Happy reading, Rabbi Ronnie Figdor
This issue is sponsored by Rosa, Steve, Avi, Rachel, Aaron, Sarah, Naomi & Shira Chapman in honour of David's bar mitzvah. May he continue to be a source of neverending nachat.
A big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in the Mars Fundraising Chocolate Drive. There is still an amount outstanding- if you have not already done so, please return any money and/or chocolates immediately. So far we have made a profit of $795.00 and been given a Mystery Flight and Top 50 CD voucher from Brashes, which is being donated for the Channukah Raffle on Sunday Night. Thank you all on behalf of the P & F Association. Annemarie Hardy
Parents wishing to order any summer uniform items are advised that Joyce Hassan will be in attendance in the library from 3.30 p.m. on Monday afternoon (18th December). Uniform items are only available if pre-ordered. Reminder: If you have any second hand uniform you would like to either donate or sell through the school shop, please bring them along ASAP.
Would you please take note of the following arrangements for Speech Night:
We apologise for the delay in sending out the booklists. By now your child should have received his/her 1996 Booklist. If not, please see Di Cocks as soon as possible. Please cross out the items that you do not require and return to school by no later than 22nd December. Books will be available for collection and payment on Wednesday, 24th January. Payment may be made by cash, credit card or cheque payable to Massada College.
On Monday morning, we will be holding a morning tea to say thank you to the volunteers who have helped our school in various ways during the year. We sincerely appreciate your assistance and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Monday.
In line with the new Reporting and Communication Policy recently released, reports will be issued on Monday, to allow parents time to contact teachers if they have concerns.
A reminder that school closes at the end of the day on Thursday, 21st December and recommences on Tuesday, 31st January, 1996.
A full dress rehearsal for the concert will be held on Tuesday afternoon. Parents should avoid making any appointments at that time so that all children can be present in their full costume.
The Association of Independent Schools, NSW will launch StudentNet in Term One 1996. StudentNet is an on-line service that will make education resources available via the information super highway to schools and to the homes of students and teachers. AIS (NSW) is calling for volunteers to test StudentNet during the summer holidays. As a beta tester, you will have the opportunity to help make StudentNet a valuable resource for students, parents and teachers. You will need to have a computer and modem at home, all ready for joining StudentNet through your current on-line service provider. If anyone is interested in participating in this programme, information is available from the school office.
Last Thursday afternoon in the school office an American man handed over to a parent an envelope addressed to Ronit. Ronit did not receive the envelope nor can we identify the parent. If anyone knows of its whereabouts, please contact Ronit.
David Peto has lost his sports shorts, size 8. Please check your child's to ensure that s/he does not have the wrong ones. Ilya Mayo has lost a white T-shirt with a Malaysian design on the front.
Our last week at kindy (for some of us) for 1995. This is the week we reflect on the growth and achievements of our "graduates". How they have grown into such amazing, special individuals that we shall miss enormously, but with a sense of satisfaction that we have helped them develop into the lovely little people they are.
We also plan for the 4 year olds in Lynda's group to go into Lindsay's group, and we are equally amazed how our "babies" have grown and matured.
Come and see them all at our END OF YEAR PARTY on Wednesday, 20th December 1995, at 10.00 a.m. and share our pleasure in them. We are starting exactly at 10.00 a.m. , so we suggest you plan on getting here a little earlier to ensure you are seated. To ensure a party atmosphere, we ask that the children be dressed in their best party clothes (if you are not taking them home after, please supply a suitable change of clothes).
We understand that some people may have a problem on Wednesday and may need to bring siblings along. If so, we urge you to supervise them as the whole idea is to focus on your kindy child. Thank you for your understanding. Lindsay
The kindy staff will have a student free day on Friday to allow us to clear a back log of work, complete ordering and leave the office etc. tidy (we hope) for Vacation Care Staff. This doesn't mean the kindy will be closed - but will be manned by the holiday staff. Kindy resumes on Monday, 29th January (for those not using Vacation Care).
Have you looked up as you passed the kindy garden? You should - our baskets are "bloomin' beautiful(ly)". They are now on their own sprinkler system, so we hope they will survive summer and be spilling over with masses of blooms when we come back. Our "smelly" garden also is a delight, especially just after we've watered it!!!
At the moment we are enjoying the fruits of summer for morning fruit time - mangoes, watermelon, rockmelon, kiwi fruit, strawberries, apricots, peaches, etc. etc.
YUM YUM!! The children are enjoying the beautiful fruit feast - in fact, last Friday, we made the most delicious fruit salad. Thanks for making fruit time so delectable.
There has been great interest in Keera's wedding - we enclose a picture of the bride and groom for you all to enjoy.
To all our many helpers during the year, you are all terrific - we couldn't have managed without you. MANY, MANY, MANY THANKS - give yourselves a hearty slap on the back (we do at kindy, when we're proud of ourselves).
