The Flame - February 2016

1 The Flame October ‘09

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Golda Och Academy - West Orange, New Jersey February 2016 Volume XXXV Issue 3

Go’1n6, Go’1n6, Gone

Hannah Sessler ‘16

It finally came. The highly-anticipated, longawaited final week of high school finally arrived.

They all said it would go by so fast, that in the blink of an eye, senior year would be over. And, they were right. I just didn’t believe them.

As senior year comes to a close, I think it’s only fair to take a trip down Memory Lane and recall the finest moments of the class of 2016 at Golda Och Academy.

I transferred to Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union, as it was then called, in the seventh grade, at the peak of Clique Season; tensions and drama were always running high between the “Sexy Seven,” “Rachel Group” and the Drama Queens. Things escalated to the point where the seventh grade girls had “Girl Talk” with Ms. Jaffe, where the girls vented to Ms. Jaffe about the stresses of middle school for an hour. It nearly always returned to the topic of boys and drama.

Classes and teachers also brought drama and funny memories of their own. I distinctly remember Morah Besner yelling at me in Hebrew, telling me to go live in a tent in the desert and barking my last name in her thick Israeli accent, accidentally creating my nickname, Sessler. Additionally, Ms. Sonet drank “pee” in Science and Ms. Himmelstein made us play “Moo,” a game that, to this day, nobody gets. 8th Grade passed in a haze of laziness. We were the kings of the castle and the top of the food chain. Little did we know that everything would change the following year.

The Class of ‘16 got a bit of a jump start on ninth grade, because we left for Na’ale two days before term officially began. The trip started off with a bang, as we welcomed Mira B., Hannah G., Arielle M. and Josh R. to the grade. There were several memorable moments, like when Hannah convinced everyone that she was a dog whisperer, a rumor perpetuated by her refusal to talk to anyone during the 12-hour plane ride. Once we returned to school, however, with Yaala the Na’ale bear, the academic year took off. The accelerated Language Arts class got to enjoy the final year of Mrs. Biegelson, “idears” and Fahrenheit 451, while the accelerated Social Studies class was lucky enough to learn from Dr. Frank (#9outof12).

Sophomore year brought many new surprises, including three new students, as we welcomed the Kizners and Jackie to our grade; however, Jackie’s GOA journey was unfortunately brief. Also, the arrival of Mr. Zelenka turned our class upside down as we adjusted to the new, modern history teacher with the bright hair and the hilarious talent of making Jackie Aron really, really mad. Half of us

learned chemistry from Mrs. Kilic, who impressed us all and made us laugh with her adorable striped shirt outfits that resembled the SMART Board cartoon characters, the cartoons on our midterms and finals and sentencing everyone at some point to “Purgatory.” We also officially began the college process this year and had several meetings with Dr. Kanrich that resulted in a lot of stress and several appointments with math tutors as everybody began to freak about their grades. We also took the PLAN and the PSAT for the first time and everyone died.

Junior year arrived and, with it, a fresh load of stress. Everybody dove into the academic year, trying in vain to keep their grades up. The arrival of Mr. Hefetz added in an interesting flair to the year. At first, people were excited, mostly because Hefetz likes rap and loves The Bachelor, but then he bored us all with three months of old Arthurian legends and a research paper that forced us to watch television. The only thing that made up for it was when he brought his fiancée to the musical so we all could meet her.

Half of us had the privilege of learning from Dr. Jeng, otherwise known as “Jengerz.” We studied the tick-a-tape timer, pasta mobiles and, of course, vied to get out initials on the board first.

Other exciting things happened, like the SATs and ACTs (for real, this time) and Prom. However, the clear standout of the year was the eleventh grade Shabbaton. Attendance was exemplary as the entire grade came out to spend a wonderful, ruachfilled weekend together, instead of studying for or taking the ACTs which were also scheduled that weekend.

Finally, senior year came upon us. The class of ‘16 started off the year with a blackout, because we’re intimidating. This year, we welcomed a new principal and several new room additions to our school. Seniors were treated to fascinating new classes, including History of Israel and Senior Seminar. We also got to enjoy the invaluable perks of open campus and free periods. Everyone celebrated with their friends as they got accepted to their dream schools, and once that stress was over, developed the most severe case of Senioritis this school has ever seen.

Now, the seniors are finishing studying for finals and relishing our last few days at GOA. We have so many exciting things coming up in the future: Senior Send-Off, Prom and, of course, Neshama and internships. As our time as high school students comes to a close, it is bittersweet, but we are grateful for everything that GOA has given us over the years.

Thanks for visiting the K’1n6dom.

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Spotlight on Israel: Aviela Dietch Aryeh Lande ‘18

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ast issue, The Flame looked closely at the far left of the Israeli political spectrum. This issue, we journey to the opposite end of the spectrum. Enter: Aviela Dietch.

Dietch, a mother of six, made Aliyah at age 20. Today, she lives on Migron, a community north of Jerusalem beyond the Green Line in the West Bank, which has a history of battling pro-Palestinian lobbying groups in the courts of Israel. Some would refer to Dietch, a Wisconsin native, as a settler, but she sees herself differently. She feels that Israel is the land of the Jews and it is within her rights and is even her duty to live where she does.

Growing up, Dietch was exposed to a very pro-Israel environment. Her family spoke about Israel fondly and her father was a supporter of the eccentric and infamously right wing Rav Meir Kahane. They did not, however, visit Israel in her childhood and Dietch, therefore, did not experience the country directly until the end of high school.

When she finally visited, she immediately fell in love.

After studying at the University of Minnesota, Dietch made Aliyah. Originally, Dietch and her husband settled in a large, established community, but after some time disputes caused the family to move elsewhere. They chose to live in the relatively new Migron that was appealingly smaller. Also, Dietch believed she had the opportunity to be part of founding a community and shaping her future, so she became active in creating the settlement. Today, there are about 50 families living in the community.

The history of Migron is fascinating in itself. It was founded in 1999 after an archaeological dig brought people to the area and it slowly grew over time. In 2006, though, the government discreetly settled a highly-disputed court case and razed settlers´ houses in the middle of the night, because they were allegedly on Palestinian land.

“In 2006, a lawsuit was filed by Peace Now against Migron,” Dietch said. “[They] found the Jordanian land registries from 1960 and 1962 and called some of the traceable families from those parcels. Peace Now informed the [Palestinian] plaintiffs they were actually landowners of these pieces of land about which they hadn’t been informed before.

“In short, the plaintiffs, by straight legal grounds, had about as much claim to the land on which Migron sat as I would to a plot in Idaho, had my great grandfather signed up for a wagon train to the West, but missed the ride.”

It is important to note that, according to Haaretz, a well-known center-left Israeli newspaper, the buildings lacked the proper building permits needed and so they were technically illegal. In addition, Haaretz reports that government employees exploited their power to give subsidies to the people of Migron for building infrastructure.

These latter claims, however, were disputed and never prosecuted as a result of a lack of evidence.

