23 Iyar, 5777
This Week at Rochelle Zell
May 19, 2017
Arts Alive! Grandparents and Special Friends Day
Arts Alive Physics Expo Open Mic Night Volleyball Championship News From the Classroom Va'ad Israel IFYC STAND Exam Schedules Baruch Dayan Emet Alumni Trivia A Taste of Torah Community News
Class Schedule Monday, May 22 Staff Development Tuesday, May 23
Over 100 guests gathered yesterday for Rochelle Zell’s annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day. Guests were welcomed by founding president Larry Adler, and treated to a delicious lunch with their students while they listened to junior Isaac Margulies and senior Molly Copley reflect on their experiences at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School. A er lunch, the vocal ensemble took the floor with some swinging harmony: "Hava Nashira," "Stronger" from Finding Neverland, and "Some Nights" by alt-indie singer Fun. The hit of the a ernoon, however, was definitely the choir's edi on of the Hamilton Mixtape "Not Throwing Away My Shot," showcasing the elocu onary prowess of Arielle Bledsoe, Adam Budin, and six
9:30 English Exam 12:30 Spanish Exam
excited faculty quietly doing backup harmony from the back of the gym!
Wednesday, May 24 8:00 Senior Siyum 5:30 Gradua on Thursday, May 25 9:30 Talmud Exam 12:30 Bible Exam Friday, May 26 9:30 Science Exam 12:30 History Exam
Quick Links RZJHS.org Calendars
How quickly can three talented girls change costumes? Ninety seconds at, according to our cast of this spring's Li le Shop of Horrors, who took the stage next for three melodious encores. Yasher koach to Lizzie Petruzzi and the Rochelle Zell dance class for three incredible hip hop and modern pieces performed with such ar stry, and to our incredible jazz band, complete with violin, for a virtuoso performance! Many thanks to all the sta, sponsors, and special friends who made this program possible!
Lunch Menu Edline Give Now
Save The Date August 21 New Student Orienta on August 22 First Day of Class
Physics Expo Eleventh Graders Showcase Research
Baseballs were juggling, piroue es were whirling, and musicians were warming up their instruments in this year's annual Physics Expo. With demo shows, films, and performances, Mrs. Eliaser's eleventh grade students showcased five months of independent research on the physics project of their choice. Sol Triester and Liam Lynch taught us a thing or two about the physics of velodrome racing, while Claire Gruenberg and Isaac Kramer explored the physics of their favorite superheroes. The annual Best of Show Award was ed for Ayelet Goldson's phenomenal film about biophysics and the science of the animal kingdom, filmed onsite at the Zoo, along with Eli Ecanow, Joey Schrayer, and Ethan Laney, who built a full scale potato cannon and worked the computa onal physics calcula ons for air drag on the path of their explosive potato! The Daniel Bier Award for Best Short Film went to Emma Ma and Livi Moses for The Physics of Flight, while the new Yoni Pomeranz Award for Future Professors went to Brielle Ernsteen's Astrophysics and Michael Daughtery's Rocket Science. Congratula ons on one of the best shows of the decade!
Open Mic Night The Prints Publishing Party
To celebrate the release of the season's literary journal, The Prints hosted the twel h annual Open Mic Night, a spirited celebra on of spoken word and music to honor the uncommon individuality and originality of our ZJ community. Sarah Tenner, Isaac Margulies, and Felix Rosen took the stage with a showcase of musical ar stry, while Sara Behn, Emma Canter, and Noah Magill shared some powerful verse. Max Lava and his cheering family were a real superhero team, Sammy Korol worked some magic, and S. Goldsmith earned a standing ova on for "Pinocchio, Or A Real Boy," her daring and sincere poetry, straight from the soul. In lighter moments, Yoni Maltsman and Sammy Hoffman proved that you don't have to be able to sing to be able to perform with gusto and humor, while the mysterious caveman grun ng and cave-pain ng of a horned-headed
fur-caped Viking named Henry Wolle was eventually deciphered into "Will you go to the Prom with me?" Mr. Scher was persuaded to belt out a few verses of "Show Business," and Mrs. Eliaser ricocheted off a rendering of "Hamilton's Cabinet Ba le #3." All this came with a boatload of colored ssue flowers, vast bowls of popcorn, M&M's, mini-cupcakes, cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies, Arnold Palmers and gummy candies (harkening to this year’s astonishing Prints cover)— It’s fair to say, a splendid me was had by all!
Volleyball Conference Champs First Place Trophy for Chicago Prep Conference!
The boys on the court have had had an exci ng couple of days! Our bid for glory started on Monday night against Chicago Hope; a er a slow start in Game I, we were able to turn it around and win 25-23. We used that momentum to turn in a masterful performance in Game II 25-14 to take the match. For the match, our team was a perfect 50-50 on their serves with six aces! A er that strong performance, the boys took on Holy Trinity at the semi-finals in one of the most exci ng matches we've had all year. A er falling behind early in game one, we fought back, but would eventually lose 26-28. A er a nail-bi ng loss in the first game, our boys were able to break the e in the second game, and close Holy Trinity out 25-19 to advance to the conference championship . The boys came out strong, but a er ge ng out to an early lead in Games I and II, Northtown came storming back and were able to use strong serving to force a decisive win. Our boys would not be denied, though,and charged forward into the e-breaking Game III to win our first Chicago Prep Conference Tournament Championship. Eli Nasa r was voted first team all conference, while Sammy Hoffman was voted second team all conference, and Akiva Stein was voted Tournament MVP. Way to go, Tigers!
Alumni Trivia Which elite paratrooper of ours has just been profiled in this month's Nefesh b'Nefesh newsle er?
