Volume 33 Issue 1

the lion’s tale

The Lion’s Tale

Volume 33 Issue 1

September 1, 2015

CESJDS

Blurred vision:

Judaism through the lens of extremism

page 8

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the lion’s tale

opinion the

the lion’s tale

Staff editorial

lion’s tale editors editors-in-chief

malka himelhoch, carol silber managing editor, copy

yonatan greenberg managing editor, design

alysse weinberg managing editor, web

joshua paretzky opinion

jonah shrock news

miriam minsk, arielle weinstein chadashot

ariella kulp, mark reichel features

talia horowitz, hannah nechin entertainment

mijal altmann, gaby pilarski in-depth

jonathan foldi, margalit zimand sports

aaron schonfeld, jeremy schooler & joel vardon photo

dahlia lehman ads manager

michael berkowitz

As Israel is so close to Iran, and has been verbally threatened by its leaders on many occasions, the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, has sided with the opponents of the deal. As with all issues relating to Israel, the American Jewish community has been very vocal about the recently signed deal.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, also known as AIPAC, has lead the campaign against the deal while J Street, a liberal proIsrael organization has come out in favor of the nuclear agreement.

The only two Democratic senators to come out against the Iran deal are from New York and New Jersey, two states with large Jewish populations, demonstrating the impact that the Jewish community, which is generally against the agreement, has had on

the issue.

JDS students, as members of the American Jewish community, have likely heard countless arguments both for and against the deal as well as many rants about Iran from relatives. Some of us may have even been asked about our opinions on the agreement by nonJewish friends simply because we are Jewish.

Regardless, there is a lot of pressure to take a certain position on this nuclear agreement, because of how vocal the American Jewish community has been.

On the one hand, a Jew who speaks out against the deal is bound to be accused of blindly following Israel and its government which has harshly criticized it. On the other hand, a Jew who considers the deal to be a positive act of diplomacy will

almost certainly face outrage from members of the Jewish community and be accused of supporting a deal that will allow Iran to wipe Israel off of the map.

As Jews we are expected to have an opinion on matters relevant to Israel. With an extremely controversial issue like the nuclear agreement, it is easy to give into the pressure of other’s expectations.

However, it is important to be true to your beliefs rather than to succumb to surrounding pressures.

Remember that no matter what opinions you form, that they should be based on facts, research and independent thinking.

-The Lion’s Tale

Staff column

Hard conversations eased by curriculum senior reporter naomi cohen-shields

reporters josh abramowitz, jared bauman, daniel baumstein, bennett bramson, talia denicoff, jonas drogin, ari feuer, izzy friedland, noah green, gabe krantz, aaron liss, lexi marks, aaron robinson, mira rodney, natan schoenbaum, joey shoyer, isaac silber, rina torchinsky, ilana winter, liran zimand

staff adviser jessica nassau

adviser emerita susan zuckerman The Lion’s Tale Editorial and Ethics Policy As the student newspaper of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, The Lion’s Tale is a forum for student opinion and expression. All content is determined by students. Its purpose is to inform the CESJDS community and to express the views of its staff and readers. The staff has made every effort to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of its news.

Signed columns reflect the opinion of the writer; staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of The Lion’s Tale editorial board. The Lion’s Tale staff welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns, all of which must be signed. The staff reserves the right to refuse any material and may edit letters or columns for length, clarity, libel, obscenity and/or disruptiveness.

Submissions may be emailed to jdslionstale@gmail.com, mailed to The Lion’s Tale, or brought to room 328.

The Lion’s Tale is funded by The Simon Hirshman Endowment for the Upper School Newspaper and The Kuttner-Levenson Endowment for the Upper School Cultural Arts and Student Publications, and community advertisement. The Lion’s Tale reserves the right to refuse advertisement for any reason.

The staff will adhere to the ethics policies of The Society of Professional Journalists and the National Scholastic Press Association. The adviser will be held to the Journalism Education Association’s Adviser Code of Ethics.

by alysse weinberg managing editor, design This summer, while working at the National Air and Space Museum, I joined a group of eight Palestinian students as they toured DC. They were part of a program called the Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program, a program designed to encourage technologically innovative thinking among Palestinian students in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

I spent a lot of time with these eight students. Our conversations ranged from discussions about Grey’s Anatomy, to the best way to

illegally download movies, to what prom was like at our respective schools. And even though our conversations were normal, I was still reluctant to tell them I was Jewish.

It was not that I was afraid or ashamed; I just did not feel prepared to debate issues pertaining to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I did not take the History of Arab Israeli Conflict class during junior year because it was too hard to fit the right level into my schedule. And because I did not want to rearrange my schedule, I feel that I missed out on some critical information. Instead of having that background knowledge, I felt myself scrambling to absorb as much information as I could the night before STEP began. I was googling unanswered questions and texting friends that had taken the course in order to fill in some blanks.

In order to ensure that all students leave JDS feeling confident in their ability to engage in dialogues surrounding this subject, I propose that the Arab-Israeli

Conflict course be required for all juniors. As Jews in today’s world, it is essential that we graduate from Jewish day school feeling prepared to face these extremely complex and crucially important conversations in college and life beyond.

My brother, who graduated from JDS in 2011 and from Tufts University in 2015, had a Palestinian roommate during his freshman year. He had taken Arab-Israeli Conflict and felt confident enough in his knowledge and understanding to have had substantive discussions with his roommate. And despite the many ideological differences they had, they became friends because of the conversations that they had.

I ended up feeling uncomfortable around my Palestinian friends when controversial topics came up because I did not feel like I knew enough about what I thought I believed. Arab-Israeli Conflict should be mandatory so that no one has to choose between dropping a class and being prepared to discuss

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Guest column

The Iran deal: think for yourself Recently, one of the things dominating the national news cycle has been the international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program that was signed in Vienna this July.

Since the announcement of the agreement, Republicans in Congress have been united in their wish to block the implementation of the deal and President Barack Obama has responded by saying that he will veto any such attempts.

