April 26, 2013 / 16 Iyar 5773
Wagner Institute In This Issue
JTS Meets CJHS
Wagner Institute Wagner Essay Winners The two-day JTS Isidor and Rose Wagner Institute at CJHS Math Team Wins provided a rare opportunity for Day of Silence members of our school community and beyond to come Earth Week together and explore Jewish texts Alumni in the News and beliefs with some of the leading scholars in the Jewish Tigers Win world today, including Chancellor The Fountainheads At Arnie Eisen of JTS. CJHS QuarkNet Baruch Dayan Emet Counting the Omer Alumni Trivia
Endowed by Nate Wagner and Rose Braver, the Wagner Institute has been a staple of JTS's continuing education for over 15 years. This is the fourth year the Wagner Institute has been held at our school for the greater
Chicago community. Over 120 people participated in the programming, and on Monday, the senior and junior classes attended special sessions with Chancellor Eisen and Dr. Shuly Rubin Schwartz, where students had the opportunity to ask questions regarding the future of Conservative Judaism.
Save the Date Monday, May 6 Friday, May 17 AP Exams Tuesday, May 14 1:15 p.m. dismissal Wednesday, May 15 Thursday, May 16 Shavuot - No School Wednesday, May 22 AP US History Exam AP Economics Exams Thursday, May 23 Grandparents and Special Friends Day
P. O. Corner Gelt Program The P.O. is pleased to once again introduce the gift card "Gelt program" to our families and we have made it much easier (look for upcoming email with details on how to register). Faculty and staff can also buy Gelt that will help to support programs provided for the school by the P.O. This program is designed to help families earn money toward their children's junior year Panim program and/or the Senior Israel Experience. The program is a passive earning system, in which you buy the things you ordinarily purchase anyway, and earn money which will be credited to your family for designated school trips. If you have any questions, contact Sheri Sandrof at ssandrof@cjhs.org or call her at 847.324.3723.
Community News
Rabbi Daniel Nevins, Pearl Resnick Dean of the Rabbinical School and Dean of the Division of Religious Leadership, had the opportunity to teach sophomores in their Honors Talmud class. Guided by the Jewish Theological Seminary's most distinguished faculty, Wagner participants examined texts related to the theme "Creating a Just Society," which included Chancellor Arnold Eisen on the importance of Jewish rituals; Rabbi Robert Harris on creating a just society in the Torah's image; Rabbi David Hoffman on the mitzvah of imagination; Dr. Marjorie Lehman on the Rabbis' search to create a just society in a materialistic world; Rabbi Daniel Nevins on tzedakah for the contemporary Jewish household and Dr. Shuly Rubin Schwartz on the definition of Jewish justice. "I was so impressed with the caliber of the teaching - this was a chance to study with the highest caliber of scholars of JTS," said Mel F. Seidenberg, alumni grandparent.
and Events
Israel Solidarity Day Sunday, April 28 Ravinia Festival Highland Park
Wagner Essay Winners Congratulations to senior Nate Swetlitz and junior Nathaniel Moses, winners of the Wagner Institute Essay Contest! As a highlight of this past weekend's Wagner Institute at CJHS, the Wagner family graciously established two $5,000 college scholarship awards for CJHS students.
Wear Your CJHS T- In Nate's essay, he examined the unique Jewish vision and Shirts!
obligations for creating a just society. He reflected on his time in Tel Aviv when he came in contact with African asylum seekers. "We must show compassion to the stranger because we have experienced estrangement," he stated. "...Their story is our story. Their lives are our responsibility."
Israel Solidarity Day is our community's annual celebration of Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israel Independence Day). This year we celebrate Israel's 65th birthday by coming together for one big event filled with music, family fun and Israeli spirit.
10:00 a.m. Teen J-Serve Project 11:00 a.m. Registration opens 11:10 a.m. King David Drummers 12:15 p.m. The Maccabeats 1:00 p.m. Kickoff Rally 1:15 p.m. Walk with Israel 2:30 p.m. King David Drummers 3:00 p.m. Matisyahu Parking will be available at the Ravinia Festival. Shuttle buses accessible from central locations and from the Metra Union Pacific North Line stop in the village of Ravinia. Attendees are welcome to bring picnic lunches. Kosher food will also be available for purchase.
