As we near the 4^th of July, our celebration of 236 years of our country's independence, I feel humbled by the amazing opportunities and freedoms we have and continue to experience in America. We learn about and comfortably identify with Israel. We do so daily in our tefilot, celebrations and oftentimes in certain acts of protest, as well. May God bless America on the anniversary of its independence, and may we, as proud Americans, continue to employ our energies to keep our ties to Eretz Yisraelstrong and work to secure our democratic partnership with Medinat Yisrael.

We have uploaded a few clips from this year's
Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day program, for you to enjoy. The short film features the IDF band that followed our Tefilah Chagigit and also includes an insightful and passionate presentation by Ms. Miriam Krupka of the Tanakh Department. 

Please enjoy the spirited IDF performance!

The Upper School graduation was a memorable and glorious evening of celebration and pride. We have uploaded excerpts of the program: the students' presentations, the tenth year anniversarian's speech and the cantata. Simchaand joy filled the room and watching the program will surely be a pleasurable and nachat filled experience for you. Please visit "Take Me Higher!" and enjoy.

Two of our most recent school wide programs, Yom Hashoah and Yom HaZikaron are also posted. Rabbi Goldmintz, senior student Jason Abramson,'12, Ms. Judith Fagin, Rabbi Stechler and his Grandma Helen made a difficult day extraordinary through their riveting presentations on Yom Hashoah. By sharing their personal experiences with us, these important days became all the more meaningful and relevant to our school community.

On Yom HaZikaron, senior student David Cohen, '12, Lieutenant Shai Dvir and Kollel Fellow Joshua Rosenfeld, each in his own remarkable way, helped us to visualize, appreciate and feel very much in awe of  the never ending and uncompromising commitment of our IDF soldiers.

Stay tuned, there's more to come.

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Mr. Daniel Edelman, Shoshana’s father (’14), together with Nathan and Alyza Lewin, distinguished civil rights lawyers, spoke to our students in a program titled, “ Lessons From Beren’s Legal Challenge.”

Beren Academy is a modern orthodox school in Houston, Texas and their basketball team had a successful season and made it to the playoff in a Texas state league comprising 250 schools. The championship games were scheduled for Shabbat. The team and the school were confronted with having to decide whether to forfeit participation or to seek an accommodation through a challenge. Three of the players and their parents sought the Lewins’ assistance, and a complaint was drafted.  Enjoy, as our students did, listening to the phenomenally interesting and inspiring presentations of our three prestigious guests (link). The behavior of the team and the actions taken by the Lewins were a Kiddush Hashem.

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Representing the Human Rights Club Presidents Felice Oltuski and Jason Abramson addressed the entire school about the need to support the efforts of the organization, Invisible Children which dedicates itself to end the use of child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s rebel war and restore LRA (The Lord’s Resistance Army) affected communities in Central Africa to peace and prosperity. Invisible Children uses media to inspire people and to help end the longest running armed conflict in Africa.

By producing documentaries, touring around the world, and lobbying the nation’s leaders to make ending this conflict a priority, Invisible Children succeeds in raising awareness about Joseph Kony’s actions. Invisible Children’s development professionals from Central Africa partner with local communities to implement and maintain education programs and economic initiatives in the war affected region.

The program was triggered by two short video clips that give a brief window into the brutal situation in Africa. We encourage you to watch them and become a part of our students’ efforts to support Invisible Children http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpogG8F6VMY and . http://www2.invisiblechildren.com/videos/25163061. Throughout the lunch periods a longer video will be shown and you may want to view this one as well http://vimeo.com/invisible/kony2012.

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“History tells us what happened – fiction tells us how it felt.”

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, a semi-autobiographical novel written by Dai Sijie about the “cultural re-education” of two teenage boys during the early 1970’s, our book selection for Book Day, will do just that: let us feel what communist Chinese policy inflicted on it’s so-called bourgeois population in order to cleanse them from anti-government ideas and pursuits, i.e. cultural and intellectual freedom.

In a witty and winsome story of how the illiterate peasant population in the remote area where the boys were sent was transformed by the young men’s entertaining them with stories based on films and literature, by hearing classical music for the first time, the book will help us understand the recent history of China and the continuing challenge of understanding the Chinese heritage and China’s central role in today’s world. Enjoy viewing a short clip from the film by clicking here.

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Many of you attended and participated in "Celebrating Our 75^th Anniversary," a truly spectacular and memorable event.  We have just posted the student performances online, please click here and enjoy!

Kudos to our gifted and talented directors: Daniel Henkin, Randi Wartelsky, Oded Lev-Ari, Ehran Elisha and Ruth Goodman. Their creativity and dedication to our students is remarkable and greatly appreciated, m'chayil l'chayil.

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After the extraordinary production of Pippin, some of the lead players shared their feelings about the performance: the fun they had, the challenges they faced and the things they learned from Pippin and his trials. Enjoy reading their comments.

