Written by Rabbi Gidon Goldberg
Dear Parents,
In this weeks Torah portion of Behaaloscha the Torah highlights the sin of the Jews in the dessert in their complaining to Moshe about the lack of meat to eat. The Nesivos Shalom asks, Why was it a sin to ask for meat. The Jews were not violating any commandments in asking for meat. They were looking for meat that had the highest standard of Kashrus. If this is the case why does Hashem have such a visceral response to their. The sefer Pri Haaretz explains that the Jews quest for meat was not just for the taste of meat but to be connected to a more material being. We need to remember that Bnai Yisroel in the desert had been exposed to many miracles and were living with miracles on a daily basis. For their food needs they woke up every morning to their portion of “Man – G-D’s food”. We are told that the Man had the taste of anything you wanted it to taste like. In other words if someone asked you; When was the first instance of Kosher Sushi?, we would have to answer that it was the Man.
On a personal level, one can explain that perhaps the sin of their desire for meat was not in the ask. The sin relates to the fact that the Jews should have shown much more hakaras hatov – thanks to Hashem for all that he had done for them and for the miracles that helped them live on a day to day basis.
As the school year is slowly winding down it is my obligation and our obligation as parents to offer an extra focus on the day to day teachings that are imparted to our children on a day to day basis. Our students are exposed to tremendous role models of what living a Torah lifestyle is supposed to look like. On an equally similar level they are exposed to a general studies curriculum that prepares them academically to succeed in a globally competitive society. While human nature is too often overlook good an to focus on areas that still need improvement, the Torah portion this week reminds us that this mindset is one that is frowned upon by Hashem.
One of the ways of showing our support of the school is to support the annual scholarship journal whose proceeds allows our school the ability to provide financial aid to families and students in need. The ad deadline has been extended and we can still accept ads until Monday morning June 4th. This year’s Amudim Journal is the schools effort to recognize two couples Mr. David London and Mr. Rafi and Dr. Anita Minkin as grandparents of the children of Mr. Nadav and Mrs. Katie Minkin. We also pay tribute to an Alumnus Rabbi Yisroel Weiner successful career as a school principal all began with our school and of course the modeling of his parents Mr. Mordechai and Mrs. Devorah Weiner.
We are also paying tribute to Mrs. Beverly Hall on her retirement from her active teaching responsibilities for over twenty years. The school will be presenting a special tribute to Mrs. Hall together with a special retirement gift. In order to allow families to join in this tribute we will have a scroll of honor presented with two listing catagories. Families can choose to join as a tribute sponsor for $100 or as a regular listing for $36. There is no add associated with these listings but all proceeds from this are being directed toward the beautiful gift. To join is in this tribute please email me at [email protected].
I thank all of the families that have already submitted their ads and have received their family fundraising credits; but there is still lots of room for additional ads. As a reminder there are also discounted ads available for ads taken out for teacher recognition as well as ads in honor of a graduate. Ads can be purchased at www.pohdschool.org/amudim. We also look forward to greeting you all at the Amudim Dinner. Our hakaras hatov – expression of thanks is certainly appreciated by the staff of the school and this year’s honorees.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Peretz Scheinerman, Dean