Mrs Katz spearheaded the creation of a new Platinum Jubilee Garden at the back of the Music/Art room at the Boys’ School. The boys really enjoyed planting the garden and worked hard to make a beautiful calming area for everyone to use. Some of the plants are herbs and can be used to make tea or in the students’ cooking lessons. Thank you to Kevin and the HIPE team for all their practical support.
Over a dozen Year 13 Hasmonean boys played in a gruelling 12-hour football marathon at Power League on Sunday 24th April to raise money for the Jews in Ukraine through World Jewish Relief. Despite being somewhat sore, they raised over £6000 at the time of writing.
Zachy Sager was the driving force behind this football marathon, organising special team shirts, making sure there was food to keep the lads sustained, publicising the marathon, and motivating his friends to take time away from their studies to help others.
Just before the Pesach holidays, Mr Rivers-Davis organised the first in-person Yashar Careers Fair for two years. Business people from a wide range of trades such as accountancy, advertising, building, law, medicine, and plumbing gave their time to come to the Girls’ School hall and meet with students from Years 10-13. Pupils and parents had the chance to circulate throughout the Hall on a carousel system to sit with the various advisors and ask questions.
It was an amazing opportunity for Hasmonean students to explore careers which they could be interested in, as well as discover what other options might be attractive after once they have finished at school.
Danny Yank is a Jewish serving Staff Officer at Army Headquarters. He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and then joined the Royal Artillery, learning how to operate a variety of weapon systems, including Artillery, precision strike missiles, drones and radar. In his career he deployed on active operations to Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as training in a plethora of other countries including the Falkland Island & South Georgia, all over the USA, and various countries in the Middle East and Asia. In total, he has been to about 40 countries in his role as an Army Officer.
Danny volunteered to be a part of Commando forces and passed the selection to do so. He was then selected for further training and completed the military Parachutist course to become an Airborne soldier. He is very likely the only serving Airborne Commando Jewish member of the British Armed Forces.
Danny said that he has moved home 13 times, including living all over the UK and abroad.
The boys asked Danny a variety of questions:
Gabriel E. – ‘How do you deal with mental health problems?’ Danny told us that in the British Armed Forces they are very good with trauma management. People can get help and there isn’t a negative stigma attached to needing support.
Gabriel E. – ‘How does it feel if your friend is shot dead?’ Danny explained that under his command, some soldiers have been killed and seriously injured. He said that this was really demanding but it’s important to continue with the mission, keep the soldiers focussed and make time to grieve at a later date.
The boys also asked about how easy it is to keep Shabbat and Kosher when you are deployed to a war zone. Danny explained that it is really easy to keep Kosher but it is difficult to keep Shabbat because the 7 days a week nature of the job. When your rank is higher keeping Shabbat maybe more manageable because you have more control over your time.
The best question came from Yonatan S. – ‘What made you want you want to become a soldier?’ Danny was inspired by his grandfather (Manny Yank) and his uncle (Arthur Anderson) and other elders who had seen action in The Second World War. He once happened to meet an Arnhem Veteran from the Second World War on a bus journey and this cemented his decision to become a soldier himself. The man he sat next to was a paratrooper who jumped into Arnhem, liberated Bergen Belsen and fought all the way to Berlin. His story was amazing. He went on to join the SAS.
We are really grateful to Danny for taking time out of his day to speak to us. It will be lasting memory for the boys.
Written by Mrs L Yaros
Rebbetzin Ehrentreu was the guest of honour at the Hasmonean Girls’ School assembly last Friday. She came to present fifteen girls with certificates upon their completion of Sefer Bereishis in the Master the Chumash programme. This is a new initiative in the Hasmonean Midrasha (Sixth Form Jewish Studies programme) whereby the girls learn three perakim (chapters) of Chumash each week with the aim of finishing the entire Torah during their time in the Midrasha. The advanced track includes learning all of the Rashi as well. The girls are tested monthly on their learning and have achieved consistently high results.
Rebbetzen Ehrentreu spoke about the importance of PAL – having a Positive Attitude towards Learning, and told the girls how impressed she was with their achievement. The girls were spellbound as she told them the story of Rosa Goldstein, whose life was saved because she was determined to keep Shabbos in America – a true example of perseverance to keep mitzvos no matter the circumstances. The entire school was left uplifted by Rebbetzen Ehrentreu’s visit together with the achievement of the Sixth Form girls.
