Dec 16 2016

16 Kislev, 5777

December 16, 2016

This Week at Rochelle Zell

Mazal Tov!

Sheva Brachot for Rabbi Silver and Ms. Frankel

Sheva Brachot Day

Egg Drop This Week in Sports Kashrut Panel STAND Chanukah Gi├s Math Team Speaker New Roboĕcs Team Griffith‐Schorsch Debate Save the Date: Book Club Honoring Bruce Scher Community News Alumni Trivia A Taste of Torah

Rochelle Zell High School hosted a lively and sumptuous feast to welcome back our groom and bride, Rabbi Zach Silver and Ms. Tamara Frankel.

Amidst the singing and the table‐thumping, a giddy Arielle Small M.C.'ed the fesĕviĕes and passed the microphone for congratulatory remarks, and Ariel Saxton screened a mock wedding video she had put together from photos of the happy couple. Thanks to Rabbi Greenberg, Tisch Club, Spirit Club, and the Va'ad HaStudenĕm for coordinaĕng the fesĕviĕes.

Class Schedule

onday, December 19 M BB

Tuesday, December 20 C

Wednesday, December 21 A

Egg Drop 2017

Physics Classes Study Impulse and Momentum

Thursday, December 22 B

Friday, December 23 CC

Quick Links

RZJHS.org Calendars Lunch Menu Edline Give Now

Exam Schedule

Eighteen juniors took over the school balcony on Tuesday for

January 13 Talmud 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

This Week in Basketball Tigers Defeat Tepeyac and Luther North, Steam Past North Shore Country Day!

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

January 20 Hebrew Exam ‐ 9:30

Save The Date

December 25 ‐ January 8 Winter Break

the annual egg drop! Mrs. Eliaser's physics students had four sheets of paper and 20 straws to help their eggs survive the 24‐ foot drop. Five out of nine eggs lived to tell the tale this year, a very high success rate indeed! Many groups opted for a conical or cylindrical crumple zones designed to keep the egg as far away from the impact as possible; other teams built large cubes with the egg safely suspended in the middle‐‐or in one unfortunate case, suspended in the middle unĕl it popped its moorings and fell out! Congratulaĕons to all of this year's parĕcipants!

January 8 ‐ January 27 Senior Israel Experience

The boys JV basketball team had their big game last weekend

against the Ida Crown Academy Aces! The Tigers played strong in the first half, but were down by four points heading into the fourth quarter. A├er a quick rally in the fourth, the game was ĕed 31‐31. Henry Hoffman started a 7‐0 run a├er hiħng a three‐pointer. The Tigers ended up winning the game 38‐33!

Last Thursday, the Tigers faced the Luther North Wildcats. The JV team opened strong with made shots by David Levin, Noah Shanes, Niv Ostroff, and Henry Hoffman. When the third quarter began, the Tigers looked sharp to reduce their 4‐point deficit. They forced steals, and caused the Wildcats to stumble and make poor mistakes. That lead quickly grew thanks to back‐ to‐back three‐pointers by Henry Hoffman! Outstanding players of the week were Henry Hoffman with a high of 14 points and Niv Ostroff with a high of 14 points. The team had its big moment last night with a thrilling thirty‐point plus win against North Shore Country Day!

January 9 Classes Resume

January 16 MLK Day ‐ No School

January 23 Second Semester Begins

January 30 Classes Resume for Seniors

The varsity girls' basketball team defeated Our Lady of Tepeyac Tuesday by a score of 48‐18. Everyone contributed to the win!

Jenna Miller led the team with 18 points while Hadar Halivni, Gaby Ecanow, and Elitsa Sklar chipped in with six points apiece.

Our season's record is now 6‐3. Great job, girls!

The varsity boys had a tougher baĥle against Luther North.

The team opened the game down 11‐5 and could not find a rhythm. At half ĕme, the Tigers came out with fire and intensity, cuħng a 15 point deficit down to 1 point. The Wildcats then pulled away again, making it an 8 point game. In the closing minutes of the game the Tigers baĥled back and ĕed the game 66‐66, but the Wildcats hit a three pointer with 12 seconds le├. All the same, we saw great games from Felix Rosen and Eli Nasaĕr! And of course, the team redeemed itself mighĕly with a thrilling victory last night against North Shore Country Day!