Have you have all returned your assessment questionnaire? Please do - this is your last chance to make a difference (if indeed, one is needed)!!! But let us know either way. If any parents still have some suggestions to make, please take advantage of this last week to do so - all suggestions are discussed and digested (honest!!!).
Please feel free to make a time to discuss your child with his/her teacher if there are any areas of concern that you feel should be talked over before the holidays.
You will be sad (or happy) to hear that our newsletter at the end of the year will be brief, so until then have an amazing week - we will (we just know it)!!!
CHAG SAMAECH - HAPPY CHANNUKAH
Lindsay, Lynda, Lauren and Robyn
A very big THANK YOU to Mrs. Mara Zaks for her generous donation of hand-made bookmarks for our school.
Yaakov's favourite son was Yosef, his "ben z'kunim," son of old age. Yaakov made for Yosef a multi-coloured silk coat as a sign of distinction and lordship. This aroused the jealousy of Yosef's brothers, until they actually hated Yosef and could not even talk to him congenially.
Yosef dreamt two dreams with the same obvious message. His brothers' hate intensified as they heard Yosef's dreams. In the first dream, the sheaves of his brothers bowed down to his own sheaf, which was standing upright in their midst. In the second, the sun, moon, and eleven stars (representing the rest of Yosef's family) bowed down to him. The implication of these dreams was that all the members of Yosef's family would become subservient to him. Yaakov rebuked Yosef for arousing his brothers' enmity, though he personally noted and waited for fulfillment of the dreams.
When Yosef's brothers were away tending their father's flock in Shechem, Yaakov sent Yosef to see how they were faring. Yosef was on his way to his brothers when they noticed him from a distance. The brothers decided that this was their chance to conspire to kill him, throw his body into a pit, and then conceal their act by saying he had been eaten by a wild beast.
Reuven knew that this was wrong. He wanted to save Yosef but saw that the other brothers would not heed his word. However, he was able to convince them not to kill Yosef but rather to cast him alive into a nearby pit. "Let it not be your hands that directly injure Yosef," argued Reuven. Reuven reasoned silently that later he would return, after the brothers had left, and save Yosef. When Yosef finally arrived, the brothers stripped him of his silk coat and, as Reuven had suggested, threw him alive into the pit.
A caravan of Yishmaelites bearing spices to Egypt approached, and the idea occurred to Yehudah to sell Yosef as a slave rather than to directly cause his death. The brothers accepted his new plan and sold Yosef to the travelling Yishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. Reuven, away while this was happening, returned to find no trace of Yosef, much to his grief. The brothers then dipped the silk coat in the blood of a goat (whose blood is similar to that of a human being) and brought it to Yaakov, who concluded that Yosef had been devoured by a wild beast. Yaakov mourned Yosef's loss for many days.
Meanwhile, Yosef was being sold and resold many times. The Yishmaelites sold him to Midianite merchants, and the merchants sold him in Egypt, to Potiphar, an officer of Paroh.
Yehudah had married the daughter of Shua, a merchant, who bore him three sons. The first son later married a woman named Tamar, but died soon after the marriage. The second son married her, as it was the custom that the husband's surviving brother marry the childless widow (yibum). However, this second husband also soon died. Yehudah feared that his third son would die if he married Tamar, so he asked Tamar to wait in her father's house until his youngest son grew up and was ready to marry her. Yehudah was only putting her off; he had no real intention of ever having the marriage take place. Realizing through a prophecy that the King of Yisroel will descend from Yehudah, Tamar disguised herself and deceived Yehudah so that she should bear his child. When her pregnancy was discovered, Yehudah, not realizing that it was his own child that Tamar was carrying, condemned her to be burned. However, Tamar was able to prove that it was Yehudah himself who was the father of her unborn child. As Tamar was taken to be burnt, she sent to Yehudah his staff and other personal possessions, saying, "By the man who owns these objects, I am pregnant." Yehudah thereupon realized and acknowledged that it was his child. He admitted that she was right for he had not allowed Tamar to marry his remaining son, and she was saved from death.
Hashem was with Yosef and he was very successful in all his endeavours. Potiphar, realizing this, appointed him to the position of overseer of his household. Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Yosef who rejected her daily advances. Potiphar's wife finally became insulted and reacted viciously by accusing him of molesting her, and Yosef was sent to prison.
Even in prison Hashem was with Yosef, and he found favour in the eyes of the prison warden. The warden placed Yosef in charge of all the prisoners and everything that took place in theprison was controlled by Yosef. While there, Yosef came in contact with two royal officials, Pharoah's chief butler and baker. They had offended Pharoah and were in prison awaiting word of their fate. One night, each had a dream which they revealed to Yosef. Yosef interpreted the dreams to mean that the butler would be pardoned by Pharoah, but the baker would be executed. The events occurred exactly as Yosef had foretold. Yosef asked the butler to intercede with Pharoah on his behalf, but the butler forgot this request as soon as he was released from prison.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Figdor
The Festival of Chanukah dates back to an event in history which took place 2,100 years ago - the victory of the Jews and their Hasmonean leaders over the Syrian-Greek rules of that period.
