The SAR Buzz, October 2013

Official Newspaper of SAR High School

The Buzz

October 2013 — Vol. 9, No. 1

What’s Inside

When Day Schools Are No Longer Safe Sexual Abuse in the Jewish Community

By Hilla Katz

The Firebrand Page 2

Over the past few years, stories of sexual harassment in both academic and nonacademic settings have swarmed the Jewish community. These stories have become so common that it is almost impossible to distinguish one humiliating story from the next.

Most recently, Yeshiva University, the leader in undergraduate Jewish and secular education, is facing a $680 million lawsuit for its failure to act upon multiple allegations of sexual abuse since as early as the 1950s.

“The investigative team found that, up until 2001, there were multiple instances in which the university either failed to appropriately act to protect the safety of its students or did not respond to the allegations at all,” says the official.

The incidents reached the public once a group of students filed the lawsuit in July.

The actual report filed, which was extremely vague, claimed that the abuse happened on

multiple Yeshiva University campuses, including MTA, Yeshiva University’s high school. As of now, there are 34 plaintiffs.

In December 2011, the administration

of the Torah Academy of Bergen County was informed by a teacher that a male student confessed to him/her that he had had

“inappropriate sexual contact” with a female teacher who, for unrelated reasons, was no longer employed by TABC. The administration took immediate action by contacting both the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office and the TABC parent body. They assured the parent body that the administration would offer full support to parents, students and teachers and that “TABC has zero tolerance for this type of behavior by adults. Our priorities are the welfare and safety of our students and the community at large.”

Guidelines for proper student-teacher interactions were reiterated to both the faculty and students and a meeting was held with the parent body to discuss exactly how to approach this topic at home.

Camp Dora Golding, by comparison, allegedly handled its own situation with much less concern for the victims than TABC. According to a post on failedmesContinued on page 8

How We Gonna Pay Last Year’s Tuition?!

State of the School Page 10

Pizza Block Page 3

The Tuition Crisis in Jewish Day Schools

By Deena Nerwen Plenty of factors run through the minds of Jewish parents as they decide where to send their children to school. Quality of the teachers, location, and the caliber of its mission statement (of course) all come into play. Yet, more so in recent years, there is one component that has been at the top of many parents’ lists while making this choice.

The dilemma that so many in our community face has been dubbed “the Jewish day school tuition crisis,” and its effects are damaging and widespread. It’s time to face the facts.

According to the Affordable Jewish Education Project (AJE), there are three main elements involved in the crisis. First is the price, which has been growing exponentially for years. Second is scholarship money, the amount of which allocated to the average student has also been rising. Third is the combination of these two factors, which creates a vicious cycle. When tuition is increased, more families need more scholarship money, forcing additional tuition increases.

There are a few financial specifics worth understanding about Jewish day schools in comparison with North American independent schools. Interestingly, these schools give out an average of ten to fifteen percent for scholarship, while Jewish schools give twenty-five percent. In addition, the top twenty independent schools have an average

endowment of $200,000,000 each, and Jewish ones combined have only $300,000,000.

An important area currently discussed in relation to day school affordability is middle income affordability. Independent schools don’t generally fund families earn-

ing $200,000 a year or more, who are often in the top percentages of earners within the United States; they’re giving scholarships to people with very modest salaries. But Jewish schools are, often because families have multiple children in a school, which can lead to an exorbitant percentage of their incomes being spent on tuition. However, giving scholarships to these middle to upper-middle class families is becoming an increasing problem, as it is very difficult to sustain this level of financial aid. Simultaneously, sometimes these families earn too much to be eligible for a scholarship cut, yet they are still struggling to make ends meet.

Tuition costs and their financial effects have caused many families to look at other options. Some choose to send their children to public or charter schools. A couple who was profiled in Gary Rosenblatt’s May 2013 article in The Jewish Week, “The Day School Dilemma,” had their child accepted into a new Hebrew charter school, the Harlem Hebrew Language Academy Charter School. Schools like these teach Hebrew Continued on page 15

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The Buzz, October 2013

Editorial Title

When Chesed Misses the Mark

By Shalhevet Schwartz Sometime in February, my advisory is going to go on a trip for “Chesed Day.” I’m not yet sure whether I’ll be playing bingo with the elderly, putting medical supplies in bags (only to be repackaged by someone who actually knows what he’s doing, of course) or picking up ten pieces of trash from a park. I am sure, however, that I’ll come back entirely uninspired, feeling like I haven’t made any real impact on anybody.

I’ll also probably come back thinking that I should do more community service, but I’ll promptly forget about it as soon as I remember my lab report that’s due the next day.

Unfortunately, I think my experience is very similar to those of many students at SAR, and I think we can do better.

First of all, I’m tired of calling it “Chesed Day.” Do we have “honesty day”?

How about “integrity day” or “commitment day”? If chesed is a value that we really want to promote, then it shouldn’t be an activity.

We should be incorporating it into everything we do on every day of our lives, not just shoving it to the side as if it were some box to check and then move on.

STAFF Editors in Chief

Ricki Heicklen Shalhevet Schwartz

Associate Editor Hilla Katz

Layout Editors Rose Frankel Harry Varon

News Editors

Miriam Lichtenberg Deena Newen Samantha Schnall Rebecca Siegel

Features Editor

Miriam Lichtenberg Photography Editors Andrew Frenkel Miriam Stern Business Manager Toba Stern Website Design Olivia Rosenzweig Research Manager Elana Rosenthal Faculty Advisor Dr. Rivka P. Schwartz Faculty Supervisor Rabbi Shmuel Hain

And there’s another problem. We’ve somehow decided that it’s noble to “get our hands dirty” doing work that we’re not particularly good at and in which we have no training. We recognize that we’re incredibly privileged, that we’re fortunate enough to have a great education, and it’s our duty to help those who aren’t so lucky. All of that is beautiful. But what I don’t understand is why we’ve put menial labor up on some pedestal for being selfless and noble, while doing work that actually makes use of the education we’re so lucky to have is perceived as lazy or self-righteous.

This seems totally backwards. Take a look at those “service trips” to third world countries: we try to forget about the fact that we’ve got an education in order to be “one of the people,” and we end up spending $300 to build a house for a kid in Ghana even though we have no construction skills whatsoever (for more laughs about this, see Ricki’s Uncommon App on page 19). That isn’t noble; it’s paternalistic and it’s a waste of resources. Don’t pretend it’s for the Ghanan kid-it’s for you. As a society, we’ve placed the focus of community service on doing what’s hardest and least familiar to us rather than on what will do the most good for the most people.

Furthermore, we don’t think at all about what we can do for the community as individuals. We’re expected to go on a trip with our respective advisories, and on Gradewide Chesed Day we choose between ten or so different options. There’s no real way for us to play to our strengths and be involved in what we really enjoy and find meaningful, at least within the context of the only community service that SAR actually mandates.

And then there’s the largest problem: it just doesn’t feel like we’re expected to take chesed seriously. Over the course of a given year, we’re supposed to put in four to six hours of community service. Four to six hours a year. That’s nothing. I probably put four to six hours into The Buzz every day (for those of you who think that’s hyperbole, ask some of your Buzz writer friends what time at night Ricki and I send out emails).

And somehow, when Gradewide Chesed Day actually comes rolling around, about two-thirds of the relevant grade will magically come down with some horrible disease (little known secret: Elisha and the Riverdale Kosher Market are specifically putting food poisoning in our lunches so that the old age home won’t get its bingo game).

It’s true; there are plenty of opportunities for extracurricular community service, and the Chesed Round Robin last week was a great way to show students that there are

options available. I have nothing but respect for Yoram and Ms. Meier, who put countless hours into making sure that there are ample opportunities for all of us to be involved, and put tremendous effort into coordinating all of the chesed activities in which the school participates.

But let’s get real--no one actually expects us to devote a significant portion of our time to community service. If we don’t have enough co-curriculars on our resumes, we have a nice chat about it with our college advisors as early as sophomore year. I’m

“We need to buckle down and get more serious about community service, devoting real time and energy to trying to make the world a better place for others.” ashamed to say that I’m involved in very little community service, yet for all Mr. Courtney knows, I could volunteer at a homeless shelter twice a week--he hasn’t asked me.

There needs to be a tangible shift in the way we approach chesed. We have to realize that chesed is broader than just community service; we have infuse our every action with it. We need to try to contribute to society using the gifts that we have instead of patting ourselves on the back for using skills that we lack. And we need to buckle down and get more serious about community service, devoting real time and energy to trying to make the world a better place for others.

Now, it’s easy to talk about how bad our approach to chesed is. But it’s much harder to come up with a system that will work better. There are several schools that mandate a certain number of “chesed hours” in order to graduate, which I suppose succeeds at making chesed into a real time commitment. But it fails in other ways. It creates an attitude towards chesed that’s less than ideal; it makes chesed into just another requirement. Students would immediately start looking for loopholes, rounding up the number of hours and counting activities that aren’t really community service. Needless to say, I’m not a fan.

So I’m going to offer an idea of a something concrete we can do: let’s create a rigorous service requirement for each student, and let’s model it after Senior Exploration.

Senior Exploration works remarkably in that it involves a substantial time commitment, yet students still give it their all--because they’re doing something they love. A similar model for community service would allow individual students to use their specific skill sets in order to effect real change.

It would look something like this: at the beginning of the year, a student meets with his or her advisor (or some other member of the faculty whose job includes this particular project) about what the student is interested in doing to contribute to the community. Together, they come up with a game plan, and they check in at various points throughout the year to make sure that everything is running smoothly, and that the student is both taking her task seriously and finding it meaningful.

The activity (or activities) that the student chooses could be anything. A medically inclined student could volunteer at a hospital once a week. Someone else might decide to shadow a child with disabilities. Another student could start letter-writing campaigns to get more money allocated to aid in third world countries. Ruthie Charendoff and Devora Meyers could keep baking, donating the proceeds to various charity organizations. Students could train for the Jerusalem or Miami half marathon and raise thousands of dollars for Shalva or Yachad in the process.

All of this would go a long way towards making us take community service seriously, and it would allow us to more effectively give back to the world that has afforded us so much. But it’s not enough.

We still have to make sure that chesed is about more than just community service, and I don’t think that there’s any one thing the school can do to make that happen. Sure, SAR needs to stress the value of helping friends in need, of taking a step out of our me-centered universes to think about what we can do for others. But it can’t only come from the school--we’ve got to do our part.

So give the homeless woman a dollar (or a granola bar if you’re worried about her spending it on drugs). Help the elderly man cross the street. Take a minute out of your precious studying time to email the review sheet to that one friend who doesn’t have Facebook.

The world becomes a better place every time you do.

Staff Writers Solomon Friedman Alon Futter Ariella Gentin Temima Grossman Rebecca Harris

Matthew Heisler Matt Jelen Liat Katz Jenny Kleiman Yaira Kobrin

Yael Marans Ronit Morris Olivia Rosenzweig Ayelet Rubenstein Lilly Scherban

Shira Silver Gavriel Steinmetz-Silber Toba Stern

The Buzz, October 2013

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School TitleLife

Samarian Valleys

elisha block takes over judean hills pizza

By Toba Stern It was the foreclosure heard ’round the world’— literally. The news spread like wildfire, and the cries of outraged SAR students echoed around the school.

Moshe Schwartz (’14) heard the news while in Hungary on Szarvas: “At first I didn’t believe it, but when I realized it was true, I realized I would have nowhere to eat this year. So I ate a whole pizza pie myself that night to compensate.” Deena Nerwen (’15) gathered up the courage to share her story: “I was on Koby, living it up in the Holy Land. One night I’m talking to my dad on the phone and he says, ‘Deena I have some really big, pretty upsetting, Riverdale news… Judean Hills closed.’

Honestly, I was shocked. I had a hard time believing him for a solid five minutes.

Then, of course, I had to go and tell every SAR student on my program about it, and they were all equally distraught. Needless to say, it was a very difficult time for all of us.”

After the initial shock wore off, the same question hung on everyone’s lips: What happened to Judean? It had disappeared into oblivion, seemingly overnight, and with much fanfare and gossip surrounding it. The first person to know was Dr. Schwartz. “It was in July,” she shared.

“I was the first one because nobody else was around the school. The administration was here working, and we went across the street to get lunch and to my chagrin… I discovered that Judean Hills closed. So I tweeted about how bad it was going to be

when 520 students came back to school and they all had to buy lunch at the same time with one fewer eating establishment.

There was a sign on the window… that read ‘the landlord has seized control of the premises.’ So I don’t really know what that means, but I kind of felt like it meant that somebody hadn’t paid their rent or something… so I took a picture of the sign and tweeted it.”

But of course, everyone had their own idea of what happened. Rumors ran rampant around the halls of SAR. Some believed it had to do with their cleanliness, something that had previously been an issue (Stern, Toba “Judean Hills gets into Sting Spirit, Earns B.” The Buzz June 2012: 3. Print). Jessica Kane (’15) explained, “I heard their health rating went down to a ‘C’.” Abby Levi (’14) heard that there were “rats infesting the place and that they were hiding the dirt from inspectors.” Other students believed that it had to do with more illicit activities. “I heard they closed down because they were selling drugs and were caught,” said Joel Fisch (’15). Josh Weiss (’15) shared, “rumor has it they were playing vulgar x-rated movies on the tv that ‘are not appropriate for young Modern Orthodox students’ eyes.’”

Whatever the reason, Judean Hills’ closing impacted many students. Obviously, its pizza and sushi are sorely missed, but it has affected the school in other ways too. Matthew Heisler (’16) complains that students now have “limited food options, especially for students on a budget, because it was one of the cheaper options.”

