JEWISH COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL OF THE BAY
notebook
Volume 1, Issue 1 June, 2016
Cover: Eli Burg ‘16 with the snowboard he constructed for his Senior Keystone Project.
Man on Bench, 2016 Mira Kittner, ‘18
A Jew in the Modern World by Molly Werthan ‘16
On the first day of junior year, when my best friend texted me to see how it was going, I just responded with: “I hate pluralism.” And I wasn’t being melodramatic. I didn’t think that my identity as an Orthodox Jew allowed me to be a part of the Jewish community at JCHS. I felt that my Judaism was so different from that of the typical student at a pluralistic school that I didn’t belong. Every time I would kiss a mezuzah or dodge a guy’s highfive, I felt more different and more uncomfortable—and Heaven help me if I had a sandwich in my lunch and needed to do netilat yadayim in the Commons. It got so bad that, at one point, I honestly thought that I had more in common with charedi girls who go to Beis Yaakov than Reform girls who go to BBYO, because
at least we were both observant of halacha, both Jewish in the same way. If we hadn’t studied the roots and development of different Jewish identities through history in Jew in the Modern World, I might never have seen how utterly mistaken I was. What began to change how I saw my Jewish identity in relation to that of most other kids at JCHS and to pluralism in general was learning about the different reactions to Jewish emancipation. The thing that surprised me in particular was the similarities that I saw between Modern Orthodoxy and the Reform movement. The Modern Orthodox response, as outlined by Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, is to continue keeping halacha and incorporate
that into a life in the world of modernity. The Reform response is to incorporate the morality and core values of Judaism into a life in modernity. Both of these responses are attempts to marry the essence of Judaism with a modern life and really, the only difference between Reform and Modern Orthodoxy is what they perceived to be the essence, the core of Judaism. For the Modern Orthodox Jew, it is halacha, while for the Reform Jew, it is Jewish values. I had always kind of assumed that Reform Judaism, and even Conservative Judaism, were born from people who wanted “easy Judaism”—the nice parts of Judaism, like lighting Chanukah candles or eating apples with honey—without the burden of a commitment to halacha. I was wrong. I learned that in truth, just as Modern
Orthodoxy is for me, Reform Judaism is the way of navigating life as a part of modernity for many people as Jews trying to balance Judaism and modernity in such a way that they can derive meaning from both. As the year continued, I began to see the theme of acculturation appear more and more throughout Jewish history. And it didn’t just apply to Jews who maintain religiosity to some extent; it can even apply to secular Jews. To me, this idea was most prominent in our studies of Zionism. Zionists created “the new Jew,” which was another way to adapt Judaism to the modern world; keeping a strong identity as Jewish but creating an image of Jews that was more favorable and relatable to the rest of the world. In fathering modern Jewish and Israeli culture, Chaim Nachman Bialik dealt with the integration of Judaism into modernity intensively. To Bialik, it was most important to hold on to Judaism not through religious practice, but rather by imbuing parts of Judaism into a modern, secular culture. One way he was able to find this balance was by commissioning tiling in his home in Tel Aviv that featured symbols of the 12 tribes, so that Jewishness was still present in his daily life, even if it wasn’t through observance. Through learning about Zionism, I learned that much like Modern Orthodox and Reform Judaism, secular Judaism is a strategy of integrating important parts of the Jewish tradition into modern life. All of this noticing and reflecting on my Jewish identity and the Jewish identities of my peers coalesced for me on the first erev Shabbat of the Israel Journey, as my grade sat on the rooftop of our Tel Aviv hotel and watched the sun paint the sky pink then orange then violet as it sank towards the ocean. A few of the students and
faculty members began sharing what Shabbat means to them, and I was totally surprised and struck by what everyone said. Most of them began by saying, “I’m not really religious, but...” or “I’ve don’t ususally keep Shabbat, but...” and then continued on to articulate exactly the things that I find most meaningful about Shabbat. What’s more, each person’s response was met by a sea of emphatic finger-snaps. The more people shared, the more the ideas I had learned in “JewMo” became real to me. I saw firsthand that even though each person’s Judaism looks a little different than the next person’s, there are many more commonalities between us than there are differences. In August, I hated pluralism because I thought that my Modern Orthodox identity was too distinct from the Jewish identities of most of the school to connect me to the Jewish community at JCHS. After a year of studying the evolution of Judaism in JewMo and connecting with my classmates on the Israel trip though, I have learned that Modern Orthodox and Reform and even secular Judaism are not so different after all. The way we practice Judaism may look different, but it is the same at its core: they are all expressions of our search for meaning and beauty in Judaism in the context of modern life. That’s why, in June, at the hachnasat Torah on my last day of junior year, when I looked around at the joyful faces of my peers and teachers joining together in song and dance, I couldn’t help but think about how blessed I am to be a part of such a special community, where we can celebrate each other despite our differences, and can learn, grow and rejoice together. Molly Werthan,’16 graduated in June. She plans to complete a gap year in Israel, before attending New York University.
