Volume 26 Issue 4

l ion’s tale

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Feature

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Volume 26 • Issue 4 February 20, 2009 • 26 Shevat 5769

PROMPOSAL FEVER

News

see page 5

PAINTING FOR A CAUSE

Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School • 11710 Hunters Lane • Rockville, Maryland • 20852 For more graduation info, see graduation insert

For more on graduation, see insert.

Rallying for Israel’s solidarity

by Neville Brodie

Competitiveness v. sportmanship Lions beat Mclean Mustangs by 78 points

by Danny Schwaber Athletes are taught to be competitive, but at what point does a game go too far?

On Jan. 21, the boys varsity basketball team beat the McLean School Mustangs by 78 points, 95-17 with Eitan Chemerinski (’09) scoring a school record of 55 points.

Many parents and members of the school community complained that the basketball team crossed the line between competitiveness and innapropriateness.

The large margin has provoked several different views regarding the outcome of this game.

“Our team played very well that game but also, I felt pretty embarrassed for the other team and I felt sympathetic for them,” manager of the team sophomore Ilan Layman said.

Layman, along with some of the other players, was pleased with the team’s performance but felt uncomfortable with the final score of the game.

“I know what it feels like to be on the other side and what they were feel-

ing. I would not want to lose by 78 points ever,” he said.

Others, however, did not express the same concern because it is common to have close games and blowouts.

“It’s another game in a season, I think some games are going to be close and some games are going to be widespread. And unfortunately this game happened to be widespread,” first year Head Coach Matthew Feldman said.

see COMPETITION, page 15

“Yes we can!” witness the inauguration

by Adam Weinberger In the past many Upper School students, have not attended school on half days before long breaks, senior skip days and students in action day. This year, with the swearing in of our nation’s first African-American president, Inauguration Day was added to that list.

On Jan. 20, approximately 100 out of 684 Upper School students attended school. Many of the students who were not present either went to the inauguration or stayed at home to watch it on TV. The administrators planned a special program for those students that did attend school.

In an e-mail to parents the Upper School Leadership Team wrote that the day would include watching the inauguration on TV, inauguration-related classes, trivia contests and prizes, mock interviews with fake reporters as students arrive at school, inauguration-themed food and inaugural ball.

Students and teachers had different feelings about experiencing such a historic moment at school with their peers.

Sophomore Nathan Orenstein thought that the school

was not a good place to experience the inauguration because “living near D.C., it would have been more meaningful if I had actually gone to the [inauguration], rather than just sat at school.”

“We were delighted to have students join us to watch the inauguration together. Personally, it’s the first time I’ve watched an inauguration with a group of students and I found it very moving to do so,” Solomon said.

For those students who decided to brave the cold temperatures and large crowds, the inauguration was different from anything else they had ever experienced.

“It was really amazing… There were people from all over the country and abroad and just, the masses of people [were] incredible. Getting in was a bit of a challenge… [despite the crowds] it was pretty amazing to see how controlled people were because they were here to witness something great,” sophomore Rahel Feinstein said.

“The experience was incredible. Being surrounded by two million complete strangers that had the same passions as you was an awesome moment,” Yonah Lieberman (‘09).

see INAUGURATION, page 2

On Jan. 6 at 11 a.m., more than 100 JDS students participated in a pro-Israel rally held at Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington D.C. “I thought it was a very influential rally, and it was a great way [for] JDS to show their support for Israel,” sophomore Miriam Duffy said.

While JDS only chaperoned 60 students, additional students were able to leave school with a note.

Although the assembly was indoors, the speakers were able to get the crowd riled up in support of Israel.

“The Christian Bishop [Harry Jackson] inspired me the most because it showed that not only white Jewish people support Israel,” sophomore Ariella Eisen said.

Some students were so overwhelmed that they could not control their emotions.

“It was a very moving experience, and the speakers were very influential. It was one of the greatest ways for the Jewish Community to show its support for Israel and there was actually a point when I couldn’t help but start to tear up,” sophomore Shira Singelenberg said.

JDS made a very powerful statement by showing up in the middle of its busy school day.

see RALLY, page 9

photo by Shira Singelberg

Sophomores Staci Smith and Danielle Clemmons wave a flag at the Israel Solidarity Rally in the Sixth and I Synagogue. waving the flag

25 years The Lion’s Tale has documented JDS history. From homosexuality and drug use to religion and spirituality, The Lion’s Tale has dealt with it all in a professional and unbiased manner. The Lion’s Tale now serves as a chronicle to how much JDS has expanded in the last quarter century. The first issue was printed in black and white and was just four pages long. We have since grown into a dynamic award-winning newspaper. for

25th Anniversary

2

News INAUGURATION, from page 1

Students varied in their reasons for attending school, going to the inauguration or staying home.

“I decided to stay home because I wanted to be able to watch the historic event comfortably in my house with my family,” freshman Alex Halpern said. “I [felt] like it was a good place, because I didn’t want to go [to the inauguration] because there were too many people and it was cold, and I didn’t want to go to school because I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it as much.”

“I worked really hard on the campaign and really felt as if it was the perfect opportunity for me to be part of the movement as a whole. Also, I figured it would be the last time I would be able to do something that cool since I would be moving away from the D.C. area really soon.

I also think that being a part of history is a very important thing for people to do, and I wanted to be part of one our nation’s most historic moments,” Lieberman said.

With the number of students absent, some questioned whether school should have even been open on Inauguration Day.

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February 20, 2009

lion’s tale Charles, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s county schools all closed on Inauguration Day, due to heavy traffic and a lack of students planning to attend class.

At JDS, the number of students anticipated to attend classes was higher than the actual number who were present.

“We are viewing this school day as we would any other school day and our assumption is that if students are not attending the ceremonies in person or are unable to get to school because of transportation issues, they will be joining us in school,” wrote Head of School Jonathan Cannon in an e-mail to parents.

“They should not have closed school, but they should have set up some sort of procedure where, if you could get your parents permission, you could have an excused absence, but only if you were going to the inauguration,” Lieberman said. “I know for a fact that most people who did not go [to school] also did not go to the inauguration.”

In the end, to many it did not matter whether school was opened or closed, but rather that they got to experience the inauguration of Barack Obama in a way that was meaningful.

photo by Alex Berger

English teacher Michael Abell and freshman Jonathan Zuckerman read to the students and teachers at school during Inauguration Day. The school planned many inauguration themed activities for those in attendence. reading a speech

Winter concert shows off musical talents Priest talks with class

by Johnny Waksman Throughout the first half of the year, music teacher Charles Ostle coached and prepared his students for the annual winter concert. Although the concert was only two and a half hours long, it still took a lot of preparation. “I rehearsed with them every time we had class, fine tuning their songs and fine tuning the arrangements, making sure everybody was doing the right thing and making sure all of the soloists knew what they were doing,” Ostle said.

“Mr. Ostle had us run through set lists, over and over again. We worked on solos and accompaniments and we just practiced, practiced, practiced,” sophomore pianist Noah Berman said.

The concert, featuring six ensembles, took place on Jan. 22. The performers ranged from separate grade bands to after-school jazz bands. The songs that were played varied from folk to jazz to funk music. Some of the pieces included were “Hey Jude” by Paul McCartney, “Blowin’ in the Wind”

by Bob Dylan, “Sonnymoon for Two” by Sonny Rollins and “Equinox” by John Coltrane.

During the concert, 43 musicians performed and 18 different pieces were played. “It was great how many different students could cooperate and participate together with instruments, and create music. Even though some of the kids were young they still managed to greatly surpass their age,” junior guitarist Jonathan Iwry said.

However, there were mixed feelings about the concert’s organization. “I thought the concert could have been organized better,” sophomore bassist Gabriel Wilk said.

“I actually thought the performances were streamlined and everyone seemed to know where they needed to be and when they needed to be there,” sophomore Benjy Cannon said.

The concert included slideshows compiled by photography teacher Jerry Eisner, Publications Director Samantha Gendler and music teacher Charles Ostle, that were shown before and after every song. The slideshows played videos of the seniors’ final days in their music class. Students had varying opinions.

“The slideshow kind of bothered me. It was mainly in-

side jokes and seniors bragging that it was their last day,” Iwry said.

“I thought the slideshows were hilarious,” Cannon said.

“We has a great turnout, everyone had a good time, and it showed artistic capability of JDS students,” Berman said.

Despite some of the problems that occurred, the winter concert “was an overwhelming success,” Berman said.

“I think this is a great representation of the student body, of myself and the school, and this is a good example of what’s going on at JDS,” Ostle said.

photo by Josh Raanan

PLAYIN’ WITH LIGHTNING Sophomore Yehudah Abraham plays an electric guitar during the winter concert.

by Samantha Bressman On Jan. 5, Father Robert Albright visited Jewish History teacher Cynthia Peterman’s senior Church-Jewish Relations class.

Father Albright is a retired priest who was the catholic campus minister at Towson University for 26 years. Albright also served as director of ministry to higher education for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Albright has explored interfaith issues at the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies of Baltimore and has traveled to Israel twice for Holocaust studies.

In 2006, Albright received the “Annual Greenblatt Award” given by the Baltimore Jewish community to people who do outstanding work in Holocaust education.

Cynthia Peterman, the Jewish History Department Chair, thought that Albright would help her class learn more about interfaith dialogue.

“We spent a lot of time studying on an official level, but the students wanted to know what it’s like to get together with other folk who are Catholic and actually engage in a dialogue,” Peterman said.

Albright explained the different stages of dialogue between Christians and Jews. Peterman thought Albright’s talk would benefit the students when they are in a college setting. “As they go off to college and meet non-Jews, if they come into a dialogue opportunity in an organized setting, it, the course, gives them something to think about how to conduct themselves.”

The students’ reaction to the subject at first was defensive, “People are nervous about it,” Peterman said, “They feel like they are representing the Jewish people when they dialogue, and that’s a lot of responsibility… I think that they feel that they could be the first Jews the Catholics have sat down and spoken with about Judaism, and they want to represent their religion appropriately. There’s a fear of misrepresentation, of having others walk away and drawing sweeping generalizations about Judaism and the Jewish people from the one on one dialogue that is established.”

Overall, Peterman thought that Albright’s lecture went well and she will invite Albright back to her next semester junior Church-Jewish Relations class.

Lesson Learned: do not feed the plants!

by Jacob Schaperow

program design by Sarah Lazarus

The high school musical debuted on Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. sold out crowd

On Jan.15, the high school musical, Little Shop of Horrors, debuted in front of a near capacity crowd.

The musical started with Seymour (Amir Fogel), an employee at a failing florist shop owned by his father Mr. Mushnik (Danny Schwaber).

Life for Seymour was going downhill until an incredible plant, voiced by sophomore Ilia Esrig, and operated by sophomore Ilan Rasooly, mysteriously showed up.

Seymour dubbed the mys-

terious plant “Audrey II”, after his dream girl, Audrey (Sarah Lazarus).

Audrey II brought fame, success and terror to Mr. Mushnik’s florist shop. Rehearsals began in October, until its performances on Jan. 15, 17 and 18.

For the second high school play of the year, Director of Student Life Victoria Rothenberg, the play’s producer, brought new people to star roles.

“Normally, in musicals at least, I’m just the underling.

I would just go along with everything. People take over,” David Samet (‘09) said. “Here I was a senior with a good part. It forced me to take charge and everything. I found that everybody was willing to get their gear together. I loved it.

Every performance was great.”

The actors described this performance as a team effort, “You can’t do it without everybody else. It sounds corny, but it’s true,” Fogel (‘09) said.

The musical was written by Howard Ashman and its score was composed by Alan Menkin.

Photo by Danny Krifcher

blow your troubles away Seymour (Fogel) offers Audrey

(Lazarus) a tissue meant to dry her tears caused by Orin (Samet), her abusive dentist boyfriend.

February 20, 2009

Historic Obama inauguration brings reflections on King’s legacy

by Josh Boxerman

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Jewish communities connect in Russia

by Adam Weinberger Eight juniors and two teachers traveled to Moscow, from Dec. 8 to Dec. 15.

The trip was sponsored by The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington (JFGW), an organization that uses donations to connect and help Jews around the world. The arrangements were made by Dean of Students Roslyn Landy and were coordinated with the Lipman Community Jewish Day School in Moscow.

According to the Federation, the main goal of the Russia trip was “to build and sustain meaningful relationships and interactions between students and educators in the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School and the Lipman Community Jewish Day School in Moscow, Russia.”

During the day, the group toured the city of Moscow, went to shops, attended shows and spent time with their Russian counterparts.

At night, every student and teacher stayed with a different host family from the Lipman School. The group visited many synagogues, museums and historical sites.

“I really enjoyed the Russian History Museum. It was also fun to watch the JDS students interact with their Russian counterparts – they clearly had fun together,” Jewish History teacher Lauren Granite said.

Junior Alon Krifcher also found the Russian History Museum “really interesting” because “[the museum] basically gave us a different perspective of world history that we haven’t seen before.”

The highlight and longest lasting memory of the trip for many was meeting and interacting with their Russian coun-

The JDS community commemorated Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday on Jan. 16, the Friday before the annual federal holiday. Students watched a slideshow set to music about King’s life during their seventh period classes and participated in a discussion afterwards. Unlike past years, there were no speakers or assemblies to mark King’s birthday.

Director of Student Life Victoria Rothenberg wanted to make this year’s Martin Luther King Day more engaging.

“The idea behind it was to make it more interactive, and more focused on Dr. King’s life and experiences,” Rothenberg said.

Students reacted positively to the slideshow. “[The slideshow] gave us something to see what really happened and … the change that was made because of him,” freshman Andrew Yanovski said.

I think it was really symbolic that we were willing to take out of actual class time to see the slideshow. I also like that we were able to make an effective presentation by using the new technology,” junior Ari Blask said.

Still, many felt that they were unable to fully discuss the day’s significance in their classes.

“In my class we didn’t really have a discussion; if they would have made sure that there was a discussion it would have been better because… a really small part of the day was dedicated to MLK,” Yanovski said.

It was also the last school day before the historic inauguration of America’s first African-American president.

“I think, above all else, the commemoration of Martin Luther King underscores the inauguration of President Barack Obama. So the greatest accomplishment of Dr. Martin Luther King is that it doesn’t matter that our president is black, it matters that… our country believes that he is the right person for the presidency,” sophomore Noah Berman said.

“I think it’s huge that MLK day happens right bephoto courtesy of Carleton Cunningham fore the inauguration. It adds to the power of MLK day and it adds to the power of the inauguration, together in moscow (Left to right) Jillian Racoosin, Lauren because [America elected] the first black president. Granite, Michelle Koblenz, Jordan Kovalsky, Carleton You have to think that Martin Luther King had a lot Cunningham, Jess Lieberman, Yaron Steinfeld, David Friedland, to do with that being a possibility,” sophomore Dov Alon Krifcher and Kyle Hardgrave experience Moscow in the soaking rain.

