This week’s Parasha, Parashat Bamidbar begins with the third official count of the Jewish nation. It is said in the Torah that we should count the heads of all the households, the term used in Hebrew though, is “Seu”; which could also be translated to “lift”. Firstly, why would the Torah use such ambiguous language, and why would they count per household unlike in the past? Rashi, on another note, also states that prior to this headcount, each household needed to produce a book of lineage, essentially discussing ancestry or family history. The Midrash also says that this book was obligatory for the receiving of the Torah. But what importance did such a book hold that it was necessary for the acceptance of the Torah itself?

Rabbi Zweig addresses this directly, and explains that by producing a book of lineage, one may identify the honourable standards and responsibilities that their ancestors brought upon themselves. He continues by explaining that surpassing the expectations defined by one’s ancestry and social upbringing, provides one with a sense of accomplishment.

For the rest of the world, the act of taking responsibility and setting standards for oneself in itself provides an uplifting sense of accomplishment. Through Jewish upbringing and philosophy, taking responsibility is not considered an accomplishment as it is expected from each and every one of us. This, therefore, explains the importance of counting households and by doing so it forces families to look back at their past, and understand the importance of sustaining, if not surpassing, the honourable standards and responsibilities our ancestors have set for us. The alternative meaning of count, ‘lift’, provides an inspiring message. One’s head can only be lifted if its body and actions are lifted with it. Similarly, we can lift our minds to greatness, as long as we guide them with our actions.

Shabbat Shalom.

Ori Razon (Grade 9)

Edition 35 18 May 2018 - 4 Sivan 5778

Shabbat begins 6:38pm

Dvar Torah: Bamidbar

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!

Mrs. Rachel FriedmannPrincipal

Congratulations to the

Class of 2018

The CeremonyThis week Carmel School Association Elsa High School

held its 6th annual Graduation Ceremony. The event was

on the one hand sad because we saw familiar faces go,

but it was also exciting to see their futures begin.

Led by Master of Ceremonies, Director of Academics ,

Mr. Ford, the ceremony began with a procession of the

Grade 12s to the front of the auditorium where they took

to the stage. Yedi opened the event with a thoughtful

Dvar Torah, while also thanking his teachers and friends

for sticking by him for the past couple of years. Next, the

Chairman of the Carmel School Association Board of

Directors Mr. Shay Razon congratulated all the Grade 12s

for completing the IB, which was especially emotional

because this year his son - Ofir - was sitting among the

graduates. Next the guest speaker, Ms. Ahuva Spieler,

the Consul General of Israel to Hong Kong and Macau,

gave a speech connecting their graduation to the wider

scope of Jewish life.

The Elsa High School Choir then performed a beautiful

musical interlude, singing “A Million Dreams” from the

movie “The Greatest Showman”. When the choir finished

their song, the graduating class gave some unforgettable

speeches. Ellie talked about her experiences throughout

her time at Elsa High School, and how the school let

her be whatever she wanted to be. Steffi discussed her

unique story which led to her joining the school. The

speeches concluded with Ofir, who thanked teachers for

impacting his life, and explained how he would miss the

school, whilst adding a comedic spin. Mrs. Friedmann’s

Principal’s address congratulated each of the students

for their unique contributions to school life.

After the diplomas were presented to the graduating

students we watched a film montage charting the

growth of each student as they developed from babies

to adults - embarrassing photos included! Finally, the

Grade 12s came up to the stage and turned their tassels

as a symbolic metaphor for proceeding into the next

chapter of their lives. This was followed by Hatikva and

a tasteful reception. As I saw this, I thought of how that

would be me next year.

L’hitraot to Ellie Amias, Anson Cheung, Ofir Razon,

Melody Yap, Agnes Yeung, Steffi Zhang, and Yedi Zion-

Karioff!

Best of luck and we look forward to hearing about your

future successes!

Luis Yap Grade 11

Guest speaker Mrs. Ahuva Spieler, Consul General of

Israel to Hong Kong and Macau presents her address to the

Class of 2018

18 May 2018 || 4 Sivan 5778

Edition 35

What is it like to see another cycle of graduates this year? Each graduation is a particularly special moment for all of us. The graduations seem to become more significant and powerful, professional and personal as the years go by.