In the 4th century B.C.E., Alexander the Great had conquered the Persian Empire and thus placed the Jews of Judea under Greek rule. Many of the upper strata of Jewish society were dazzled by the glamour of the Greek world, and became Hellenised.
In 175 B.C.E., Antiochus Epiphanes, propagator of Hellenism, became king of Syria and decided to uproot Judaism by force. Antiochus issued decrees prohibiting the observance of the Sabbath and the holy days upon pain of death. He also outlawed circumcision and the study of the Torah. He ordered a statue of Zeus to be placed in the Temple and dotted the country with Greek idols which the Jews were ordered to worship.
The Hellenists among the Jews accepted the changes, but the masses of the people refused to accept the decrees of Antiochus. In order to observe their faith, many Jews took refuge in the hills and caves of their homeland.
Open rebellion against the Greeks began in Modiin, a village not far from Jerusalem, where the Priest Matityahu and his five sons, Judah, Yochanan, Eliezer, Shimon and Yonatan, openly refused to worship the idols. Then, gathering about him all who were willing to fight with the cry of "Whosoever is on the Lord's side, let him come with me", Matityahu and his sons began their struggle against Antiochus.
Before his death, Matityahu enjoined his sons to continue the fights against the oppressors and named his third son, Judah Maccabeus (The Hammer) to be his successor and leader. His battle cry was: "Who is like You, O Lord among the almighty" in Hebrew: èàÄï ëÄ 'ä ìëî-Çü. The initials of the Hebrew words for this statement ëüïÄ form the word Maccabee. Judah Maccabeus' followers came to be known as the Maccabees, and fought with the greatest bravery against the much better-armed and more numerous armies of the Syrian-Greeks. Judah inspired his men with his own bravery and confidence, and as a result the Jews defeated the Syrian generals and their armies, drove them out of the land, and liberated Jerusalem and the Temple.
On the 25th day of Kislev, 165 B.C.E., Judah and the Maccabees entered Jerusalem and began to cleanse the Temple, which had been desecrated by the Syrian-Greeks. When Judah wished to relight the Menorah - the holy candelabrum, only one cruse of oil could be found which had not been defiled by the Syrians. Although it contained enough oil for one day, it miraculously burned for eight days, until fresh oil could be prepared. In commemoration of that miracle, Chanukah is celebrated every year for eight days, starting with the 25th day of Kislev, the day on which the Temple was rededicated.
Chanukah marks the time when Judaism and the Jewish way of life were saved from total destruction.
Not only does Chanukah celebrate the military victory of the Jews over their Syrian-Greek overlords, it also tells of the victory of the spiritual and moral values that are the Judaic tradition over the materialistic values of Hellenism. For that reason on the Sabbath of Chanukah, the Haftarah that is read in the synagogue is the portion form the prophecies of Zechariah which states "not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit."
On each night of Chanukah (beginning this coming Sunday night) we light an extra candle (in addition to the shamash) near the window.
On Chanukah one should make the following brachot before lighting the candle
Baruch ata Adonai eloheinu melech haolam asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav v'tzinau lehadlik ner shel chanukah.
Baruch ata Adonai eloheinu melech haolam she'asa nisim la'avoteinu bayamim hahem bazman hazeh.
[And shehecheyanu first night only]
VIENNA RESIDENT THROWS BARMITZVAH PARTY FOR 230
230 children from development towns and distressed neighbourhoods around Israel, including 100 pupils of Youth Aliyah schools, enjoyed a special bar-bat-mitzvah celebration Thursday evening thanks to Rafi Enukaschwilli sponsored the event with the assistance of Keren Hayesod in Ashdod t mark the barmitzvah of his eldes son Eli. Wife Doroote and younger son Jimmy were also on hand. Enukaschwilli greeted each boy and girl personally and gave each one a present.
Fred Steiner would like to thank all his friends and relatives for the visits, cards, and kind wishes during his recent stay in hospital. He is now convalescing at home.
Happy Channukah
Mazaltov 5756 times
to Brian, Vilma, Sally and Clementine Gould
To Francie, Ella and Jack
To all the Griffs
A perfectly happy and joyous Channukah
And a peaceful one for all
Shalom, Shalom, Shalom
From an old twig on your family tree
Ladies
COME ALONG FOR A FUN EVENING
Join us for ISRAELI DANCING
Next Session: TUESDAY 19th December 1995, 7.30 - 9.p.m.
at the HINES HALL
Sponsored by WIZO
Donation: $2
(For more information phone Ronit or Miriam
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