Block said.

terparts. In addition to staying at their homes, the Russians accompanied the group to the Tsartsino, a Russian palace built under the reign of Catherine the Great.

“I loved having the opportunity to experience Russian culture in such an intimate way that was afforded by staying with a family. The gentleman (Andrei) that I stayed with works for the Technology Department of the Lipman School, so we share an interest in the integration of technology into classroom instruction. But he was also extremely knowledgeable about many different periods of Russian history as well as Russian culture in general,” History teacher Carleton Cunningham said.

One of the museums the group visited was a Holocaust Museum located in the basement of a synagogue.

“Upstairs they had a shul that kind of opened up into sun light, which I thought was really cool, that you were downstairs in a dark, kind of gloomy atmosphere, then you came up and you were in a shul that showed that Judaism is alive, even in a place like Russia,” Krifcher said.

Students also had positive experiences with their hosts.

“I loved the family that I stayed with. I became really close with them and the girl that was my age that I stayed with, she became one of my closest friends, and I love her; I’m going to miss them so much,” junior Michelle Koblenz said.

“It was really cool because as a religious Jew, I got to see not only their secular life but also their religious life, and they really did not affiliate themselves with Judaism at all…. being able to teach them about Kashrut, and about Shabbat… having them experience it with me was really interesting,” Krifcher said.

Both Dr. Granite and Dr. Cunningham cited inclement weather as a problem on the trip.

“As we walked through the gates into Red Square, typically that’s sort of the highlight of the center of the city of Moscow, [the rain] was literally just coming down in buckets, we didn’t really get to soak in the atmosphere of that as much as we would have liked to,” Cunningham said.

Krifcher wanted to see more flexibility in the schedule.

“I felt there was really strict plan that the teachers had, but they didn’t really give us a sense of that plan, so when we wanted to go to a mall… or stay in one place a little longer we weren’t able to because they had a plan for us.”

In the end, the students learned a lot both about themselves and others, lessons they will not soon forget.

“Nothing can separate the fact that teenagers are teenagers, students are students… I think that with Jewish life [in the U.S.], we take lot for granted… because here we have so much religious freedom and we really have to appreciate that,” Krifcher said.

“Learned that life is so different in the different places where people live, and that people’s lives there are so different. They don’t live in houses, they have one car per family.

I learned that you can make friends wherever you go, even if your lives are different,” Koblenz said.

Chanukkah performances bring the holiday cheer

by David Weinberg This year’s Chanukkah celebration started even before JDS closed for winter break. To celebrate this festival of lights, the school planned two assemblies. The first one was the Chanukkappella on Dec. 22, and the other was the Chanukkafe, which was scheduled to be on Tuesday the 23rd.

photo by Josh Raanan

Senior Raviv Brooks, sophomores Alex Gilden, Yehudah Abraham and Noah Berman perform together at Chanukkappella. singing a tune

However, the Chanukkafe, which was supposed to be a talent show where students could sing and act was cancelled due to a water main break on River Road.

“Unfortunately, we will not be rescheduling the Chanukkafe, because the whole idea was to celebrate Chanukkah, and now that it is over we have other festivities to celebrate.

But we are going to invite the students who were supposed to perform in the Chanukkafe, to perform during Purim,” said Chanukkafe coordinator and Director of Student Life Victoria Rothenberg.

Students and parents were invited to attend the Chanukappella, a winter concert performance by a cappella students.

Chanukkappella started out as a joint showcase for a cappella and the improv club, but because JDS no longer has an improv club, only the a cappella group performs.

In addition to performing as a whole, the boys and girls each performed separately.

“I think that the Chanukkappella was a really great idea because it was a good way to let the a cappella show off their voices. The kids in the choir had an opportunity to sign up to do a separate song, with a smaller group of their choice, and sing a song of their own choice. We split into smaller groups because it was a fun opportunity to sing a song that we liked and one that we thought has good harmonization. I think that is going to be really tough once the seniors leave because they make up about half the choir, but I’m sure we will sound great, if not better, next year,” sophomore choir member Ilia Esrig said.

photo by Josh Raanan

all together now Caryn Stark at the head of the a capella

choir during their Chanukkappella performance.

After singing with the entire group, the seniors performed a song by themselves to mark their final performance at JDS. “The seniors sounded really great, and I’m not in the choir but I can imagine how sad it is for them and the other non-senior members of the choir. Everyone sang really well and it was a good way to celebrate Chanukkah,” sophomore Shelby Cole said.

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lion’s tale

Group bonding time If only I had $11,200

by David Weinberg On Dec. 5 and 6 the freshman class attended a shabbaton at Capital Camps in Pennsylvania. The students went to Capital Camps for the weekend to spend time with their grade. While the students were able to have some down time, they had educational activities as well.

“We had some time to get to know each other better and we also had time to bond in our cabins,” freshman Rebecca Rubin said.

Director of Judaic Studies Michael Kay helped plan and lead the trip.

When planning the trip, Kay made sure that there was torah study and prayer in addition to grade bonding.

“We broke up into groups and spent times studying that week’s parsha. We learned a lot about it and had fun doing it together.

We also spent a lot of time praying,” Rubin said.

During planned activities, the teachers were very involved in the student activities, but during the free time the teachers were not as involved.

The students spent their free time playing frisbee, playing in the snow, and just sitting around talking.

“It was fun to interact with the teachers outside of school, and they were with us during the educational activities, but the students were not with them as much during free time,” freshman Jamie Strassman said.

“I think that the students and the teachers had a great time together. My daughter... came with me on the trip, and the freshmen were always playing with her. It was really great and I think everyone had fun,” JTTP teacher Mathew Lipman said.

Learning about relationships

by Nathan Forman During the week of Dec. 15, the sophomores attended an assembly which discussed abusive relationships.

Iris Mersky, a therapist and educator, led the assembly.

Mersky specializes in victim assistance and sexual assault programs in Montgomery County.

The assembly addressed interpersonal relationships and interactions using tools such as the teen equality wheel, which demonstrated the relevance of accountability, trust, shared responsibility and non-threatening behavior.

Mersky also informed the students about the Teen Power and Control Wheel which highlighted emotional abuse, sexual abuse and jealousy.

Mersky distributed handouts that covered relationships, trust and personal boundaries.

Guidance Counselor Rachel Soifer thought the assembly was a success.

“The advisory on healthy relationships

met our goal by raising this important topic and bringing it to the forefront for consideration and discussion. Individual students tend to respond to any advisory topics differently – according to their own personal experiences and what is going on in their lives and relevant to them at the current moment,” Soifer said.

“We always welcome input that is constructive during our group meetings and we are here to answer any questions and offer ongoing support to a students who would like to continue this dialogue.”

While students believed that the assembly was informative, not all students thought the information was applicable in their lives.

“I found the assembly to be very helpful because abusive relationships is an important topic that I feel is not discussed enough in the community, especially around teenagers,” sophomore Mikey Schonefeld said.

“I feel as though it was somewhat pointless to have an advisory about abusive personalities because most of us, if not all, are not in abusive relationships,” sophomore Eric Kruglak said.

Old faces, new stories, ‘03 reunion

by Daniel Liss Forty-seven of the 89 alumni from the class of 2003 reassembled on Nov. 26 at The Front Page restaurant and Grill in Dupont Circle, Washington D.C. for their five year reunion.

Associate Director for Campaign and Alumni Relations Debbie Stillman, alumna Shelby Zitelman (‘03) and Director of Upper School Admissions, Robin Shapiro planned and coordinated the event.

The reunion, which was planned as a relatively informal gathering was the class’ first.

“They had one area of [The Front Page Restaurant] that was just for the class [of 2003] and everyone was sitting around schmoozing,” Shapiro said.

“It was just a lot of catching up: people who have seen each other days before, people who have lived together, and people who have not seen each other since graduation day,” Jewish History teacher Aileen Goldstein said.

The school allocated $500 for the class to spend at the restaurant was very generous and allocated $500 for our class so we could buy some drinks and appetizers,” Zitleman said.

Attendees who were interviewed expressed that although they had kept in touch with select friends, they enjoyed seeing

many of their other peers at the reunion at the Front Page restaurant.

“It was good to see some of the people I hadn’t stayed in touch with…[One] memorable part of the event was talking to my other classmates who had also gone into medicine,” Joseph Greene (‘03) said.

“I don’t think you realize what the JDS community is all about until you can move on, have different experiences in your life and come back,” Rachel Snyder (‘03) said.

“Coming back to the reunion and seeing these people and again seeing the teachers come back shows what a tight knit community it is.”

Since graduating, alumni from the class of ‘03 have worked for many different organizations.

Graduates have worked at The New York Times, Teach for America, the New Orleans Sentinel, the Nationals, the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department and Barbara Mikulski’s Senatorial Office.

Many students are currently enrolled in medical school, law school, other graduate school programs or are even starting their own businesses.

“One student came up [to me] and said ‘Everyone thought I would fail but I am doing so great now and this is what I am up to’ and you could see the confidence in the fact that everyone has found themselves and found their path in life,” Goldstein said.

by Jacob Shaperow

The B’nai Mitzvah Project also allows students to learn how to make decisions with money.

“Every year the students choose which organizations they want to nominate and as this becomes more normal to the school community, I think more and more students want to nominate organizations,” Leah Siskin, representative of the Jewish Youth Philanthropic Institute (JYPI), said.

JYPI works with teens to constructively use funds raised through charity by donating them to non-profit organizations, the same sort of program done in the B’nai Mitzvah Project. “[We] would love to have more volunteers after the program, especially given the great decision-making they made,” Siskin said.

During a class meeting on Dec. 19, the class of 2013 presented their selected charities with money from the eighth grade B’nai Mitzvah Project. Since Oct. 30, the grade has held two sessions in groups to discuss how to grant the $11,220 they raised for tzedakah. In the end, 10 organizations received funds.

The organizations help a wide range of people (and animals) including Jews, nonJews, children and adults.

The organizations with the two largest grants were the Shanta Foundation and Chai Lifeline. The Shanta Foundation helps improve the quality of life in villages in Myanmar. It was nominated by Will Letchinger and received $2272.

Chai Lifeline runs a free summer camp for children with serious illnesses.

Chai Lifeline was nominated by Brian Morris and received $2502. The Hope for Henry Organization, which received a grant for $2245 had a special connection to eighthgrader Eliana Stanislawski.

“When I was seven, one of my best friends passed away and his name was Henry, and that’s when the organization got started. It’s a really nice organization, I really feel connected to it,” said Stanislawski.

While the B’nai Mitzvah project has been done for three years, this year’s project placed photo by Jordan Kovalsky a minimum amount of money money for children Brian Morris (center) along with that could be allocated to each two presenters from Chai Lifeline talk to the eighth organization. Each nominated grade about the organization. Each organization reorganization received at least ceived a grant during a class meeting on Dec. 19. $212 of the total money raised.

Show me the donated money Organization

Amount Given

C.U.R.E (Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy )

$218

Koby Mandell Foundation, Inc. (organization dedicated to helping those affected by terrorism)

$1,145

Hope for Henry Foundation

$2,245

Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind

$446

Shnata Foundation

$2,272

Chai Lifeline

$2,502

Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America

$962

Yum-o! Organization

$212

Genocide Intervention Network, Inc

$1,012

Popular springs Animal sanctuary

$212

TOTAL FUNDS DISTRIBUTED

$11,220

A sneak peak of the play West Side Story...

by Josh Lerner On Dec. 17, the freshman class visited The National Theatre in Washington D.C. to see the musical pre-Broadway production of West Side Story.

Director of Student Life Victoria Rothenberg planned the trip.

The play is scheduled to open on Broadway on Feb. 23.

Students enjoyed the music and action scenes in the play West Side Story.

“The play was very nice. I thought it was very appropriate, that they translated many of the songs into Spanish,” freshman Michael Greenberg.

“I liked the action scenes because they really caught my attention, and I thought they made the musical more interesting. I can definitely see why West Side Story is such a famous musical; I was into it from [the] start to [the] finish,” freshman Alex Halpern said.

However, scheduling the play on a Wednesday night did not allow every student enough time to complete all the assigned homework.

Freshman Naomi Brooks said, “They should have scheduled the play on a weekend or a Friday because having the play in the middle of the week made it hard to keep up on homework.”

February 20, 2009

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Newsbriefs

Wacky student experiments A portrait to call their very

by Zachary Wexler own, The Memory Project Each year, the Science Fair provides an opportunity for eighth grade students to experiment with imaginative scientific hypotheses. This year’s Science Fair was held on Feb. 4 after being delayed due to snow.

Science teacher Anu Gupta thought the most interesting experiments included

photo by David Goldstein

Eighth-graders Eliana Stanislawski, Ella Issacharoff and Academic Dean David Solomon. fascinating

physics

“Grooming and the Heart Rate of Horses,”

by Sahara Reiz and Hannah Slayer, and “The Effect of Simulated Earthquake on Three Different Building Foundations,” by Samantha Wiener and David Kessler.

“I think that this year’s Science Fair was very successful and it was great seeing all the different projects that people had worked on,” Wiener said.

When compared with the sixth grade science fair, “this year it was much more complex and the projects were more varied and more creative,” Kessler said.

One of the changes for this year’s science fair was the addition of grade-wide awards.

There was an award for each category of project including chemistry, biology, math and engineering, behavior sciences and physics.

Eighth-grader Jacob Dorn suggested that there should be more time for experimentation.

Andrea Wiener, parent of eighth-grader Samantha thought, “The science fair was very well organized and educational, it allows the students to learn about a subject they may not have otherwise learned about in an effective interactive manner.”

Minyan Exploration Tuesday: a brand new perspective

by Josh Boxerman The Tuesday following every Rosh Chodesh is Minyan Exploration Tuesday.

On Jan. 27, students were able to explore a new minyan that they do not normally attend.

“In a pluralistic school, there are a lot of benefits. One of the benefits is that you can learn from approaches that are different from your own. Getting a chance to be a visitor in that, I think is a great opportunity. One of the most exciting things about coming to school in the morning is that you have so many different types of minyanim going on all at the same time,”

Director of Judaic Studies Michael Kay said.

In order to participate in the program, students had to sign up in advance.

While only 11 students participated in the program, Kay said that he hopes for more participation in the future as word spreads.

The students that attended Minyan Exporation Tuesday reacted positively to the experience.

“I love being a minyan helper, but I alo love meditation minyan. It was a learning experience for me…It’s a great way to try new things,” said freshman Henry Baron.

Underclassmen dance all night in the theme of black and white

by Isaac Nelson The sophomores sponsored a high school dance on Dec. 20 from 8-11 p.m. The attire was semi-formal for the black and white dance.

“It’s the first dance [organized by] the 10th grade this year. It’s going to rock for the high school. We put a lot of effort into making this dance and I think that the students really enjoyed it,” sophomore Secretary of Fundraising Brooke Friedman said.

