Mar 03 2017

5 Adar, 5777

This Week at Rochelle Zell

March 3, 2017

Performing Arts Night

Performing Arts Showcase Freedom Song Basketball in Miami STAND Food Drive Maccabiah Par cipant Alumni in the News Sponsor Ad Book Save the Date Israel Reflec ons Alumni Trivia A Taste of Torah Community News

Congratula ons to all of the par cipants in this year's

Class Schedule

Monday, March 6 BB

Tuesday, March 7

C

Showcase! It was an outstanding program, enjoyed by a full house made up of parents, grandparents, teachers, staff, and friends! The evening included performances by Vocal Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble and Dance Ensemble as well as soloists Sarah Tenner and Aitan Maeir, and the debut of the Music Club featuring Micah Brody, Marc Luban, Felix Rosen, and Noah Shanes! In addi on, we were treated to an encore performance by the Faculty Quartet of Mr. Baumstark, Ms.

Galante, Ms. Nadis and Ms. Singer. Thank you to Mr. Scher for his endless support of all of our performers. Click here to see the show!

Wednesday, March 8 A

Thursday, March 9

B ‐ Special Schedule

Friday, March 10 A

Quick Links

RZJHS.org Calendars Lunch Menu Edline Give Now

Save The Date

Freedom Song

Full Cast Q & A

March 13 Shushan Purim ‐ Special Schedule

March 15‐19 Model U.N.

March 20 Professional Day: No School

March 31‐April 1 All‐School Shabbaton

April 6 Spring Musical

April 10‐19 Pesach Break: School Closed

April 20 School Resumes

April 23 Wagner Ins tute

This past Tuesday, Rochelle Zell hosted the cast of Freedom Song, a compelling new musical about a family Passover seder needing to confront the impact of addic on on the en re gathering. Freedom Song comes to us from Beit Tshuvah, the transdenomina onal Jewish treatment center in Los Angeles.

The director, musical director, cast and crew of Freedom Song came to our school to explore with our students the experience of developing and performing the produc on. Our students and faculty watched and deconstructed the first scene of the play, and were invited to ask ques ons about the wri ng, staging, ac ng, singing, and content of the show.

May 1‐12 AP Exams

Thank you so much to the L.A. cast for their me, exper se, and story sharing!

Miami Tournament Concludes

Basketball Shabbaton

Our fantas c girls varsity basketball team finished in fi h place out of twelve teams in the 12th Annual Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy Basketball Tournament held in Miami Beach. We had a record of 4‐2 and beat the host school in the fi h place game! Jenna Miller was named to the All Tournament team and came in second place in the Three Point Compe on AND the Hot Shot Compe on! Congratula ons to the en re team on a fantas c tournament Saturday night. Go Tigers!

STAND Food Drive In Support of Rohingya Refugees

For the next two weeks, STAND will be running a food drive for the Rohingya Cultural Center in Chicago. Chicago hosts 1,000 Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar due to horrific human rights abuses.

Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar are vic ms of ethnic violence, placed in internment camps, and lack poli cal rights. In order to assist these members of our community and to fulfill the mitzvah of loving the stranger, we encourage students, parents, and staff to bring in various necessi es and food. Please bring:

10 pound bags of white rice Canola Cooking oil Condensed Milk Coconut milk Canned tomatoes Body wash Body scrubbers Dish soap (NOT dishwasher soap!)

Shampoo and condi oner

Bathroom cleanser Laundry soap (pods or powder) Toilet paper Face ssues Paper towels Target gi cards Walmart Gi Card Shopping bags Any toys in very good condi on

Alumni in the News Luce Scholarship Fellow

Mazal tov to Benji Fleischacker (CJHS '12) on winning a pres gious Luce Fellowship for postgraduate study! Before college, Benji spent a year teaching cello at a local music school in Costa Rica, where he developed both a love of teaching and a recogni on of the many musical tradi ons that children bring to the music classroom. Benji will graduate from Yale in 2017 with a Bachelor's degree in History, concentra ng in La n American history. He hopes to use the context of La n American social history to develop a music curriculum that be er takes into account the backgrounds and cultures of music students. In college, Benji was the principal cellist of the Yale Symphony Orchestra, an avid chamber musician, and the business manager and a member of the all‐cello rock band Low Strung, for which he arranged original covers of popular music. Benji hopes to bring a global perspec ve to the challenge classical music poses to local tradi ons, and the opportuni es communi es have to expand their culture through music educa on and performance. He is poten ally interested in an ethnomusicology and history posi on in Shanghai or rural China.

Alumni Trivia

It's never too late to discover talent! Which psychology buff and sa rical writer is making her stage debut this weekend at her university?