Kashrut Panel

Freshman Talmud Talks Straight About Food

A├er a month's study of d'oraita, d'rabbanan, and other historical and halachic perspecĕves, the ninth grade Talmud students held an open forum for some of their teachers to discuss their own personal relaĕonships with keeping kosher. Ms. Steinberg, Rabbi Greenberg, and Mrs. Eliaser gave candid answers to quesĕons like, "What is the real reason you keep kosher?" "When has a kosher lifestyle really frustrated you?" "When have you had a

really posiĕve experience thanks to kashrut?" "Does not keeping kosher make you a bad Jew?" The intense 52‐minute discussion spilled over into lunch with more quesĕons than the ĕme allowed. Students reported that it was very meaningful for them to hear why the adults around found this mitzvah so meaningful, and they truly appreciated their teachers' frankness is discussing its challenges. Many thanks to everyone who parĕcipated!

STAND Gift Boxes

This Chanukah, Get a Gi├‐‐and Fight Human Trafficking!

There is no gi├ more fulfilling than the opportunity to help someone in need. For a minimum donaĕon of five dollars, you can brighten the holidays for a vicĕm of human trafficking! Proceeds will go to the A21 Campaign, a foundaĕon fighĕng human trafficking around the world and in the United States especially. In exchange for your donaĕon, you will receive a gi├ package from STAND (Rochelle Zell’s human rights awareness club) to bring home to your family. In addiĕon to some Chanukah goodies, your package will include postage and a holiday card to write a leĥer to a human trafficking survivor, a human trafficking vicĕm's story, and more. Click here to sign up.

Human trafficking is known as “modern slavery,” and over 30 million people are vicĕmized annually. To learn more about this chilling problem, check out the TED Talk. STAND officers Jonah Karroll or Yoni Maltsman are happy to conĕnue the discussion with you via email! To learn more about The A21 Campaign, visit hĥp://www.a21.org.

UIC Professor Meets Math Team Former Math Olympian Gives Tip and Puzzle Problems

Dr. Ramin Takloo‐Bighash of UIC, an Iranian mathemaĕcian and former Math Olympian, came to Rochelle Zell to speak about a career as a mathemaĕcian and to share a favorite problem from the Internaĕonal Mathemaĕcal Olympiad. In addressing our team, Dr. Takloo‐Bighash emphasized that you don't have to be a genius to succeed in math compeĕĕons, you just have to train a lot, learning all the standard problems and approaches. He also le├ students with a puzzle, for which only Koby Rosen has proposed a soluĕon so far. Consider: For u,v,w >0, prove that u2+v2+w2 ≥ uv+vw+uw Submit a soluĕon to any of the math teachers‐‐we're forwarding them on to Dr. Takloo‐Bighash!

And welcome back to Josh Winick, home with his medals a├er he clinched our team first place in the senior division!

BotBall is Coming!

Join the Rochelle Zell Roboĕcs Team!

We have a new winter sport: the Roboĕcs Team is up and running!

We have received a $1,000 grant to help defray expenses as we enter the 2017 winter/spring robot tournament; Rochelle Zell is one of three Jewish day schools among the ten to be designing, building, and programming autonomous robots for the compeĕĕon this spring. BotBall training begins in February: the team will receive instrucĕon in building, programming, and engineering with all the parts supplied by the contest.

Like any sport, the project requires a regular commitment for 7‐8 weeks. See Ms. Murphy to get more informaĕon or sign up for the team!

Driver's Ed

Registraĕon for Drivers Educaĕon 2017 is now open for students born on or before May 16, 2002.

Adams Driving School will be holding classes at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School beginning Thursday, January 26, 2017. Adams is offering twenty classes for 90 minutes beginning at 3:30 p.m. and ending at 5:00 p.m., which will allow our students who use the shuĥle to Braeside to catch the 5:10 p.m. train. Please contact Adams directly for class informaĕon at 847.965.6565.

Click here for registraĕon forms and schedules. If you have have quesĕons, email jdlaĥ@rzjhs.org.

From the P.O.

Annual Griffith‐Schorsch Debate

Last Thursday, Dr. Schorsch and Mr. Griffith enlightened us with an evening of learning. Over 50 parents, students, alumni parents and alumni came out to hear two of our favorite teachers present us with "A Dialogue of Two Confessions‐ Albert Camus' The Fall and Joseph Soloveitchik's The Lonely Man of Faith." It was a wonderful evening and requests have already been made for their return next year.

The P.O. would like to thank Dr. Schorsch and Mr. Griffith for taking ĕme out of their busy schedule to give us a taste of what our students get to experience daily.

