that was team-taught by Morah Ellie with Smadar Goldstein, an Israeli educator in Jerusalem. The lesson was facilitated by J.E.T.S. (Jerusalem EdTech Solutions), which allows Diaspora students to connect to Israel and to benefit from its rich educational resources via computer-based distance learning programs.

The historic amphitheater in Beit Shean

The lesson began with a video created by J.E.T.S. that features daily life for a little girl in Israel during the Mishnaic era: shepherding, fetching water from the spring, playing the flute, having private lessons (which only the more well-to-do could afford), playing the game “Five Stones” (an ancient pastime that is still in vogue today), and, on occasion, seeing a show in the amphitheater in Beit Shean that could seat 7,000 people.

Students were asked to decipher a code using the letters of the ancient Hebrew alphabet. Then, they set about learning the mishnayot at hand, which deal with laws concerning responsibilities pertaining to borrowers and lenders and liability for damaged property. Through acting out short skits in which the students assumed the characters of the children in the video they had watched as they found themselves in situations relevant to the texts under study, they were better able to understand the details of the cases. In the final analysis, the sixth graders learned that tort cases were adjudicated by the judge who was stationed in “sha’ar ha’ir” — the city gate.

Both Ms. Ausubel (in the classroom) and Ms. Goldstein (via teleconferencing) engaged the students in lively discussion.

“Leap” into a Healthy New Year with the Parents Council

One week from tonight! The Third Annual Parents’ Night Out Health Initiative Evening will take place Wednesday, February 29 from 7:30-9:30PM in the Lower School auditorium (125 East 85th Street, 2nd floor).

The evening is devoted to issues relating to ECC, Lower School, and Middle School children. The program includes:

• A COOKING demonstration by Alexandra Zohn Cepelowicz and Kim Kushner, to encourage parents to cook with their children and motivate everyone to try something tasty and nutritious
• A MEDITATION/RELAXATION session led by Ora Ramat
• A roundtable discussion with PSYCHOLOGISTS, featuring Dr. Jacqueline Ferraro (moderator), Dr. Robert Gaines, Dr. Marcelo Rubin, and Dr. Seth Aronson

Healthy samples will be provided by Organic Avenue.

This event is FREE and open to all. Both men and women are encouraged to attend. Please bring your non-Ramaz friends!

Sponsored by the Ramaz Parents Council. Program chairs are Dr. Nicole Agus, Dr. Stephanie Freilich, Shabnam Khaloyan, Emma Mahfar, Adina Ostad, and Dr. Lu Steinberg Schulder.

To register, RSVP to Marina Manheimer, 212-774-6215 or ManheimerM@ramaz.org.

A Taste of Israel: Ramaz US Beit Cafe Feb. 27

Next Monday night, please join us at the Upper School Beit Cafe, the annual Israeli Cafe at Ramaz!
Monday, February 27 at 7:30PM
@ the Ramaz Upper School, 60 East 78th Street, NYC
Click here to join the Facebook event!

Hebrew can be fun! Israeli music is phenomenal! Our students will serve you in Hebrew, sing and dance for you, and do all the cooking!

Join us for an evening of Israeli culture, coffee, hot chocolate, some hummus and salad, and student-baked desserts. We are importing the smells, sounds, and tastes of Israel for one night only!

Our student and faculty artists will provide exclusively Israeli entertainment; music, comedy, dance, and original writing. The entire evening will be in Hebrew, a live, pulsating, passionate language, celebrating a thriving, living culture.

Here’s a taste of Beit Cafe 2011:

Tickets are only $10 a person in advance or $15 at the door. For tickets, bring your check/cash to Ms. Linda Malamy in the 6th floor office of the Upper School, or send your check made out to The Ramaz School, 60 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075.

For questions, please contact cg@ramaz.org.

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Chesed Fair Spreads the Love

Our annual Chesed Fair, arranged for Grade 5 girls, Grade 6 boys, and their parents, encourages families to include an activity geared toward helping others as part of their upcoming Bar or Bat Mitzvah celebration. In addressing the audience on January 17, Mr. Effy Braun, the event’s coordinator, pointed out that the current Jewish year, 5772, is particularly propitious “to make kindness a priority in our lives” as its last two digits are the “gematriya” or alphanumeric equivalent of the Hebrew word chesed.

The evening’s motivational speeches and videos were, indeed, inspiring. “You are unique,” the students were told. “One step must start each journey. Be bold, be courageous, be proud, be yourself, serve, motivate, achieve.”

