The Frisch School Shiriyah Hallway Presentations are now posted online! You can watch them below. Enjoy!
The Frisch School
The Henry & Esther Swieca Family Campus
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Yesterday @ Frisch
A brief report on yesterday's special programs at Frisch:
1. The Seniors: Our seniors, and the Ma'ayanot Senior Class who were invited to join us, participated in a presentation of Faces of Israel, a film produced and directed by Amy Oppenheimer (Frisch '03). Ms. Oppenheimer spent a year at Midreshet Lindenbaum before going on to major in International Relations and Jewish Studies at Johns Hopkins and then working in management consulting. Amy has been touring the country presenting her film which thoughtfully explores the Jewishness of The Jewish State: The role of the Rabbanut; questions of synagogue and state; conversion, marriage and divorce; the Masorati and Reform movements in Israel; organizations which are attempting to create a Modern Orthodox version of the Rabbanut, etc. Amy facilitates a wonderful and thought provoking discussion as the audience watches the film. (If you think you'd be interested in having this program at your Shul or organization Amy can be reached at director@facesthemovie.com.
2. The Juniors: We've been studying Massechet Sanhedrin which focuses on the Jewish judicial system. Rabbi Yona Reiss, a graduate of Yale Law School (and senior editor of the Yale Law Journal) and for ten years director of the Beth Din of America, the largest rabbinical court in this country, met with the eleventh grade to talk to them about the Halakhic and logistical ins and outs of a functioning modern-day Beth Din. The students were fascinated with some of the cases Rabbi Reiss, currently Dean of RIETS (the yeshiva part of Yeshiva u.), presented to them and we were gratified that Rabbi Reiss was very impressed with how much the juniors knew about some of the esoteric issues he discussed.
3. Freshmen, Sophomores & Juniors: Do you know what BDS signifies? Frisch students now do. Each grade heard a superb presentation by Ms. Michele Rojas-Tal of Stand With Us who helped us understand the sophisticated manipulation of public opinion by Israel's enemies and the difference between legitimate criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism and humanitarianism. The BDS Movement = a drive to delegitimize Israel and to launch a worldwide campaign for Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions. Yesterday's sessions are part of The Frisch School's continuing educational initiative to be sure that our students are prepared to be advocates for Israel on the college campus and beyond.
1. The Seniors: Our seniors, and the Ma'ayanot Senior Class who were invited to join us, participated in a presentation of Faces of Israel, a film produced and directed by Amy Oppenheimer (Frisch '03). Ms. Oppenheimer spent a year at Midreshet Lindenbaum before going on to major in International Relations and Jewish Studies at Johns Hopkins and then working in management consulting. Amy has been touring the country presenting her film which thoughtfully explores the Jewishness of The Jewish State: The role of the Rabbanut; questions of synagogue and state; conversion, marriage and divorce; the Masorati and Reform movements in Israel; organizations which are attempting to create a Modern Orthodox version of the Rabbanut, etc. Amy facilitates a wonderful and thought provoking discussion as the audience watches the film. (If you think you'd be interested in having this program at your Shul or organization Amy can be reached at director@facesthemovie.com.
2. The Juniors: We've been studying Massechet Sanhedrin which focuses on the Jewish judicial system. Rabbi Yona Reiss, a graduate of Yale Law School (and senior editor of the Yale Law Journal) and for ten years director of the Beth Din of America, the largest rabbinical court in this country, met with the eleventh grade to talk to them about the Halakhic and logistical ins and outs of a functioning modern-day Beth Din. The students were fascinated with some of the cases Rabbi Reiss, currently Dean of RIETS (the yeshiva part of Yeshiva u.), presented to them and we were gratified that Rabbi Reiss was very impressed with how much the juniors knew about some of the esoteric issues he discussed.
