Heschel herald vol 4 i3

“...Know that every deed counts, that every word is power...”

—Abraham Joshua Heschel

VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

6TH & 7TH GRADE SPECIAL ISSUE

MAY 2014

Yom HaZikaron and the Courageous Soldier: Michael Levin

By Adam Kern

The 9/11 Memorial Museum, Another Controversy

By Nina Glesby ON MAY 10TH the unidentified remains of the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center were ceremoniously moved to a depository below the The 9/11 Memorial Museum. Not all of the families of victims were happy about this, and protested the move.

Since its beginning, families of the victims of the 9/11 attack, have disagreed about how best to memorialize their loved ones. After much, sometimes contentious negotiations, The World Trade Center Memorial Fountain was completed, and at long last the 9/11 Memorial Museum opened on May 21st. The latest controversy revolved around the decision that the unidentified remains of the victims of the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001, be moved to a depository below the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Almost thirteen years after the incident at the World Trade Center, nearly half of the 2,753 people reported missing still haven’t been identified. New York officials sent a letter to the families of the

Continued on page 10

As the siren wailed through the halls of Heschel, everyone stood in silence to remember the fallen soldiers of Israel.

YOM HAZIKARON IS A DAY when Jewish people remember the fallen soldiers that gave their lives for Israel’s independence, freedom, and continued security. These soldiers went into battle to protect Israel when other nations wanted to destroy it. They were brave, courageous, hardworking, and fought tirelessly to the very end. The fallen soldiers are role models of values and faith, and they are heroes.

In remembrance of these soldiers, Heschel students met in the Beit Knesset for a program run by the Student Council and Hebrew teachers Rebeca, Lital and Aviva. Student Council members led the singing of “Hatikvah”, read passages about soldiers and the wars that they fought in, read poems about faith and courage, and lastly we watched a video about Michael Levin.

In the video Michael Levin was described as an ordinary young American, who after going on a trip to Israel, found a profound connection to Judaism and to the land itself-- feelings that he never had before. Because of this, he decided to try and join the IDF. He waited and waited for his papers but they never arrived.

Being extremely determined, he went to the IDF admission office to take matters into his own hands. When he got there, he was denied entry. The guards told him that he couldn’t get in without his papers.

Frustrated, he went around the back to

Continued on page 9

Letter from the Editors

2013–2014 Guest Editors Carlin Greenfield Nina Glesby

Editors Theo Canter Gidon Kaminer Livia Miller

Science Editor Laura Schwarz

Copy Editor Kevin Chaikelson

Sports Writers Martin Rosen Jonas Plautt

Staff Writers Carlin Greenfield Isaac Sonnenfeldt Nina Glesby Benjamin Gale-Platt Noa Bregman Adam Kern Noa Levine Eliana Solomon Tova Kleiner Abigail Sylvor-Greenberg Sabina Sternklar-Davis

Art Hili Slav Tova Kleiner Theo Canter

Photos Carlin Greenfield

Faculty Advisor Karen Dorr

Layout & Design Karen Dorr Zachary Lebwohl

Dear Readers, We are excited to announce the latest issue of The Heschel Herald. This is the Annual 6th and 7th Grade issue. Since our last issue, we have mourned for the people who died in the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah, celebrated Yom Ha’atzmaut, remembered the soldiers who fought on Yom Ha’Zikaron, and said goodbye as the eighth grade traveled to Israel. We hope you find this issue interesting and enlightening. We would like to thank our 8th grade editors, Theo Canter, Gidon Kaminer, and Livia Miller, for inspiring and shaping our articles from the past three issues, and for managing the staff as we worked on The Heschel Herald every Tuesday afternoon. We also want to thank the writers who stepped up to the plate, and helped us get out this issue with the skeleton crew we had. Also note, that in this issue we changed the “Journalist of

The Journalist of the Issue NICHOLAS KRISTOF has been a journalist for the New York Times since 2001. Presently he writes op-ed columns that are published twice a week for the paper.