Continued on page 6

From Our Halls to City Hall Sam Russo ‘18

Piazza’s Road Trip to Cooperstown Etai Barash ‘18

Rabbi Kavon’s Knesset Contribution Sam Lurie ‘19

Transforming The Trans Discussion Alissa Lampert ‘18

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Stop Feeling the Bern

Trumping Donald Trump

Eitan Szteinbaum ‘18

Dina Doctoroff ‘18

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lthough liberty is the absolute foundation of the United States, much of modern American society - from gun control to restrictions on abortion rights runs contrary to the idea of personal freedom. No presidential candidate is more ideologically opposed to liberty than Bernie Sanders, who has captivated both young and old Americans and, according to recent polls, leads in several states. I do not understand why he is doing so well, but I know that just because he succeeds in politics does not mean he understands the importance of freedom in our political process.

A self-described Democratic Socialist, Sanders claims to be an advocate for the unheard and marginalized voices of our nation. He aims to support the disadvantaged by limiting the resources of middle- and upperclass Americans through high income taxes, under the premise of said Democratic Socialism. The term may be appealing, but “democracy” is a meaningless label that is even associated with authoritarian regimes like North Korea (which is officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). Sanders may not be as extreme as North Korea’s oppressive leader Kim Jong Un, but if Sanders is elected, our freedoms here in The Land of the Free will be more restricted than ever.

Vladimir Lenin said “The goal of socialism is communism.” Sanders prescribes to the socialist, freedom restricting policy that can easily lead to communism. Even if it didn’t, economic freedom, and other freedoms, would be horribly limited. On his campaign website, Sanders hides limiting the American Dream behind attacks on those who have been the most fortunate of us. He wants to punish them by levying even more taxes and restrictions for being successful. As president, he would over double the minimum wage and therefore restrict businesses from hiring more people. All this policy would do is put hardworking people out of a job. As Americans, most of us do not like corporations leaving America, but they should have the freedom to do so. Bernie Sanders would take away this freedom and imprison corporations within America to milk more money out of them to fund his government.

All the while still hating on these companies that he could not be funded without.

He would also force employers, whether they can afford it or not, to pay employees for multiple types of leave. Again, this would result in businesses closing and more people out of a job. Congratulations Bernie Sanders, you played yourself.

Alex Beigelman ‘18

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residential candidate Donald Trump has been known for saying controversial things and stirring the pot, but as of late, his words have had a harmful effect on Americans. His racist, sexist and otherwise horrible statements have opened the floodgates for other racists and sexists to voice their previously unstated opinions.

For example, Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”

This bigoted and racist generalization of Mexicans has led those that share Trump’s views to chime in with their thoughts, and sometimes actions, as well.

For instance, on August 19, two Boston brothers attacked and urinated on a homeless Mexican man and specifically cited Trump as their inspiration.

Trump’s supporters who share his views are only motivated by one thing:­ hate. Since they now have a catalyst for their hate, they are able to take action and cause harm to minorities, in addition to verbally attacking them.

Some, like sophomore Alissa Lampert, would go so far as to say that Trump uses rhetoric in a way that is similar to Adolf Hitler. Lampert said that while Hitler said Jews were the problem and were inherently evil, Trump says that all Mexicans are the cause of our problems and that Muslims are out to destroy the United States.

Lampert said that, although the actions of people “inspired by Trump” are terrible, what is also terrible is Trump’s response to them. Instead of condemning the actions, Trump commends them; he says that they are “passionate and are doing what they love for their country,” which only gives them more incentive to continue committing hate crimes.

Sophomore Moshe Karlin said that if Trump is not punished for what he says and does, the issues that occur because of him are bound to occur repeatedly. Karlin added that if this hateful and terrible behavior goes on long enough, there is no telling what harmful effects America will have to deal with.

Plainly put, Trump is a bigot who is indifferent to other people’s struggles and viewpoints. But it doesn’t stop at him. His blatant sharing of opinions causes other bigoted people to do terrible things, thinking that it is acceptable for them to do so.

Perhaps sophomore Uri Meltzer put it best: ­“He’s a jerk.”

Honoring Our Teachers

hile watching the Alumni Basketball Game, during last period on our last day before Winter Break, I noticed what a moment it must be for Sandy.

To watch players he trained in years past play against his current varsity team, on a court named in honor of him must be a great feeling. The court was named in his honor in 2012 to mark 40 years of teaching and coaching at our school, beginning at age 27 in the first year the Upper School was opened until today at nearly 70 years old. But the thought crossed my mind, “Who else has been so dedicated and how have they been honored?”

The first teacher to cross my mind was Mr. Sol Novick. Many students remember the Judaics teacher who created his own textbooks and worked for over 40 years starting in the same year as Sandy until he retired two years ago. He too gave close to half a century of his life and the entirety of his career to our school, but what is there to show for it? There was a ceremony among the teachers at the end of his career where they dedicated a mezuzah to honor the incredible and humble teacher. I think a fitting way to honor him would be to name our new Beit Midrash for him.

He dedicated his life to teaching Jewish history and literature to students and should be memorialized in the Beit Midrash, a new room on the third floor which is used for Judaic classes among other things and houses many Jewish texts. After all, as a Jewish

school, shouldn’t we honor those who have taught generations of students about our history and religion.

But after 50 years of our school existing, surely there are other long standing teachers as well. The former Head of School and High School Principal Joyce Raynor was honored last year with the reconstruction of the library in her name. Another previous principal Hirsch S. Jacobson, who retired after leading the school for almost 20 years, was honored with a prestigious award in his memory that is given to a member of the graduating class each year recognizing their scholarship and leadership. Lower School Principal Gloria Kron, who recently retired, is being honored throughout the elementary school building.

Former foreign language teacher Monica Heumann was also gifted with an award given to students excelling in foreign language. Mr. Ed Schweber, the physics teacher for many years, was honored with a similar award for his subject. Mr. Louis Lerner, a retired Judaics teacher, is honored in our school’s library. There are many more members of our faculty who did not want much recognition or ceremonies, the humble and quiet teachers who chose not to be given an honor.

There are also those who have taught until their very last days of life. Social Studies teacher Eleanor Brooks and Spanish teacher Sharon Moran who past away this past September. They, above all, deserve the greatest honors. Many ceremonies and dedications were made to Mrs. Brooks and a growing numbers of efforts to remember Senora Moran are being made.

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The level of commitment from the teachers above as well as others, is extraordinary. The average teacher sticks around for under 10 years so we are extremely lucky to have such an impressive array of teachers who have given their entire careers to our school.

Unknown to many students are also the administrators, office workers, janitors, coordinators and more who work just as hard, if not harder, each day behind the scenes to organize the school year and keep our school running. Those faculty members who do just as important work are just as vital to Golda Och Academy. Notably Mrs. Gelband was pointed out by the Head of School, Mr. Shapiro as being a longstanding and dedicated member of the office staff.

There are not enough rooms, floors, days, events etc. to justly honor every devoted faculty member we should make the effort, together, to thank those teachers who have gone above and beyond to be the best educators they can be for us.

Just think about it this way, if students are given diplomas for passing thirteen years as a student, shouldn’t the teachers who trained us, educated us, entertained us and maintained the highest level of passion, dedication and commitment for 20 years or more be rewarded and recognized for their work as well?

We should honor those faculty members who have made lasting impressions on us and deserve as much respect from our school, as they had for all of us.

