Mar 24 2017

26 Adar, 5777

This Week at Rochelle Zell

Model U.N. Wins Spring Sports IFYC Wagner Essay Contest Day School Guaranty Trust Alumni in the News Name Change Minyan STAND Food Drive

For the third year in a row, Rochelle Zell Jewish High School placed first among the thousands of students from 23 different countries represented this year at the Naĕonal High School Model U.N. in New York City. In order to earn this award, every one of our delegates had to be among the top three working members of every commiĥee they served on, performing with courtesy and disĕncĕon. Moreover, for the first ĕme ever, Rochelle Zell Jewish High School's Model U.N. team brought home the Outstanding Research and Preparaĕon Award from the conference. This extraordinary tribute, which is not given every year, is presented to a single school whose excellence in wriĕng is truly beyond compare, and we are so thrilled to receive it!

Community News

Class Schedule

Monday, March 27 A

Model U.N. Three­Peat!

Baruch Dayan Emet Alumni Trivia A Taste of Torah

March 24, 2017

World Champions for the Third Consecuĕve Year

Spring Musical Mazal Tov

Tuesday, March 28

B ‐ Extended Tefillah

Wednesday, March 29 A

Thursday, March 30

C

Friday, March 31 BB

Quick Links

RZJHS.org Calendars

Lunch Menu Edline Give Now

The team represented the Republic of Iran, a choice fraught with meaning in these troubled ĕmes; our students and staff were warmly welcomed into the Iranian Embassy last Thursday by the Iranian diplomats who presented current events and graciously fielded quesĕons.

Save The Date

March 31‐April 1 All‐School Shabbaton

April 6 Spring Musical

April 9 ACT at RZJHS

April 10‐19 Pesach Break

April 20 School Resumes

April 23 Wagner Insĕtute

May 1‐12 AP Exams

Although the M.U.N. conference is perceived as highly compeĕĕve, plenary speakers and award‐winning delegates are nominated for cooperaĕon, courtesy, and good listening skills‐‐the respect and appreciaĕon of their fellow delegates‐‐as much as they are evaluated on their leadership and their content management. "The other winning schools came up to me," team adviser Ms. June Kramer reports from the U.N. floor. "They said there was no other school that they so looked forward to working with."

"What is the difference between our students and the thousands of others that were present?" Mr. Dale Griffith addressed the school at the victory celebraĕon in Tuesday's tefillah, as the team leaders placed a third plaque in company with the other two. "It's because you study Torah. Not only does the study of Torah build criĕcal thinking skills and close reading of important texts: it builds character, and that was that basis for our delegates' recogniĕon. The world is in the hands of those who study Torah."

Kol hakavod to the following special commiĥee award

winners: Joey Schrayer (Internaĕonal Court of Jusĕce, 1st place), Zev Mishell and Jonah Karoll (Historical Security Council, 2nd place), Felix Rosen (Crisis Commiĥee, 3rd place), and Idan Chazan and Yoni Maltsman (League of Arab States, 3rd place). Congratulaĕons to our plenary session speakers: Ben Lesch and Coby Resnick, Arielle Small and Maytal Meisler, Ethan Harris and Max Pivo, Shachar Rosenblaĥ and Lillian Copley, Lexi Levin and Maya Scholder, and Eli Ecanow and Emma Maĕ. Jonathan Taitz, David Levin, Eli Nasaĕr, and Ethan Laney also spoke in plenary sessions, bringing the total to a whopping 16 out of the 40 students so honored. Our school was also proudly and skillfully represented at the commiĥee tables by Maĥ Weiss, Betsy Winick, Molly Hart, Coby Resnick, Brian Silverstein, Livi Moses, and Sammy Hoffman. Last but not least, a huge round of applause to our M.U.N. captains Zev Mishell and Felix Rosen, for their leadership and dedicaĕon, and to our devoted advisers and chaperones Ms. June Kramer, Mr. Dale Griffith, and Ms. Becca Dauber. We are so proud of all of you!

Alumni Trivia

Who were the founding advisers of the CJHS MUN team, and where are they now?

IFYC

On Thursday a├ernoon, IFYC had a Skype session with our partner school, the Islamic Foundaĕon School. Students from both schools offered thoughts and personal reflecĕons on the recent rise in both Islamophobia and anĕ‐Semiĕsm. While there have been many tough events that have targeted minority groups, both our Jewish community and the Muslim community of the Islamic Foundaĕon School have been even more amazed by the way that communiĕes have come

together to support each other in the past months. We look forward to joining together in person next month.

