An Israeli Chumus-off!

Today, our Shlichim, Lior and Noga, held a Chumus competition in the cafeteria! Lior represented “Abu Shukri Ha Mikori”, “the original chumus” and Noga represented “Abu Shukri Ha Mikori Ha Yoter”, “the even more original chumus”.  The students learned that there are two different ways of eating the two different kinds of chumus. For Lior’s chumus, the students had to wipe the pita in the chumus and for Noga’s chumus, the students had to spin the pita on the chumus in a circular motion. The room was overflowing with school spirit as each student chanted for the chumus they were rooting for!  

7th Graders get the 411 on Viruses

Guest speaker, Dr. Stein, came in this week to teach the 7^th grade an informative lesson on "the virus”.  Although the students already knew many characteristics of viruses from their science class, they learned so much more from the comprehensive discussion that Dr. Stein held.  After hearing all about viruses and their many qualities, the students did some hands on work and had the opportunity to make their very own viruses using paper cutouts.

An Evening of Jewish Threads and Mandel Bread

Last night, Diana Drew, author of the new book “Jewish Threads”, gave us a history and baking lesson on mandel bread. We baked this uniquely Jewish “cookie” together and the final product was delicious!

See post below for Diana Drew's recipe!

The complete title of Drew’s new book is "Jewish Threads: A Hands-On Guide to Stitching Spiritual Intention into Jewish Fabric Crafts". 

 “Journey along with talented Jewish fabric craft artists from throughout the United States and  Israel as they retrace their steps in the creative process used to make thirty evocative projects.”

Explore the history and learn the process of making these crafts, including tallitot, seder plates, Tree of Life, and more!

Click this link to learn more about the book and purchase online:

 http://www.jewishlights.com/page/product/978-1-58023-442-9

Book is also available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com

Check out this “Daily Record” article on the event!

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201111290600/NJNEWS/311290043

Diana Drew's Mandel Bread Recipe

See above for more details on the Jewish Threads and Mandel Bread event!

Hebrew Academy of Morris County Master Chef Series

Jewish Threads and Mandel Bread

Diana’s Mandel Bread (P)

4 eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup pure vegetable oil (I use canola oil or safflower oil)

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup orange juice

4 cups unbleached white flour

1 cup chopped walnuts or diced dried apricots

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar and oil until light, using a wire whisk. Add baking powder, vanilla, and orange juice, mixing well. Add flour one or two cups at a time, mixing well each time. With a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in walnuts or apricots until well distributed throughout the dough. Form into six loaves on two ungreased cookie sheets. (Because the dough is a bit sticky, have a low flat bowl with water on hand to wet your hands so they don’t stick to the loaves as you’re forming them.) Bake until brown (about 15 minutes). Remove from the oven. Using a spatula, gently lift the loaves off the cookie sheet, cut them into horizontal strips measuring about 1 or 1-1/2 inches, and place the strips cut side down back on the cookie sheet. Return to the oven for a few minutes for the strips to toast lightly. Cool on a cooling rack and store in an airtight container. (Tip: These may be frozen for months and taste just as good when they’re defrosted.)

4th Graders Build Weather Vanes

Mrs. Silvestri’s 4^th grade class is learning all about the weather this year. What better way for the students to learn about the weather than to measure the weather themselves! In science class, the 4^th graders built weather vanes and tried them out this morning. Since it was quite a windy morning the weather vanes went wild, spinning in every direction! Check out these photos of the creation process and final product of these awesome weather instruments.

Message from Head of School, Moshe Vaknin 11.22.11

4th Grade Thanksgiving Festivities!

This morning in the 4^th grade classroom, Thanksgiving was in the air! All of the desks were adorned with orange tablecloths and the walls were covered with fall infused leaves.  The students created festive necklaces out of string and popcorn, went bobbing for apples, and ate some delicious Thanksgiving themed foods.  The best part of the morning was a special visit from Moreh Moshe. The students sang songs of thanks with him and shared what they were thankful for this year.  The project highlighted the true meaning of Thanksgiving…

8th Graders Explore Different Perspectives of “The Chosen People”