But its closing impacted even those who did not eat their regularly. With one fewer place for students to eat, the rest of the restaurants in Skyview became much more crowded. Levi explained, “It hasn’t affected me decision-wise because I didn’t really choose to go there often, but it certainly makes lines in other stores much longer.” Fisch shares this sentiment: “It’s

“I know that pricing is a big deal, and so I am certainly sensitive to that. I think we decided that the price of pizza will be in the 2.50-2.75 range.” just annoying because the lines at all other places are so long and it takes forever to get food.” Kane agrees: “The lines in other places, like the Kosher Market, have gotten much longer. I miss it [Judean Hills] a lot and I hope something very similar opens up soon!”

Luckily, students like Kane will have their wish fulfilled in the very near future.

Elisha Block, owner of the Kosher Market and the brother of our very own Rabbi Block, revealed that he bought the space,

and plans to open up his own pizza store there.

Although he was not able to reveal why Judean Hills closed down in the first place, he shared some exciting details about the new place he is opening. The tentative opening date was revealed to be early October, so we won’t have to wait long for our pizza. He also explained how he plans to amp up Judean’s model. “We are going to place a lot of stress on offering healthy alternatives. Whether it be through low-fat frozen yogurt, or through a very full salad bar. We will be offering sushi every day.”

Students who worry that Elisha’s monopoly will cause price increases should not be concerned. He is making the opinions of the students his top priority. “I know that pricing is a big deal, and so I am certainly sensitive to that. I think we decided that the price of pizza will be in the 2.50-2.75 range,” which is up to a dollar cheaper than Judean’s prices. He continued, “One of the most important things to me, and I hope you guys see this through my everyday here at the supermarket, is I like to hear people’s suggestions and comments. It is very important to me that I have a feel for what’s going on amongst the students.”

Although Judean Hills will always have a place in the hearts, and the stomachs of us here at SAR, a new restaurant will be a welcomed change. So what actually happened to Judean Hills? The world may never know.

What Goes Up May Not Come Down: The New Elevator Policy for Seniors

By Arly Mintz A loud buzz sounds. You turn and watch as the large silver doors squeak open.

Suddenly, the entire environment becomes filled with incredibly loud conversation. It must be the seniors in the elevator, again.

If you’re a crippled Freshman/Sophomore/ Junior, a teacher, or a fearless student hoping not to get caught, waiting on any floor besides 1 to board the elevator, this is the worst news. You realize earning a spot is a lost cause.

Because the building only hosts one elevator, problems inevitably arise. In years past, issues arose such as seniors unwilling to exit the elevator for a teacher or even an injured fellow student. Additionally, seniors would pile in far beyond the elevator’s capacity, in order to avoid using the stairs, which could even cause minor injuries to students who find themselves in the back.

This year, the SAR faculty and ad-

changes restrict seniors from taking the el-

ministration decided that changes were necessary to ensure that students using the elevator are respectful and safe. The policy

evator down from any floor. Furthermore, seniors are only allowed to get on the elevator on floors C, 1, and 2. The hope is that the

problems previously associated with elevator use will vanish.

Many students argue that, even with this new policy, the issues are still not solved. Some even hold that the policy changes make the issue worse because seniors are sneaking in and ignoring the rules.

A Junior who wishes to remain anonymous declared the extreme: “If the school wants to solve this problem, they should just get a second elevator. It’s ridiculous to expect that students will abide by the new rules.”

Hopefully as the year progresses, modifications to the policy will be instituted to ensure that students who absolutely need the elevator will be able to use it. Meanwhile, seniors who suffer from short breath and find that they’re unable to walk up from their 4th floor class to their 6th floor class will realize that there’s an alternative: just walk down two flights and take it back up.

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The Buzz, October 2013

School TitleLife

Stairways to Heaven sar’s new tefillah options

By Rebecca Harris The instructions are simple. Breathe deeply. Concentrate. Recite a mantra.

The goal of last year’s experimental meditation minyan was to encounter spirituality through a different approach.

The reactions to this minyan were almost entirely positive. “Nineteen out of twenty students said that it was a transformative experience,” says Mr. Broder, who leads Meditation Tefillah.

The revamping of the tefillah system last year was based on the theme of “Dveykut,” connecting with God. After the first two rounds of experimental davenings, students gave their feedback on the change. The faculty then took these cues and came out with yet another experimental davening program, which was put into effect this year.

There are quite a few differences between this year’s and last year’s experimental davening, including a choice of fewer davening options this year. Last year’s experimental davenings included Sing-along Tefillah, Outdoor Tefillah, Yoga Tefillah, Children’s Book Reading Tefillah, and more. This year, however, the goal is not to find God everywhere, but rather to “create a structure in which we are incorporating different aspects into regular tefillah,” explains Ms. Schlaff. The new system has a limited selection of choices which ad-

here to the more pragmatic requests of the students. These choices include Women’s

“We don’t have a lot of single gender spaces in school, and though we wouldn’t impose that on kids who don’t want it, I think there’s a pretty strong group of kids who thought ‘wow, it’s really nice to daven with just girls’, or ‘it’s really nice to daven with just boys.”

Tefillah, Meditation Tefillah, Explanatory Tefillah, Ruach Tefillah, as well as a few others.

The more surprising options that are offered this year are not the unconventional choices. Rather, it is the normal Ashkenazi davening option that initially seemed strange. Students, however, are reacting

positively to the option of remaining in the davening to which they are accustomed.

Some found the atypical davenings unnecessary. “I found it useless and inefficient,” states Daniel Estrugo (’14), who is satisfied with his davening experience, and doesn’t want a change from the norm. Ms. Schlaff agrees that “for some people regular tefillah works very well, and if it works very well, then people should want to do [regular tefillah].”

Another difference between this year’s tefillah program and last year’s is the addition of separate gender davenings.

The goal was not to highlight women leading davening, as in Women’s Tefillah, or to personalize tefillah according to gender.

Rather, it was done primarily for convenience purposes; only some davening areas can fit mechitzas. However, single gender davenings have actually become a welcomed change for many students. “We don’t have a lot of single gender spaces in school, and though we wouldn’t impose that on kids who don’t want it, I think there’s a pretty strong group of kids who thought ‘wow, it’s really nice to daven with just girls’, or ‘it’s really nice to daven with just boys’, and are, as far as I can tell, pretty much enjoying the experience right now,” says Ms. Schlaff.

However, the two month long duration of the minyanim this year, in contrast to last year’s one week, struck a contro-

versial note among students. “I think it’s a little long, a month at most [would be sufficient],” says Ariel Smith (’16). It

“It would be easier to bond with a few kids in my grade in the new tefillah program because we have stuff in common with the way we like to daven.” seems as though the possible benefits of trying something new can seem less enticing with the added knowledge that there won’t be a change in davening for another two months, if someone starts to dislike something in his or her minyan. Aviva Lidagoster (’16) agrees, “I would think that it’s a little too long, because last year they were only for one week, but because I like my tefillah group I don’t really mind how Continued on page 18

Having your Humble Pie and Eating It, Too sar’s theme of the year

By Olivia Rosenzsweig Anava, this year’s annual theme, is one of the essential traits introduced to people at a young age. As kids, we are taught about Moshe Rabeinu’s humility, learning that we should strive to emulate it by not boasting about ourselves and our achievements. But, as we grow up and face many situations where bragging is practically necessary, such as when applying to college, it becomes difficult to reconcile the values we were taught with a society that often drives us towards selfishness.

Although Anava is generally translated as “humility,” people have different personal interpretations of the term. According to Rachel Abrams (’15), Anava means “not only knowing what you can offer the world, but what others can offer the world, as well, and seeing the potential in everyone.” She feels that in this school “there is often a focus, at least among the students, on always trying to be the best and have the highest scores.”

However, she also believes that the administration does a good job of teaching the importance of humbleness.

However, Elisa Caesar (’15) has a different view: “I think it has to do with how a person acts to their friends, teachers, parents, etc…,” she explains. “[It’s] about having the proper respect for others’ opinions, basically between man and man stuff.” In Caesar’s opinion, Anava is not merely a feeling, it is something that should be incorporated into one’s behavior. Also, unlike Abrams, she doesn’t think the school follows these values completely, stating that the school needs to work harder to make sure that students aren’t as disrespectful to teachers.

For the most part, it seems that students connect to this year’s theme more than to last year’s Dveykut. Avi Chefitz (’14) finds that this phenomenon exists because while Anava deals with issues Bein Adam L’Chavero that occur in our everyday lives, Dveykut is less relatable because it encompasses issues between us and God. Rabbi Harcsztark acknowledges that reactions to last year’s theme were mixed: “I think there were things that were good, but it was abstract and hard to wrap your head around,” he says. He adds, “There were things that we could have done better.”

Dr. Shinar agrees that Dveykut didn’t go over as well as had been hoped. “Dvey-

“Now there is a lot more focus on selfesteem and selfexpression, self-this, and self-that. So, we find ourselves asking if there has been a trade-off when all the attention is focused on me, me, me, and is not focusing on humility.”

kut was challenging because everyone is so deeply stretched in their understanding of God and God is much more of an abstract concept,” he admits, “We want people to really appreciate, worship, and celebrate God, but how people do that is very different on the ground because people are coming from such a different place, and I think Anava is going to be a lot more effective in a lot of ways because it is more practical.”

While Lauren Grobois (’14) agrees that the theme of Anava is important, she admits that Anava might be a hard topic to talk about for a full year, and acknowledges the challenges of reconciling humility with the experience of senior year. She explains that “Senior year is the year to be the oldest and control the school, to be leaders. It’s hard to be leaders when the school theme is humility, but I think the school is trying to make us see the definition in a different way than we normally define it.”

Choosing a theme is a collaborative process that the whole administration tries to Continued on page 9

The Buzz, October 2013

5

Title Op-Ed Debate

Should SAR Have Advanced Placement Courses?

AFFIRMATIVE

By Samantha Schnall Your English teacher is discussing how to write a thesis to a classroom of confused-looking faces and asks, “Didn’t you learn this in middle school?”

The answer to this is probably “no.”

When students enter high school, the coursework hits them hard. Perhaps it’s because high school is a completely different atmosphere - new classmates, unfamiliar teachers, and a confusing building to navigate. Or perhaps it’s because middle school didn’t sufficiently prepare its graduating students enough for the work they would receive in high school. While the laid-back atmosphere in eighth grade English class seemed harmless, it’s now part of the reason why you can’t write a good thesis.

We can hope that students’ experiences as high school freshmen will be different from their experiences as undergraduate freshmen, that they won’t be overwhelmed by college-level work, but this is wishful thinking. Graduating high schoolers will probably be overwhelmed when they enter college - that is, unless high school students are prepared for the rigorous work in college.

Advanced Placement (AP) classes aim to prepare high school students for the type of work they will receive in college.

College-level courses “cover the breadth of information found in corresponding college courses, align with the expectations of leading liberal arts and research institutions, and provide motivated students with the opportunity to study at the college level,” according to the College Board. In short, they are the closest thing high school students are going to get to prepare them for the academic rigors in college.

For nearly every college, the most important factor of a student’s college application is the academic record. That means more than just grades. In fact, according to Dan Saracino, former assistant provost for enrollment at the University of Notre Dame, “Nothing is more important than the quality of the course load.” Admissions officers look at how challenging a student’s courses are; colleges can sort through the thousands RESPONSE BY REBECCA SIEGEL: APs do not prepare you for college.

In college, there aren’t review sheets and hand-holding sessions before every tests. In college, you don’t get to ask the professor as many questions as you’d like. In college, no one checks to make sure you’ve done the reading. The AP textbook, curriculum, and test are simply for honors high school students. They’re not collegiate level classes; they’re for high schoolers looking to challenge themselves. And even if the material itself is on par with college courses, the atmosphere in high school classes, even AP classes, are a far cry from a crammed

of applicants they review each year by seeing which applicants opted to take AP courses. Those who did have an edge in a large pool of applicants, while those who didn’t are at a disadvantage.

AP courses are also simply a practical way for students to save money. While some students are fortunate enough to come from wealthy families, several other students come from families struggling to pay expensive college tuition. Enrolling in AP classes in high school is a very small expense in comparison to college courses: While the AP Exam is eighty-nine dollars per exam, colleges can charge up to fifteen hundred dollars per course. Enrolling and excelling in AP classes can save students who don’t receive financial aid thousands of dollars. It’s very important for high schools to recognize the financial situation of these students, providing them the opportunity to take college-level classes at a small expense.

In addition to money, AP classes can also save students a lot of time. Several colleges have a core curriculum, in which their students are required to take certain classes as undergraduates. Some of these required classes can be crossed off the required list by taking certain AP courses in high school.

This way, students’ college schedules free up, providing them the opportunity to enroll in classes that interest them. In fact, students who take a certain number of AP courses can also potentially graduate from college a semester, or even a year, early.

Although enrolling in Advanced Placement courses can be a wise decision for many students, taking very challenging courses isn’t for everyone. AP classes are optional and though their very presence might encourage you to take them, nobody is actually forcing you to take them. High schools shouldn’t eliminate the opportunity for students to take classes that not only prepare them for the rigors of college-level work and give them an edge in a large pool of applicants but also can also save their families thousands of dollars. High school, especially SAR, prides itself on recognizing the individual needs of its students - be it academic, financial, or emotional. If we fail to do that, where exactly does that leave us as an educational institution? lecture hall of 400 students in college. It’s simply not the same.

But that’s okay. Part of life is adjusting. College is going to be scary at first, hopefully less daunting to those of us who have endured a dual curriculum for our entire lives. Some of the stress will be academic, some social, and some due to the novelty of living alone and being self-sufficient (think laundry). But again, that’s okay.

When students adjust, and they always do, they’re not thinking, “if it wasn’t for that AP I took, I’d be nowhere in life!” Instead, their acclimation to the new environment is due to their hard work and desire for success. It is not due to AP anything.