Critics of the deal say that it legitimizes Iran as a nuclear power and fear that it gives too much sanctions relief to the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism. The deal’s proponents counter that as dangerous as the Iranians may seem, the deal is the only way to prevent them from acquiring a nuclear weapon and avoid catastrophe.

opinion

current and pressing issues in the Middle East.

I did eventually tell them I was Jewish and that I was going to Israel in a few short months and might even see some of them when I would be there. We spoke in Hebrew to each other and went on with our normal conversations, but maybe if I had felt more prepared, our conversations would have done more than scratch the surface.

Not only as Jewish people, but as students as well, we have the responsibility to educate ourselves. As we go forth into the world beyond JDS, this knowledge will help us when we find ourselves in difficult conversations.

Understanding both sides of the story is vital to engaging in any meaningful discussion or debate.

Any argument is more powerful when there is foundational background knowledge to support or refute controversial claims. If we all had this information, our education would be more complete and we would be better prepared for life outside of the JDS bubble.

Have an opinion about anything in this edition of The Lion’s Tale?

Find the article on our website, and add your opinion in the comments section.

Or visit www.lionstale.org/opinion and submit a letter to the editor.

Finding meaning through interfaith experiences

by elie katz guest columnist In Judaism we talk about Kavanah (intention) a lot, and what being Kadosh (holy) is to us, but if I’m being truthful I feel that I have always lacked Kavanah. I consider myself to be modern Orthodox and I attend Shabbat services every week, but there has never been that spark. I never have been greatly moved by prayer, and that occasionally saddens me. There are moments where I have felt a strong connection and spirit in my Jewish practice but it is never individual.

To me, Kavanah comes from the community that surrounds me, and I made this self discovery this summer, during the single most meaningful and spiritual moment of my life.

For as long as I can remember my family has been visiting Charleston, South Carolina.

Charleston is known as the Holy City in part because of the many historic churches and synagogues that make their home there. There is even a law on the books preventing buildings from being taller than church steeples. Our closest family friends live in Mount Pleasant and my sister is a senior at the College of Charleston. Our repeated visits and experiences in Charleston made me, as well as the rest of my family, fall head over heels for a city so rich in history, culture and southern charm. At the tail end of another wonderful July 4th weekend with family, friends and fireworks, Sunday morning came and after breakfast we decided to head just a couple blocks down Calhoun Street to pay our respects at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church. We walked up to the church where just two weeks prior a gunman opened fire during a Wednesday night prayer service, leaving nine dead.

What we were greeted with upon walking up to the church was evidence of a city devastated by tragedy. Flowers in an array of different colors coated the sidewalk like confetti after New Years. Signs

and pictures powdered the grand white walls of the church. Crosses and candles carried the prayers of a whole city in mourning.

Everyone was silent. Everyone was awestruck.

What broke our silence was a member of the church, who invited us inside for the Sunday morning service. Upon hearing that we regrettably had to decline because of time, he gathered us in a circle and welcomed us to pray with him then and there on the sidewalk. In the July heat, holding hands with family, friends and a man, who suddenly was no longer a stranger was when I felt the ‘spirit’ or ‘Kavanah’ that was so overwhelming and powerful. My heart was beating in my ears as I tried to keep back tears. Words filled with glory and love emerged from the man who prayed with us.

He praised God in the wake of this tragedy and continued to hope for His love for all people. One thing he said stuck out to me and has lingered in my mind since: “Let Your love and protection increase as we decrease, Lord.”

It was an indescribable feeling in that circle of prayer. Jews, Episcopalians, a Catholic and a Methodist all praying together, feeling the same love and receiving

the same message -- regardless of what we define God as. It did not matter that I was a Jew, and it did not matter that I did not believe in Jesus, because the prayers that were said were still my prayers regardless of what religion they came from and who spoke them.

The shooter wanted to start a race war. He was racist and filled with hate -- hate that he wanted to project and spread to the Charleston community. But hate was not the response that his actions evoked.

The city of Charleston responded, while in mourning, with love and unity. A unity and love so powerful it prompted 15,000 Charlestonians to band together and hold hands all the way across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge over the Cooper River that connects downtown Charleston to Mount Pleasant on the Father’s Day Sunday following the incident, and a unity and love so powerful it was able to include my family and I and help me find spiritual meaning.

It is sick and hard to wrap my head around the terror and heartbreak that one human, so evil in his thoughts and actions, was able to inflict upon nine victims, a community and a whole country.

The hurt felt after the shooting is so universal that it transcends any differences people may have.

I was honored and humbled to experience firsthand the loving example set by the young man who prayed with us that morning, just as the rest of the world was awed by the response of the Mother Emanuel A.M.E. congregation and the entire Charleston community.

I took away so much from my visit to the church. I learned things about myself and my view of religion, but the biggest realization I had was that I did not have to connect to my Jewish practice in any conventional way to find something meaningful to me. I was able to discover what Judaism means to me by stepping out of my religion and into another. I encourage everyone to try and find their own personal connection to what they believe. Don’t get frustrated if you are sitting in minyan and you feel like you are lacking intention. You might not find what you are looking for in minyan, synagogue or JDS. You might have to step out of the Jewish bubble that we live in to really connect to your Jewish identity, but I urge you all to keep looking for that spirit.

Staff column

Crossing international lines uncoventionally

by jonathan foldi in-depth editor Over the summer, Caleb Gershengorn and I spent two and a half weeks on a program touring the U.S. with 12 students from Pakistan. At first I was skeptical that I would be able to get anything out of the program,

thinking that I would spend the entire time without ever getting to know any of the other 12 kids well enough to be anything more than Facebook friends. Thankfully, I was completely wrong.

The program was run through the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad in order to bring 12 students from the APS Peshawar school, the location of one of the worst terrorist attacks in recent Pakistani history, to visit the United States and strengthen U.S.-Pakistani relations.