The dance was held at the end of the main hallway, where most of the decorations were. People danced in small groups with their friends.

“It was a lot of fun, everyone was dancing with their friends and you could tell that the grade government spent a lot on it,” sophomore Adam Goldfarb said.

The area was decorated with icicle lights, fake snow, streamers and black and white balloons. There were also tables set up in the atrium, with food and drinks that followed the black and white theme, such as Oreos, brownies and other snacks. Members

photo by Abby Litman rockin’ all night

Sophomores Spencer Balkin and Mikey Schoenfeld lead a dance line at the black and white dance. of the grade government played music from iPod during the dance.

Although the dance was mostly attended by sophomores and freshman, there were people from other grades and schools as well.

by Haley Cohen Six seniors participated in a charity called The Memory Project, which helps underprivileged children in Ecuador. Photos of the Ecuadorian children are sent to accomplished artists and hand drawn portraits of the children are sent back to them. According to Ben Schumaker, who started the program in 2004 while in college, the children the program works with are very poor and live in orphanages. JDS has participated in this project once before, two years ago.

Art teacher Joan Mazer said, “They did a piece on The Today Show about it and I [decided to] contact the man who started the organization. He sent me photos of third world children, many who have no families.

I think since most of us come from privileged backgrounds, it’s a great challenge.”

Mazer selected Sarah Stern, Sarah Lazarus, Hannah Seidel, Claire Buck, Dana Perim and Erica Lazrus, all of the class of ’09 to participate. The girls were chosen based on their artistic skill, “I offered it as an alternative project for experienced seniors. It was a project that took a long time, but these are kids who are committed,” Mazer said. “[Drawing the portrait] was fun because all we see is the picture, but there’s a story about the person behind the picture. I think it’s a nice idea to help brighten someone else’s day,” Lazarus said.

Once the portraits, drawn with colored pencils and aqua oils, were finished, they were sent to the children so they could have a meaningful possession that was uniquely theirs.

“[The portrait] doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s just nice that they have something,” Seidel said. After completing the portraits, the artists wrote personalized letters to the children to accompany the gifts. “It made you [realize] these are real people with real lives. I really like how it turned out and I hope the kid does too,” Seidel said.

photo by Joan Mazer

BRIGHTENING THEIR DAY As part of The Memory Project, artist Dana Perim (‘09) drew a painting of Jessica which will be sent to her in Ecuador.

Mental health speaker shares personal trials during assembly

by Valerie Cohen On Jan. 13, Colleen Colphi, the program manager for the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign (NMHAC), spoke to the student body about mental health issues and the stigmas surrounding them.

The NMHAC was founded in 1999 as part of the White House Conference on Mental Health.

The guidance department hoped that the presentation would make students more comfortable discussing mental health issues.

“I think that what we were trying to do was open up dialogue around mental health and removing the stigma associated with seeking help for any kind of issues,” High School Guidance Counselor Melissa Gartner said.

After the assembly, the guidance department held a panel discussion for parents that night.

The speakers present were Esther Kravitz of National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), Colphi, and all the guidance counselors.

“The setting of the evening program was very different from the daytime. It was a smaller, more intimate setting. The group was smaller and the way it was presented felt a little more intimate than the large assembly,” Herskovitz said.

Gartner felt the panel allowed for discussion.

“There was [time] in that meeting for

question and answer which really promoted a dialogue,” Gartner said.

Junior Elizabeth Landau thought the assembly went well.

“I thought it was great because it kind of shed a new light for me on those problems people have and I think what she said can really affect everyone in some way, so I thought it was a really meaningful assembly,” Landau said.

Gartner felt the program was a success but it did not accomplish one of the goals it had been trying to achieve.

“There was [time] in that meeting for question and answer which promoted a more intimate dialogue,” Gartner said. “We had a lot of positive feedback from students and parents about both the daytime and evening program. I think Colleen’s presentation did a good job of encouraging students who are struggling with a mental health issue to reach out and ask for help. But one bit of feedback we received was that the program did not address those students who are coping with a mental illness in a family member or loved one--that is, how to help yourself cope in that situation... that piece wasn’t addressed directly in Colleen’s presentation and it is something we have shared with her and will need to think about for future programming.”

In the end, the assembly was generally successful in spreading mental health awareness, connecting with students and removing stigmas associated with mental health issues.

6

Editorial

the

lion’s tale

February 20, 2009

The art program is not reaching its full potential The arts program has always been a work in progress at JDS. With courses such as music ensemble, studio arts, and ceramics, there is no question that an arts program is existent. On Jan. 27, 2006, it was announced that JDS received a $15 million dollar gift from the Smith-Kogod family, much of which would be used to restructure and enhance the K-12 curriculum in “the arts, social studies, and experiential education.”

However, the Lion’s Tale editorial board believes that the administration has not done enough to promote and further enrich the arts program at JDS. The arts are not made a priority as are the other electives and departments. For instance, students often find themselves in a predicament when it comes to taking an arts course. This is because language courses and study halls are during the same periods as those allotted to the arts. The inconvenient pairing of these three invaluable courses leaves students with the unfortunate option of needing to choose between learning a

second foreign language to accompany their Hebrew, taking an hour to do homework and study for other courses, or taking an arts class which provides a great experience and different way of learning.

The music, studio arts and photography teachers believed that the arts should be a vital part of a student’s school day because the arts teach students a way of thinking that no other course can teach. For example, when there is usually only one answer for a math problem, there are always many ways of going about and numerous possible answers for an art project.

Another dilemma with the arts program is that there is not an efficient system of progression in place. For language courses, students graduate a level each year and build on their skills the next year with a new more advanced curriculum. The arts are not always able to efficiently provide the students with the same structure in which students master material and build off of their skills.

This structure is not possible because the

administration, namely the guidance department, uses the arts courses as filler space. If a student is not signed up for a course, the counselors often toss them into whichever arts course is available, without regarding the level of the class.

This flawed system is what leads to the arts program not being able to live up to its full potential. There have already been cases in both studio arts and photography courses this year in which artistically inexperienced underclassmen were placed into advanced level arts courses. What ends up happening is that the teacher needs to create multiple curriculums for the same period in an attempt to accommodate students’ different levels. When a teacher is preoccupied with needing to teach multiple levels at once, it is that much harder for the students to master the material and progress in their studies of the arts.

Charles Ostle, the lone music teacher, believes that, “The arts are important in creating well rounded and cultured individuals.”

Every year, students transfer out of JDS in pursuit of a better arts program. This means sacrificing the unique Jewish education JDS provides all because of the lack of priority placed on the arts.

JDS has not successfully stressed the importance of the creative and thinking tools that the arts provide its students. The students, arts staff and administration each have contrasting views of the importance of the program at our school, which often leads to the core of the problem not being addressed.

JDS must recognize that there are skills involved with the arts that can only be learned through years of study and practice.

The Lion’s Tale staff thinks that there should be more communication between the arts teachers, students and administration to ensure that all aspects of the future integration of the arts into JDS are addressed and in order to produce a superior academic experience for all students in the future.

David Goldstein

The Schmooze It is impossible to evaluate personal prayer in minyan When Director of Judaic Studies Michael Kay implemented a new minyan grading system on Dec. 9 that evaluates “student leadership, engagement and student preparedness,” I was taken aback. I believe the idea of grading a student’s prayer or participation in minyan poses a number of problems because it is impossible to fully evaluate a student’s personal prayer.

Under the new grading system, students will now receive one of four descriptive marks instead of receiving a letter grade based solely on attendance.

A mark of Leader/Role Model (LRM) indicates that a student takes an active leadership role in minyan and sets a good example. A mark of Active Participant (AP), not to be confused with Advance Placement minyan, indicates that a student is positively engaged during minyan. A mark of Passive Participant (PP) indicates that a student is supportive but not engaged. A mark of Unsupportive (U) indicates that a student is disruptive.

According to Kay, the new grading system will provide an incentive for students to be more active in the minyan program.

The formal grading system of minyan poses a number of problems. A student who uses minyan as an opportunity to thoughtfully reflect privately on prayer will receive a lower grade than a student who thoughtlessly recites words from a siddur out loud.

Although students may pray in different ways, the grading system only acknowledges public participation in prayer. It is also difficult for teachers to evaluate a student’s participation in certain Drisha minyan programs, because it is a challenge to determine who the leaders are in a minyan where everyone is just watching a movie.

I believe that the school should consider informally evaluating students instead of maintaining a formal grading system. Minyan leaders should have private conversations with students who they believe do not satisfy the goals of the minyan program.

Perhaps a student does not participate in prayer because he/she does not know how to recite the prayers.

A student may not engage in an arts Drisha minyan because he/she is not passionate about the arts. By

having a private conversation with the student, the minyan leader can discover the problem and help the student.

The Jewish Theological Seminary uses a similar form of private evaluation for their students. No grades are given to students for prayer, but students are spoken to privately if they do not meet their obligations. Rabbi Lisa Gelber, Associate Dean of The Rabbinical School, explained that if a student who is studying to become a rabbi does not wear tallit or tefillin on multiple occasions, she has a private conversation with the student.

The Principal of Hebrew Academy, Rabbi Avi Levitt, explained that Hebrew Academy also does not formally grade a student’s davening performance on report cards, but does take steps to encourage positive participation.

By implementing a system of constructive private conversations, JDS will be able to help students improve their engagement in minyan. After all, constructive feedback helps encourage one of the main goals of prayer: personal improvement.

Valerie Cohen

The VALid Voice Journalistic integrity is the only way to report the news On Jan. 25 the Associated Press (AP) published an article about how the children of Gaza were suffering psychological damage from the airstrikes.

It pains me that the children of Gaza had to suffer but that is not why I cite this article. I cite this article because while the AP decided to publish an article on the pain of the children of Gaza’s article, they did not publish an article on the psychological damage of the children of Sderot. Between 75 and 94 percent of children in Sderot exhibit post-traumatic stress symptoms, yet the AP and major American news outlets have not deemed that newsworthy since the qassam rocket attacks began in 2001.

As a JDS student I am hyperaware of the situation in Israel. In many of my Jewish History classes the situation in Israel has been a major topic of discussion.

Thus as a relatively informed reader, it frustrates me when I read biased reports that do not accurately cover

both sides.

If this were the only incident in which I saw biased reporting I would have deemed it an anomaly but I have seen biased article after biased article. While it is understandable that public opinion would sway to the side of Gaza, because Israel initiated the attack, the situation is so nuanced that it is up to the media to cover accurately and remove as much bias as possible. It is not just bias in articles and journalist reporting that leads to bias. Decisions of what topics to cover or not cover are indicative of media bias, as well.

In a time when the dispute between Israel and Hamas is highly affected by public perception, Israel and Hamas have been waging a publicity battle to sway public opinion. It is understandable why a journalist would want to use their position to sway the public to believe what they believe but to follow through with that is unethical.

In situations like the one in Gaza it is all too important for media outlets to cover events fairly. As a journalist, I am shocked and dismayed by the bias of various media outlets, bias that is pro-Israel or proPalestinian.

One thing I have learned at my tenure at JDS is that there are always two sides to every story. While I am admittedly a highly biased reporter I recognize my limitations and do my best to compensate by portraying the other side. While as a journalist I strongly believe the freedom of speech, in this media battle it is understandable why Israel did not allow press into Gaza. Journalists could have been hurt, but that is not the reason that I understand Israel not allow press into Gaza. Journalists that do not portray both sides do not respect the ethical codes they have promised to adhere to and I think that that is a crime on humanity in of itself.

February 20, 2009

the

lion’s tale

Opinion

Letters NETA curriculum helps achieve Hebrew department’s mission Dear Editor, I was pleased to see the most recent issue of the Lion’s Tale dedicate a major investigative article and a staff editorial to the subject of Hebrew language education in our school. The CESJDS faculty and administration believe strongly that Hebrew—both as the language of our ancient, classical texts and as a vibrant, modern spoken language—is a centerpiece of the curriculum of any Jewish school, and it is encouraging to see that the student body shares this belief in the need to prioritize Hebrew.

There may be legitimate reason to question some of the statistical methodologies employed in the investigations described in the article, and the information presented pertaining to the NETA curricular materials included some factual inaccuracies. The conclusion, however, is clear: while there are elements of our school’s Hebrew program that are strong and praiseworthy, there are also

December corrections Dear Editor, Thank you for your coverage of the seventh grade Living with Disabilities program (Dec. 8, p.3).

There are two corrections to the lead paragraph: Lenore Layman is the Director of ESS, grades K-12. I am the Upper School ESS Coordinator and Chair. In addition, the article states that I “ran” the program alone. Since its inception many years ago, Middle School Director Joan Vander Walde and I have been partners in that endeavor. We are fortunate to have had the assistance of the ESS faculty for the last several years.

In addition, the headline implies that the program’s goal was to teach “lessons of tolerance.” In fact, the letters the students wrote to the speakers mentioned “insight,” “understanding” and “inspiration,” which were closer to the goals we hoped to attain.

Susan Zuckerman faculty

areas in which further development must be undertaken. Students interviewed for the article generally spoke positively about the dedication, professionalism, and talents of the Hebrew department faculty, and the staff editorial wisely pointed out that overall improvement of any educational program must be a community-wide endeavor: students must take a degree of responsibility along with other constituent groups within the school. We look forward to strengthening such thoughtful partnerships with our students in many areas of school life, both inside and outside the classroom.

As a faculty that values the ongoing pursuit of excellence and seeks to be responsive to feedback, we are constantly considering ways in which we can enhance teaching and learning within the school.

In the case of the Upper School Hebrew program, this involves a careful assessment not only of the Hebrew department curriculum, but also of the role of Hebrew

language in other departments’ courses, the place of Israeli culture in school-wide celebrations throughout the year, and the utilization of Hebrew in co-curricular programming.

As I mentioned when I was interviewed by the Lion’s Tale staff, the goals of our school’s Hebrew program are twofold: to promote skill and comfort in the speaking, reading, writing, and aural understanding of the Hebrew language; and to promote positive associations with the Hebrew language and Hebrew/Israeli culture.

We are aware that we have more work to do as we seek to achieve these goals, and the articles served only to reinforce our commitment to this work. We have undertaken a thorough process of research and reflection, and we welcome continued feedback from students as we shape the future of our Hebrew program.

Michael A. Kay Director of Judaic Studies Acting Chair, Hebrew Department

We need to remember that NETA is an Ivrit b’Ivrit program Dear Editor, I appreciate the thoughtful article “NETA’s effectiveness questioned” that ran in your last issue. According to the article, 42% of students surveyed felt that their Hebrew deteriorated over the years and, comparatively speaking, “many felt most comfortable with the Lower School’s curriculum.”

While the article addressed issues of curriculum development, teacher training and creativity levels, it failed to mention another potential reason for the perceived weakness of the NETA program when compared with the teaching of Hebrew in the Lower School: the concept of an Ivrit b’Ivrit program.

