Mar 31 2017

4 Nisan, 5777

This Week at Rochelle Zell

March 31, 2017

Little Shop of Horrors

Thursday, April 6 | 7:00 p.m.

Spring Musical Model U.N. Accolades This Week in Sports Va'ad Israel News Wagner Essay Contest Alan Lightman Speaks Student Ambassadors Students in the News STAND Food Drive

Pesach Kippot Save the Date Sponsored Breakfast Alumni Trivia

If tefillah announcements have been geៀ�ng a liៀ�le surreal

A Taste of Torah Community News

Class Schedule

Monday, April 3

lately and you've seen a man‐eaퟣ�ng plant in the Shapiro Dining Hall a塪�er school, don't panic! Liោ�le Shop of Horrors is coming to Rochelle Zell! The spring musical is this coming Thursday night at 7:00 p.m., right here at RZJHS. Adult ퟣ�ckets are $15; students and kids are $10, and prospecퟣ�ve students get complimentary ퟣ�ckets! So come on down to the weirdest liៀ�le florist on Skid Row, and prepare to rock out with our fabulous cast and chorus!

A

Tuesday, April 4

C

Alumni Trivia

Who were our original trio of doo‐wop girls in the 2006 CJHS Liោ�le Shop of Horrors and where are they now?

Wednesday, April 5 BB

Thursday, April 6

C

Model U.N. Accolades

News of Our Three‐Time World Champion Team Spreads

Friday, April 7 A

Quick Links

RZJHS.org Calendars Lunch Menu Edline Give Now

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 Ins៝�tute

May 1‐12 AP Exams

"Championships and awards are becoming a habit for the Rochelle Zell Jewish High School Model United Naퟣ�ons team!" writes our proud hometown reporter Steve Sadin. Our local papers are beside themselves with pride over our winning team. The Chicago Tribune and the Deerfield Review's reporters interviewed our winning team members about the student‐leadership that brought us to this pinnacle; our school is fairly unique in that its M.U.N. team is student led rather than staff‐instructed, and is a class, not an acퟣ�vity. We are big news in this week's Forward: the Jewish day school team represenퟣ�ng Iran! The Forward interviewed Lexi Levin on how she managed to separate her personal feelings from her task of represenퟣ�ng her assigned country as its own diplomats would do. "The experience gave us a chance to see each other as humans," team captain Felix Rosen told the Highland Park Patch. Team captain Zev Mishell describes the feeling of empowerment achieved as he sent his own voice forth from the very arena where Zionism was so recently equated with racism, and advisor Mr. Griffith described his conversaퟣ�on with the Iranian diplomats who treated the team with such warmth.

“I said, ‘These students are so sincere about wanퟣ�ng to take their place in the world and make it a beៀ�er place.’ And the diplomats said, ‘It will be.’” READ MORE>>

This Week in Sports Volleyball, Soccer, and Tennis

A塪�er a rough start to the season for our team against Chrisퟣ�an Heritage and Westminster Chrisퟣ�an, the varsity squad has bounced back to get their record back to 2‐2 and to 2‐0 in conference with wins over Northtown and Holy Trinity. So far our leaders on the team are Eli Nasa៝�r with 20 kills and 5 aces, Akiva Stein with 3 blocks, David Levin with nine digs, and Ben Hirsch with 29 assists. Our JV team is off to a nice start; a塪�er losing their first match to Chrisퟣ�an Heritage in a tough back‐ and‐forth exchange, they bounced back with a victory over Northtown and a dominaퟣ�ng win over Holy Trinity. So far, our leaders are David Levin with 10 kills and 11 aces, Marc Luban with 2 blocks, Daniel Sacks with 13 digs and Joey Zilber with 17 assists.

It's a liៀ�le cold and wet outdoors for Tiger baseball, but Team Israel has been making us proud. Read all about our school's contribuퟣ�on to Jewish baseball in this week's Chicago Tribune!

Meanwhile, out on the field, the girls soccer team ퟣ�ed 2‐2 with Chicago Hope and lost to a quality Cristo Rey team 1‐5. All three goals came from Livi Moses with one assist each from Ariel Saxton and Micah Shaffer. The Tigers play their next three games at home on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at L & L Goodman Field.

Yesterday saw the opening match of our unbeatable boys' tennis team! We won every single match against Maine East JV, sweeping them 48‐7 in a truly thrilling season opener! Go Tigers!

Va'ad Israel News

Gideon Project Speakers

It's been a busy week for Va'ad Israel. Last Friday, we welcomed Elan Karoll (CJHS '15), to speak about his experiences as an Israel advocate on the University of Illinois campus. Elan recently was quite involved in a campaign to prevent the student government from adopퟣ�ng a bill that would peퟣ�ퟣ�on the administraퟣ�on to have a policy of Boycoៀ�, Divestment and Sancퟣ�ons against Israeli companies and products. On Tuesday, we welcomed four former lone soldiers from an organizaퟣ�on called the

Gideon Project. Rachel Kaplan, Yair Rudick, Adam Stufflebeam, and Benyamin Ben‐Ari spoke about their aliyah stories and why they joined the IDF. Their stories struck a chord with our students, many of whom are considering aliyah themselves.

