19 Iyar, 5776 This Week at Rochelle Zell
May 27, 2016
Arts Alive!
Grandparents and Special Friends' Day
Grandparents' Day Athletic Banquet Athletic Hall of Fame Model U.N. Team Honored Physics Expo Computer Competition From the P.O. Graduation Final Exams Mazal Tov Community Events Alumni Trivia A Taste of Torah
Class Schedule
Over ninety guests gathered yesterday for Rochelle Zell’s annual Grandparents and Special Friends Day. Founding president Larry Adler welcomed guests with a proud litany of this student body's trophies, awards, undefeated sports seasons and academic achievements. After many years as the "virtual grandfather" of our school, Larry Adler was
​Monday, May 30 No School Tuesday, May 31 Bible Exam
proud at last to preside over Grandparents Day as an honest to goodness grandparent of a Rochelle Zell Jewish High School student! Many thanks to Larry and Angie Adler for the day's scrumptious lunch!
Wednesday, June 1 Siyum and Graduation Thursday, June 2 English Exam Spanish Exam Friday, May 27 Talmud Exam Math Exam
Quick Links RZJHS.org Calendars Lunch Menu Edline Give Now
Save The Date May 29 Rochelle Zell Community Naming Dedication Prom Night May 31 - June 7 Final Exams June 1 Siyum and Graduation No Classes June 19 ACT August 17-18
Sophomore Sarah Tenner described day school's place in the ever-increasing Jewish life she has found in our walls and at Camp Ramah, of the care and affection from her teachers that has brought out the best in her. Junior Yoni Maltsman echoed those sentiments as he described the sincere involvement of Rochelle Zell students in their clubs and studies, teenagers working and living and playing because they care about the issues, not just to beef up their resumes. The afternoon concluded with music and dance in our annual Arts Alive! showcase. Ms. Ellen Singer's vocal ensemble delivered a concert of classic and contemporary hits, while Mr. Peter Roothaan's jazz band gave guitarists and sax players their chance to improvise in the spotlight. New this year, Ms. Lizzie Petrucci's dance ensemble took the stage with a ballet/contemporary piece, with special soloist Liam Lynch for a modern/hip-hop interlude. Congratulations to all our star performers in the arts, including the award-winning writers, photographers, and distributors of today's yearbook!
Staff Development August 22 New Student Orientation August 23 First Day of School
Athletic Awards Night 2016 Awards and MVP's Wednesday night was the annual Athletic Awards Night, where student athletes and teams were recognized for a year's incredible achievements. Jordan Krauss, Benjy Salzman, and Emily Reisler were named 2016 Rochelle Zell MVP's. The Miriam Leadership Award went to Jordan Krauss, Zach Becker, and Emily Reisler. The Rabbi Akiva Diligence Award went to Jorie Dayan, Daniel Silver, and Maya Resnick. The Ben Zoma Award for Best Attitude went to Hannah Taussig, Elliana Faletsky, and Coby Drexler. The conference-champion cross country team, the undefeated women's soccer team in conference, the IHSA regional semi-final men's basketball team were all recognized for their phenomenal seasons. Let's go Tigers! You made us proud!
Athletic Hall of Fame Coaches and Students Inducted To celebrate our fifteenth year, Rochelle Zell has inducted seven coaches and three student athletes as founding members of our Athletic Hall of Fame. To earn this signal honor, a coach must have ten years with the same sport and five of volunteer coaching, be named Chicago Prep Conference Coach of the Year, or bearing awards from an Illinois High School Association affiliate or a Jewish high school athletics affiliated organization. These incredible coaches are:
Coach Barb Finfer Coach Bob Cogan Coach Chris
Hambach Coach Marty Dello Coach David Martinez Coach Michael Newlander Coach Scott Weber Student athletes in the Hall of Fame are three-sport athletes for all four years of high school, in good academic standing, named Chicago Prep Conference Player of the Year or bearing awards from an IHSA affiliate or a Jewish high school athletics affiliated organization. Current Hall of Fame Athletes and founders of the wall are: Jake Newlander, Class of 2013 Josh Newlander, Class of 2015 Jordan Krauss, Class of 2016 Kol hakavod to all these incredible people who make Rochelle Zell athletics great!