Over the course of the program, some of the highlights included meeting Secretary of State John Kerry, the commissioner of the NYPD and the Commandant of West Point, but the main focus was an exchange of cultures. I learned more about Pakistani food, music,

politics, geography and history than I ever thought I would know all over the span of five bus rides. However, the most important lesson I learned was about putting aside the initial prejudices and stereotypes I had about about a country I actually knew very little about, something which I at least partially attribute to the media’s portrayal of other countries.

The majority of international news headlines highlight the bad that has happened in a country, despite the fact that it’s normally a minority of the population who are involved. These impressions of the outside world caused me think of the rest of the world as exactly that: the rest of the world, something completely separate from myself.

During the program I became

incredibly close friends with each of the other 12 students, and in doing so I was able to break down the barriers that were a lot smaller than I had originally thought. The Pakistani students’ previous idea of a stereotypical American was Homer Simpson while mine was of violent extremists in the country.

Thankfully, both of our perceptions of the others changed completely, into something much more accurate than the news or television ever portrays.

Other than meeting a lot of prominent U.S. leaders, one of the coolest parts was getting to learn how to play cricket, something I had vaguely learned how to play in fifth grade P.E. but never actually understood. By getting to play the most popular sport in Pakistan, I

got to see their lives from a different lens, one undisturbed by media portrayals or prejudices. While I still don’t really know how to play, this one memory is one of the many that I know I will keep for the rest of my life.

From this experience, I became more open-minded to world events than I ever have been before, as I now understand that there is more that unites us than divides us with other people across the world.

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news

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features

‘Better Together’ opens new volunteer opportunities isaac silber reporter This fall, CESJDS will be starting a new community service program called ‘Better Together’ in which participating students will be paired up with local senior citizens at the Charles E. Smith Life Communities to engage with them and share their experiences with the residents with the larger JDS community.

JDS is getting this opportunity through a Legacy Heritage Foundation grant. Dean of Students Roslyn Landy first applied for the grant last year, but new Director of Jewish Life Stephanie Hoffman will be heading up the program.

The program will be open to

students from eighth through eleventh grade. Applications for Better Together will be available at the beginning of school, and will be due Sept. 25. Twenty students will be selected to be a part of this program.

The program will start with the senior citizens in October. Students who sign up for the program must commit to attending training sessions, which include but are not limited to weekly meetings throughout the school year. In these training sessions, students will learn about conversing with people who have experienced loss of a loved one and interacting with people who have physical limitations. These training sessions will also involve discussions about

topics specific to this population, like ethical wills and do-not-resuscitate orders.

After several training sessions, participants will begin attending required monthly group visits to the Charles E. Smith Life Communities, where they will interact and engage with their assigned senior buddies.

Students will likely be paired up with seniors with interests similar to their own in order to ease conversations. In addition to the mandatory group visits, participants will visit their assigned buddy for at least three hours each month.

In order to share their experiences with the larger community, participants in the program will write entries for the Better Together student blog. At the end of the school year,

participants will also be required to present a project about their experience in the program to their classmates. This project will likely include information about the life experience of the student’s adult buddy.

The student participants will get community service hours for being involved in this program, and new students will be chosen to participate in the program each year.

“It’s an opportunity for students here to engage with people who have some life experiences that can be fascinating,” Hoffman said.

Senior Daphne Lerner has participated in this type of community service in the past, and is excited that other JDS students will be engaging in this work as well.

During her sophomore year, Lerner volunteered at the Hebrew Home on Friday evenings, taking residents to Shabbat services, and working in the cafeteria to prepare Shabbat dinners.

One important reason to volunteer for these types of programs, Lerner said, is because some of these individuals do not have family around that can visit, so students can serve as a great source of entertainment and joy. She also noted the mutual reward that this volunteering entails.

“Whenever I would go there, they would get really happy, so it made me feel good,” Lerner said.

Students engage in college summer progams arielle weinstein news editor Sunglasses, shorts, sandals and … studying? While many students spend their break from school swimming at camps, relaxing on the beach or even traveling to different countries for community service projects, others prefer to remain in the classroom.

This summer, juniors Caleb Gershengorn, Michael Weinberger and Jared Horwitz participated in John Hopkins University’s Engineering Innovation program, a comprehensive four-week class focused on material science, simple robotics, chemical engineering and bridge building. The program enhanced their skills and expanded the knowledge they had already gained from their physics course during their sophomore year at CESJDS. Weinberger specifically enjoyed the original ways in which the course challenged and sharpened his mind. A large part of this learning came through on their final exams that were peppered with strange but creative questions.

“For example, we were asked how many pounds of paper towels would be saved if the MLB, NBA

and NFL switched to air dryers,” Weinberger said. “It just required us to think outside of the box and use logic in ways I’ve never used it before. In my physics class there is always one right answer and a specific way to get that answer, but at this program I learned how to tackle these ‘no-answer questions.’”

Gershengorn also appreciated the unique material they studied in the class. His favorite subject was robotics, and since he had never been exposed to non-computer programming before, he welcomed an opportunity to explore the topic.

“It was really not that connected to the stuff we had done in class,” Gershengorn said. “There was some physics that we already knew, and having precalculus made doing the math easier, but it was really more separate from anything we had done in school.”

Although Gershengorn recognized that his program could act as a strong resume builder, he chose to pursue the summer course for more genuine reasons.

“Obviously the college part can’t hurt, but it seemed like an area that I was interested in, I knew a couple people who were doing it, and I wanted to see whether I

thought that engineering would be something I would want to do in the future,” Gershengorn said.

Gershengorn argues that while a resume is always worth keeping in mind, students should instead simply focus on activities and courses they love to take.

“I think we all have to worry about it in some fashion or another,” Gershengorn said. “I think I’ve done some stuff to try to build it up, but mostly I’ve just tried to do all the things I enjoy and not live my life wondering what a college admissions officer will think.”