What makes the 2018 class unique? Each class is unique and each student is unique, and this particular class have shown extraordinary personal resilience and growth as well as community involvement and helping others.

Do you have any advice for the graduates? I think they should go boldly and confidently into their future armed with the heritage and the personal strength they have gained from their education at Carmel Elementary and Elsa High School.

Time flies, time is short, there is a lot to do but savour and enjoy every moment. I believe Grade 11 and 12 are the best years of your life.

What are the emotions surrounding the graduation? Because Carmel is a community school and there are

stakeholders in the community who are parents or who have been involved since the School began with 11 students in 1991. It is a very emotional moment every year. The community is very, very proud of the school, and the school is very grateful for the support and involvement of so many community members.

What sort of planning goes into preparing the graduation? In some ways lots, and in some ways very little. There is a beautiful formula which we follow every year and we mostly stick to it. On the other hand, we have to make sure that the gowns are clean, that the tassels are new, that the presentations and diplomas are ready, food is ordered and the program is completed and printed in time. We also spend quite a lot of time with the students deciding who is going to speak and who is going to do what. For the past few graduations, we have had some type of performance, either Elementary School Choir or High School Choir. Yesterday was very special for me as I got to see the string quartet in action and I was blown away by our choir’s rendition of “A Million Dreams”.

Any highlights with the 2018 cohort, academic and non-academic? These graduates have worked particularly hard to meet the academic requirements of the IB Diploma. They also all contributed to school life, took others under their wing. They initiated charity drives, displayed initiative and leadership and most significantly touched the lives of all Elsa High School students.

Opinion: Mrs. Rachel Friedmann

Time flies, time is short, there is a lot to do but savour and enjoy every

moment.

The Carmel Choir performs for the audience

Mr. Shay Razon addresses the Graduates

18 May 2018 || 4 Sivan 5778

Edition 35

Shavuot this year falls on Saturday night, 19 May, straight after Shabbat. Shavuot forms part of a triplet of festivals: Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot which are known as the three Foot Festivals because on those three festivals people in biblical times made their way to the Bet Hamikdash in Jerusalem. The two day holiday commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai which is exactly fifty days after the second day of Pesach. In Israel, Shavuot is celebrated for only one day. The seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot are known as ‘Counting Of The Omer’ in which we remember the students of Rabbi Akiva. During this time, weddings, haircuts and other celebrations are forbidden except on Lag Ba’Omer, which is the thirty-third day of the count. Over Shavuot, some have the custom to eat dairy. One of the many reasons given for this is that because before the Torah was given to us, we didn’t know the Kashrut laws so we refrained from eating meat and dairy together. These dairy foods consist of cheesecake, pizza, pasta - anything that has cheese! After the festive meal, during which we usher in Shavuot, we go to the synagogue to learn and study all night until dawn so that we are awake to receive the Torah. In Shul the next morning, we read the book of Ruth which is a story of the first recorded convert to Judaism. Another name for Shavuot is the ‘Festival of Reaping (Harvesting)’ or the ‘Day of the First Fruits’. Because of this, people like to decorate their house with flowers and wear white to symbolize happiness and purity. Shavuot is called ‘Day of the First Fruits’ since in the old times of the Beit Hamikdash, all people brought the first fruits from their gardens to symbolize our thanks to G-d for blessing us with fruits and harvest. Wishing everyone a Chag Sameach!

Tahlia Goldberg Grade 7

Graduation DinnerOn Wednesday evening, the Annual Celebration Dinner for our Graduating Class of 2018 was held in the King David Room at the JCC. Graduating students, families and members of the Elsa High School faculty enjoyed excellent food, wine and impromptu speeches, and plenty of souvenir photos were taken.

More importantly, though, this was an opportunity to celebrate the many successes of our graduates, and a time to come together as a community — or as both Mr. Ford and Mrs. Friedmann remarked, as a family — to reflect on past achievements and look forward to promising futures.

It is humbling to think of all the work and dedication, from both students and teachers alike — not to mention the parental and familial support — that is needed in order to undergird an evening such as this. As the proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child”, and I think this was in evidence in the many generations, cultures and histories present in the room.

