Shiriya 5772

As many of you undoubtedly already know, we broke Shiriya this morning. I cannot begin to explain the craziness of the break or the extraordinary contributions of so many of the adults who spend their days at Frisch. Ask your son/daughter to describe it for you. I don't need to tell most Frisch parents how wonderful the night of Shiriya is, It's next Thursday evening, "formal" invitation to follow, but for those of you who are new to Frisch this year I assure you that it's well worth your while to spend next Thursday evening with us.

Virtually every one of our students finds his/her niche in Shiriya. But in a school of six hundred it is inevitable that there will be a few youngsters who find it a little difficult to find their place. That's our job to fix. If your son/daughter for any reason is feeling that he/she is not participating in the week's activities in a gratifying way please email Rabbi Ciner and he will make sure that the grade's faculty advisors reach out (quietly and seamlessly) to him/her and find an appropriate avenue to integrate him/her into the flow of Shiriya.

Shiriyah is such an important part of life at The Frisch School that it would never occur to us to sell tickets of admission. But Shiriyah is very expensive. Just setting up the seating, audio-visual arrangements, and decorations in the gym is quite costly as is the extraordinary amount of material which goes into the kids' transformation of the building into a Shiriya theme park. Please consider making a contribution, at Donate.Frisch.org or by check, to help defray this large (but so worthwhile) expense.

Shiriya has many components as our kids demonstrate their skills and strengths in so many areas: Art, music, scholarship, drama, dance, leadership, Torah. It creates a spirit of camaraderie which permeates the school and glows throughout the entire school year. The themes chosen each year reflect an aspect of our Torah Studies curriculum. This year we are all studying Humash Shemot and the theme, therefore, is Sefer Shemot- The Creation of a Nation

Sefer Shemot's unique theme is the Creation of a Nation. The book can clearly be divided into four thematic sections- (1) The exile and exodus from Mitzrayim, (2) the nation's travels and growth in the desert, (3) the awe inspiring revelation at Har Sinai and (4) the book's culmination with the Jewish nation creating sacred space for God through the Mishkan. Each of these steps was necessary and contributed to the foundation of the Jewish nation - as a unified people devoted in the service of God.



9th Grade:

The exile in Mitzrayim brought the nation together in ways that no other event ever has. We suffered together and then joyously celebrated our victory unified in a harmonious song at the sea. The Exodus is the cornerstone for many of the commandments in the Torah and granted the nation a unique respect for our fellow man and our Redeemer, the Almighty.



10th Grade:

The Midbar (desert) experience was no accident or mistake. God purposely led the Jews through the desolate desert and challenged them with test after test. We endured these trials and emerged with a greater sense of what it means to rely on God and how to deal with adversity. The daily miraculous existence in the Midbar afforded the nation closeness with God and chance for self-reflection.



11th Grade:

Approximately two million Jews entered a covenant with God and became known as Jews. The Har Sinai experience, a paradox of love and fear, of closeness and yet of distance, marked us as God's eternal nation. The laws that we received from amidst the thunder and lightning armed the nation with morality and religious law to shape ourselves and the world at large.



12th Grade

Out of metal, wood, precious stone and fabric the Jewish nation transform mundane physical objects and accomplish what our forefathers could only dream of - namely an abode for God. The Jewish nation become neighbors with God and thereby included the Almighty in all our national, religious and personal experiences. Spirituality was transformed from a fleeting sensation to a concrete, realistic, and constant element in every Jew's life.

Shiriya is one of the ways that we help our students experience that the joys of being a healthy teenager, of being an observant yeshiva high school student, of being a Frisch student are so extraordinary, are so much better than the patterns of behavior that have become the norm, or at least the norm as portrayed by the media, for teenage life in early twenty-first century America.

Shabbat Shalom, Dr. Kalman Stein

Today's Day of Learning

Thank you to Rabbi Neil Fleischmann for sponsoring today's Day of Learning in memory of his mother, Frieda Maryam bat Binyamin z"l. May her memory be a blessing.

