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SPRING 2021 Impact Today A REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY Your support of Jewish day school education today shapes our leaders of tomorrow INSIDE Reflections on a Year Like No Other Building a Community of Immunity Miriam Fund Grant Torah Writing Project A Year Like No Other TA school leaders reflect Rabbi Shmuel Ochs Menahel This past week I was privileged to visit the Kosel Western Wall Travel restrictions and the tense security situation meant that the area was fairly empty that day The glorious blue sky ancient stone wall solitude and the overwhelming knowledge of where and before Whom I was standing naturally evoked introspection Viewing these stones which bear witness to our long and often painful history my thoughts gravitated to the most current story of our Exile journey The coronavirus pandemic The Kosel is a central location at which Jews have gathered to pour out their hearts in prayer for thousands of years As our sages inform us prayers from around the world are gathered and channeled to the heavens via the Kosel The Kosel is a Continued on the next page 617 731 3196 info torahacademy us www torahacademy us

reminder of what we hold dear as a people A living vibrant connection with Hashem through His Torah and Mitzvos which as testified by those stones can only reach its ultimate form when the Kosel is no longer a remnant In short the Kosel bears testimony to our People s essence and what we consider essential COVID helped us redefine what we considered essential Despite the fear restrictions and lockdowns it was crystal clear to us that maintaining the Torah study and prayers of our precious children was absolutely critical to our existence This year proved time and time again the resiliency of our incredible staff students and parents There may have been discomfort and difficulty but we maintained our belief that the safest place for our children was within the walls of school learning and developing in Torah and closeness to Hashem We embraced the hardships COVID helped us redefine what we considered essential willingly to make it happen How lucky we are to recognize our true needs and take the steps necessary to actualize them May we merit to keep this lesson with us always as we continue to forge forward Rabbi Binyomin Mermelstein Executive Director It has been a uniquely challenging year in so many ways and at the same time these challenges came with so many silver linings It was as though G d pushed a reset button for the entire planet helping us to break our habits and not simply doing things because we have always done it that way The experience forced us to question our assumptions and enable us to live a richer and more meaningful existence While we certainly hope and pray that COVID will stop being a threat we also hope that we don t go back to the old normal Rather we should take what we have learned and continue to grow personally professionally and as a community A donor shared with me some wise words from his mother about the lockdown Whether you have 10 or 10 million you are all going nowhere fast This year we were all humbled We could clearly see that G d is in complete control of our lives and future CJP had tried for many years to get the Heads of School together It was always a formidable challenge When Zoom became our new normal HOS s began to meet several times a month over Zoom There was so much to learn from each other and these conversations provided the reassurance of knowing that others are experiencing similar situations G d willing these gatherings will continue even after the current crisis ends In the midst of all of this we prepared to mark TA s upcoming 40th anniversary by commissioning a Sefer Torah We asked our worldclass scribe Rabbi Heshy Pincus of Brooklyn to lead a series of virtual Torah letter writing events In addition to writing a letter he would teach participants about the significance of writing of a Sefer Torah He agreed only half believing there would be sufficient interest How wrong he was Many donors took the opportunity to invite their children and grandchildren In those special moments parents and grandparents were able to demonstrate to their children the centrality of the Torah in our lives COVID also brought more attention to our community s needs many of which existed prior to COVID We appreciated CJP s Coronavirus Relief Fund that met the needs of struggling families both helping with food and tuition Our local political leaders created stronger alliances with the community through the work of Mrs Ariella Hellman Director of Government Affairs at Agudah of New England Federal grants brought our school to a 1 1 Chromebook ratio This opened the door to staff members to try new things and break out of an I am too old to try this mentality And finally the love that was expressed from one Jew to another was truly amazing I became aware of a woman who was a three time cancer survivor who needed a vaccine I called an elderly donor who I thought might be able to help He assisted this woman without hesitation even though he himself a most deserving candidate hadn t yet received the vaccine For our school our community and our donors this period was a time of growth We hope to continue growing and celebrating with all of you at the Siyum ceremony to celebrate the completion of our new Torah in the fall

