Weekly Dvar Torah, by Rachel Anisfeld

It’s Parashat Shmini, the parsha of the “eighth day,” the day after the 7 days of miluim, of practicing the erection and consecration of the Tabernacle. This is the day when all the lessons learned actually come into practice. And it feels like the eighth day, in terms of holidays. We’ve had 7 (okay, 8, but it should have been 7) days of Passover. And now is the eighth day, when we put all those lessons into practice. What do we take with us from Passover into life? As if to answer this question, we are immediately confronted, post-Passover, with Yom

HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. We go from a celebration of redemption to a remembering of tragedy and suffering. What is the relationship between these two? They are both practices of memory. We have 6 zechirot, 6 acts of memory we are commanded to do (see your siddur for a complete list), and these are 2 of them: remember that you left Egypt and remember the terrible things Amalek did to you. Remember that there is redemption in the world and remember that there is cruelty in the world. The two are necessarily linked. Remembering the Holocaust is a difficult thing. One can easily fall into the pit of despair with such memories. One begins to feel that the world is essentially an evil place where cruel things have happened and are still happening at this very moment. How can we bear such thoughts, such memories? As a people, how do we avoid a descent into hopelessness? We can only face such memories fortified with the lessons of Passover, the holiday of hope. Passover teaches that there is ultimate redemption, that one must hold firmly to the belief that the world is moving in the right direc-tion. Leaving Egypt does happen for those who are in straits. But remembering our exodus from Egypt is not enough. If we did only that, we would be complacent, content in our sense of having already been redeemed. Our obligation is also to remember Amalek in the world, to remem-ber that there still is cruelty and along with this memory, comes the obligation to erase its presence, to work at the eradication of evil from the world. Immersed in a sense of evil in the world we could not fight it. It would overwhelm us. One cannot save a drown-ing person unless one is able to swim securely oneself. And so, we arm ourselves for the fight with the tools gar-nered in our Passover celebration – the faith in the ultimate triumph of good, in the possibility of redemption.

This is the eighth day, the day we take the memory of redemption to help us confront the memory of tragedy and cruelty.

Candle Lighting times for April

Friday April 20th —- Light 7:19 Saturday April 21st —- End 8:22

Friday April 27th —- Light 7:27 Saturday April 28th —- End 8:30

Upcoming Events April 25th

Israel’s Memorial Day

(Yom HaZikaron)

יום הזיכרוןApril 26th

Israeli’s Independence Day

(Yom HaAtzmaut)

יום העצמאות

Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy Of The Capital District Receives

Substantial Support From

April 20, 2012Issue Issue Number 56 Volume Number III

Holocaust

By Noah Degroult-Elias

(5th Grade)

Horrific

Outrageous

Lost lives

Odor of Death

Cast away

Atrocity

Unfair

Shouldn’t happen again

Time to remember

Rachel Lapiner (5th Grade)

Dear friend,

I know you are in such a bend

Soon we’ll all be free

Just have faith in me

I’ll get you out

Just listen to my shout.

I love you too

This is for you.

Concentration Camps

By Hannah Kamenir (4th grade)

We were kept in concentration camps,

We didn’t have anything, not even a lamp.

All we ate, was nothing on our plate.

We had had enough, but they would not stop being tough.

Six million Jews were killed, which made our lives not fulfilled.

Aviva Schwartz (4th Grade)

The Holocaust gave us death.

It was the world’s last breath.

It ruined the lives of innocent people.

It left nothing but useless evil.

Dara Weingarten (4th Grade)

Helplessness

Outrageous

Lunitic

Overcrowded

Crushed

Awful

Understanding

Sorrow

Tearfull

During Judaic studies class, the 4th and 5th grade learned about the Shoah, the Holocaust. We read some meaningful stories and discussed why it is so important to remember in order to honor those who died. They chose different types of poetry to reflect their feelings for this holiday.

Save The Date!

Grandparents and Special Friends Day

will be held on the afternoon of

Friday ~ May 18, 2012

12:00-3:00 PM

Join the

Hebrew Academy Facebook Page

at

www.facebook.com/HACDAlbany

Stay connected with events happening at HACD!!!

Shabbat Sponsorship It’s with thanks that we acknowledge Ethel & Jeff Kramer for their

Shabbat Sponsorship

For Friday April 20, 2012

In Honor of

Susan Lord’s 8th Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

HACD

Drama Club presents

WILLY WONKA!! May 17th, 7pm

PRESS RELEASE “Willy Wonka”

Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy of the Capital District (HACD) will be staging the Broadway Musical “Willy Wonka”, featuring the vocal talents of Vered Ornstein as Willy Wonka and Celia Rosen as Charlie Bucket. ‘Golden ticket winners’ will also be played by Sean Setzen as Augustus Gloop, Kira Gold as Veruca Salt, Aviva Schwartz as Violet Beauregarde and Donald Goldstein as Mike Teavee.