For information about sponsoring a Day of Learning please contact Elaine.weitzman@frisch.org.

Oedipus Rex Vocabulary Projects for Greek Week

Students in Dr. Anne Berkman's 9H English class have made some creative vocabulary projects based on their studies of the Greek Play, Oedipus Rex. The projects appear below. Enjoy!

Oedipus Vocabulary Unit 3

View more presentations or Upload your own.

OEDIPUS Vocabulary in context

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Oedipus Rex Vocab_Unit_3.ppt

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Vocabulary Unit 3

View more presentations or Upload your own.

The Golden Ratio: A Greek Week Math Presentation

As a part of Greek Week, our 9th Graders saw a presentation today integrating the Geometry they are learning this year in Mathematics with the Greek culture they are studying in Ancient World History and the Biology they are learning in Science. The topic was the Golden Ratio. A summary of this presentation together with its supporting slides appears below.

The ancient Greeks are arguably the single largest contributors to the study of mathematics………

Particularly in the area of Geometry which all the Freshmen are studying this year.

The Greeks appreciated, studied and valued the connections between math, nature, and art. So you might be thinking “ What does math have to do with art?” Few people immediately see how math and art can be connected but I think after my presentation today you will have a greater and deeper understanding of a few mathematical ideas that were pervasive in ancient Greek art and design. Some of which is literally encoded in our bones.

The Parthenon, created by the ancient Greeks has been regarded through the ages as the pinnacle of architectural achievement. Having seen it myself in person, I can attest to its grandeur and regal presence. What is so cool is that it inspiring physical presence is created not only by its actual columns and facades but also by its openness or rather empty spaces. It sits on top of this mountain which I climbed in the heat of August so I remember it. From each opening between the columns you can see the vast and what once the splendid view of ancient Athens. The beauty of the Parthenon it no mere accident though.

See the ancient Greeks were keenly aware of a certain mathematical relationship called the golden ratio. Also known as the golden section, the golden mean, the divine proportion, golden number among other names. The ancient Greeks felt the Golden ratio held the mathematical key to beauty. They incorporated it into not only their study of math but also their art and architecture.

So what is the Golden Ratio? The Golden Ratio is a relationship between the sides of a rectangle of 1 to 1.618.

This golden ratio of 1 to 1.618 was eventually called “Phi” after the creator of the artwork of the Parthenon, a Greek man named Phidias. The first video we are going to watch will illustrate exactly what is the golden ratio and how it was used extensively in the creation of the Parthenon. Some thinkers feel there is no evidence that the Greeks actually thought of the golden ratio in their design of the Partheon but I think it is fair to say it was utilized.

See the golden ratio was not discovered by any one person. It is rather a mathematical fact that revealed itself to many people over the course of history. What is the very cool and mysterious part about the Golden ratio is its relationship to the Fibonacci sequence.

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers where each term is the summation of the ones before it.
1+1 =
1+ 2=
2+3 =
3+ 5 = 8
And so on. This is nothing that interesting in itself until we look at the sequence more closely

1,1,2,3,5,8,13, ……These numbers end up being the natural dynamics of growth of many things in the world Hashem created. As the videos show, 1,1,2,3,5,8,13 is the natural growth of population of bunny rabbits, the bronchial branches in our lungs, the way many flowers grow, and on and on and on…….

When you look at the ratio of the numbers of the Fibonacci series, meaning 2/1, 3/2, 5/3 and so on you would expect the numbers to grow or be random numbers but NO they don’t!

The ratio gets closer and closer to the same number, PHI, the golden ratio.

See encoded in the sequence of numbers that explain the growth phenomena of much of our natural world is the golden ratio.

The entire presentation on the Golden Ratio appears below. Enjoy!



