Dec 02 2016

2 Kislev, 5777

December 2, 2016

This Week at Rochelle Zell

Stop the Presses!

Rochelle Zell Tops the List in 2017!

Alumni Day

School Aufruf Niche Survey Results Thanksgiving Concert Art Insĕtute Trip This Week In Sports Griffith‐Schorsch Debate P.O. Chanukah Fund

Honoring Bruce Scher Community News Alumni Trivia A Taste of Torah Student Kavannah

Class Schedule

onday, December 5 M A

Tuesday, December 6 B

We are thrilled to announce that Rochelle Zell Jewish High School has been recognized as one of the Best Schools in America by Niche, the largest website for researching K‐12 schools! For 2017, we ranked in 1st place among 63 Jewish high schools in America and, for the second year in a row, we ranked 6th on the list of Best Private High Schools in Illinois.

Rochelle Zell scored highly on a variety of factors, including SAT/ACT scores, student‐teacher raĕo, and the quality of colleges that students consider, as well as reviews from students and parents, to earn this recogniĕon. Thank you to our students and staff for helping our school accomplish this

achievement! We’re very proud of our students’ hard work and commitment to Rochelle Zell.

Wednesday, December 7 A Thursday, December 8 C

The data for this ranking was obtained from the U.S. Department of Educaĕon and then analyzed by Niche’s team of data scienĕsts to create the rankings. For the full list of 2017 rankings, methodologies, and data sources, click here. And read all about it in this week's Deerfield Patch!

Friday, December 9 BB

Quick Links

RZJHS.org Calendars Lunch Menu Edline

Give Now

Exam Schedule

Mazal Tov

Aufruf for Rabbi Silver and Ms. Frankel

January 13 Talumd Exam ‐ 9:30

January 16 MLK Day ‐ No School

January 17 English Exam ‐ 9:30 Spanish Exam ‐ 12:30

January 18 Math Exam ‐ 9:30 Social Studies Exam ‐ 12:30

January 19 Science Exam ‐ 9:30 Bible Exam ‐ 12:30

January 20 Hebrew Exam ‐ 9:30

Save The Date December 11 ACT

Streamers were streaming, guitars were strumming, candy was flying, Rosh Chodesh Hallel was revved up with wedding tunes, freshmen girls charged the senior boys for a full mosh‐pit hora, and the happy couple was (where else?) up on chairs as Rochelle Zell Jewish High School called up our Rav Beit Sefer and head of the tefillah program as groom and bride. Yasher koach to Livi Moses, Rikki Drexler, Bobbi Hochberg, and Rabbi Silver for reading Torah, to Rabbi Greenberg for coordinaĕng the fesĕviĕes‐‐and to Akiva Stein and Yoni Maltsman for the best klezmer kazatzke seen for many a year. Many thanks to Rabbi Silver and Ms. Frankel for teaching beauĕful words of

December 25 ‐ January 8 Winter Break

Torah about the Brit ahuvim that they have wriĥen for their wedding.

January 8 ‐ January 27 Senior Israel Experience

January 9 Classes Resume

January 16 MLK Day ‐ No School

January 23 Second Semester Begins

January 30 Classes Resume for Seniors

Rabbi Silver and Ms. Frankel will also celebrate at Anshe Emet before they are married on December 11.

From the P.O

Thanksgiving Alumni Day

Harvey Gross Memorial Basketball Game

Please contribute to the P.O. Teacher/Staff Chanukah Gi├ Fund! The suggested contribuĕon is $18 per student, but any amount is greatly appreciated!

Checks must be received

by Thursday, December 15, but are welcome sooner!

Please send cash or check made out to Rochelle Zell P.O. to the school main office in an envelope with your student'(s) name(s) labeled Rochelle Zell P.O.

Lots of familiar faces arrived at Rochelle Zell for our annual "Erev Thanksgiving" Alumni Day. The building was filled with the sounds of alumni energeĕcally reconnecĕng with the school, their teachers and their friends. Wednesday's tefillah discussion allowed alumni to reminisce about the independence they learned at school and the close ĕes with friends and teachers that make Rochelle Zell Jewish High School such a special place.

Chanukah Fund. You may also contribute online by clicking here.

Quesĕons? Contact Marĕne Gorstein at 847.791.0223.

Happy holidays from all of us at the Rochelle Zell parent organizaĕon!