Parents and grandparents of the ticket winners will be played by Ari Levine, Melissa Kearns, Harrison Burack, Ella Rosen, Netania Kligerman, Ami Israel, Mollie Laniado, Ethan Katz, Marissa Burack and Sarah Eligberg. Supporting roles will also be played by Noah Fisher, Matan Adler, Shore Goldberg, and Jesse Levine.

The Willy Wonka Oompa Loompa Chorus showcases the talents of many students from second through fifth grades including: Bina Kovach, Rachel Lapiner, Yoni Eligberg, Hannah Greenblatt, Eli Horwitz, Tani Israel, Zachary Wasserman, Susan Lord, Ilan Kligerman, Rebecca Rappaport, Sara Lapiner and Miriam Eligberg.

Play Producer Dr. Cheryl Burack is bringing back the Directing talents of DeLynn Wickham. Accompanying music will be provided by Gene Marie Kern.

Performances are scheduled for Thursday evening May 17, at 7pm and a Sunday matinee per-formance May 20, at 2pm. Tickets are on sale now and can be ordered through Howard Gold-berg at howardagoldberg@gmail.com or requests can be left in the main office at

Hebrew Academy to his attention.

=========================================

Please contact me if any additional details are needed:

Deborah Gold C#469-9995, DAYGold@nycap.rr.com

Photography by:

Liz Goldstein C#364-0108, LGoldstein@HACDAlbany.com

* Please note that a cast picture is not available at this time and we will attempt to resubmit when available. We wanted to make certain to make any deadlines first for inclusion of this information. Thank you for your assistance.

mailto:howardagoldberg@gmail.com�mailto:DAYGold@nycap.rr.com�mailto:LGoldstein@HACDAlbany.com�

Presented by the Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy

Thursday, May 17 | 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 20 | 2:00 p.m.

Tickets Prices: In Advance (by May 10): At the Door: $6.00/Adult (9th Grade and Up) $8.00/Adult (9th Grade and Up) $4.00/Child (Pre/K-8th Grade) $6.00/Child (Pre/K-8th Grade)

Note: Tickets purchased in advance will be held at the door;

they will not be distributed via “kiddie mail.”

Name: Phone:

To purchase tickets in advance (on or before Thursday, May 10): Please complete the form below and return it to the HACD office with a check made payable to “HACD” with Tickets in the memo line in an envelope labeled “Play Tickets, c/o Howie Gold-berg” or contact Howie at howardagoldberg@gmail.com (note the “a” between howard and goldberg!)

# of Tickets Thursday, May 17

# of Tickets Sunday, May 20

$ Total

Adult (Grade 9 and up) @ $6.00 each

Child (Age 4 – Grade 8) @ $4.00 each

Total Enclosed $

New Friday Morning Parsha Class at HACD!!!

Come in for some Torah study on Friday morning’s right after drop-off, from 8:00-8:30.

Class taught by Rachel Anisfeld, writer of

e-shabbaton’s dvar torah.

Wednesday Weekly

Due to the overwhelming requests for

community emails, HACD will now be sending out a weekly email update on Wednesdays. If you would like to send out

information to our HACD community please

contact me, no later than the end of the day on Tuesday.

Hebrew Academy is now offering tutoring for adults in Hebrew Language.

If you are interested,

please call

Sharon Strosberg 377-2510.

Dear Families,

We are moving forward with our planning and are in dire need in obtaining many of these items. We would like to begin to prepare the beds for planting in Early April. We are very ex-cited about this adventure and hope to reap many benefits!

HACD Community Garden

Anticipated Materials and Supplies for 6 4ft x10ft raised beds

-lumber for the beds

-seed starter containers

- 24x60x2 = 2880 / 27 = 106 Cu/yards of soil mix

- 4 ft between beds, lined with mulch or wood chips

- 1/4 inch wire mesh to line beds for gopher protection

- (3) 100ft long hose

- (2) 50ft long hose

- (2) 2 way hose connectors

- 60ft of soaker hose (with holes)

HACD All Sports Banquet

I am pleased to announce that Coach “Abe” (Katie Abrahamson-Henderson) will be the guest speaker at this year’s banquet. She just completed her first year as head coach of the UAlbany women’s bas-ketball team, where she earned a trip to the NCAA tournament.

Please RSVP with an exact number of attendees so I can provide the caterer with a head count.

HACD All Sports Banquet – Thursday May 3rd @ 6:30

Grandparents and Special Friends Day will be held on the afternoon of

Friday ~ May 18, 2012 12:00-3:00 PM

Each student is asked to invite a grandparent, relative or adult friend to

visit. Volunteers from Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation

will be available as “special friends”. Please fill out a separate form for each child.

Your guest will receive an invitation from the school. To prevent disappointments, please invite someone who will be able to attend.

Please return this form to school ASAP

My child________________________________in grade_____: (choose one of the following)

1. will be visited by______________________________________

Address for invitation_____________________________________

_____________________________________

2. should be paired with his/her classmate ________________________

and that guest.

