The Rampage
Volume XXXXVI Number 2
The Ramaz Upper School
October 2012/Cheshvan 5773
Saudis Visit Ramaz Darien Kauvar ’13 On October 4, a delegation of Saudi Arabian educators and translators visited Ramaz as part of a visit to learn about schools that have combined religion with modernity. Months earlier, Carolyn Nomura of the New York State Department contacted Ramaz and requested that Ramaz allow the Saudi Arabians to visit the school as part of their trip. For undisclosed reasons, Ramaz was the only Jewish high school that the State Department chose for the guests to visit. The Saudi Arabians also visited Yeshiva University, JTS, and other Catholic and Muslim schools in the New York area. The Saudi Arabians were interested in learning about how to combine religion and secularism. Head of School, Mr. Shaviv, described how these were issues that the “Muslim and Saudi Arabian world is only just beginning to deal with, while the Jewish world was faced and dealt with these problems over 200 years ago.” However, there is a key difference between the problem of modernity that Jews faced 200 years ago, and that the Muslim world is facing now,” Mr. Shaviv said. “The Jewish school model was designed for a small minority of the Americans, while the Muslim model that the Saudi Arabians are designing will be for the large majority of their world.” Upon arrival, the Saudi Arabians were introduced to and addressed by Mr. Shaviv. Mr. Shaviv spoke to them about Ramaz, and how our school is a “model of combining a strong relationship with tradition and modernity,” Mr Shaviv said. “We proved you could run a school with two identities.” Following their conversation with Mr. Shaviv, they were introduced to the other administrators. The guests had the opportunity to ask them questions about the education system. Following a brief conversation, a select group of students who consisted of the editors of The RamPage and the GO were brought in to Continued on page 6
Hurricane Sandy Devastates Area Disrupts School Routine
Gilad Shalit’s Platoon Welcomed at Ramaz Rachel Huebner’13 and Darien Kauvar ’13 On Tuesday, October 16, after a great deal of planning, Gilad Shalit and his platoon visited Ramaz. Hundreds of students, former students, teachers, and guests gathered in the auditorium of the Upper School for a program that paid tribute to the soldiers and that offered particular support for the soldier who had been held in captivity for five years. The event consisted of a video of pictures of Shalit, speeches by students, former students, and teachers, followed by a question and answer session with the soldiers. The assembly concluded with the Ramaz choir singing Libi. The speeches and questions were vetted by the members of the Israeli Defense Force, and certain rules were put in place, making sure that Shalit and his fellow soldiers were not put under undue stress. The strict rules created difficulty for the organizers of the morning assembly, but, according to Ms. Benel, the point of the event was simply to make clear the appreciation of the Ramaz community for the sacrifices these men have made, and to acknowledge those students and teachers from Ramaz who had kept vigil for Gilad Shalit during his ordeal. When Shalit entered the room, the audience was asked to refrain from making loud noise. The group of soldiers was then called up one by one, and took their seats in a semi-circle on the stage. The assembly tried to find a balance between the requirements of the guests and the
desire from the students to celebrate the presence of Shalit on their stage. Some students felt uneasy during the assembly, but many recognized that simply having the young man whose days in captivity has been counted in the lobby of the school for the past five years was remarkable, and made the ambivalence about the program less significant. Many of the speeches given by the Ramaz students mentioned the davening students had done in front of the Iranian consulate during the last five years, protesting the imprisonment of Shalit, as well as attempting to raise awareness about his plight. Some saw the repetition of stories about the effort the students made on Shalit’s behalf somewhat self-serving, but others thought that it was an opportunity to let Shalit know that he had been remembered constantly by our school. “Were we self promoting?” said Rabbi Slomnicki. “I hear it. But it was well meaning and not selfish.” Gabi Agus ’13 agreed, saying, “Though the speakers from the school focused a lot on the Wednesday prayer vigil, I think that was a good thing. We were informing him about our efforts on his behalf, which how else would he know if we didn’t tell him? Also, that was what we, Ramaz students, did for him, so what else would we tell him?” Gilad Shalit choose not to speak during the assembly, which did confuse some students. But, many students
realized how little they understand about Shalit’s situation, and were perhaps made more aware of its severity by his silence. As Ms. Benel pointed out, this assembly was unique for the school, and the school had to simply do what the guests thought was best. Rabbi Schiowitz said that he “could not imagine that anyone would hold anything against Gilad Shalit.” He said, “There are very few people who have sacrificed as much as he has in service of the Jewish People. He deserves nothing but our respect.” The program at KJ that followed the one at Ramaz focused on the unity of the Jewish people and Rabbi Lookstein stressed to the soldiers that “We would have done what we did for Gilad for any of you. For Asaf, for Moshe, or for Yaakov. “It was really amazing to have such heroic soldiers in our company, who really just wanted to talk to us and tell us about the challenges that they confront every day,” said Agus. “And obviously it was such a privledge to have Gilad Shalit there, too, not only because we davened for him every week, but because he is one of our brothers.”
On Monday, October 29, Hurricane Sandy, the largest Atlantic Hurricane ever recorded, struck the east coast. The category two storm, with winds peaking at 110 miles per hour, is calculated to have caused $20 billion worth of damage and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. More than 8.2 million Americans were left without power, and even a week later, thousands still lacked electricity, heat, internet and cell phone reception, and hot water. As of November 2, 157 lives were claimed by Hurricane Sandy. The Ramaz community was severely affected by this storm, and many homes were flooded. There was much controversy surrounding Ramaz’s handling of the situation. Originally, the administration informed students that Ramaz would be following New York Public Schools in deciding when to close school. Despite this announcement, when Mayor Bloomberg announced that public schools would not be open on Thursday and Friday (November 1 and 2), Ramaz informed the school that it was stopping to follow the public schools, and that school would reopen for those two days. This sparked much outrage, and the G.O. assured students via Facebook that Thursday would not be a “regular school day.” Thursday ended up being a day of normal classes, but the administration decided to cancel school for Friday and make it an optional chesed day.
Look out for our November issue with full coverage of Hurricane Sandy, including students’ and faculty’s personal accounts.