The Hebrew curriculum in the Lower School encompasses 40% of a student’s day. Students study all of their Judaic subjects in Hebrew.

By contrast, students in the Upper School spend only 11% of their day in

Hebrew courses.

While we have been lucky in the past few years to introduce more Ivrit b’Ivrit courses in the Jewish History and Jewish Text departments, the reality remains that we fall far short of offering a student comparable time in their day in which to work with the Hebrew language.

It seems to me that this might contribute significantly to the discussion on the perceived strength of Hebrew education in the Upper School.

We simply are not offering the same amount of opportunities for Hebrew study and use that are standard in the Lower School.

While NETA may or may not contribute to this, it is essential to look at our opportunities for Hebrew engagement as part and parcel of this discussion.

Aileen Goldstein Senior Associate, Israel Engagement Initiatives

There is no moral imperative to spend our money sparingly in today’s hurting economy Dear Editor, In the Dec. 8, 2008 issue of The Lion’s Tale, Sam Greenberg’s column advises that those at JDS should moderate their spending in light of the economic downturn. He suggests, “Those who are still doing well should adapt their spending pattern in light of all those who are currently suffering.”

Despite the good intentions of this suggestion, the action that Greenberg suggests is both ineffective and lacking moral grounds.

Greenberg assumes that as a well off community there is a moral imperative for us to spend frugally in order not to offend those who have been affected. However, many who have insulated themselves from the downturn have done so only through hard word and dedication and have a right to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Greenberg’s idea would also be ineffective, as spending less doesn’t in any way help those hit by the crisis. Our spending less would have no effect on those in bad financial beyond a very debatable psychological boost. Rather the only end spending frugally meets is to assuage the guilt of those who have not been affected.

More importantly, spending less would further worsen the economic crisis, hurting those that we intend to help. Our economy is based on consumer spending, meaning that the amount of consumer spending has a proportional effect on the country’s economic prosperity.

In order to end the current economic downturn, the federal government, through stimulus checks and lowered interest rates have attempted to jump start the economy by increasing consumer spending.

An attitude that consumers should spend moderately regardless of their economic situation would hurt the economy; to the detriment of those Greenberg’s idea was meant to help.

In conclusion, Greenberg’s idea would only serve to assuage guilt of the wealthy while furthering the troubles of the disadvantaged. In our community, helping others is of great concern. I hope in the future practicality is considered of more importance than assuaging guilt in these ventures.

Ari Blask junior

7

the

lion’s tale Editors-in-Chief Valerie Cohen David Goldstein Managing Editor Benjamin Block Copy Editor Jonathan Waksman News Editor Adam Weinberger ass’t: Joshua Boxerman Feature Editor Danny Schwaber Israel Editor Neville Brodie In-Depth Editor Kyle Hardgrave

Sports Editors Jeremy Lynn Joshua Walfish Imaging Editors Joshua Raanan Web Editor Daniel Liss

Reporters Joshua Boxerman, Samantha Bressman, Haley Cohen, Emily Dworkin, Nathan Forman, Meryl Kravitz, Samuel Krosnick, Joshua Lerner, Jessica Lieberman, Daniel Liss, Isaac Nelson, Jacob Schaperow, Ryan Strassman, David Weinberg, Jonah Weisel Photographers Joshua Raanan Shira Singelenberg Advertising Manager Joshua Tessler ass’t: Nathan Forman

Business Task Force Managers Benjamin Block Thomas Gutterman Ezra Rudman Business Task Force David Ben-Ami, Ari Blask, Gabrielle Charnoff, Max Cutler, Jeremy Halpern, Kyle Hardgrave, Daniel Kolender, Alexander Orenstein, Yaron Steinfeld, Joshua Walfish Faculty Adviser Samantha Gendler Adviser Emerita Susan Zuckerman Member: Columbia Scholastic Press Association, Maryland Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association, Quill and Scroll Recipient: CSPA Silver Crown, Gold Medalist Award; MSPA Marylander Award; Quill and Scroll George H. Gallup Award The Lion’s Tale is a forum for student expression.

Its purpose is to inform the CES/JDS 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. Editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the LT board. The Lion’s Tale encour­ages its readers to write letters to the editor and reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity. All letters must be typed and signed. Letters may be e-mailed to lionstale@cesjds.org.

Published by the students of the Upper School Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Annette M. & Theodore N. Lerner Family Upper School Campus 11710 Hunters Lane Rockville, MD 20852 phone: 301.881.1404 fax: 301.230.1986 www.lionstale.org

February 20, 2009

the

lion’s tale

Opinion

8

Letters

Moscow Memories We arrived at the airport where we were greeted by eight Russian boys holding Gerbera daisies. The weather was gloomy, and the traffic uninviting, but our palpable excitement was unperturbed as we headed off to the Moscow National Jewish School.

I and seven of my fellow juniors, accompanied by Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Granite traveled to Moscow, Russia on Dec. 8, for a week.

The Moscow National Jewish School #1113 is a building complete with a kitchen, gym, nursery school, media center, dance room studio and history museum. Students’ ages ranged from two or three to 11th graders. Russian students graduate a year earlier than American students. In addition to studying Russian literature and History, students also have classes in English, Hebrew, torah, math and sciences. The school served as our base for the week. Every morning, our Russian families woke us up, fed us and transported us to school.

Our activities ranged from visiting the typical tourist attractions of Red Square and the Kremlin to bowling and seeing the circus. On one particularly busy day, we managed to squeeze in a metro tour, a visit to the armory, the Kremlin, Red Square the famous giant cannon and bell of Moscow, as well as two synagogues—all on foot in the rain.

We, of course, all came well prepared for the infamous Russian winter by bringing hats, gloves, long underwear, heat packs and cold medicine. However, the tricky weather managed to catch us off guard. Thankfully, our excitement and appreciation of the experience kept us warm enough throughout.

Our primary modes of transportation were our host families’ cars to our meeting points, the tour bus and the Moscow metro. The Russian metro is a beautiful system of highly decorated stops complete with historical tile mosaics of Lenin, and “lucky” statues of dogs. Unfortunately however, the metro doors do not have censors and close quite quickly—but we survived.

One of the most interesting aspects of the trip was what I learned outside of the structured tours and the museums. We saw a memorial synagogue/ Holocaust Museum, a fascinating Russian history museum, the school’s very own history museum which tracked the lineage of each student’s family, tours of multiple synagogues including the Chabad house (which had an amazing restaurant upstairs!) However, I learned just as much from merely talking to my “family” and the students themselves. The students had fascinating perspectives on their Judaism, the structure of the school, their futures, Americans, American movies, Russia and everything else. We experienced their normal actives with them by going bowling, touring the malls (one is seven floors complete with an ice rink, nightclub and multiple restaurants).

One of the most influential things that I experienced was my dialogue with my family. Because the driving age is 18 in Russia, the mother literally drove her children everywhere in addition to cooking (DELICIOUS, AMAZING) Georgian gourmet cuisine every day. Hearing her perspective on her single day of rest in the week— Shabbat—was very touching.

Speaking to my “dad” (through his son translating) was very eye opening as well.

We discussed many things, from Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton to the political and social implications of living in a post-soviet country. Discussions with him really informed me of the corrupt and unstable state of many of the beurocracies in Russia, and—however cheesy—really made me appreciate the significance of free speech as well as the other democratic liberties we enjoy in America.

All in all, my experience was unforgettable for many reasons. I made close friends (whose arrival I await in May!), and I learned about Russian history and culture. I also got a much better understanding of Jewish life in an entirely different community (and in a Jewish day school half way across the world). I got a sense of what it is like to grow up in an entirely different country, and I saw some amazing and beautiful things.

Most importantly, I grew to appreciate the things we have back here at JDS and in America.

Jessica Lieberman junior

NETA program discourages students from studying Hebrew Dear Editor, There was an important piece missing from the article about our school’s Hebrew program: our mission statement states that students should “appreciate and master the Hebrew language as the language of the Jewish people.”

There are many problems with this goal. First of all, it is simply not happening. As the article clearly shows, many people feel that NETA has not helped them learn Hebrew.

From what I have seen after six years of using the NETA program, it actually seems to be discouraging students from mastering the language, and causing them to dislike it. I think it is fairly clear to the Hebrew department that we do not like NETA, and that it is not helping us, yet they continue to use the books.

I cannot speak for everyone, but I think that my Hebrew actually deteriorated between seventh grade and 11th grade. In 11th grade, when I had the option to pick which Hebrew class I wanted to be in, I did not choose a NETA class, and I have seen great improvement in my Hebrew over the past two years.

However, for many people, 11th grade is too late. They have already come to dislike the classes and the language, and nothing can change that.

Obviously there are always going to be students who do not like Hebrew class, but that number could be greatly

reduced by implementing a new program.

The second problem with this part of the mission statement is that it does not just require students to be taught Hebrew, but requires that they master the language.

They have to be practically fluent in it.

Not only is this not achievable, it is wrong. How can our school require that every student be fluent in a language? That is like requiring that every student get an A in math every year.

Every student has different strengths, and for some language may not be one of them. While there are definitely students who can and have mastered Hebrew, even using the NETA program, there are some who, despite their best efforts, have not, and there are some who simply do not care to.

A more realistic and correct goal would be, “to teach students the Hebrew language to the best of their abilities, and foster and appreciation for the language.”

At the very least, it should be clarified what “mastering” the language entails.

Because requiring every student to become fluent in any language, even those who have been studying it for 13 years, is very unreasonable.

Sarah Freishtat Class of 2009

Students must learn to show respect Dear Editor, I have been teaching at JDS for 16 years and I marvel every day over the high quality work that our students produce! Yet it has always puzzled me how some of our nicest students can often be seemingly lackadaisical during assemblies or other public forums.

Recently, we had a speaker come to school to give a program called “No Stigma”. The speaker was there to make sure that all of us understood the complications of mental illness and to provide us with information in case we needed help for ourselves, a friend, or a loved one. Since we can’t tell a person is suffering from mental illness just by looking at them, it is a very difficult illness to understand.

There were many disappointing

comments and actions that I heard that day. People complained that we have had too many assemblies just like this one. Some of my own students asked if they could skip it. Many students tuned the speaker out, and others were noisy or rude. Maybe you did not like the speaker but that still does not give you the right to keep others from getting valuable information that could one day help them to heal or get the help they need. One of the major precepts of our school and our faith is Tikun Olam. We could have all helped to make the world a better place for our friends simply by letting the speaker have her say and by being polite enough to allow our friends to listen to her words.

Jerry Eisner photography teacher

Being pro-Israel doesn’t mean supporting all government decisions During Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, JDS saw a surge in “pro-Israel” sentiment. It is our instinct as Jews to defend Israel’s actions in protecting her citizens, but for me, supporting Israel does not mean supporting the Israeli government’s every decision. Just as with the United States, it is always possible that the Israeli government is doing exactly the wrong thing for Israel as a nation. That being said, I strongly believe that the war in Gaza was a mistake.

Some have suggested that because their homes are now destroyed and their families broken, Palestinians will suddenly wake up to the evils of Hamas. But really the destruction just legitimizes Hamas’s claims that Israel is the bad guy. Cast Lead has poisoned the views of dozens of potentially moderate Palestinians against Israel, and caused widespread despair — which, ultimately, leads to extremism. When young men feel that they have nothing to live for, that’s when they give themselves to violent, selfdestructive acts.

Given all of this, with 500 civilians dead and thousands more wounded, the war in Gaza still failed to secure basic security for Southern Israelis. In many ways Israel has made itself less secure, as international sentiment towards Israel has taken a nose dive.

Of course, we are used to scoffing at the international community’s one-sided attitude towards the Jewish state, but now Israel’s relations with some of its friendly Arab neighbors are also on the rocks — and those friendships will be crucial for long-term

peace.

The Israeli government must think about the endgame; one day, it will want to reach out and make peace with Palestinians, a prospect that has become more daunting today in a post–Cast Lead world. It is also our responsibility, as American Jews, to think critically about the Israeli government’s actions. I still have hope that, under an Obama administration, we will depart from the complacency of the last eight years and take an involved role in bringing peace to the Middle East. I also pray that Israelis will choose a prime minister who will work to that end. We Jews should never stop supporting Israel, but we must also think about what that that phrase means. For me, it means supporting peace, not war, in the Middle East.

There is not an easy solution to this conflict. The Israeli government must think about the endgame; one day, it will want to reach out and make peace with Palestinians, a prospect that has become more daunting today in a post–Cast Lead world. It is also our responsibility, as American Jews, to think critically about the Israeli government’s actions.

We Jews should never stop supporting Israel, but we must also think about what that that phrase means. For me, it means supporting peace, not war, in the Middle East.

Kyle Hardgrave In-Depth Editor

February 20, 2009

Israeli artist speaks to Dilemmas class

by Neville Brodie On Dec. 21, Riki Rothenberg, a famous Israeli artist, spoke to Yaffa Dagony’s fourth period Dilemmas class.

Dagony also invited Rothenberg to speak to her senior Dilemmas class and to two junior classes.

Rothenberg is well known for her paintings of Jerusalem and its spirituality. She is in the U.S displaying her work to various organizations.

“I always try to talk and teach as it is my pleasure, especially teaching young ones [who] have an impact on [the future]. I think that understanding their roots and heritage, is a very important thing,” Rothenberg said.

Dagony hoped that Rothenberg would enrich the student’s understanding about Jerusalem through art. “The goal was to speak about Jerusalem through art. This is the best time of the year to connect Jewish day school kids to a Jewish culture, through art. [They] gained many things – one is that they learned about an artist from a different place. They learned about little Jewish stories. They were exposed to new art, and had a chance to broaden their knowledge,” Dagony said.

Junior Renee Dunn enjoyed Rothenberg’s presentation.

“I really enjoyed the presentation because it was really interesting, and showed Jerusalem in a whole new way.

Her art work was also beautiful,” Dunn said.

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lion’s tale RALLY, from page 1 “I think it was really important that we, as a school, were there. It’s a community organized event on behalf of the state of Israel and the people of Israel in showing our support as the Washington D.C. Jewish community. As a leading institute in that community it was really important to have representation there. As part of the schools precept of “Ahavot Yisroel,” the concept of loving and supporting Israel was a strong way to express it. I am extremely happy that we went,” Senior Associate of Israel Engagement Initiatives Activities Aileen Goldstein said.

Students made JDS proud during the rally.

Debbie Demske, mother of seventh-grader Ben Fox, wrote in an e-mail that JDS students were very well behaved. “Our students can be very proud of the positive effect their presence had on those attending the rally.”

“I was very proud of the way the JDS students conducted themselves, they were really [a] credit to the school with their pride and passion and enthusiasm for the school,” Jewish Text, Thought and Practice teacher Matthew Lipman said.

During the rally, students were able to show their support for Israel.