Arielle Rauch ‘18 during a community outreach visit with a resident of Rhoda Goldman Plaza.
“The way we practice Judaism may look different, but it is the same at its core: they are all expressions of our search for meaning and beauty in Judaism in the context of modern life.” Below: Maya Menachem ‘19 working on a problem in Algebra BC.
INTRODUCTION TO STUDIO ART with Jen Sturgill
Mila Goldburt ‘18, after Claude Monet
The
Mitchell Zvagelskiy ‘18, after Edward Hopper
Master
Color, Technique, and Process Following intensive study and practice with the different properties of color, each student chose a detail from a work by a master artist from which to paint their “master vignette.”
Sam Klapow ‘16, after Odd Nerdrum
Shmuel Edelman ‘18, after Claude Monet
Mira Kittner ‘18, after Claude Monet
Vignette Project
Avigayil Edelman ‘16, after Paul Gauguin
Zaki Wood ‘17, after Vincent van Gogh
During the painting process, students applied their understanding of color relationships and painting techniques to faithfully represent details of the original works. In addition, they deepened their appreciation for the artist whose work they investigated.
Kayla Buki ‘18, after Odd Nerdrum
Sophia Brodie-Weisberg ‘18, after Vincent van Gogh
Jesse Lieberman ‘18, after Peter Doig
New Orleans Oral History:
Baba Luther Gray INTERVIEWED BY Yoni Sadi, Itai Nagar, Avi London-Wynne, Ashley Aucar
“When the spirit comes to the conscious mind, that’s really the essence of who we are, of who everybody is individually. If we all have a fingerprint that’s unique, don’t you think everybody’s soul is unique?”
This spring the 12th Grade traveled to New Orleans, where they conducted oral history interviews with “culture bearers”— artists, activists, elders, and others who embody and transmit the unique culture of New Orleans. These extraordinary men and women taught us about the value of preserving a community’s culture through crisis and change. Here is Baba Luther Gray’s story. New Orleans has unique meanings to every person that lives or visits here but to me, it’s a city that’s at the roots of North America. We’re almost at the mouth of the Mississippi River, so all the energy from the Mississippi River, the Ohio River, all these rivers flow down to New Orleans. So our culture is very old. I think part of the reason why the music is so deep and many writers come here to write novels, movies are shot here, musicians come here is because here’s what in art they call “a muse.” It’s inspiration, it’s something in the air, it’s the people—they’re all different characters. If you don’t fit in other places, you can fit in here. One day, I saw a young man with a thick blue beard. I said to somebody else, “man, you know I saw today a guy with a blue beard.” The person tells me, “You know there’s a pirate convention in town?” I Seniors drumming at the Ashe Cultural Arts Center in New Orleans.