NEGATIVE

By Rebecca Siegel If you’ve ever heard Dr. Schwartz rant about Native American culture in postRevolutionary America, you’ll know it’s a sight to behold. It’s accompanied by a voice about 10 decibels too high for a school without walls (two times that for Mr. Huber), a couple of “y’all with me here folks?!”s, and a good deal of dancing considering her myriad of foot problems. But it’s not really in the AP curriculum, so she usually shuts it down after a while, much to everyone’s disappointment.

The AP also shut down the many good questions asked by the students of our class.

Someone would connect two facts together, perhaps invoke the Constitution, and maybe even make a reference to current events, and a brilliant question was born. I’d look up from my notes and stop to listen, because usually, the question was interesting and engaging and something I’d never thought about before but was now curious about. Sometimes, Dr. Schwartz would try to condense a lengthy response into a tweetsized answer, but that usually only elicited a follow-up question, and eventually, the line was always implemented: “that’s a fascinating question, but…”

But the AP monster was on the horizon, and we had to move on. As a class, we had chosen AP US because we loved history. But our love of history and our desire to delve deeper into it was often impossible as the AP loomed closer. The AP mandated a certain amount of information, thousands upon thousands of facts, people and events crammed onto dense textbook pages. Studying for the AP meant swallowing these facts and trying to retain them until the test was over. The rigidity and sheer volume of the AP curriculum curtailed interesting discussions that stemmed from the information we were learning.

Today, in the era of the accessibility of information, facts are a click away. It’s always nice to know the dates of Washington’s first term in office or the chronological order of the battles of the civil war, but what’s

RESPONSE BY SAMANTHA SCHNALL: AP or non-AP, every class must complete a certain curriculum. Students taking American History must know why the Constitution was created, just as students taking geometry must know how to calculate the area of a triangle. As for not being able to have stimulating class discussions, there have been several times in which teachers of non-AP classes deflect interesting, yet involved, questions in order to complete the required curriculum.

even more important is knowing how to think. Being able to synthesize information and connect ideas is infinitely more valuable than knowing a string of facts. But it’s not what the AP values. The true thinking I did in my AP class last year happened when someone brought Snooki into a conversation about race during our exploration of postCivil War America, or when Dr. Schwartz challenged us to reevaluate our view of America as a perfect and benevolent country in an otherwise dark world. The minute we stopped considering the AP was the minute we started really learning. Much of the information we studied last year will fade from memory, but the true learning, and the skills I gained from it, will not.

That’s the AP life. You memorize things, you take the test, you forget them. In class, you learn and grow, but the test does not add to your learning, it only detracts. The AP is simply an unnecessary step at the end of the year that adds massive pressure and does no good.

Not only is the AP limiting, but prestigious institutions like Brown and Dartmouth are no longer accepting AP credit, and many other universities and colleges are following suit. In fact, many researchers and educators feel that APs are not college classes, and do not prepare students adequately for them.

Furthermore, many colleges want the education received by their students to take place at their college, and not at the students’ high schools.

Where does this leave us? It leaves us with many students, like myself, who are still taking APs, partly because we are interested in the classes and partly because we feel we must if we are to be taken seriously in the college admissions process. If SAR offers APs, we have to take them, or we’ll look like slackers. But what if SAR didn’t offer APs? We’d learn the same curriculum in every once-AP class, but without the limitations and pressures of the AP test. We’d gain everything and lose nothing. We’d have more dance shows from Dr. Schwartz and fewer nights spent burning the midnight oil as we crammed with the Princeton Review or 5 Steps to a 5. We’d be smarter and happier - does that really sound so bad?

Furthermore, the fact that there’s a cumulative exam at the end of every AP class isn’t a foreign idea since every academic class has an exam at the end of the year.

If high schools don’t offer AP classes, students might seek to enroll in challenging classes elsewhere. The College Board advises, “If your school does not yet offer AP or honors courses, encourage students who have exhausted all your school offerings to enroll in courses at a local college.”

Therefore, even if college-level classes are not offered at high school, students can still enroll is such classes elsewhere.

6

The Buzz, October 2013

Title News Community

Velvel’s Secret

chassidic man models for american apparel

By Jennifer Klienman Modesty and provocativeness are two concepts that appear to contradict each other: you cannot be both suggestive and reserved about your appearance. Despite this, American Apparel’s current advertising campaign challenges this seemingly incontrovertible idea. The clothing company’s online website, Tumblr page, and Facebook account display their merchandise on scantily clad and inappropriately posed men and women, but a new addition to their lineup of models starkly contrasts with the type of advertising that the company has been associated with in the past.

Yoel Weisshaus, a thirty-two year-old Hasidic Jew, is the new face of American Apparel. In his modeling debut, Mr. Weisshaus wears classic Hasidic Apparel - a white button-down, black pants, and shtreimel. This apparel bears little resemblance to American Apparel’s abundance of spandex and mesh bodysuits.

So what is American Apparel’s reasoning behind hiring someone to model clothing that has none of the hallmarks the company usually promotes? American Apparel wished to refrain from answering this question, but Cochava Silvera (’15) has a

theory: “Its just for [American Apparel] to show off that they are diverse.” She continues, “You can’t even see the clothing in the picture! The emphasis is on the long beard and payos and the shtreimel.” In short, the clothing company’s purpose is to “expand

is to show a Hasidic person.”

Regardless of American Apparel’s true intentions, the issue is still highly controversial since many people find their new campaign offensive to Judaism. The juxtaposition of a Hasidic man and American Ap-

their customer base.”

Ittai Sopher (’15) agrees with Silvera’s suggestion, saying, “American Apparel is marketing their outfits towards a certain group of people.” If the clothing company plans to sell clothing appropriate for Hasidic Jews, “the reasonable, pragmatic thing to do

parel’s standard models seems to ridicule the emphasis on modesty in Judaism, especially in Hasidic sects.

“I am totally opposed to them using a Hasidic Jew as a model,” says Samantha Fischler (’14). She elaborates, “I think that it’s a mockery used for marketing. It is using the

Jewish religion as a way to draw attention.

Since all of the other models are scantily clad, Weisshaus stands out. The shtreimel in the picture just adds to the fact that the Jews are different than everyone else.”

Although many consider the modeling of Weisshaus offensive, Weisshaus himself views his experience in an entirely different light. In an interview for The Daily Beast, he voices how his modeling is actually a longoverdue allusion to the role of Judaism in the fashion industry. He explains, “Many Jewish immigrants were laborers in the fashion industry in the city and a big part of it is rooted in the Hasidic heritage.” In fact, Hasidim were not only a part of the development of American Apparel, but also a significant part of the fashion industry as a whole.

American Apparel embodies many of the ideals that Weisshaus supports - the company is one hundred percent made-in-theUSA, does not use sweatshops to produce their merchandise, and pays their workers well. With regard to the buzz about his modeling debut, Mr. Weisshaus is thoroughly pleased. “I like the controversy, I enjoy the conversation, I like to get people talking with this stuff going on.”

Well, he certainly has.

The Buzz, October 2013

7

TitleLife School

Are All English Classes Created Equal? teacher autonomy

By Ronit Morris If you don’t understand the material on your upcoming biology test, chances are your friend in the other bio class has learned the same thing and can explain it to you. But if you don’t remember the details of the wars in Ancient Greece, your friend in another class may not have focused on that material.

The classes that we take in high school usually fall on a spectrum from classes that focus on acquiring specific content to classes that focus on learning skills. For example, math classes mainly teach content, along with the skills necessary to learn the content, while English classes mainly use content to teach the skills of textual analysis.

When mainly teaching content, teachers can only choose what to focus on within the required material. Math teachers need to cover the material included in that specific course. “When you send a kid from ninth grade to tenth grade… you have to assume regardless of who the teacher was the year before that they’ve covered a certain amount of material,” says Dr. Shinar. “You’re not going to take Algebra II before you’ve mastered Algebra I.” Biology and Chemistry, the two courses at SAR for which students take regents, “have a standardized unit-by-unit program.

We have to ensure that regardless of which Biology or Chemistry teacher you have you’re going to get the same curriculum,” explains Dr. Shinar.

But within a specific course, the focus can shift slightly depending on the teacher’s interests. “Mr. Krausz used videos from YouTube to introduce new topics,” describes a Junior in his Algebra II class. Mr. Krausz uses videos to introduce interesting mathematical concepts that he wants to discuss, such as a movie about card-counting during the probability unit. Although other teachers might not include these videos, their students learn the same mathematical principles as those in Mr. Krausz’s class.

Set curricula often make it easier for students when studying for tests. “I only fully feel like I have learned something when I have learned it from different sources,” remarks Anna Peterman (’14). “Before a physics test, not only do I study all of the material I have from class, but I consult online textbooks, articles, YouTube tutorials… to make sure I fully understand the actual material and not just the teacher’s way of teaching

it.” She explains that having a set curriculum makes it easier to find outside sources that correspond to the material from class.

Dr. Shinar adds that even in classes with specific curricula, “Style, interest, and engagement level will change based on the teacher. So if one teacher has a specific passion or a specific area of interest in the field of biology, that teacher might explore that

field differently, or more robustly, than a different teacher who might have a passion in a different area of biology.”

History courses teach historical content in a style that emphasizes important history-learning skills as well. As in every subject, students in each grade are expected to cover certain material. But as in science, Dr. Shinar explains that “teachers will veer based on their passions and interests with a strong commitment to maintaining the core curriculum as is defined by the department chairs and the teachers within that [department].”

Dr. Schwartz, who teaches A.P. United States History, comments: “I don’t think the sole purpose of this class is to prepare students for the AP exam… I’m willing to teach a little less of the AP curriculum and have students be responsible for a little bit more of the AP curriculum on their own in order to teach something that I think is important.”

She might spend two weeks discussing the U.S. Constitution even though it’s not officially part of the AP curriculum. “I don’t know how you’re understanding what’s going on in American history if you don’t know what the Constitution says,” remarks

Dr. Schwartz. Keeping that in mind, she says that “one way or another, I have to get through the AP curriculum.”

In other classes, however, teachers have even more freedom to decide what they want to teach. “In a class without a prescribed curriculum, the whole environment is totally different,” says Dr. Schwartz. “In my Civil Rights and Civil Liberties class in

12th grade, I can teach actually whatever I want.”

Some TSBP teachers also teach additional material that they consider important, even if it is not in the set curriculum.

Rabbi Hain explains that in his 11.41 TSBP class, he “thought it was very important to give [students] a sense of learning the whole perek [of Ben Sorer u’Moreh], and seeing the perek as a whole literary unit, and so we learn all of ben sorer umoreh, even though the official curriculum [starts] in the middle of the perek.”

Classes that focus on teaching skills give teachers an even wider choice of what to teach. Dr. Shinar explains that in English classes, there has always been “a standardization of skills, grade to grade. If you’re in ninth grade, regardless of which teacher you’re going to have, you’re going to learn these skills.” But these same skills can be learned with different content and different assignments. Some classes might read A Gathering of Old Men, and others might read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. “You can read one book or another but you use the same skills.”

While many schools consider research

to be an important part of their English curriculum, SAR has “relocated that to the History department, and English has focused itself solely on fiction and analysis of fiction, along with all the other things the English department does around writing,” continues Dr. Shinar. “This year, the English department has made a commitment for the first time to teach the same books across the board in the same order… Teachers that are all teaching the same texts will have more opportunities to collaborate.”

Although the assignments and assessments are not standardized from class to class, reading the same book as the other English classes makes it easier for teachers to discuss assignments for particular scenes in a particular book. This allows for a kind of collaboration between teachers that isn’t possible when they are teaching different books, and really strengthens the curriculum for students in every class.

Collaboration between teachers is also

“I’m willing to teach a little less of the AP curriculum and have students be responsible for a little bit more of the AP curriculum on their own in order to teach something that I think is important.” an important part of the Tanakh curriculum.

The Tanakh department works together very closely to determine a set curriculum, which they then generally follow. Just as it does in the English department, the collaboration between Tanakh teachers in choosing the curriculum strikes a balance between the freedom that the teachers have over what they teach and the standardized choice of material.

Readers are invited to submit letters or responses to articles and editorials in The Buzz. Letters may be sent to: thebuzz@sarhighschool.org (Submissions may be edited for length or content). Readers can read and respond to articles on The Buzz’s website, TheSARBuzz.org.

8

The Buzz, October 2013

Community Title News

The Man Behind the Real Parks and Recreation andrew cohen, SAR’s district’s city councilman

By Emma Cantor Other than SAR students who actually live near here, most of us only know two things about the Riverdale area: it’s where SAR is located and there is a plethora of Jews. Those who commute from other neighborhoods may be surprised to learn that the demographics of Riverdale and Kingsbridge, the areas that comprise Bronx’s 11th district, are in fact quite diverse.

I learned this and more about our community during a brief meeting I had recently with the democratic candidate for Councilman for the 11th district, Andrew Cohen. Although Cohen has not yet officially won the position, after winning the democratic primary over three adversaries, he is very likely to run uncontested on November’s election day, as there are no other candidates mounting serious campaigns at this time.

The City Council of New York is comprised of 51 members representing 51 different council districts throughout the five boroughs. The main objective of the council is to monitor the performance of the city’s agencies, to review a wide variety of zoning issues, and, most importantly, to review and approve the city’s budget. Because the City Council is responsible for making such influential decisions, each member of the Council has the opportunity to greatly impact the welfare of citizens of New York.

Curious as to who Andrew Cohen is and what impact he hopes to make in the upcoming years, I had the privilege to sit Sexual Abuse Continued from page 1

siah.com, when the camp staff was notified that a counselor had sexually assaulted a 13-year-old camper this past summer, the camp, rather than immediately contacting the police, attempted to quietly sneak the counselor back to Canada.