Others, like senior Maayan Rose, agree with Gershengorn. Over the summer, Rose participated in an abnormal psychology course, which also took place at John Hopkins University. The program was a twoweek long introduction to concepts such as criminal psychology and its application in law, and how to diagnose mental illnesses and personality disorders. The class included field trips to a forensic crime lab, a detention center and various courts.

“I guess it looks nice on a resume, but I actually love to learn about things that I have a genuine interest in without the everyday stress of school and grades,” Rose said.

Unlike Gershengorn and Weinberger, Rose stayed on campus and lived in a dorm for her course. She not only thought the material was fascinating, but enjoyed the program for the people she met.

Weinberger also valued personal interactions during his program, explaining that “Caleb, Jared and I really bonded while doing it.” However, regardless of the social aspect

or college resume element to these classes, he believes these programs are great for the curious student.

“I feel that if you are interested in something but it is not offered at school, college courses are good options to consider,” Weinberger said.

Survival advice for seventh graders and freshmen

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“Have fun this year! Don’t stress too much, and stay calm -- middle school is for learning to prepare yourself for when you are going to have to stress out later!”

-sophomore Sophie Handloff

“Listen in class and take notes as much as you can because unlike the lower school there are a lot more quizzes and tests.”

-freshman Lily Daroff

“I know you might not care about getting late to a class, but after a while they add up you can get a Sunday detention. Not fun.”

-8th grader Doron Fox

“If you feel overwhelmed with work or confused, don’t be scared to ask your teachers for help.”

-sophomore Dana Fishkin

“Do your best to learn how to manage your time in the most effective way early on. It will definitely pay off when you reach sophomore and junior year.”

-senior Allie Wolff

“Don’t be afraid to try out new classes and activities to find out what you enjoy and want to pursue.”

-junior Emma Waldman

photo provided by Caleb Gershengorn Juniors Jared Horwitz, Michael Weinberger and Caleb Gershengorn build a spaghetti bridge at John Hopkins University’s Engineering Innovation program.

compiled by talia denicoff

“Expect an increase in teachers’ expectations, but don’t pile too much on your plate which would constantly stress you out”

-sophomore Jenny Belson

“I would definitely advise freshmen to always put school work first. While social issues are important, don’t let any petty fights or gossip get in the way or distract you from giving your all to all of your school assignments/commitments.”

-senior Jacobo Ostroff

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Spiritual Connections

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in-depth

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liran zimand reporter

W

hether through excercise, prayer, naturem or spirit, members of the CESJDS community connected to Judaism differently over the summer than the school year.

During the school year, junior Sophia Godin feels a strong religious connection to Judaism. She goes to an Orthodox synagogue with her family, keeps kosher and prays every day in school. However, while her religious connection is stronger over the school year, she feels a stronger connection to the spiritual side of Judaism over the summer.

This summer Godin attended Capital Camps, a pluralistic Jewish sleep away camp. At camp, Godin experienced a different type of Judaism than the one she was used to at school.

“At camp you get a lot more of the whole spiritual side of Judaism, which at JDS you can’t always get,” Godin said. “[At school] I guess I was forced to do this set prayer every day and I just didn’t feel like that was sort of my thing.”

For Godin, it would be ideal to combine these two ways in which she feels connected to Judaism, religiously at school and spiritually at camp. However, she thinks this would be impossible due to the pluralistic values of the school.

“It is a pluralist community so you have to respect the views of people who are more observant,” Godin said. “I don’t think I would be able to get the

same sort of connection to the whole spiritual side of Judaism at school. But ultimately, that would be the perfect combination.”

This “perfect combination” of traditional prayer with spiritual components is what Judaics teacher Paul Blank experienced while working at Ramah Outdoor Adventure in Colorado. The camp offered a traditional prayer service as well as a “creative” one which Blank attended most days. In addition to prayers, this service included exercise and accompanying music, ideas to which Blank was originally hesitant.

“I was always really cynical about touchy feely type things, but it worked and was just fantastic,” Blank said. “Part of the reason I think I was so cynical is that I was surrounded by cynical people, but now that I see people who do take this very seriously, it’s great; I mean, I really got into it.”

One of the more interesting parts of his experience was the focus of exercising in order to practice Shmirat Hanefesh and Shmirat Haguf. Blank enjoyed this different take on prayer, and has decided to incorporate it into the start of his Zman Kodesh each day at school, making it “every bit as much of the minyan” as the prayers themselves.

One of the reasons Blank feels that this is an important addition to his Zman Kodesh is not only because of the exercises themselves, but also the new opportunities it will provide for students to participate.

“My idea has always been that you’re not required to pray in minyan but you are required to participate in minyan, and participation takes a lot of different forms,” Blank said. “We know that not everyone is going to participate in [traditional prayer] so we need to find alternatives for people to participate.”

Though he had previously attended Ramah Outdoors Adventure as a camper, this summer senior Yoav Margolis traveled to Israel with the Israel Ramah Seminar.

During the six-weeks program, Margolis toured Israel and learned about what it means to live an observant lifestyle according to the Conservative Movement.

In contrast to Blanks’ introduction to creative approaches to Judaism, Margolis was able to develop his connection to more traditional Judaism. For Margolis, this was reached by praying in a traditional service three times a day and wrapping tefillin, practices that he had infrequently done during the school year. He is now considering continuing these practices during the school year in his daily minyan, as he now has a deeper appreciation for the mitzvot associated with them.

Margolis said that participating in these mitzvot allowed him to “gain a better understanding of [his] own place within the Jewish community and the true meaning

behind prayer and worship.”

Though many JDS students choose to attend a Jewish summer camp, JDS has no expectations for how students practice Judaism over the summer.

As a result, sophomore Sarah Davis sees summer as a way to take a break from practicing Judaism.

During the school year, Davis and her family regularly go to synagogue, but over the summer her family did not go because they were traveling or simply wanted to stay home and relax. Between not having Jewish Text classes or minyan over the summer and not going to synagogue, Davis stopped actively practicing Judaism in the traditional sense, but that does not mean that she lost her Jewish identity.