Nathaniel explored the different dimensions of God and how these dimensions shape a Jewish vision of justice. "The immanence-funded understanding of justice demands personal, moral excellence, and an individual belief that an omniscient and omnipresent God holds us to exceedingly high standards as His chosen people...," wrote Nathaniel. "Made in the image of God and commanded to be holy, we stand before a powerful and present God, morally at attention." In addition to receiving the contest awards, the winners also took part in a special certificate ceremony at the Wagner Institute on Sunday, where they read their essays aloud to the Wagner family, JTS faculty and program participants.
Math Team Triumphs!
Sponsor Breakfast What's better than a birthday celebration with friends? Celebrate your student's birthday or other milestone with a special breakfast at CJHS. For a donation of $180 (10x chai), bagels, cream cheese, and orange juice will be served to everyone. An announcement will be made in Tefillah and in the dining hall, and the occasion will also be listed in our weekly E-News. If you have any questions, please call 847.324.3713 or email idrazin@cjhs.org. Order forms are available online here.
Quick Links Our Website
Online Calendar
Trumba Calendar Tips 2012-2013 Year Calendar
Lunch Menu
Join the Tiger Club
The Tiger mathletes took on Ida Crown Monday night in the ICTM Regional Math Contest. We swept all the events at the meet, bringing the 2013 season to a spectacular close! First place in the frosh/soph partner contest went to Benji Fishbaum, while second place went to Leora Calamaro and Jonah GlickUnterman. First in the junior/senior partner contest were Evan Gorstein and Joe Kupferberg. In the larger events, we took first in the frosh-soph 8-person team contest, with Leora Calamaro, Sarah Comar, Matt Dulberg, Benji Fishbaum, Jonah Glick-Unterman, Hana Lieber, and Maya Michalewicz. Josh Aarsonson, Tali Canter, Evan Gorstein, and Joe Kupferberg all took first in the junior-senior 8-person team contest! Go Tigers!
Day of Silence Last Friday, Gaavah, our Gay-Straight Alliance, participated in the National Day of Silence. The National Day of Silence is a day of action in which students across the country vow to take a form of silence to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools. To set the tone and illustrate the importance of the day, we heard from Stephen Philp, a
graduate student at the University of Chicago's Divinity School and an intern at Mishkan Chicago. Steven shared stories from his youth as a gay adolescent and stressed the difference each and every one of us can make in the lives of others. Many CJHS students chose to spend the remainder of the day in silence to honor those voices so often silenced in our communities.
Earth Week
In honor of Earth Week, our Environmental Club brought a Zero Waste Event Consultant from Collective Resources Inc. to CJHS. Our consultant Becky Brodsky, helped students and faculty identify what on their plates can go straight back into the ground, what can be recycled, and what needed to be discarded into the landfill (garbage can). It was a fun and interactive lunch that left us motivated to make some changes in the way our community disposes of food.
Alumni in the News The unstoppable Rebecca Silverman ('10) has received the 2013-2014 Phillip Merrill Presidential Scholar award from the University of Maryland. This award recognizes academic excellence and the important role that teachers and faculty have as mentors. In addition to honoring the student, the award honors teachers whom the students themselves select. Rebecca has chosen to honor our own Dr. Rebecca Schorsch! The University of Maryland wll now donate $1000 dollars to a scholarship for an incoming
freshman from our school in Dr. Schorsch's honor! Yasher koach, Reby, and mazal tov, Dr. Schorsch.
Alumni Trivia
years?
As the first of May looms nearer, all the seniors are making their plans and taking one last month to bond with the classmates who have seen them through four years of high school. But...which three treasured alumni came only in their senior
Tigers Say 'W'!
This week has been an incredibly busy one for the men's tennis team. On Monday, we traveled to Lake Forest Academy and after two rounds of matches-- with contributions from just about the entire team-- we emerged victorious 4-3: our first win of the year. After an off day Tuesday, the team headed out to Elgin Academy. Despite our efforts, we came up just short. Honorable mention goes to doubles partners Ari Spellman and Jordan Jacobson who battled for almost two hours before finally winning their game. On Thursday we played against Highland Park, where Adam Taitz won his singles match, while Jordan and Ari fell in a tiebreaker. Adam reports, "Overall, this week has been an incredibly successful week for the team. Everyone is beginning to really play well and we're very optimistic about our upcoming matches." Meanwhile, women's soccer beat Ida Crown 2-1, with Elizabeth Barras and Carly Silvers scoring the winning
goals. Despite a loss to Cristo Rey, we scored a splendid victory 2-1 Wednesday against Our Lady of Tepeyac; Caroline Dreifuss and Linzy UptonSpatz scored in that game, with an assist from Alana Spellman bringing the season record to 2-2-3. Inside, men's JV volleyball beat Cristo Rey, and both teams emerged victorious from an impromptu scrimmage against Holy Trinity. Go Tigers!