3 The Flame October ‘09

 From Our Halls to City Hall I

Nina Robins ‘19

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Sam Russo ‘18

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ust over 20 years ago, a student left Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union after his sophomore year because he wanted to play high school soccer more seriously. Today, that man is the mayor of the second-largest city in New Jersey.

Steven Fulop currently serves as the mayor of Jersey City. Next year, he will be vying for the position of mayor for the second time, as he looks back to Judaism and his time at SSDSEU as a guide, along with many other aspects of his life.

In terms of Judaism, Fulop sees it largely as a way of encouraging analytical and critical thinking, skills that are essential to a career like his. The careful analysis and discussion of texts, like the Talmud, which are taught in Jewish day schools across the world, fostered Fulop’s abilities.

In addition to this type of thinking, the characteristic close-knit family atmosphere that Fulop got to know as an SSDSEU student continues to influence him today.

“The value system that I was a part of at Schechter… certainly contribute[s] to who I am today,” he said.

Even though he did not appreciate it as a student, Fulop recognizes today that the close sense of community and the way that people “look out for each other and care for each other” are some of the aspects of GOA that made and continue to make it such an extraordinary environment.

Because of this sense of community, the mayor commended the strong relationships, which he still maintains, that he built during his time at Schechter.

“Know[ing] how people still associate with me from my time at Schechter, I can comfortably say that it is a special place,” he added.

For GOA students today, Fulop urged them to realize what a great community they are part of. He also recommended that young people don’t just look to prepare themselves for a particular career, but rather work to get a wide variety of tools and experiences.

With regards to his future, Fulop conceded that “there’s a lot of talk about the whole governor’s race,” adding “that the reality is that no decision has been made, and no decision will be made for… months” because of the constantly changing political landscape.

As the interview with Fulop came to a close, he made sure to end with a blessing for GOA and it’s future.

“My time at Schechter was… a good experience, and a lot of the relationships I still have today,” he said. “My hope is that that school stays for decades and decades and decades into the future [and] continue[s] to educate future leaders.”

Modern Hebrew at GOA

f someone were to ask a GOA student what their favorite subject is, Hebrew might not appear toward the top of the list in many cases. Even with this in mind, however, students cannot deny the subject’s importance.

“It’s a good reference to help understand some languages that are not Latinbased like English,” said junior Daniel Cohen Other students agreed with Cohen, but more notably it was not only students who agreed with his statement, as teachers agreed, too.

“Mastering a language is one of the highest abilities of the brain,” Morah Israel explained. “It’s not only knowing the vocabulary, it’s understanding how it evolves and that’s fascinating.”

Israel seemed to feel that by incorporating the language of Hebrew into the curriculum, it not only enables students to speak another language, but it also improves upon other skills.

During these conversations, a frequently raised question was what makes modern Hebrew so special, aside from the aforementioned advantages of learning foreign languages.

“You can use modern Hebrew in [modern] Israel,” said freshman Amanda Feldman.

Cohen elaborated on this and added, “[Hebrew] helps with our connection to Israel if we can communicate with the people there.”

Morah Israel agreed with Cohen’s assertion, adding, “Thinking about this era;

Jordan Mayor ‘18

it’s an era of communication. People in Israel aren’t communicating in biblical Hebrew; they’re communicating in modern Hebrew.”

Many GOA students find their connection with modern Hebrew specifically through trips like Na’ale and Neshama.

“I think it’s important to learn modern Hebrew in our school because when we go on Israel trips and when we go on vacation to Israel, it’s important to stay connected with modern Hebrew, not only with Hebrew in the Tanach.” said freshman Dana Bluevise. “If we know how to communicate in today’s Hebrew language then we pretty much know how to do anything in Israel and stay connected with Israel.”

In a more international sense, Cohen argued that “many modern Jews around the world learn modern Hebrew, giving us a way to connect to Jews in other countries as well.”

He felt that the ability to communicate with Jews across the world was something extremely important and special.

While the GOA population sees the importance in learning modern Hebrew, the way in which it should be taught is heavily disputed.

“The very positive thing about the NETA program [the current curriculum] is that it is systematic and it has been revising itself periodically,” said Israel. “It is much more technology-oriented now than it was in the past and it’s something that students relate to.”

Bluevise provided a slightly different, yet still positive view.

“I think that the NETA curriculum is

We the Students

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tudent Council is supposed to be one of the most powerful and influential organizations in the school and with a new Student Council cycle starting it is an appropriate time to reflect on the previous Council’s accomplishments and failures. This is so that the new Council may learn from past experiences and improve upon the organization.

January of last year featured a Council composed of three juniors and two sophomores, and led by Señora Bakerman.

The Council discussed many initiatives such as the installation of water bottle re-fillers and the changing of last year’s lunch program. However, none of those initiatives were accomplished during the 2014-2015 school year. Many students did not find it surprising that Student Council was ineffective and unproductive during the 2014-2015 school year, as few students can recall many Council accomplishments from any year and do not expect much from the organization.

When a group of sophomores was asked about what Student Council has accomplished in the past, sophomore Jake Halpern most notably replied jokingly, “We have a student council?”

This not only summarized the opinion of the group, but also the majority of the student body. Senior Jacob Gutstein also feels that the one thing Student Council has done is generate prestigious titles for college applications for the students elected to the governmental body. While this is a topic that is often joked about, this recurring joke, like many others, stems from truth.

Due to students preconceived notions about Student Council, when the new year started there was no reason for them to think this year would be any different. Once again, it would be a factory for distinguished college applications.

According to newly-elected Student Council Vice President

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definitely working,” she said. “It could be modernized, but I think that it’s teaching good basics and that we get a good foundation from that.”

However, not all students agree with this view.

Cohen argued against the usage of the NETA curriculum, criticizing what he perceives as its disadvantages.

“I believe that our curriculum is not effective due the lack of clarity and explanation to help students understand grammatical concepts,” he said. “NETA’s detached topics make it difficult to retain vocabulary, since specific words from one book may not appear again for years, giving little incentive to retain them longterm.”

Cohen also argued against class bans on usage of English, claiming that “it is often much easier to understand grammatical topics and even vocabulary when we are able to convert it to our first language.”

Senior Veronica Slater feels similarly.

“I don’t think that our curriculum is working to it’s fullest potential, because there aren’t enough interactive ways to study Hebrew with the NETA curriculum,” she said. “However, I don’t know of any alternative.”

Nonetheless, Morah Israel did pose something of a solution.

“It could be that if you had more than one program in schools, students could choose and whoever is more advanced could choose another program,” she said.

“There is no perfect program. There is a range, just like there is a range of students.”

and sophomore Sam Russo, the Council in which he served as Secretary started out no different. Russo said that when they began to push for the implementation of their ideas it was futile.

The council felt the administration was unresponsive to them, while the administration felt the Council was not fulfilling their role.

“Whatever the reason,” Russo added, “it was unproductive.”

Ms. Heller, the Council’s faculty adviser, echoed Russo’s sentiments.

“There was a problem with communication between the Council and the administration,” she said, “and something just wasn’t working. It had to be fixed.”

Although Student Council’s productivity is far from perfect, most people involved with the organization feel it has gotten better the past couple of months.