According to the post, “The call by the parent to police took place at 4:38 PM the day after the incident took place. The camp had known about that incident since early that morning, but it had made no calls to police or child services.” Only after the camp found out that a parent had called the police did Alex Gold, the director of the camp, call child services to report--in very little detail-what had happened. Supposedly a video had been taken of the incident, which Gold told the authorities was “too dark” to view, even though it reportedly was not. Gold only contacted the parent body after the fact to assure parents that the camp had been in compliance with the law, though he never mentioned the delay.

With all of these stories circulating through the news, SAR has been consider-

down with him at none other than the Skyview Dunkin’ Donuts to discuss his plans for when he takes office.

When asked about his life as a student and how he got started in politics, his initial response was, “I was a lousy high school student, decent in college, and eventually by law school, I started to do well in school. It took me a long time to actually do well in

Andrew Cohen, likely City Councilman for the 11th District

academia. I now teach at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. So I have come along way in terms of my academics.” To all those who are worried they are not succeeding as they had hoped they would in high school, Cohen’s experience is comforting and reassuring--we all still have ample opportunity to be a member of city council.

Cohen’s involvement in politics has increased over time through his service on the local Community Board as the Chair of the ing what measures can be taken to prevent such an event from happening here.

The most obvious precaution against

“When the camp staff was notified that a counselor had sexually assaulted a 13-year-old camper this past summer, the camp, rather than immediately contacting the police, attempted to quietly sneak the counselor back to Canada.”

Youth and Aging Committee and the work he has done with our current local assemblyman, Jeffrey Dinowitz. In addition to support from Jeffrey Dinowitz, Cohen was also endorsed by Bill De Blasio, leading candidate for mayor.

The Community Board is a government agency made up of volunteers who are appointed by the borough president. The city councilman recommends people to the borough president for appointment. Cohen says that when he gets elected in January, part of his job will be to screen and recruit people for appointment to Community Board.

While serving as chair of the youth committee, Cohen thought there was a need for a local teen recreational program that was open to all and not associated with any one particular educational institution. He was able to get funding for this purpose from the Riverdale Community Center.

In our conversation, Cohen reflected on the socioeconomic and ethnic diversity of District 11, saying that “The issues that affect the city, affect the council district.

I think [we] are in a lot of ways similar to what we see elsewhere, as District 11 is a microcosm of New York City as a whole. A lot of what I will be doing in City Hall will have some impact on the district.”

The 11th District also differs in certain important ways from other districts. For example, 36 percent of the district consists of parkland. Cohen therefore expects to provide a strong voice in support of adequately funding the city’s parks. “Funding parks has

been a real challenge for the city in terms of maintenance and capital money. Whenever there is a budget crisis the first thing they do is cut the parks. That has a significant impact on this district because of the amount of parkland we have.” Cohen went on to say that he believes Van Cortland Park is underfunded and underutilized. When I pushed back on his response, arguing that perhaps cutting the funding for parks might be less harmful than cutting the funding for other more essential programs, he provided further support for his view by noting that adequately funding the park helps bring in additional tourism to the district.

Andrew Cohen’s campaign website provides a good overview of his views on many issues facing the city, including his perspective on how the City Council should be operated. Cohen would like to eliminate so-called “Lulus,” which is a practice in which cash stipends are paid out to councilmen beyond their annual salaries if they hold leadership positions in the Council. Cohen has openly criticized paying Lulus, saying, “they are tied to loyalty rather than to their effectiveness as legislators.” Cohen said further, “I want to be accountable to my constituents for the decisions I make. You don’t want your councilman making decisions because they are afraid of angering the Speaker of the House, with the end result being that money taken out of their pockets.”

such an event is the infrastructure of the school building itself. According to Rabbi Harcsztark, “The halacha of yichud is real, [but] there are less scenarios that it can happen here in a sense that you have to work a little bit harder to find your spaces.” Though the school was not originally built with that purpose in mind, it certainly has reshaped what it means to have a private conversation with a teacher. A student and teacher meeting alone in said teacher’s office is much less suspicious when the office has windows instead of real walls. Technically, such a situation would not even violate the laws of yichud.

Even so, there is a policy about boys and girls, both students and teachers, being alone together. When asked why the yichud policy is not preached to the student body as often as policies such as “honor the dress code” and “love the building,” Rabbi Harcsztark responded, “I think that the gut is that seems like a really charged thing to bring up when people first come in, but as you’re saying it, maybe we should address it, as a matter of fact.”

In this day and age, the dangers of sexuality extend beyond physical contact into

the virtual world of technology. Last year, the student-teacher media policy was created to prevent any inappropriate relationships between students and teachers. “The administration has had to monitor teacher-student relationships and we felt that we needed to formalize some policies to prevent any inappropriate boundaries from being crossed,” says Rabbi Harcsztark.

Further enhancements to the school’s sexual abuse prevention standards are also in the making. For example, all teachers receive a staff manual when they are hired with a sexual abuse policy. However, the focus of it is currently on the responsibility of a staff member who becomes aware that a student is being sexually abused. “As of yet, there is no formal policy regarding a scenario in which a teacher would abuse a student,” says Rabbi Harcsztark. Apparently, though, one is in the making. “We are currently crafting a section that will focus on sexual abuse by a staff member toward a student. That will be included in the upcoming edition of the staff manual.” Rabbi Harcsztark adds, “it is vital to draw up a sexual abuse policy so that people know clearly what would happen: we would go to the police immediately.”

The Buzz, October 2013

9

TitleLife Student

My Parents Brainwashed Me

ethan metzger delivers a countercultural slam poem

By Mirian Lichtenberg Rebecca Black’s “Friday” got sixty million views. Alison Gold’s inspirational song about her love of Chinese food got over nine million views in six days. To me, these numbers pale in comparison to the 144,836 (note: this number is most likely currently inaccurate) views received by Ethan Metzger’s (’14) legendary slam poetry performance.

Last May, Metzger presented an original slam poem at the Bronx Youth Poetry Slam, hosted in Kingsbridge Library. With snaps and “yesses” in the background, we listen to Ethan tell us the story of his encounter with a fellow student who is, as Metzger writes, “slow to commend, but quick to condescend.” This nameless classmate questioned Ethan’s Jewish integrity, claiming that he only keeps the laws of Judaism because his parents “brainwashed” him to do so. The rest of the poem is Ethan’s beautiful, potent and poignant defense against this common accusation concerning religious practice.

Metzger comments, “my poem kind of exaggerated the malice that was intended... I wrote the poem after one instance in school but it’s not the only time that anybody has ever said that.”

When Sammy Marcus (’14) stumbled upon this video a little over a week ago, it had a decent 350 views. Marcus loved the video so much, he posted it onto Facebook, with a caption that read, “This is why he [Ethan Metzger] is the man. Not sure how Anava Continued from page 4

decide on together. According to Rabbi Harcsztark, the choice of Anava primarily stemmed from a little-discussed bullet point in SAR’s mission statement about “probing and engaging the world with humility and openness to God’s creations.” He explains that the thinking behind it was that “one of the things that distinguishes this generation of kids and us teachers when we were kids is that now there is a lot more focus on self-esteem and self-expression, self-this, and self-that. So, we find ourselves asking if there has been a trade-off when all the attention is focused on me, me, me, and is not focusing on humility and things that are outside of you, and bigger than you, and outside of you, and things like that. Maybe that deserves some kind of attention.”

Rabbi Harcsztark continues, “Two years ago’s theme was definitely Bein Adam L’Chavero and last year’s theme was Bein Adam L’Makom, and one of the things which feels really important is for this theme to come across as being both Bein Adam L’Makom and Bein Adam L’Chaveiro. Ac-

I found this but it’s awesome.” Marcus did not know that his seemingly insignificant post would make a video go viral.

Immediately, friends (ranging from best to Facebook) began sharing the video.

Soon classmates were snapping along, quoting lines about how “God must run millions of marathons each day,” and patting their friend on the back. The number of views seemed to increase exponentially.

One day, I did a little experiment and refreshed the video’s Youtube page every

twenty minutes or so. In a period of four hours, I watched the number of views jump from 27,142 to 48,115. My friend and I made a bet: I didn’t think it would make it to 100,000. I very much lost that bet. With regards to the astonishing number of views it has received in such a short amount of time, Marcus comments “It’s amazing and I’m not surprised. It should have more.” Similarly, Mr. Broder, the head of the SAR slam poetry club, remarks, “I’m elated because it represents a real achievement for Ethan, for the SAR Poetry Team, and for the greater movecording to the Rambam, the whole idea of humility is that the divine presence around you is something bigger than you are. So there’s an aspect of this in humility in terms of how you act with other people and there’s

“Anava means ‘not only knowing what you can offer the world, but what others can offer the world, as well, and seeing the potential in everyone.’” also an aspect of it in terms of humility in the face of something that’s much bigger. I see this theme as both.”

Some students, however, find an in-

ment among Jewish day schools to promote and integrate spoken, performance, and slam poetry.”

The SAR administration could not agree more. At a recent appreciation dinner, the video was played for all our major donors as a way to showcase how great our school is. Dr. Schwartz explains that “many emails have come in from parents and other community members excited to see the success and excited to see his poetry slam performance gaining some wide notice, and some have suggested that SAR should figure out some way to use this for the school’s benefit.”

Additionally, in Koleinu (as I’m sure we all read), Rabbi Harcsztark wrote: “If you have not yet seen senior Ethan Metzger’s poetry slam that has gone viral (from 1500 to 37,000 hits in one week), here is the link.” Little did he know how inaccurate his numbers would soon become.

In response, Metzger expresses, “I’m honored, and I’m hopeful that the video will resonate with the people who watch it. At the same time it’s kind of overwhelming, but I’m grateful that the poem is positively impacting people.”

I think it’s worth noting that Ethan only allowed me to write this article because I kind of begged. If it were up to him, the video would have stayed a quiet, local, sensation, definitely not garnering the notable attention of a Buzz article. When I told him that he is very humble about his newfound fame, Metzger admits that “throughout this

whole process, I’ve wondered what would be the humble thing to do... really what it comes down to is I had a message. The poem wasn’t about me, it was about the issue at hand and I had the opportunity to spread the message. When else am I going to have that opportunity?”

You may be surprised to find out that Ethan did not advance to the second round.

Rather, Yishai Chamudot (’14), a friend and classmate of Ethan’s (hopefully not the classmate Ethan critiqued in his poem), did. When asked if he was upset about this, Metzger immediately exclaimed, “absolutely not!” Rather, he is “really disappointed that Yishai’s poem is not on Youtube. He’s such an incredible writer and his poem was mind blowing and I was totally happy for him.”

But with fame, especially Youtube fame, comes the haters, and this video is no exception. Despite the overwhelmingly positive attention it has received, his poem has sparked religious debates and a few negative comments (some quite revolting) against the Jewish people and religion in general. To this, Ethan responds “I knew that as more people watched it eventually there would be some negative comments, and I’m totally fine with it. If someone disagrees with my message, I totally respect that.”

Probably not how a typical teenager would have responded.

No matter what your thoughts are on the poem, I think we can all agree that the message Ethan is sending is quite remarkable and defiantly #CounterCultural.

herent problem with this theme and with the concept of having a theme every year in general. Yona Benjamin (’15) believes that “Anava as a theme is flawed because the reasoning behind it is to make us better and more thoughtful Jews, while really, the school should try to engage kids in Judaism more, so that they will then want to become more humble.” Instead of focusing on teaching the specific aspect of the year’s theme, he thinks the school should concentrate its efforts on teaching the student body better Jewish values in general. He claims that “what happened with Dveykut is that kids laughed and walked away. They simply didn’t engage with the theme at all; it became a joke,” and he predicts that Anava will go the same route.

Adina Noble (’16) and Ronit Morris (’15) both appreciate the school’s focus on a certain topic every year, but wish that there wasn’t so much emphasis on it in Beit Midrash. Dr. Shinar, who teaches 12th Grade Beit Midrash, tries to make the class less about lecturing and more about teaching students “how to incorporate that value into daily life and living. A lot of sources that we do in the class and Beit Midrash, I will ask

my class at least to discuss how they practically play on the ground. I check constantly whether they see their behavior or the behavior of others being positively affected by the conversations that we’re having, because I feel that humility is the character trait that we could all benefit from a little more.”

He concisely sums up the goals that Anava wants to accomplish this year, “I think Anava is about recognizing your talents and your place in the world while maintaining real open space in your life to accept other people’s wisdom, to learn from everyone around you, to empathize, to listen, to truly not always be right or not always be entitled to your own personal truth but to understand that people around you have other perspectives and points of view, and to give people space to really express themselves meaningfully as well. For me, arrogance is not people walking around saying “I’m the best,” but it’s more people walking around saying that the world revolves around them and they’re entitled to what they want whenever they want it. And I want kids to know that yes, they are important, and have a tremendous amount to offer, but so do the people that are around them.”

10

The Buzz, October 2013

Title School Life

How “Grand” Is Our Conversation?

pop culture at the state of the school speech

By Yael Marans Rabbi Harcsztark is a mellow man.

He maintains an even tone when talking to students and doesn’t get unnerved under regular circumstances. But even he admits that the State of the School address is a “big event.” “Most of the time I speak to a crowd it doesn’t feel like high stakes,” he explained, but to him, the State of the School Address is unique.

The State of the School Address is Rabbi Harcsztark’s annual pre-Yom Kippur speech to SAR High School. “The State of the School terminology came from kids,” explained Rabbi Harcsztark, but he believes it is a fitting name for the address, since, he stated, “I try to do that.” He attempts to examine the “state” of SAR as an institution, incorporating what he calls, “teshuvah in real life,” a reflection of where we stand as a community.

This year’s State of the School Address revolved around the student interaction with pop culture. The speech began with a description of the Grand Conversation, a core element of the SAR mission statement.