This Week in Soccer Girls Win Against Tepeyac

The snow is gone and spring sports have taken the field in its place! The girls soccer team kicked off the season with a big win on Tuesday against conference opponent, Our Lady of Tepeyac. A├er two cancelled games due to weather, the team was eager for some compeĕĕon. They came out swinging with a 4‐1 win. Goals came from Bobbi Hochberg, Ariel Saxton, two from Livi Moses and an assist from Rachel Zell. Go Tigers!

Wagner Essay Contest Open to 11th and 12th Graders

The Jewish Theological Seminary and the Isidore and Rose Wagner Insĕtute invite current Rochelle Zell juniors and seniors to submit essays on this year's theme: “Stories of Struggle, Rescue and Renewal: The Holocaust and Its Impact Today.” The submissions will be judged anonymously by community Jewish educators, and two winners will each receive a $5,000 college scholarship award. Contestants should draw from Jewish sources to respond to the following prompt: What does it mean to live in a world filled with evil, hardship and suffering in everyday life? What does it mean to struggle as an individual? As part of the Jewish community? How might these reflec៓�ons relate to your understanding of the Shoah?

Instrucĕons for submission: 1. All submissions will be due by Friday, April 7 at 8 a.m., e‐mailed to Rabbi Silver and Dr. Schorsch.

2. Students who submit a winning essay will be required to present it on Sunday a├ernoon of the Wagner Conference, April 23, at 1 p.m.

3. Submissions will be judged anonymously. Please send your submission as a Microso├ Word aĥachment, without your name on the original document. Rabbi Silver will assign a number to each document before he gives them to our judges.

4. The submission should have a ĕtle, 12‐point font and one‐inch margins. Please be sure to pay aĥenĕon to grammar and spelling and cite fully.

We look forward to being inspired!

2017‐2018 Report

Day School Guaranty Trust Fund

Rochelle Zell Jewish High School is pleased to announce that we will receive a distribuĕon of $59,927 from the Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust Fund of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federaĕon of Metropolitan Chicago in Fiscal Year 2018. These funds go directly towards supporĕng the academic programs, tuiĕon assistance, athleĕcs, extra‐curricular acĕviĕes, and Jewish life at Rochelle Zell. The Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust was created to help seventeen Jewish Federaĕon partnered day schools meet criĕcal funding needs. Distribuĕons, which will total $1,637,241 in FY2018, are based on enrollment. We are truly grateful for this and all past support we have received from the Trust and the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federaĕon. Our school would not be where it is today without their support and partnership.

Alumni in the News

Defeaĕng BDS at U of I

Elan Karoll (CJHS '14) is front and center on the successful Illini campaign to defeat the BDS referendum calling upon the University to divest from 16 companies doing business in Israel. Elan and his classmates formed United Illini for a United Campus to oppose this divisive effort and to promote a unified campus. Over the past month, United Illini put together an impressive, mulĕ‐ pronged campaign and encouraged their classmates to vote no. Their efforts demonstrated that the UIUC Jewish community, though diverse, is unified in its opposiĕon to efforts to divide their campus and delegiĕmize the Jewish state. Throughout the campaign, United Illini presented informaĕon in a nuanced, sophisĕcated way. Even in the face of anĕ‐Semiĕc aĥacks and cyber bullying, the students worked around the clock in consultaĕon with Illini Hillel, JUF's Israel Educaĕon Center, Israel on Campus Coaliĕon, Israel Acĕon Network, Hillel Internaĕonal, Chabad, and others to prevent the referendum from passing. READ MORE>>

Name Change in Minyan Seniors and Freshmen Celebrate

On Thursday morning, Freshman‐Senior minyan celebrated senior Samantha Shoshani’s name change. For the first ĕme, Samantha was called to the Torah as a woman. Sam was called to the Torah as Samantha Yasminah B’ruryah Bat Shmaryahu Betzalel v’Adina Tzipporah. This aliyah had the power to change her name legally (halachically) in the Jewish realm. There was much celebraĕon and fesĕve dancing ‐‐ one of the hallmarks of this minyan, and of our school community as a whole!