Outgoing President and senior Leia Kessler traces student council’s improved productivity back to a discussion they had with the Head of School, Mr. Shapiro and attributes it to this.

“He told us that he has wanted Student Council to do something for sometime and he clearly outlined what we had to do in order to get something done,” she said.

This discussion clearly affected Student Council as shortly afterwards, it placed an order for water bottle re-fillers as the first step in their GOA Green initiative. The water fountains were installed this past December and are now in use daily.

Although this is only one accomplishment on the record, it was still a huge step forward. The student body can only hope that this “huge step forward” will not just become an anomaly, but rather a continued new era of productivity.appears that she meant it. The student body can only hope that this “huge step forward” will not just become an anomaly, but rather a continued new era of productivity.

Boys Basketball Rebounds Post-Slobodien Boo-Boo

Matt Nadel ‘17

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he Golda Och Academy Roadrunners boys’ basketball team was right in the thick of things in the Super Essex Conference’s Freedom Division, when disaster struck.

In a crucial win over inter-conference rival Nutley, senior Harrison Slobodien punctured his lip, requiring 30 stitches and a place on the sidelines for at least three weeks. The team had to change its strategy completely heading into a game against Bard.

“We had to really step up on defense,” said senior Noah Susskind when asked about Slobodien’s absence. “We lost a lot of speed and we had to make it up with our aggressiveness on the defensive side of the ball.”

With that mindset, the Roadrunners soared right out of the gate en route to a 55-40 victory against Bard. They tallied 15 points in the first quarter, while Bard only put seven on the board. Susskind scored 13 of those 15 points – 33 of the team’s 55 total – and also managed to grab seven boards.

As the game progressed, GOA continued to capitalize on Bard’s mistakes, which ranged from numerous traveling calls to steals and blocks to fouling on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.

“Every man knew where they needed to be,” explained sophomore Elijah Taitel. “Once [Bard] made a mistake we could pass to guys down the court for layups.”

After the first quarter of play, each

team had committed zero fouls. However, the penalties started in the second and didn’t stop flowing. Combined, the teams totaled 24 fouls in the final three quarters and seven total players committed at least two fouls.

Despite the seemingly constant stoppage of time, the Roadrunners never let Bard take advantage of the few mistakes they made. GOA never trailed in the game and increased the difference between the two schools’ point totals every quarter.

Some other key contributors to the Roadrunners’ win included senior Matt Blum, who scored 11 points, and sophomore Alex Moskowitz added seven.

Moskowitz and junior Ari Esrig led the team with three assists apiece and Esrig also led the team in rebounds with seven.

Unfortunately, the Roadrunners were unable to rally around their injured comrade for the remainder of the season, as GOA won four of its final 11 games, including a four-game skid between January 26 and February 2.

Slobodien, however, was on the court for his final game as a Roadrunner, adding five points in a 26-35 loss at conference leader Christ the King (92, 12-10). The Roadrunners kept things close for much of the game and went into the fourth quarter tied 19-19, but were outscored 7-16 in the final quarter.

Slobodien’s fellow senior, Blum, scored a team-high 10 points in the loss, which dropped GOA to a record of 7-5 in conference play, 9-10 overall on the season.

Piazza’s Final MLB Road Trip... to Cooperstown Etai Barash ‘18

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ike Piazza’s powerful, smooth swing enabled the right-handed catcher to strike fear into any pitcher he faced. The 62nd-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers became a perennial All Star, with 10 Silver Slugger awards, 427 career home runs, a .308 batting average and a .545 slugging percentage.

“He is only one of two Mets in the Hall of Fame,” said junior Nadav Aronoff. “I think he was a great catcher and he really deserves [the induction].”

After catching behind the plate for the Dodgers and the then-Florida Marlins for seven seasons, Piazza was traded to the Mets in 1998, where he and his team flourished, leading the team to two consecutive playoff appearances from 1999-2000 and an appearance in the 2000 World Series.

Piazza never won a World Series ring, but he did win something much more lucrative: the hearts of New Yorkers and many other patriotic Americans.

Ten days after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, baseball resumed with a game at Shea Stadium, pitting the Mets against the Atlanta Braves on an emotional night for the entire United States.

Atlanta was leading 1-0 late in the ballgame, when Piazza stepped up to bat.

Crowd Powers Roadrunners to Victory Over SSLI I

Manning Should Advertise Miller, Not Budweiser

Matt Nadel ‘17

Maya Wasserman ‘19

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n Saturday December 12, 2015, the Roadrunners’ girls varsity basketball team traveled to Long Island’s Nassau County for the Inter­-Schechter double-header against Solomon Schechter Long Island with the main goal of winning. They planned on getting the bus soon after Havdallah, but left half an hour later than scheduled, due to traffic caused by a local Christmas tree lighting.

GOA fought hard in front of the many supporters in attendance, thanks to the sophomores who had just arrived from their Shabbaton. It was easily twice as loud as it would have been without them. The support was not in vain, as GOA came away with the victory.

Senior Leia Kessler provided much of the scoring punch for the Roadrunners, while junior Emily Binstein’s defense proved to be contagious.

Although it was an exhibition game and featured many familiar faces, SSLI

was still rival territory and the physical gymnasium space reflected that. The Lions’ gym featured two levels: one with the court and bleachers and the other a balcony overlooking the court. “[I felt] nervous,” said sophomore Maya Robins, “because the people on the top circle were watching us from above. This also made us excited because they were cheering very loudly.”

Despite playing for bragging rights, however, the experience meant more than winning to many of the players, including SSLI’s captain, Rachel Levy.

“I thought the game was really fun because we were playing people we knew from USY and camp,” Levy said.

“It was a tough game since my team didn’t play all that well, but overall it was a really cool experience.”

The Roadrunners acknowledged it was a great feeling to win, but it was a better feeling that the team traveled to Long Island to play with other Jewish teens. After all, GOA and SSLI share more than just a love of basketball; we share a love of community and Judaism.

n an NFL that is dominated by offenses, once again a defensive team reigns supreme.

The NFL’s best team in terms of yards allowed per game, the Denver Broncos, beat the league’s best team in terms of offensive points per game, the Carolina Panthers, in Super Bowl 50 by a final score of 24-10.

Much like Super Bowl XLVIII MVP, Seattle Seahawks linebacker Malcolm Smith, Super Bowl 50’s MVP is also a linebacker: defensive All-Pro, Von Miller.

Miller collected 2.5 sacks and forced Carolina quarterback Cam Newton to fumble twice in Levi’s Stadium in San Francisco – one of which was returned for a touchdown – in what could have been the former second overall 2011 draft pick’s last game as a Bronco.

The four-time Pro Bowler and twotime All-Pro linebacker just finished his last season under his existing contract with Denver and hopefully, for teams lacking a strong linebacking corps, will test the waters of free agency. Teams like the Giants, Saints, Browns and Colts will most likely go after this behemoth and rightfully so. Miller has already totalled

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Piazza smacked the second pitch her saw into the stands for a home run to give the Mets the lead.

“It just made New Yorkers able to live again,” said avid Mets fan, Rabbi Mayer.

