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CONSTRUCTIVE RETRIBUTION 3:54 PM December 17, 2021 י“פשת תבט ג‘ב יחיו תשרפ Motzei Shabbos, December 18- Virtual Auction Prize Drawing Monday, December 27, 1G Chumash Mesibah 10:00 am Friday, December 31, Legal Holiday, no school all grades Dear Parents, In this week’s Haftorah, Dovid HaMelech instructs his son Shlomo: השע רשא תא תעדי התא םגו םלשב ותביש דרות אלו ךתמכחכ תישעו ...היורצ ןב באוי יללאש. Dovid gives his final message to Shlomo delineating all of Shlomo’s spiritual responsibilities, and then instructs Shlomo to take revenge on Yoav ben Tzruya and Shimi ben Geira. This seems startling. Typically, at the end of a person’s life, an individual takes stock of his priorities, focuses on what is truly important, and works to be at peace with all those around him. Why then did Dovid HaMelech, who generously forgave Shaul and Avshalom, focus on avenging himself against these two men? Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz explains that while המקנ is negative (the Torah explicitly forbids taking revenge – םקת אל), Hashem is also described as ׳ה תומקנ לק which means there is an aspect of revenge that we try to emulate. The difference between negative and positive retaliation, defines R’ Chaim, is the feeling of the person meting out the retribution. Someone who avenges out of a personal feeling of anger toward the other individual is transgressing the prohibition of םקת אל. At the same time, the world needs justice, and some wrongs are so egregious that they must be addressed to deter others from doing the same. This is the type of המקנ exacted by Hashem. It increases םימש דובכand is an example of שנועו רכש, which is one of the םירקע ג״י. Dovid Hamelech, who twice refrained from killing Shaul when presented with the opportunity to easily do so, and who was exceeding humble towards his enemies, instructed המלש to pursue justice solely for דובכםימש. The fact that he ordered it to occur only after his passing clearly indicated that he wasn’t going to be deriving any personal satisfaction from their punishment. The Malbim notes that the possuk regarding Yoav’s punishment begins with the word םגו, connecting it to the previous psukim that list Shlomo’s responsibilities. This one as well must be done like those other mitzvos, purely םימש םשל. This is an important principle in Chinuch. At times we need to discipline our children and give them consequences for their actions. When done in the appropriate framework and fashion, this is not a negative deed. It is a positive attribute and a fulfillment of ויכרדב תכלהו. Never out of anger or retaliation, but solely for constructive retribution. ! תבש טוג Rabbi Ochs Last Friday, we celebrated the completion of our first of the year wildly successful Chemdas Yosef program. Chemdas is an extra-curricular framework for grades 3-8 that is designed to encourage boys to use their free time to learn mishnayos. We are deeply grateful to the Halpern family for once again sponsoring in memory of Rabbi Halpern's father. This year we focused on kinyan mishnayos - acquiring mishnayos. The celebration on Friday was for the “4-C” – Chemdas Chanukah Cholent Challenge. Many boys learned hundreds of mishnayos for this first challenge. When students walked in the building Friday morning, they enjoyed the amazing smell of the cholent cooked for the celebration. Thank you Rabbi Sebbag for organizing this wonderful event. Sunday, Grade 1 boys received their first Chumashim. The boys presented a show with songs and a play. They started with the first possuk in Bereishis. Rabbi Sebbag spoke to the boys about receiving his first Chumash and how special learning Torah feels. Rabbi Ochs gave the charge to the boys and presented each boy with his Chumash. The boys and their guests danced and enjoyed the seudah. Thank you to Mrs. Bluma Mermelstein for donating the Chumashim liluy nishmas her husband, ר ‘ר ןב יבצ לאומש ‘ז םולש‘‘ל . Thank you to Rabbi Polter and Yosef Polter for their help in setting up for the event. Thank you to Rabbi Sebbag for preparing and teaching the boys with such enthusiasm and geshmak. (continued on page 2)

Bulletin Board CONDOLENCES TO Mrs. Mireille Miara and family on the passing of her brother, Rav Shlomo HaCohen ben Rav Amram zt”l. MAZEL TOV TO Chaim & Sarit (‘02) (Miara) Lousky on the birth of their son and to grandparents, Rabbi Shimon & Mrs. Mireille Miara. Mr. Ilon & Mrs. Hila Malkin on the birth of their daughter. Nissan (‘13) Youshaei & Hadassah Rambod on their recent marriage and to parents, Mr. Amir & Mrs. Liora Youshaei. Avi (‘01) & Hannah Zuber on their son’s bar mitzvah, and to grandparents, Mr. Izzy and Mrs. Kayla Zuber and Mr. Moshe & Mrs. Chana Flicker. Yoeli & Chaya Mirel (‘94) (Krochmal) Brief on their son’s bar mitzvah and to grandmother, Mrs. Rena Krochmal. Yitzhok ('96) & Shevy Goldstein on the birth of their son and to grandparents Mr. Shaul and Mrs. Barbara Goldstein. Eliezer (‘10) Bark on his engagement to Miriam Lifshits and to parents Dr. Gedalya and Mrs. Lara Bark. continued In conjunction with Asarah B’Teves, grades 5 and 6 girls presented a moving slide slow and choir to grades 1-8 girls. The presentation depicted the longing one should experience when thinking about the loss of the Beis Hamikdosh. Thank you to Mrs. Reifman and Miss Ostashinsky for all the work you put into making this poignant presentation. Later in the day, grades 5-8 girls watched a Z’chor Y’mos Olam video produced by Torah Umesorah entitled “The Guarantors.” The video focused on the children of the Holocaust, the trials and tribulations they experienced, and their roles in rebuilding Torah life after the war. 2G had a siyum for Parshas Noach, and had fun decorating cakes like the taivah. Thank you Mrs. Fontek. 4G created bar graphs of their favorite things. 5G made paper airplanes and described the landing locations to practice using prepositions. 6B conducted mock interviews for a newspaper as part of their Gemara learning. PreK-2 made a class book: It’s Not a Paper Towel Roll. They organized a grocery store, and made real lemonade, in connection with the books they read. DAY OF LEARNING 4 Teves—sponsored by Dan and Sara Rodkin as a zechus for a refuah sheleimah for Rabbi Dan Rodkin, Dan ben Pearl.

PRESCHOOL SNAPSHOTS

HAMILTON SNAPSHOTS

1B CHUMASH MESIBAH SHNAYIM MIKRA Mazel Tov to learners for Parshas Vayigash 4B Nechemia Berzansky Zelig Bier Avrohom Halpern Levi Horowitz Moshe Segal Tuvya Sternfield 5B Natanel Atar Moshe Bark Eli Benmergui Aryeh Block Yosef Hoffman Eliyahu Youshei 6B Dovid Menachem Feldman David Kamoun Ezra Klompas Moshe Uminer Mendel Zaklos 7B Eliezer Moshe Feuerstein Tzvi Posy Tuvia Schonberg Yonatan Zazula 8B Moishy Blumberg Yehuda Ezra Feuerstein Eliyahu Meyers Shlomo Rosmarin Aaron Sanieoff

2G SIYUM

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