-Mrs. Sabrina Bernath
Math Department Chair

A Typical Day in 10th Grade Engineering

On Wednesday, December 14, students in Mrs. Silverman’s tenth grade engineering course entered the lab to find the instructor’s table strewn with catheters, twenty-pound x-ray resistant medical garb, an assortment of medical appliances, and a demonstration console of the Sensei® Robotic Catheter System. From the outset of the school year, students in the engineering course have become accustomed to visits from engineers, and professionals who work with cutting-edge technology, but this was something else. Frisch parent, Dr. David Feigenblum, a visiting electrophysiologist from Englewood Hospital, brought samples of the appliances he works with in operations on the heart, in order to demonstrate to the students the “real-world” application of engineering.



Dr. Feigenblum opened his presentation with a powerpoint outlining his work. As an electrophysiologist, Dr. Feigenblum is the “electrician of the heart,” and works on curing arrhythmia, or abnormal cardiac rhythms. Dr. Feigenblum explained that in operating on the heart, x-rays must be taken constantly to track the work of the physicians. Outlining the measures taken by electrophysiologists to avoid extended exposure to x-rays, Dr. Feigenblum donned a “suit” made with lead, which protects the body from x-ray exposure. Dr. Feigenblum wore the protective clothing until the concluding slides of the presentation, at which point, after taking questions, he allowed the class to approach the front desk and take a close-up look at the medical instruments.

Students began operating sample catheters and working with the Sensei operation console, which allowed the operator to experience the work carried out by an electrophysiologist. Cellphones were pulled out to take pictures of the medical instruments as well as to take photos of the students as they dressed in the protective layers worn by electrophysiologists. Mrs. Silverman’s engineering class, through lab-work and the help of visiting engineers and medical professionals, has truly been educating the students in the course about the fundamentals of engineering and its practical application.

-By Benjamin Glass, Class of 2014

And the winners are...

You might recall our Sophomore Integrated Day of Learning on the Power of the Book which took place about six weeks ago. This day which was focused on censorship and book-burning was based on the 10th grade summer reading assignments, Zusak's The Book Thief, and Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind. Students studied these topics in a number of different subject areas including Chumash with a lesson on the Tower of Babel as a Metaphor for Anti-Totalitarianism, History with lessons on Book Burning throughout History, Chemistry with a lesson on the Art of Book-Making, Talmud with a lesson on Man as a Sefer Torah, and English with a lesson on Censorship. As a summative assessment of the day, students were asked to make technology-based presentations with the winning group winning an Amazon Kindle and the two runners up winning gift cards to Barnes and Noble.

Today the winning presentations were announced. They appear below. As you will see they are pretty impressive, representing a genuine integration and extension of the information learned in the various disciplines. Here they are.

1st Place: Isabelle Berman and Elisha Penn

Book Burning Integration Day

View more presentations or Upload your own.

2nd Place: Tamar Palgon and Marlee Goodman



2nd Place: Evan Risch and Joshua Fishman

Censorship and Freedom of Speech In Judaism and In America

View more presentations or Upload your own.

The Frisch Africa Encounter, a Memorable Evening

The first ever Frisch Africa Encounter culminated on December 8, 2011. For the month of November, sophomores, whose integrated theme for the year is exploration, explored the continent of Africa. Why Africa? Aside from the fact that the curriculum at Frisch centers mostly around the Western world and so learning about a non-Western society seemed like a good idea, this year at Frisch students are learning Sefer Shmot, which tells us that we shouldn’t oppress the stranger, because we too were strangers in Egypt. By getting to know Africa and its culture, sophomores learned that we were more connected to the continent than we had thought. In fact, Golda Meir pointed out the similarities between Israel and Africa as early as the 1970’s when she said that Israel should help Africa because both had thrown off oppressors, needed to find ways to work a difficult soil and had to build up a land that had had a barely existing infrastructure.



For the Africa unit, students read either The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver or Little Bee by Chris Cleave in English classes; learned about the integration of Ethiopian Jewry into Israeli society in Hebrew classes and through a webinar with Israeli educator Smadar Goldstein; discussed in Hebrew classes the controversy over Sudanese refugees and illegal immigrants in Israel; made silhouettes about the oppression of Bnai Yisrael in Egypt, projects which were based on the artwork of African-American artist Kara Walker; and worked in history on research projects. Each sophomore chose a topic about Africa to explore individually and then to combine into a presentation with a partner for the culminating event. The sophomores shared their presentations on PowerPoints at The Frisch Africa Encounter on December 8.