Model U.N. Team Honored Village of Deerfield Records Back-to-Back First Place Finishes We get to keep the street signs! This year's Model U.N. team members and their families have been invited by Mayor Rosenthal to attend an awards ceremony at the Village Board meeting on June 6, where the village will formally commend the team for its second year as National High School Model U.N. champions. Mayor Rosenthal writes, "We are proud to have Rochelle Zell Jewish High School in our community and look forward to seeing more from its talented students." Look for new street signs on Lake Cook proclaiming, "Welcome to
Deerfield, Home of Rochelle Zell Jewish High School, #1 in National High School Model U.N.!"
Physics Expo 2016 Juniors and Seniors Present Annual Demo Show Ballerinas were twirling, ninjas were flipping, roller coasters were coasting, and quasars were pulsing this past Monday and Tuesday in the Shapiro Dining Hall where Mrs. Eliaser's thirtyseven students showcased four months worth of independent physics reading. Henry Wolle and Jack Rubinstein tuned up their guitars for a lesson on music and harmony, while Celia Pivo and Melissa Levin passed out rainbow diffraction glasses to teach about thin film interference. Viktor Cin and Yoni Maltsman built a levitating electromagnet and an earth magnet suspension system to simulate how MagLev trains keep their frictionless rails inline. Erin Miller, Nina Levine, and Itamar Broekman showed a physics mashup of their favorite moments from American Ninja Warrior, complete with an interview with million-dollar ninja champion Isaac Caldiero and calculations showing how he made it past the obstacles. The Daniel Bier Award for Best Short Film went this year to Natalie Ecanow and Bobbi Hochberg for their studio presentation on the physics of ballet; the 2016 Best of Show award went to Sara Behn, Felix Rosen, and Dave Vayngart for The Physics Police: Special Movie Edition, wherein our stalwart heroes stepped into other films to bust up bad physics in action. Many thanks to all the students, staff, parents, friends, alumni, younger siblings and interested underclassmen--and the entire men's volleyball team!--for coming to see the fun!
Alumni Trivia Senior Jack Rubinstein has completed his fifth Physics Expo with his own show on the physics of music and harmony! Jack has been attending our school's annual science show since eighth grade, when he helped out with his sister's project and came to see the results. With his fifth show, he takes the crown for Longest Standing Expo Guest. From whom did he
take it?
Capture the Digital Flag Computer Science Aficionados Participate in "Hacking" Competition Last week, three of our students got involved in a game of capture the flag--not the outdoor game, but a computer hacking competition geared towards high school students! Gaby Ecanow, Sarah Behn, and Michael Daugherty were challenged to crack codes, reverse engineer programs, design algorithms, and do whatever was necessary to capture the digital flag. According to team leader, Gaby Ecanow, “They are definitely more challenging than I expected!� She did enjoy trying to figure out the solutions and is looking forward to participating in more online competitions. Students interested in participating or learning more about high school hacking competitions should contact Ms. Kime, akime@rzjhs.org.
From the P.O. P.O. President Debbie Copley Presents the Year in Review "Thank you to the entire Rochelle Zell community for a sensational year! We kicked off the year with grade get-togethers co-chaired by Maryl Dayan and Amy Mishell. Next, Liz Geifman helped us celebrate our tremendous faculty and staff by heading up the Faculty/Staff Appreciation Rosh Hashanah gift bags, while Martine Gorstein organized the Chanukah and end of the year gift funds. Thank you to Sheila Small and Jody Weisskopf for the delicious and festive Chanukah lunch. Thank you Jennifer Rosenblum and Jacqueline Kott-Wolle for our P.O. movie night, as well as bringing Renata Lexova all the way in from Madison to speak with our students and families.Thank you Karen Ecanow for getting Edie Salzman to run our book club. The P.O. also worked with Solomon Schechter to bring in author and chef Mia Adler Ozair. None of these events would have been possible without the help of our cochairs, parent volunteers, faculty and sponsors. The P.O. would also like to express its sincere thanks to Michelle Friedman, Michele Agbodza and Inez Drazin for their invaluable support of the P.O. As we wish mazal tov to the class of 2016 and see the end of another school year, the P.O. looks forward to the 2016/1017 school year with anticipation. Rachel Gruenberg, our dedicated and skilled treasurer, will be leaving her role of many years, but we are lucky that Melanie Hoffman will be joining our team. We are also excited to have Susan Laney step into the role as co-president with Debbie Copley and we welcome Cindy Taitz as vicepresident. Come and hear about upcoming events and how to get more involved at our opening meeting on August 19 at Rochelle Zell Jewish High School, or drop us a line at po@rzjhs.org. Finally, we extend our thanks and gratitude to Karen Ecanow, who will be stepping down from her role as president. Her commitment and dedication to the P.O. has enabled the
organization to grow and flourish under her leadership. Karen, your friendly disposition, work ethic and creativity are much appreciated. Luckily, you are not going far, and we look forward to working with you in a different capacity in the future. Best wishes for a relaxing and fun-filled summer to all our readers from the entire P.O.!
