Happy Chanukah, Tigers! 3 Tevet, 5774
This Week at CJHS Alumni Basketball Game Happy Chanukah Winter Sports Begin Vote For Our Athlete! Illinois State Scholars Time Use Study Model U.N. Movie Night DEAP Drive STAND UPdate Alumni Trivia A Taste of Torah
Save the Date
December 5, 2013
Alumni Basketball Game
Sunday, Dec. 8 Model U.N. Movie Night Thursday, Dec. 12 DECA Regionals Friday, Dec. 23 Sunday, Jan. 5 Winter Break: No School Sunday, Jan. 5 Friday, Jan. 23 Senior Israel Experience Monday, Jan. 6 Classes Resume Monday, Jan. 13 Friday, Jan. 17 Semester Exams
P.O. Corner The P.O. is pleased to continue the gift card "Gelt" program. This program is designed to help families earn money toward their children's junior year Panim program and/or the Senior Israel Experience. Faculty and staff can also buy Gelt to support programs provided for the school by the P.O. By buying things you ordinarily purchase anyway, you can earn money which will be credited to your family or class for designated school trips. Contact Sheri Sandrof at ssandrof@cjhs.org or call her at 847.324.3723.
Sponsor Breakfast What's better than a birthday celebration with friends? Celebrate your student's birthday or other milestone with a special breakfast at CJHS.
For a donation of $180 (10x chai), bagels, cream cheese, and orange
Over 30 alumni returned to CJHS for our annual "Erev Thanksgiving" Alumni Days. The building was filled with the sounds of alumni energetically reconnecting with the school, their teachers and their friends. Last Wednesday's tefillah discussion allowed alumni to reminisce about the independence they learned at school and the close ties with friends and teachers that make CJHS such a special place. Many expressed how their Jewish identity was cultivated in Jewish studies classes at CJHS. Saturday night's special Alumni "Thanksgivukkah" Basketball Game welcomed nearly 70 alumni from all 10 graduating classes. Jason Wiznitzer ('06) opened the evening with a warm introduction welcoming members of the community back to 1095 Lake Cook Road. Zach Berkman ('04) kicked off the celebration with a special rendition of the national anthem and Hatikvah. Before tipoff, Rabbi Silver and Matthew Silverman (' 07) lit the Chanukiyah and made special mention that it will be 77,000 years before a CJHS alumni game will coincide with Chanukah again.
juice will be served to everyone. Announcements will be made in Tefillah and in the dining hall, and the occasion will also be listed in our weekly E-News and on the school announcement board. If you have any questions, please call 847.324.3713 or email idrazin@cjhs.org. Order forms are available online here.
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The highlight of the basketball game was the brother vs. brother match between senior Josh Silverman and alum Matthew Silverman ('07). Halftime presented a three point shootout between alumni and faculty all-stars: Mr. Frank, Mr. Scher, Rabbi Silver, Dr. Schorsch and Senora Linda, who put on particularly impressive performances. Rabbi Silver led the presentation of the paper plate awards, which recognized members of the class of 2004 as they celebrated their 10 year reunion. Dr. Auslander, Mrs. Drazin, Mrs. Eliaser, Mrs. Levinson and Senora Linda shared their words with each of the five graduating students, Zach Berkman, Evan Dreifuss, Mollie Flink, Samantha Freeman, and Beth Magid. Perhaps a sign of things to come, the varsity basketball team snatched victory from the jaws of the alumni, topping them by 1 point! Go Tigers!
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Chag Urim Sameach
Chanukah is here, and it's time for some fun: donuts and bagels for everyone! Many thanks to Rabbi Sam Feinsmith and his friends for a wonderful week of musical, guitar-slinging, linedancing Hallel, and to the stalwart party planners of the Parent Organization for a sumptuous Chanukah breakfast of yogurt parfaits, donuts, Clementine cuties, and chocolate milk. Tefillah yesterday was enhanced by Ms. Frankel's freshman Talmud class, whose colorful multimedia presentations helped publicize the miracle. CJHS was also pleased to welcome elite IDF officer Matthew Silverman ('07), for some inspirational words on his namesake Mattityahu, for the need to rebel in the face of oppression, and for other ways to be a Jewish hero besides bearing arms. May we all be thankful for the miracle of Jewish survival in the face of continuous oppression, and keep the bright lights of our inspiration burning throughout the year!