Saturday night's Alumni Reunion and Basketball Game greeted alumni from graduaĕng classes old and new. Va’ad HaStudenĕm president, Bobbi Hochberg opened the evening with a warm introducĕon welcoming members of the community back to 1095 Lake Cook Road. Then it was ĕme for ĕpoff. Thanks to strenuous pracĕce provided by midterms and real jobs, the team of Avram Pachter (CJHS ’06), Aaron Drexler (CJHS ’14), Isaac Johnston, (CJHS ’15), Dylan Janczak (’16), Coby Drexler (’16), Michael Weldler (’16), Jason Taitz (’16), and Benjy Salzman (’16) soundly defeated our current Rochelle Zell team. Thanks to everyone who came for this fantasĕc event!

Alumni Trivia

Stop those presses again! Which of our alumni is on the front page of today's Wall Street Journal? (And it's not even about poliĕcs or the economy?)

Thanksgiving Concert

Rochelle Zell Joins Gidwitz Senior Living

The Rochelle Zell vocal ensemble and jazz band performed at Gidwitz on Tuesday, November 22.

We performed a variety of musical styles including Israeli and American folk songs, contemporary music, and jazz. Vocal Ensemble members include Sarah Tenner, Emma Canter, Hannah Cohen, Aitan Maeir, Marc Luban, Jonah Magill, Adam Budin, Jonah Hamill, Sam Shoshani, Emma Siegel, Shoshana Frank, and Arielle Bledsoe. They were joined by band members Micah Brody, Ayelet Goldson, Henry Hoffman, Spencer Mynaĥ, Noah Shanes, David Vayngart, Noah Shanes, Henry Wolle, and Rachel Zell. We were well received and are looking forward to more performances this year!

Art Institute Field Trip

APUSH Students Study Primary Sources

Ms. June Kramer's AP U.S. History students toured the American wing at the Art Insĕtute this past Wednesday, analyzing different styles and philosophies in the painĕngs, fixtures, portraits, and heroic sculptures of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Federalist and anĕ‐Federalists were split into separate guided tours, conducĕng in‐depth analyses of specific works. It was a busy day of looking and learning for the whole junior class.

Thanks to all the staff who chaperoned!

This Week in Sports

Tigers Wrestle!

Od yavo ha yom! The Rochelle Zell wrestling team had its first meet yesterday against Chicago Hope Academy and Leo Catholic High School. The highlight of the meet was Josh Levitas who, in spite of having only ten days of pracĕce and only three pracĕces since the new wrestling mats arrived and compeĕng with Hope’s junior varsity team, went out and pinned his opponent. “For our first compeĕĕon we did extremely, well,” said Coach Lubowich. “We had our share of good moments, which we can build on!" The wrestling team's next compeĕĕon will be at Niles North High School on December 8.

The freshman‐sophomore boys' basketball team conĕnued its winning streak, bringing home victories against Cristo Rey and Northtown. The team fell to Christ the King on Tuesday by only four points, despite some spectacular 3‐pointers from Isaac Levitan.

But don't despair, because the varsity girls basketball team beat Christ the King 40‐23, for the first ĕme in our history playing against this girls' team! The win was led by Samantha Wolf with 22 points and Jenna Miller with 15, and followed through by some spectacular defense from the rest of the team. On Tuesday, the Lady Tigers beat Ellison 48‐35. They came back from trailing by nine points at the beginning of the second quarter, and managed to take a one point lead to hal├ime.

The team was once again led in scoring by Samantha Wolf with 28 points, and Ariel Saxton's excellent defense.

Can a team be undefeated, play their best game of the year... and lose? Yes and yes! On Thursday night, we played perennial conference champions, Chicago Hope. We played a great game against a tremendous team. We may have lost by a few points, but we never gave up and really earned their respect. Jenna Miller led all scorers with 16 points while Ariel Saxton had 9. Freshman Elitsa Sklar played incredible defense. Great job, varsity girls!

Save the Date: Griffith­Schorsch Debate

December 8, 7:00 p.m. | Rochelle Zell Jewish High School

Please join us on Thursday, December 8 as Dr. Rebecca Schorsch and Mr. Dale Griffith present “A Dialogue of Two Confessions – Albert Camus’ The Fall and Joseph Soloveitchik’s The Lonely Man of Faith.”

How do stories inform the way we orient ourselves to the world around us, consciously or unconsciously?

That quesĕon is one of the noble purposes in having adolescents read and reflect on literature. We invite you to consider, as our students have considered, Albert Camus’ depicĕon of secular egoĕsm in The Fall against Joseph Soloveitchik’s reading of the biblical narraĕve of the creaĕon of man in his seminal work The Lonely Man of Faith. The hope is that all those who aĥend this presentaĕon will appreciate the significance of reading these two texts in dialogue and glimpse the rich and important learning experience of our Rochelle Zell students.