“It’s exciting to be in packed space with people across the religious spectrum or even across religion — everyone there was even Jewish. You’re sitting in the room with the leaders of the community and even members of congress and the senate, with a common message. Even though we know within that message there are different politics going on, it’s really powerful,” Goldstein said.

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photo by Shira Singelenberg

WAVE YOUR FLAG Sophomore Rahel Fainchtein shows her Israeli pride by waving her Israeli flag from the balcony level seats of the 6th and I synagogue.

Hebrew classes enlightened about at risk Jewish teenagers

by Neville Brodie On Jan. 30, members of the program “Youth Futures” came to JDS to speak to seventh and 10th grade Hebrew classes.

Youth Futures is a program run by the Jewish Agency.

The goal of the organization is to provide youth who are at-

risk with opportunities to improve their lives by providing them with mentors.

Eleven members of the program came to talk to individual classes about their jobs.

“We wanted to tell them about a program that helps children have a better life, these children have lots of different difficulties and we help them,” mentor Janna Grechuhin said.

The discussions were held in small groups which helped the students engage in what the speakers had to say.

“I thought they were extremely interesting and I’m glad we had a chance to hear from them,” sophomore Katie Kessler said.

“I liked the presentation more than an average assembly becuase of the student-teacher ratio,” said sophmore Brandon Varone.

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February 20, 2009

Putting a

pri ¢ e

on Education

$

by Kyle Hardgrave

o just what is the value of a good education? Is it the ability to foster a life-long love of learning, or is it the assurance of a good job and future? Is it discovering the ethics of our ancestors or is it becoming a critical thinker in today’s society? Should it be high or low on our list of priorities for ourselves and our children? ¶ No longer just a philosophical discussion topic, this question is a point of ongoing discussion for many JDS families. With tuition at the Upper School topping $22,000 and an economic downturn, many families might otherwise find themselves looking at a decision between a quality Jewish education and stable finances. But the school has a mechanism to help reconcile those two choices for large number of JDS families: financial aid.

It is rarely talked about and poorly understood, but the school takes financial aid very seriously, and it is instrumental in allowing hundreds of students to attend JDS — many of whom would not be able to otherwise.

And though the idea of financial aid is not exactly unique to JDS, the way it is used here is. There are a number of factors that make financial aid and the culture that surrounds it is noteworthy, starting with the name.

It’s called ‘tuition assistance’

H

ere at JDS, there is no such thing as financial aid.

“We refer to it in the school as tuition assistance,” Susan Brinn Siegel, the assistant head of school and chief operating and financial officer, said.

She is one of a small number of people in the school’s administration who handle tuition assistance applications. According to her, the distinction between tuition assistance and financial aid is an important one.

“It reflects our philosophy about what the money is for,” she said. “We call it [tuition assistance] because we want to assist our families in reaching their goal of being able to provide a Jewish education for their children, and we want to partner with them in that undertaking.”

For all the novelty of the philosophy, in practice the idea is nothing new. Families applying to JDS indicate that they would be interested in receiving tuition assistance. The school then evaluates a family’s ability to pay based on a fairly standard set of financial information in addition to considering any special circumstances. Unlike some institutions, JDS’s tuition assistance is need-

based, not merit-based, meaning that the school does not consider a student’s academic or athletic record when determining the award. Then, alongside the in-house process, the school uses the Private School Aid Service (PSAS), an Ohio-based contractor that calculates needbased aid for over 4,000 private schools nationwide.

According to Brinn Siegel, PSAS is only one point in the calculation process.

“In the vast majority of the cases,” she said, “we would define the family’s need by what our assessment says and in the vast majority of cases it’s substantially higher than what the independent service defines the family’s need as.”

The award itself varies a great deal from family to family, according to Controller Julie Scott.

Some families receive a “substantial” amount, some very little, but everybody pays something.

Scott declined to elaborate on what an average award might be.

has allocated $4.6 million, representing about 15 percent of the budget, towards tuition assistance in the 2008–09 school year. That money comes from many sources, including grants from the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the school’s own fundraising and full tuition–paying families. The school also has the Tuition Assistance Society, made up of major donors who have agreed to make a five-year gift of $25,000 to the school to be used exclusively for tuition assistance.

Finally, there is a tuition assistance endowment, which contributes a small amount of annual yield. All this goes to the roughly one in three students who receive tuition assistance.

It is a generous program, Brinn Siegel says, and it reflects our mission and distinguishes JDS from other area private schools.

“

We want to assist our families in reaching their goal of being able to provide a Jewish education for their children,

and we want to partner with them in that undertaking.

— Susan Brinn Siegel

“In general, we have twice the percentage of students participating in the program and twice the level of budget allocated towards tuition assistance,” she said.

Beyond the numbers

T “It varies so much — it’s the kind of statistic where an average would be misleading, because it’s so dependent on income and the number of students in the family,” Scott said.

Even without such information, it is clear that JDS will be spending a considerable amount of money on tuition assistance awards this school year. The school

he numbers would seem to speak very highly of JDS’s tuition assistance program, but behind all these facts and figures there are the families for whom tuition assistance — or in some cases, lack thereof — can be an important aspect of life at JDS. JDS parents such as Mrs. M., who receives tuition assistance and spoke under the condition of anonymity, described their experience with the program as quite positive.

“The school has been very generous and when you speak to them in person they’re very helpful and caring,” said Mrs. M. She felt that the school has always been readily available to make sure that she can afford to give her children a Jewish education and a Jewish environment in which to grow up, something that is an essential value for her.

“When I grew up, I went to a public school,” Mrs. G said. “I did hardly any social or extracurricular activities because everything was on a Friday night. . . . Now my

the

lion’s tale

February 20, 2009

“

The school has been very generous and when you speak to them in person they’re very helpful and caring.

— Mrs. M.

kids can really participate in every facet of the school.”

This sentiment is not unique to Mrs. M. For many at JDS, including those who pay full tuition, having a caring and inclusive Jewish community is what makes the high cost of attendance a worthy expense, especially in an area where the public school education is very good.

According to Brinn Siegel, this dedication to a Jewish education is what sets JDS’s tuition assistance apart from the “financial aid” of most private schools.

“In other independent schools, tuition assistance is used to create

diversity,” she said. “It’s a little different from a school like ours which is a community school. Families are here because they feel a sense of need to have their children in the school.

It’s important to who they are and the way they want to raise their chil-

dren.”

Even with tuition assistance, however, Mrs. M. said that keeping her children at JDS is still a financial strain.

“I think that it’s really a very big trade-off,” she said.

“The financial aid is really great, and I’m really grateful. But even with all that financial aid, the tuition is our major expense and we don’t do vacations and we don’t get a lot of stuff and we really try to get by without a lot of the extras.”

In spite of the generally positive feedback towards the program, there are a number of families for whom the tuition assistance they received did not adequately offset the financial burden.

Ruth Newburger, who has a son in fifth grade and a daughter in eighth, cited financial reasons in her decision to take her ninth-grade daughter Abigail out of JDS last year, and potentially take her younger daughter Hannah out of the school next year.

“For the last couple of years we had received a little a bit of tuition assistance. That being said, it’s still a lot of money,” she said. “It’s worth trying Churchill because it’s up the street and it doesn’t cost over

$20,000 a year.”

Another such case is the Hirsh family. Freshan Ilana Hirsh says that her family has not received any tuition assistance in spite of financial hardship.

“We’re a family that’s really struggling — I may have to leave the school next year,” she said. “My dad is building an upstart biotech, and all three years that I’ve been here they’ve refused to give our family financial aid. I don’t think they understand that it’s not just what car you bought, it’s your story.”

Her parents declined to be interviewed for this article.

According to Brinn Siegel, stories such as these are outliers.

“By and large, families seem to be satisfied with the amount of their grants,” she said.

“Families report back to us that they appreciate the support they get from the school and also the way that they are treated in the process.”

Brinn Siegel also emphasizes that the decision over how much money is too much to spend for education is a “very personal” one.

“If you start with the premise that sacrifice may be required by a family to send their children here, then it’s a value judgment for the family,” she said.

by the Numbers

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In-Depth

or not.”

Other students seem to agree that money is unimportant when it comes to student interactions at JDS. Although some have noted that clothes or material things might play a role in how one is judged,

actual examples of this do not seem to come up.

However, a number of students have suggested that money is such a nonissue because of a lack of economic diversity.

“My feeling and my impression is that a lot of people, especially in my grade, are comfortable financially,” Hirsh said. “At JDS, I don’t think there is a lot of economic diversity.”

Hirsh’s impression is not uncommon among students, many of whom assume that the majority of people are paying full tuition and therefore the majority of people are well-off.

Junior Daniel Kolender shares the idea that financial status does not really affect other people’s judgements.

“Some people get cars, new Lexuses for example,” he said.

“But I don’t think it affects the way people judge you, because pretty much everyone’s rich.”

This idea can have negative repercussions for those actually receiving tuition assistance, many of whom are not in an economic position to spend extra money.

“Sometimes other people in the school unwittingly do things that make it tough,” Mrs. M. said, noting several examples of when she has felt compelled by the community to spend extraneously, including money for thank-you gifts in the Lower School, the yearly fundraising and the seventhgrade Teva trip that required parents to buy a number of clothes and camping supplies.

Mrs. M. also feels that her family’s disparate financial status can be “stressful” for her children.

“I think they feel the difference between themselves and their peers,” she said. “They understand what our priorities are, and there are so many other problems in this world — this isn’t a very big problem. But I have to recognize as a parent that I’m putting my kids in that situation.”

Still, Mrs. M. stresses that she doesn’t feel like her children have ever been treated differently because of family finances.

“You’re with some really wonderful peers who have a lot more money than you but you can be an equal part of the community because it’s a Jewish community,” she said.

Mrs. M.’s eldest daughter, who currently attends the Upper School, also does not think that money is much of a factor in student life. “In the way that people dress and in their vacations and such,” she said, “but I don’t think that people’s social lives are designed by their money at all.”

On the tuition assistance program at JDS, she had this to say: “Financial aid is great; it’s awesome — having it.” ■

of the student body receives tuition assistance this year.

of the student body received tuition assistance five years ago.

million. Budget, in dollars, for tuition assistance in 2008–09 at JDS.

million. Increase, in dollars, in tuition assistance budget from 2006.

But what about the children?

A

mong students, tuition assistance — and financial differences in general — does not appear to be as sensitive a subject as with parents. To most students, it simply doesn’t matter.

“I really don’t think that it matters how financially well-off you are,” junior David Friedland said, copresident of the Student Council. “At JDS, you have an equal number of opportunities, whether you’re wealthy

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February 20, 2009

lion’s tale

Ambassador stresses importance of youth’s future

by Neville Brodie On Dec. 16, Sallai Meridor, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, spoke to the student body as well as the faculty and staff. More than 100 students listened to Meridor speak during the final 25 minutes of the day. Later that day, instead of a faculty meeting, the teachers and staff had a chance to meet with him as well.

“Ambassador Meridor talked about all the capabilities of the Jewish youth and what we could do and he kind of gave us a motivational speech,” sophomore Dov Block said.

Merridor spoke for about 15 minutes and left the remaining 10 minutes open for questions.

“I asked him how he dealt with religious an political conflicts. He said that he kept Judaism his way, which is very interesting and admirable,” sophomore Galit Krifcher said.

JDS did not give Meridor a specific topic to speak about.

Some students were surprised by what he chose to talk about but used the opportunity to ask questions in order to learn what they had intended on learning.

“I expected him to talk more about the Israeli political issues and challenges that he faces as an ambassador and what being an ambassador is actually like,” Block said.

Michael Kay, Director of Judaic studies, was contacted by the Embassy and arranged the day for Meridor.

“He was very interested to see how one of the larger institutions of Jewish education in this country functions, so the embassy contacted us. We gave him a tour of the school, and he met with Mr. Cannon,” Kay said.

“Regarding the topics, it was what I expected. We didn’t give him a specific topic to speak about, but I knew that he was interested in explaining how he sees the importance of Jewish education for the future of the Jewish world and I think he wanted to inspire students. Overall, I think he was very impressed with our school,” Kay said.

photo by Adam Hammerman

LOUD AND CLEAR Ambassador Meridor delivers his speech in Hebrew to members of the student body. He also spoke to the entire faculty after school and answered questions about Israeli politics.

Mock elections predict the results

by Neville Brodie The 18th Israeli Knesset (Parliament) was elected on Feb. 10. To mark the occasion, JDS held a number of educational programs.

In preparation for the election, middle school students studied how the Israeli political system worked. Students closely studied five of the many political parties. Students also focused on two main Israeli policies: peace and security, as well as religion and state.

“I think it’s a little confusing but important to learn about and very interesting,” said seventh grader Alex Flum High School students participated in learning sessions during lunch. These sessions were lead by Head of School

Jonathan Cannon, Jewish History teacher Dodi Goldstein, Senior Associate of Israel Engagement Initiatives Aileen Goldstein Hebrew teacher Yaffa Dagony.

“It’s important that the school gave us the chance to learn about the elections because not all of us are educated on the subject,” sophomore Stephanie Prigal said.

The whole school took part in mock elections on Feb. 10.

The results, shown on the right, resulted in a victory for the Kadima party. The actaul elections, in Israel, also awarded Kadima the vicotry.

Two days later, the whole school came together, in two seperate groups to engage in a panel discussion with Israeli experts.

HaBayit Hayehudi - 2.6%

Yisrael Beitenu - 2.6%

Shas - 2.9% United Arab Lists - 8.4%

Kadima - 31.5%

Meretz - 9.1%

Av o d a h Labor - 13%

Likud - 28.2%

Bard explains news media bias through video and discussion

by Neville Brodie

Photo by Neville Brodie

TAKE YOUR PICK Juniors Maya Shair and Ariella Weiss submit their choices for the mock Israeli Elections during lunch. Unlike the school’s mock U.S. elections, voting was open to all faculty and students.

ALL ABOUT ISRAEL Israeli Experts Jeff Mendelson, Gilad Golani and Laura Kam answer various election-related questions from Senior Associate of Israel Engagement Initiatives Aileen Goldstein and students. The panel discussion was held on Feb. 12 instead of class meetings.

The questions included how the coalition governments might form and how this election would impact Israel politically.

Photo by Neville Brodie

On Dec. 22, Mitchell Bard, executive director of the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, came to speak to Dr. Coxe’s 8 period Jewish History: Modern Israel class.

Another 80 juniors heard him speak. Bard is the father of junior Ariel and sixth-grader Daniel.

Jewish History teacher Dr. Sara Coxe arranged for Mitchell Bard to speak.

After the presentation, her Modern Israel students completed assignments about Bard’s presentation.

“I wanted to introduce the idea of Israel in the media, and I think the kids appreciated someone speaking to them directly about media,” Jewish History teacher Dr. Coxe said.

Bard began by showing the students clips of Palestinian TV shows. In one TV clip, Farfur, the Hamas MickeyMouse, taught anti-Israel ideas.