Rabbi Harcsztark explained that he believes the Grand Conversation is “bringing ideas together to strengthen our understanding, our values, our morals, our commitment to Judaism.” But sometimes, he remarked, there is a version of living within the Grand Conversation that worries him. He called this the Grand Conversation of Torah and Popular Culture, an interaction that he claimed is “not always grand.”

Rabbi Harcsztark continued to note the dangers of over-engagement with popular culture. One idea was evident: the idea that popular culture is not always in line with Jewish values. Therefore, Jewish teens, and Jews in general, should be wary of the culture that surrounds them and make an active choice not to be consumed by it.

Again and again, Rabbi Harcsztark repeated that he did not believe members of the community should be isolated from the rest of the world. Instead, he explained, it is a Jewish duty to distinguish between the Grand Conversation between Torah and higher culture and that between Torah and popular culture. American Jewish youth, and therefore SAR students, he explained,

do not distinguish enough between the two.

He beseeched the student body to participate in acts of higher culture and to use discretion when participating in acts of popular culture.

If teens allow themselves to be fully immersed in popular culture, explained Rabbi Harcsztark, the negative values of the culture might engrain themselves into individual teenagers without them even realizing.

The feedback on the State of the School Address has exhibited a great deal of diversity. A number of students reacted strongly to Rabbi Harcsztark’s speech. In the words of Allison Herstic (‘16), “Rabbi Harcsztark had good intentions with his speech, but by judging an aspect of life that much of the student body participates in he is passing a judgment on other people’s lives.” In Herstic’s eyes, Rabbi Harcsztark was removing himself from the population of pop-culture consumers. She further remarked, “He made many amazing points about living a Torah lifestyle in the modern world, but did not stress how hard it is to do so.” Rabbi Harcsztark charged the student body with the task of being more mindful of popular culture and, according to Herstic, did not acknowl-

edge the near impossibility of that task.

In addition, the State of the School Address was the subject of countless heated debates during the Beit Midrash period that followed it. The school planned for Beit Midrash groups to dissect the speech together.

In many classes, students grew animated and defensive over the speech. They insisted that popular culture had no negative effects on them as individuals, and like Ms. Herstic, were slightly stung by Rabbi Harcsztark’s words.

But on the other hand, Rabbi Harcsztark reported, “Most people talking to me were appreciating that I put the issue on the table”.” He explained, “I don’t assume the goal is to transform everybody in a half an hour,” rather to instill the idea that individuals should “proudly think Jewishly against the broader culture.”

As for the students who expressed frustration with the address, Rabbi Harcsztark says, “ I would only be interested to hear what they have to say.” Overall, he noted, “more kids were commenting on it [the speech] than usual” and “if people are talking about it, that’s a good thing.”

1= Strongly Agree, 5= Strongly Disagree

The Buzz, October 2013

11

Title Features

ON A LIGHTER NOTE . . .

Dopplegangers

The “Made in China” stickers are made in Korea

E L B A T O N ABLES T O U Q

Dave Franco (Actor)

Josh Katz (‘14)

Top 5 Tips To Freshmen 5. Bow down to Rabbi Harcsztark.

(The school is progressive and holds that avodah zarah is not an issue.)

4. Treat the seniors like gods. Remember, they control your lives.

3. Go buy lunch from Chickies.

Oh, and make sure you bring some back for the administration.

2. MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT ALL THE ACTIVITIES THIS WEDNESDAY 1. Join The Buzz.

STATEMENT FROM STUDENT COUNCIL In Council, we have begun to discuss policies with the administration, including the elevator policy as it pertains to seniors and the recycling policy. In future weeks, in addition to thinking about improving policies, we hope to create bylaws and perhaps amendments to the charter that will allow future student councils to fulfill their potential for success.

VERBATI

If you have any ideas or questions, feel free to contact us at studentcouncil@sarhighschool.org

M

—Gavriel Steinmetz-Silber, Speaker of Student Council

The NSA is listening . . . and so are we!

Overheard on the Staircase: Freshman Girl: I need to have a mental breakdown, but I just don’t have time!

Overheard in Rabbi Helfgot’s TSBP Class: Girl, taking test: Can you explain what number 7 is?

Rabbi Helfgot: Okay, you have 7 minutes left.

Overheard on Back Staircase: Mr. Steere: Is that Candy Crush?

Girl, embarrassed: Yeah, it is.

Mr. Steere: My wife and daughter are obsessed with that game.

Overheard on Riverdale Avenue: Women on phone: You have to sit her down and tell her she’s a drug addict Overseen on Facebook: Status: Don’t forget to wear pink tomorrow to support breast cancer!!

Overheard in Mr. Fleischer’s Creative Writing Class: Boy: I get lost in your eyes.

Girl: I get lost in your nose.

Overheard in Mr. Friedlander’s BC Calc Class Mr. Friedlander: That wasn’t a feeble attempt at humor that failed; it was an attempt at feeble humor that succeeded!

Overseen in Mr. Fleischer’s Creative Writing Class: Assignment: We are all heroes in our own way. Especially me. And not just because I wear spandex and fight crime.

Overheard before an AP Euro Test: Anna Ballan, exasperated: Just because I came out of her womb does not mean you can complain to me about her class!

Overheard on the subway: Father to daughter: If you want to make sure he’s nice, see how he treats his dog.

If he kills the dog, I don’t want you near him.

Overheard in class: One student to another: Do you think he would notice if I ate his lunch?

Overheard on the bus: Suited Man, Into Phone: I’m gonna fire him, but don’t worry, I’ll be nice about it.

I’m sure he’ll be fine.

12

The Buzz, October 2013

Title Staff Incoming

Veganism and Van Gogh: Rabbi Dov Lerea

By Rachel Ordan For those of you who automatically delete all issues of Koleinu, you missed an opportunity to discover an awesome new member of the SAR High School faculty: Rabbi Dov Lerea. Rabbi Dov is teaching 10th grade TSBP, 12th grade TSBP, and a Senior elective called “The Idea of Freedom in Jewish Thought and History” (try fitting that name on your schedule).

Before coming to SAR, Rabbi Dov was the Dean at Heschel, Director of Education at Camp Yavneh in New Hampshire, and Director of Secondary Education at Boston Hebrew College. He has also worked at the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education and at the Wexner Heritage Foundation. Rabbi Dov has most recently worked as the Director of KIVUNIM, a gap-year program in Jerusalem.

When asked how SAR is different from the other places where he has worked, Rabbi Dov responded that “SAR is new in several

ways for me. First, the openness of many of the floors and classrooms creates a community feeling throughout the school that I

noticed from the very first day. Second, this openness is filled with such positive energy.

I immediately feel how much students like being here and being together. This combination of architectural design and communal energy is unique in my experience. Also, SAR is an Orthodox high school dedicated both to orthodox practice and thinking carefully about what it means for us to build and live a religious life. That is a demanding task, but one which I sense is foundational for SAR.” If that quote wasn’t enough to prove his stunning intelligence, I honestly don’t know what is.

Based on his tie collection, I thought that it was worth asking if Van Gogh was Rabbi Dov’s favorite artist. He responded that while he is not his favorite artist, he is one of many. He likes impressionists very much, as well as post-impressionism and 20th century art. He started wearing “fun ties” years

ago “in order that the tie, which is otherwise useless, serve the useful purpose of bringing a bit of fun, joy and pleasure into ‘formal attire.’”

Contrary to popular belief, teachers have hobbies aside from grading papers. Rabbi Dov is into cooking, and although he is vegan, he can cook a mean steak. He is constantly looking for new ways to cook fruits, vegetables and grains, and is always experimenting with ethnic cuisine. His mantra is “the spicier the better.” He likes to bike ride and do woodwork. He also likes just sitting and reading a good book or poetry.

Fun facts about Rabbi Dov: Favorite movie: Dodge Ball. Favorite cartoon show: Family Guy. Favorite davening nusach: Sephardic.

Favorite music: All, but particularly Jimi Hendrix and Aaron Copland.

Favorite Director of Admissions: Ms. Lerea

Fight like a Fellow:Rachel Margolin

By Temima Grossman This year the SAR High School administration has gone above and beyond to ensure the safety of its students by hiring an expert practitioner of Krav Maga.

Rachel Margolin hails originally from Queens, New York and currently resides in Washington Heights. She completed a full education beginning with Yeshiva of Central Queens, continuing on to Yeshiva University High School for Girls and finally finishing with Stern College for Women, all of which were extremely positive experiences. At the youthful age of twenty-two, Rachel has landed herself in the esteemed beit midrash of SAR High School.

Those who are close to Rachel would describe her as a giving person, a friend who would “go the extra mile for them.”

Specifically, Rachel enjoys driving those in

need for a ride and sharing food with those suffering from grumbling tummies.

Although Rachel’s reflexive giving characteristic has assisted many of her friends in times of distress, it has also led to near catastrophe. “I did something really stupid once,” she admitted “Actually, this could have been a real risk.” The story unfolds with Rachel in a cab at around two o’clock in the morning, coming back from Manhattan. While in the cab, she hears the sound of a cell phone ringing, discovering it lying beneath her seat. On the phone was the man who had accidentally left his cell phone in the cab he took earlier that day. The stranger requested to meet with Rachel at two in the morning to retrieve his lost item.

How could Rachel possibly pass up this wonderful opportunity to be a giving person? Looking back, Rachel remembers that “he just sounded like a trustworthy person

over the phone,” which convinced her to meet him. It turned out that the strange man was no hooligan or hoodlum and even had the decency to pay for her cab ride.

While on the topic of adventures, if giv-

en the choice to go anywhere for just one day, Rachel responded with “Egypt, just because I would never go in my right mind now.” In addition to the fantastical idea of

it, Rachel finds archeological sights fascinating and is intrigued by ancient Egypt.

Rachel also explained that she would bring along a physically strong friend in order to protect her from any encountered problems.

Students who have the privilege to learn with Rachel in the beit midrash will become accustomed to a relaxed atmosphere as she believes strongly in the saying “don’t sweat the small stuff.” In fact, if she were given the opportunity to broadcast one statement to the whole world it would be this motto, by which she means, “I just think people get too hyped up about things that aren’t important.”

Rachel’s inspiration comes from either the words of an uplifting shiur or a breathtaking scenic view. Those who learn with her will have no choice but to be inspired as well (and maybe even learn a little Krav Maga.)

Pulling Teeth: Michael Heller

By Solomon Friedman The first time I spoke to Michael Heller was on the first day of school, and the first thing he said to me was: “I know I can’t really make you do anything, but could you please be quiet?” (It was during davening.)

“Wuh?” I replied, confused by the rather odd choice of phrasing given his apparent age and position. He responded: “Well, I’m not really a teacher. I’m just a fellow, so I don’t really have any actual power to make you do anything.” This kind of honesty exemplifies a true master of the art of “Anava.” It begins to paint a picture of a man, humble in his nature but confident in his convictions.

Heller lives in Washington Heights and recently finished his schooling at Yeshiva University. Hashana habaa, baruch hashem,

Heller will return to school to train as a dentist, his chosen profession.

So what then, is he doing at SAR? When asked, he explained that he has “always had a passion for education” and that, as a young child, he “loved learning, and loved school.” Heller said he wanted to make a difference, and that he cared about effective teaching.

Heller recalls that a turning point in his perception of teaching, and of learning, was during his time at Yeshivat Shalavim, where he studied under Rabbi Yosef Nusbacher.

A big Brisker-style Talmudist (and a New York Yeshiva High School hockey legend),

Rabbi Nusbacher taught Heller to be dogged and thorough with his learning, and taught with a passion and a persistence that, Heller says, “continues to inspire me.”

Michael Heller is not just concerned with the teaching of students, but also with being a student of teaching.

Heller came to SAR earlier this year with high hopes for the school and the students, whose famed dedication, midot, and love of learning fueled an exemplary reputation. Upon arrival at davening, however, Heller was a bit taken aback. Heller reflects on his initial reaction saying: “The classic picture of an SAR student, his being serious, motivated, and thoughtful about his Judaism, somehow

did not seem to extend to davening.” Heller came to see davening at SAR – at least my davening – as an area for improvement.

Heller works hard and remains devoted, and “in the zone.” He is also a skilled Solitaire player and Heller says that on a good day, he can play anywhere between 10-14 games of Solitaire in his downtime.

When asked about his Solitaire winning percentage, Heller responded that “it’s not about winning, I would do it anyway. It’s about being confident in your strengths, finding your weaknesses, and, more importantly, when you do find a weakness, which everyone is sure to, asking yourself: ‘how can I fix this?’” A humble message as true for Solitaire, as it is for dentistry, as it is for Brisker-style learning, as it is for davening as SAR.

The Buzz, October 2013

13

Incoming (and Title Outgoing) Staff

Hebrew Language and English Literature: Ms. Ora Yair

By Matthew Hiesler “Kids are kids no matter where you are,” said Ms. Yair, a new Hebrew teacher at SAR High School, when asked what the biggest cultural difference is between SAR and Israeli schools. Ms. Yair didn’t just offer information about herself, but education as whole. She revealed that even though teaching styles come and go, no matter the school, the essence of education has remained constant.

Ms. Yair grew up in Tiveria with her

“Kids are kids no matter where you are.” three siblings and lived very close to many of her cousins. She said it gave the impression that she had “a relatively large family.”

She taught for fifteen years in Israel, in both separate and mixed schools, ranging from young children to college students.

Even though she is currently teaching

Ivrit, she actually taught English in Israel for many years. She has a passion for English literature and loved teaching it. During her free time, Ms. Yair likes to read, specifically fantasy and mystery books. When asked what her favorite book is, she said “I don’t like to pick favorites, but the first book that come to mind is Huckleberry Finn.” She loves most things by Mark Twain and that if she were to swap jobs with a different teacher in the school it would be with any English teacher.