3. Freshmen, Sophomores & Juniors: Do you know what BDS signifies? Frisch students now do. Each grade heard a superb presentation by Ms. Michele Rojas-Tal of Stand With Us who helped us understand the sophisticated manipulation of public opinion by Israel's enemies and the difference between legitimate criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism masquerading as anti-Zionism and humanitarianism. The BDS Movement = a drive to delegitimize Israel and to launch a worldwide campaign for Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions. Yesterday's sessions are part of The Frisch School's continuing educational initiative to be sure that our students are prepared to be advocates for Israel on the college campus and beyond.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Chag Samai'ach from Frisch
Yesterday's Yom HaZikaron program was organized by our Ivrit Department. It featured appriopriaste readings and songs, one performed by eleventh-grader Shachar Avraham who was accompanied by his classmates Esther Moerdler and Avi Krupman, the others performed by the Amal Choir from Nahariya, the UJA's Partner City in Israel. (Special thanks to Morah Dafna, to the UJA, and to Rabbi Tzvi Pittinsky).
This morning and early afternoon our students participated in our annual Yom Ha-Atzma'ut extravaganza which was created by Director of Student Activities Rabbi David Goldfischer and sponsored, as it is each year, by the Frisch Parents Association.
The theme of today's program was religious Zionism as articulated in Rav Soltoveitchik z'tsl's Kol Dodi Dofek, in which the Rav identified six specific "knocks on the door", six events/phenomena which a religiously sensitive Jew should see as clear indication of the special opportunity God was extending to the Jewish People with the creation of Medinat Yisrael, a knock to which HaKadosh Barukh Hu clearly expected His nation to respond. After our Tefilah Chagigit, including, of course, spirited singing of Hallel, Rabbi Goldfischer introduced the program with a short video he produced and with inspiring words. Each grade then participated in a round robin in which four of the Rav's "knocks" were portrayed in an informative and substantive, but also somewhat lighthearted, manner. In no particular order:
1. The miracle at the United Nations in November 1947 when just about for the only time during the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union both supported a UN Resolution, that is, the decision to partition Palestine and create a Jewish State. The kids saw a very amusing skit performed by Rabbis Feldman and Schachter who portrayed the American and Soviet ambassadors followed by footage of the roll call in the General Assembly and of the resulting celebrations in Eretz Yisrael and elsewhere, including one at the Arch of Titus in Rome which, of course, honors the Roman conquest of Judea and the destruction of the Mikdash. At the end of this session, as at the end of each of the succeeding ones, students heard the words of the Rav describing the spiritual significance of this miracle
2. Rabbim B'Yad Me'atim, The Many defeated by the Few. As in the military victory of Chanukah, the War of Independence of 1948-49 was a miraculous victory of the small, poorly equipped, and in many cases untrained forces of the just-organized IDF against the comparatively huge force and equipment of the Arab armies. The students particularly enjoyed hearing the account of an American veteran of the war who commanded a unit on the Egyptian Front. Rabbis Goldfischer and Sher performed brilliantly as Israeli soldiers.
3. A place of refuge: For the first time in nearly two thousand years Jews throughout the world know they have a State which is ready and willing to welcome them. Rabbi Fleischmann, in a series if vignettes introduced by Rabbi Jaffe, appeared as Natan Sharansky, who among other things read them a beautiful letter he read to his daughter Rachel under her Chuppah; as Chief Rabbi Lau who talked about his days as a child survivor and about a suitcase an American G.I. gave him at the time of his liberation and which he carried with him to Israel and kept with him till only the handle was left; and as the founder of Nefesh B'Nefesh who, thankfully, deals with Jews who voluntarily make Aliyah rather than as refugees from oppression.
4. For the first time in modern history Dam Yehudi Eino Hefker, Jewish blood is no longer for the taking. The existence of a State which can defend its own citizens and Jews throughout the world is in itself a miraculous phenomenon. Rabbis Wald and Ciner and Mrs. Goldfischer presented this thoughtfully but humorously in a Seder table discussion and Dvar Torah, we hope that Rabbi Wald will be able to do a better job with Mah Nishtanah by next Pesach, and in a series of videos including footage from one of the Entebbe movies.
The program concluded with some words of Torah by Rabbi Eliyahu Blum, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Nehar Deiah in Nahariya and with an inspirational summation by Rabbi Goldfischer.
One of the issues which we also tried to address is the need to expand our students' perspective about Israel. We spend a lot of time talking about the centrality of Medinat Yisrael in Jewish life, about threats to Israel and our responsibility to give of ourselves and of our fortunes to support and advocate for Israel, about the spiritual accomplishments and potential of Israel.
