6 Iyar, 5776 This Week at Rochelle Zell
May 13, 2016
HaYom Yom Huledet... Rochelle Zell Celebrates 68 Years for Israel
Yom HaAtzmaut Yom HaZikaron Women's Soccer Champions Poetry in Photos Adventures in Physics P.O. Movie Night Baruch Dayan Emet
Thursday morning erupted in song with Hallel to celebrate the birthday of the State of Israel. Senior Maya Resnick set the tone with a beautiful reflection on why she loves Israel so much. Seven soldiers from the Paratroopers brigade of the IDF came to visit with our students and give them a different view of life on the ground, in peacetime and in combat. Students lingered to ask questions well beyond the scheduled talks, which addressed both the soldiers’ individual lives and also their service to the broader cause
Community Events Alumni Trivia A Taste of Israel
of the Israeli nation. Following our keynote speakers, students celebrated Israel with Israeli dancing, writing letters to Israeli soldiers, and a 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Thank you to Va’ad Israel for its help in planning the day!
A Taste of Torah
Class Schedule
Thank you to the Friends of the IDF for this remarkable opportunity. For those who would like more information about how to work with other Chicagoans to adopt the Paratroopers brigade, please click here.
Monday, May 16 BB Tuesday, May 17 C Wednesday, May 18 A Thursday, May 19 B Friday, May 20 CC
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Save The Date May 26 Grandparents and Special Friends Day May 27 Last Day of Classes All-School BBQ May 29 Rochelle Zell Community
Fallen Heroes Yom HaZikaron 2016 We began school on Wednesday with a ceremony to commemorate Yom HaZikaron and remember all those who fell in defending the Jewish State and in terror attacks. Junior Dave Vayngart set the tone for the morning by playing Mozart’s Requiem and Arik Einstein’s Ani v’Ata on the piano, after which we all stood collectively to listen to the siren that rings across Israel, and brings even cars along the Ayalon Highway to a standstill.
Naming Dedication Prom Night May 31 - June 7 Final Exams June 1 Siyum and Graduation No Classes June 19 ACT
We focused the ceremony on the stories of individuals, on Roi Klein who jumped on a grenade in 2006 during the Second Lebanon War to save the rest of the troops in his unit. We heard about Nimrod Gaon, who wrote poems to his girlfriend Amalia, before being killed in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, including Shir Hayal (A Soldier’s Song), transformed into an award winning song by Shlomo Artzi. In the words of the poet Natan Alterman, "The State of Israel was not handed to the Jewish people on a silver platter." The State has thrived because of the sacrifices of every family in Israel. May their memories be for a blessing. Thank you to Gvt. Wasserman, Gvt. Cohen, Sarah Levin, Maya Resnick, Eden Kahn, Micah Shaffer, Yoni Maltsman, Jonah Karoll, Meira Levine, and Emma Mati for coordinating the moving tribute to the fallen heroes of our people.
IHSA Glory for Soccer! Women's Soccer Takes Regional Semi-Finals!
The women's soccer team finished a second historic season Thursday with their heads held up high. The Tigers finished with a record of 12 wins, 2 losses, and 1 tie. For the second year in a row, the team took home the Chicago Prep Conference Championship Trophy by winning nine games and tying one in conference play. The Tigers earned second place in the conference tournament after falling to Cristo Rey 3-1, after being shorthanded and suffering a couple injuries--though after the game, the Cristo Rey coach complimented the Tigers on their ability to run a counter-attack offense so effectively. This week, the girls bounced back
from their first loss of the season to beat Chicago Math and Science Charter 4-3, and advanced to their first ever IHSA Regional Championship! Congratulations to North Shore Country Day, who will go on to the state semi-finals, and Kol HaKavod to the Lady Tigers on an incredible, unforgettable season! Men's Volleyball Enters Postseason On Monday, the volleyball teams took on Grayslake Central; the Tigers gained valuable experience in their losses. Notable performances came from Ben Lesch with 4 assists and 1 dig, Itamar Broekman with 3 kills and 1 dig, Sammy Hoffman with 2 kills, 2 digs,1 block, and 1 ace, Daniel Sacks with 4 digs and 1 assist, Joey Schrayer with 4 digs and 1 assist, Ben Hirsch with 6 assists, and Eli Nasatir with 2 kills and 1 dig. On Wednesday, the JV team beat Beacon Academy with a scores of 25-17, 21-25, and 2521. The varsity team looks to find success in the Chicago Prep Conference tournament this Sunday, May 15. Rochelle Zell will host this tournament in the Caplan Gym starting at 2 p.m. Admission fees are $3 for adults, $1 for children. See you there!
