Class Notes

CLASS

NOTES

JCDS ירגוב

In college? Working? Volunteering? Publishing a book? Getting married? Having a baby?

Let us know what’s happening in your life by emailing your updates to news@ jcdsboston.org.

Class of 2012

Mazel Tov to Miriam Kamens ’12 (LEFT), longtime JCDS parents Andrea and Jonathan Kamens, alumni siblings Bayla ’14, Anna ’16, and Josie ’19, current student Richie ’22, grandparents Rabbi Sylvan and Rhoda Kamens and Toby Bresky, and the entire Kamens and Bresky families, on Miriam’s wedding to Matthew Bremer. Miriam and Matthew were married in November, right across the street from JCDS, at Gore Place.

Class of 2011

Mazal Tov to Emily Beck and Jon Levisohn on the engagement of their daughter Ariella Beck Levisohn ’11, (RIGHT) to Joshua Roth, son of Karen and Steven Roth, of Great Neck, NY.

Class of 2007

Dr. Gabe Kaptchuk ’07 (LEFT) is a Research Assistant Professor in Computer Science and Research Development Fellow at BU’s

Hariri Institute for Computing, as well as the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences inaugural Civic Tech Fellow. He earned his PhD in

Computer Science from Johns Hopkins

University in 2020. Gabe has worked in industry, at Intel Labs, and in the policy sphere, working in the U.S. Senate in the office of Sen. Ron Wyden.

Class of 2006

Daughter of Barbara Lapidus Brown and Larry Brown, Ariella Brown ’06 (LEFT, in white) and Joseph Schwartz joined in marriage on July 25, 2021, with picnic style pizza in Central Park,

NY, surrounded by friends and family, including fellow JCDS classmates (LEFT from left to right:) Mira Smith ’06, Yael Rhodes ’06, and JCDS Trustee & Alumni Liaison Sophie Gildesgame ’06, while more friends and family logged on to watch.

Class of 2006

Mazal tov to the Pfeffer and Karger families on the recent birth of Arieh Binyamin (Aidan Benjamin), son of Ezra Karger ’06 (RIGHT) and Eliana Pfeffer of Chicago, IL.

Class of 2006

Sarah Plotkin, Rebecca Powell, and Jesse Garlick ’06 (RIGHT) are a team of Boston artists who won a CJP Arts and Culture Impact Award. Together, they will collaborate to create music, dance, and storytelling to complete

“Coming Together,” a virtual, communityengaged theater project that explores the meaning of Jewish community, how we build it, and how it has transformed during

COVID-19.

Class of 2005

Martha Schwarz ’05

(LEFT) is working on a PhD in Linguistics at UC Berkeley. She does fieldwork in Nepal with speakers of Nepali and Kumal, focusing on the sounds and sentence structure of these languages. She particularly loves teaching linguistics, deciphering the patterns and puzzles of language with students and exploring the intersections of language and justice in their daily lives. Martha enjoys living in the Bay Area (Ohlone territory) and getting to know it by bike and by foot.

Class of 2003

We are happy to share the news that Talya Housman ’03 (RIGHT), and her husband, Aaron Sarna, welcomed their first baby to the world on August 6th, Forrest Benjamin. Alumni parents, Sue and Robert Housman are excited to kvell over their first grandchild. Mazal Tov to the whole family!

GEOGRAPHY BEE

היפרגואגב ןודיח

Can you find Armenia on a map? Our students can!

For a number of years, JCDS has participated in Geo Bee, a competition run by National Geographic. This year, when National Geographic announced it would not be running the competition, Middle School Humanities/Social Studies teacher Josh Mocle felt that this beloved JCDS tradition should continue! Pulling together a bank of questions left over from past competitions, Josh created an original competition format that worked well over Zoom and led to an exciting, occasionally nail biting, competition. The middle school competitors were cheered on by their classmates, teachers, and parents. Ultimately, it was former student, Yochanan Cramer (’22) who was crowned as 2020-21 champion. Yochanan is the first student in JCDS history to achieve this win three years in a row and received a year-long subscription to National Geographic Magazine, courtesy of JCDS!

T'FILLAH ELECTIVE

תושדחתהו עבק הריחבל - הליפתב

Grafitti Art T’fillah (ABOVE) was a project run by alumni parent and artist Noni Armony P’09, ’11, & ’17. 5th and 6th grade students worked with spray paint on the cement Jersey barriers in the Friends and Family parking lot to conceive their own interpretations of God’s imperative in the Garden of Eden to “till the land and tend it.” Students engaged in a journey of discussion and reflection, considering how to take those words from the Tanach and give them color and meaning.

MATH KANGAROO

תודיח ןועושעש - ורוגנק הקיטמתמב ימואלניב

Mazal tov to Daniel David ’23, on placing 3rd nationally (and in Massachusetts) for grade 6 in the 2021 Math Kangaroo international competition. (LEFT ) Daniel received his Math Kangaroo award from his mother and JCDS Middle School Math Teacher Yaara David, P’23, ’25, & ’27, at the MS Math Awards Ceremony on the last day of school.

CHIDON HATANACH

ך״נתה ןודיח

Yasher koach to Kayla Shechter ’23, on placing 1st in the 6th-7th grade division (English) of the Chidon HaTanach USA, the Dr. Shimshon Isseroff US National Bible Contest for Jewish Youth. 200 students from over 80 schools and clubs around the country were invited to participate in the virtual national finals. Mazel tov, Kayla!

ABOVE: Kayla, and her mother Laura, the moment during the Chidon HaTanach USA National Finals 2021 Closing Ceremonies, live via Zoom, they learn she has won 1st place.