He grew up in rural Oregon, attended Harvard and studied law at Oxford University. Although he was offered jobs at prestigious law firms, he decided to travel the world instead. He wrote articles during his travels in order to earn money to pay his expenses. He observed and wrote about issues of poverty, gender, and global health and continues to do so for the New York Times. Among other issues, he has brought attention to the expansion of child slavery around the world as well as in the U.S. He has lived on four continents, reported on six, traveled to over 140 countries around the world in addition to the fifty states of America. He has also visited every Chinese Province and every main Japanese island. He has faced many

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

2

the Month” to “Journalist of the Issue,” because to be honest, we don't have a monthly paper. As always, feel free to send in your questions, article ideas, or feedback in the form of a letter or email to karendo@heschel.org. We will gladly respond, and maybe even feature your letter in the next issue of The Heschel Herald!

Work hard, and remember to breathe, Your Seventh Grade Editors, Nina Glesby and Carlin I. Greenfield

Please send us your opinions and responses to any of the articles or editorials you read in the Heschel Herald. We will print your letters; it’s fun to see your name in print. Try it.

p h y s i c a l challenges along the w a y, including an African plane crash, malaria, and mobs; none of these have stopped him from traveling to even more dangerous places. He is the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, the George Polk Award, the Overseas Press Club award, the Michael Kelly award, the Online News Association award and the American Society of Newspaper Editors Award.

Kristof and his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, who is also a Times columnist, became the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize. Kristof and WuDunn have written three books together; two of them about Africa and Asia, and the last one was about women’s oppression throughout the world. Long before the recent reports of kidnappings in Nigeria, Kristof wrote a

Continued on page 3

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

Editorial

Is Competition Good For Kids?, An Editorial

By Carlin I Greenfield AT THE YOM HA’ATZMAUT “competition” and I use the word lightly, there were no losers and in fact everybody was a “winner.” I found this disappointing. The way I see it, is that I for one would rather lose a legitimate competition than “win” along with everybody else. I have experienced real

competitions and non-competitive competitions; this does get confusing.

For example, when I lost the Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Day Spelling Bee I was unhappy, and for a short time even resented the winners; however, I decided that I had tried my hardest, and despite a severe case of stage fright, found the

experience worth it. I also along with everyone else, “won” the Yom Ha’atzmaut competition and yes, I suppose I had fun, but I also felt that my hard work had been wasted. Had I put in less time painting, writing jingles and practicing the outcome would have been the same. So in the end, I felt less motivated to participate in this kind of “non-competition” again.

So Heschel Herald readers, students and teachers, tell us your opinion. Is competition healthy or harmful to kids? Teachers: what do you think? Students: would you rather lose a legitimate competition or participate in a competition where everyone wins?

We look forward to hearing your responses.

Journalist Of the Issue Continued from page 2 a column about this issue writing, “I wrote the column partly to apply more pressure on the Nigerian authorities, who seemed uninterested in the case, to rescue these girls, and partly because I’m offended by the contrast between the global media focus on the missing MH370 F light and the disinterest in the even greater number of missing schoolgirls in Nigeria.” Nicholas Kristof is truly an inspirational journalist who has a passion for highlighting the plight of those without a voice in a way that connects to his readers and impacts policy.

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

3

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

The Grand Budapest Hotel A Movie Review

By Abigail Sylvor-Greenberg WES ANDERSON, QUIRKY filmmaker known for his unique aesthetic and narrative style, is at it again with his latest cinema caper, The Grand Budapest Hotel. This wild adventure follows the ridiculous escapades of devoted concierge, Monsieur Gustave (played by Ralph Fiennes), and his mentee, lobby boy, Zero Moustafa (played by Tony Revolori). The film is a busy and delightful venture into a half-fictional realm with both a certain charm and a shadow of bleak realism about it.

Regardless of one’s comprehension of the fast-paced plot, the dramatic off-kilter

characters and quaint and colorful visuals, true to Anderson’s voice, are guaranteed to make the movie, at the very least, fun.