“I think Bard’s goal was to make an overall presentation of biases against Israel in the media,” junior Ari Blask said.

Bard led a very interactive discussion with the students.

He showed other images from his website, “The Jewish Virtual Library” and alerted students to the biasis that occur.

“I learned about all the biases that occur, but I don’t think there is anything we can actually do to change that,” Blask said.

Bard explained the unfortunate reality that the press is often times bias against Israel.

“The discussion was balanced, yet Dr. Bard focused to some degree on how Israel is often portrayed poorly in the media,” Coxe said.

February 20, 2009

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Speaker educates about war in Israel Living with the conflict

by Meryl Kravitz

about what is going on in Israel, the media has not always painted the full picture.

“It was really good to hear about it from a professional and from someone who knows so much about the subject,” Krifcher said. “It’s always important to learn more.”

“The best outcome [in this] whole thing [for] Israel is that there will be an agreement to shut down Hamas,” said Director of the Stein Program for Counterterrorism and Intelligence and senior fellow at Washington institute Mathew Levitt.

The assembly was designed to educate the sophomore students about the war in Israel. The assembly was held on Monday morning, Jan. 12.

Victoria Rothenberg, Director of Student Life and Senior Associate, and Aileen Goldstein, Senior Associate of Israel Engagement Initiatives, arranged the assembly.

“Dr. Levitt’s name was brought up, and we happen to have connections with him. Dina Levitt is a member of our faculty and he was gracious enough to agree to come. Very many experts in that field right now are very busy because there is a lot going on. It wasn’t possible to get just anybody,” Rothenberg said.

Levitt showed a series of videos that demonstrated what Hamas was really doing. “The media doesn’t always have the most reliable information on the news in Israel,” Levitt said.

Many students agreed that as a Jewish school, we must educate those in the community who know less about it.

These videos helped the students have a better understanding of the war in Israel and the position of some Israelis.

Sophomore Galit Krifcher thought that the assembly was very important. “I think it was extremely helpful. It’s really important to know information about what’s going on in Israel especially because Israel is so important in our Photo by Andy Siegel school, so for people who didn’t know it was ALL ABOUT GAZA Dr. Levitt helps to further educate students really a very educational experience,” Krifcher about the situation in the Middle East. said.

Even though most students have an idea

by Briana Felson

JDS Graduate Marnina Cowan, class of ’06, spoke to more than 90 JDS students on Jan. 8 about her experiences living in Haifa for a semester. While in Israel, Cowan studied at the University of Haifa because it has a reputation for being a pluralistic school. Cowan did not want to experience Israel as a tourist, rather she wanted to become part of the larger community.

Cowan came to JDS with a specific message for the students.

“There is a difference between living in peace and living together. I tried to tell the students to leave their emotions behind and see the other side but that doesn’t mean to sympathize with the other,” Cowan said.

Cowan spoke to the students about working with Makom BaGalil.

According to Makom Bagalil’s website, “The Galilee Foundation for Value Education - Shorashim has engaged in education for intergroup understanding since 1992. The foundation’s central mission is to use informal education to build the Galilee as a model of civil society. The activities of the Foundation deal with bridging three major fault lines in Israeli society and the Jewish world.”

Jewish History teacher Dr. Sara Coxe, invited Cowan to speak to help the students understand the wide range of beliefs in Israel.

“Understanding someone else’s culture sometimes helps to understand the actions and beliefs of individuals. So, since Marnina graduated from JDS and did this important work, I felt that she was a fantastic person to speak to our students. They might relate to her and her experiences,” Jewish-History teacher, Dr. Sara Coxe.

The specific project Cowan worked on, Schenim, enabled her to meet with Arab teenagers in two different villages, Gedaide and Dyr Al Assad.

Cowan helped the Arab teenagers improve their English and realize their true identities.

“I tried to tell the students to approach this Arab Israeli conflict with a more open perspective. You don’t need to be pro-Palestinian to understand and be friends with Arabs,” Cowan said.

Word on the street

Do you agree with Israel’s decision to go into Gaza?

Why or why not?

I don’t believe I am educated enough to have an opinion weather I agree or disagree with the decision. I feel Israel has some educated people up top, and that if they thought it was the right decision for the nation of Israel, then I believe we should support them in any way possible.

—Nathan Seymour, Asst. Athletic Director

It’s a very hard decision but I think that going into Gaza was a mistake because there are civilians living there that didn’t actually do anything wrong. The risk of killing innocent lives was way too high, how ever I do think protecting Israel was necessary.

—Freshman Eden Katz

Of course I agree because if they are being threatened everyday with 60 Quassam Rockets then Israel had to right to defend themselves.

—Seventh-grader Gilad Freidman-Hagbi

I completely agree with what they did.

They had to go in order to create peace, and force is the only way they could have gotten it done.

—Sophmore Joshua Rosenberg

I agree with this because I think that we are trying to end this war but if they keep firing at us then we can’t just ignore it, and we have to do something about it to protect Israel.

—Eighth-grader Shira Racoosin

I agree with Israel’s decision to go into Gaza as a defensive maneuver but I do not necessarily agree with the way they carried out the mission.

—Junior Alon Krifcher

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Feature

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February 20, 2009

Look out! Here comes the high school musical

by David Goldstein The newest theatrical production, Little Shop of Horrors, skillfully combined humor and horror in a dazzling show.

Performing in front of a sold-out theater on Saturday, Jan. 17, the diversified cast of veterans and novice performers did not appear intimidated.

The play began boldly with Mira Fein (‘11), Galit Krifcher (‘11) and Elizabeth Feldman (‘09) performing the classic “Little Shop of Horrors” theme song in front of a closed curtain. The singing and dancing was quite good and kept the audience’s attention. The vocal coach, Maureen Rodelka, helped the students master challenging roles and transformed the play into a strong musical. After the curtain parted, I was struck by a very professional set. The Skid Row flower shop was cleverly designed to allow performers to have maximum space, and the massive flesh eating flower Audrey II was a work of genius.

Mr. Mushnick, performed by Danny Schwaber, spoke in a heavy New York accent and presented himself with an important air of authority. Because his flower business was failing, Mr. Mushnick needed something to lure in the customers. The answer was a special plant discovered by Seymour, Mr. Mushnick’s employee.

Amir Fogel, who played Seymour, an awkward bumbling nerd in love with Audrey (Sarah Lazarus), instantly charmed the audience.

While Seymour had his eyes on Audrey, Audrey II the plant Seymour affectionately named after Audrey, started to grow larger and larger. After appearing on various news channels, Seymour started to enjoy his newfound fame thanks to his massive plant. However, Audrey II had a dark side because it feasted on human blood. In order to keep his plant-derived fame, Seymour murdered and fed those closest to him to Audrey II. Unbeknownst to the audience, Fogel was actually nursing his sore throat backstage between scenes. “Because the seniors’ last day was Friday, my voice was shot and [so] for

a

the past 24 hours I have literally been on water [and] tea and backstage there is a full jar of honey and I have been chugging it,” Fogel said.

However, in order for Seymour to win his dream girl, Audrey, he first needed to get rid of Audrey’s abusive dentist boyfriend Orin (David Samet). Orin loved inflicting pain on people as a dentist.

In a climatic moment, Orin appeared on stage looking like Robert Redford. Constantly fixing his hair and marching in a leather jacket, Samet captured the persona of an evil, but cool dentist masterfully. However, in the end, Orin ended up being fed to Audrey II. Quite remarkably, photo by Carolyn Weinstein Audrey II had a trap door beneath her, which al- GETTING GROOVY Amir Fogel (‘09) dances to “You Never Know” along with fellow lowed doomed performers graduate Elizabeth Feldman (‘09), and sophomores Mira Fein and Galit Krifcher. to escape off stage after benary vocal performances by Lazarus, Seymour and Audrey ing eaten. Audrey II, which was operated by Ilan Rasooly was quite the masterpiece. shared a passionate on stage kiss, which I am sure made all “When the giant plant swallowed a person on stage, he/she the chugging honey seem worthwhile.

Sadly, Audrey II was still starving and demanded to be climbed through a hole in the plant and then through Ilan’s legs to escape,” the play’s producer, Director of Student fed. With Seymour’s blessing, Audrey jumped in the plant and shared the same fate as many before her.

Life Victoria Rothenberg said.

Even though greed and corruption ultimately won out, With the evil boyfriend gone, Seymour was able to successfully pursue Audrey. Following a number of extraordi- the play Little Shop of Horrors featured big entertainment.

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Science teacher Elizabeth Burguieres enhances the day with pop culture and bogus rumors

by Elizabeth Burguieres 4:30 a.m.: Wake up to “Danger Zone” (it used to be the Rocky theme – no, not “Eye of the Tiger” – until it got politically charged). Call James to see if he wants to go to the gym. Grunt = “yes.” Silent = “no, but you already woke me up, so okay.” Suggest he would be more pumped if he woke up to Danger Zone. Get hung up on.

5:00 a.m.: Walk to gym, wearing at least four layers of clothing.

5:15 a.m.: Arrive at gym. For amusement weigh myself before and after taking off warm layers (wahoo, I lost 15 pounds!). James doesn’t seem to think it’s funny. He doesn’t think much is funny at this hour.

5:17 a.m.: Run three miles. Earn reputation as ‘that-girlwho-tries-to-grade-papers-while-she-runs.’

5:40 a.m.: Lift weights with James. See who can do more pull-ups. It’s still me. James gets motivation to go to the gym again tomorrow.

6:00 a.m.:Re-layer warm clothing. Walk home from the gym. Plan to see James for dinner (yay, a date!)

6:15 a.m.: Get ready for school. Straighten hair for date.

Eat cereal.

7:00 a.m.: Leave for school in my sister’s car (mine’s toast. She goes to school in northern Ireland. She’ll never know! Until she gets back next week. Yikes, I have to get a new car).

7:35 a.m.: Arrive at school. Put cell phone in safe, undisclosed location. Talk about science things in the science office.

Period 1: Pretend I teach at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Call all of the girls Ms. Granger and all of the boys Mr. Potter or Mr. Weasley. Teach biology, yay!

Period 2: Pretend I’m in High School Musical and teach and ignore student friend requests. Do yoga. Read my imin song. Students only agree to join in if it counts towards munology textbook. their participation grades (boo.) Teach biology, yay!

10:30 p.m.: Call James, say goodnight. Go to sleep.

Period 3: Start a rumor that Mr. Miller used to work for 12:30 a.m.: Receive call from my sister in Virginia tellMI6. Teach biology, yay! ing me how much she is enjoying college.

Period 4: Forget to have snack between classes. Devote 4:30 a.m.: Call my sister in Virginia, tell her how much I all energy to maintaining a reasonable level of crankiness. enjoyed our conversation last night. Get up for the gym.

Teach students how to tackle a deer.

Lunch: Meet with students in atrium. Left food in the science office. Nooooooooooo!

Period 5: Confirm rumor that Mr. Miller used to work for MI6 (did you hear he had double 0 status?) Teach biology, yay!

Period 6: No class! Eat entire box of cereal.

Club Period: Grade Government for Class of 2012. Plan movie night for December ninth! Make a case for Monster’s Inc., but I’ll settle for the Fifth Element.

5:00 p.m.: Date with James! Climbing gym, then Demolition Derby complete with corn-on-the-cob dinner. On way home stop by theoretical astrophysics book signing (no way, spaghettification is real? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Spaghettification).

9:30 p.m.: Return home. Grade papers in attempt to make my “to be graded” pile smaller. Failure. Wait a second, photo courtesy of Elizabeth Burguieres I think it got bigger. How did this hap- MY NEW RIDE Science teacher Elizabeth Burguieres excitedly hugs her pen?! Check Facebook and chat with old new car. Before this, Burgueres was using her sister’s car due to the sad buddies (hi, Mr. Diamond!). Laugh at demise of her 12-year-old Geo Metro (sniffle).

February 20, 2009

the

lion’s tale

Feature

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“Promposal” fever infects the senior class

by Maya Felman There was a resounding thump on the window during math and science teacher Howie Weinstein’s first period Anatomy & Physiology class. The blinds were opened, and there hung a note taped to the outside of the window.

“Hallie?” it read, “Will you go to prom with me? Clues to your potential prom date will visit your classes throughout the day.”

During each of Hallie Silvermitz’s (’09) classes, a different senior gave her an envelope containing a clue to her potential prom date’s identity. Then, during math teacher Reuben Silberman’s fifth period calculus class, there was another thump on the window.

The blinds were opened to reveal a note, this time saying, “I may be in your class right now.”

“So I turn around,” Silvermitz said, “and Yonah [Lieberman] (’09) was standing up stretching. I have no idea what we said to each other but a second later I was across the room giving him a major hug.”

Lieberman’s mysterious method may seem hard to rival, but for this year’s senior class, elaborate invitations to senior prom have become almost the norm.

Andy Tracer (’09) wrote a note asking Dagania Steinfeld (’09) to prom, then gave it to administrative assistant Judy Bartman, who called Steinfeld to the front desk over the school intercom.

In the middle of the Dec. 6 Judablue concert at the Hebrew Academy, drummer Raviv Brooks (’09) knelt down onstage, took out a flower, and asked Michal Abraham (’09) to prom.

Brooks was also an accomplice in another prom proposal.

He and Amir Fogel (’09) dressed up as the Joker and Batman respectively. Brooks kidnapped fellow Hannah Goldstein (’09)

from Hebrew teacher Yaffa Dagony’s fourth period Dilemmas class.

Brooks was soon followed by Fogel, who asked where Goldstein was, pretended to kill Brooks’ the Joker, and proceeded to ask Goldstein to prom.

Those who have been asked and spectators alike have enjoyed the imaginative invi-

Dean of Students Roslyn Landy echoed the general sentiment, saying “The seniors were very creative and thoughtful in their ‘invitations’ to prom.”

However, since a few of the most public prom proposals took place at school, disruption of classes became a problem in the weeks before winter break.

photo by Carolyn Weinstein

TWENTY-EIGHT POSTERS ONE QUESTION Samuel Hammereman (‘09) along with 27 other seniors ask the question to Morgan Franklin (‘09) during a girls varsity basketball game. Franklin’s response was yes. tations to prom.

“It was amazing,” Abraham said of Brooks’ mid-concert proposal.

Sophomore Abigail Duman called both proposals “the cutest things ever,” continuing, “even for non-seniors, all of this prom drama is so much fun.”

“All of the asking out has been really cool,” junior Gil Kline said. “It’s basically a great creative way expressing yourself to someone else.”

“There was one instance when I had to get involved,” Landy said. “One person took others out of class and then interrupted another class. I e-mailed the students that they had to get permission from me before they could ‘be creative’ so that I could be sure it did not interfere with classes.”

Most prom proposals did not prompt involvement from Landy, however; there was a delicate balance between students acting appropriately and teachers taking a liberal

stance on the definition of appropriate.

“This is after all the last year and last month. Some fun does not hurt anybody,” said Hebrew teacher Yaffa Dagony.