Ms.Yair has seen different educational trends throughout her career. She believes that this helps teachers become better, more experienced, educators. After fifteen years of teaching at many different schools she believes that kids are the same no matter where you go and so is education. Whether spending time by the Kinneret, the Hudson River or vicariously by the Mississippi, Ms. Yair is a wonderful new edition to SAR High School. Make sure to say hello to her as she floats down the halls.

Lost in the Real World, Found at SAR: Roni Zimmelman

By Matt Jelen I sat down with Roni Zemelman, a new Beit Midrash fellow, to ask him to share his experiences and aspirations for the future. I soon discovered much about the former, and that he had as little an idea as I did regarding the latter.

Roni was born in Cleveland, OH, where he grew up and attended school. Like any good Jewish teenager, Roni soon made his way to Washington Heights, NY, to go to YU. There he majored in History and completed his Pre-Med. What he wants to do now is a little bit of a mystery.

Roni says that he definitely would like to go to grad school, but is still unsure of a specific career path. When asked if he hoped to go to medical school, he explained that he really is undecided on whether he wants to continue down that road, or whether he would like to try something new.

For now, Roni is trying something completely new. He decided to become a fellow at SAR for the year for two reasons.

Firstly, he wanted to be exposed to education, and secondly, he simply states, “I like working with kids.” So who knows? Maybe education is a worthy career choice for him.

So far he is really enjoying it here, and he says that his favorite aspect of SAR

would have to be the atmosphere.

The most complex part of Roni’s life is probably his interest and hobbies. He has many of each, but to name only a few, he loves sports, namely basketball and football, music, reading, and learning. Some of his exciting hobbies include building model rockets, watching funny YouTube videos, and watching Saturday Night Live (or any sketch comedy, for that matter).

Even though not all of us may have the privilege to be around our new fellow, Roni, on a weekly basis, he’s certainly worth meeting. Find out more about his past, or ask him if he’s made any progress on a choice for next year. Alternatively, speak to any other fellow: each has a story of their own, and each is great in their own special way.

Keeping Up with the Krolls

By Alon Futter After a long summer vacation, many students were excited to return to their familiar school setting, to see their friends and teachers once again. Though students were met with a few policy changes, the most drastic difference of all was not a change in policy, but rather in the school administration. With Rabbi Kroll’s departure, the school atmosphere and division of administrative roles has changed.

Rabbi Kroll was first offered the position of Head of School of Weinbaum Yeshiva High School at the end of last October.

However, Rabbi Kroll states that back then “I loved my job at SAR; I was not really interested in pursuing other opportunities.

If you had asked me when we first started talking whether this was going to work out, I would’ve rated it as very unlikely.”

However, soon it became clear that Weinbaum really needed someone capable of filling the Head of School position. Weinbaum was in a transition year in which there was a principal, but no Head of School. A Weinbaum alumnus (‘13) reports: “Without a Head of School, there was no one really enforcing discipline. The boys didn’t have

someone they respected; there was a female principal with essential duties, but no male discipline. If you were sent to the Head of School, you wouldn’t have to go anywhere, because there was no Head of School.” She explains that the Head of School is a crucial role because “you are the central person, the head of all programming, the person someone consults if there is a problem, and something was definitely lacking when this position was unfilled.” Sensing the great ways in which he could benefit the school, Rabbi Kroll met with some of Weinbaum’s leaders, and the process began.

Now, about a year later, Rabbi Kroll is settling into his new position. So far, everything seems to be going very well. Moshe Weiss, a junior at Weinbaum, notes, “Rabbi Kroll has been an amazing addition to the Weinbaum Yeshiva High School. He both connects to the students on a personal level and brings positive reform to the everyday function of the school. The students have recognized this, and received him warmly in kind.”

Though Rabbi Kroll seems to be settling into Weinbaum nicely, with any change in job comes adjudgment. Weinbaum, though also a Modern Orthodox school, is

very different from SAR. “One big difference [is that] Limudei kodesh is separate gender,” says Rabbi Kroll. He adds that “I think there are a lot of great things that can happen when an all girls class learns [for the most part] with a female teacher and when an all boys class learns [for the most part] with their male teacher. We always tried to find opportunities for it at SAR with varying degrees of success. The negative aspect of it is that it is very hard to create a learning environment that is separate but equal.”

Rabbi Kroll also has had to adjust to the fact that “the religious spectrum is more diverse than at SAR. The left is farther left and the right is farther right. This is because there are fewer schooling options in South Florida than there are in NY.” Ezra Splaver, another junior at Weinbaum, agrees with Rabbi Kroll that there is a wide range of religious affiliation in Weinbaum, adding that “in Weinbaum, people do not feel left out or embarrassed if they are one of the more religious students or less religious students.” Despite the many differences, Weinbaum has several common boundaries with SAR: “The students are nice (obviously not as nice as SAR kids). The staff is really good (obviously not as good as at SAR). And the parent body is

supportive (obviously not as supportive as at SAR),” jokes Rabbi Kroll.

Last year, upon accepting the Head of School position at Weinbaum, Rabbi Kroll sent out an email to the parent body, stating: “As I look toward the future, I know that the work that I hope to do at Weinbaum Yeshiva High School will be deeply shaped and influenced by what I’ve learned over the past ten years at SAR.” Rabbi Kroll affirmed his earlier statement by reiterating that “I have ‘grown up’ administratively in SAR. So the ideas that I contribute and the decisions that I made are built on an SAR foundation.”

With that in mind Rabbi Kroll will be “cautious about trying to institute ideas or programs that are more particular to SAR and would seem foreign at WYHS.” Though Rabbi Kroll is still in his early stages at Weinbaum, he has already brought and will continue to bring his talent and enthusiasm to the school. As the Weinbaum alumnus notes, “He will enhance the school, and begin a new chapter of it. Students are excited for everything new he will bring to the school.”

Look out for our new feature, Keeping up with the Krolls, in which we update you on Boca Raton, beach life, and what’s #BetterThan what.

14

The Buzz, October 2013

School TitleLife

Faux Curriculars

how legitimate are the clubs at sar?

By Lilly Scherban My first year at SAR, I dragged my friends to the first meeting of the “Pre Med Society.” I had seen a booth for it at the cocurricular fair and it seemed interesting, if a little ambiguous. We walked into the fourth floor lab and were greeted by two senior boys lounging at the front of the room, joking around with each other. The boys casually passed around a signup sheet while the room filled up, mostly with freshmen and sophomores. The boys said a few words about how the meetings would work, and then the bell rang. We all left, more confused than when we had come. We only met twice after that, and we never did discuss anything about med school, despite the name of the club.

This, unfortunately, is a pretty typical scene at SAR. Many clubs, excluding the more legitimate clubs that exist at every school--like Model UN, Mock Trial, Debate -- are created by upperclassmen who only care about filling up their resume. They create clubs in order to bolster their resumes for college, but many don’t actually invest a lot of effort or time into these clubs. One anonymous junior who co-founded a club this year said, “this is definitely purely for college. I didn’t really think anybody would join it.”

This type of mindset results in an overflow

of small clubs, many of which don’t actually accomplish anything.

These clubs survive mainly because of the underclassmen who join, thinking they are joining legitimate clubs. Most freshmen are overwhelmed by the number of different clubs that are available. “The number of clubs was a little overwhelming, and it took

we certainly won’t be the last. For example, an anonymous junior said, “I signed up for a club made by seniors and we didn’t meet once during the year. I was very frustrated, but many clubs are like that.”

SAR works to ensure that students who initiate new clubs are dedicated to investing time and energy into it, by making

XKCD #703, “Honor Societies,” Randall Munroe

a little bit of time narrowing down which clubs I was interested in,” says freshman Sophie Hecht (’17).

Because of this overload of clubs, my friends and I weren’t the only underclassmen to fall into this upperclassmen trap, and

the creation of clubs a multi-step process.

Founders need a school administrator to be responsible for the club, a certain number of meetings per month, and a minimum of guaranteed club members. Despite these measures, new clubs manage to pop up ev-

ery year.

Sometimes, these clubs are founded by students who are genuinely interested in the subject. These clubs are the ones that survive and thrive. Cookies for a Cause, cofounded by juniors Devorah Meyers (’15) and Ruthie Charendoff (’15) last year, is an example of such a club. Meyers said that she wanted to start a club “that would not only interest us, but hopefully other students in the school as well.” The club is unique because it is “a hands-on project”, and Meyers explained that she and Charendoff founded it because they “always loved baking, especially with friends, so we decided to merge our love for baking with our love for chesed and create ‘Cookies for a Cause!’” I was lucky enough to see “Cookies for a Cause” burgeon from its inception. Currently, it is in its second year, but if you walk into the lunchroom after school on Thursday, you’ll see many students baking cookies and having a great time while helping a cause. And the ones helping the club grow and flourish become its true founders.

That is the ideal for clubs at SAR: People need to become passionate about their club because of a love for its cause. This is definitely a hard goal to achieve, but we can start working towards it by making sure that SAR is a place where passion and commitment are really nurtured and developed.

Increasingly Distant and Not So Loud remembering 9/11 at sar

By Maya Pretsfelder There was an unusual hush across the building. For about two minutes there was no one yelling across grade floors. Not a word of math was uttered, not a word of English was written. At exactly 9:58 am every person within the building rose and fell silent.

The commemoration for 9/11 was introduced by Dr. Schwartz, who honored the lives that were shattered in the attack. It was then followed by a moment of silence, ending with a reminder to keep the victims in mind and in prayer throughout the course of the day. The loudspeakers turned off and the voices turned on, and the day returned the a state of normalcy. Students came to school, it was quiet for two minutes, there were some discussions of the day in History classes, and students went home.

Though this 9/11 commemoration demonstrated the school‫׳‬s efforts to remind students of the day, some students still feel that the school does not do an adequate job

of commemorating the tragic day. “I believe that the school should emphasize more 9/11 programming, because even though we’re Jewish, we’re still Americans, and should have more in order to commemorate the

“I think that many students need to feel a stronger connection to American Service and the country itself.” lives lost in the horrible tragedy,” exclaims Deena Woloshin (’14). Avi Siegal (’16) agrees, adding, “a moment of silence on the loudspeaker and a discussion in history class are insufficient expressions of remembrance and respect of the victims and their families.”

Though some students feel that the moment of silence was not enough to re-

member the day the Twin Towers fell, others don’t even have what to remember. About 530 students stood to commemorate the lifechanging day, yet perhaps less than a third of them have any memories of the day.

“I have no recollection whatsoever [of 9/11]. All that I have accumulated over the years are the stories that I have been told first and second hand, “ begins Emily David (’15). “On some level, I feel as though I don’t appreciate the gravity of the situation as much as I should. And that is precisely why I think the morning’s program is so important.”

For many students like David, 9/11 is just a mixture of stories they have heard over the year, and, as such, the need for SAR to stress the tragedies of the day with more of a lasting impression is perhaps more important now than ever.

There is fear that 9/11 will soon become mere textbook history, history that means as much to our children as the Cold War means to us. A similar fear is held about the Holocaust, and thus, Yom HaShoah is a

universal day of mourning for the tragedy of the Holocaust. Students feel that just as we commemorate the Jewish and Israeli lives lost, it is our obligation as Americans to dedicate as much time to those who lost their lives in 9/11.

“I feel the emphasis in the school is put on the memorials to Israeli soldiers, who also do amazing things, but I think that many students need to feel a stronger connection to American Service and the country itself,” explains Woloshin.

The need for a greater assembly in commemoration of the attack is a sentiment shared by many. David concludes: “Teachers and students should either collaborate to create a meaningful project, or at the very least, each class should in some way touch upon 9/11.” The consensus amongst students is clear: For an event that made such a difference, it is unfitting that for SAR students, it makes so little difference.

The Buzz, October 2013

15

Community Title News Tuition Crisis Continued from page 1

language and Israeli history and culture, but are not Judaism oriented. They are also public schools, and thus free. The parents are concerned that their children won’t develop the skills that a day school provides, and also worry about their children’s ability to form a Jewish identity and feel a sense of community. However, a day school’s hefty price tag is daunting enough for them to seriously consider the charter school.

The Orthodox Union, as well as other Jewish leaders, do not consider these schools a substitute for a Jewish education.

However, there are new day schools beginning to emerge, such as the Westchester Torah Academy and Yeshivat He’atid, whose tuitions are a fraction of the price of other day schools. These are day schools that have lower staff-to-student ratios and not as many of the frills as other schools, such as extracurricular activities. The biggest difference is that they plan to run on a very lean administrative budget. They also don’t plan to have to provide scholarships.

“Everyone’s really interested to see how those schools do,” says Dan Perla, a program officer who focuses on affordability and sustainability for the Avi Chai Foundation.

Avi Chai works on different projects in varying fields, one of which is the Jewish day school tuition crisis. On its website, Avi Chai states that its “finance strategy centers on a group of initiatives that enhance the viability and affordability of Jewish day schools.”

“Avi Chai is not in a position to say, ‘how much money do you need?’ and simply write that check. Scholarships represent hundreds of millions of dollars a year; no one can write that check,” states Perla. Avi Chai works mostly in collaboration with schools, employing a variety of programs.

Perla explains that he works primarily on cost savings. In other words, Avi Chai attempts to help schools save money, and then help them raise more money. This is especially relevant for schools that have empty seats, like the Solomon Schechter schools.

However, what Avi Chai has generally found is that there aren’t many solutions on the cost side, because there aren’t a lot of elements that can be taken out of the equation. In other words, SAR Academy tuition is $22,000 and the high school’s is $31,000 because they offer a certain type of product and services that are expensive. The Kinneret School, a smaller day school in Riverdale, is $14,000 for grades K-8. However, Kinneret is missing a lot of the “perks” that SAR has. It’s not an attractive building, has very few administrators, few extra-curriculars, no scholarships, no hot lunches, and no sports.

They hire faculty that are retired from NYC public schools, which helps save money because these teachers don’t need benefits.

However, it still offers a pretty good basic Jewish education.