The film assumes a disorienting plot-within-a-plot structure that depicts a girl standing before a memorial or grave of some sort, adorned with keys, segwaying, through the book in her hand, of identical title to the film itself, into a scene of an elderly writer endeavoring to speak about his book, and his perspective on writing, veering into this character's past encounter with the owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel. The film’s focal point, which serves as a beacon of hope in

a quietly bleak universe, long after its glory days, is located in the fi c t i o n a l republic of Zubrowka. It is here that we finally arrive at o u r central plot, and for any quickminded moviegoer who is not, at this point lost in all the chronological nuances presented in the maze that brings us to the core of the movie, it is here that a true gem unfolds.

Monsieur Gustave is a man with a particular taste for the elderly blonde women who come to pass through the wild hotel to which he is a most dutiful, and flamboyant concierge. Zero Moustafa is a humble lobby boy who has immigrated from a mysterious country ravaged by war, who is just barely a man, and takes direction rather well. As unlikely a team as this may be, when these two distinct personalities merge, a most exhilarating chaos ensues, impelled only partially by the death of Mr. Gustave’s aged lover Madame D, and in part by the wild character of each person involved in the plot. As outrage as to this woman’s newly amended will, in which she leaves a priceless painting “boy with apple” to Mr. Gustave erupts, audiences are sent into a colorful turmoil that takes us in and out of every landscape, from a symmetrical yet decrepit prison, to a chilling mansion, to the frigid heights of an ambiguous mountain-scope, to a monastery and

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

4

beyond, into the deepest realms of the creative mind which conjured these rich images. !While While the film is largely a lighthearted caper, it does, at several points reveal a serious, and even dark side.

As NPR says, the movie is a “a madcap comedy, but with hints of tragedy lurking outside the usual Anderson dollhouse frames.” Zubrowka, for the most part, is a setting out of a fantasyturned-freakshow (in only the best of ways), however it is on the verge of occupation by a daunting military that, given the movie being set in 1932, bears a stark resemblance to the Nazis. Both Gustave and Moustafa are, more than once harassed by these villains, leading to the films’ powerful repeating line, “There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity.” Images of delectable, and aesthetically near-perfect desserts give way to those of dead bodies (or rather-heads) an intimidating hit-man and some violence (tinged with humor of course).

With elements of drama, humor, and romance, and celebrity appearances by the likenesses of Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, and several more, The Grand Budapest Hotel tells the story of people, and their way of maintaining an illusion of former perfection (hence the deliberately planned visuals) despite its desired obliteration, no matter the stakes, and it could not have done a better, more innovative job in doing so. So, if you can keep up, sit back, relax, and prepare to be transported, both to a place that surpasses imagination, and to the deepest corners of time and humanity.

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

Bill Cunningham, New York Street Photographer At NY Historical Society

observing and recording the quirks of personal style that is distinctive to the the streets of the city. He prefers photographing everyday New Yorkers, rather than celebrities, finding the

By Tova Kleiner BILL CUNNINGHAM, a flamboyant and unique in those otherwise photographer, is well recognized for his unnoticed. street photography. He can be found photographing anyone who catches his eye. His photographs have appeared every Sunday in the Style Section of the New York Times, since 1978. His pieces are titled, “On the Street,” reflecting his photography. He also covers many fashion exhibits at the Met, including the latest one Charles James: Beyond Fashion.

Cunningham was born in Boston and attended Harvard, but dropped out in 1948 to move to New York City. Prior to his column in the New York Times, he worked as a fashion journalist and introduced American audiences to French designers, Azzedine Alaia and Jean-Paul Mr. Cunningham’s exhibit, Facades, Gaultier. He has photographed in New currently showing at the New York York for decades and delights in Historical Society, incorporates the beauty

of both the the antique and the slightly more modern New York in a manner that plays both with fashion and with architecture. This exhibit goes back to an eight year project begun in 1968 by Cunningham. According to the New York Historical Society, “In order to document the architectural riches and fashion history of New York City, (Bill Cunningham) scoured the city’s thrift stores, auction houses, and street fairs for vintage clothing, and scouted sites on his bicycle.