think New Orleans is a place that attracts creative people and now it’s attracting a lot of people that want to create dreams. There’s a lot of African presence because Africans were born here starting in 1719, enslaved by the French. You know, the original city was the French Quarter, so they built all that. Then they built the plantations and then all the sugar cane and the cotton and indigo and everything else. That’s what New Orleans means to me. Being a drummer, there’s a place here called Congo Square it’s the place where Africans gathered: the only place in antebellum South where African people could gather freely and openly on Sundays and practice their drumming, their dancing, speak their language, have marketplaces and things like that. So our culture never really got cut off, it just kept evolving, taking on French influences, Spanish influences, Indian influences up until the present day. We drum in Congo Square every Sunday and this has been going on since the 1700’s. So this is a place of great spirituality and a place of great creativity. What we did just over there, that
drumming and dancing? People in New Orleans love to dance. Guys like to dance. We have Second Line so you don’t even need a partner. I think New Orleans having such a rich drumming, music and dance tradition—the whole goal of what we just did is that we’re human beings, we’re made of the physical, mental, and spiritual. But often times, when we drum and we dance the spirit begins to emerge from the subconscious to the conscious. So when the spirit comes to the conscious mind, that’s really the essence of who we are, of who everybody is individually. If we all have a fingerprint that’s unique, don’t you think everybody’s soul is unique? Our souls aren’t the same, so if we can all get glimpses of ourselves we can get inspired by ideas that just come out of our imagination. That’s really the essence of who we are. The more we’re in touch with that the better it is and I think New Orleans is a great place for that.
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A pivotal point in my life was when I was a sophomore in high school. Chicago is known for having gangs, it’s very territorial; if someone comes into your neighborhood, you’re gonna ask “who are you or where are you from?” A friend of ours had gotten beat up that day by some guys who came from another neighborhood to our school. They said that they were going to come back that evening. So my friend told us, we were his friends, that we were gonna be there when these people came back. They came back, a few of them, and we chased them and beat a couple of them up. And then we waited around and then I saw, maybe 20 or 30 or 40 people coming from out the corner. One
of my friends had taken out his father’s shotgun, he snuck it out of the house. They came and called us out, they were coming over fisting, there was maybe 7 or 8 of us—must be 30 or 40 of them. My friend went to get us the gun, he stayed hiding behind a tree. He just had a shotgun then he fired 3 times boom, boom, boom. I think a lot of people were wounded but no one died. They ran that way, we ran home. The next day, I asked my father to take
“It is important to listen to other people’s stories and try to understand what in their past made them who they are today. Taking this lesson into my own life, I am going to take time and listen to my friends and family, listen to what they have to say and really try to remember the stories they tell.” —Tamar Wexler, ’16 me two places, I said, “Take me to the music store and take me to a bookstore,” ‘cause I knew I wasn’t going outside for a while. I went to the music store and bought my first congo drum. Then I went to a bookstore and bought several books, I bought Before the Mayflower, Malcolm X, Blues People by Leroi Jones. I think that counts as a turning point in my life. I wasn’t a real gangster or nothing, we was just defending our friend, but I think that really, at that point, I just knew I had to do something else.
I really got into playing the drums and reading these books and that changed my perspective. So when I was growing up in Chicago and I moved here, I was doing a lot of teaching to kids. To me, bad little boys are the best drummers. Someone with a whole lot of energy, you gotta give them something to do but if they don’t have anything to do with their energy, they might get into trouble.
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What does that feel like? Oh man, that’s joy! I watched you dance, if they didn’t stop you, you’d have kept on dancing. There are things in our brains called synapses, are you aware of that? In our brains we have all these millions of synapses, they’re not connected but when you learn something they connect. Learn something else they connect. The more things you learn the more it connects. When you learn something, I wish I could teach you all, you fumbled around a little bit, you heard, you used your sense, then you got it. I think that’s also on a spiritual level, when you do something and you connect. ‘Cause at a certain point, you know, you’re playing a song, and somebody just gets up and starts dancing or we outside and a bird starts singing or something happens in the room, or I look over at him [his grandson] and he’s playing drums; using our senses like looking, seeing smelling, tasting, hearing, touching, feeling, we are able to see when these things come together, but we have to pay attention to it, for instance: what’s the number one thing, what are you looking for right now? See ‘cause the law of attraction is gonna lead you to things. You just gotta keep
thinking about it and working towards it, when it appears you gotta recognize it.
