Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Two High Holidays




By:Aisha and Rafia
Hi. I’m Aisha and I’m interviewing David (Also known as Mr. K). We are comparing the two High Holidays that happened this past month.

D: “Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. But it is not celebrated on January 1st, like the Gregorian, or January to December calendar. It falls on the first day of Tishrei, which is the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. It is the first of the High Holy Jews use the High Holy days to repent for things they realize they should not have done over the past year. They hope that when the “Book of Life” closes on Yom Kippur, ten days later, that they will be written favorably in it. It is our most holy time of the year.

A: “The most important thing about Ramadan is that we fast because one of our prophets starved for 30 days. Ramadan is a Muslim holiday named after the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, when Muslims do not eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset. Fasting teaches a person patience, sacrifice and humility. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and try to purify themselves through good deeds.” Ramadan is the most important of our holidays. A: “What do you guys do to celebrate Rosh Hashanah at the end?”
D: “Rosh Hashanah is a two day holiday in Canada and one day in Israel. Usually what happens is that families come together for a big dinner on the first or second night. Rosh Hashanah starts at sundown the night before the first day and ends at sundown on the second day. It is celebrated like the Jewish Sabbath, as you cannot do any “work”. No lights can be turned on or off, no fires started or electricity turned on or off, no cars driven and it is a time for prayer and self-reflection. Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, is a day where Jews fast from sundown to sundown on the tenth day of Tishrei. This is more like Ramadan, as Jews pray for atonement through repentance.”
A: Ramadan is followed by Eid, which starts when someone in the world first, for sure, sees the moon. Here in Canada, if you are a kid, you start off by skipping school.Then we go with our family to the nearest place to pray, Then we visit our familiy’s and friends’ houses and play! Then we feast!
Jews and Muslims celebrate their separate holiday, but as you can see theyare a bit different and a bit the same at the same time! They both have feasts at the end to celebrate. They both have some fasting to make people think. While the Jewish High Holidays are always in the fall, Ramadan changes it’s dates. Jews celebrate in a synagogue and Muslims celebrate in a Mosque. Thank you Mr. K. for helping me with this article.

Friday, October 24, 2008

"RISING ...." Again!!!


Here are some of this year News team! "Rising Every Time" and our 2 school Blogs can be expected to "explode" with fascinating coverage and cool creativity!

Click on comments below to suggest topics to our team.

Monday, October 20, 2008

What do YOU waste?



This week in Canada, EVERYbody is trying to make less WASTE!

This is getting more and more serious, and EVERYbody is thinking hard about how he or she can contribute.

Click on the post title to see a PowerPoint slide show.

Draw a picture about the garbage in your life (!) for Deb to scan into the blog.

Click on the comments button below, and tell us what you are doing to help reduce the garbage you produce.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Cross Country Chasing Championship!


NMPPS Cross Country Runners were simply terrific all season. They practiced four times per week, running 2 kilometers each time. WOW!!! That's a lot of running. Out of 62 runners at the Area Meet, NMPPS qualified 33 runners for the South Championships. I think that's the best the school has ever done.
We are so proud that Mandela kids are such good sports!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Ladies First - Yes or No?

Have you ever heard the phrase "ladies first?"

It started as a sign of respect for women. A man would hold a door open for a lady. If a line were forming, a gentleman would allow ladies to go first. The woman's movement curtailed a lot of the historical signs of respect and politeness, but not all. Many ladies still appreciate a seat on a crowded bus or a man holding a door.

Here is a familiar story: The Titanic hit an iceberg in 1912. “I was awakened by the shock of the collision and went out on deck. There was no great excitement and persons were coming out of their rooms and asking what had happened. Suddenly from the bridge or from some officer came the cry: “Ladies first”. This was my first inkling that we had that the ship was in danger. We went back to the stateroom and dressed. Then came the horrifying cry that women must leave their husbands and brothers and that no men should go in the boats." This quote is from the New York Tribune. http://derbyhistorical.org/Titanic.htm


Watch the video linked to the post title, by Marlo Thomas, of a story recorded in the 1960's.


What does your experience tell you about this issue? What are the merits of a "manner" or "code" that says girls and women deserve special treatment or preference because of something inherent in their gender? What would you do????

Respond in comments: click below.




Friday, October 10, 2008

Our Famous Female Footballers!

Our Sr. Girls Touch Football team played their tournament on Oct. 1st. at Westwood P.S. Awesome effort by all girls, they got better as the day went on. You rock, girls!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Character Matters: What is making you so angry?


Everybody gets "roarin' mad" sometimes... sometimes they just get grumpy, and sometimes they lash out.

Mandela Kids

learn what anger is all about for them, and to deal with it in ways that make them feel better.

Go to a web page by clicking on the title of this post.
Read what others say about the things that make them mad.
Watch the video.
Vote in the poll.
Play the game Go, Go, Diego!

Then click on "comments" at the bottom of this post, and type in the things that make you angry most often during the day, at home, at school or at play. Be sure to use only your first name, and no one else's name.