Cunningham generated a photographic essay entitled Facades, which paired models— in particular his muse, fellow photographer Editta Sherman— in period costumes with historic settings.” The work of Sherman and Cunningham, is exquisite and worth seeing. Their use of art and fashion highlight features of the city, showing how to find the chic in everything around us, even when it isn’t expected.

Quotation of the Month: If you hear a voice within you say, “you cannot paint,” then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

Vincent Van Gogh The Heschel Herald would like to print your favorite quotation in our next issue.

Please submit to the editors.

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

5

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

Poetry & Fiction Homicide & Binders: Murder in the Sixth Grade, Installment 3

By Abigail Sylvor-Greenberg and Tova Kleiner

In the last installment, we left our hero/ heroine (gender classified) puzzling over six murders in Herschel Prep, a suspicious classmate, a confessed murderer who doesn’t seem to have murdered, and a seemingly unruffled school.

Doo-Doo-Doo-Doo The bell startled me awake, I had dozed off during an uneventful TSBN class where we were learning about burial practices. Shayna seemed still oblivious as did everyone around. I found the murders haunting me though, looming over me as I walked through my day. The bell rang again, I should have been in class already but preoccupation made me linger still and I arrived in my TaNaSH (Torah Naviim Shirim) class 10 minutes late. Luckily, Boris Wealthyguy, my teacher, didn’t notice, since I walked in as he stood on his head while demonstrating Nahafochu, turning upside down.

As I watched him walk on his hands, I studied him. He was wearing a festive collared tee shirt with the hebrew alphabet on it. I wondered if he knew his head was

turning red from standing on his head too long. I see a piece of paper sticking out of his pocket and suddenly he fell to the ground. He went limp and didn’t move.

The kids started to panic and scream and in a blink of an eye the number of the kids in the room decreased. All over the place kids started falling limp.

Jules, the vice principal came to the door of the classroom, her mouth a gaping hole. I couldn’t take this any longer, the silence, the belittlement of all of this tragedy.

“WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON??” I screamed, and suddenly I fell to the floor.

I awoke in a haze, my body strewn across a collection of what seemed to be a collection poorly-pushed-together desks that failed to form the desired square. I rose quickly, unsticking my hair from my brow, and brushing off an invisible layer of filth that I felt creeping from my ankles to my elbows. It was 4:50, and I had missed my bus. I turned to look at the desks, and realized that they were not supposed to form a rectangle but the letter D. D! I had to think….Daniella Sapphire, the new girl?.... No….but I was on to something with the whole new kid thi….DAVE! Dave Norbert! I had to talk to Dave.

I had been beginning to think the whole “night sighting” was just a hallucination, that I was going mad, and in doing that I had mistaken my inability to put two and two together, for the facts not adding up. The facts did add up. All aligned in favor of this notion, since the school was unnoticing because, like all schools we were ruled by a hierarchy.

Dave had power, his dad was head of NASSA, it was normal, it was numb, and we too were just numb to the extent of his reign. But this whole “popularity” thing had just gone too far….

I burst out the door with the most gusto of anyone at this school in weeks or even months, ever since the dawn of this new year. Panting I darted from classroom

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

6

to classroom feeling uneasy but too fueled by adrenaline and shock to be deterred by even the prospect of murder. Exiting the Humanities classroom (how ironic) I slipped. Someone was out to get me. I had slipped on a laminated map of Egypt.

Written in red sharpie on the surface of the plastic were the words: “STOP LOOKING.” But I couldn’t stop, and wouldn’t stop. I wasn’t as susceptible as Dave thought, I refused to be.

I was back to running in a minute at the most, stronger still. As I was running I collided with Shayna, her scarf flipping into my face.

“Have you seen Dave Norbert??”

We both said it at once.

“What do you want with him” Unison was creepy.

“He’s missing” She said.

“He’s suave like that” I rebutted.

“Stop. Looking.”

Well that was creepy. How did she know? Did she leave the note? Was this all just some big coincidence?”

“Never.”

“You’ll regret it XXXXX” “I have to understand. Things could be different!”

I insisted.