The Frisch Africa Encounter also included presentations by Sophomores Marni Loffman, Simmy Borodach, Isabelle Berman, Mendy Friedman, Max Milstein and Kayla Schiffer, who explained to the parents at the event how the month’s activities were interrelated among their classes. Ariela Rivkin and Aaron Fox gave a musical presentation, playing a piece that is the national anthem for five African countries. Sophomores and their parents listened that night to a playlist that Tamar Palgon had prepared. The playlist was of songs inspired by African music. The stage in the Frisch auditorium was turned into an African village by Danielle Fishbein, Samantha Kleinhaus and the Activities Committee. An African hut; a classroom complete with chalkboard explaining the effects of malnutrition on Africa’s children; a walk simulating how African women get water; and a multi-media presentation showing an African woman walking six hours to obtain water were part of the stage’s highlights. Other highlights of the “African village” included a display of African fashion made by Julia Scheebaum and Caroline Brauner and an art project by Maayan Mossaiov.

The night also included the results of the sophomore Green-a-thon. Throughout the month, sophomores were led by the Green-a-thon committee, Lea Braun, Isabelle Berman, Marni Loffman, Melissa Maza, Ariela Rivkin, and Kayla Schiffer, in a fundraising event to benefit Jewish Heart for Africa (JHA). Sophomores did green acts in school on November 30 and were sponsored for those acts by family, friends, and Frisch schoolmates. After learning about the plight of Africans, the need to be kind to the ger, the stranger, and the controversy over Israel’s not having enough room for all the refugees who enter its borders, the sophomores were motivated to take action and support JHA. JHA uses sustainable Israeli technologies to improve life in Africa. By doing so, JHA helps Israel and Africa! Rachel Ishofsky, Associate Executive Director of JHA, attended The Frisch Africa Encounter and was blown away by all the Frisch students had accomplished over the month! She thanked the Frisch sophomore grade for their support of JHA and for sharing with her their creativity and energy. In fact, everyone at the event was impressed by the spirit, talents and knowledge that the Frisch sophomores displayed. Go, Class of 2014!

-Mrs. Tikvah Wiener

Last night's Girls Night Out: Packing clothing for Yad Leah

Last night's program was a tremendous success. 45 girls from all grades (many freshmen) came to hear Morah Racheli discuss the double standard of chessed. On the one hand there is a theme of olam chesed yibaneh - this world revolves around chessed, which implies that there are recipients of chessed. On the other hand is the notion of sonei matanos yichye, which seems to not leave any room for doing chessed if one is not to receive it. Morah Racheli then cited Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsch who highlighted that this double standard exists in several places, such as not to withhold wages, but one who is neglected wages shouldn't curse the one responsible for the injustice; the moral imperative not to be judgemental, while at the same time the obligation to judge a person favorably. The true definition of chessed, therefore, is one who does for others but does not expect back in return. Rav Eliyahu Dessler's notion that it is the little things of the day-to-day that is true chessed was highlighted by a series of very inspiring clips that literally had some of the seniors in tears. The feedback from many of the girls afterwards was that Morah Racheli's presentation really moved them.

We then proceeded to the cafteria where hundreds of bags were assembled, collected over a period of 3 weeks. The girls (along with Morah Racheli & daughter) sorted, folded, and packed in a very efficient manner. All in all we packed 45 boxes, ready to be shipped to needy families in Israel. The program was spearheaded by Erika Davidoff and Nicole Edi, and many others helped in various aspects of the program - a team effort where the students really felt empowered by the notion that they were making a difference.