Instead, Davis found new ways to maintain this identity, specifically through nature. Without school every day, Davis spent most of her summer outside -- running, biking or appreciating the nature around her.

“Every day when I see something beautiful outside in nature I really know that God made that,” Davis said. “I know that it is there for me to look at and see that it is beautiful.”

Like Margolis, Davis found a stronger connection to Judaism this summer. While taking part in tradition brought Margolis closer to Judaism, taking a break

from it did the same thing for Davis. Throughout the year Davis is obligated to pray in minyan, but praying holds no particular meaning for her. “I feel a stronger connection during the summer, which is weird because I do not go to synagogue, and I’m not praying every single day like at school,” Davis said. “But, personally I don’t feel too connected to God when I pray. I don’t pray with meaning and I don’t pay attention to what the prayers mean so it doesn’t mean a lot to me.”

Instead of praying in minyan, Davis would like to have a minyan that helps her connect more to Judaism during the school year in the same way she does over the summer. She suggests a Zman Kodesh, similar to the discontinued spiritual walking minyan, in which students could “sit outside and meditate,” thereby connecting to Judaism and God through nature.

In order to hear students’ and faculty’s suggestions, Upper School Director of Jewish Life Stephanie Hoffman will be starting a new Jewish Life Committee.

“I would love for students to participate and take an active role in helping to create programs that increase the student body’s connection with Jewish life throughout the year,” Hoffman said.

in-depth

Summer experiences enrich students’ Jewish identities

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s w m a s r i d m e m r s t i r x o e r h r s e i T w e J o t n o i t n e tt he

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malka himelhoch and carol silber editors-in-chief Decked out in rainbow clothing, alumnus R’ay Fodor (‘15) walked down Karen Ha-Yesod, a main street in Jerusalem, surrounded by friends and proud to be a part of the largest Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem’s history. Then suddenly, the party was over.

Ultra-Orthodox extremist Yishai Schlissel rushed into the crowd, stabbing six participants in the parade, including 16-year-old Shira Banki, who succumbed to her injuries three days later.

“Everyone broke out into panic, everyone ran,” Fodor said.

He and his friends fled the scene, banging on the doors of nearby houses in search of refuge. Fodor was particularly fearful given his immodest outfit -- making him an “easy target” in Jerusalem, a city entrenched in religious tradition.

Another act of terror shook Israel just hours later, when Jewish settlers in the West Bank firebombed a Palestinian home in Duma, killing an eighteen-month-old baby and his father.

“Revenge” and a Star of David were found sprayed in graffiti near the site of the attack.

Since the attacks, Israeli police have arrested both Schlissel and nine Jewish individuals suspected of involvement in the firebombing.

Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu stated that the Israeli government will have “zero tolerance” for these crimes, which he described as “hate, fanaticism and terror.” Much of the Israeli community agreed with this classification and in the aftermath of the deadly attacks,

thousands of Israelis joined protests in several major cities.

Yet Matthew Levitt, Director of the Washington Institute’s counterterrorism and intelligence program, has witnessed a level of discomfort surrounding Jewish terrorism which is absent in dealings with Islamic terrorism, making him skeptical of the so-called “zero tolerance” policy.

Levitt acknowledges that Israel does a lot of work against Jewish extremism, but said that it is “extremely compartmentalized”, and thinks that there is more that the government could do.

Following the attacks, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Israeli officials should be able to imprison Jewish Israelis suspected of terrorism using administrative detention, a procedure that Israel uses to detain suspects without charges and historically has been used to detain Palestinians suspected of terrorism. But out of the nine suspects arrested for firebombing the Palestinian home in Duma, three were arrested under administrative detention.

George Washington University Professor of Religion and Judaic Studies Robert Eisen questioned whether efforts to diminish acts of Jewish terrorism will materialize in the near future.

“Most Jews were horrified, even those with sympathies to the ideologies of these extremists,” Eisen wrote in an email. “The question I would ask is whether they were horrified enough to do anything about it in terms of investing time and money to change attitudes, or educate people … I don’t know if Jews are willing just yet to come to terms with the extremism that exists in [their] midst.”

It is difficult for efforts working against these attacks to succeed given the widespread support for many of these retribution attacks, commonly known as “price-tag” attacks, against Palestinians.

A poll conducted by Haaretz found that 48 percent of young Israelis that identify as “right-wing” are sympathetic to these attacks.

This fidelity to Jewish extremism in price-tag attacks was evident in the reaction to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin’s response to these acts. After Rivlin said that he felt ashamed that these actions were committed by his own people,

was flooded with threats on social media that described him as a “traitor” and “terrorist.” Following this episode, Rivlin’s security personnel filed a complaint with police due to their fear that Rivlin’s life was in danger.

Although Netanyahu vowed to “bring the full force of the law” against terrorists and those who commit hate crimes, opposition leader Tzipi Livni criticized Netanyahu for perpetrating hatred and not pushing the government to stem the violence against Palestinians. She specifically cited Netanyahu’s remark during the March elections that Israeli citizens had to vote because Arab citizens were voting in “droves.”

According to Israel’s Yesh Din human rights group, there have been 1,000 investigations into Israeli civilian violence against Palestinians in the West bank since 2005, nine of which have been firebombings similar to the one in July.

Only seven percent of these investigations ended in indictments and one-third of the prosecutions ended in convictions.

While organizations similar to Yesh Din have been trying to raise awareness about statistics like these for years, these deadly attacks brought national and international attention to Jewish extremism in Israel. According to Eisen, the root of Jewish extremism is no different from the root of other types of extremism.

“It comes down to the critical term ‘identity’ -- specifically ‘group identity,’” Eisen wrote in an email. “You become an extremist when you feel your group identity is gravely and immediately threatened by an outside threat.”

However, he noted that even when their identity was threatened, Jews historically did not act out violently because of their powerless status. Before the destruction of the Second Temple, during a period of Jewish autonomy, Jewish terrorists would assassinate Roman officials or Jews who sympathized with them.