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You all are at, I figure, a crossroads. When you’re at a crossroads, and you’re going for something, you could go this way, that way, you could stay here, you could go back that way. Those are the moments when you pray or you meditate or you just talk to somebody because those are important. It’s like you might make a wrong turn that wasn’t good and have to come back. That’s ok too. But I think it’s not something you go through and don’t really think about. I think that’s when the spirit comes in. You know you’re already being led. In our lives we have a physical direction, but we’re spiritually being led places, we just don’t recognize it because this isn’t a spiritual world. It’s called the law of attraction, so you know in the universe you’ve got the law of gravity and the law of attraction; put them together, that’s true of human beings, too. So you’re looking for something, it’s in the universe, you keep going to, the law of attraction and at some point, Bam! You found it. You might not know exactly right now what neurobiology is, but at some point you’re gonna say, now I understand it. Special thanks to the Ashe Cultural Arts Center for hosting us and arranging the oral history interviews. Read more at: sites.google.com/a/jchsofthebay. org/nolajourney2016/
Pianist and composer Daniel Sosebee ‘16 offered a look at the technology of producing electronic music for his Keystone Project. Using FL Studio, Daniel scored a short film featuring members of his rock climbing group.
Samantha Katzeff ‘16, Ari Denberg ‘16, and Nate Kreeger ‘16 with the vegetables they grew during AP Environmental Science class.
The Country I Am Proud Is Mine This essay was written by Naomi Moskowitz ‘18 for the Hebrew Literature class taught by Ilana Vinizky. Her original Hebrew essay is reprinted opposite. Throughout my childhood, I have studied about a place where everyone is like me. A place where everyone is Jewish and understands my family’s traditions. It was hard for me to imagine such a place. We celebrated all the Israeli holidays, on Israeli Independence Day we danced with flags and ate pita bread, and we sang Jerusalem of Gold on Jerusalem Day. But Israel still felt so far away from me. When I traveled to Israel I saw another side of Israel, and felt a connection to the land as never before. I remember the joy, the holiness and the community from my trip, yet something else as well: sadness. When we visited Mount Hertzl, I remember walking between the tombstones. On one of them, I saw a picture of a young boy with his kippah and his toys also lying upon it. He was somebody’s brother, he was somebody’s son. What if he had been part of my family? I was told that each person in Israel has lost someone close. And only then did I realize what Israel was. Israel is a place one needs to fight for, and a place in which it’s impossible to know what will happen tomorrow. The love for Israel comes from the knowledge that Israel wasn’t ours in the past, and now it is. In spite of everything I had learned about Israel, I never saw that aspect until I went to Israel. Israel comes with the memory of those lost, but without those sacrifices, Israel wouldn’t be the thriving and model nation that it is now, a nation for which our people have fought for thousands of years. This is why I will always stand proud next to Israel, because against all odds it has prevailed as a home for me, a home for us, and a home for the Jewish People.