“No they can’t” “You of all people should…”

“We all need this XXXXX. We need to know our places” “I need to find Dave!”

“Dave, you mean…..?”

“I mean what??” “ I thought you knew.”

Her face was paralyzed.

“I thought you had already figured it out. I thought you were trying to taunt me.”

“WHAT???”

“Well...It’s too late now, I suppose…” she muttered.

“Dave….He isn’t real. He never was.”

Continued on page 7

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

Poetry & Fiction Homicide & Binders Continued from page 6 What did Shayna mean?? How could someone so popular, so prominent have been nothing at all? “He was a puppet, a mask you could say. I needed power. I needed to finally be in control, we all did.

Me, Boris, Jules, Lauren. We were tired of the hierarchy too, all the different ones in our lives.”

So that was it. They didn’t want all of the power struggles, all of the different people in control. It made sense up to a point.

“But we figured we could use it to our advantage, voice our desires through someone popular. We made the kids placid, we made them the puppets in Dave’s hands. Like the frogs in the hands of his father.”

There was a strange glint in her eye.

“They were almost like Dave, our little marionettes. But then there was you, too smart for your own good…. so the murders…. We used them to scare you into submission, into being quiet, and there were times when we thought we had. Don’t you understand? It was for your own good. For everyones. We just needed to take down the people who were in our way. But then that turned out to be you.”

She was crazy. They were all crazy.

“And if you don’t submit to my Mishna power then…”

Shayna held her orange watch to my face. Then I realized it was a cleverly disguised gun. The whole thing was so wrong. Too gross for my brain to wrap itself around it. I realized they didn’t just want to rid the school of hierarchy. That I could have understood, to some extent.

No, they wanted to BE the hierarchy. It wasn’t just an elimination of power. It

National September 11 Memorial Museum opens in New York May 21, 2014

was an elimination of power that was not their own.

Shayna growled “Make your choice.”

All I could think was "Really? I always have to end up in these situations?

At all the wrong moments?"

“Kill your soul, or your body dies too.”

A new installment to follow in the next issue...

capture “the true spirit of 9/11 — love, compassion, sacrifice — and to enshrine it forever in the heart of our nation.”

By Nina Glesby THE NATIONAL SEPTEMBER 11 Memorial Museum tells the stories of the more than 2,700 people who died in the city when jet planes hijacked by Islamist terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center.

It also tells of those who survived, and of how the world has changed since the attack.

Below the September 11 Memorial Plaza, with its two large pools at the footprints of the fallen towers, the museum reaches down to bedrock where the towers' steel columns were anchored.

President Obama visited the museum on May 15th saying, the exhibit manages to

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

President Obama, Mayor Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton

7

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

Yom HaShoah at Heschel

In the middle of the day we had an assembly featuring guest speaker, Ria

By Sabina Sternklar-Davis and Gruss, who shared her inspirational story Nina Glesby with the entire Middle School and staff.

IN REMEMBRANCE OF Yom When Hitler annexed Austria, Ria and her HaShoah, the fifth, sixth, and seventh brother were in Austria while her parents grades joined together for Tefillahwere in Poland. The children were Beyachad in the Beit Knesset. At the end smuggled out of Vienna to Switzerland of tefillah, the students read poems and lit and reunited with their parents in Krakow. candles, in remembrance of the six Ria and her family moved from place to million Jews who died in the Holocaust. place in order to escape the Germans.

After our community tefillah, we went After Ria’s father was captured, by the into the Hall of Remembrance. There we Russians, in his attempt to cross into watched a slideshow of photographs of Romania, Ria, along with her mother and those who perished, and again lit candles. brother were sent to Siberia. After months of bitter cold and endless winter, they received word that they should return to Lwow in Russian-occupied Poland.