From that point until Jews regained power in the late 19th century with the emergence of Zionism, there was an absence of Jewish extremism. According to Eisen, the establishment of the state of Israel has allowed Jewish extremism to “come back again in some circles.”

Eisen also said that biblical precedent for defensive violence is often cited as the justification for acts of Jewish terrorism.

The specific commandment is called milchemet mitzvah,

translated as a sacred or defensive war. According to the Rabbinate, this commandment is currently applied to the Israeli Defense Forces, which are allowed to go to war because of milchemet mitzvah.

Although this precedent for violence exists, Netanyahu harshly condemned these acts and spoke via Skype at a vigil held for Banki, the girl who was killed at the Pride parade, to express his condolences.

Accompanied by a group of friends, Fodor attended the vigil.

During Netanyahu’s speech, other attendees of the vigil shouted over him, voicing their frustration.

“We were trying very hard to believe what he was saying,” Fodor said.

Nevertheless, the crowd had trouble believing that Netanyahu was fully sympatheitc to the LGBT community given his right wing affiliations.

Though issues relating to criminal sentencing are currently being discussed most prominently, Levitt doesn’t think that the way to ultimately stop hate crimes and acts of terrorism is through politicians or law enforcement.

“They need to engage in a battle of ideas where these extremist ideologies and extremist ideas are prevalent,” Levitt said. “The best work is going to be done by social workers and librarians, people who can counteract community members who are in a vulnerable enough situation that they cling to extremist ideologies.”

news

CESJDS considers expanding tuition assistance for teachers yonatan greenberg managing editor, copy Last week, as teachers made their final preparations for the school year, the CESJDS administration began to have conversations with faculty and staff to get their opinions about ways in which the school can encourage them to send their children to the school. The initiative to have more teachers send their children to the school is part of the school’s Strategic Plan and is widely seen as a way to make JDS teachers more invested in the school, more likely to stay at the school and a way of sending a positive message to potential parents about how strongly JDS teachers believe in the school’s philosophy and practices.

According to Director of Admissions and Tuition Assistance Orna Siegel, who has been working on the initiative with Head of School Rabbi Malkus and Chief Financial Officer Julie Hoover, the school is currently looking into a wide range of options, among which are plans to more openly express the school’s desire that teachers send their children to the school,and a program to make financial aid more generous and easy to access for teachers’ children.

Once Hoover, Siegel and Malkus have concluded their research, which includes asking teachers what they would want and seeing what the school can handle from a budget perspective, they will give a proposal to the Board of Directors, which if approved they hope could go into effect as early as next fall.

According to Hoover, the school hopes to raise the money for the tuition remission program with its upcoming campaign to double the school’s endowment, and does not plan on lowering teachers’ salaries or raising tuition as a result. So far, the idea of creating tuition remission has been very popular among teachers, who either would like to receive the aid themselves or see the benefit that it would have on the

school as a whole.

The change would be a significant one for the school, as until this point teachers, whose salaries are rarely by themselves enough to pay for the whole JDS tuition, had to go through the same financial aid application as any other prospective parent, though the school did try to offer teachers more generous packages. JDS’s present lack of a tuition remission program is also noteworthy, as according to Hoover, tuition remission programs are very common in private schools which often offer between 20 and 30 percent reductions. The Jewish Primary Day School, a significant local competitor, offers similar remission rates as well.

One of the benefits of creating tuition remission for teachers is to make the job more attractive to potential employees who are worried about affording day school as well as make teachers more likely to stay once they have children, the absence of such a policy until this point has made teaching at JDS a less attractive option.

Jewish Text teacher Janet OzurBass, who is personally familiar with the issue, having sent her children to JPDS for elementary school and JDS for middle and high school with tuition assistance said that the Jewish Text department has had a number of “wonderfully qualified applicants” turn down jobs at JDS because they thought they would not be able to afford to send their children here.

“When somebody has graduated from rabbinical school and they are tens of thousands of dollars in debt and they have to choose between a pulpit salary versus a school salary there’s no choice really,” Ozur Bass said. She herself never questioned her commitment to the school based on her salary, for which she feels very fortunate, but she recognizes that monetary considerations are a very serious issue for many

candidates. “In order to make the school competitive in attracting the best and the brightest financially you have to make it worthwhile.”

The issue of affording Jewish schooling was an especially pressing issue for a former JDS teacher, who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the topic. The former teacher worked at JDS for a number of years, but left her teaching position here for a different job that made it easier for her to afford Jewish education for her children because of both salary and remission. While tuition remission was not the only factor in her decision to leave, she said that it was a significant one, and if the school were to begin offering tuition remission she might even consider coming back.

Math teacher Reuben Silberman, whose daughter will be starting kindergarten at a local public school this year, said that his decision to not send his daughter to JDS was a stressful one, as he struggled to balance his loyalty and affection for the school with the needs of his daughter and family. Like it was for Ozur Bass, whose children did not go to JDS for elementary school, Silberman’s decision was a complex one that involved many different factors. Nevertheless, Silberman said, if the school had offered more financial assistance his decision very well may have been different.

Another obstacle to teachers who are interested in sending their children to JDS but are hampered by financial constraints is the financial aid application process itself, which can be exhausting and potentially intrusive. A current teacher, who also wished to remain anonymous, said that to qualify for aid, teachers, like potential parents, must reveal many personal details about their financial decisions, ranging from how many cars they own to their vacation expenses. While such declarations might be necessary to

determine the financial status of aid applicants, they can also be uncomfortable to reveal to an employed. In response to these concerns, Siegel said that the school is considering creating a streamlined application process for teachers that would at least allow them to more easily explore the option of sending their children to JDS. JDS’s newfound interest in bringing staff children into the school has largely been precipitated by economic developments in the past few years that have made private school much harder to afford. Local public schools have always been very competitive, but between the recent economic downturn and the fact that, according to Hoover, JDS tuition has ballooned from being 8% of the average Montgomery County salary in the 1980s to 28% today, a change consistent with national trends in private education, the decision to send children to JDS has become less financially appealing.