“It gave us a sense that the world was going to be OK. “And even though 15 years later, we are still dealing with terrorism in the U.S., the fact is we have survived, we can survive and we will continue on.”

Despite his post-9/11 heroics, Piazza played during the late 1990s to early 2000s, an era of the sport that was flooded with steroid use. Accusations were made toward Piazza on his use of steroids, but PED usage has never been proven.

Still, many voters for the Baseball Hall of Fame were skeptical of the integrity of his statistics. Arguably for this reason alone, Piazza was denied admission to the Hall of Fame for his first three years of eligibility.

Then, on January 6, 2016, Piazza was voted in, receiving 83 percent of the eligible votes, easily surpassing the required 75 percent minimum. Piazza called the experience “incredibly special,” knowing that he is now among the legends of the game.

Baseball fans will probably never see another Mike Piazza because no one will be able to emulate what the Mets Hall of Fame inductee did.

60 sacks in his five-year NFL career and doesn’t even seem to have reached his peak yet.

But is the former Texas A&M Aggie worth all the money that he’s projected to sign for? Does a team like the Giants, which have tons of cap space, really need a player like Miller? The answer is undoubtedly yes.

On a Broncos squad that has stars all over the defensive side of the ball like Malik Jackson, DeMarcus Ware, Chris Harris, Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward, Miller was the one who performed the best when it counted the most: the Super Bowl. He’s the anchor of that linebacking crew, but arguably also the entire defense. He may have been down in tackles during the 2015 season, but that’s only because opposing offenses tried to move the ball away from him, yet he was still a positive factor in the Broncos’ defensive prowess.

Having played under multiple defenses, Miller is very versatile at the linebacking position and is one of the more complete linebackers in the NFL, which justifies the free agent buzz surrounding him. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone if he ends up as the highest-paid defender in NFL history come the start of the 2016 NFL regular season.

5 The Flame October ‘09

 Emily Saperstein ‘18

Behind the Scenes of “Into the Woods”

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ver the weekend just before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, GOA put on its high school musical, “Into the Woods.” This musical reinterprets classic fairy tales, such as Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, in twisted ways, some of which are very different in comparison with their original plots.

The first half of the show presents the individual stories of each character or group of characters. The stories are linked by the journey of the Baker and his Wife, searching for four objects: Cinderella’s shoe, Little Red Ridinghood’s cape, Rapunzel’s hair and Jack’s cow, all of which come together to help the duo break a spell laid on their house by a witch. The second act, however, takes a strikingly different turn, bringing all of the characters together to solve a major mutual problem. This section of the show is especially interesting because it reveals the somewhat unexpected complexity of each of the characters as they grapple with this issue.

“I don’t really like the overall plot of the show so much, but I do enjoy seeing the complexity of these famous fairytale characters unfold as the story develops,” said sophomore Lizzie Irwin, a cast member of the show. “It’s really cool to see these once-regarded two-dimensional characters of our childhood stories go through the same thought processes and experience the same emotions as any other human does.

“It makes the story much more relatable and something that we can each easily learn from.”

In addition to the performers and directors, the costume crew worked very hard to make beautiful clothing for the actors to wear. Creating costumes for a show with so many characters in this specific setting and time period can be very difficult, so this year the GOA arts department decided to hire a professional costume designer, Ms. Lauren McLoughlin.

McLoughlin’s presence helped create a different and exciting experience for both the cast and crew. Sopho-

more Carly Mast, a veteran member of GOA’s costume crew, enjoyed working with McLoughlin and was thrilled to see these professional, beautiful costumes slowly come to life.

“Working with a professional is really fun,” she said. “When we worked with Ms. Cohen last year for ‘Legally Blonde,’ we simply brainstormed ideas for the costumes and then headed to Amazon to buy the different pieces one by one. This year, we are actually seeing the costumes come to life starting right from the measurements thanks to Ms. McLoughlin’s great work.”

Creating the set for this show was also a very unique experience compared to previous years.

“This show in particular is sort of difficult and sort of simple because most of it takes place in the woods,” said sophomore Maya Freedman, who also worked on creating the set for “Legally Blonde” last year. “That means there won’t be so many moving pieces on and off the stage which is helpful, but it’s also pretty hard to actually create the woods and figure out what will

work best for each specific scene.”

One of the most difficult jobs for the crew is managing props, especially in a show that requires a large amount.

Junior Emma Weiss, the props master for “Into the Woods,” had a challenging, but enjoyable, experience working with the many props that are needed for the show.

“We have about 50 props in the show,” she said. “It’s really complicated trying to keep track of where they all are all the time, who’s holding them and when they need to be moved, but at the same time it makes my job more interesting and keeps me on my toes.

Having more props also means that I get to interact with the cast and other crew members more often which also makes work even more fun.”

Like Weiss, many students regard the connections that they make with their fellow cast and crew members while being a part of school shows are the best parts of the experience and the main reason why many continue being involved year after year.

Hard To See, Rey’s Parentage and Snoke’s Identity Are Sam Lurie ‘18

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s Disney and Lucasfilm count the billions they are making on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” many fans are theorizing about the film’s many unanswered questions. Two of the films most prominent mysteries are the identities of Rey’s parents and that of the new villain, Supreme Leader Snoke.

I surveyed 15 “Star Wars” fans at Golda Och Academy on their ideas regarding these two questions. Please be aware that the remainder of this piece features major spoilers for the film.

On the issue of Rey’s parentage, the majority of those surveyed believed that Rey is the daughter of the original trilogy’s hero, Luke Skywalker. Among the reasons to support this particular theory is that it would be inconsistent to make “Star Wars” movies that are not about the Skywalker family. In addition, Luke’s facial expression at the end of the film appears as if he recognizes Rey. This idea is further bolstered with the official script stating that Luke “doesn’t need to ask who she is or what she is doing here.”

Another popular theory is that Rey is the granddaughter of Luke’s former master, and one of the heroes of the prequel trilogy, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Nothing is known of Kenobi’s life between the first two trilogies, which could have involved establishing a family.

Rey’s accent also appears to bolster this theory, as British actress Daisy Ridley, who portrays Rey, uses her natural accent while fellow Brit, John Boyega, who plays Finn, speaks with an American accent.

Ridley’s accent then must be significant, thereby tying her with another prominent figure with a British accent, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Less popular answers were Rey being unrelated to any established character, being the daughter of Han Solo and General (Princess) Leia.

As for Snoke’s identity, the two most popular answers were that Snoke is a completely new character or that Snoke is, in reality, Darth Plagueis. For the casual fan, Darth Plagueis is only briefly mentioned in “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” and was the Sith Lord who trained and was later killed by Darth Sidious, who masqueraded as Emperor Palpatine and was ultimately responsible for corrupting Anakin Skywalker and turning him into his apprentice, Darth Vader.

As to how Plagueis might have survived his death at Vader’s hands, students pointed out that in “Episode III,” Palpatine says Plagueis was able to create life and prevent loved ones from dying.

Another unusual point was raised concerning this Darth Plagueis theory. Snoke’s theme in the soundtrack is almost identical to that which plays during the Darth Plagueis scene in “Episode III,” a track titled “Palpatine’s Teachings.” This would not be the first time that John Williams has placed a hidden message in his music.

