Rabbi Yaakov Beker Middle School Limudei Kodesh Teacher   In addition to teaching Chumash and Talmud, Rabbi Beker serves as our Sixth Grade Rebbe. He was chosen by the students as the 2024 recipient of the Class of 1977 Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence.   ​יַעֲרֹ֤ף כַּמָּטָר֙ לִקְחִ֔י תִּזַּ֥ל כַּטַּ֖ל אִמְרָתִ֑י (דברים ל"ב ב')​ Let my teaching flow like rainfall, let my saying drip like dew (Devarim 32:2) In this pasuk, Moshe is requesting that his teachings, the Torah, should permeate the Jewish people like flowing rain and dripping dew. Rashi sheds some light on what Moshe had in mind with these similes. Regarding rain, he explains that Torah brings life to the world, just as rain does. Yet despite rain’s life-giving qualities, we must admit that we are not always thrilled when it rains. (Just speak to our M-Cat student-athletes for elaboratio...

Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe Dean of Judaic Studies   Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe is Dean of Judaic Studies, Director of Tanach, and an Upper School Judaic Studies teacher, and also leads the Maimonides Kehillah. He is the proud father of a recent alumnus and three Maimonides students. There are many reasons why our beloved school is called Maimonides.   Chiefly because Maimonides, Rambam, was one of the Chachmei HaMesorah, the great Torah scholars who passed down our halacha and tradition as part of the chain that runs from Sinai until today. Possibly because Maimonides was a physician, a long-time aspiration for our students and alumni, immortalized in our athletic teams’ mascot, the M-Cat. And also because Maimonides' worldview is one that resonated deeply with our illustrious founder, the Rav zt"l, and with our community until this day. Earlier this w...

Rabbi Yaakov Green (’98) Head of School   Rabbi Yaakov Green ('98) is the proud father of four Maimonides students and one recent alumna. He is beginning his fifth year as Maimo's Head of School. Ever since I watched Rabbi Dov Huff teach a new song to our eighth graders at our weekly kumsitz several years ago, there is a phrase in this week’s parsha that I have loved: כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד, בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשֹׂתו ֹ For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it. Moshe is telling the Jewish people that Torah, meaning, growth, and a relationship with G-d are not impossibly distant. לא בשמים היא , they are not somewhere up in heaven. ולא מעבר לים היא , they are not waiting for us on the other side of the sea. They are, in fact, already close. Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z”l pointed out that we often have exactly the opposite instinct. We imagine that real spirituality must be found somewhere else, someplace more exotic, more...

Rabbi Shimmy Trencher Executive Director of Community Engagement   Rabbi Shimmy Trencher serves as Executive Director of Community Engagement, overseeing admissions, recruitment, marketing, communications, community programming, and alumni affairs. Prior to joining Maimonides, Rabbi Trencher was a high school principal and dean of students. He is married to Stacey (Kepnes) Trencher (‘93).   Last night, I had the privilege of attending the Maimonides Senior Recognition Night. It has become a Maimonides tradition that on the Thursday night prior to graduation, the twelfth graders and their families gather for a program that highlights each individual graduate prior to the formal commencement ceremonies. Each graduate was acknowledged for their unique contributions to the grade and to the school, and had an opportunity to share how Maimonides School has impacted them. One senior began his speech by quoting the Rambam ( Hilchot Deot 6:1): דֶרֶךְ בְּרִיָּתוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם לִהְיוֹת נִמ...

Jacob Pinnolis Chiel Educator-in-Residence Jacob Pinnolis joined Maimonides in 2020 as Chiel Educator-in-Residence, named by Lisa Rosenbaum and Ron Fisher in honor of Judy and Jonathan Chiel. This position allows Jacob to serve in a high-level consultative leadership role that leverages his considerable expertise in systematic implementation of reflective teaching practice, with a focus on student-centered learning and mastery. He also served as Interim CEO during the 2021-22 academic year while we conducted a nationwide search for a new Head of School.   I want to focus on a single word in this week’s parsha and explore its meaning and relevance for what happens at Maimonides School. The word is ויסעו, vayisu . It and various forms of the root נסע appear in this parsha nineteen times. Its core meaning is similar to “to pull up tent pegs.” It shades naturally into meaning more broadly “to decamp” or “to set out.” Given that the narrative of Bechukotai concerns the movement of B’...

Rebbetzin Adina Morris ('95)   Rebbetzin Adina Morris ('95) is the Rabbinical Council of America’s Rebbetzins’ Circle Director of Rebbetzin Leadership and Engagement. As the director of this inaugural women’s division, she focuses on strengthening rebbetzins across North America. She also works part-time for Lee Hecht Harrison as a career coach and consultant; has a small private executive, career, dating, and life transition coaching practice; and is the rebbetzin of Young Israel of Southfield in Michigan. She has a blog called Insight Out, and is editing for publication her book on the women of Tanach and influential women leaders.   What a roller coaster of two months! Eight weeks ago we relived the ten plagues, the redemption from Mitzrayim, and the splitting of the sea on Pesach. The last seven weeks we counted Sefirat HaOmer, culminating with our recommitment to the Torah on Shavuot last week. Among the many mitzvot we were busy with over the last two months, counti...

Stephanie Samuels Middle School Limudei Kodesh Teacher   In addition to teaching Chumash and Navi, Stephanie Samuels serves as Sixth Grade Dean and is Director of the Maimonides Fellows program. She is the proud mother of a Maimo student and three alumni.   Parshat Bamidbar opens with the organization of Bnei Yisrael around the Mishkan — each shevet with its own place, banner, and identity. At first glance, the parsha seems primarily concerned with the technical: census numbers, camp formations, and travel protocols. However, shivim panim laTorah — there are seventy facets to Torah — and Chazal discern something deeper in the structure of Bnei Yisrael’ s encampment. Bamidbar Rabbah comments on the phrase “ ish al diglo be’otot le’veit avotam ” — “each with his standard, under the banners of their fathers’ house” ( Bamidbar 2:2). The Midrash explains that the arrangement of the tribes around the Mishkan was not a new organizational system at all. Rather, it reflecte...