Invited to this year’s event were representatives of the following organizations:

• AMIT, Boys Town Jerusalem, and Lev LaLev, which all assist Israeli youth;
• Reuth, an Israel-based organization dedicated to improved social and health services;
• Jumpstart, which works with preschool low-income children across the US;
• the UJA Federation of New York and The Educational Alliance, which provide a host of services to local clients;
• the Major Stuart Adam Wolfer Institute (MSAWI), dedicated to supporting US troops; and
• Vision For and From Children, founded by MS student Lillian Pravda (grade 6), which supports children in need of non-routine eye care.

In addition to hearing a presentation by a representative from each of these non-profits, students and their parents visited their booths to learn more about how a chesed project might be designed to fit the particular predilections of an interested student.

Yet there was much more to do than just listen. The room was abuzz with hands-on projects to be completed on the spot. For example, food distribution bags were decorated, letters were written to American soldiers, T-shirts were decorated for kids in Israel, and packets were assembled to engage younger children in NYC in pre-reading activities.

For further information, please contact BraunE@Ramaz.org. He got the ball rolling. Now it’s your turn.

The Books Are Back! Lower School Library Update

We are delighted to welcome parents and children to our new Lower School library space, the home of an updated collection and state of the art technology. As you may be aware, the entire Ramaz Lower School and ECC library collection was damaged this summer as the New York Fire Department heroically extinguished the fire at Kehilath Jeshurun. Since the fall, when the final word on the damage was received, we have been working diligently to replace the 16,000-volume collection. The good news is that our core collection of English language books arrived last Thursday! We are still awaiting the delivery of our Hebrew books, which will take a bit longer, as they are being shipped from Israel.

Children will begin borrowing books from the library this week! Books are circulated for a two-week period. Although there are no late fees in the Lower School/ECC library, we ask that books be returned on time so that other students may have an opportunity to enjoy them as well.

Parents are welcome to stop in and browse in the library as you drop off your children in the morning. The library opens at 8:00AM and remains open until 4:30PM Monday-Thursday, 1:00PM on Fridays. You are welcome to stop in with your children to check out a book or if you are looking for a quiet place to do homework.

Our librarians look forward to welcoming you in person.

Lend a Hand: Ramaz Community Chesed Day, March 25

As part of our Ramaz at 75 celebrations, we’re partnering with Met Council (the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty) for a Ramaz Community Chesed Day on Sunday, March 25.

We’re gathering together ALL of the Ramaz community:

• students from Nursery to Grade 12
• current parents
• grandparents
• alumni across the decades
• parents of alumni

Our mission: helping out with Met Council’s Food Rescue Program. Through the Food Rescue Program, Met Council staff and volunteers pick up perishable prepared kosher food on a daily basis and distribute it to needy families. Started just this past November, the Food Rescue Program now feeds more than 100 people weekly.

Activities throughout the day for all ages will include:

• painting a mural (at the Food Rescue Program site on the Lower East Side)
• cooking and baking
• serving to and entertaining Met Council clients (at the Met Council facility)
• collecting and packaging food for the food drive
• art projects for younger kids including seder plate decoration
• meeting with Met Council staff to brainstorm and plan marketing ideas for the Food Rescue Program
• and more!

More information will be forthcoming about exact times for specific programs, so you can plan your family’s day. Activities will take place at the Ramaz Upper School (60 E. 78th St.) unless otherwise noted.

Be a part of this endeavor — sign up now to join us on March 25!

A Unique Spring Semester for Ramaz Seniors

Seniors at Ramaz are very excited about their spring semester this year, and it’s not because they will be graduating. This is the fourth year of an innovative program at Ramaz for students’ final semester: a series of six 10-day mini-courses which will begin with the second semester in Febru­ary.

The mini-courses consist of a range of academic classes, experiential opportunities, and leadership roles. Each course is worth a certain amount of credit, and by the end of the semester, each student is ex­pected to amass a total of 70 credits. Advisors are helping students plan out their spring semesters and fulfill their credit obligations while also taking the most exciting and interesting classes they can.