I wish our young graduates every success in their future endeavours; it has been a pleasure getting to know them, as well as learning alongside them, these past two years.

Many thanks to the parents of Grade 12 for their generous support which made the evening possible and to Ellie and Debbie Amias for organising,

Nick Webber IBDP Coordinator

“It takes a village to raise a child”, and I think this was in evidence in the many generations, cultures and histories present in the roomNick Webber IBDP Coordinator

18 May 2018 || 4 Sivan 5778

Edition 35

Elsa High School Library Recommendations

GeekerellaBy Ashley PostonGeek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic science-fiction series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck and her dad’s old costume, Elle’s determined to win - unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons - before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he has ever wanted, but Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake - until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise. But when she disappears at midnight, will he ever be able to find her again?

“Geekerella has ‘must-read’ written all over it. A fun romantic comedy with coming-of-age sensibilities and authentically voiced teens, this is simply delightful.” — USA Today

The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East By Sandy TolanIn 1967, Bashir Al-Khayri, a Palestinian twenty-five-year-old, journeyed to Israel, with the goal of seeing the beloved old stone house, with the lemon tree behind it, that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier. To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Ashkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family fled Europe for Israel following the Holocaust. On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and Bashir began a rare friendship, forged in the aftermath of war and tested over the next thirty-five years in ways that neither could imagine on that summer day in 1967.

Based on extensive research, and springing from his enormously resonant documentary that aired on NPR’s Fresh Air in 1998, Sandy Tolan brings the Israeli-Palestinian conflict down to its most human level, suggesting that even amid the bleakest political realities there exist stories of hope and reconciliation.

“Beautifully told … a very poignant but impressively unsentimental story.” — The Nation

Support at home is key to how young people approach reading for pleasure. Every week we will be promoting books new and old, fiction and non-fiction for readers of all ages and levels.

These books, and more, can be found directly here: libraryceo.com/carmel/opac/index.php, or through our school library site here: carmel.edu.hk/learning/elsa-high-school/library

TangerineBy Edward BloorPaul Fisher sees the world from behind glasses so thick he looks like a bug-eyed alien. But he’s not so blind that he can’t see there are some very unusual things about his family’s new home in Tangerine County, Florida. Where else does a sinkhole swallow the local school, fire burn underground for years, and lightning strike at the same time every day?

The chaos is compounded by constant harassment from his football–star brother, and adjusting to life in Tangerine isn’t easy for Paul—until he joins the soccer team at his middle school. With the help of his new teammates, Paul begins to discover what lies beneath the surface of his strange new hometown. And he also gains the courage to face up to some secrets his family has been keeping from him for far too long. In Tangerine, it seems, anything is possible.

“A richly imagined read about an underdog coming into his own” — Bulletin

An ALA Best Book for Young Adults!

Boo

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18 May 2018 || 4 Sivan 5778

Announcements Announcements

Optimising Your Child’s Brain Health

FREE Health TalkPresented By: Dr. Benita Perch (ND), Naturopathic Physician

Date & Time: Thursday 24 May 2018, 7:30pm

Location: JCC King David Room

Registration: Please email deborah@luminostri.com

This is a Whole School Event targeted to Parents of Elementary and High School stu-dents, brought to you by Carmel School Association PTA.

Join experienced and licensed naturopathic physician Dr. Benita Perch (ND) in this free health talk and find out how to give your kid’s brain power a boost.

She will share some of the latest findings on developing a healthy brain, and provide us with a much needed synthesis of how nutrition, environmental toxicity, genetic predisposition and gut health affect the root cause of some of these health conditions.

Dr. Perch will guide you through a richly informative and innovative talk, for what many find to be a complex subject. Her talk offers an illuminating understanding and constructive solutions of how to optimise the health of the brain - from pre-conception, throughout childhood and even as adults! Come and learn how to feed your brain!