Commencement 2016 RSVP For Graduation Breakfast and Evening Commencement Exercises Join us for tefillah at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday June 1 for the Senior Siyum and the graduation breakfast thereafter for seniors, their families, faculty, and staff. The morning celebrations will be held in the Caplan gym and should end around 11:30 a.m. Reservations are required for breakfast and the ceremony. Please click here to RSVP. There will be a mandatory meeting and graduation rehearsal for all seniors immediately following the Siyum, which may last until 1:30 p.m. Doors will open at 4:30 p.m. Commencement begins promptly at 5:30 p.m. Please allow extra travel time as the ceremony will begin promptly at 5:30 p.m. The ceremony will be approximately one hour, and a reception with light refreshments will follow. Click here to RSVP!
Exam Schedule Shalom Bus Times For Finals May 31
Pick up at Braeside at 10:35 a.m. Leave Rochelle Zell at 2:10 and 3:10
p.m. June 2
Pick up at Braeside 8:36 a.m. Leave Rochelle Zell at 2:10 and 3:10
p.m. June 3
Pick up at Braeside 8:36 a.m. Leave Rochelle Zell at 2:10 and 3:10
p.m.
June 6
Pick up at Braeside 8:36 a.m. Leave Rochelle Zell at 2:10 and 3:10 p.m.
June 7
Pick up at Braeside 8:36 a.m. Leave Rochelle Zell at 12:39 p.m.
Mazal Tov Mazal tov to Dr. Eli Miller (CJHS '07), his wife Tamar, his sister Hannah Miller (CJHS '10), and proud Bubbe Dr. Roberta Miller (former CJHS English teacher) on the birth of little ​
Eitan Yerucham Miller on May 17, whom we hope will grow happily into Torah, chuppah, and good deeds. Mother and baby are thriving; the infant has apparently begun studying already for its PhD, to ensure a third generation of Dr. Millers. Congratulations to the whole family!
Community News and Events The Festival is Coming!
Alumni Trivia Yoni Gabel (CJHS '13) attended every single Physics Expo from his freshman year onward, including the double-digit Expos with separate shows for juniors and seniors! STEM aficionado Yoni is now an electrical engineering major at Binghampton, where he will spend this summer learning differential equations and computer algebra (CAD). "Last semester I had a class where we coded and programmed a rover to drive to certain coordinates," Yoni reports gleefully, "and also follow a trail and solve a maze. I also work at the Chabad here, where I am a kitchen manager on Friday nights. It's a fun job, the pay is great, and I meet everyone here, which is really awesome." Good for you, Yoni!
A Taste of Torah: Pesach Sheni This past Sunday marked an uncelebrated but essential holiday to the core of what it means to be Jewish, that of Pesach Sheni, "the second Pesach." Biblically, each Israelite man had the obligation to eat from the Pesach sacrifice. Neglecting to do so brought with it karet, spiritual excommunication. If a person were unable to reach Jerusalem because he was on a distant journey or was ritually impure and thus unable to bring the sacrifice to the Temple, effectively, that person would be punished for something they could not control; in Numbers 9:6-13, Israelites advocate on their own behalf and ask for a second chance to fulfill the commandment. This is the enduring power of Pesach Sheni and the 14th of Iyar: It is never too late to fulfill a mitzvah. There are second chances. While the rituals of Pesach Sheni do not exist for us in a post-Temple age, the date remains on the Jewish calendar as a remembrance for what it represents for us to this day. Maimonides describes the essential practice of teshuva as being in the same place a second time and responding differently. One month after Pesach, the Biblical Israelites had this, as well. High school is a time of growing and exploring. We make mistakes. And those mistakes make us stronger. No learning happens without exploration. The model of Pesach Sheni provides a model for how making mistakes are part of our life experience. And God provides second chances, even for--perhaps especially for--the most important mitzvot in our lives. --Rav Beit Sefer Zach Silver
1095 Lake Cook Road • Deerfield, IL 60015 • tigers@rzjhs.org • 847.470.6700