SAR chooses not to be this way. It strives to offer high quality teaching, lots

of support services, extracurriculars, and as much scholarship as is necessary.

“At the end of the day,” says Perla, “a lot will be determined by parents and what they want for their kids.”

Other than the new, trimmed down day schools and what little can be done with cost savings, there are other financial solutions being worked upon. As Perla explains in his May 2013 Jewish Week article, “Putting a Cap on Day School Tuitions,” there is a new method that could help Avi Chai reach its goal of middle income affordability. Pilot schools that implement the plan would cap tuition costs as a percent of the pre-tax earnings of middle and upper-middle income families. The idea is that this model will enable larger families to consistently enroll all their children in a Jewish day school.

Qualifying families with more than one child, who today often pay as much as 30% of their income solely on tuition fees, would now be spending closer to 15% of their income, regardless of the amount of children they have.

“Pilot schools that implement the plan would cap tuition costs as a percent of the pretax earnings of middle and upper-middle income families.”

For example, say that a family makes $250,000. With only one child in elementary school, they’d still pay the full $20,000 in tuition fees, because that is less than 15% of their income. However, once their second and third children also enter school, instead of paying $60,000 (around 24% of their income), they’d be limited by the cap, and pay only $38,000 (around 15% of their salary).

This plan is being put to work at multiple schools on the East Coast, thanks to the efforts of those like Charles Cohen, who manages the Jewish Day School Affordability Knowledge Center. This is a project established by the OU along with the Partnership For Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) that its news release describes as “devoted to researching, analyzing, and circulating knowledge and noteworthy practices about existing tuition affordability programs and methodologies.” Together, Cohen and Perla have laid out the Affordability Knowledge Center’s ideas, and a packet of helpful resources for schools looking to be a part of the program. “iCap” (the program’s name) was first used at Solomon Schechter Day School of Boston, when its board members realized how few large families were enrolling their children in the school. They reasoned that their financial aid program was adequate for its lower income families, but it did not

factor in for the needs of middle-income families with multiple children. Eventually, they decided to use the 15% tuition cap. In its first year of implementation, 10 families with 28 students at SSDS participated in the program. In addition, the overall number of multi-children families enrolling students in the school increased from 27 to 34.

However, iCap doesn’t come without downsides. Because of the 28 tuition fees that are no longer being paid in full, the program has cost SSDS about $180,000. Head of School Arnie Zar-Kessler says that the cost has been covered by a tuition increase and higher enrollment. Any school that uses iCap must realize that it will, at first, not quite receive its customary number of tuition dollars. Schools will have to find ways to make up for this difference in order to maintain their quality of education, perhaps through fundraising and donations. Nevertheless, in the long run, these schools will hopefully keep larger families re-enrolling year after year, as well as draw in new ones, as SSDS did.

This plan ultimately generates more parents who are happy to have been able to provide their children with a Jewish education, and more children learning Jewish skills and ways of life. Plus, the peace of mind that these families will gain as a result of being able to plan their budgets ahead of time, as they will now know exactly what they will be spending on tuition from year to year, is a considerable benefit.

Interestingly, iCap-type programs fit in nicely with Jewish teachings. As noted

by Yossi Prager, executive director of the Avi Chai Foundation, the funding of Jewish education appears in Hilchot Shutafim, the section of the Shulchan Aruch that deals with communal services funded through communal taxes (for example, establishing synagogues). It states, “If the fathers of [all] the children cannot afford tuition [for a teacher], the community will have to pay; the tax is levied based on financial means” (Rema, Choshen Mishpat 163:3). If Jewish day school affordability was discussed even in the Shulchan Aruch, it’s clearly time to get on board.

Indeed, other schools have followed SSDS’s lead. The Maimonides School in Boston, as well as Manhattan’s Beit Rabban Day School, the latter of which has been working with Avi Chai, have both announced their own tuition cap programs.

Beginning this year, SAR, too, made changes to its scholarship program. SAR High School now offers a Tuition Accessibility Grant (TAG) funded entirely by an anonymous donor. The TAG Grant awards $2,000 per student to families that meet specific qualifications based on the number of children in the family attending school (nursery through college) and the Adjusted Gross Income of the family (the total income minus specific reductions).

In accordance with this program, the majority of regular scholarship funds at SAR are provided through donations. A smaller portion is funded through tuition paid by

full-paying families. “Historically, the entire scholarship budget had been covered through fundraising,” states Debra May, Executive Director of the SAR Business Office. “However, the economic downturn caused an increased need for scholarship a few years back that could not be covered entirely by funds raised through donations.”

SAR has not implemented iCap. “It is certainly a model that we are aware of, though at this point the scholarship committee and finance committee do not feel that it is the right model for SAR,” explains May. Perla rationalizes that this is because all of the seats in SAR are full. iCap is mostly used in schools that are trying to promote enrollment. The idea is that if seats can be filled by using iCap, these schools will only be gaining revenue. In general, non-Orthodox day schools, like the Schechter schools, have a much lower capacity rate than Orthodox ones, so they have more incentive to use pricing techniques and scholarship discounts, and it will still pay off for them.

“SAR High School now offers a Tuition Accessibility Grant (TAG) funded entirely by an anonymous donor.”

However, in SAR, and other schools that are already full, iCap will not help because there will be no profit to the school in using it.

Rabbi Aryeh Klapper, Dean of the Center for Modern Torah Leadership and Instructor of Rabbinics and Medical Ethics at Gann Academy, argues that the real effects of tuition are moral rather than financial. In his May 2012 article in Jewish Ideas Daily, “The Moral Costs of Jewish Day School,” he urges one to imagine that a new Jewish practice was proposed that would lead to the following ramifications: (a) parents taking second jobs or working longer hours that deprive them of time spent with their children and the energy to make Shabbat meaningful, (b) families who once gave to charity now becoming charity recipients and (c) families choosing to have fewer children for economic reasons.

Anyone would say that this new practice is unethical, since it causes such disturbing moral ramifications. “Yet,” he writes, “these are real-life consequences of current day school tuition, even as the community seems committed to making day school education a requirement of serious Jewish childrearing”.

The tuition crisis isn’t going anywhere, at least not anytime soon. But with plans in place, programs underway, and many people hard at work, affordability just might stop being a fantasy, and finally be within our reach.

16

The Buzz, October 2013

TheTitle Ethicist

L For Effort

By Ethan Metzger Dear Ethicist, At the minyan I attend each morning at school, I am supposed to sign myself in.

It is assumed that if I arrive to tefilah later than 8:05, I will sign myself in as “late.” But sometimes I arrive to school at 8:00, but then I need to go to the bathroom. When I finally arrive at davening, it is a bit past 8:05. When I’m late for reasons that are my own fault, I sign myself in as “late.” But this, I feel, is out of my control, and thus I should be able to sign myself in as “on time” without any feelings of guilt. What do you think? Should I sign myself in as “late” or as “on time?”

Thanks, Lost As To Ethicality

Dear LATE, You ask a good question, and I understand your dilemma. Signing yourself in as “on time” to davening when you in fact arrive late would violate a school rule and more importantly may compromise your integrity. However, you were unable to control showing up late, so you think perhaps there’s nothing wrong with signing yourself in as “on time.”

I think you need to be honest with yourself. If it usually takes you fifteen minutes to get to school and arrive to davening at 8:05, but one day it takes you twenty minutes, and so you get there a little bit late, I think you would be compromising your integrity by signing yourself in as “on time.”

By planning on cutting things so close, you’re putting yourself in a situation where

if one thing goes wrong, it’s likely you’re going to be late. If you’re honest with yourself about it, and you didn’t make such a big effort to show up on time, I think the ethical thing to do would be signing yourself in with an “L” and not a check.

In your situation, LATE, it sounds as if you made a serious effort to arrive to davening on time, but something came up that you couldn’t control that derailed you from actually entering the room in which you daven until after 8:05. If that’s the case, then I say sign yourself in as “on time.” I understand that if you went to a minyan in which a teacher signed you in, they would sign you in as late, but I don’t think it makes any sense to possibly get RPT because of something that you couldn’t control. To get RPT because one day you had to go to the bathroom seems ridiculous to me.

In the SAR Directory, the lateness policy is described as, “aimed at balancing a reasonable understanding of the realities of the morning commute with the necessary expectation that our students take seriously their responsibility to arrive at tefilah on time.” According to SAR’s explanation of the lateness policy, what matters more is not what time you arrive at tefilah, but what effort you make to showing up ready to daven on time. And the reality is that unpredictable things happen. If one morning something totally out of your control prevents you from getting to tefilah before 8:05, even though you genuinely did all you could have done to arrive on time, there’s nothing wrong with signing yourself in with a big fat check instead of an “L.”

If you would like your ethical dilemma solved by our Ethicist, send your question to TheBuzz@sarhighschool.org.

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The Buzz, October 2013

17

Student TitleLife

SAR’s Next Top Model fashion at sar

By Liat Katz Once upon a time, Ugg-and-black-Hardtail-clad females dominated the halls (or lack thereof) of SAR High School. If one had the audacity to add a few extra inches to her skirt or pick a less body-hugging silhouette, she would surely be subject to glares from the girls of SAR (not that one could tell who was who) and come home begging to transfer to Maayanot for fashion freedom. Gone are those days. Nowadays, the fashion-forward female dons patterned maxi-skirts and highlow hems, a far cry from the black skirts that screamed with lack of individuality and personality.

I begrudge nobody for dressing either like the leader of the pack or part of the herd.

Jacob Ungar (’15) doesn’t either, stating that he “doesn’t care about” either fashion trends or the enduring classics. At times, I too feel like I’m one of many identical sheep. However, the days when one feels they must constantly dress like they don’t do laundry are over. Upon the conception of this article, Rebecca Siegel (’14) lamented her freshman year when a maxi skirt was worthy of ostracization. “If you wore a flowy skirt to school

Eva Blumenfeld (‘14) models a flowery shirt and flowy skirt

in ninth grade, it warranted some serious stares.” The pressure of being a new underclass(wo)man and the desire to fit in overpowered self-expression through fashion for many years.

Thankfully, people now admire the fashion crusaders of SAR. As I discussed this uprising with sophomore girls, there was nonstop gushing for Eva Blumenfeld (’14), a senior renowned for her unconventional wardrobe. In my two years at SAR High School, I have yet to witness her wearing anything less than unusual. Oftentimes her outfits are criticized, yet she remains respected because of her audacity and confidence.

I foolishly thought I could pull off pink mascara if I radiated the same confidence, only to find out that I looked like my eyes were bleeding.

The majority of girls professed not to care about following fashion trends, yet most want to be seen as fashion-forward. Alana

Woloshin (’16), states that “in all honesty, it depends how much time I have in the morning. If I have extra time I will try harder, but I think there are a lot of people in SAR who do get up earlier to look better.” Proving that fashion is not a competitive facet of SAR students’ lives (unlike in many other schools), Woloshin continued, saying “I think the people who put in an effort, may do it just for a confidence booster and not to be appreciated or respected.”

Like normal teenagers, many students in SAR walk up countless stairs, eye each other’s outfits, and judge accordingly. However, students seem to understand that it only matters to a certain extent. Woloshin mentioned that “when some people walk down the hallways, I bet they do judge people’s outfits, but it’s not a huge topic of discussion.” Since there isn’t so much pressure to conform in order to avoid harsh judgments, many students feel more comfortable expressing themselves (providing they follow the dress code, of course). That being said, I might hold off on wearing my new pearl ear cuff. Apparently it looks too much like an infection, and there hasn’t been a Star Trek trend in school… yet.

ARTISTS HOPEFULS

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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8 for special sessions for high school If you're interested in attending the conference, or have questions, please contact Ricki Heicklen or Shalhevet Schwartz.

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students on the topics of tefillah, sexuality and gender issues, affecting change in your school and how to prepare for a year studying in Israel. There will also be time to join the general conference for lectures, workshops, films, and panel discussions

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Register today. www.jofa.org/2013conference

18

The Buzz, October 2013

TitleLife School Tefillah Continued from page 4

long it is.”

The length of this year’s experimental tefillah is, in fact, one of the important technicalities that the faculty discussed when planning this tefillah initiative.

“Two months was really just the idea that this is all an experiment, we just started, we’re not going to commit to it for a whole year. Two months, we felt like, was a long enough time that people could really get into their tefillah, really understand what it is, really feel committed to it, but not too long that we can’t just reevaluate and say ‘let’s stop’,” says Ms. Schlaff. Likewise, Dr. Schwartz, who leads Explanatory Tefillah, notes that “this gives you more time to really develop a relationship, and build something and learn something together, and see if you’re in a different place at the end of two months than you were in the beginning.”

Though the new davening initiative is off to a good start, for some students, the tefillah experience may begin to feel counterproductive: “It doesn’t feel special and different. It starts to feel like your new regular davening,” says Alex Meisels

“These choices include Women’s Tefillah, Meditation Tefillah, Explanatory Tefillah, Ruach Tefillah, as well as a few others.” (’16). However, there are other students who like the idea of the new tefillah taking the place of one’s accustomed minyan.

“I’m in Sephardi,” explains Aaron Glenn (’15). “It’s smaller and quieter. I think it should stay like this for the year.”

Likewise, Estrugo goes to Sephardic minyan, which he deems as “very student led and chill.”

Interestingly, the more classic options, like the Sephardic Minyan or Women’s Tefillah, have the most student activity in them, so what they lack in ex-

perimentation they seem to make up for in new student roles.