Transfiguration A Poem by Mr. Dale Griffith
Alumni Trivia Eh, ein ba'ayah, hakol b'seder... How is graduate school in Israel a whole lot more chill than over here in the States? Which complex network physicist named Eliezer can tell you more about it?
Adventures in Optics Honors Physics Goes Freestyle
With AP exams behind us, the honors physics class is going freestyle as they pursue independent investigations in waves, light, and sound! How much can you split a rainbow, and why are the colors mirrored each time? Is it really true that red light bends differently than violet light, and how can we prove it if it is? What factors affect the pitch of a pipe or tuning fork, and how many different songs can Dave Vayngart play on them with a team of friends holding them at regular intervals? It's amazing what you can discover with five enthusiastic students and a demo bench full of equipment! Ask your favorite junior or senior what they discovered today!
P.O. Movie Night P.O. Wraps Up Year With Nicky's Family On Thursday, May 5, the P.O. met for its annual Movie Night. We viewed the movie Nicky's Family about the children saved by Sir Nicolas Winton during the Shoah, and then heard from Dr. Renata Laxova, a geneticist at UW Madison, who was among the lives he saved. Ms. Laxova also graciously gave of her time during the day on Thursday when she talked to the students as part of the school's Yom HaShoah observance. Thank you to Jacqueline Kott-Wolle and Jennifer Rosenblum for organizing the movie night, and to all who attended for making the evening a success. And, a special thank you to Jennifer for contacting and housing Dr. Laxova, and driving her back to Madison. It’s hard to believe that the end of the year is around the corner! Let’s show our Rochelle Zell teachers and staff how much we appreciate all that they have done for our students this 2015-2016 academic year! The Rochelle Zell Parent Organization invites you to contribute to our annual Faculty & Staff Appreciation End of Year Gift Fund. Suggested contribution is $18 per student, but any amount is greatly appreciated! Please make your donation by May 27. Click here to donate online. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Martine Gorstein or call or text 847.791.0223. Good luck to all the students and happy end of the year!
Baruch Dayan Emet
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Eileen Yedlin, grandmother of senior Jake Lankford and Jessie Lankford (CJHS '13). May God's presence comfort the Lankford family among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Sponsored Breakfast Happy birthday to Jordan Krauss. Many thanks to her family for sponsoring breakfast. To sponsor bagels in honor of your favorite Tiger, please contact Diane Zidman in the front office.
Community News and Events The Festival is Coming!
Alumni Trivia Louis Shekhtman (CJHS '10), alias Eliezer Shekh, walked into Bar Ilan University one August morning to meet the world-famous physicist Shlomo Havlin about his work in complex networks. Louis had heard of Dr. Havlin during his undergraduate research, and was thrilled to find one of the biggest names in the field right here in Israel. After a lengthy conversation about their joint research interests in interdependent infrastructure, Prof. Havlin noted that the new term would begin "acharei hachagim" and that his newest doctoral student should present himself at that point. "Just like that...?" Louis spluttered. "Don't I have to, like, apply to graduate school first or anything?" Apparently not! Israeli doctoral programs in science research are funded by the state, and they are much less rigid in their admissions procedures than their uptight American counterparts. Moreover, once accepted, Israeli Ph.D. students complete their coursework and concentrate on publishing, but never actually write a thesis! "It's a brilliant idea," Louis explains. "After you complete your Ph.D., who actually reads your doctoral thesis? Not even your committee members actually read it--they just scan through it and look for points to heckle you with. Three, four years of work, and for what? Nothing that anyone else is ever going to pick up again; if you really have something, you chop it up and revise different segments for publication all over again." Israeli doctoral students are awarded their Ph.D.'s on the strength of three major publications in important scholarly journals, out in the public eye where other scholars will examine, critique, and enlarge upon their work. And all those articles don't look half bad on your CV, either! Louis is finishing up his third year at Bar Ilan, where he is working on communication networks, financial networks, and other interdisciplinary network models. He anticipates finishing his Ph.D. and going into industry or finance if he does not take a postdoc to continue his work.