What is something good that happened to you because of all the changes due to COVID Hashem showed us He s the boss Elisha G First Grade I got more personal space in school Rivka K Fourth Grade I learned how much strength our community has Uri K Fifth Grade We got a swing set Sara Nechama S Second Grade I stayed connected even out of school and kept learning Yonasan F Eighth Grade I learned to be more creative Naama A Eighth Grade What are you looking forward to most once things are back to normal Getting rid of Zoom Yaakov B Fourth Grade Going to Florida and sitting in a hot tub Shayna F First Grade Standing next to other people Noey K Second Grade Normal G O activities Sara Bracha Y Sixth Grade Going to fun places like on a boat Yehuda M Pre k Going to camp Avigayil G Third Grade 3

Building a Community of Immunity One volunteer registers hundred of community members for vaccines By this time many of you may have heard her name Mrs Estee Ferris is a one woman powerhouse who is single handedly responsible for arranging Covid 19 vaccination appointments for hundreds of members of our Boston community and beyond Estee explains that her vaccination efforts originally began with her attempts to schedule an appointment for her own mother However after reaching out to the obvious sources doctors websites community organizations she found that No one responded and no one would ever call back Estee realized If someone like myself who is computer savvy can t figure out the system how would people who are 75 and older and likely less tech savvy schedule an appointment for themselves School employees were another early priority group who struggled to get appointments Despite teachers at TA wanting vaccines for many the process was just too complicated to navigate Our school is extremely grateful to Mrs Ferris for registering several staff members Estee downloaded the seventy page sheet listing every single vaccination location in MA set up three computer screens with between 30 40 tabs open on each and continuously switched tabs to snag appointments as soon as they became available Estee would be awake at all hours of the night waiting for appointments to drop Estee does not normally have a lot of time on her hands She has a family and a full time job Seeing a need that she knew very few others would know how to fill Estee selflessly took a temporary leave from her job to devote herself to vaccine appointment hunting She humbly says she d prefer not to discuss exact numbers but estimates the number of people booked to be somewhere between 600 to 900 She set appointments up for people not only in the Boston area but across the country Estee received a very emotional thank you call from someone she helped out in Michigan It is the outpouring of gratitude that has helped motivate Estee to continue in her tiring work vaccines for themselves and their loved ones Thank G d the demand for Estee s services has dropped significantly as accessibility improved The supply has caught up with demand and we finally have an effective booking system states Estee Estee is encouraged that many people who were originally on the fence regarding the vaccine are more comfortable taking it now With over 50 of the MA population now fully vaccinated people are becoming more confident It is volunteers like Estee who make Boston the connected community we are May all of Estee s work on behalf of the community serve as a merit for her and her family I felt sheer gratitude to Hashem when my mother got the vaccine and I got the same emotional response from people who were so grateful that they were able to get Despite teachers at TA wanting vaccines for many the process was just too complicated to navigate 4 TA teachers get vaccinated with help from Mrs Estee Ferris

change and growth The teachers at Torah Academy have so much dedication and commitment One such educator is Mrs Dina Feldman Girls Division General Studies Principal who is already working to bring STEM learning to life This year several guest speakers presented about their realworld science careers and hands on STEM activities in the classroom have already become standard Miriam Fund Grant TA wins the Miriam Fund Grant to Bring Enhanced STEM Offerings to Middle School Girls TA is proud to announce that we have been awarded a 25 000 grant by the Miriam Fund to launch our new STEM MAKER initiative in our middle school girls division The Miriam Fund part of the CJP is a philanthropic program run by women who take a hands on approach This initiative will develop and implement experiences and opportunities for students in the STEM disciplines Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics The goal is for girls to develop the knowledge and skills to carry them successfully through high school college and into 21st century STEM careers The Miriam Fund allocates resources to benefit women and girls in our community and beyond Mrs Louise Citron a Miriam Fund member said she was so proud to play a part in sowing seeds and watching a program or organization grow TA underwent a rigorous grant application process Mrs Sharon Shapiro member of the Miriam Fund explained TA s STEM Program Proposal was extremely well thought out and it really showed In one accompanying letter of recommendation educational consultant Elizabeth Reed praised the TA staff by saying that in her 18 years of providing professional development I have never seen a group of teachers so willing to embrace The teachers at Torah Academy have so much dedication and commitment The plan for STEM at TA involves 3 phases starting with middle school girls First establishing a STEM Maker Lab equipped with computers and devices such as 3 D printers and robotics that will promote discovery and invention via project based learning Teachers will be trained to use lab resources and connect with students via collaborative exploration Continued on page 7 Mrs Sarah Adler Assistant Staff member of the Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction Systems group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory speaks about her work 5