Rachel Kastner (’14) played the character Fastrada, Pippin’s conniving stepmother who is manipulative and just wants to ruin everything, a difficult role for Rachel who in real life is a giving, kind and loyal friend to all.

“Everyone is looking for something meaningful in life, something magical. Pippin just happened to think that the only way to reach that goal was to be extraordinary but it’s really the ordinary people who are truly amazing. Pippin realized that at the end. I think we all did.”

Michal Segall (’13) played the Leading Player who is blessed with the gift of magic and narrates the story. The Leading Player is featured singing and dancing in nearly every scene. Michal portrayed the role with a sparkling charisma only as she can and has done in past productions.

“Most of the time Pippin was really focused on what would come next, what would come after and how much better that would be. But, in the end he really was happy with what he had. For me and for many of us in the play we’re always looking for the next best thing. But really, you can find happiness in what you already have.”

David Schwerdt (’13) played Pippin's father Charles, the ultimate authority figure—the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire—whom Pippin describes as the most powerful man in the world. As David said laughingly, “So, I liked being the king and having a little power for once!” On a more serious note, David added,

“As I started reading through the script, I could see the resemblance to the beautiful ‘Book of Kohelet.” It’s finding the meaning in life. For every member of the audience it’s something else. It’s really subjective, the play just let’s people answer that for themselves and that is its beauty. Pippin is seeking an extraordinary thrill but life is really the simple joys, as the play calls it.”

ENJOY THE PHOTOS

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We hope that you enjoyed Sukkot and celebrated joyously with family and friends.  We’ve recently uploaded several new media selections that capture the excitement of our recent programs.

• The United Nations General Assembly’s opening meeting with a call for Palestinian Statehood by President Mahmoud Abbas generated tensions and concerns. These fears were exacerbated by different rallies organized to protest the Durban Conference Anti-racism Commemoration Event. To clarify these complex issues and the serious ramifications of these events, Rabbi Goldmintz spoke to the entire school.

Please click on “State of Palestine” and listen to the Rabbi’s erudite presentation. Rabbi Goldmintz’s presentation addressed many controversial and sensitive issues succinctly and brilliantly. The program was triggered by a well done You Tube produced by The Jerusalem Institute of Justice (watch here)

• Watch the multimedia selection “Book Day: Q&A by Vikas Swarup” and you’ll enjoy revisiting the events of this year’s Book Day. Through many diverse activities, hands-on workshops, colorful presentations and informative sessions, our students were able to “visit” India and appreciate its unique culture.

• Click on the film, “Habitat for Humanity: Building Homes, Building Relationships” and you will see (and hear) how our students struggled with the physical challenges of hoisting lumber, removing debris and laying a new floor. You will also see the fun they had with the teenagers who will eventually live in this newly built home.

Stay tuned to future postings!

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To encourage our students to continue to think about the upcoming year and all that it can be for them, we invited Rabbis Jonathan Morgenstern and Steven Weil, Mr. Charlie Harary and Ms. Gilah Kletenik to speak to the different grades.

Please visit Drashot on Teshuva 5772 to listen to the lectures.

We traditionally have these lectures at this time of year with the hope that our students will be inspired and with renewed vigor and  will make personal commitments that will be personally fulfilling and will also benefit others.

Mr. Charlie Harary is senior lecturer for the Orthodox Union, Aish Hatorah and NCSY. He spoke to the freshmen about “Reaching to the Bottom: How to Have the Life You Want.”

Rabbi Jonathan Morgenstern is Rabbi of the Young Israel of Scarsdale, and spoke to the sophomores about "Davening Doesn't Do It For Me: The Turbulent Relationship Between Teenagers and Tefilah."

Ramaz Talmud and Judaism faculty member, Ms. Gilah Kletenik, Congregational Scholar at KJ and "36 Under 36" recipient from the Jewish Week, spoke to the juniors on “Curb Your Judaism: Why Do Teshuvah? “ 

Rabbi Steven Weil, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union spoke to the seniors about “A Senior's Guide to Yom Kippur.”

We wish you all a year filled with good health, much happiness and the time to enjoy those gifts with family and friends.

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No, this isn’t about an exercise routine but rather words that describe our annual Freshman Pre-Pesach trip to Brooklyn. Students made matzah with Hasidic Rabbi Mordechai Twerski, packaged hundreds of canned goods for Oneg Shabbbos, the organization that distributes Pesach food packages to 1,000’s, and prepared nine crates of  raw chicken pieces for the 600 meals that Masbia serves daily for clients who come for dinner. Our visit with Rabbi Deutsch at the “Living Torah Museum” introduced the students to ancient, medieval weapons used by valiant Bible soldiers and kings. The Rabbi tested our students physical stamina and knowledge of Mishna and Gemara sources. We had several winners!

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