The minyanim that are more teacher-led are designed this way so that the teacher can help guide students through the davening, while the student-led minyanim focus on giving the students leadership opportunities. Meditation minyan is one of the teacher-led minyanim because it requires guidance and direction. “Meditation is hard work. Students think it’s

going to be easy, it’ll be a time to sleep, a time to daydream. But, actually, meditation, at least the way we’re running it, is mindfulness meditation, so that the students have to sit and be still, both in bodies and then in minds, and the theory is that if they can still their bodies, they can still their minds,” explains Mr. Broder. Meditation minyan is described as including “the breathing and body practices of Zen Buddhism,” incorporating different practices from religions that include the peace of mind in their prayers, and helping students translate their calmness into thoughtfulness. “Meditation in particular offers students both the balance and well-being for their own psychological stress, as well as a spiritual experience in which their tefillah is integrated,” says Mr. Broder. Likewise, Tefillah with Ruach is also highly dependent on the teacher, Mr. Roschwalb, to lead the davening with a certain spirit. “It makes tefillah more interesting when you sing it, and it’s also nice to take a break from the regular davening,” says Meisels.

The last few tefillah options are the

single gender Tefillah with Explanation with Ms. Taubes/ Dr. Schwartz for the girls, and Rabbi Rosenfeld for the boys, and a co-ed Tefillah Workshop. “Some kids have a hard time connecting, because they don’t understand what they’re saying… But the bigger questions of what’s the importance of [davening], why is this relevant to me, why is this something I should be doing everyday, in my life and the world that I live in… we hope to address those ques-

tions,” explains Dr. Schwartz. Tefillah has focused too much on a student’s punctuality and presence in a minyan, and too little on whether the students are finding meaning in the text and experience. With that in mind, the faculty has the options of ‫הנווכב טעמ‬, a davening where the focus is not on the quantity, but rather the quality of each little bit of tefillah. To also add some passion, the boys have the option of Shout-It-Out Tefillah, where the Sephardi technique to say some parts of tefillah out loud is used.

However, even with all the excitement surrounding the new minyanim, there is a group of students who are left out. “The decision not to have freshmen in it really had to do with… two reasons, one is acculturating freshmen into a regular davening, in other words, people should be used to the regular school davening, and regular shacharit, and what that looks like. And, we felt like pulling freshmen out of that, educationally, wasn’t such a good idea,” says Ms. Schlaff. “It’s also important for freshmen to be with freshmen. All

of a sudden to say, ‘Okay, we’re going to take a bunch of freshmen and mix them up with all the different grades’; that can be very overwhelming for freshmen, and also doesn’t give them a chance to bond with each other. Tefillah is one of the places where the whole grade can be together.”

While these intentions are good, Bracha Eisenstat (’17) disagrees: “Usually people bond over things they have in common. In this case we’re a bunch of different people with different ways of

“Some kids have a hard time connecting, because they don’t understand what they’re saying…

But the bigger questions of what’s the importance of [davening], why is this relevant to me, why is this something I should be doing everyday, in my life and the world that I live in.” davening; it’s hard for us to bond. It would be easier to bond with a few kids in my grade in the new tefillah program because we have stuff in common with the way we like to daven.” Like the freshmen, the peer leaders also do not get to participate in the program. “I really enjoyed it last year so I wish I could do it again,” says Eliana Isaac (‘14). However, she does agree that “if [the freshmen] were to split up this early in the year they wouldn’t be able to have the experience of sitting next to someone and meeting them.”

Special thanks to Andy Wolff and the Riverdale Review for printing this issue of The Buzz!

The Buzz, October 2013

19

LastTitle Laugh

When You’re So Stressed That It’s Not Even Funny Anymore advice to the juniors

By Gavriel Steinmetz-Silber After completing the agonizing experience that is junior year, I feel it is my right—nay, my duty—to educate the youths about how to get through junior year. There’s no beating around the bush: junior year is rough, and you’ve probably heard some “quick-fixes” to the problem known as Junioritis. For example, you may have heard of the following “remedies”: hours of meditation, keeping a journal, dumping adderall into a mug of coffee, and perhaps most popular of all—a spoonful of sugar. As such, let me be the first to tell you—don’t try any of this. I’ve tried a number of this quick fixes, and I can be the first to assure you that they don’t work. Instead, listen to my advice. I know it’s hard, but if you do, (maybe) junioritis will get better.

The essence of the complexity of ju-

nioritis arises from its irrationality. For if I am taking a class at Goodman University, why do I still need to take the SATs? And, why is Beit Midrash occasionally called “Mach” on the schedule? Thus, in contrast to many experts, I have concluded that junioritis is in fact a largely a psychologi-

“The cure to junioritis is simple—drop out of high school.” cal disease which is at its worst when you ask yourself, “Why?! None of it makes sense!” Indeed, that is the danger of thinking about the problem: it’ll only get worse.

However, the complexity of junioritis is at least three times as big, maybe even bigger, when you take into account the physical symptoms that aggravate the

disease. Granted, my class suffered especially due to Hurricane Sandy, but no class is immune to physical suffering during their junior year. For one, when you walk up 613 (yes, exactly 613) stairs, you are going to spend that time pondering the lack of reason in junior year. Furthermore, when you are expecting an article on junior year by Mr. Grossman and instead see it written by some kid who you thought was in Israel, you are bound to be upset.

But enough about the suffering. You are probably saying, what is the cure?

Well, the answer is not so simple. You might be able to immerse yourself in the endless amount of work, and not think about how ridiculous junior year is. I call this method the “Bio, bio, bio” approach, or alternatively, the “Zzz for Zamir, not sleep” approach. But this method merely eases the symptoms by a small margin; it does not cure junioritis.

There is one method, though, that cures junioritis. I’m probably the first member of student government to publicly push this idea, but I am confident that it is the right thing to do. The cure to junioritis is simple—drop out of high school. This will successfully relieve you of the stress of junior year, and open to you a path of success. After all, Thomas Edison (of Con Edison), Albert Einstein (our favorite Jew), and Walt Disney (our favorite antisemite) are just a few of the successful people who reached their success by not experiencing junior year. Granted, you are also significantly more likely to end up in prison, but hey, you gotta risk it to get the biscuit. And in this case, the biscuit is particularly delicious.

The UnCommon Application

By Ricki Heicklen “Education is the most powerful weapon with which one can change the world.”

– Benjamin Franklin, if applying to Penn. Otherwise, George Washington I first learned this lesson over the past summer, when I spent two months volunteering on a service mission in Africa. Despite having grown up in New York City, and having the option of surfing television in the comfort of my upper east side penthouse, or, indeed, my vacation abode in the Hamptons, I magnanimously contributed my entire summer to helping the suffering peoples of Ghana through the building of houses, the digging of wells, and most crucially, I taught budding Ghanaian children the fine art of mathematics. An expert mathematician, and also a member of my school’s newspaper, debate team, Model UN team, Peer Leadership Program, and also organizer of the myriad of science trips on which my school embarks, I found little difficulty in this component of my journey, but what I offered in mathematical insight I lacked in any technical skill whatsoever.

This is not to say that I am not well versed in the importance of irrigation systems and sustainable water sources.

Rather, I have contributed a great deal of my life to developing such systems. The origin of this, moreover, was the untimely death of my grandfather, a truly traumatic event in my early childhood, as he was my hero, having represented many of my values, except immortality, which he proved not to fulfill. Indeed, although he did not suffer from the affliction of a lack of wa-

ter, namely dehydration, as did my hostfamily in Ghana, he had a rare condition by which he was often very thirsty and required me to bring him numerous drinks of water, which I graciously did. As such, I have devoted much of my life to curing rare conditions which render the afflicted with dehydration-like symptoms. (This was not, in fact, his hamartia, which was that, although he died peacefully in his sleep, he incidentally happened to be driving a car at the time.)

This experience, juxtaposed with my summer of volunteer service in Ghana, have imparted in me a plethora of values which set me apart from the conventional applicant. For, although I may, to some extent, be a bourgeois applicant (if not from the bourgeois class), and although I may not live in Alaska or currently identify as LGBTAQ*# et al, people often tell me that I am very unique.

I discovered this through a specific experience from my summer, which I am about to relate.

It was on the first night of my program, at which point we were assigned to a host-family for the coming month, that this story happened. We sat down to dinner which, to my great dismay, was rather limited and did not serve my neo-vegan paleo/raw dietary needs. As I had forgotten to bring my Juicer, I was forced to partake in the cuisine, and, as such, forgo my principles for the evening. This meal, furthermore, gave me a newfound appreciation for the previously-repulsive lunch plan my private, dual-curriculum, Jewish prep school offers us. I was beginning to appreciate how different and, truly, unique I was in comparison to the majority of the world.

My dinner could, perhaps, serve as a metaphor for my entire journey. I developed a newfound appreciation for metaphor over my trip, as a metaphor can be used to represent a bigger point, and as

“I developed a newfound appreciation for metaphor over my trip, as a metaphor can be used to represent a bigger point, and as such is in fact a metaphor for itself, tautologically.” such is in fact a metaphor for itself, tautologically. In fact, much of my journey existed in a metaphorical state, while at the same time quite literally happened. For example, our host-family’s patched house can serve as a metaphor for our host-family’s patched community. A house, in essence, is a microcosm of the macrocosm that is a community. And it is for this reason that I existed in the tension between metaphor and reality for much of the summer. More importantly, though, is my story, which I will now continue.

It was after dinner that I went straight to my room and recounted my newfound

difficulties in silence. I had a limited capacity to understand how to pee in a hole, as this was not something I had experience with prior to the trip, and I lacked familiarity with the Akan language. All of this was exasperated by the fact that I had been without WiFi for over 24 hours, and as such could not devote the full extent of my time to Mock Trial, Swim Team, Theater, Student Government, and Tae Kwon Doe, as I am want to. It was at this point that a young boy with whom I was staying, by the name of Kofi, came into my room and, seeing me distraught, comforted me through reminding me the magnitude of significance I was making through my presence. Kofi turned to me and remarked “It was Ben Franklin (or perhaps George Washington) who once said “Education is the most powerful weapon with which one can change the world,” and I am inclined to agree.” But the true irony in what Kofi imparted is that while I had travelled to Ghana to teach him, he was the one who taught me most of all.

Although my parents did spend what they described as an “excessive” amount on the program, I know that the difference I made to Kofi, and more importantly, the difference he made to me, was worth the money. And it is for this reason that I have proven I am the quintessential college applicant, as I can offer both my uniqueness, my passion for education, and full tuition.

Ideas for this essay taken in part from Facebook, The New Yorker, and an exacerbated tiger mother. To follow Ricki’s College Application Log, send her a friend request - it’ll make her day.

20

The Buzz, October 2013

Title Advice Column Dear Advice Column: I’m a freshman and I barely know anybody here. There are so many of us.

What can I do to make friends? I was told to turn to you.

Desperate, Every Freshman Ever Dear EFE, Thanks for stepping up and writing to me. You came to the right place.

When I was your age, I was a freshman, too. This is a good start.

First things first: Introduce yourself to people. Go up to them and state your name loudly so they can hear.

Sometimes people will be in the middle of a conversation with someone else. In these cases, yell your name ━ be assertive! You have to make your mark. Make sure you don’t preface your name with “Hello” or “Can you MOVE from my locker already” or any of that nonsense ━ that gives people the impression that

you want to engage in dialogue.

Second: DON’T ENGAGE IN DIALOGUE. Not everything in this school has to be a grand conversation. Most people are boring, so don’t waste your time with them. Instead, do something productive, like holding Friend Tryouts to weed out the unworthy, or learning Torah lishma. This way, when you’re shteiging alone in the Beis, you stand out instantly. Also, you get to high-five Rabbi Hain, and not the other way around.

Third: Do something for the talent show. Really put yourself in the spotlight by singing an acoustic version of the Artscroll siddur. Have your sister play keyboard. Hire a flashmob to dance to Az Yashir. After that performance, people will be begging to be your friend.

Fourth: Create your own extracurricular club. Ideas may include Rock Collector’s Club, Short People Acting Tall (SPAT), and Model Congress. Once you have members, establish loyalty policies. If people are unfaithful and join

other clubs, punish them by unjamming their lockers or switching their Cinnamon Toasters box with Toasty O’s when they’re not looking. Cruel, maybe, but necessary. Also, eat the Cinnamon Toasters.

Follow these rules, and B”H you’ll be on your way to a Facebook friends group with whom you can actually share all those Vines that you think are funny.

You’ll get likes. You’ll be set for life.

And remember: If you find out that you’re getting a Freshman Special, don’t worry. It’s just a discount at the Kosher Market. Trust me.

Forever truly yours, Chamudot Yishai Chamudot, our advice specialist

To submit a question to The Buzz, email TheBuzz@SARHighSchool.org. If you want a serious answer, please make it clear so we don’t embarrass you.

Compiled

by Gavriel SteinmetzSilber

Eli Gelfand (‘17)

Manny Kuflik (‘16)

Elisa Ceasar (‘15)

Sammy Horowitz (‘14)

Zohar Friedman (fellow)

Mr. Daar (teacher)

Ramadan

Not Christmas because it’s not a Jewish holiday

Pesach

Groundhog Day

Yom Ha’atzmaut

Any holiday that I’m off and my kids have school

What SARrelated term could be the name for a hipster band?

Student Learning Center

Kiss My Annex

The 7th Floor

“4th Floor Annex” (credit: Yoni Gelfand)

See Through

RPT

What should Elisha name the pizza store?

Judean Hills 2: Same Location, New Sauce

RKP

Overpriced Pizza

Elizza

Back in Business

Gino’s

What would Rabbi Harczstark’s senior Facebook name be?

Tony (Harc) Stark

Tully Harczstark because he wouldn’t post anything bad

Schtarked

I’mUpAllNight ToGetSchtark

I can’t answer this

Grant Conversation

What Alternative Minyan does SAR not have, but should?

Women’s Rights Minyan

Mini-yan

Jeff (and Spencer) Gotel Minyan

What’s under Dr. Schwartz’s Hat Minyan

Run Around Minyan

Dunkin’ Donuts Minyan

POP Culture

What is your favorite holiday?