During the last scene of “Episode I,” the upbeat, celebratory music titled “Augie’s Great Municipal Band” plays. However, if one slows the track down, one can see that it is really the Emperor’s theme played in a major key. This is a symbol that the real victory at the end of “Episode I” is not that of the citizens of Naboo, but that of Palpatine, as his plan for galactic domination is set into place.

While many may not be able to wait, these questions will probably remain unanswered until the release of “Episode VIII” in December 2017. Until then, let us hope that the force is strong in our patience.

5

Spotlight on Israel Continued from page 1 The result of this legal action was the forcible removal of houses, people and even government-subsidized infrastructure. As a result Dietch, resents the current government.

She feels as if her community had been betrayed, since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed to be pro-settlements.

However, his administration evicted the residents from their purportedly legal housing.

Nevertheless, Dietch loves Israel. She treasures the Jewish State and cares deeply about it. Although she has her differences with the government, she continues to support the nation itself. Soon her son will be enlisted in the military, showing how committed she and her family are to the State of Israel.

Remarkably, despite the tensions, Dietch and her community have a good relationship with the Arabs and Palestinians in their neighborhood. Unfortunately, she does point out that outside forces have managed to stir trouble, but locally everything is largely peaceful. Dietch continues to live in Israel, because she believes it is her duty to hold her head high and proclaim that Israel will remain a Jewish State. Through her presence in the West Bank, she believes she is staking her claim in the land and, through her actions, she molds Israel into a land her children can love.

Dietch truly embodies Zionism.

Just like the previously-featured Jewish Voice for Peace activist, Ilana Rossoff, Dietch is devoted to making Israel a better place in her own way.

Rabbi Kavon’s Knesset Contribution

Sam Lurie ‘19

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abbi Kavon is a common sight around the halls of Golda Och Academy, but many do not know that he taught a man who was almost prime minister of Israel.

This memorable teaching experience started 38 years ago when Kavon received a call from Dr. Gerson Cohen, the Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, to meet him in his office.

“I had no idea what it was about,” Rabbi Kavon said.

Cohen had received word that Isaac Herzog, the son of Chaim Herzog, the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, was looking for an Arabic tutor. At the time, Herzog was a high school student at Ramaz in New York City, but wanted to take the Bagrut exams – an exam similar to the SAT – in Israel and needed to learn Arabic.

Cohen had known from previous meetings that Kavon knew Arabic and asked him if he would consider tutoring Herzog. Kavon accepted the offer and told Cohen that “It would be a challenge and an honor.”

After accepting, the teaching began.

For security, the study session would have happen.”

Members of the Knesset, to meet in a different, secret location every however, are frustrated by this time. These included Kavon’s house, Herzog’s classroom and the Herzog household. constant economic threat.

“For the fourth time in just one year the Histadrut is threatening to use the power they have to shut down the economy,” said Li- Theo Deitz-Green ‘19 kud Member of Knesset Sharren onflict has long been a staple of the MidHaskel. “The situation in which dle East. Civil war, terrorist attacks, dictaIsrael’s economy and citizens are tors and government coups are nothing unusuhostage to the Histadrut’s strike al; however, one of the most enduring conflicts threats is absurd.”

The almost­-strike reflects has been the Israeli­-Palestinian conflict.

Currently, Israel is under total control of growing socioeconomic disconthe Israeli government. This angers many Paltent in Israel, which is due in part estinians because they feel they are wrongly to the heavy focus on security and defense issues in the current being kept from what they consider their land.

In 2005, the Israeli government withdrew Knesset. Many Israelis struggle to make ends meet, as ­the cost from the Gaza strip, leaving it to the Palestinof living in Israel, especially rent ians. In 2006, Hamas, considered a terrorist and income taxes, is very high organization by Israel and most of the Western and several protest movements world, was elected to lead Gaza.

Palestinians feel they have had to live in over the last few years have demanded lower prices and more poor living conditions and are being oppressed income equality. Israel’s under- at the hands of the Israeli government. In 2014, whelming economic growth dur- Palestinian Political Science professor Mhing the first half of this year only kaimar Abusada told the Times of Israel that “[Palestinians] are...angry at Israel…[for] demakes the problem worse.

Finance Minister Moshe stroying homes and killing civilians.”

Israelis feel that they have had to live in Kahlon called the agreement with the Histadrut “historic” and constant fear for their lives at the hands of very fortunate. By averting the Hamas. According to Israeli Prime Minister strike, Israel prevented billions Benjamin Netanyahu, Hamas is “an enemy of shekels’ worth of financial loss [that] wants to destroy [Israel; that] remains and kept courts, hospitals, and committed to [its] obliteration.”

This has been a major issue of contention other essential services running at full capacity. The threat of a not only in the Middle East but also around strike, however, serves as a grim the world, sparking fierce debate, protests and reminder that Israel’s economic boycotts.

Some, like freshman David Wingens, beproblems are very present and not lieve that the two-­state solution – the plan to being solved effectively.

If the Finance Ministry is to divide the land of Israel into one state for Jews appease unions and strikers in the and one for Palestinians – is the best course of long term, it will have to follow action to take. “[The two state solution] is the only way to through on this new agreement and actively work to raise wages attain peace,” said Wingens. “There is no perand lower the cost of living for all fect solution,” he added, “but this is the best chance we have.”

Israelis.

Histadrut (Almost) Strikes Back

Kim Robins ‘17

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arly in the morning on December 22, 2015, Israel narrowly averted what would have been a massive nationwide strike by public sector workers.

The Histadrut, Israel’s largest and most powerful labor union, had been planning the strike since last November. Only desperate last-­minute negotiations with Israel’s Finance Ministry kept the country’s schools, airports, buses and other public services running.

The Histadrut originally demanded an 11 percent pay raise for all public sector workers, backdated to begin in January 2013. The Finance Ministry did not agree to this, since it would have perpetuated workers’ income inequality, cost the government billions of shekels and forced Israel to make cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.

According to the new agreement between the Histadrut and the Ministry, 15,000 public sector workers will be added to the government’s payroll and 30,000 more will see improvements in their working conditions. The two parties also agreed to raise public sector wages, but at different rates for low­-income and high-­income workers.

Despite the potentially dire consequences of the strike, most Israelis were not alarmed.

“I didn’t even know about the strike at first,” said Yael Gilad, a high school senior from Merchavim, Israel who visited GOA on the Neshama Yetera program last month.

“People in Israel talk about going on strike all of the time, but we knew that nothing would

Rabbi Kavon even had the opportunity to meet Chaim Herzog and his wife in their home which he called, “a special privilege.”

As a thank you, Kavon was given autographed records of Chaim Herzog’s speeches at the UN. “This wasn’t just any kid,” Kavon recalled about the younger Herzog and explained that he performed very well in the subject and was always very social, bright and full of energy.

After one year, the Herzogs moved back to Israel. Rabbi Kavon, however, never received word whether Herzog passed the exam.

Many years later, a friend remembered that Kavon taught Herzog and asked whether he passed. Determined to learn the answer, Kavon obtained Herzog’s e­mail and asked the question himself. A short time later, he received a response: Herzog had passed.