In the context of these financially challenging national trends, the former teacher does not resent the fact that the school did not offer her any extra help with tuition.

“In general it’s frustrating that it’s very expensive to raise kids Jewish,” she said, citing the high price of Jewish schools, summer camps and synagogues, which are widely seen as crucial for raising Judaically-involved children. According to Hoover, though in the 1980s JDS tuition was 8% of the average household salary in Montgomery County, it has now ballooned to 28%. As a result, the former teacher knows many people that have had to choose between sending their children to Jewish school and working in “helping professions” such as teaching and government.

“That’s a little bit of a sad choice to make,” she said.

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10

the lion’s tale

news

CESJDS welcomes a champion Irish step dancer miriam minsk news editor When she is not teaching chemistry, science teacher Rachel Gill can be found in her natural habitat, the dance studio.

Gill, who grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania began Irish step dancing at the age of four and has loved it ever since. Irish step dancing is known for its quick and complicated foot movements.

Before she left for the D.C. area, Gill danced with a group called The Kerry Dancers, which would often perform for charities and spreads the unique culture and dances with people in the local area. After being a part of ‘The Kerry Dancers’ for many years, she feels strongly connected to her team and is sad to leave it behind.

“I’ve just grown up in that group; they are kind of like my second family,” Gill said. “My dance teacher is like my second mom.”

Gill was one of the few members of her group who also danced competitively. She would spend an average of four to six hours at the dance studio each week preparing for various performances and competitions. After much “hard work and dedication,” Gill reached the champion level of Irish step dancing and earned many different awards and titles.

Gill has long dreamed of performing in Ireland with Riverdance, a famous theatrical Irish song and dance show and very nearly applied to a Riverdance camp in Ireland.

Although Gill did not end up applying for Riverdance, she hopes to continue Irish step dancing in the future.

“Eventually, I would like to find somewhere that I could start my own dance group,” Gill said.

Her teacher back home hopes that Gill will name her future dance group ‘The Kerry Dancers of Maryland.’ Gill would love to have the two ‘Kerry Dancer’ groups meet for a St. Patrick’s Day parade.

the lion’s tale

Aronchick embarked on a volunteer ‘staycation’ miriam minsk news editor After cleaning out their house and packing their belongings a couple years ago, Jewish Text teacher Marci Aronchick and her husband were ready to move to Baltimore. Well, not quite yet.

Before leaving the Boston area, Aronchick and her husband would take what they referred to as a one-week ‘staycation’ - a vacation inside their hometown - in order to volunteer at various local charities.

Their first stop was volunteering at an organic farm that donated its produce to local food banks. Later they also volunteered at two Habitat for Humanity builds.

During the second of the two builds, Aronchick and her husband worked with future homeowners to help construct their house.

“We got to be screwing in drywall and pounding in insulation side by side with the people who were going to be living there,” Aronchick said. “[The future home owners] invited everybody who had been on the build [with them] to write wishes and blessings on the beams of the house ... so inside the wood frames are all of these blessings.

That was a really special experience.”

Aronchick and her husband enjoyed their unique ‘staycation’ experience.

“We got to do things, and go places, and see things we had never experienced in the five years that we were living in Massachusetts,” Aronchick said.

Since moving to Baltimore, Aronchick and her husband had a son, who is now 21 months old.

Adventurous Tomanelli joins the English department miriam minsk news editor

photo provided by Rachel Gill Science teacher Rachel Gill performs her Irish Step Dance.

Whether it is rock climbing, caving or even digging up dinosaur bones, English teacher Melissa Tomanelli loves seeking adventure.

Tomanelli grew up in New Jersey and attended the College of New Jersey, where she was asked to join the outdoors club one day during lunch. There she met some of her closest friends, and they went on many rock climbing and whitewater rafting trips together.

Tomanelli also enjoys caving in West Virginia a few times a year, and embarking on paleontology digs each summer with the New Jersey State Museum.

“We go out to Montana and Wyoming and we dig up dinosaurs, and we take some classes; it’s really neat,” Tomanelli said. “I’m the odd one out who is not a science major,

and I learn a lot.”

Throughout her outdoor experiences, Tomanelli has proudly conquered her fear of heights.

Although she still does not enjoy riding roller coasters, Tomanelli jumped out of a plane and would do it again.

Although there are many reasons Tomanelli enjoys being in the outdoors; most notably, she said she likes “getting away from technology and people.”

“It’s amazing how when you’re at home you constantly need to keep checking

To read more about CESJDS’s new teachers and faculty, go to www.lionstale.org.

things, and you feel like you are forgetting to do things,” Tomanelli said. “It’s kind of nice just to lay it all down and just disappear for a while, and just to kind of challenge yourself and overcome your fears in some ways.”

photo provided by melissa tomanelli

11

Fall Sports Previews Girls Cross Country

photo by miriam minsk

sports

The varsity girls cross country team did not share the same success as the varsity boys cross country team, as they finished in last place in the PVAC. One of the main reasons for the girls’ struggles was the lack of participation. The top five scorers on each team qualify in the scoring, and the girls only had five runners which made competing very challenging against larger teams.

The team was also very inexperienced last year, featuring four freshman, Sarah Davis, Liran Zimand, Emily Cohen and Kaitlin Goodman, in addition to junior Anna Rose Osovsky.

Davis said that she hopes that more girls will join the team, and that they place higher this year.

In order to prepare for the season, Davis has gone running a few times a week, and with the season approaching, she is now running everyday.

With a more experienced team, the girls will try to get themselves out of the cellar and have a better finish than last year.

The team’s first meet is Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m. at Sandy Spring Friends School.

Girls Tennis The Lady Lions tennis team is looking to back up last year’s second place performance in the PVAC with another successful campaign and a run at the championship.