Once back in Lwow, Ria, her mother and brother were reunited with her father who, over the course of sixteen months, had been in eleven Russian jails. Ria’s father had gotten Bolivian passports, but their attempt to leave was prevented by the German invasion of Russia. With the German occupation of Lwow, they did

everything they could to find passage to Hungary. While in Hungary they were able to secure Christian papers with the help of Ria’s resourceful uncle. They were liberated in Budapest by the Russian army. Ria Gruss said that one of the things she longed for was to go to school and be educated like other children her age. Ria Gruss’ story challenged us to think about our own lives and to realize how lucky we are to have secure homes and a wonderful school. By the end of the day, with all of the knowledge that we students accumulated, each of us had a much deeper and personal understanding of the Holocaust.

Update: Heschel Rooftop Planters Get Protection

By Carlin Greenfield AS REPORTED IN the last issue of the Heschel Herald, science teacher Gary Dreiblatt informed reporter Laura Schwarz that the planters were susceptible to stray volley balls and footballs that would crush the vegetables.

The planters are now protected by fences and netting that extend to the top of roof.

Yom HaShoah at Yad Vashem

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

8

May 2014, Volume 4 Issue 4

Yom HaZikaron Continued from page 1 find an open window and a dumpster a few meters away. He used all his strength to push the dumpster against the wall, which he then climbed on- to reach the open window. After getting into the building, he found the correct office to enquire about application papers.

However, before Michael could ask, the official in the office asked him, “Where are your papers?” Michael told him the whole story. The administrator was

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

stunned, saying, “no one had ever broken into the building to get application papers before,” and decided that Michael deserved entry into the IDF. Michael received his papers and left for Israel for training. !!!! ! !During a visit home after training, Michael was called back to Israel to report for duty after a cross-border raid by Hezbollah sparked the 2006 war in Lebanon. Fighting hard, his group went into a bombed house for cover. An enemy soldier fired repeatedly with his automatic weapon and a bullet went through a crack

9

that hit Michael. That sorrowful day when Michael died was August 1, 2006. He was a perfect example of a soldier who fought for what he believed in. He was a hero among heroes. After seeing the video, Rachel, an 8th grade Humanities teacher, movingly spoke of remembering Michael from the ! summer camp they both attended. ! !On Yom HaZikaron, we remember soldiers like Michael Levin, and we pray for safety and healing for their friends and families.

May 2014, Volume 4, Issue4

the official letter from The 9/11 Memorial Museum, it was certain that not everyone Continued from page 1 would agree. However, one thing that missing victims to inform them about this nearly everybody agrees upon is that there plan. As it stated in the letter, “the transfer be access to the repository expanded to will be conducted in a dignified and people beyond the immediate families. respectful manner, while also ensuring the People believe that that extended family, protection and security of the remains friends, and rescue workers who spent during the move.” months searching for the remains at the Several families of the victims World Trade Center, should be allowed commented that it was, “simply access to the area where the remains disrespectful,” “offensive,” and that “it’s would be kept. There is still DNA work not anything that I would choose to do to going on to identify as many of these my beloved son.” Sally Regenhard, a remains as possible. According to the New woman who lost her firefighter son in York Times, city officials have said, “that 9/11, said, “8000 remains are being closed victims’ families would be able to visit a off from loving family members that have private “reflection room” in the repository, the right to visit these remains, and pay and that the entire repository area would respect to these remains.” Although many be closed to the public.” families have agreed with these Every controversy has added a burden statements and promised to protest against for the members of the museum board it, others believe that it is a memorable who have worked tirelessly to create a and appropriate place to store the mixed meaningful memorial to the men and remains of their loved ones. women who died. Many members of the Since there are so many families museum board are themselves family around the world who were recipients of! members of people who were killed that

9/11 Memorial Museum

terrible day, and understand that much of the disagreement comes from the grief people are still suffering.

When asked why everyone was angry, Monica Iken, a member on the board who lost her husband on 9/11, responded, “I don’t understand- I think we’re losing sight of what’s really important here; we created this memorial as a museum, out of nothing. I’m here to honor the memory of my husband Michael, and all those who died, and give them a sense of peace, now that they’re finally back where they belong.”

Despite the differing opinions, the remains’ transfer occurred on May 10th, with great dignity through the streets of New York City.