Now, Herzog is the chairman of the Labor Party and Opposition leader in the Knesset. Earlier this year, he was in a close race for prime minister with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rabbi Kavon pointed out that knowing Arabic is essential for leaders of Israel as it is a vehicle to help resolve the current conflict.

“It’s my little contribution to the Israeli government and its success.”

Solving the Unsolvable

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6

Others, like freshman Maya Wasserman, disagree. They think that it is too risky.

“I don’t believe we should have two states,” stated Wasserman. “Why should we try to reason with terrorists?”

Freshman Eitan Szteinbaum similarly opposed the two­-state solution, but for a different reason. He believes that the Jews should not give up land that he considers rightfully theirs. “[Israel] is the Jewish homeland, ancestrally and historically,” Szteinbaum commented.

Tensions are often high when discussing this topic and many find it is simply too risky to state their opinions because they fear they will be harassed by others who don’t share their opinions.

One high schooler, who wished to remain anonymous due to a fear of “backlash,” pointed out this is not a black-and-white issue and that “there are two sides to this situation.”

This person certainly wasn’t alone. Several others asked to remain anonymous, citing similar fears. Many people think that the lack of discussion about the conflict due to this fear is a major problem.

Sophomore Jordan Mayor believes people need to be able to talk about this issue in a reasonable and respectful way.

“The only way you are going to be able to get your opinion across is if you speak kindly…[and] listen [to what other people have to say].”

In order for this issue to be solved, people must change the way they talk about it. People must listen to what others have to say and try to understand their perspective. Much like Israelis and Palestinians, people must be willing to understand that other people’s opinions, though different, can also be valid and that just like the unnamed high schooler said, there are two sides to this situation.

Only then can the unsolvable be solved.

7 The Flame October ‘09

 Spotlight on Mrs. Antiles Shifra Zuckerman ‘18

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veryone knows that the soft spoken, sweet, and much beloved Mrs. Antiles teaches high school math. She is the mother of two current GOA students - junior Michael Antiles and sophomore Andy Antiles - and of one GOA alum, Jessica Antiles ‘15. Many people in the building are curious to know more about the lovely Mrs. Antiles, so The Flame decided to ask her and her children what life is like outside the doors of GOA. Where did you grow up?

Mrs. Antiles: I grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, and I attended a Jewish day school very similar to GOA. I wanted to play college tennis so I came to the US for college; while my initial plan was to come here for school and then go back to Venezuela, I met my husband while in college and stayed here afterwards.

Do you have any fears?

Mrs. Antiles: I used to have a terrible phobia of dogs because I was bitten by a stray dog when I was 9 years old. However, when my kids were little they very much wanted a dog, and as crazy as it may sound given my phobia, somehow I agreed. Although my fear is not as strong as it used to be, I am still terrified when I walk my dog

Alissa Lampert ‘18

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and another dog runs up to me or frantically barks at me.

I feel very fortunate and grateful to be in this unique situation. At times it can be a little tricky, as I hold the same high standards and expectations for my children’s friends as I do for all of my students, but in the end it all works out for the best. My goal as a teacher is to inspire my students to always work towards their potential and never settle for anything less, whether they are my children’s friends or not.

What does your family do together outside of school?

Mrs. Antiles: I love to spend time with my family, and one of my favorite things to do with them is exercise. I find exercise to be fun and very therapeutic – it clears my mind, relieves stress, and makes me feel great overall. One special time that I always look forward to is Shabbat dinner. It’s the one night of the week when we can enjoy a restful and relaxed time together.

Michael, Andy, how do you feel about that?

Andy: I dislike that my mom teaches my close friends because I feel that it can affect my relationships with my friends. If for some reason my friend is mad at my mom, I always have a fear that they will be upset with me as well. It’s also really awkward when kids casually discuss my mom’s class, even if they say nothing negative.

Andy: My brother and I both spend lots of one-onone time with our mom during long car rides to hockey games and swim meets. We go to the gym together as a family. Our weekdays are hectic, so having Shabbat dinner together as a family is also really nice.

Does your mom help you with math homework at home?

Andy: If I really need help on a homework problem or a concept, she will help me figure it out, but unfortunately she would rather me figure it out myself.

How does it feel to teach your children’s friends?

Mrs. Antiles: It’s a great treat, as it gives me the opportunity to get to know my children’s friends from a different perspective.

Apparently, you used to be a tennis player. Do you still play?

Mrs. Antiles: Tennis was a very big part of my life when I was growing up - I played until the end of college - but unfortunately I don’t play very often anymore. I still love to play and I have great memories and learned many life lessons from playing competitive tennis, but I’m very prone to injury. Over the last few years, it seems that every time I play, I get hurt. So I stick to other types of lower impact and more controlled forms of exercise to avoid injuries.

What’s something interesting that students don’t know about you?

Mrs. Antiles: Well, I am a horrible cook.

Really, terrible. So much so that my poor husband lost 15 lbs in our first 3 months of marriage! Who needs Weight Watchers when you can come live with me? The good news is that I’ve improved a bit over the years - I think - or maybe my family has just gotten used to my lousy cooking.

Andy: She can’t say the words “cinnamon” or “series” properly because she’s Venezuelan. Also, she was a pitcher for an all-boys baseball team when she was twelve. She has a gun for an arm.

Transforming the Trans Discussion

he twenty-­first century has come with great leaps for transgender rights and awareness, but acceptance from all people is still out of reach.

The awareness for transgender people shot up in December 2014 with the suicide of trans girl Leelah Alcorn, whose suicide note was spread across social media and news outlets. It explained that the restrictions placed by her parents, which stopped her from being the person she truly was, caused a depression that led her to kill herself.

However, Alcorn’s story was only the first of an endless stream of reports of trans people choosing to end their lives or having their lives ended for them. The growing awareness of issues in the transgender community has since seen an increase in publicity and notoriety.

Although an effective method of raising awareness, publicizing the deaths cannot solve all of the problems trans people face. News outlets will often misgender the trans person, refuse to acknowledge that their death came about from a hate crime, or slander them in their newsfeed.

Although social media may just be a lighthearted way to communicate, it is also where the true facts about trans people’s deaths truly lie.

The impressive awareness on Twitter and other media outlets, however, has yet to show its face in schools. Schools rarely teach about other genders besides cisgender, where one’s gender identity matches their assigned sex, leaving students unaware of other genders. Children who grow up in stereotypically religious households may never learn about tolerance of transgender people and might grow up thinking being transgender is a sin.

At the end of November 2015, TIME Magazine reported that a Wisconsin school had cancelled a reading

of a book about a transgender girl after backlash from conservative parents. The school had planned this reading to honor one of its own students who had come out as transgender. Because some scared parents did not want their children exposed to a life they did not agree with, these children may now grow up unaware, or potentially even biased against trans people.

Golda Och is a much more progressive school than this Wisconsin school, but it still has its own issues.

When questioned about how they felt regarding GOA’s teaching of acceptance, one student said that, although GOA tries to be open and accepting, there is ignorance in relation to other genders in school activities, such as how gym teachers split up fitness levels based on the assumed gender of a person, rather than skill.