The issues that came with the publicity of the recent prom offers were not limited to academic disruptions; those who opted to ask others to prom in public ways opened themselves up to the possibility of public embarrassment.

“I was nervous that [Sarah Freishtat (’09)] was going to turn me down,” Ted Bogin (’09) said. Bogin baked a cookie cake for Freishtat that spelled out “P-R-O-M?” with M&M’s.

Andy Gruhin (’09) performed Jason Mraz’s ‘I’m Yours’ in front of the cafeteria during lunch before asking sophomore Jenna Jach if she’d go to prom with him.

“I wasn’t really nervous about whether she would say yes, because we’re going out, but just because it was really public. She might not have liked it.”

Those who were asked, however, were by no means exempt from pressure that comes with public prom proposals.

“I’m pretty sure these complicated ways of asking girls to prom evolved because this way, they can’t really say no,” Bogin said.

“I personally wanted to go with Jon Grunewald, who asked me to prom” Sara Marcus (’09) said, “but I definitely think that some girls might feel kind of pressured to go with guys because they asked them in public ways,.”

Most, however, emphasized the fun and general excitement of the crazy prom proposals over the pressure and disruption that came with it.

“It’s been really fun,” said Dafna Feith (’09), “it just adds to the craziness that is senior year.”

Adam Goodman (’09) was especially enthusiastic about Bogin’s cookie cake. “It was really, really good,” he said, “I ate, like, half.”

When does competitiveness go too far?

COMPETITION, from page 1 The team’s philosophy of winning every possession could have led to this game getting out of hand. By having “short term memory” and playing hard and trying to win every possession it may be hard to focus on the overall picture of how the game was going.

Star center Eitan Chemerinski had a game that may have broken school records. Chemerinski scored 55 points, a school record, and was the key player in this victory. He felt strongly that the way the team and coach conducted themselves was the right course of action.

“I think it is more disrespectful to not play hard and treat them like an inferior team then if you just went there and played like any other game and tried to play to the best of our abilities,” Chemerinski said.

However, there were other opinions to how the coach should have handled this situation.

“I think the coach should pull all of the starters once the lead gets to a certain level. He could have the players practice set plays or just require them to pass the ball more in order to minimize running up the score. I don’t think the coach has an obligation to tell his players to throw the ball away and not take any shots,” Mark Levitt, parent of Elliot (’05), Max (’07) and Joel (’09), said.

He along with other parents was worried about the message being sent by the school.

Athletic Director Jeff Rose has shared concerns with the parents about the game.

“Some parents have commented to the administration and we understand all of the different perspectives on this issue and that while we believe that it’s important for our school to be competitive on the court or field, we must always maintain our principles of good sportsmanship,” Rose said.

photo by Alon Krifcher

SIDELINE CHAT Head Coach Matthew Feldman gives a midgame lesson to junior Jonah Weisel and sophomore Solomon Shapiro.

He called McLean’s athletic director to clarify the schools intentions.

“I contacted the athletic director from McLean the next day after the game. In conversation, I assured them that it was not our intention to cause any embarrassment to the students at McLean, and I apologized for any distress that was caused by this game,” Rose said.

Head of School Jonathan Cannon expressed what he could about the issue.

“Coach Feldman demonstrated his skill as a coach. He modeled leadership by explaining to our team why he felt

that in retrospect it would have been better to have played a different strategy in the third quarter that would have allowed for less disparity in the score line,” Cannon said.

Other players commended him with how he handled the situation given the circumstances.

“I thought he [Coach Feldman] handled it very well, you know its sort of a strange circumstance when you’re winning by that much, but I thought the whole situation was handled well,” Jacob Israel (’09) said.

Another problem that arose was the fact that EitanChimerenski scored 55 points. Many people feel that a player shouldn’t be scoring that many points in a basketball game. It is an exciting record, but for one player to score 55 points in a game may be inappropriate.

“I think it was inappropriate to leave a dominant player in just for the purpose of getting a record against a team that was so outmatched,” Levitt said. Coach Feldman thought little of the record.

“There was nothing planned, it was an opportunity for him to play about half of the game which he did, and the best opportunity to score against a team that didn’t have very much height was to go to Eitan …he was the best opportunity for us succeed in that game,” Feldman said. There seemed to be a disagreement about the intentions behind the record. Whereas Feldman said that there was no plan to make the record, Layman saw it differently.

“We planned for him [Eitan] to break the school record and possibly the PVAC record so we all knew,” Layman said.

It is always a challenge to know when to draw the line between being competitive and exhibiting good sportsmanship.

“We understand all the different perspectives on this issue. While we believe that it is important for our school to be competitive at sport, we must always maintain our principles of good sportsmanship,” Cannon said.

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Lions hockey makes it to states

by Joshua Walfish The ice hockey club had a 9-0-1 conference record and clinched the top seed in the playoffs in its inauguaral season as a club sport.

The club is fully funded by the players themselves. It came about with the help of Jeffery Weiss, the father of freshman goalie Daniel Weiss.

It originally was going to be a junior varsity team with the better players playing on the Germantown High School team, however, in the end the players decided to stay together. The players who don’t play a lot at the varsity level do play a lot in developmental games. The club’s home games are played at Wheaton Outdoor Rink.

The club participates in the Capital Conference of the Maryland Scholastic Hockey League (MSHL). The group of 21 is coached by Jason Kersner, a former JDS student who left to play hockey at Thomas J. Wootton high school before his junior year.

Defensively, the team is led by junior Jared Lese and freshman Zachary Oring. Weiss starts in goal for the Lions and is very thankful for having the defense he has in front of him.

“He [Oring] keeps the number of scoring chances low,” Weiss said.

Lese agrees that the defense is one of the strengths of the team.

“Our defense is not the biggest but we do play solid fundamental hockey for the most part,” Lese said.

He also commented on Oring’s defensive skills. “Zac’s stamina is what I think is best about him. He plays amazing defense and he is a great skater, but his stamina is what makes him great.

He literally gives the rest of us defense the little time we need to rest while he is able to literally skate the entire game at nearly full speed,” Lese said.

The Lions started the season with a 2-1 victory over the St. John’s College High School Cadet on Nov. 18.

The Lions then suffered their first bump in the road with a 3-3 tie against the Mt. Saint Joseph Gaels on Dec. 2.

On Dec. 8, the Lions rebounded to defeat the Woodrow Wilson Mules 7-0.

The Lions then continued on in a series of wins to defeat the Churchill Bulldogs JV team twice, the Gonzaga Eagles and the Landon Bears.

The Lions suffered their first defeat with a 3-1 loss in a scrimmage against the Walt Whitman Vikings.

Luckily, the Lions bounced back with a 5-4 victory in a rematch with the Cadets on Jan. 29 and a 4-0 victory in a rematch with the Bears on Feb. 3.

The Lions entered the playoffs as the number one seed with their 19 points, a three point lead over the Bears and Gaels.

The team began the state playoffs on Feb. 9 against the Gonzaga Eagles at Wheaton Outdoor rink. The Lions fell behind 1-0 at the end of two periods. The zamboni then came out to clean the ice surface, causing the teams to head to their locker rooms. Daniel Kaprow (‘09) then gave a inspirational speech. The Lions came out in the first 3 minutes 40 seconds and scored two goals to take a 2-1 lead. Eyal Breit (‘09) added a powerplay goal to give the Lions the 3-1 victory.

With the victory, the Lions advanced to the Regional Semifinals against the Landon Bears, who the Lions defeated twice in the regular season.

The Lions led the Bears 2-1 with three seconds left when the Bears tied the game off the stick of Breit. After a scoreless 10 minute overtime session, the Lions won the shootout 3-0 to send them to the Regional Finals. Weiss stopped all three shots he faced in the shootout and Oring, Kaprow and Breit all scored to launch the Lions to victory.

The Lions lost in the Regional Finals to the Linganore Lancers 5-4 in overtime to end their cinderella inaugural season as a club sport.

February 20, 2009

Dancing to a new beat

by Valerie Cohen The girls varsity dance team started fresh this season with new coach Alana Hill and five new dancers.

Hill’s dancing experience includes eight years of dancing in the D.C. area, including training, teaching, choreographing and performing.

The varsity dance team has had three coaches in four years.

Junior Jillian Racoosin felt that switching coaches frequently the past couple years has been difficult.

“It has been hard for the team these past few years with constantly changing coaches because each year we have to mold to our new coach’s style,” Racoosin said.

In order to adjust to Hill’s style of dance the team’s style adapted to incorporate more hip-hop into its routines.

My background is mainly in hip-hop although I have trained in other dance forms,” Hill said. “[The team is] doing mostly various styles

photo by Jeremy Lynn

Practice makes perfect Junior Gabriella Bender-Laskow practices her dance team’s routine at a practice.

photo by Jeremy Lynn

Sophomore Brandon Varone and freshman Noah Rosenfeld search for the puck in a 5-4 victory against the St. Johns College High School Cadets on Jan. 29. The Lions entered the MSHL playoffs with a 9-0-1 record and the top seed in their conference. The team defeated the Gonzaga Eagles 3-1 on Feb. 9, and the Landon Bears 3-2 in a shootout on Feb. 10 in the first two rounds of the state playoffs. They ended their miraculous season on Feb. 12 with a loss against the Linganore Lancers in the Regional Finals. cool as ice

of hip-hop movement. However, I try to fuse in other elements when possible.”

Racoosin sees the coach’s new dance style as a positive.

“We have become more urban in our style and have transferred from a more ‘pommy’ look to a more street style. From each new coach we learn something new and grow as stronger dancers,” Racoosin said.

Hill saw adjusting to the hip-hop style of dance as one of their main challenges.

“The girls are working on incorporating the authentic style and technique of hip-hop into their vocabulary. Because hip-hop varies based on how and where you train, adapting to the style of a new teacher can be difficult. So that’s presenting some challenge,” Hill said. “I hope they will incorporate some of the authenticity of that style into what they are used to doing, and really shine in terms of energy, performance, attitude and style.”

“I think our team is used to more ‘jazzy’ [dances] but I think it is good for us and it is a little bit more funky and challenging,” junior Gabriella Bender-Laskow said.

According to Hill, another challenge the girls faced was hard physical training.

“I have trained in group exercise instruction and as a result, sometimes I can be tough in terms of physical conditioning, Hill said.

“However, I really have a great team and am confident they’ll conquer anything I throw at them.”

“It was hard because a lot of people take dance classes and have lot of other extracurriculars outside of school, so they can’t come to all the practices and I think that was hard,” Bender-Laskow said.

The dance team has performed routines to the songs “Single Ladies”

by Beyonce, “Skippin” by Mario, “Concentrate” by Xzibit, “Can We Chill” by Ne-Yo, “Disturbia” by Rihanna, “A Capella” by Brandy and “Tortilla Chips” by T. Bizzy. The dance performed “Disturbia” at the JDS pep rally on Dec. 22 and have since performed at multiple varsity basketball games. Their season ends after the boys varsity basketball championships.

For Racoosin, the team’s goals next year are clear. “[Our goals are to] expand our style to maybe more than just street hip-hop, perform even more, compete and grow even more as beautiful dancers,” she said.

the

lion’s tale

February 20, 2009

Sports

19

GVB record gets flipped 180 degrees

by Jonah Weisel

photo by Josh Raanan

Junior Audrey Richardson shoots a freethrow in a win against the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars on Dec. 11 at JDS. and one for

The girls varsity basketball team is well into a successful season with a record of 12-5 after finishing last season with an under .500 record.

The team started off undefeated until a loss against the Covenant Life Cougars on Dec. 18.

One reason cited for the team’s success is the new Head Coach and former Mount St. Mary’s University player Tammy Ryan’s style of coaching.

“She has brought a good balance this year between being too intense and being too laidback. We are working hard, but having fun at the same time,” junior Gabrielle Charnoff said. 0“She is not your typical coach; she never yells at us. Instead of making us nervous when we make mistakes, she calms us down and helps us move on.”

“She lets us have fun, but at the same time she is teaching us new things every single day,” junior Gabrielle Cohen said. “She taught us how to really play like a team. We didn’t really do that before, but now we know how to work well together.”

Ryan has a relaxed coaching style.

“I am more of a laid back coach, which is what the girls want,” Ryan said. “I think I am a positive influence on the girls, and I hope they see I’m here to change the program around positively.”

Ryan does not credit herself with the team’s success. She believes the players are the one’s who deserve all of the credit.

“They are a good group of girls who enjoy playing with each other, and that creates a great atmosphere,” Ryan said.

Ryan believes the girls have improved on their communication the most this year. Although the team has played well so far, Ryan has bigger goals for the future.

“Our goals for this year are to grow as a team and to begin to change the image of the JDS women’s basketball program,” Ryan said.

The team beat Barrie Mustangs 31-30 on Feb.10 when a Mustangs player missed a last-second shot.

GVB tipped off in the PVAC quarterfinals on Feb. 17 against the Washington International Red Devils.

The Lions won 45-25 to advance to the next round and play the Grace Bretheren Eagles on Feb. 19.

GJVB repeats as champs G-Man brings the house with a successful season down, dunks steal the show

by Samuel Krosnick

After winning the championship last season, the girls junior varsity basketball team was looking at improving upon their 6-5 overall record and and repeating their 6-0 in conference play. Since day one, the team maintained this goal to defend their championship.

The team returned six sophomores from last year. Freshman Naomi Eyob said, “They know most of the plays that we have done and they can show the freshman how to do it if we get confused.”

“The freshmen know that they are the up and coming leaders of this team,” Eyob said.

The team was challenged in a Dec. 1 game against the Oakcrest Chargers. JDS held a lead until the fourth quarter and eventually the period ended with the score tied. In overtime, the Lions proved to be too much for the Chargers and pulled away with the victory.

Freshman Aviva Weinstein led the way with 16 points.

Going into the playoffs last year, the team earned the No. 2 seed in the PVAC playoffs and ended up taking home the championship trophy. This season, the Lions entered with the No. 1 seed and are very confident that they will repeat.

The evolution showed by the team over the past few years gives hope for future seasons.

“Truly I believe that the girls basketball program is turning around,” said second year coach Patrick Dudash.

“The team is packed with talent that will hopefully translate into banners in the future when the girls reach the varsity level,” Dudash said.

The team won their semi-final game agianst the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars 37-18 on Feb. 11. The girls defeated the Field Falcons in the championship game on Feb. 12.

photo by Josh Raanan

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Sophomore Ariella Eisen takes a shot in the Lions 37-18 victory over the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars on Feb. 11. The Lions will play the Field Falcons on Feb. 12 for their second straight championship game. letting it loose

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February 20, 2009

lion’s tale

Wrestling talent flourishes GMB pulls off winning record Although the wrestling team has decreased in the number of wrestlers, playThe varsity wrestling team finished its ers feel that the interest of those who have second year of competitive play with a 3-3 stayed has grown.