Heschel High School Hosts Model UN Conference, HESCHMUN

By Dylan Kassin ON SUNDAY MAY 18,TH, The Heschel High School hosted it’s own Model UN conference, which the Heschel Middle School’s Model UN Elective members participated in. The elective took part in the Novice Committee, which included many other middle school students from around the country.

This conference’s mission is to discuss and come up with possible solutions to the political, religious, and social conflicts that plague the Middle East. For example The Conference examined the tension between Israel and Palestinians over disputed territories in the West Bank, and attempted to understand and find solutions to the deadly conflicts in the Middle East between the Sunni and Shia Muslims.

There are five leaders from The Heschel High School who hosted this conference: Yael Fisher, UN Secretary -General, Class of 2014; Aaron Tannenbaum, UN Director-General, Class of 2014; Gabe Barnett, UN Under-Secretary-General, Class of 2016, Sara Kern, UN DirectorGeneral of External Affairs and Operations, Class of 2014; and Daniella Nevid, UN Under-Secretary-General, Class of 2015 (and a former Editor of the Heschel Herald).

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

10

May 2014, Volume 4, Issue 4

Update: Japan Defies the International Whaling Commission and the International Court of Justice

By Carlin Greenfield THE INTERNATIONAL WHALING Commission banned commercial whaling in 1986, but Japan has continued to carry out whale hunts by taking advantage of a loophole that permits the killing of mammals for scientific research, despite strong criticism from international antiwhaling campaigners, such as Greenpeace and the conservation organization, Sea Shepherd, as well as from governments of countries that include the United States and Australia.

As reported in the last issue of the Heschel Herald, The International Court of Justice ruled on March 31 that Japan can no longer continue its whale hunt in the Antarctic after the court failed to find evidence the program had legitimate research value.

However, according to CNN, Japan is set to go ahead with some of its whaling activities despite the court ruling that ordered the country to end its whale hunt in the Antarctic. Although Japanese whaling is temporarily on hold, it was reported that the Japanese fisheries ministry announced last week it would still proceed with a smaller research program in the Pacific Northwest.

The mission's departure, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed until after President Barack Obama’s state visit, according to local media reports.

The whaling fleet is now expected to leave Japan's shore on Saturday. Japan is also making preparations for a new proposal which could see its whaling fleet return to the Antarctic as early as next year, the ministry said.

Both announcements by the ministry sparked renewed anger among environmentalists, who say, “Japan's research program is a thinly veiled

Many citizens of Japan protest the continuation of Japanese whaling

Whale catch from Japanese Ships

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

attempt to circumvent a ban on the commercial whale meat trade.”

Sea Shepherd reports that Japan is seeking a permanent injunction against Sea Shepherd USA and other Sea Shepherd entities, calling it, “a blatant attempt to defy the international court ruling and to stop the organization’s protest against the Japanese whaling ships in the Antarctic and the Pacific Northwest.”

The Heschel Herald will continue its coverage of this story.

11

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

Dear Advice Column, Whenever I start studying for a test, I get so anxious and worried. I always feel like I don’t know the material. Do you have any tips and tricks for studying for tests?

Dear Advice Column,

Dear Advice Column, I get home so late, because of extracurricular activities, and I never have time to finish my homework. What should I do?

Busy-body Hi Busy-body, Yours is a common problem for many middle schoolers. I’m going to give you some tips on how to avoid late nights and get your homework in on time. For starters, take advantage of your study halls and recesses. It’s a great time to meet with teachers and get lots of your homework done! You also might consider getting lunch before starting your homework, which will give you more time to focus on your homework. If that's not enough, you can also try to wake up extra early some mornings to finish the homework you left over from the previous night. Something you also want to remember is triage.

Triage is when you order your assignments in order of importance and their due dates. For example, if you have a Hebrew worksheet due the next day, and a big humanities essay due in a couple of days, you should do the worksheet first, and then maybe work a little on your essay. Also, if you have long term assignments and a little bit of extra time one day, try to spread your time out wisely and don’t leave it for the last minute. Hope this helps!

I don’t understand anything that’s going on in math class, I try my best to focus, but I still am struggling to understand everything that’s going on.