However, the student also praised GOA’s attempts at raising awareness, saying, “Something positive about our school is that sometimes they actually try. Last year we had our Judaic study day and they actually had a full study for Leelah Alcorn. They did really well, besides the exclusion of nonbinary genders, but they explained transgenderism, Leelah’s negative experience and how society is really a bad place for [transgender people] well.”

Sophomore Dina Doctoroff agreed with this view.

“They’re not even mentioning [nonbinary genders],” Doctoroff said. “I didn’t even know about other genders until a friend mentioned it.”

Other students echoed Doctoroff’s comments, saying that the main place they learned about other genders, including transgender people, was from the media, not school.

“In general, our school is open minded,” sophomore Liora Finkel said, “but has very little experience regarding the LGBTQ+ community, so we would love to make everyone feel comfortable.”

Mr. Shapiro, the Head of School, feels that the school has seen a “tremendous amount of change” in

The Flame Staff

Co-Editors in Chief: Kim Robins and Zach Colton-Max Sports Editor and Community Liaison: Matt Nadel SchechterLife Editor: Jordan Mayor Online Editor: Matthew Leeds Op-Ed Editor: Alex Beigelman Arts & Entertainment Editor: Aviva Kamens

the last 13 years in the area of gender identity and that it is an issue that falls in line with GOA’s mission as a Jewish day school.

“As a community, we need to understand nuances and practice what we preach,” he said. “The ultimate goal is school being as open and inclusive as possible.”

Shapiro’s words are not hollow, however, as they have been followed up with action. This school year, the guidance department has been to two conferences to discuss the topic and a delegation of students was sent to a separate event. The school is taking an initiative to further familiarize itself with the topic and become experienced.

Students and teachers alike are for promoting this issue’s awareness in the school and upper school principal Ms. Stodolski could not agree more.

“From listening to conversations with guidance and Mr. Herskowitz,” she said, “I know that this is a school that wants to support the LGBT community.”

Stodolski specifically mentioned Keshet as a resource, as the organization works toward fostering equality and inclusion of LGBT youth in Jewish life.

She also added that her time spent at Gan Academy in Waltham, MA and the Hudson School in Hoboken has provided her with somewhat of a frame of reference, as both schools strived to increase their support of LGBT students. “[At the Hudson School] many students were out as homosexual, and as a result, there was a high level of comfort for all,” she said.

Shapiro and Stodolski are clearly a united front on this issue, and along with the guidance department and the support of the GOA student body, the way gender is discussed and viewed on campus should continue to evolve.

“Above everything else,” Shapiro said, “I want for every student to feel comfortable and accepted however they are or however they want to be seen.”

Israel Editor (Culture): Sam Russo Israel Editor (Politics): Aryeh Lande Features Editor: Sarah Cehelyk Backburner Editor: Shifra Zuckerman Layout Editors: Aaron Pearlstein and Emily Saperstein Faculty Advisor: Mr. Hefetz

7

(Winter) Break It Down

Sarah Cehelyk ‘18

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any GOA students use winter break as a time to relax, rejuvenate and spend quality time with family and friends. While some go away on exciting vacations, others stay at home and catch up on sleep. A handful of GOA students were asked what their favorite part of their 2015 winter break was.

“This winter break, I went to Florida and stayed at my uncle’s house. I really liked swimming in my uncle’s pool with my dad and brother!”

–Emma Weiss ‘17

Iris Berman ‘18

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“My favorite part of winter break was being able to sleep and take a break from the school work that I’m usually overwhelmed with. After coming back from winter break, I feel relaxed and ready to take on the next portion of the year.”

–Alissa Lampert ‘18

Snapchat Ruins Lives

icture this: a get-together where everyone is completely involved. There are no ringing cell phones and no minds wandering to addicting games or other people’s social lives.

Now, back to reality. While cell phones connect people around the world, they have also become a barrier between people in the same room. Case in point: Snapchat.

Snapchat is an app that allows people to send pictures and videos to friends that disappear within seconds. Users love Snapchat because it is convenient and raw in the way that they can seamlessly send quick pictures without worrying about any long-term consequences. Users publicize moments of their lives that they wish to highlight and share with the world.

This may be personal information, but it isn’t really “raw” at all. It is actually highly selective and edited, which is often displayed through silly faces and pictures of avocado toast in fun filters. Many Snapchat users constantly feel the social pressure to illustrate idealized versions of themselves.

Although this is a minority viewpoint, many leading thinkers and social commentators believe that social media, including Snapchat, has had the unintended consequences of feeding into narcissistic values and self-obsession. It also creates FOMO – the fear of missing out – on an intense scale.

Social media is designed to connect people socially; ironically, it can also inadvertently lead to antisocial behavior.

Recent research by Keith Campbell, a noted professor and Head of the Psychology Department at the University of Georgia, has shown that the three main purposes behind selfies are self absorp-

tion, creating social bonds and for art purposes.

While Snapchat is conducive to positive behavior, there is also a dark side.

Research has shown that people who have unhealthy obsessions with their smartphones show statistically higher rates of narcissism and psychopathy. Snapchat is extremely fun so it is easy for people to become caught up in it. What began as an innocent way of connecting to people can end up fostering negative behaviors. When people begin taking copious amounts of selfies, they lose perspective and end up creating a false or misleading idealized portrayal of themselves. People show only perfect images because they don’t want to wreck this persona they have created for themselves. On Snapchat, sending a simple selfie can become an ordeal due to stress involved with over analyzing the content to remove perceived imperfections.

This era of Snapchat is characterized by the fact that, instead of being present in the moment, people are preoccupied with thinking about what to post on their Snapchat. There is an everlasting fear of missing out and everyone is competing for who is doing the coolest thing at the moment.

Snapchat stories often extol exclusive social gatherings, thereby potentially causing other people to feel excluded. It is unenjoyable for teenagers who are already preoccupied about being excluded socially to be reminded of events to which they weren’t invited. Even though people may be connected on social media, they can still feel completely isolated in real life.

Snapchat has the potential to be a fun and connecting app, but it is ultimately the user’s choice in how to use Snapchat without harming themselves and others.

8

“I went to go see School of Rock on Broadway with my family. It was so much fun!”

–Itai Rekem ‘19 “This winter break, I went to London to go see my family. The highlight of the trip was making a music video with my little cousins. It’s always fun to act like a little kid again!”

–Hannah Greenwald ‘16 “This winter break I went to see a Broadway show and spent time with friends. I wasn’t thinking about school assignments which allowed me to feel more relaxed.”

–Mattan Poller ‘17 “My family usually chickens out of going on vacations during the breaks and we normally stay at home or go to Ohio to visit my grandparents.

This year, I convinced my parents that we should go on a real vacation because this would be our last opportunity before I leave for college. We travelled to Savannah, Georgia. My family and I were able to relax while visiting many popular sights and tourist attractions.”

–Veronica Slater ‘16 “At the start of break, I went into New York City with my best friends to celebrate my 17th birthday. Then, I went to the USY International Convention where I saw many friends that I hadn’t seen in months. It was nice catching up with them and meeting lots of new people!”

–Mikayla Talmud ‘17 “I travelled to Florida with my family and got to play volleyball at the home of the National Beach Volleyball Tournaments. It was an amazing opportunity that I will never forget.”

–Noah Brown ‘18