“It seems like the people that stuck with record. the sport have become much more commitAfter a rough start to the beginning of the ted,” captain Ian Kolmaister (‘09) said. “We first competitive wrestling season last year have begun feeling like a team rather than a with a record of 1-4, the team was able to bunch of people wrestling.” rebound this season by finishing over .500 The team has been able to have shorter The team was coached by Athletic Direcpractices this season, because many of the wrestlers on the team no longer need to learn the fundamentals of wrestling.

“There are only a few new members, so the coaches can focus more on teaching them the basic techniques, while the more experienced wrestlers can just work on getting better,” Kolmaister said.

“Getting more Photo by Josh Raanaan time to work onmake your move Ian Kolmeister (‘09) shows sophomore Nathanmoves gives us a iel Azhdam a move during a wrestling practice. lot of experience,” said Issacharoff.

“There are certain things in wrestling tor Jeff Rose and occasionally by last year’s in which you have to go by instinct, so we coach Brandon Raedy. The team was also need time to internalize the moves.” joined for two weeks by Michael Pollack Despite the small number of players, (‘09).

Coach Rose is confident that the wrestling “He [Rose] stresses less fitness and more program will become top-notch. technique,” said junior Dean Issacharoff.

by Samuel Krosnick

BMB competes for experience practiced organized by the team captains.

“The team is very good when it comes to working together on the court, but we The boys middle school basketball team need to work on getting together practicexperienced a rebuilding season this year. es,” eighth grade captain Michael Gould The seventh and eighth grade boys on the said.

team have proven they can successfully One problem the team has to overcome work together and show leadership within is its size. The team is the smallest in the the team. This has shown on the court, but league but, Istas does not seem worried not in their 3-8 record. about that.

The team is led by first year coach Ray “We can beat any team in this league if Istas, a Lower School PE teacher. we play like we did in the Mclean game,” Istas said team dynamics are very posiIstas said. tive and there were even several voluntary The Lions three wins all came within the comfort of home. The team defeated the Washington International School Red Devils 29-12 on Dec. 4, the Field Falcons 27-22 on Dec. 8 and the Kendall Wildcats 4821 on Jan. 22. The team has lost games by wide margins like the Jan. 13 68-22 loss to the Grace Bretheren Eagles but also have kept games close like their Jan. 21 double overtime loss to the Mclean Mustangs 49-48.

“The team has a real rallying spirit and that effort has been able to keep our games close,” Istas said.

The Lions started their uphill climb for a championship on the road at the Sandy Spring and Friends School against the Wildebeests who defeated the Lions in their first game of the season. The Lions fell 3931 after trailing 27-14 at the half. The team was paced by photo by Joshua Walfish eighth-grader Ethan Walfish Small but mighty Seventh-grader Kobi Fodor looks with 14 points including three for a teammate in the boys middle school basketball three-pointers. team’s 39-31 playoff loss to Sandy Spring on Feb. 5.

by Emily Dworkin

by Joshua Walfish The girls middle school basketball team concluded their season with a record of 8-5 in Coach Jay Matula’s first year as head coach of the team.

The girls started off with a 29-11 loss to the Sandy Spring and Friends School Wildebeests before rattling off four straight wins against the Washington International School Red Devils, Field Falcons, Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy Cougars and the Covenant Life Cougars. The Lions then fell to the Washignton Waldorf Knights 14-8 on Jan. 7 and the Grace Brethren Eagles 20-19 on Jan. 13. The team rebounded with a 14-

12 victory over the Oakcrest Chargers before losing their third game in four games to the Mclean Mustangs 25-22.The Lions finished their regular season with victories over the Kendall Wildcats and the Queen Anne Lions.

The girls began their run for a banner at home against the Queen Anne Lions who the team previously beat 15-2 on Jan. 29.

JDS once again triumphed in the battle of the Lions, by a score of 16-4.

The Lions fell in their quarterfinal game against the Grace Bretheren Eagles 27-10.

The Eagles previously beat the Lions earlier in the season. The team was missing four players due to sickness.

photo by Jeremy Lynn

Victory is ours Eighth-grader Shira Becker takes a shot in the team’s 16-4 first round victory over the Queen Anne Lions on Feb. 5. The team finished 8-5.

February 20, 2009

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New coach, new strategy, same goal

by Jeremy Lynn ‘Win every possession’ is the philosophy that has propelled the boys varsity basketball team to a 17-0 record and a PVAC North Division championship.

Under the leadership of former St. John’s College High School assistant coach, Maccabi Greater Washington head coach and JDS math teacher Matthew Feldman, the Lions have won their games by an average of 27.7 points at the time of print. However, the team has had a few games that have not stayed true to this average, one being a 48-38 home win over the Hebrew Academy Cougars on Dec. 15.

The Cougars opened up the game with a 9-2 run and built up a lead that got as large as 16 points.

The Lions were hurt on both sides of the court when Eitan Chemerinski (‘09) left the game for a large portion of the first half due to foul trouble.

“There is a lot of emotion in these games and we got caught up in it too much to start,” junior Jacob Akman said.

“We didn’t handle their 2-3 zone very well,” Noah Katz (‘09) said.

The Lions ended the half on a run capped with a 3-pointer by Jacob Israel (‘09).

However, at halftime, the Lions still trailed by 9.

“At halftime, I was not going to be emotionally charged.

My conversation was very simple with them. I corrected their mistakes. We tend to become better as the game goes on and we continued that in the second half,” Feldman said.

From there, there was no turning back. The Lions outscored the Cougars 32-13 in the second half and went on to win by 10. They were led by junior Jonah Weisel who scored 17 points.

Along with the successful game, Feldman was dazzled with the rivalry itself.

“It was as exciting as any high school game that I have ever been a part of. It’s something special, and it’s something more basketball fans in the D.C. area need to know about,” he said.

Besides the Hebrew Academy game and a few others, the Lions have won their games by large margins of victory. Their largest was a 78 point victory over the McLean School Mustangs on Jan. 21 in which Chemerinski scored 55 points. The margain of victory and number of points scored by Chemerinski both are team highs this season.

Feldman cited a few reasons for the team’s typically large margin of victory.

“We also have been helped by Eitan [Chemerinski] who has allowed us to run our fast break offense,” Feldman said.

Members of the team give several different reasons for being able to win by a large margin.

“We try to be the hardest working team in the league off the court and on,” Akman said. “We share the ball well and get it to the open man.”

Another reason cited for the team’s success has been the scouting of other teams in the league.

“I don’t ever want to play a team that I haven’t seen once or twice.

I’ve taken it upon myself to scout as much as possible,” Feldman said.

“Feldman puts a lot more work into scouting teams than [former] coach Fierst did,” Katz said.

The Lions hope to win the championship which will be played at Trinity University on Feb. 21. The Lions start their run for a banner with a Feb. 17 game against the Field Falcons.

Photo by Josh Raanaan

Junior Jake Akman scans the floor for an open teammate during the Lions 48-38 victory over the Hebrew Academy Cougars on Dec. 11. the assist man

Strong season does not translate into championship BJVB departs from playoffs early after an undefeated regular season give their team a greater sense of unity and a greater strength.

“Everyone is getting off the bench and everyone is getting After coming off an undefeated championship season, some good minutes.” We have a great sense of teamwork the boys junior varsity basketball team has jumped to a 9-2 and everyone puts in their best effort because of it. We’re start with their only two losses coming a threat from all positions,” to out-of-conference opponents, the cocaptain sophomore Landon Bears, and The Heights School Michael Schoenfeld said.

Cavaliers Coach Buckle has made The new head coach is Vernon Buckle, sure that the team has had a a former college basketball player at West solid rotation Missouri State University.

“The team is working great Buckle is looking to help the team by together. We’re passing the instilling a good base in the fundamentals, ball and racking up assists. while still letting the players have fun.

From freshmen grade to Team members feel that Buckle juniors, everyone on the team is doing a lot to improve the team’s is contributing,” sophomore performance.

Solomon Shapiro said.

“Coach Buckle has a lot of playing So far, the Lions have experience, so I really feel like he knows not lost sight of what their how to help make us better,” freshman greatest achievement would Alex Halpern said. “Coach usually starts be. off our practices with some fundamental “Our goals this year are to drills, then we move to some more go undefeated in conference, specific drills relating directly to our and to win a championship,” offenses and defenses, and then we end Rosenberg said. “The only with some good scrimmaging.” thing standing in our way is “I feel that coach knows exactly what fear of the unknown, fear of he is doing with us. Coach Buckle has a what’s coming next. If we plan for us this season and I feel like so can overcome that fear our far his plan is really working,” co-captain goals can be achieved.” sophomore Josh Rosenberg said.

The boys lost 55-45 in Buckle draws on his playing their semifinal against the experience in the implementing team Washington International photo by Jermey Lynn strategies.

Red Devils on Feb 11 as the Driving the lane Sophomore Ilan Loya dribbles his way by a defender in the Lon’s 52-26 victory over “Being a player, I never really sat the the Grace Bretheren Eagles on Feb. 2. number one seed overall. bench but there were people who sat the

by Ryan Strassman

bench that I knew could really play, so I try to give everyone a chance. Basketball is about rhythm and you never know, your 12th man may get in the game and give you a rhythm, and he may give you big change in the game,” Buckle said.

Many of the players feel that the bench play is helping

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February 20, 2009

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The transition from the PVAC to the NCAA

New record set for the most college recruits in one year

by Benjamin Block As prom, siyum and graduation have now passed, the graduates of the Class of 2009 now have their eyes set on their future college lifestyles. For Eitan Chemerinski, Joshua Brooks and Keryn Bernstein, campus life is going to be a bit more of an athletic experience.

For the last couple of years, the most talked about athletes on campus have been Chemerinski, Brooks and Bernstein.

Each has propelled their varsity basketball, baseball and soccer teams to great success. Now that the three have graduated, it’s time to face the truth; our once high school peers will not be wearing last season’s jerseys with the word ‘LIONS’ written across their chests next year.

Chemerinski and Bernstein will be moving on and competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

After serious recruitment and consideration of playing NCAA baseball, Brooks opted to join the Marine Corps.

Brooks entered the JDS community in seventh grade. Baseball has been his passion since he was six-years-old.

Flying off lion Keryn Bernstein (‘09) dribbles in a a girls varsity soccer game. Bernstein will play for the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets this upcoming fall.

He credits his father, David Brooks, for motivating him over the years to pursue his mascot courtesy of The University of Rochester photo by Raymond Moussazadeh love for the game.

“Part of the reason I have gotten good enough to play in college was because my dad was always and is still always willing to play and practice with me. Every time I have ever wanted to play and practice, which is almost everyday, he has been willing to go and throwwith me. I owe a lot of my success to him,” Brooks said.

Outside of school, Brooks pitched on a team called the BCC Heat from when he was eight-14 years old. Then, he played on the Mid-Atlantic Rookies. Both teams were nationally ranked and played between 50 and 70 games a year.

mascot courtesy of the United States Marines photo by Samuel Hammerman from the halls...

Joshua Brooks (‘09) pitches in a spring 2008 game.

After committing to play at Trinity College (CT), Brooks decided to join the United States Marines.

“As a team we would travel to different tournaments where we didn’t really keep score but we would just play in front of scouts. If a scout liked one of us we would get a phone call or an e-mail from him,” Brooks said.

The recruiting process intensified this past summer when Brooks played on the Mid Atlantic Rookies, which drew athletes from Connecticut to North Carolina; all of whom had dreams of playing baseball in college and someday professionally.

After being contacted by many universities and colleges, such as Rhodes, Richmond, William and Mary, Northeastern, Winthrop, Rochester and Pomona, Brooks committed to Trinity College, located in Hartford, Conn. Trinity, a Division III school, went 45-1 last season and won the national championship.

“My dream has always been to play baseball as long as I can and playing in

college will certainly be a dream come true for me,” Brooks said.

After seeming extremely pleased with his planned future endeavor to attend Trinity College and fulfill his dream, Brooks announced that instead he plans to join the Marine Corps.

“Joining the Marines has been a lifelong goal; I want to be a marine because the opportunity came up, and I knew that joining the marines would be a lot of fun and would have a greater cause on the rest of my life,” Brooks said.

Eitan Chemerinski has played on the boys varsity basketball team since his sophomore year. Standing tall at 6’8, and weighing 195 pounds, Chemerinski is a standout on and off the court.

“He is explosive...he can dunk in a step... he is aggressive, and a good shot blocker, even from the weak side,” said former boys varsity basketball coach Eyal Fierst.

Chemerinski was recruited by the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, Columbia University and Princeton University, each with varying levels of interest. Williams College, Amherst College, Tufts University, and virtually all of the top academic schools in the Division III ranks recruited him as well.

Chemerinski took campus visits to the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Columbia, met with the coaching staffs, and was visited at JDS by members of Harvard’s coaching staff. He also participated in both Pennsylvania’s and Cornell’s Elite Basketball Camps.

Chemerinski committed to play basketball for the Cornell Big Red, a Division I athletic program and Ivy League member.

“I chose Cornell because I was impressed by the coaching staff, the players, and direction of the program as a whole,” Chemerinski said.

Keryn Bernstein finished her senior year as a leader on the girls varsity soccer team.

She credits her parents for helping her soccer career develop and flourish.

“My parents surprisingly sacrificed a lot for mascot courtesy of Cornell University my soccer goals. They photo by Shira Singelberg traveled with me to different countries, hear the growl Eitan Chemerinski (‘09) looks for the hoop in drove me hours to my a game against the Hebrew Academy Cougars. Chemerinski different game loca- will play for the Cornell University Big Red in the fall. tions and paid all the expenses that my numerous teams and gear have cost. There’s no way I would be looking to play in college if my parents had not devoted as much time and effort to my soccer aspirations as they did,” Bernstein said.

The recruiting process began for Bernstein at the end of 10th grade. She was contacted

by Virginia Wesleyan, Brandeis, Rochester, Tufts, Washington University in St. Louis, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall and Skidmore.

She made the decision pretty early on to go in the direction of a Division III school rather than Division I. “The factors that accounted for the few schools I seriously pursued were location, quality of soccer, Jewish population, and of course the academics. I also hoped to stay relatively close to home so that my parents could come watch games frequently,” Bernstein said.

Bernstein plans to attend and play soccer at the University of Rochester, located in Rochester, NY. Bernstein said, “In college I hope to be able to once again contribute to a new team, help win as many games possible, and learn from those around me to better my own play, skill and mentality. And of course, I truly hope to continue having fun playing the sport and enjoying the game.”

JDS recruiting tips:

1) Talk with others: Talk to your coach at JDS, your counselors, or former JDS students who were similar to you in ability. Ask for their help inassessing your ability.

2) Contact the college coaches directly. Let them know of your interest in applying to their school and your intention to participate in their program. You should consider sending an athletic resume or setting up a visit to meet with the coach.

--Tips from The Real Deal Packet