-Rabbi Shelley Morris

The 9th Grade has begun their Mini Art Program in preparation for "Greek Week"

As a precursor to the 9th grade integration and "Greek Week", the 9th Grade has begun their mini art Program. Above are the photos of the first class's work. The presentation introducing this topic appears below. The students were very receptive to this program, and I can't wait to see more classes do this project. The art they have done alters existing clothing and turns it into art that reflects, identity, body image, and understanding the self- body and soul. This exhibit will be displayed at Frisch during Chanukah and "Greek Week".

9th Grade Mini Art Project- Greece

View more presentations or Upload your own.

-Ms. Ahuva Mantell
Art Department Chair, The Frisch School

Lunch and Learn: Designer Genes: Using Science to Pick the Child You Want

Please join us for an

ADULT EDUCATION LUNCH AND LEARN

“Designer Genes: Using Science
to Pick the Child You Want”

Presentation by:

R. Joshua Wald, Mashgiach Ruchani

Monday, December 12, 2011

12 noon

The Frisch School

The Henry & Esther Swieca Family Campus

The Mordecai & Monique Katz Academic Building

120 West Century Road, Paramus, NJ

201-267-9100

RSVP required: Shira.Weiss@Frisch.org

What makes Frisch great? Watch our Open House video and find out from our students and faculty!

Freshmen Biology Students Create Models of Cell Organelles

Today, ninth grade students in Dr. Furman's Biology Classes designed models of various cell organelles using various materials and presented their creations to the class. Students were assessed based on accuracy, not artistic ability, although, as you can see from the pictures below, many of our students created projects that were not only accurate but visually stunning.

Small Business Saturday is Here!

Shavua Tov!

American Express "Small Business Saturday" is here! If you have already pre-registered your AMEX card on the American Express website, you may make your donation to The Frisch School right now!

Go to donate.frisch.org.

Simply make your donation on our website (a minimum donation of $25) and you will then receive your $25 refund on your American Express statement. You will not be charged any additional fees. You will only receive one credit from American Express.

We sincerely appreciate your participation in this program and hope that this campaign will be a huge success. If you have any questions, please email elaine.weitzman@frisch.org.

Thank you for helping us make this program a success.

Support The Frisch School at no cost to you!

HAVE YOU REGISTERED YOUR AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD YET?

Reminder: Please help support The Frisch School kick off our annual campaign and make a donation to Frisch at NO COST to you - we just need a minute of your time!!

If you have an American Express card, you can donate $25 to The Frisch School without it costing you a penny!!!!! Register NOW! Donate LATER!

American Express currently has a generous program, "Small Business Saturday", in effect that will allow you to make a donation to The Frisch School using your AMEX card and receive a $25 credit on your AMEX statement. Please register NOW since there is a maximum number of refunds (200,000 cards ) that AMEX will approve, and the program is progressing very fast. This is only open to American Express cardholders. Please note the donation must be made on Saturday night, November 26th in order for you to receive the credit.

You will not be charged any additional fees. Please click here to go to the AMEX web site link and register your card. Please remember that time is running out and the refunds are limited. (You may contact AMEX customer service and ask about the Small Business Saturday program if you have additional questions). Please note that althought this program is for "small businesses", The Frisch School qualifies as a small businees therefore you may make a donation to our school through this program.

On Friday, November 25th we will be sending an email reminder along with a link to The Frisch School website (donate.frisch.org) so that you may make your donation the following day. Once you make your donation to Frisch on our secure Frisch website, AMEX will then refund you the $25 on your statement. The actual donation must be made on November 26, 2011 for you to receive the AMEX credit, but remember, you must register NOW!.

Please register today and help spread the word. Time is of the essence we need you to sign up immediately. We sincerely appreciate your participation in this program. If you have any questions, please contact The Frisch School Business Office, 201-267-9100.

The Frisch Africa Encounter: update

The Interdisciplinary Department has launched the Frisch Africa Encounter for the Sophomores, whose integrated theme is exploration. The students this year are learning Sefer Shmot, and one of the key lessons of the book is that we should treat the foreigner with kindness because we were strangers in Egypt. Students have begun to explore that idea by creating artwork based on the silhouette art of African-American artist Kara Walker, whose work tracks the plight of African Americans in the antebellum South. Students are busy making their own silhouettes based on the plight of B'nai Yisrael in Egypt. 