When is a cow not a cow Torah Writing Project Updates on Torah Writing To celebrate TA s upcoming 40th anniversary the school has commissioned the writing of a new Sefer Torah Normally one would engage a sofer scribe and then have a Hachnassas Sefer Torah dedication ceremony where the community celebrates the arrival of the newly completed scroll Usually people will purchase a letter word or parsha section but they don t get to watch those letters or words appear on the parchment Instead TA created an innovative way to connect and educate community members with the new Torah by offering a series of intimate virtual letter writings with the sofer Small groups of family members or friends are invited to have Zoom calls with the masterful orator teacher and scribe Rabbi Heshy Pincus and see for themselves as he performs his vital work right before their eyes During one especially meaningful event three generations of one family gathered virtually for a letter writing in honor of Michael a Bar Mitzvah boy who could not celebrate his Bar Mitzvah in the traditional way due to COVID restrictions A participant from another Zoom call shared their feedback Thanks again to you and Rabbi Pincus for the special honor of fulfilling the 613th mitzvah and particular enrichment of Torah learning from its perspective We appreciated it and enjoyed the experience very much Zoom created an opportunity for our community to connect with Rabbi Pincus says Rabbi Mermelstein Executive Director and project organizer In normal times he would have only been able to visit Boston once or twice Through Zoom we ve been able to host close to 20 events and over 300 participants Continued on next page Our Torah writing campaign is ongoing You can still participate Visit www torahacademy us torahgift for more info 6 After the sofer or scribe prepares the cowhide for use as parchment for a Torah scroll he lifts it up and says l shem kedushas sefer Torah for the sake of the holiness of the Torah scroll declaring this item to be sanctified for use as a Torah scroll Rabbi Heshy Pincus relates that a Jew has a unique ability to transform and elevate something physical and mundane into a spiritual entity In contrast to cowhide we human beings are not merely physical but are endowed with a neshama a lofty soul with which we can speak words of Torah and perform mitzvos Rabbi Pincus says if we can take a cow standing in a field and elevate it for use as a sefer Torah then it s all the more so that we endowed with a Heavenly soul can elevate and transform ourselves into walking talking and living Torah scrolls

Torah Update cont Another innovative way TA seeks to involve our school community in the writing of this Torah is through art Celebrated local artist Tova Speter will work with TA students to create a collaborative artwork in celebration of the school s new Torah The project art that resembles stained glass to be created by students from our 5th to 8th grade classes The artwork will be installed at the entrance of the school to greet our school community with color and offer a daily connection to the community s new Torah The stained glass artwork will utilize colored lighting gels as mosaic pieces that are incorporated into the final work The goal is to create art that s lightweight and easy to install or move represents the hands of many young contributors and has a powerful effect as students teachers and visitors who enter both buildings each day I m really looking forward to engaging with students says Speter to help translate their ideas into a lasting visual celebration of their connection to Torah and helping every student recognize the importance of their individual contributions Sample gel mosaic art in which many individual pieces come together to form a larger picture A mosaic is made up of many individual pieces coming together to form a larger image That s what the stained glass project represents and that too is what our Torah represents the importance of each student within the community and of each letter in forming the written Torah Miriam Fund Grant cont Second science labs will expand to accommodate girls in grades 1 8 and a tiered system will enable both teachers and students to mentor the future incoming classes More extracurricular opportunities will be offered to girls to pursue their interests and allow for presentations of their projects Third the above labs and activities will be expanded to include all boys and girls from Preschool through 8th grade and integrate STEM skills into all classroom learning For most elementary students the idea of a job is distant Mr Merlyn Carey Boys Division Educational Coordinator and Science Teacher shares that it s about more than preparing students for STEM careers If we can instill inquiry and problem solving skills in our students then whatever they attempt will begin with a foundational mind set of I m capable For me that s the win 7

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