But we don't often enough talk about the incredible scientific, technological, economic and humanitarian achievements of a tiny little state in a very backward region, achievements of which advocates of Israel should be proud and about which they should be prepared to speak. Rabbi Sher, our AISAC advisor, and a group of his kids have created a huge map of Israel which is covered with lots of facts and factoids about these many, many wonderful achievements. It will remain on display throughout the week downstairs in front of the Shul.
And, of course, a terrific Chagigah with great music and dancing and our now traditional outdoor barbecue picnic on the back lawn courtesy of the sponsorship of the Frisch Parents Association and the hard work of many, many wonderful parent volunteers.
This morning and early afternoon our students participated in our annual Yom Ha-Atzma'ut extravaganza which was created by Director of Student Activities Rabbi David Goldfischer and sponsored, as it is each year, by the Frisch Parents Association.
The theme of today's program was religious Zionism as articulated in Rav Soltoveitchik z'tsl's Kol Dodi Dofek, in which the Rav identified six specific "knocks on the door", six events/phenomena which a religiously sensitive Jew should see as clear indication of the special opportunity God was extending to the Jewish People with the creation of Medinat Yisrael, a knock to which HaKadosh Barukh Hu clearly expected His nation to respond. After our Tefilah Chagigit, including, of course, spirited singing of Hallel, Rabbi Goldfischer introduced the program with a short video he produced and with inspiring words. Each grade then participated in a round robin in which four of the Rav's "knocks" were portrayed in an informative and substantive, but also somewhat lighthearted, manner. In no particular order:
1. The miracle at the United Nations in November 1947 when just about for the only time during the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union both supported a UN Resolution, that is, the decision to partition Palestine and create a Jewish State. The kids saw a very amusing skit performed by Rabbis Feldman and Schachter who portrayed the American and Soviet ambassadors followed by footage of the roll call in the General Assembly and of the resulting celebrations in Eretz Yisrael and elsewhere, including one at the Arch of Titus in Rome which, of course, honors the Roman conquest of Judea and the destruction of the Mikdash. At the end of this session, as at the end of each of the succeeding ones, students heard the words of the Rav describing the spiritual significance of this miracle
2. Rabbim B'Yad Me'atim, The Many defeated by the Few. As in the military victory of Chanukah, the War of Independence of 1948-49 was a miraculous victory of the small, poorly equipped, and in many cases untrained forces of the just-organized IDF against the comparatively huge force and equipment of the Arab armies. The students particularly enjoyed hearing the account of an American veteran of the war who commanded a unit on the Egyptian Front. Rabbis Goldfischer and Sher performed brilliantly as Israeli soldiers.
3. A place of refuge: For the first time in nearly two thousand years Jews throughout the world know they have a State which is ready and willing to welcome them. Rabbi Fleischmann, in a series if vignettes introduced by Rabbi Jaffe, appeared as Natan Sharansky, who among other things read them a beautiful letter he read to his daughter Rachel under her Chuppah; as Chief Rabbi Lau who talked about his days as a child survivor and about a suitcase an American G.I. gave him at the time of his liberation and which he carried with him to Israel and kept with him till only the handle was left; and as the founder of Nefesh B'Nefesh who, thankfully, deals with Jews who voluntarily make Aliyah rather than as refugees from oppression.
4. For the first time in modern history Dam Yehudi Eino Hefker, Jewish blood is no longer for the taking. The existence of a State which can defend its own citizens and Jews throughout the world is in itself a miraculous phenomenon. Rabbis Wald and Ciner and Mrs. Goldfischer presented this thoughtfully but humorously in a Seder table discussion and Dvar Torah, we hope that Rabbi Wald will be able to do a better job with Mah Nishtanah by next Pesach, and in a series of videos including footage from one of the Entebbe movies.
The program concluded with some words of Torah by Rabbi Eliyahu Blum, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Nehar Deiah in Nahariya and with an inspirational summation by Rabbi Goldfischer.
One of the issues which we also tried to address is the need to expand our students' perspective about Israel. We spend a lot of time talking about the centrality of Medinat Yisrael in Jewish life, about threats to Israel and our responsibility to give of ourselves and of our fortunes to support and advocate for Israel, about the spiritual accomplishments and potential of Israel.