She will cover topics such as:• the vital nutrients for optimal brain development in school children• the common underlying conditions that affect a child’s mood and concentration, and

how to deal with them• the natural ways to strengthen your kid’s immunity and reduce sick days• how to protect your child from pollutants and toxicity

• natural medicine’s approach to ADD/ADHD

About Dr. Benita Perch (ND)

Dr. Perch is an accomplished Naturopathic Physician, and a senior Partner at Hong Kong’s well-estabished Integrative Medicine clinic, IMI. As a general family practitioner she treats acute and chronic conditions with her own unique mix of classical homeopathy, herbal medicine, modern diagnotic medical testing and clinical nutrition. She specialises in treating children with allergies, asthma, eczema and behavioural and emotional issues.

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading The Weekly Daf!

From The Weekly Daf Team

Tyra Dahlberg, Hanna Hipwell-Serfaty, Ian Lyons, Luis Yap and Mr. Dan Bartholomew

Happy Birthday to:

Sasha Guitelman - 20 MayAmit Shahar Charnuha - 20 May

Itai Lyons - 22 May

מהדורה מספר 15

בס”ד

ספרפינת ה יה העברית

כל הכבוד! ישראל ניצחה באירווזיון!!! ברכות חמות לנטע ברזילי על הופעה מצוינת ועל זכייתה

בתחרות האירוויזיון. נטע ברזילי שביצעה באופן .)Toy( "מדהים את השיר "צעצוע

ישראל השתתפה בתחרות כארבעים ואחת פעמים: ארבע פעמים מתוכן ישראל זכתה בתחרות, ועל

כן, נכון להיום, היא נמצאת במקום השישי בטבלת הזכיות של התחרות יחד עם הולנד, כשלפניהן

נמצאות אירלנד, עם שבעה ניצחונות, שוודיה עם שישה ניצחונות ולוקסמבורג, צרפת ובריטניה עם

חמישה ניצחונות.

תחרות הזמר של האירוויזיון היא תחרות שירים שנתית שמארגן איגוד השידור האירופי . בתחרות

משתתפות תחנות שידור ממלכתיות שחברות באיגוד. התחרות משודרת בטלוויזיה וברדיו ברחבי אירופה בערוצי התחנות המשתתפות, החל משנת

1956. הפופולריות של התחרות הביאה לכך שהיא שודרה ועדיין משודרת גם במדינות שונות

ברחבי העולם שאינן חברות מלאות בארגון )למשל

מֹוְתָך ּכְ ׁש ׁשֶ ָך / ֶיֶלד ְמֻטּפָ ּלְ ֲעצּוַע ׁשֶ ֲאִני לֹא ַהּצַ

באוסטרליה(. מאז שנות ה-2000, מועבר שידור התחרות גם באינטרנט באתר האירוויזיון.

תחרות הזמר של האירוויזיון מורכבת משלוש הופעות חיות, שנערכות מדי שנה בחודשי האביב. השנה האירווזיון התארח בליסבון בירת פורטוגל, בהשתתפותן של ארבעים ושלוש מדינות. למקום

השלישי הגיעה אוסטריה עם 324 נקודות, למקום השני קפריסין עם 436 נקודות ולמקום הראשון

הגיעה ישראל עם 529 נקודות.

ישראל זכתה בפעם הראשונה באירוויזיון בשנת 1978 עם השיר "אבניבי" בביצועו של יזהר כהן.

בפעם השנייה, בשנת 1979, ישראל זכתה באירוויזיון שיתקיים בישראל עם השיר "הללויה"

בביצוע של להקת "חלב ודבש". בפעם השלישית זכתה ישראל באירוויזיון בשנת

1998 עם השיר ""דיוה" ששרה דנה אינטרנשיונל.

בשנה הבא האירוויזיון יתקיים בבירת ישראל, ירושלים.

אביב יוחאי כיתה ח'

שלנו באתר לבקר אפשר http://hebrewlib-elsa.weebly.com

השיר 'צעצוע' הפך לָלִהיט!את המילה ָלִהיט חידשה רבקה מיכאלי, ששידרה בראשית שנות

ה־60 את מצעד הפזמונים הלועזי בקול ישראל. המילה חודשה מן השורש העברי לה"ט ובדמיון צליל למילה האנגלית hit. חידושה

נשא חן בעיני השדרן משה חובב, והשניים הכניסו את המילה לשימוש בשידורי הרדיו של קול ישראל.