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

To Discuss at Home

Rabbi David Sher speaks to our students about upcoming events at the UN this week.

As I wrote on Friday, Rabbi David Sher, who coordinates all of our Israel education/advocacy programs and serves as faculty advisor to the students' Israel advocacy group (AISAC), ran a wonderful program today to educate our students about all that will be going on this week at the UN re: Durban and the Unilateral Palestinian Declaration of Statehood. He also gave them several great recommendations for how each student can do his/her part for Israel in and out of school. Please discuss with your son/daughter what they learened and experienced today. Any feedback would be welcome.

These are the links to the petition drive and to some of the short videos the kids saw:

The petition:
https://jcrcny.wufoo.com/forms/petition-against-a-unilaterally-declared-palestine/

Introductory Video


Durban III Rally Video


Incitement Video 1


Incitement Video 2


Also, the links to the AISAC Facebook and Twitter sites:

http://www.facebook.com/AISAC.Frisch (Can be accessed at home but not in school).
www.twitter.com/aisacfrisch (Can be accessed in school, too)

-Dr. Kalman Stein

This Week @FrischSchool

Frisch Gildor Robotics team at the Club Fair

The atmosphere in the cafeteria on Wednesday afternoon buzzed with excitement as hundreds and hundreds of students visited this year's Club Fair, their opportunity to learn about and speak with students and faculty involved in the broad variety of extracurricular activities available to Frisch students. Please, if your child has not gotten involved in interesting and stimulating activities, urge him/her to do. Rabbi Staum, Rabbi Ciner and I are always happy to speak with students about their choices and would be more than happy to speak with parents who feel their child need a gentle push in the right direction.

Last night was the first after-school Mishmar night of the new school year. Well over one hundred young men and women from all four grades participated in Rabbi Wald's Shiur and the associated Chavruta learning. It was particularly nice to see freshman taking the time to study Torah with their Senior Big Brothers/Sisters. Please encourage your son/daughter to join us on Thursday nights. Although we cannot always produce the needed ride home, Rabbi Ciner does his best to find a way home for students who want to stay until 6:00 on Thursday evening and have no way home at that time.

On Monday, in anticipation of an important and one can only pray just moderately dreadful week at the UN, all of our students will participate in a presentation which will go into the details of the UN vote, what an affirmative vote will accomplish, the importance of the US's ability to veto, Israel's position (PM Netanyahu's speech), and the important distinction between this and the vote in 1947. Students will be signing online petitions to officials in the US, urging the government to veto the resolution. The program will also talk about Wednesday's Durban III Conference on Racism which inevitably will include a great deal of anti-Semitism in the guise of anti-Zionism. The entire senior class will be going down to the UN on Wednesday for a demonstration.

Ninth Grade parents stay tuned next week for news about the freshmen's first Chessed Day which is scheduled for Wednesday.

Shabbat Shalom, Dr. Kalman Stein

9/11 Program @FrischSchool

This morning, we commemorated the tenth anniversary of 9/11 by gathering our students together for a most meaningful program. The assembly opened with video footage of that tragic day ten years ago, and was followed by a stirring presentation by our own Mr. Russel Moskowitz, a 9/11 survivor who works in our business office. Mr. Moskowitz was on the 79th floor when the attack unfolded. He both related the reality of the incidents of September 11, 2001, and reflected on the events of that day and the impact it has had on his life. His words were designed to have students appreciate their own lives and the often unseen miracles that happen to each of us on a daily basis.

Mr. Moskowitz's presentation was followed by the reading of the Prayer for the Welfare of the United States and an inspiring poem, The Names, by Billy Collins, who was Poet Laureate of the United States from 2001 to 2003. We concluded by reciting Tehillim for the first responders of that day who suffer various diseases as a result of their heroic efforts at Ground Zero.

The American flag-draped podium and the program set the tone for a somber and solemn, yet reflective and significant, program.

What a wonderful day!

Dear Parents, Alumni and Friends,

What a wonderful day yesterday was!