Save the Date: The Secret Chord Winter‐Spring Book Club | Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 7:00 p.m.

Have a discussion with your favorite freshman Bible student as you see what they are studying in the life and ĕmes of King David! As you load up books for the plane ride, why not check out The Secret Chord, our winter/spring P.O. Book Discussion choice? Pulitzer‐prize winning author

Geraldine Brooks provides new context for some of the best‐known episodes of David’s life "while also focusing on others, even more remarkable and emoĕonally intense, that have been neglected."

Reviewers everywhere (and several Rochelle Zell staff!) have been turning over this masterful piece of Biblical ficĕon! The curator's blog at the Briĕsh Museum raves, "This isn’t the wholesome boy‐ soldier of the children’s Bible I read when I was small. Brooks’s David is a more calculaĕng creature, prepared to sacrifice virtually anyone or anything to secure his dynasty on the throne of a united Land. He is flawed, imperfect, driven by lusts of the flesh (as with the lovely Batsheva), and willing to overlook his sons’ own tendencies in this area (even when, like Amnon, they break the laws of common decency). But it’s precisely this imperfecĕon that capĕvated me. And the story is given extra richness through Brooks’s choice of language. She gives the characters their Hebrew names, unfamiliar to me, which made it easy for me to read this as a historical novel rather than a Bible adaptaĕon."

Alumni Trivia

Another opening, another show! Which of our CJHS alumni is working the stage, but as a producĕon manager, not as a performer?

Bruce Scher Tribute Book

Deadline is TODAY!

Pay tribute to our favorite mulĕ‐talented musical dean by submiħng anecdotes, memories, words of graĕtude, poems, songs or other “verbal hugs.” Send in your words of praise, celebraĕon and even humor! The tribute squares have space for 75 words, but alas, no pictures. Please e‐mail your submission by Friday, December 16, 2016, to Michele Agbodza. Unfortunately we cannot accept any late entries to be included in the tribute book. Any submissions received a├er December 16 will be given to Mr. Scher, but will not be included in the completed book. Please contact Michele Agbodza, Markeĕng and Communicaĕons Coordinator, with submissions.

Click the image above to RSVP

Sponsored Breakfast

There's nothing like bagels on a cold winter morning! Happy birthday to Samantha Brody and Livi Moses, and many thanks to their families for sponsoring breakfast. Mazal tov again to our Rav Beit Sefer and Judaics studies teacher, in whose honor we feasted yesterday! 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.

Alumni Trivia

The fabulous Jorian Rosenmertz (CJHS '13) is finishing her degree in theatre producĕon management at University of Maryland. Jorian writes, "I've been working in theatre producĕon management and event management and I've helped produce shows at UMD, Studio Theatre in DC, the Kennedy Center, and smaller performance venues. My shining moment was working at the Kennedy Center with producer and actress Debbie Allen of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and of Grey's Anatomy! I'm also a freelance makeup arĕst, and I have a cat named Sylvester. He's a smush!" Jorian is currently producing the two‐part Second Season show "The Weeping Philosophers," to be performed in January. She lives in DC with her longĕme boyfriend Max.

A Taste of Torah: Vayishlach

This week’s parasha, VaYishlach, features the struggle of Yaakov and the mysterious “ish” whom he meets in the middle of the night. Who is this individual engaged in struggle throughout the night, who dislodges Yaakov’s hip? Rashi, ciĕng the midrashic tradiĕon in Genesis Rabbah (77:3), suggests that this is Esav. Abraham ibn Ezra says that it is an angel. Meanwhile, the Talmud in Massechet Chullin (91a) says that this person was clothed as a Torah scholar and thus was able to walk on Yaakov’s trusted right side before aĥacking him.

As Rav Avi Weiss once suggested, perhaps this struggle is the beginning of Yaakov making teshuva for the numerous decepĕons that he has been a part of throughout his life. At the end of the struggle, his name changes from one of decepĕon, to Yisrael, the root of which is y‐sh‐r, meaning straight. He goes from being a deceiver to one who is up front with those who are around him.

At the end of the narraĕve, he names the locaĕon, Peniel, where he encountered the face of God. As the French philosophy Emanuel Levinas suggests most poignantly, that face of the Other is encountered in face‐to‐face contact. This is the ulĕmate Facebook. READ MORE>>

Rav Beit Sefer Zach Silver

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