Confused Hi Confused, There are times when every student gets confused during class. Here is some advice about what to do when you do not understand something in class. First things first, make an appointment to meet with your teacher to review what you had trouble understanding in class. If trouble continues, consider creating a time when you can meet with your teacher each week. Sometimes, after meeting with the teacher you may think you understand but then when faced with a problem to solve, it’s still not clear. Be sure that when you meet with the teacher ask for a sample problem to solve to ensure you understand. You also may want to ask your teacher to give you some additional math problems to do on your own, and when you get stuck, he/she can help you.

After doing this, you will feel much better with the material and be able to do it on your own without feeling completely lost.

In class, don't be embarrassed to ask a lot of questions because it will really help you understand the subject and there's probably another student in the class with the same question. Hope this helped!

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

12

Stressed Out Hi Stressed Out, I can completely relate to what you are going through. Here are some of my favorite pieces of advice, and tricks to make sure you don’t feel worried while studying for a test. First of all, as soon as you get a study guide for a test that you have upcoming, you should try to get it done as soon as possible. This way you will have time to meet with your teachers with any concerns or questions you have about the study guide or test. Your teacher can also give you some practice worksheets to complete, which will help you with understanding the information that will be on the test. Also, be sure to get a least 9 hours of sleep the night before the test. Hope this helps!

If you have a problem relating to school, whether it be social or academic, Please write to the Heschel Herald care of: karendo@heschel.org.

Your question will be given to our Heschel Herald Advice Columnist.

Thank you!

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

repeats, “If you eat during a fever, it will get worse- especially if it’s not kosher.”

Jewish Mothers Discovered to Have Written Their Own Mishna

By Carlin Greenfield ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN ISRAEL have discovered that the Jewish mothers of Rabbis had written their own Mishna. It deals with all matters important to a Jewish mother, with opinions from the mothers of Yehuda Ha Nasi, Yochanan Ben Zachai, Simeon Bar Yochai, and others. The Heschel Herald has obtained a translation of the “Jewish Mother’s Mishna”. The following is an excerpt from Seder Sipurei Nashim, Masechet Rophim, Perek Aleph Yocheved, the mother of Yochanan Ben Zachai, says, “Should children walk to a barn that is more than 12 cubits from the house with wet hair - they will catch a cold.” “But,” says Bruriah, the mother of Rabbi Meir, “My grandchildren walk to my barn that is 15 cubits from my house everyday after their bath with hats on, and they have never caught a cold.” “Thus,”

s a y s Yo c h e v e d , “only if children don't wear hats will they catch a cold, if children wear hats, or walk in the summer they may walk up to 40 cubits.”

Perek Bet Rachel, the mother of Rabbi Akiva, says, “If children eat during a fever it will get worse.” “But” says Yocheved the mother of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, “If children have pneumonia they must eat, or it will get worse.” Bruriah, the mother of Rabbi Meir, says, “Children should eat nothing but chicken soup when you are sick with pneumonia.” Rachel, the mother of Rabbi Akiva, asks, “What if the mother does not have access to kosher chickens?”

“Then,” says, Yocheved the mother Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, “children should eat chicken soup without the chicken.”

Bruriah, the mother of Rabbi Meir, says, “No, it is more important to eat the chicken in the soup than the soup itself.”

Rachel, the mother of Rabbi Akiva,

The Alan B. Slifka Middle School

13

Perek Gimmel Rivka, mother of Yochanan ben Zachai, says “One must not stay in the Beit Midrash all day”.

Ahuva, mother of Simeon bar Yochai, asks “Why not? Do you not want your son to be a good learner?” Rivka replies “Yes, but he must take a break at least once a week to come over and visit.” Ahuva agrees, “Yes, it is important he learn to visit his mother.”

King Solomon may have been the wisest of all men, but even his wisdom was shaped by a powerful force in his life – his mother -(Proverbs 31:10). And it was King Solomon who would go on to exhort each Jew, “Listen, my son, to the Torah of your mother…”

-(Proverbs, 1:8).

May 2014 Volume 4 Issue 4

Yom Ha’atzmaut