STAND Food Drive In Support of Rohingya Refugees

STAND is 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 vicĕms of ethnic violence, placed in internment camps, and lack poliĕcal 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 necessiĕes 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 condiĕoner

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

Save the Date

Spring Musical

Mazal Tov

Mazal tov to Maĥ Levin (CJHS '10), on his engagement to Mollie Elkin. Maĥ was an IT business analyst for two years with the Boston Red Sox, and now works as the manager of accounĕng and data analysis for the Red Sox in Pawtucket.

Baruch Dayan Emet

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Reuben Kahn, grandfather of Eden Kahn ('19), and Bernard Ecanow, grandfather of Eli Ecanow ('18), Gaby Ecanow ('18), Natalie Ecanow ('17), and Anna Ecanow ('18). Both family shivas concluded earlier in the week. May the Kahn and Ecanow families be comforted along with all the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

Alumni Trivia

Our original staff members were Dr. Gary Auslander and Ms. Myra Loris! Both staff members are now reĕred. Dr. Auslander can now be found in private pracĕce with a child psychiatrist in Northfield, and he volunteers as a docent at the Holocaust Museum. Dr. Auslander reports, "With my good health I have become more acĕve and involved, including involved with our six grandchildren. We spend more ĕme in Florida and otherwise travelling; we watched the 7th game of the Cubs World series victory from the middle of the Atlanĕc Ocean! I do miss Model UN and am thrilled as the THE BEAT GOES ON!"

A Taste of Torah: Shabbat HaChodesh

Each year on the Shabbat before Rosh Chodesh Nisan, we read a special ma韭�ir from Exodus 12:1‐ 20. The Shabbat is dubbed "Shabbat HaChodesh" for the content of this ma韭�ir, which begins with the verse "This month shall mark for you the beginning of the months; it shall be the first of the months of the year for you." The verse will later be interpreted as the first commandment given to the Children of Israel, that of creaĕng a calendar.

As early as the first verse of Genesis, Rashi highlights that this is the first commandment to the enĕre children of Israel, when he asks rhetorically why the Torah did not begin with the legal corpus, and thus the Exodus 12:2. One should extend his quesĕon as well: Why is the first commandment to the Children of Israel to set up a calendar, to mark ĕme?

As slaves, the Israelites had no control even over marking ĕme — they were completely at the whim of a foreign taskmaster. In order to begin a quest toward liberaĕon, God first gives the people a structure within which they can succeed. Yet within this structure, God also gives the people a certain autonomy; this commandment relies on the people declaring the new month. For the first ĕme in history, they are partners with God in structuring their desĕny. Ciĕng a midrash, Rashi emphasizes this by saying that God literally extended God's finger at the sliver of the moon to show Moshe how to begin counĕng the months. The quest toward true liberaĕon, where the

people will be comfortable and at peace in their new habitats, will be arduous.

Without the structure of slavery, the Children of Israel are unstable in their new condiĕons and thus complain endlessly both to God and to Moshe. But this first structure of forming a calendar is the beginning of the journey. God grants the Children of Israel the responsibility to mark, the first model of a reciprocal covenant relaĕonship between an enĕre people and God.

Rav Beit Sefer Zach Silver

Roar Store Special Sale!

Community News and Events

Job Opportunities Northbrook JCC Hiring Swim Instructors | Bernard Weinger JCC, 300 Revere Dr. Northbrook

At JCC Chicago, lifeguards and swim instructors play a vital role in the physical and learning development of our students. Working at JCC means working in an acĕve, fast paced and friendly environment. Our emphasis is always on fun, safety and meeĕng the next challenge for students and instructors alike. Swim Instructors teach a variety of ages and skill levels while bringing fun and excitement using the SwimRight® Method, part of the Lenny Krayzelburg Swim Academy.

Lessons are provided to Early Childhood and A├er School program parĕcipants as well as in general aquaĕcs classes. Training in the LKSA SwimRight® Method will be provided. A├ernoon, evening and weekend‐only shi├s are available. Water Safety Instructor (WSI) preferred for swim instructors. Current lifeguard training and first aid cerĕficaĕon is required for lifeguards, as well as CPR for the Professional Rescuer cerĕficaĕon; preferred cerĕficaĕon is American Red Cross Lifeguarding.

JCC is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Programs are open to everyone, not just people of the Jewish faith. Apply at www.jccchicago.org/about/careers/.

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