Rabbi Dov Birnbaum, Head of Midrasha, commented: “it was a real honour for us to host Rebbetzin Ehrentreu at Hasmonean and gave us all tremendous chizzuk. A number of students have already asked me to join our Master the Chumash programme for Sefer Shemos!”
Rabbi Golker, Hasmonean’s Menahel, added: “It was an honour to welcome Rebbetzen Ehrentreu to our assembly. As I told our students, we were welcoming Jewish royalty to our school!” It was a wonderful opportunity for the Rebbetzen to see the amazing work that Rabbi Birnbaum is doing in the Midrasha.”
A new initiative in the Girls’ School has been the introduction of a weekly Dvar Torah in Friday’s assembly by a student. This has been met with a great deal of enthusiasm and, so far, the calibre of Divrei Torah has been incredible.
Last Friday, Sara B and Libby L shared some inspirational words comparing the loss of Nadav and Avihu with the passing of Rav Chaim Kanievsky. They explained how both ‘awakened Klal Yisrael … we should elevate ourselves and take a meaningful lesson from his life … we should take the opportunity to spiritually grow.’
The school was then privileged to hear from Maya and Ariella G who went with their father to help refugees in Poland. They shared a number of moments with the girls, including how they took their coats off their backs to give to those who had fled their homes without their own coats. They spoke eloquently about what we can do here in England to help and how much the experience has impacted them. Read their account here: The Account
The Year 8 boys had a great Wellbeing Immersive Experience at Stone X Stadium. The focus was on positive relationships and friendships.
The boys heard from BICS, Jteens, JWA, Hope not Hate, and Gift. They were also treated to a delicious lunch of burgers and chips!
We look forward to offering this experience to more students in the near future.
On Wednesday, our GCSE music students enjoyed a really perfect day out to the Southbank centre to hear the London Philharmonic Orchestra in a GCSE Specialist concert called Bright Sparks. It was a beautiful sunny day and they walked across the Hungerford Bridge, with the iconic London Eye behind them.
The Royal Festival Hall was filled with GCSE students from across London and it was exciting for our students to feel part of a bigger musical “community.” The concert was led by Rachel Leach, who explained and analysed all the different items of music and created an excellent context and language for learning for the students. It opened with a 20th century Minimalist piece by John Adams called “The Chairman Dances.”
There was even an audience and student interaction performance with the orchestra which was both fun and musically interesting.
The favourite piece, according to our students, was Vivaldi’s 4 seasons depicting the cold atmosphere of winter. We then heard Haydn’s Trumpet concerto and a movement from Beethoven’s 7th Symphony. A rather interesting contemporary piece followed called “Forty Heartbeats” by Kaija Saariaho, where the players explored a range of unusual sounds from their instruments.
The concert ended with the music from JAWS by John Williams in which that famous 2 note motif dominated the entire piece and set the pervasive, ominous mood.
The students behaved impeccably and it was a pleasure to be with them!
Thanks to Miss Connery for accompanying Mrs Algranati with the Girls and to Mr Shebson and Mr Sharpe for keeping the boys in tow!
Purim at the Boys’ School consisted of fun, fun, fun! From a dunk tank to t-shirts to dancing and the performers, it was a busy, fun-packed two days!
A huge thanks to the amazing teachers who took part in the Dunk Tank. Thanks to their participation, the students raised over £800 for charities in Ukraine.
On Purim Day, the HIPE team took to the streets with a HIPE van. The van played all the most recent videos to the streets and caused a big spectacle on Golders Green Road. The HIPE spirit was definitely there with lots of dancing and singing taking place too!
After a two year gap, the staff spiel was back. There was a new twist on the tale of ‘Matilda’ – Mrs Jacobson delighted as the adorable Miss Honey, while Mrs Brice gave an enchanting performance as Matilda! There were skits from the Sixth Form and lots of general jollification!
On a more sensible note, Rabbi Weissman came in to speak to the girls about how to behave on Purim, including some sage advice about the dangers of drinking.
Wednesday night saw the very welcome return of the magnificent Purim party. The girls enjoyed a fantastic evening full of fancy dress, a DJ, UV lighting, confetti fun, glow activities, inflatable glow photobooth, slush, ice cream, and frivolous dancing!
It was so special to see the students dancing and singing together as a school again after the difficult few years we have experienced.
Thanks must go to the incredible HIPE department and also to those teachers who attended in the evening to ensure the smooth running of the party. Thank you also to Kevin and the site team.