This morning in Rabbi Rudin’s Chumash class, the 8^th graders conducted a debate of sorts on the meaning of the Hebrew phrase, “Am Nivhar”, “The Chosen People”. Throughout the Torah, the Jewish people are referred to as “The Chosen People”, but what does this really mean? The class split up into three separate groups, each group taking on the perspective of Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox Judaism on this matter. The presence of two visiting Rabbi’s from our community really enhanced the lesson and supplemented the students’ research with real-life accounts of the differing perspectives.  Rabbi Rossoff, from Temple B’nei Or of Morristown, represented the Reform viewpoint and Rabbi Adler, from White Meadow Temple of Rockaway, represented the Conservative viewpoint.  Unfortunately, Rabbi East of the Mount Freedom Jewish Center could not make the lesson, but Rabbi Rudin stood in for him to represent the Orthodox perspective on the matter.  While there is no one “correct” answer to this question of the “chosen people”, it was very interesting for the students to research and learn from these visiting Rabbi’s what the different sects of Judaism have to say on the matter.  Overall, the lesson was very informative, interactive, and eye-opening.

Message from Head of School, Moshe Vaknin

Tikun Olam:Preparing Packages for the Homeless

This morning, the 4th and 5th graders prepared brown-bag meals for the homeless.  This Tikkun Olam project was conducted in collaboration with Bridges Outreach Inc., an organization that distributes prepared meals on Friday evenings to homeless individuals and families in Newark, Irvington, and other locations.  As part of the experience, the students had a lesson on homelessness, emphasizing the merit of performing this mitzvah.

Thank you to all the HAMC families who contributed and gave a helping hand to this crucial project. We couldn't have done it without your efforts and generosity.

For more information on Bridges Outreach Inc. click here:
www.bridgesoutreach.net/aboutus.php

5th Graders Mosey around Monsey

The 5^th grade took their annual field trip to Monsey, NY where they experienced a local community infused with Jewish culture and tradition.  With our very own Rabbi Hami, a native Monsey-er, as their guide, the students were exposed to all the best Jewish “hot-spots” in town…From the kosher bakery, to the kosher supermarket, to the kosher butchery, the students saw it all! They even had a special scavenger hunt in Shoprite where they had to scout out all of the kosher food in stock; the options were endless! The trip ended with some delicious kosher pizza and the students went home with happy stomachs and smiles on their faces. Make sure to ask your 5^th graders about their favorite of the trip!

“Rishonim" Beach Party!

This week our Israeli “Rishonim” brought the Tel Aviv beach to HAMC! Lior and Noga converted the auditorium stage into a “flowing ocean” and got everyone into the beach spirit by giving out Hawaiian leis and playing the Israeli beach game of “matkot”, paddle-ball.  Once again, our Rishonim successfully gave us a real taste of Israeli culture!

Buddy Day!

Yesterday was “Buddy Day”! Each ECC student was paired up with a 5^th grade student and the dynamic duos spent a fun filled day together. Some of the buddies read PJ Library stories together, while others built with Legos or played dress up.  The students also learned Hebrew together as they participated in Morah Nechama’s Hebrew class in ECC 3.  All in all it was a great day that both the 5^th graders and ECC-ers really enjoyed!

Commemorating Kristallnacht Through the Arts

“Kristallnacht”, also referred to as the “Night of Broken Glass”, was a series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria in November,1938.  Students in the HAMC art elective commemorated the 73rd anniversary of Kristallnacht through artistic expression, covering tiles with historic photographs and newspaper clips recounting the event and adorning them with pieces of broken glass. These works of art are being displayed in our hallway and are a reminder of the shattering effect that Kristallnacht had on  European Jewery.

Kindergarteners Come to their Senses

Today our Kindergarteners learned about the human “senses” of touch and feel through some festive arts and crafts projects. The first project taught the students about their sense of “touch” and what different things feel like on our hands. The students had fun painting their hands and using their handprints to create the turkey feathers on their Thanksgiving turkey pictures. The students loved the feeling of the paint on their hands and also enjoyed getting their hands messy! The second art project that the class worked on was making homemade maracas using paper plates, some “noisy” items, and colorful tissue paper decorations. The students had a blast shaking their maracas and hearing the rhythmic music they were creating.

Go Geography travels to the Ukraine!

What excitement we had to share with each other on our trip to the  Ukraine. The children learned how to map their way on the globe from US to the Ukraine, how to say hello in both Ukrainian and Russian (both languages are widely spoken in Ukraine), and even how seals have become an endangered animal because of the water pollution in the Ukraine.  They answered questions about how to improve the quality of our Eco-system so the seals can survive. The children also learned about horses, cows, foxes, bears.