A Taste of Torah: Israel and Miracles "Each Yom HaAtzmaut, I relish the opportunity to say the 'Al HaNisim' section of
the Amidah, the paragraph where we state that God did miracles for our people in days of yore and also in our own day, bayamim hahem bazman hazeh.
In class on Wednesday, during Yom HaZikaron (Israeli Memorial Day), we read an editorial by Marla Bennett about how so many of her friends and family urged her to return to America because of the violence of the second Intifada. She remained and tragically was a victim of the Hebrew University bombing. In her article published in the San Francisco chronicle, she wrote, “It is dangerous here. I appreciate their concern. But there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be right now. I have a front-row seat for the history of the Jewish people.” Jewish learning and living has undergone a renaissance over the past seventy years the likes that our immediate ancestors could literally never imagine; a nineteenth century Encyclopedia Britannica states: “The dream of some Zionists that Hebrew -- a would-be Hebrew, that is to say -- will again become a living, popular language in Palestine has still less prospect of realization than their vision of a restored Jewish empire in the Holy Land.” Bear this in mind as you look out your windows, scan the headlines, watch the flags waving over the Skokie sculpture park. Nobody in the world speaks ancient Aztec or ancient Egyptian, but Hebrew is alive and well, not only at the tables and shtenders of the yeshivas, but at the ticket kiosks, street vendors, building contractors, and taxis of a living, thriving State. Miracles sometimes appear in the form of defying natural law, such as God splitting the sea. But more often, miracles live fully in our lives through the manifestation of God’s presence in history in more subtle ways. Each day Jews speak, learn, and live in Hebrew. The State of Israel manifests both God’s presence in history and the collective will of a people and individuals to overcome obstacles and create something on a grand scale. The State of Israel has brought so much to Jews around the world, both as a safe haven for all those that need it and a beacon of culture for the entire people of Israel. This is a miracle and on Yom HaAtzmaut, we celebrate it with gusto." --Rav Beit Sefer Zach Silver
A Taste of Torah From a First Year Teacher "Yes, this is technically everyone’s first year at Rochelle Zell, but it is also my first year as a full-time teacher. I will take a moment now to express my deep and sincere gratitude to each and every one of you for welcoming me wholeheartedly into this community, and confirming for me that education is, in fact, my happy place.... [It will come] as a surprise to no one in this room, that many of the lessons I’ve learned during this incredible first year of adventures in teaching are discussed in Parashat Kedoshim. You shall not curse the deaf or put an obstacle (in the path) of one who is blind, rather you shall fear God, I am God.
Every student is unique. Each one of you approaches new ideas, new challenges with your own unique combination of personal experiences and perspectives, academic skill and intellectual ability. I have learned this year that being a teacher is as much about being a bomb tech as it is being a construction crew. A construction crew can build an edifice, complete with all the necessary supporting beams and structures, and even with scaffolding and elevators to help you reach the top floors. What a bomb tech can do is come in, quickly remove danger zones and give you free reign to explore on your own, knowing that the experience will not blow up in your face. My job as a teacher is, at least partly, to allow you to explore without fear of major injury. I won’t say all injury, because there are certainly moments where every student stumbles, and without stumbles, there can be no learning. Perhaps at the very least, I must do my best to not be a stumbling block in the way of your learning." READ MORE>> --Ms. Rebecca Nadis
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