Kara Walker by Mrs. Ahuva Mantell

View more presentations or Upload your own.

Students in English class have read about Nigerian refugee Little Bee in Little Bee or the Price family's horrific attempt to missionize in 1960's Congo, as depicted in The Poisonwood Bible. One student used lessons from her American history course to connect the way Europeans treated Native Americans with how the West has treated Africa. French II is spending time discussing French colonization of the African continent. 

Coming next week: Smadar Goldstein, of Jewish EdTech Solutions (JETS) in Israel, will give an interactive webinar to the sophomores on the integration of Ethiopian Jewry into Israeli society. The Hebrew Language department will be teaching the sophomores a song about Ethiopian Jewry in order to prepare for the event.

Remember to support the sophomores in their Green-a-thon!

-Mrs. Tikvah Wiener

Sophomore Slam

Dear Parents:

All day long the Sophomore hallway has reverberated with excitement, singing and good memories of the Sophomore Slam.

Your children were simply extraordinary. The best part of the trip for the adults was watching the grade come together as a whole, while witnessing new friendships develop between our students. The Sophomores enthusiastically cooperated and participated in every aspect of the program. Whether it was dancing by Niagara Falls, hanging out in the hotel lobby, spirited ruach at Kabbalat Shabbat and the Frisch Tisch, or the moving slow shira as Shabbat departed, we have never seen a grade come together quite like this. Many of the faculty remarked that the experience felt much like that of a Senior Trip. The magical feeling that occurred on the trip was much easier to experience than it is to describe. It was a wonderful Shabbat.

The theme of the Sophomore Slam was transitions. Our tenth- graders are in the heart of their high school experience, and sessions were crafted to provoke thoughtful discussions regarding significant and meaningful transitioning; social, religious and intellectual. The concept of water, and the figure R' Akiva, were used as paradigmatic symbols of successful evolutions.

The faculty that accompanied the tenth-graders were crucial to the success of the trip. Rabbis John Krug, Josh Wald, Jonathan Feldman and Michael Zauderer, along with Mrs. Ahuva Mantel led engaging sessions and shiurim. Mrs. Debra Pearlman worked tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that every detail was made possible. Rabbi David Sher crafted the sessions and memorable slide show. Finally, Rabbi David Goldfischer's exceptional combination of creativity, substance and brilliance allowed our students to have the unforgettable experience which occurred. Frisch is very fortunate to have such a caring Rebbe and Director of Student Activities.

Our hope is that the success of the Sophomore Slam will serve as a springboard for our students as they begin a critical year. Please contact us if we can assist the process in any way.

Rabbi Eli Ciner

Freshman Retreat

Dear Parent:

Each year on the Monday morning after Retreat I write a long report to the parents. This past Monday, the day after this year's Retreat, I, like many of you, was too busy groping my way through the dark and hoping that the stuff I was squeezing onto my toothbrush was actually toothpaste to think about writing this report. But I must tell you, corny as it may sound, the glow, the warmth and the excitement of Freshman Retreat really energized me and kept me smiling through a very difficult week.

Those of you who have older Frisch students know that I always send a glowing letter about retreat because they've been terrific for years but I must tell you that this year's once again was extraordinary, in fact, they keep getting better year after year. We returned to school with the certainty that the Class of 2014 is absolutely lovely and that they will be doing great things during their four years at The Frisch School.

The theme of this year's retreat was The Individual and the Community, that is, to help youngsters think about the tension between nurturing and expressing one's unique individuality and one's responsibility to be a contributing member of the community, between conforming to the Halakhic system and personalizing one's relationship with God. As we discussed with the freshmen, that is exactly how we look at Frisch. We want each of our 600 students to be his/her own person, but at the same time we want them to come together as a school community and as members of the larger community.