Don't miss this once-in-a-decade Chicagoland concert! Click here to purchase tickets.
Spring Shabbaton Last Shabbat, 87 students and seven teachers headed to the Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles for the annual spring Shabbaton. Our programming centered around the
theme "Take a Risk." Even during the past week of school, the echoes of the popular chant "Take a Risk! Take a Risk!" were heard throughout the school. Students relished the chance to relax together in the Shabbat atmosphere, highlighted by time at the pool, Shabbat zmirot, the tisch on Friday night, a ferocious game on Shabbat afternoon of Ticket to Ride, and cheering on the dance teams that were competing elsewhere in the hotel. As always, the Shabbaton gave students the opportunity to spend time with teachers, including a Friday night activity where Mr. Burda, Ms. Frankel and Ms. Steinberg told stories about risks they have taken in their own lives. Thank you to the Va'ad Shabbatonim for a great job!
QuarkNet The CJHS muon detector has been turned on! Yesterday afternoon, Maya Behn, Elan Karoll, Charlotte Kamin, Shira Romanoff, Arthur Sredni, Benny Gabel, Leora Calamaro, Tali Shapiro, Gabe Wacks, Yoni Shapiro, and Sarah Comar began the official calibrations for our cosmic ray study. Many thanks to QuarkNet maven Mr. Nate Unterman for his help with setup.
Baruch Dayan Emet It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Ruth Gladstein, mother-in-law of Mrs. Marion Gladstein. We wish our learning specialist and her family all comfort in this sad time. We also regret to inform you of the passing of Sheldon Yusim, grandfather of junior Tamar Meltzer, Gabriella Meltzer ('11), Avi Hass ('12) and Matthew Hass ('08), and uncle of guidance counselor Mrs. Nancy Steinberg. Shiva will be at Meltzer residence at 8650 N. Keeler Ave. in Skokie: Friday: 2:00-4:00 PM Saturday: 8:30-10:30 PM Sunday: 2:00-5:00 PM; 7:00-9:00 PM Maariv will be at 8:45 PM on Saturday night, and Mincha/ Maariv will be at 7:30 PM on Sunday. May Mr. Yusim's
memory be an inspiration to all Hamakom Yinachem Etchem B'toch Sh'ar Avalei Tziyon V'Yerushalayim. May God's presence comfort the Yusim, Meltzer, Hass, and Gladstein families among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Don't Forget to Count the Omer Today is 31 days, which is three weeks and three days of the Omer. The kabbalistic feature of the day is Tiferet shebeHod, humility tempered by compassion. Humility should not come at the expense of awkwardness. Just as humility brings compassion for others, compassion can lead one to humility. If you lack humility, try acting compassionately and seeing how your actions affect your self-regard.
Alumni Trivia It's never too late to be a Tiger! Just ask these alumni: Hauna Trimble ('09) came to CJHS in 2008 and has since made aliyah; she is finishing her masters at the Interdisciplinary Center of Herzeliya, where she soon plans to begins a masters' program. Victoria Bursak ('09) also arrived in 2008, and she has just finished her degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she was active in Students for Israel and the local Chabad. Congratulations, graduates! Lucy Marshall ('11) is just finishing her first year at JTS List College/Columbia University after a gap year in Israel on Nativ. She hopes to major in Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University and in Jewish Thought at JTS. Lucy
reports, "This year, I began studying Arabic and am also taking literature classes taught in Hebrew. I am in the Columbia Gardening Club, on the founding board of our Israeli Culture Society, and a member of the sorority Sigma Delta Tau. I am hoping to run my first 5K race soon. This summer, I will be a counselor at a nature day camp and I will work as an ecological restoration assistant for my town's park district." Good luck, Lucy!
Shabbat Shalom Candlelighting for this Friday, Shabbat BeharBechukotai, will be at 7:26 p.m. Shabbat shalom!