3. would like Mrs. Arcus to arrange a volunteer special friend from the HACD community.

A Special Recognition will be given to our very own

Middle School math teacher Alexandra Schmidt

who recently obtained National Board for Professional Teach-ing Standards certification. Through her efforts and the sup-port of the school and faculty we have an amazing math pro-

gram which includes math enrichment and competition oppor-tunities through Mathcounts and the American Math Competi-

tion (AMC-8).

Save the Date!

Heritage Awards Dinner and Auction

Honoring Amy and Richard Drucker

Marian Alexander and Rabbi Daniel Ornstein Beverly and Dr. Warren Geisler for outstanding service and dedication

Also to be honored: Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy

students and graduate classes of

1982, 1992 and 2002

Thursday, May 24, 2012

6:00 p.m.

Temple Israel, Albany, New York

SHOMRAY TORAH ANNUAL CAMPAIGN

DONORS 2011-2012

Todah Rabah to our extended family for your support. We’re over halfway to our goal

for the fall campaign! Help us add more names to our list of supporters by sending in your pledge.

Grandparents

Elizabeth and Moshe Anisfeld

Irene Ashery

Barbara and Eugene Berkun

Mirian Biskin

Malka and Eitan Evan

Sandra and Jerome Goldberg

Felice and David Gordis

Herbert Horwitz

Nina Israel

Sedell and Bernard Kamenir

Leo Koppel

Rainy and Stu Kovach

Barbara and Howard Levine

Esther and Morris Massry

Adrienne and William Rockwood

Norma Rosen

Evelyn Segel

Florence and Harvey Sharfstein

Valerie and Spike Solomon

Margo and James Strosberg

Ruth and Herbert Swift

Barbara and Harry Ungerman

Diana Yanklowitz

Cydney Yerushalmi

Dora and Mikhail Zelman

Alumni

Rachel and Jeremy Arcus-Goldberg

Ellen and Jonathan Berkowitz

Annette Kriegel Davidoff and

Ravin Davidoff

H.M. Dollinger

Deborah and Hershel Ellenbogen

Tamar Silton and Jeremy Epstein

David Farber

Sarah Farber

Jennifer and Jeffrey Finkelstein

Aaron Friedman

Harry Friedman

Sophie Friedman

Mindy Greene Huber and Josh Huber

Lea and David Kamen

Nadine and Raphael Kieval

Jenny Kovach

Maya Kovach

Nancy Kriegel

Lisa and David Kriegel

Aviva and Jay Leberman

Sarah Magidson

Beena and Steven Levy

Lisa and Jason Packer

Elana Zimand and Simcha Pearl

David Phaff

Wendy Phaff

Helena Rosenstruch

Paul Rosenstrauch

Gina C.R. Fiss and

Joshua M.F. Rubenfeld

Aliza and Daniel Scher

Ariella Segal

Benjamin Segal

Samuel Segal

Talia Segal

Lee Setzen

Ruth and Joel Simon

Wendy and Steven Susswein

Meital and Howie Teitelman

Nehama and Lawrence Teitelman

Alumni Parents

Rochelle and Sheldon Abelson

Ellen and Richard Ancowitz

Les Apple

Sue Swartz and Jeffrey Bernstein

Rabbi Moshe Bomzer

Sally Bratspis

Nanette and Arthur Brenner

Barbara and Karl Brodsky

Sharona Wachs and

Rabbi Donald Cashman

Stacy and David Cohen

Marilyn and Herbert Cohen

Morris Cohen

Arlene and Sol Daum

Martha and Jeffrey Farber

Deborah Biskin Flancbaum and

Louis Flancbaum

Judith and Daniel Flax

Deborah Moskowitz Fleischner and Ar-thur Fleischner

Sherry and Marvin Freedman

Roberta and Michael Fuhrman

Beverly and Warren Geisler

Elana and Ephraim Glinert

Harriet and Neil Gold

Judy and Martin Goldman

Sally and Matthew Greenblatt

Nancy and Elliott Greene

Kimberly Hacker

Meridith Englander and Joshua Heller

Abbey Farbstein Herd and

Joseph Herd

Linda and Daniel Hershberg

Jennifer and Richard Honen

Charlotte and Stanley Isser

Laura and Edward Jacobs

Rosalind and Gary Judd

Shelley and Stephen Justa

Lisa and Joseph Kay

Rabbi Rena and Shalom Kieval

Gail Kendall

Marta and Mark Koblenz

Sheila and Paul Koppel

Kim Friedman Landau and

Michael Landau

Ida Leberman

Thursday, May 17 | 7:00 p.m.Sunday, May 20 | 2:00 p.m.Tickets Prices:In Advance (by May 10):At the Door:$6.00/Adult (9th Grade and Up)$8.00/Adult (9th Grade and Up)

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