But we don't often enough talk about the incredible scientific, technological, economic and humanitarian achievements of a tiny little state in a very backward region, achievements of which advocates of Israel should be proud and about which they should be prepared to speak. Rabbi Sher, our AISAC advisor, and a group of his kids have created a huge map of Israel which is covered with lots of facts and factoids about these many, many wonderful achievements. It will remain on display throughout the week downstairs in front of the Shul.
And, of course, a terrific Chagigah with great music and dancing and our now traditional outdoor barbecue picnic on the back lawn courtesy of the sponsorship of the Frisch Parents Association and the hard work of many, many wonderful parent volunteers.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Exciting Additions to The Frisch Golf & Bike Outing
We are pleased to announce a few new and exciting additions to The Frisch School Family Golf & Bike Outing, which will be held on Monday, June 20th at the Minisceongo Golf Club.
In addition the to great golfing and bike ride and the delicious barbeque, this year, we will be having:
- Golf Short Game & Putting Clinics at registration (golfers select which clinic they want to take part in)
- Pilates w/ Nurit Chasman (for women)
- Zumba w/ Neshe Antelis (for women)
- Swimming (separate scheduled times for men and women).
Our outing is so much more than just a good time playing golf and biking with friends. The Frisch School Family outing is also a fantastic opportunity for parents and their children to spend the day golfing or biking together. We know that these new additions will only add to this wonderful day.
Registration is now open. Visit www.frischgolf.com for more information and to register for the event.
See you there!
Eli Davidoff
Paul Rolnick '87
Sharon Sherman
Chairpeople
Golf & Bike Outing Chairpeople
Cougar Sports Breakfast - Don't Miss Out!
Don't Miss Out!
Send in your RSVP for the
Cougar Sports Breakfast
This Sunday, May 15, 2011
8:45 Shacharit
9:30 Breakfast and Program
RSVP by mail or email to theacademicoffice@frisch.org
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Save the Date - Frisch Drama Society
SAVE THE DATE
The Frisch Drama Society's Annual Spring Production
"PLAY ON" A light high British comedy (with a dark low side)
Sunday, May 29th 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 31st 5:45 p.m.
Tickets on sale soon!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Yom HaShoah @ Frisch
Today, for our Yom HaShoah commemoration, our students were privileged to hear from Mrs. Sophie Infield, mother and grandmother of several Frisch alumni and of current and future students. Mrs. Infield is a child survivor who spent most of the first six years of her life in the freezing forests of Eastern Poland and being hidden with her parents and aunt by a Polish family for twenty-two months in a space which, as she graphically described it, was no larger than the area under one's kitchen table. We also watched a film produced by Rabbi Krug, a film consisting of scenes from the ghettos of Eastern Europe which the Nazis proudly recorded but with a voice-over of an obscenely and hysterically anti-Semitic tirade by member of the Nation of Islam at Kean University right in our back yard not so many years ago.
This morning at Shacharit I asked those students whose grandparents and/or great grandparents are Holocaust Survivors to stand. I must admit that both I and most of the kids were taken completely by surprise when well over half of the students stood up. My friends and I grew up on the Lower East Side with minimal awareness of the Shoah. Our parents were American, not quite of Mayflower vintage, of course, but our families were all safely ensconced in New York long before the Shoah. The realization that so many youngsters sitting there in Shul on a Monday morning were the descendents of survivors prompted me to share with them something that I heard just this Shabbat from my friend and teacher Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter in the name of his father, Rabbi Herschel Schacter, who as a U.S. Army chaplain liberated Buchenwald and went on to become one of the most prominent Orthodox rabbis in the United States for the next more than fifty years.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin (92b) discusses the story of the Prophet Yechezkel and the Valley of Dry Bones (which is the Haftorah of Shabbat Chol Ha-Moed Pesach) and wonders about what happened to those people who had been brought back to life. Rabbi Eliezer says that they rose up, Amru Shira - thanked God for resurrecting them, and then died. Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yossi HaGalili says no, they actually made Aliyah, married, and had sons and daughters. Whereupon Rabbi Yehuda ben Bisaira stood up and announced, - I am one of their descendents and these Tefilin which were left to me by my grandfather belonged to my ancestor - who rose from the dead that day.