The ninth graders were truly extraordinary. Throughout the long weekend they cooperated and participated completely and enthusiastically. The freshmen were fun to be with and it was a pleasure to get to know each of them a little better. It was interesting and exciting to watch the really perceptible coming together of 138 youngsters as a class even in the 25 hours, it was probably closer to 26 hours, we ended Shabbat really late, between the enthusiastic singing and dancing during the pre-Shabbat Ru'ach session and the extraordinarily spirited singing and dancing during and after Havdalah. We are confident that they will be excellent role models and leaders as were a wonderful group of twelfth graders who were chosen to be advisors at the retreat and who played an important part in its success.

The program for Freshman Retreat was a carefully crafted mix which combined a lot of plain old fun with activities designed to create social cohesiveness within the class and to get the ninth graders thinking and talking about issues such as self-esteem, making good choices, and healthy interpersonal relations. The senior advisors played a large part in creating and implementing significant pieces of the program. I don't think I've ever seen more wholesome bonding between upper and lower classmen at a retreat, nor have I encountered a freshman class which seemed happier and more eager to do things together.

Needless to say, there was also an important religious element. Beyond the beautiful davening, Zemirot (Shabbat songs), the Friday night "Frisch Tisch" which can be experienced but not adequately described in words and spirited late-night bonfire Kumsitz in the snow, there were talks and Shiurim which dealt a broad variety of substantive religious issues, including several which were raised by the kids themselves in stimulating Divrei Torah. And, by the way, ask your son/daughter about "The Last Living Jew".

The primary purpose of this letter was to tell you how terrific your kids were, and I am always reluctant to crow about Frisch, but I would be remiss if I did not mention the special people who made the retreat possible. We were accompanied by a group of (mostly) young and extraordinarily talented and dedicated Rebbe'im and teachers, too many to mention, whose ability to relate to their students is a major strength of The Frisch School and was a crucial ingredient for the success of the retreat. Special mention needs to be made of the creative (and often really funny) contributions by Rabbis Gedaliah Jaffe, Joshua Wald, Neil Fleischmann, David Goldfischer, Rabbi John Krug, and Michael Zauderer. Special thanks to Mrs. Debra Pearlman who works behind the scenes on the countless details which make retreat possible. Finally, I am certain that no school has an associate principal as talented, creative and dedicated to the students as Rabbi Eli Ciner who each year somehow manages to put together an even better organized, better run, more fulfilling retreat/Shabbaton than the excellent one we had experienced the year before.

I wish you, the parents, and to be honest, the parents of younger children who are trying to decide where to send their children for high school, had been able to experience just a piece of this incredible weekend.

Dr. Kalman Stein

The Frisch-Africa Encounter Launch, Monday, Oct 31 at 2PM

Parents of the Sophomore Class are invited to join us next Monday, October 31 at 2:00 PM for the kick-off of the grade's month-long project: The Frisch-Africa Encounter. We'll be sending you lots of detailed information during the coming weeks. On Monday the kids will be hearing from Rachel Ishofsky of Jewish Heart for Africa and from our Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Studies, Mrs. Tikvah Wiener, about a project which will include lessons about Israeli technologies being used in Africa; the realities of Modern Africa; the absorption of Ethiopian Jews into Israeli society; African- Americans in Early America; the controversy over Sudanese refugees in Israel; a Green-a-thon; lessons from Sefer Shmot (which we're studying this year) about the treatment of the stranger and the other; and more.

We realize that right in the middle of the afternoon is not the most convenient time for parents, but if you can make the time, I think you'll enjoy being there for the start of this ambitious program, which is a key component of the tenth grade's Exploration theme.

Good Yom Tov & Sundry from Frisch

Dear Parent:

I was just about to write an email wishing each of you a Chag Samai'ach and telling you about some stuff happening after Yom Tov was something quite lovely and noteworthy happened:

During the last twenty minutes or so dozens, literally dozens, of young men and women have popped into my office to happliy and excitedly to make sure I'd heard the news that a deal had been made to release Gilad Shalit. Their joy couldn't have been greater had this been a Simcha in their own families (which, of course, it is). Between Frisch and Parents we're obviously doing something right! We can only pray that Gilad Shalit will in fact be coming home next month.