News From the Classroom This Week in Math and Social Studies
Finals are in the air, and everybody is studying hard! The seniors reviewing for AP Sta s cs have been analyzing whether Mike and Ike candies have a sta s cally different color distribu on than Ski les. Freshman in geometry class have been mixing it up by "speed da ng" through 15 geometry problems, rota ng every 4 minutes to meet a new "geometry date."
Jewish History class is tracing "The Jewish Ques on" ("Can Jews make good ci zens?" as asked by Western European Chris ans) from its origins in the mid 1700's through to the Holocaust. Ms. Nadis asked the students to represent the rela onships between different responses to the "Jewish Ques on" in the 18th and 19th centuries and then decide how the Nazis' "Final Solu on to the Jewish Problem" was an itera on of centuries-old policy debate. Look for more posters to see how Reform Jewish thought and Neo-Orthodoxy developed alongside ques ons of ci zenship and civil rights!
Va'ad Israel News Rabbi Dov Lipman, MK Speaks Last Friday, we welcomed Rabbi Dov Lipman to school to speak to Rabbi Silver's Contemporary class and to members of Va'ad Israel. Rabbi Lipman served in the previous Knesset as a member of the Yesh A d party. Lipman never expected to be a part of the Knesset; Yair Lapid put him as the 17th delegate for the party. But a er a surprise elec on where the party got 19 mandates, he found himself in the government. With the appointment, he had to renounce his American ci zenship, which he describes as the most difficult decision of his life. And yet, the opportunity to serve the State of Israel surpassed his wildest imagina on. Rabbi Lipman's presenta on inspired
everyone present, par cularly in his commitment to crea ng the world and Israeli state he wishes to see.
STAND Speaker Last Friday, STAND hosted a speaker who served in the Peace Corps. Diana Sarli o came during lunch on Friday to speak about her experience serving for interna onal volunteer programs; She served as a volunteer in Albania for the Directorate of Educa on for the Peace Corps providing professional development for Peace Corps volunteers and na ve educators in country educa on sectors. Subsequent to her service, she also had the opportunity to work with other interna onal non-profit organiza ons such as World Vision and the Special Olympics. She specifically shared photographs and stories about her experience teaching English in Albania for two years.
IFYC Wraps up the Year On Tuesday, our partners from the Islamic Founda on School joined us for our final dialogue of the year. We looked forward to the upcoming holidays in both the Jewish and Muslim tradi ons, Ramadan and Shavuot. Students shared the basic tenets of both holidays and also their personal connec ons to them. We wish our own community Chag Sameach and our friends at the Islamic Founda on School Ramadan Kareem!
Exam Schedule Week 1 of Finals
Baruch Dayan Emet It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Stanton Polin, grandfather of Madison Reisler (CJHS '14) and Emily Reisler (RZJHS '16). Shiva will con nue Sunday will be at the Polin Residence, 8620 N. Keeler, in Skokie with minyanim at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The family requests no visita on 12 pm to 1:30 pm, 5 pm to 7:00 pm, and a er 9:30 pm. May God's presence comfort the family among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Sponsored Breakfast Happy birthday to David Weisskopf and Daphne Budin! Many thanks to their families for sponsoring breakfast!
Alumni Trivia Daniel Warshawsky (CJHS '11) has made aliyah a er earning his B.A. in telecommunica ons and Jewish Studies at Indiana University. He is now a lone soldier serving in the paratroopers brigade. Read all about it in this month's Nefesh b'Nefesh!
A Taste of Torah: Behar-Bechukotai This week’s double-parasha features the Biblical commandment of shemitah, the commandment to let the land rest during every seventh year. According to Levi cus, both the landowner and anyone else who wishes will meet in the field and eat together. Where in other years, these two individuals may never have interacted, they now meet on a daily basis to collect food. In his Guide for the Perplexed, Moses Maimoindes (Rambam) offers the following reasons for how the shemitah and yovel (Jubilee) years aid society holis cally: All of the commandments that we have spoken about under the laws of shemita and yovel [have a purpose]. Some of them are to [develop] compassion...and generosity for all people, as [the Torah] said: “the poor of your people shall eat [it], and what they leave over the beasts of the field shall eat” (Exodus 23:11)...and some of them are compassionate for slaves and the poor--namely, the release of debts and release of slaves. And some of them...guarantee ongoing livelihood and sustenance; namely, since the land is protected for its [original] owners, it cannot be sold in perpetuity--“Yet the land must not be sold permanently” (Levi cus 25:23)--and as such a person’s property will be secured for him and his descendants. Maimonides suggests that these laws are meant to cul vate empathy in every individual, par cularly toward those who are lacking materially. In the final sec on, he notes that the Jubilee’s promise to release land back to its original owners (the twelve tribes’ original alloca on of land) ensures that no individual will forever be homeless. Above all, these laws emphasize that our land and possessions belong first and foremost to God. As one junior men oned recently in class, God is the first and primordial Land Lord, and we are God’s tenants on Earth. What we own, we must dedicate to be ering God’s world. Rav Beit Sefer Zachary Silver
Community News and Events Now Hiring Summer Job Opportunity at Ramah Day Camp Ramah Day Camp is looking for warm, nurturing, energe c college age males to work as counselors and sports staff. Interested? Contact Lori Stark for details. "Make a difference in the lives of young Jewish children and join the camaraderie of our staff!"
Summer Opportunities Center for Global Studies at Urbana-Champaign The Center for Global Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign offers intensive summer courses in global health, sustainability, and human rights designed to introduce
analy cal skills and methods for addressing issues from a global perspec ve. Each program is taught by faculty and instructors on the Urbana-Champaign campus. Click here for details!
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