Volume XXXXVII Number 1
The Ramaz Upper School
September 2013/Tishrei 5774
Early Start to School?!
9/11 Assembly
Layla Malamut ’14
Esti Flamenbaum ’14
The notice that school this year would begin on August 28th was met by common displeasure among many of the student body. Alex Rabinowitz ’14 noted that “We work a lot in this school year round, so it’s imperative that we get to enjoy the little summer vacation we have. If we usually start the day after Labor Day, there’s no reason it should have been different this year.” The early start led to a number of students who were still on vacation to miss the first few days of school. “I missed the last week of August and first week of September because I was still on vacation in Israel,” said Aidan Hadad, ’14. “It wasn’t ideal, but there was no way around it.” Mr. Miller explained the school’s reason for the abnormal schedule. Although school usually begins the day after Labor Day, in accordance with public schools, the unusual time frame of the Jewish holidays forced the change. If school had begun on September 3rd, the day after Labor Day, all of the introductory assemblies and meetings would have been followed by a week off for Rosh Hashanah. This would also have made having Freshman Orientation the day before school impossible. Thus, concluded Mr. Miller, “Due to such a fragmented calendar, and the rarity of having the Jewish holidays begin so early, we decided to begin school on August 28th in order to properly develop the momentum to learn.” Seniors particularly felt the repercussions of this change, as they complained about the short summer making their college process that much more pressing. Shoshana Edelman, ’14, noted that “The shorter summer definitely got me thinking about my applications much more in advance – which was definitely not an ideal activity for the relaxing summer months.” However, as a consolation for the early start and all the confusion it brought, the administration gave students off for all of Sukkot, as Mr. Miller described it – “a little gift.” This extra break allowed students the chance to travel abroad without having to miss classes, or simply to have some extra relaxation time. Students were very appreciative of this. “When I looked at the calendar, I was shocked to realize that we only have 7 days of school in September,” said Tess Solomon,’16. “I for one am glad that this year we finally have off for Chol Hamoed Sukkot.” After getting over their initial displeasure, most students have come to adapt to this year’s irregular start, and even appreciate its benefits.
Ramaz tried something a bit different this year for its 9/11 programming. Instead of having a school-wide assembly, each of the five school minyans had speakers come to tell about their personal experiences. With a choppy September schedule, Ms. Benel was hardpressed to find time for any programming. The administration thus decided to set aside the time between davening and classes to have the speakers come. Among the speakers was Naftali Solomon, a Hatzalah first responder who was at the site of the attack. Mr. Solomon spoke to the 9th graders. Another Hatzalah volunteer, Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokolow, husband of Ramaz middle school teacher Mrs. Sokolow, spoke to the seniors about his experience. Joseph Olidort told of his story working on the 92nd floor, and making it to safety, along with others, after urging his floor mates to take the stairs down instead of waiting for news. Howard Fried, father of Sam Fried ’15 and Elle Fried ’13, worked in the towers but was fortunately late that day due to voting in the Democratic Primary. At the start of school in the morning, members of the Chesed Club stood outside handing flag pins and flyers out to students as they arrived. A table remained outside for the rest of the day, with pictures and information about 9/11. After davening, students were told to take a biography card of someone who died on 9/11, and teachers were told to read one card to the class. Students found the day’s programming to be meaningful, especially the speakers. However, some teachers did not have discussions about the bio cards, a major aspect of the day’s programming. After school, members of the Chesed club walked to the local firehouse to give the company flowers. Ramaz has a longstanding relationship with the firehouse, with one grade dedicating its graduation to the company.
Students Take Part in Chesed Day Zimi Sloyer ’14 On Sunday, September 15th, over 50 Ramaz students participated in Chesed Day. This day of service was created to honor the victims of 9/11. Students had three different Chesed options. They could visit senior citizens through an organization called DOROT and deliver Sukkot packages to them, they could attend a Friendship Circle holiday party at the Ramaz Upper School, or they could go to Long Island to help rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Sandy with a relief organization called Nechama. The most popular event was the hurricane relief trip. Altogether there were 30 students and faculty on the trip, but once they reached Long Island they split into two groups. Each group worked on a different house, both of which had been effected by Hurricane Sandy, almost a year ago. Within each house, students worked under the guidance of the project leaders from Nechama to put in insulation and install sheetrock. Michal Hubert ’14 said, “When we started out it was just one big empty space, but by the end we had built a whole separate
room. It was really fun and we felt so accomplished.” Many of the students agreed that the day was fun and fulfilling. “I felt really connected to the work I was doing,” said Michelle Bensadigh ’14. “Especially when the homeowner came to visit. It was her first time at the house since the storm did its damage. Hearing her stories and hearing how grateful she was made our accomplishments even more meaningful than they already were.” Another meaningful Chesed day activity was the Friendship Circle party at Ramaz. They started the day in the gym where there were many activities, including a moon bounce and a cotton candy machine. There were also some art projects, like building a sukkah out of Popsicle sticks, making a paper chain decoration for sukkot, or even building an edible sukkah. After the Friendship Circle kids spent some time doing these activities with their Ramaz friends, the party would have moved into the sukkah except it was a little cold, so they stayed indoors. However, the Friendship Circle kids
and volunteers still sang songs, danced, and ate their pizza. Alison Molchadsky ’14 said, “I think the Friendship Circle kids had a really fun time and we did too. One of the kid’s parents sent me an email thanking me for helping her son. It was so cute!” At the same time as the Friendship Circle party, a small group of students were working with an organization called DOROT. This Chesed day activity had initially received a very small response. Only two or three people were signed up, but in the end 8 people came. The students watched a short video to learn about DOROT. They were then given instructions about how they should go about their visits. The eight volunteers split into two groups and each group visited a senior citizen and delivered Sukkot packages to them. Chesed day was a special, meaningful day for many of the people involved. Ms. Benel said, “Chesed day reminded me how blessed we all are. It was a great thing to do right after Yom Kippur, and right before Sukkot.”
Making Memories at the Maccabi Games
See page 2 for a one-on-one with our new Assistant Dean
Skyler Levine ’15 This summer I participated in the Maccabi Games in Irvine, California as part of the 92nd Street Y delegation. I played tennis against Jewish opponents from all over the country and watched many different types of sports games. I also met wonderful and interesting people from all around the country. It was an experience unlike any I have ever had before. When our team arrived in Irvine, we met our host families and prepared for opening
ceremonies. For opening ceremonies, the members of each delegation dressed in matching tracksuits. Before the ceremony began, all the competitors traded pins that represented the city from which their delegation came. The ceremony began as each delegation marched into the football stadium holding their flag. Then each delegation sat in a row and enjoyed a show, which consisted of Israeli singers, the Clippers dancers, the Clippers percussion ensemble, acro-
bats, and a magician. After the ceremony was over, players returned to their respective host family’s home to rest up for the next morning. My host family was really sweet. They brought us for ice cream, stocked up the fridge for us, and cheered us on at our games. I found it amazing that these people who did not even know us felt so connected to us because of our Judaism. Continued on page 3
See pages 2-3 for students’ summer experiences See pages 4-5 for new teacher interviews See page 6 for freshman orientation See page 7 for arts See back page for sports