The team finished second in the PVAC regular season, as well as second in the tournament. All of last years players will be returning, except for senior Annie Mendelson, so that shouldn’t be much of a problem for the team.

Sophomore Shira Graubart explained that this year’s rising seniors, Shoham Lewin and Hannah Nechin, are a big part of the team, since they have been on the team since seventh and eighth grade, respectively. Graubart hopes to win the championship for them.

Coach Julie Rabinowitz said that she is looking forward to a great season because of the team’s “deep bench of singles players and doubles teams.” She said that the key to a successful team is having players who are completely dedicated to the “practicing, being coached and playing competitively throughout the year.” Another key, she added, is to develop depth with younger players, starting in sixth grade when they are eligible to play on the team.

The team’s first match is Sept. 8 at 4:15 p.m. at JDS against the Field School.

Boys Cross Country

Following a banner-winning season, the boys cross country team has huge expectations for the upcoming season, with the ultimate goal of winning another.

The team will have to overcome the loss of senior Harry Wandersman, who was the fastest runner on the team last year. The team will still have five of their top six runners returning: juniors Reuben Winston, Caleb Gershengorn, Zac Homana, sophomore Alex Arking and freshman Zev Katz.

“Cross country really helps me work hard because if I don’t work hard there is going to be someone else who will and I will lose,” Arking said. “But when I work hard, when I do my summer training and don’t skip workouts, that is how winning is done.”

Arking will use this mentality to help him achieve The girls varsity volleyball team is looking to back up his only personal goal this season: helping the team win a solid 2014 campaign with another good season in 2015. the championship for the second year in a row.

The girls went 6-4 last year, losing in the semifinals of The team’s first meet is Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m. at Sandy the playoff tournament to the Washington International Spring Friends School.

School (WIS).

The team will be without seven seniors who helped lead their successful season last fall. Only a handful of players, including rising senior Bronya Lechtman, will be returners to the team.

Lechtman said that overcoming the loss of the seven After a trying 2014 with only two wins during the regular seniors will be challenging because they were the “bulk season, the boys soccer team will try to turn it around in 2015. of the team.”

After a rough regular season, the team lost to St. Anselm’s Coach Patrick Dudash agreed, but said that the team in overtime, in the first round of the playoffs. The teams will will attempt to overcome that loss by using underclassbe without six seniors from last year’s team as well as junior men coming up from Junior Varsity. But Lechtman said Yonatan Osovizky who moved to Israel over the summer. that everyone will need to increase their effort out on the Senior Jacob Myers expressed that both teamwork, comcourt. munication and “having the right mindset” will be key to the “Hopefully people are going to step up their game success of the team this year. this year because I think we’re capable of still potentially Coach Steven Forestieri reiterated that mindset is importbeing good,” Lechtman said. ant in addition to commitment, growth and effort.

Although the members of the team has changed “I expect everyone to have a growth mindset so we are tremendously, their goal stays the same. continually surpassing yesterday,” Forestieri said.

“Our goal will always be to win a championship, but Sophomore Matthew Swire said he expects a “building our ability to improve in all facets of the game will be a year” because the team will be without Joel Halpern, who central focus of this season,” Dudash said.

Swire described as the team’s best player.

He added that three keys for a successful season are The team’s first game is Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m. at Sandy “dedication, teamwork, and communication.”

Spring Friends School “The girls will need to bring their heart and passion to every game and practice to maximize their experience,” he said.

The team’s first game is at 4:30 on September 8th, at JDS against Grace Brethren.

Girls Volleyball

Boys Soccer

Girls Soccer

Coming off a championship season, the girls varsity soccer team has a tall task at hand in trying to win back to back championships this year without their nine seniors.

The team went 11-1 during the 2014 regular season, their only loss coming against Covenant Life, who they went on to beat 1-0 in the championship game.

The biggest loss will likely be leading scorer Samantha Knapp who will be playing at Dickinson College this year.

Head Coach Jay Matula said it is “difficult to consider” how the team will overcome the loss of Knapp. The team will also be without beloved assistant coach William Kaplan.

Sophomore Dani Bernstein, who scored the only goal in the championship game, will have to step up and play a bigger role on the team now that the seniors are gone, and Bernstein is up for the challenge.

“I definitely don’t want to let the team down at any

moment,” Bernstein said.

Through the adversity, Senior Evie Kraner has kept a positive attitude about the upcoming season.

“I’m really excited to see how this new group of players develops as a team,” Kraner said. “I think a lot of players are going to surprise us this season.”

With all the losses, Kraner thinks that maintaining a good level of fitness will be key to a successful season. She has been running and doing workouts this summer to help prepare for the upcoming season.

Bernstein said that even without the seniors she expects that everyone will be“determined to win this year.”

The team’s first game is on September 8th, at 4:30, at home against Grace Brethren.

12

the lion’s tale

entertainment

Lion’s Tunes

Music recommended for students

A fall playlist recommended

by JDS students and teachers

Check Lionstale.org for the full playlist!

Tupelo, Mississippi

by John Lee Hooker recommended by Mr. Downing

Peace of Mind

by Boston recommended by Elie Katz

Stitches

by Sean Mendes recommended by Maya Arber

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)

by Arcade Fire recommended by Mr. Silberman

Lean On

by Major Lazer and DJ Snake ft. Mø recommended by Maya Arber

A playlist for studying recommended

by JDS students and teachers

Check Lionstale.org for the full playlist!

Heartbeats

by José González recommended by Mr. Silberman

Closure

by Jill Scott recommended by Miles Waldman

Gold on the Ceiling

by The Black Keys recommended by Elie Katz

Angie

by The Rolling Stones recommended by Ben Shrock

Forget Regret

by The RH Factor recommended by Miles Waldman

The Dead Flag Blues

by Godspeed You Black Emperor recommended by Mr. Downing

Green Eyes

by Coldplay recommended by Ben Shrock

photo provided by creative commons