Alan Lightman Speaks

Philosophy, Theology, Science, and Religion

On Monday, physicist and author Alan Lightman of MIT Skyped in to our senior class to discuss the relaퟣ�onship between science and religion. Dr. Lightman, the first at MIT to hold a dual appointment in both physics and the humaniퟣ�es, is a novelist and essayist, the author of Mr. g – a “ficퟣ�onal” account of creaퟣ�on – and The Accidental Universe, both of which many of our students read during junior or senior year. He also is the founder and chair of the board of the Harpswell Foundaퟣ�on, which works to educate and empower women in Cambodia. Dr. Lightman's talk and the Q & A that followed were truly the highlight of our academic week. Dr. Rebecca Schorsch reports that our seniors truly outdid themselves with their expression of theological and philosophical issues ‐‐ not to menퟣ�on their concrete knowledge of physics! Thank you to Rabbi Marc and Susan Belgrad, Dr. Lightman's good friend, for arranging the professor's visit!

Wagner Essay Contest Open to 11th and 12th Graders

The Jewish Theological Seminary and the Isidore and Rose Wagner Insퟣ�tute 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 reflec៝�ons relate to your understanding of the Shoah? All submissions will be due by Friday, April 7 at 8 a.m., e‐mailed to Rabbi Silver and Dr. Schorsch.

Students in the News Junior Wins CS Coding Contest

Junior Gaby Ecanow and her friend Diva Harsoor took first place in the Mobile Makers High School Winter App Contest in Swi塪� and iOS development. Gaby's app "Click!" combined the gaming fun of a maze with coding tutorials that translated the player's movements onscreen into instrucퟣ�onal code for the budding CS student. Gaby and Diva won not only cash prizes, but an hour of mentoring and consulퟣ�ng with a professional iOS developer. Congratulaퟣ�ons, programmers!

Peer Buddy/Student Ambassador Meeting

Calling all students! Come to an informal meeퟣ�ng on April 4 in room 244 during lunch. This meeퟣ�ng is for all students who would like to parퟣ�cipate in the Rochelle Zell Peer Buddy/Student Ambassador program. You can bring your lunch to the meeퟣ�ng.

Read the handbook, complete the form, then bring it with you to the meeퟣ�ng on April 4. If you can't

make the meeퟣ�ng and would like to parퟣ�cipate in this program, contact Tammy Brody in the Admissions office. Copies of the handbook and forms are available outside of Mr. Cohen's office.

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 vicퟣ�ms of ethnic violence, placed in internment camps, and lack poliퟣ�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 necessiퟣ�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!)

Bathroom cleanser Laundry soap (pods or powder) Toilet paper Face ퟣ�ssues Paper towels Target gi塪� cards Walmart Gi塪� Card Shopping bags

Shampoo and condiퟣ�oner

Any toys in very good condiퟣ�on

Pesach Kippot

Get your Rochelle Zell kippot today

Get your new Rochelle Zell kippot for Pesach! Handwoven kippot from Jerusalem are available through the development office for $20 each. Contact Michelle Friedman at 847.324.3720 or mfriedman@rzjhs.org to get yours today.

Save the Date

Annual Athle៝�c Recogni៝�on Night

Save the date to honor our student athletes for their leadership, aៀ�tude, camaraderie, and skill on the court. Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 18 from 7:00 p.m. ‐ 8:30 p.m. in the Caplan Gymnasium. Watch your inboxes for more informaퟣ�on.

Sponsored Breakfast

Happy birthday to Josh Levitas and Rachel Zell. Many thanks to their families for sponsoring bagels! To sponsor breakfast in honor of your favorite Tiger, please contact Diane Zidman in the front office.

Alumni Trivia

Our original jean jacket girls were Lilli Flink (CJHS '08), Vicky Neiman (CJHS '06), and Avra Shapiro (CJHS '09). Lilli Flink is now a medical student at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.

Vicky Neiman is a therapist at the Adult and Child Mental Health Center in Indianapolis. Avra Shapiro is using her sociology background to teach spoken word at the Wolcoៀ� School, a private school on the west side for students whose intelligence, academic apퟣ�tude, and learning differences do not mesh well with the tradiퟣ�onal classroom style. What a difference ten years has made!

A Taste of Torah: Roch Chodesh Nisan

How should we tell the story of the Exodus? This quesퟣ�ons stands at the center of our Passover experience. The mishnah in Massechet Pesachim states that during the seder we must begin the story of Passover with degradaퟣ�on (genut) and conclude it with joy (shevach). What specifically does that mean?

The Talmud suggests two possibiliퟣ�es, both of which are canonized in the Haggadah, as well. Rav suggests that we should begin the story by telling the story how we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt. But because we were God took us out of Egypt, all future children were saved from the tyranny. In turn, Shmuel states that we should begin the story in a very different place, and about a very different subject. Iniퟣ�ally, our ancestors were idol worshippers, but God led Abraham to the land of Israel, where he introduced monotheism to his children and future generaퟣ�ons. Rav’s opinion highlights physical degradaퟣ�on as the beginning of redempퟣ�on and Shmuel highlights spiritual degradaퟣ�on as the beginning of redempퟣ�on. For both parퟣ�es, the Israelites will journey toward liberaퟣ�on.

The fact that both opinions are preserved in our Haggadah speaks volumes about the values that the Rabbis prioriퟣ�zed, ideas which sퟣ�ll live on as preserving elements for the Jewish people. Jews need both spiritual and physical freedom. Without one, we are not truly free as individuals or as a community. At Rochelle Zell we are profoundly aware that many Jews in our own country and around the world are facing the Pharaohs of our day, fighퟣ�ng anퟣ�‐Semiퟣ�sm in a variety of fashions.

Their journey this Pesach is one of liberaퟣ�on from physical degradaퟣ�on. Inside of our walls, our community conퟣ�nues as individuals and as a group to quest toward religious growth and meaning.

May the narraퟣ�ves of both Rav and Shmuel guide us as we approach Pesach.

Rav Beit Sefer Zach Silver

Community News and Events

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