This edition plus The Link archives are available on the web lehrmanschool.org/LL Copyright ©2009 Lehrman Community Day School TheLehrmanLink A weekly publication of lehrman community day school containing time-sensitive information for members of the school community Vol 11 • Issue 3 Friday, Septmber 11, 2009 • 22 Elul 5769 • y"xa, kukt c"f Candle lighting: 7:12 pm 3rd Grade Parents! Update! Please note the change to our Torah Study Sessions: Wed., Sept. 16, 23 & Mon., Oct. 12 from 7:00-8:00 pm Remember…Attendance brings rewards! Attend all three sessions, and upon completion you, too, will receive a personal chumash at Haggigat ha-Torah with your child! RSVP to Renee Steinman [email protected] • 305.866.2771 x10 Dear LCDS Family, This morning, a collective solemnity descended as our Middle School students led us in remembering those who were murdered and the other heroes of September 11. This ceremony was followed by other students’ blowing the shofar, as we do each morning to prepare for the advent of Rosh ha-Shanah. This combination well keeps within the spirit of this season. The Torah describes a day of “memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns (Lev. 23:24),” hence the alternative name of the New Year as Yom ha-Zikkaron (“Day of Remembrance”) and the prominence in the holiday liturgy of the section of Biblical verses called the Zikhronot (Remembrance Verses), whose recitation is concluded with the blowing of the shofar. The act of remembering is a declaration of human dignity, an affirmation that each of us is created in the Divine Image. The Torah describes how God “remembers” Noah [Genesis 8:1] and Abraham [19:28] and Rachel [30:22] (rufzhu), each time in the sense of bestowing personal grace. We cover mirrors in a house of mourning because the death of one of His creatures compromises the image of the Creator, which would otherwise be potentially captured by the human visage in the mirror. See Rabbi Maurice Lamm, The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning (rev.ed. 2000) at 99-100. As suggested by the Israeli poet laureate (and Nobel Prize winner) S. Y. Agnon, we recite in the Mourner’s Kaddish, vcr vna ase,hu ksd,h, yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei rabbaw, may Your Name be magnified, because Your Name has been diminished by the death of this one person. Each one of us has a unique role in this world— and God will always remember each of us and what we did and how we did it. When we imitate God and remember, as we did this morning, we commune directly with the subject of our memory. The focus of our ceremony was not on the geopolitical consequences of 9/11, but rather on a mosaic of individual stories. In so doing, we ratify our daily teachings in this school that one person standing alone can make a difference. Our innate human capacity—and responsibility—to repair the world and advance social good derives from this focus on the power of the individual. Maimonides (1135-1204) offers the demanding metaphor that one’s next action can affect the whole world: “A person must constantly view the entire world as if it is half meritorious and half guilty. If the individual performs one sin, he tips the balance for the entire world toward the side of guilt and brings destruction to the world. If he performs one mitzvah, he tips the balance to the side of merit and brings salvation.” (Hilchot Teshuva 3:4). May the reflections of this day and sound of the shofar resonate, through each of us recommitting to accepting individual responsibility for our shared covenant of fate. Shabbat Shalom and k’tivah v’chatimah tovah, a Happy and Healthy New Year to you and yours. Seth Linfield, Head of School PAPA•razzi patrol Images of Life@LCDS Feel the creatures…Kindergarteners were up close and personal with a variety of sea creatures, including a horseshoe crab, a starfish, and a sea urchin; nursery students did the monkey, and the elephant, and the snake in Ms. Seredni’s yoga class; third graders took to the hallways for a lesson by fellow students, then studied the life of birds in Ms. Enea’s science class; fourth graders learned about plate tectonics by floating pieces of wood (to represent the earth’s plates) on top of homemade “magma”; middle schoolers post photos and biographical data on the MS “Facewall,” part of a “getting to know each other” project (MS photo: Zachary Shultz, grade 8). “Passport to Learning” Mark your calendar for Wednesday evening, September 30 (see times below) for this years “Passport to Learning.” We are proud of our faculty and the academic programs we offer at LCDS and want to share with you what your child experiences each day. We know you will enjoy your journey as you travel from class to class, experiencing the sights and sounds of the ‘Land of Lehrman.’ Come prepared for a learning adventure! (ECD: 6:00-7:00 p.m.• K-Grade 7: 6:00-7:30 p.m.) 50 Years, 50 Questions Each week we will publish one of the 50 questions from the PA’s LCDS History Cards. Know the answer? e-mail us [email protected] or find the answer online at lehrmanschool.org/50 3. In what school year did LCDS gets its super Early Childhood playground? Answer to last week’s question: Q How many years has Ms. Renee worked in the LCDS Office. A: 37 years!