Yesterday we held The Second Annual Frisch School Family Golf Outing and I am pleased to report that it was a tremendous success. Parents, students, alumni, faculty and friends gathered for a truly enjoyable day of golfing. The day was capped off with a wonderful barbeque dinner from Dougie’s BBQ.

Kol HaKavod to our Chairpeople Eli Davidoff, Paul Rolnick and Sharon Sherman and their entire committee for helping to organize such an incredible event.

Thank you to Amy Albalah, Howie Spielman and David Turner who helped set up our prizes, raffle and contests. Thank you to Amy Albalah, Anne Gontownik, Shia Fishman, Tammy Schaum and Sophia Steinberg for helping out with registration.

Thank you as well to Frisch faculty member and Golf Club advisor, Rabbi Jonathan Spier ‘02 and the entire Frisch Golf Club for their input on the event.

We are very grateful to the following families and businesses that helped sponsor our event:
BTIG
Beth ’79 and Sam ’79 Bernstein
The Davidoff Family
Abby ’90 & David Flamholz
Adam Schlesinger ‘82
The Greif Family
Ilana & Stuart Goldberg
The Rolnick Family
Belkin, Burden, Wenig & Goldman, LLP – The Heistein Family
Sharon & David Rauch
Sharon & Jonathan Sherman
Howard J. Spielman DDS - Park 56 Dental Group
The Sarcone Law Firm – John Sarcone, Esq.
Ferrara, Turitz, Harraka & Goldberg, PC

Thank you to the following people who donated goods and services to our event:
The Secemskies and Glatt Express for donating the drinks for the beverage stations
Neshe Antelis for donating her time and teaching the Zumba class
Bradford Portraits for donating gift certificates for the raffle
Abeles & Hymann for donating the hotdogs for our hot dog cart and barbecue
M&C Vending for donating snacks and water for our beverage stations
Julio’s Fruit Boutique for their donation of fruit for our beverage stations
Stan Potash of Bil Promotions for donating the golf balls
Golf Galaxy for donating gift cards for all of our participants
Shoprite, Costco and Stop and Shop for donating gift cards which allowed us to purchase additional food and drinks for our beverage stations.
Barbara Karafky of the Paramus Golf Course for donating two golf lessons
A special thank you to the Minisceongo Golf Club and their staff for helping to make our outing a success.

Finally...and most importantly....a big thank you to Elaine Weitzman and Aaron Keigher, as well as the rest of the Frisch business office. We could never have pulled this event off without you. As always, your attention to detail was noteworthy and you once again made this another successful Frisch event.

Yasher Koach to all of you.

Martin Heistein
President

Live Tweeting our march down 5th Ave for the Salute to Israel Parade

This year we will be live tweeting the Salute to Israel Parade! Follow Frisch on Twitter @frischschool (www.twitter.com/frischschool) to receive real-time parade updates sent directly to your smartphone including pictures, captions, and our current location on the Parade route. We are looking forward to your cheers as we march down 5th Ave this Sunday with our beautiful banner, talented choir, and enthusiastic student body. See you there!!!

Frisch is featured on the TV News!

The Frisch School was featured on Fox NY and My9 News last night! Watch the story below focusing on our talented students' use of music and art in preparation for our march down 5th Ave in Sunday's Salute to Israel Parade.

New Jersey Students Prep for Celebrate Israel Parade and Concert in New York City: MyFoxNY.com

You can read about this news story here.

Exciting News – Frisch on TV Tomorrow Night!

We were vey excited to have had Noah Gurock and a camera crew from MY 9 News come to Frisch today and meet with some of our students who are helping to prepare this year’s art and musical presentations for the Celebrate Israel Parade.

The piece is scheduled to air tomorrow night, Thursday, June 2^nd during the 11:00 PM news on MY 9. (barring any major breaking news story)

The piece will also be rebroadcast during MY 9’s live coverage of the Celebrate Israel Parade, this coming Sunday, June 5^th from 12:00 – 2:00 PM.

Shiriyah 5771 Hallway Presentations are now posted online!

The Frisch School Shiriyah Hallway Presentations are now posted online! You can watch them below. Enjoy!

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.

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.