Many of the courses express Ramaz teachers’ personal interests. Choices also include prep courses for students who plan to take an AP exam and a preparatory course for those who will join the senior class for its annual trip to Poland. Some of the other class options include:

Kedushat Hamishpacha * Neviim Acharonim through the Music of Simon & Garfunkel, Kansas, and Bob Marley * Senior Experience to Poland * Sugyot in Pesachim * Getting Ready for Jewish Life on Campus * Yiddish * Industrial Kashrut in the 21st Century * Homage to Hitchcock * Fringe Theatre * Mysteries of the Brain * Biotechnology & Ethics * Choral Arranging * The Geology of New York * Cap and Trade * Things That Hurt Your Brain to Think About

The seniors are excited to be a part of this program and appreciate both the willingness of the school to try something new and the creativity of the teachers for developing fun and interesting courses.

Oh, the Places We’ve Gone!

Ramaz Upper School continues to take advantage of its prime cultural location in Manhattan. So far this year:

• The 12th grade “War and Society” class went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, right around the corner, to tour the “Arms and Armor” exhibit.
• The Astronomy class ventured across Central Park to visit the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History.
• Two senior Art classes spent time at the Willem de Kooning exhibition at the MOMA, as well as the Gagosian Gallery‘s Rauschenberg private collection.
• A few Senior classes visited the New York Public Library to see their new exhibition “Three Faiths”.
• The ninth grade was busy this past month working in the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County, enjoying ice skating in Bryant Park, and learning about the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Discover Center in Times Square.
• The Shakespeare class attended the BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) production of Richard III, starring Kevin Spacey.

It’s great to be in New York City!

Teaching Values with the CARES Program

For thirty minutes each Friday, our Grade 4 students are engaged in conversations that help build character, enrich their spiritual lives, and provide tools that will last them a lifetime.

Dr. Fox and friends get collaborative!

“The CARES program is a great direction to be moving in for our fourth graders who are developmentally ready to take on this type of program,” noted Lower School Psychologist Dr. Michal Fox. “The children are active participants and eager to keep going after the time allotted,” she said, adding that the first few sessions have been “amazing.”

CARES stands for:
Creating Opportunities For
Appreciating
Reflecting Upon and
Embracing
So Many Important Values

Students are divided into six groups that rotate every three weeks from advisor to advisor. Six faculty or administration members, each of whom focuses on different topics of interest and importance, serve as advisors. The subjects being discussed are:

• Responsibility: Rabbi Berkowitz is discussing what that means for children, as well as different ways we could all be more responsible in our own lives.
• Respect and Kindness: Ms. Nani Mintz is speaking with the children about respectful behavior towards peers, parents, teachers, caretakers, and personal belongings. The importance of refraining from Lashon Hara (derogatory speech about another person) will be incorporated and there also will be an opportunity to be involved in an act of chesed (kindness).
• Spirituality: Ms. Dena Rich is engaging the children in conversations about God and prayer, and why prayer is important. The children will learn about a specific prayer in greater depth and will discuss the significance of prayer in their lives. Ms. Rich also will speak with the children about modesty.
• Health and Hygiene: Nurse Judith Rose is speaking with the children about the importance of body hygiene and hand washing. Nurse Judith also will introduce the concept of the “Food Plate” and engage the children in conversations about healthy eating.
• Pro-social Behavior and Bullying: Mr. Andrew Leibowitz is focusing on heightening their awareness of these issues in a positive way through a variety of hands-on, interactive activities.
•  Conflict Resolution: Dr. Michal Fox is working with the children on creating an atmosphere of cooperative problem-solving. Together, they will come up with basic tools that will give them coping mechanisms to find lasting and meaningful resolutions.

“This internally developed program is unique in the education world, as far as we know,” Dr. Fox explained. In addition to providing in-depth time to discuss these topics, she said, it will build bonds between the students and the advisors and also serve as a bridge to the Middle School advisory program in which the Grade 4 students will participate next year.

VIDEO: Ramaz Middle School Builds “World’s Tallest” LEGO Menorah

There were just two days of school before Chanukah slipped away into Winter Break, and there was much fun to be had. Students in Grades 5 and 6 massed in the gym where sixty thousand multi-colored Lego pieces awaited them. The candelabra part of a huge chanukkiah had already been pieced together, and the students were charged with the task of constructing the square base that would allow the menorah to become “the tallest in the world.”

Working in small groups that were each asked to build a ten-row-high segment, the students were given templates of Jewish motifs to incorporate into their design scheme. The results were well worth the effort, and there was jubilation in the room when the candelabra was hoisted up and placed on the base.

Shabbat shalom!