Much more prosaic but also somewhat exciting: Once again this year our students will have the opportunity to participate in a series of lectures and programs on significant issues in Jewish life and thought conducted by major figures in the Jewish intellectual world. The lecture/program series, funded once again by the Tikvah Foundation, is open to all students in each of the grades. We do require, however, that students demonstrate serious interest--it's hard to believe but there are actually high school students who'd attend a lecture or two just to get out of a few classes (we weren't at all like that when we were kids)--by completing a short application and essay and by doing some reading and written work--nothing onerous--before and after each program. Applications are available in the office and are due by no later than November 2.

PSAT FOR GRADES 10-11: All sophomores and juniors will be taking the PSAT on Wednesday, October 26. No pre-registration is needed. Students just need to be in school on time and to have some pencils, a calculator, and $14 in cash or in a check made out to The Frisch School.

-Dr. Kalman Stein

Aseret Y'mai Teshuva @FrischSchool

The faculty and I wish each Frisch student and family a G'mar Chatimah Tovah.

The Frisch School has been the scene of so much almost non-stop activity during the last ten days that I can only give you a brief, fragmentary report:

Charlie Harary talks to our students about how Teshuva is returning to who You could be.

Yesterday's Teshuva assembly was one of our best ever. Our guest speaker, Mr. Charlie Harary, was just about the best inspirational speaker I have ever heard. The kids loved him--please ask your son/daughter about him. We also enjoyed an inspirational video and comments by Rabbi Goldfischer. We always end our Teshuva assemblies with sweets and an inevitable corny attempt to connect that year's creative food offering with some aspect of Teshuva. This year, it was chocolate chip cookie and ice cream sandwiches which Rabbi Goldfischer tried to explain fit perfectly into a Passuk about Teshuva that we read in Shul before Rosh Hashanah.

Over 300 of our students disconnecting from their cell phones to reconnect to each other.

More than 300 students who've voluntarily disconnected themselves from their phones --Disconnect to Connect-- had a Frisch version of speed dating in the shul. Picture this: An outer circle of freshmen and sophomores reaching all around the Shul and facing them an inner circle of juniors and seniors chatting with them about a list of topics for a few minutes, and then on signal the inner circle stands up and shifts a few seats and each younger student then chats with another upperclassman. The program concluded with a short Mussar schmooze by Rabbi Bashist. Like many of our best programs this one was initiated and run by our students.

The entire school embarked on a Tehilim project, one student from each grade saying a Perek of Tehilim each day, for the next 150 days until we have completed Tehilim four times, not on behalf of Gilad Shalit, we don't want to think that he'll be in captivity that much longer, but inspired by him.

The following email sent by Rabbi Sher who worked with a group of our AISAC kids on this project, to all of the Talmud teachers this morning: (Check out the YouTube; really well done!)

As Rabbi Ciner announced to the school on Tuesday, one aspect of Frisch's approach to Aseret Y'mei Teshuva is enhanced appreciation of Israel. As such, a video with the highlights of Bibi's speech to the UN was made by AISAC and is now on youtube. Please show this to your class on Thursday. It's about 20 minutes long (there were a lot of highlights- it was really a great speech). Afterwards, there is a one page assignment for them to fill out about using points made by the PM to defend Israel on college campuses. I know there's a lot to do and many of us are giving tests next week, but it is really important to see a Jewish leader stand up in front of representatives from the entire world and plead his case. And there were significant Jewish overtones and themes to a lot of his speech.

Here's the video:


The brief assignment appears below.

Pm Netanyahu at the Un

All of the above + Chessed Days for each grade, major interdisciplinary programs kicked off by Mrs Wiener and her colleagues, and, of course, the rich daily experience of our regular classes.

-Dr. Kalman Stein