Basketball Season is Here! Break out the sparkling grape juice! For the first time in history, the Associated Press (AP) has included us ni their season rankings, ranking Chicagoland Jewish High School 16th in the Class 1A Associated Press boys basketball rankings for the 2013-14 school year. To be recognized by the media for the outstanding job our students have done on the basketball court is an incredible honor. To read the season preview, click here. Junior Isaac Johnston
ecstati cally reports, "The boys' varsity basketball team beat Dundee- Crown High School--a 4A school of close to 3,000 students--by a score of 44-33. It is our first victory over a 4A school. It was a total team effort--no one player dominated." Our boys also beat Christ the King this past Monday, 62-57. Avidan Halivni scored 17 points, while Josh Newlander and Hillel Schwartz added 16 each. Saturday night after Shabbat, come watch the boys' basketball teams take on our old rival Newark right here at CJHS. Sophomores play at 6:15 and varsity plays at 7:45. Go Tigers!
Coach Newlander's Highlights: CJHS vs. Dundee Crown
Girls' basketball had a tough pre-Thanksgiving run against Lakeview and Little Village, where Alana Spellman scored 17 points and Ariel Saxton scored 8 points. The varsity team played Ida Crown on Monday, Lake Forest Academy on Tuesday, and Christ the King on Thursday, where the mighty Alana Spellman scored a buzzer-beater from half court. Go Lady Tigers!
Many thanks to Mr. Mitchell Liss for the fabulous sports photography! Email photos of your favorite Tiger on the court to jgleicher@cjhs.org or seliaser@cjhs.org.
Student Athlete of the Month The Chicago Tribune has nominated our very own Carly Silvers for a readers' Athlete of the Month award. Head on over to TribLocal and vote for Carly! In honor of each month's group of winners, Illinois Bone and Joint Institute will make a $500 donation to the athletic department. Read all about it and cast your daily votes here.
Illinois State Scholars During this season of Thanksgiving and celebration, we are pleased to announce the 24 seniors who have been named Illinois State Scholars. Congratulations to Josh Aaronson, Maya Behn, Aaron Drexler, Jeremy Goodman, Evan Gorstein, Avidan Halivni, Shira Harris, Jessica Hochberg, Charlotte Kamin, Elijah Kliot, Joe Kupferberg, Dana Levin, Yadid Licht, Yarden Michael, Ada Moses, Nathaniel Moses, Talia Shapiro, Joshua Silverman, Carly Silverstein, Alana Spellman, Ari Spellman, Josh Swatez, Adam Taitz, and Gabe Wacks!
Time Use Study Students--don't forget to do your Time Use study! For the next three weeks, CJHS will be documenting how our kids manage their time. Va'ad HaStudentim representative Nathaniel Moses reports, "As the student council, we want to know how the students' time is spent outside of school: on homework, extracurriculars, socializing, transportation, sleep etc. This information will be used to help the Va'ad and administration better provide for students' needs. In addition to studying students'
homework load and the difference made by specific classes, we'll be able to track the effects extracurricular activities have on sleep and socializing habits. At its core, the study is going to help teachers and the administration become more aware of what students' time allocation really looks like. It may even help you allocate your time at night more effectively, by having to think about these issues for three weeks."
Model U.N. Movie Night - This Sunday! Sunday, December 8 6:30 p.m. Model U.N. presents the movie Darfur Now, to be followed by a discussion led by members of the Model U.N. team and members of the Sudanese Community Center of Chicago. Darfur Now follows the story of six individuals who are tied together by the same cause: the crisis in Darfur. These individuals include Hejewa Adam, a woman whose baby was beaten to death by Janjaweed attackers who now fights in the Sudanese Liberation Army; Ahmed Mohammed Abakar, a displaced builder and farmer who now serves as leader and head sheikh of a camp of 47,000 other displaced Darfurians; and Pablo Recalde, leader of the World Food Program in West Darfur. Western activists include Don Cheadle, an Oscar-nominated actor using his celebrity status to draw attention to the issue, Adam Sterling, a 24-year-old who urged Governor Schwarzenegger to sign a bill to keep California funds from investing in companies with interests in Sudan, and Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. Hard to watch but impossible to turn away from, Darfur Now aims to educate, illuminate, and, most of all, motivate viewers to somehow get involved and have a greater understanding of the calamitous situation in that African land. Tickets can be purchased from Nathaniel Moses, Charlotte Kamin, Ari Spellman, Zev Mishell, Josh Pliskin, Ranan Vales, Jason Taitz, Ruli Warner-Rosen, Shira Harris, Arielle Small, and David Steinberg, or Dr. Gary Auslander.