The children loved the Ukrainian costumes and toys like the stacking dolls (matreshka), beautifully painted boxes, and scarves.  They also played with the wooden animal toys that Ukrainian children would play with and listened to children's folk music.

Sports in the Ukraine are much like sports in  the United States, e.g. soccer and tennis. Badminton is also popular. As a hands on experience, boys practiced badminton in the gym while the girls created friendship cards to send to the children in the Ukraine. We have amazing artists who even decorated the envelopes!  

The 8th graders prepared a special space program for children to learn about the first man in space, Ukrainian (at that time Former Soviet Union), Yuri Gagarin. The students filled out Space Travel Cards and buckled up for a trip to outer space. The kids were treated to an actual space launch with the help of technology –smartBoard. Each student drew their favorite planet and received a space medal for being such a wonderful space traveler.

All the kids snacked on organic treats and talked about their exciting travels into space and beyond!

It was wonderful to see children's faces being so excited about learning.

Special thanks to HAMC students, Charlotte Schreiber, Sarah Bacharach and Josh Trif for their help with Go Geography. Thank you also to Liz Fenton and Lorena Sperber who helped Julia Benz with the class.

HAMC Fall Fever!

From pumpkin projects to autumnal attire, the HAMC hallways were overflowing with the fall spirit this week!

Today our students dressed in the rich autumnal colors of orange, red, and brown and some even came in full feather headpieces, taking on the Thanksgiving spirit!

Earlier in the week, our ECC had a special unit on the Hebrew word for the color "orange"..."Katom!" The morning involved science, cooking, and art! First, all of the students sat in a circle and got to pick out special "katom" items from a special bag. Then they moved to the "magic table" where they became scientists as they watched red dye and yellow dye magically turn into orange dye! Last, but not least, our very own Chef Wolf impressively cut open a big "katom" pumpkin and our students got to see and feel what the inside of a fresh pumpkin looks and feels like. Then, as a class, the students decorated the outside of the pumpkin with markers and crayons. Who knew learning about the color orange could be so much fun!

The HAMC AlphaBots!

The HAMC First Lego League Robotics team, the AlphaBots, is hard at work on this year's 'Food Factor' challenge. The team has to design and program their robot to perform 14 food-safety tasks - all in under five minutes! The team built everything - including the wooden table that 'challenge mat' sits on'. The AlphaBot team consists of Ben Pincus, Coby Schneider, Lielle Lev, and Jesse Kellar and is coached by HAMC parent, Stacey Kellar.

8th Grade Enjoys "To Kill a Mockingbird"

The 8th grade students enjoyed seeing the play To Kill A Mockingbird at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey at Drew University…and so did the chaperones! It was a wonderful play that the students really enjoyed.  After the performance, we stayed for the “talk-back” with the actors and director. The girls were even able to get a photo with the male actors, Jem and Dill. The play was the perfect culminating activity for our study of the novel and a wonderful way for us to show our support for the arts!

The “Rishonim Program” brings Israel to HAMC every Wednesday!

We are so lucky to have our new “Rishonim” (young emissaries from Israel), Lior and Noga, at HAMC this year!  Lior and Noga are two young Israelis who will be teaching the students about Israel through fun activities and interactive lessons.  On Wednesday, Lior and Noga introduced the HAMC students to two important aspects of Israeli culture; the Israeli “shuk” (market) and the “Kibbutz”. In the morning, the 2^nd grade classroom was transformed into an Israeli “shuk”, where the students had the opportunity to “buy and sell” a variety of fresh foods and then enjoy the food afterwards. The students really experienced the “hustle-bustle” and excitement that one feels when entering an Israeli shuk!

Later in the day, during lunch and recess, the auditorium was transformed into an Israeli Kibbutz with an English and Hebrew sign posted on the door saying, “Welcome to Kibbutz HAMC!”  The students ate their lunches on special blue trays that people who live on a Kibbutz eat on in their communal “Chadar Ochel”, or cafeteria.  Everyone’s favorite part of the afternoon was dancing the Israeli “horah” to old Israeli music. Everyone joined hands and danced in a big circle. We can’t wait to see what Israeli activities Noga and Lior are planning for next Wednesday!