Student Fundraising Project

World Maccabiah Games 2017 Happy birthday and congratula ons to freshman karateka Arielle Bledsoe on qualifying for the World Maccabiah Games this summer! Thousands of athletes compete in this quadrennially occurring "Jewish Olympics.” Arielle writes, "In order to be accepted on the team one must achieve tremendous things in their athle c career. It is a carefully selected team that represents the United States. I am incredibly proud of my Jewish iden ty and am excited to strengthen it by par cipa ng in the Maccabiah. I am doing everything I can to ensure Team USA’s success, and now I need your help.

Please consider dona ng to the journey! Any amount is appreciated. Thank you!"

Yearbook Ad Book Sponsorship Opportuni es

Save the Date P.O. Book Club

Alumni Trivia

Alana Stoehr (CJHS '13) is performing this weekend in the Marcia Legere theater fes val of

student‐wri en, student‐produced plays. Alana has the lead role in Worse Things, a one‐act play based off of a true story of religious persecu on in middle school. This play examines the trope of Jewish self‐loathing, the use of humor as a survival mechanism, and the pressure put on girls to accommodate their oppressors. Alana writes, "Especially following the events last week across the country, I am commi ed more than ever to do this play jus ce by hopefully displaying an authen c portrayal of the reali es regarding an ‐Semi sm and ignorance." She con nues, "I'm nervous but very excited for the opportunity to be involved in this experience. Being the only

drama in the fes val, four other comedies comprise the play, my hope is that the audience is entertained by the comedies but moved by our play, hopefully leaving them with a be er understanding of the reali es of an ‐ Semi sm." Alana is a senior majoring in psychology at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison.

Israel Reflections

Over the next several weeks, we will feature the reflec ons of students about their Senior Israel Experience, responding to the prompt, "My Israel is..." Students offer profound thoughts about the place of Israel in their lives, their evolving Jewish spirits, and enduring ques ons that they are s ll facing. Today, enjoy the reflec ons of Jake Dayan and Ariel Saxton.

A Taste of Torah: Rosh Chodesh Adar

On Monday, we celebrated Rosh Chodesh as a school, beginning Tefillot with raucous singing of "Mi Shenichnas Adar Marbin b'Simcha," or, "He who enters Adar increases in joy." However, can we truly mandate feelings, par cularly happiness? A er all, there are so many reasons why someone would like to be happy but certain parts of life are holding us back ‐ factors that we don't have control over.

I think that the four mitzvot (commanmdents) of Purim give insight into how we can foster a community of happiness, if not mandate happiness outright. The four mitzvot are: reading the Megillah, having a Purim seudah (fes ve meal), giving mishloach manot (gi s to friends), and Matanot LaEvyonim (gi s to the poor). Mitzvot represent concentric circles of responsibility, each of which push us to interact with a certain set of rela onships in our lives. While we might not be able to force our own emo onal state, we certainly can strive to make others joyful on this day.

Megillah: It is customary to read Megillat Esther with a minyan because of the wish to publicize the miracle. The reading connects us not only to those around us through raucous joy, but also ver cally in me, to the narra ve of our people. The mitzvah of hearing the megillah forces us to interact with the miracles of the day, to those in our past who allowed us to celebrate on this day.

Purim Seudah: Those who sit around our tables are generally those closest with us, and the table is limited to the number of chairs that can fit around it. A Purim seudah guarantees that we will break bread with those who are closest to us in our lives and make fes ve ea ng (but of course!) a part of this day.

Mishloach Manot: One more step beyond the table in our concentric circles of rela onships represents those who are important in our lives and on this day in par cular, we want to reach out to and say, "I care about you." These people may not have been at the table for the Purim Seudah, but giving mishloach manot says in both words and deeds that you are important to me, and I want to make your Purim joyous.

Matanot LaEvyonim: The Rambam (Moses Maimonides, 1135‐1204) says that giving gi s to the poor is more important than any of the other three mitzvot of Purim, and that "the one who brightens the hearts of the unfortunate is similar to the Shechinah," the Divine Presence (Yad, Hilchot Megillah v'Chanukah, 2:17). In our final circle of rela onships, we recognize that there is no one who is on the outside of our community. On Purim, anyone who reaches out and asks for a gi (kol mi shepores yad), we have the obliga on to give. On any other day we can think about tzedakah priori es, how much to give toward immediate need and how much toward systemic change. But on this day, we give to all who ask ‐ because this is the essence of what it means to manifest joy on Purim.

During this Purim, take the opportunity to make all of your circles of friends and acquaintances happy. Be Happy, It's Adar!

Rav Beit Sefer Zach Silver

Community News and Events

JCC All Star Abilities Spring Registra on Now Open!

JCC Chicago’s All Star Abili es is an original, peer‐to‐ peer program focusing on fitness and wellness through a variety of ac vi es for teens with and without special needs. During ASA, teen with

registra on, click here.

special needs with be partnered with teen volunteers as they learn to navigate and u lize a fitness center. ASA meets on Sunday a ernoons, and takes place at the Marvin Lustbader Center, Bernard Weinger JCC in Northbrook. For more informa on, including ming, specific dates, and

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