Alumni Trivia Heads up, aspiring professors! Which one of our Wildcats has just been published?
Alumni in the News
University of Chicago students met with Vice President Joe Biden on campus last week for an informal talk about politics, in an event hosted by The U of C Institute of Politics. Check out Jacob Rabinowitz ('10) in the front row!
Happy Chanukah From the P.O. We hope that everyone had wonderful Thanksgiving and Chanukah celebrations! Here at the P.O., we certainly have eight days worth of thanks to give. For the Faculty and Staff Chanukah Gift Fund, thank you to Anne McDonagh for doing an outstanding job overseeing the gift fund program and to all of the families who contributed. For the extra-special Thanksgivukkah Breakfast Feast, thank you to the Liss family and the GlickUnterman family for their very generous sponsorship, to our spectacular event chairs Lois Chasin and Amy Mishell, to our hardworking volunteers Larry Chasin, Karyn and Mitch Liss, and to the indefatigable Alex Kosarev and Igor Burda for all their hard work in setting up the festivities! Shabbat Shalom! Liz Geifman, President CJHS Parent Organization
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DEAP Drive to Help Detained Immigrants CJHS Direct Service team is collecting canned & boxed food, toilet paper, paper towels, women's socks & underwear, and men's socks for the Interfaith Committee for Detained Immigrants. We hope to help ease the transition for immigrants released from detention. Please bring your donations in and place them in the Drives box outside of the Beit Knesset!
STAND UPdate Shira Harris reports, "On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted on the deployment of African and French forces in the Central African Republic to respond to the escalated violence in the area. The African Union peacekeeping force will be supported by French forces to protect civilians in CAR and help stabilize the country. The Security Council also voted for the imposition of an embargo in the Central African Republic. In the past week, there has been a massive escalation of violence leaving several dead and wounded. Additionally, according to the UN, more than 400,000 people have been internally displaced."
Alumni Trivia Mazal tov to Louis Shekhtman ('10), whose paper on robust network extraction has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Complex Networks. Louis graduated from Northwestern last spring, and is now at Bar Ilan University pursuing a masters in complex networks. Read his abstract here.
Sponsored Breakfast Happy birthday to Jonah Karoll, Elliana Faletsky, and Talia and Evan Gorstein. Many thanks to their families for sponsoring bagels in their honor.
A Taste of Torah: VaYigash At the beginning of Bereshit, the first siblings in the world cannot coexist. There is no clear indication what happens when Cain and Abel go out into the field on that day, as we read, "And Cain talked with Abel his brother... And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him" (Gen. 4:8). Perhaps the most famous ellipses in western literature, the text is silent about what Cain said to his brother. Immediately after the murder, God asks Cain, "Where is your brother Abel? " Cain responds, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" (4:9). Interestingly, God does not respond directly to this question, instead stating, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground." Of course, the answer to God's question is yes: I am my brother's keeper. This answer every reader of the Bible knows. Amazingly, not only is Cain ignorant of this principle, but in story after story throughout Bereshit, but nearly every other set of brothers in Genesis are equally unwilling to care for each other properly. From deception to outright murder plots, the book of Bereshit is ripe with fraternal hatred. Not one person has yet to stand forth and answer God's hanging question with a firm, unequivocal Yes! At the beginning of Parashat VaYigash. Joseph has just planted a goblet in Benjamin's sack, and asks that all of the other brothers return whence they came, leaving Benjamin in Egypt. It seems a fitting punishment for the crime; only the reader is certain that Benjamin is actually innocent. Suddenly, Judah defies all of the previous responses to our initial haunting question-including his own, when he encouraged his brothers to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites! Judah explains to Joseph how he has personally taken responsibility for this young man's welfare, that he is fully willing to become a
slave in Benjamin's place because any other alternative will kill his father with grief. Emphatically and clearly Judah states, "I am my brother's keeper. I am responsible for someone beyond myself." Rabbi Sharon Brous suggests that God never answers Cain initially, because humanity could only learn the complexity of this reality by being tied to our brothers through experience. Humanity had to try and fail multiple times before Judah could serve as a model for the rest of humankind. Am I my brother's keeper? Judah's leadership shouts to us, "YES! My destiny is bound up with yours." --Rav Beit Sefer Zach Silver Click here to hear Rabbi Brous' entire lesson from which this drash is drawn, part of a three-person lecture entitled, "Can Jewish Ideas Change Your Life? Can They Change the World?"
Shabbat Shalom Candlelighting this week will be at (gulp) 4:02 p.m. Shabbat shalom!