P.O. Chanukah Fund

Contribute to the Annual PO Teacher/Staff Chanukah Gi├ Fund

The suggested contribuĕon is $18 per student, but any amount is greatly appreciated! Checks must be received by Thursday, December 15, but are welcome sooner! Please send cash or check made out to Rochelle Zell P.O. to the school main office in an envelope with your student'(s) name(s) labeled Rochelle Zell P.O. Chanukah Fund. You may also contribute online by clicking here. Quesĕons? Contact Marĕne Gorstein at 847.791.0223.

Looking forward to a Happy Chanukah for all our teachers/staff and the en唚re school community.

Thank you so much!

Click the image above to RSVP

Sponsored Breakfast

Sponsored Breakfast

Happy birthday to Jonah Karoll. Many thanks to his family for sponsoring breakfast. To sponsor bagels in honor of your favorite Tiger, please contact Diane Zidman in the front office.

Community News and Events

Rochelle Zell Hosts the Shabbatones

Monday, January 9, 7:00 p.m. | Rochelle Zell Jewish High School

Rochelle Zell Jewish High School is proud to host the Penn Shabbatones on our campus on Monday, January 9, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. featuring alumnus Aaron Zell (CJHS '13) and the Rochelle Zell Vocal Ensemble. The concert is open to the enĕre Rochelle Zell community and the greater community at no cost. We hope that you will join us for this fabulous musical program to start the new year.

Founded in 2001, the Shabbatones are the student‐ run Jewish a cappella group at the University of Pennsylvania. The group tours California, Florida, London, Houston, and New Orleans. Some highlights included singing at the White House Chanukah Party, the naĕonal anthem at an NHL game in Los Angeles, and opening winners of NBC's "The Sing Off." If you have any quesĕons, please contact Bruce Scher.

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Alumni Trivia

Apparently, none of his old acquaintances are surprised that Bob Dylan doesn't plan to bother picking up his Nobel Prize‐‐a├er all, he's been blowing off honorary events in his home state for years! "Bob Dylan is Blowin' Everybody Off, But Minnesotans Don't Mind," writes Gabe Rubin (CJHS '11) in this morning's Wall Street Journal. Gabriel T. Rubin is a mulĕmedia producer in The Wall Street Journal's Washington, D.C. bureau, where he writes about financial regulaĕon. He also produces the daily Pro Financial Regulaĕon newsleĥer. He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and has previously reported for Morning Consult.

A Taste of Torah: Toldot

In this weeks parsha, Toldot, we retell the story of Yitzhak giving the birthright to Yaakov, even though it was promised to Esav. Yaakov, with the help of his mother Rivka, tricks his blind father into giving him the birthright by covering his arms in fur to feel like Esav’s. When Yaakov approaches his father, Yitzhak is confused as to whom he is speaking to and recognizes that whoever it is has the voice of Yaakov, but the hands of Esav. Yet, in his confusion, Yitzhak sĕll blesses this hybrid son. One could say that Yitzhak is successfully deceived because of his lack of sight. However, blindness may not be as debilitaĕng as one would think. READ MORE >>

Student Kavannah: Man's Endings and Beginnings

By popular request, the pre‐Thanksgiving kavannah given by freshman Sammy Korol is hereby reprinted:

Everyone tends to reminisce about their childhood at least once in their lives, looking back on their happy days of innocence. We barely had to work, sustained by higher powers, able to have limitless joy in the simplest of things.

During Chumash, our class has been analyzing the beginning of the Torah, Bereshit. When we delve deeper into Bereshit, into the Garden of Eden, we visit the ending of one version of humanity and the beginning of another. What does that mean? Humans are created seemingly pure, thriving in the heavenly sanctuary that is the Garden of Eden. We were innocent, fully sustained by the garden created by God. However, when we ate from the tree of knowledge of good and bad, we were banished to a life on the earth outside the Garden. We ended one way of living, as pure beings in the Garden of Eden, and began another, more alike to God than before, but more sinful. However, which kind of man is superior? It seems like our innocent, pure life in the Garden of Eden, so much like our joyous childhood, would doubtlessly be beĥer for us (and God) rather than our sinful, stress‐filled lives today. READ MORE >>

1095 Lake Cook Road • Deerfield, IL 60015 • ĕgers@rzjhs.org • 847.470.6700