Rabbi Schacter, who was careful to emphasize that no one has the right to be judgmental about the how survivors chose to lead their post-Shoah lives, commented that the three perspectives in the Gemara mirror the choices made by different groups of survivors. Some survivors chose to say thank you, perhaps even Thank God, for their survival and then cut themselves off from Klal Yisrael, withdrawing into themselves and into their non-Jewish surroundings, eschewing identification with or participation in the destiny of the Jewish People. Hundreds of thousands made Aliyah. To our eternal gratitude they fought for and built Medinat Yisrael and gave life to the generations who continue to defend and develop the Jewish State. And finally, there are those (not mutually exclusive from the second group) who also made it their mission to pass down their Tefilin, that is, their Emunah and their devotion to Torah and Mitzvot to their children and grandchildren.
It is told that when the Satmar Rebbe decided to leave Israel and settle in Brooklyn his Chassidim in Israel were distraught because in the absence of the Rebbe there would be no one to whom they could give their kvitlach, their requests for a Bracha. The Rebbe responded that they should go to Shul on a weekday morning and request a blessing from any gentleman they saw who was winding his Tefilin over the numbers tattooed on his arm.
I asked our students who are fortunate enough to still have grandparents who were survivors to call them tonight to thank them for having bequeathed them a religious legacy and in the absence of grandparents, as is often unfortunately the case, to spend some time talking to their parents about their parents struggles during and after the war.
Dr. Kalman Stein, Principal
This morning at Shacharit I asked those students whose grandparents and/or great grandparents are Holocaust Survivors to stand. I must admit that both I and most of the kids were taken completely by surprise when well over half of the students stood up. My friends and I grew up on the Lower East Side with minimal awareness of the Shoah. Our parents were American, not quite of Mayflower vintage, of course, but our families were all safely ensconced in New York long before the Shoah. The realization that so many youngsters sitting there in Shul on a Monday morning were the descendents of survivors prompted me to share with them something that I heard just this Shabbat from my friend and teacher Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter in the name of his father, Rabbi Herschel Schacter, who as a U.S. Army chaplain liberated Buchenwald and went on to become one of the most prominent Orthodox rabbis in the United States for the next more than fifty years.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin (92b) discusses the story of the Prophet Yechezkel and the Valley of Dry Bones (which is the Haftorah of Shabbat Chol Ha-Moed Pesach) and wonders about what happened to those people who had been brought back to life. Rabbi Eliezer says that they rose up, Amru Shira - thanked God for resurrecting them, and then died. Rabbi Eliezer son of Rabbi Yossi HaGalili says no, they actually made Aliyah, married, and had sons and daughters. Whereupon Rabbi Yehuda ben Bisaira stood up and announced, - I am one of their descendents and these Tefilin which were left to me by my grandfather belonged to my ancestor - who rose from the dead that day.
Rabbi Schacter, who was careful to emphasize that no one has the right to be judgmental about the how survivors chose to lead their post-Shoah lives, commented that the three perspectives in the Gemara mirror the choices made by different groups of survivors. Some survivors chose to say thank you, perhaps even Thank God, for their survival and then cut themselves off from Klal Yisrael, withdrawing into themselves and into their non-Jewish surroundings, eschewing identification with or participation in the destiny of the Jewish People. Hundreds of thousands made Aliyah. To our eternal gratitude they fought for and built Medinat Yisrael and gave life to the generations who continue to defend and develop the Jewish State. And finally, there are those (not mutually exclusive from the second group) who also made it their mission to pass down their Tefilin, that is, their Emunah and their devotion to Torah and Mitzvot to their children and grandchildren.
It is told that when the Satmar Rebbe decided to leave Israel and settle in Brooklyn his Chassidim in Israel were distraught because in the absence of the Rebbe there would be no one to whom they could give their kvitlach, their requests for a Bracha. The Rebbe responded that they should go to Shul on a weekday morning and request a blessing from any gentleman they saw who was winding his Tefilin over the numbers tattooed on his arm.
I asked our students who are fortunate enough to still have grandparents who were survivors to call them tonight to thank them for having bequeathed them a religious legacy and in the absence of grandparents, as is often unfortunately the case, to spend some time talking to their parents about their parents struggles during and after the war.
Dr. Kalman Stein, Principal
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