נעמי מוסקוביץ המדינה שאני גאה שהיא שלי ּכל ילדותי למדתי על מקום שבו כולם כמוני .על מקום שכולם יהודים וכולם מבינים את המנהגים של משפחתי .היה קשה לדמיין מקום כזה .חגגנו את כל החגים הישראלים ,ביום העצמאות רקדנו עם דגלים ואכלנו פיתה ושרנו" ירושלים של זהב" ביום ירושלים .אבל ישראל עדיין הרגישה כל כך רחוקה ממני .כשנסעתי לישראל ראיתי צד אחר של ישראל ,והרגשתי קשר עם הארץ שלא היה לי לפני כן .אני זוכרת את השמחה והקדושה והקהילה מהטיול שלי לישראל ,אבל אני גם זוכרת את העצב .כשטיילנו להר הרצל אני זוכרת שהלכתי בין המצבות משני צדדי .על מצבה אחת ראיתי תמונה של ילד צעיר והכיפה שלו ,וגם המשחקים שלו היו עליה .הוא היה האח של מישהו ,הוא הבן של מישהו .מה אם הוא היה ממשפחתי? אמרו לי שלכל איש בישראל יש מישהו קרוב שהוא איבד .ואז הבנתי מה זאת ישראל .ישראל היא מקום שצריך להלחם עליו ,ומקום שלא יודעים מה יקרה מחר . האהבה שיש לאנשים לישראל באה מהידע שישראל לא היתה שייכת לנו בעבר ועכשיו היא שלנו . למרות כל מה שלמדתי על ישראל לא ראיתי את הצד הזה עד שבאתי לארץ .ישראל באה עם זכרונות של אלה שנפלו ,שבלעדיהם ישראל לא תהיה המדינה המשגשגת והעם לדוגמא שהיא היום–מדינה שנלחמנו בשבילה לאלפי שנים .ולפי כך ,אני אעמודד גאה ליד ישראל ,כי למרות כל הקשיים ,היא עומדת חזק כבית שלי ,בית שלנו ,ובית של כל עם היהודי .
Transformational Math In Carl Horwitz’s Pre-Calculus class, students learned how to create vector drawings using mathematics. The online graphing calculator website Desmos allows users to enter, graphically plot and manipulate mathematical functions. The students studied the effects of moving, stretching, or flipping a plot and then generated original images on Desmos utilizing a variety of functions and transformations.
Senior Keystone Projects a culminating experience Addey Dominguez ‘16 works on a mural composed of names of soldiers who died during Operation Enduring Freedom. For her Keystone Project, Addey is discussing military families. Eric Korman ‘16 with a book that he designed and produced for his Keystone, which highlights
some of his favorite places in San Francisco. His photography captures “Local Treasures of San Francisco” along with interviews with community members about their favorite places in the city. Itai Nagar ‘16 standing next to a homeless shelter that he constructed in two months for $500. He plans to donate this shelter to an organization in West Oakland and hopes it will inspire others to build similar shelters. Julia Perlov ‘16 combined her love of ballroom dance and her interest in the field of medicine to create a fundraising event for UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital for her Keystone project. As a volunteer at UCSF, Julia saw firsthand how the Child Life Services department helps kids who are ill and being treated on an ongoing basis still get a chance to be
kids through “normal” day to day activities like singing, painting, playing musical instruments, and even attending a dance. For his Keystone Project, Nate Kreeger ‘16 explored the impact that writing music can have on those dealing with PTSD. “I think it’s really important that the conversation about PTSD be not only about the trauma that happened, but also about the recovery process.” Max Simon ‘16 is seen here with some of the bees that he worked with for his Senior Keystone project. In creating an urban apiary and garden habitat for the bees, Max hoped to be able to learn more about the impact of caring for bees on the community as well as on an individual beekeeper.
Color psychology and how it manifests in religious practice inspired Maddy Brent ‘16. As part of her Keystone Project, Maddy molded and painted colorful meditation beads which she gave to friends so they could create meaningful mementos for themselves. For his Keystone project, Jake Heller ‘16 explored the process of garment manufacturing by having a pair of jeans made using responsibly-sourced materials and labor. From the rivets to the fabric and thread to the leather patch with his logo, Jake researched each step of the manufacturing process in order to better understand the issues involved in ethically-designed and produced clothing. Siena Hasson ‘16 with posters she created that detail interesting
facts about the effects of social media on interpersonal relations. Her Keystone is entitled “Why Can’t We Disconnect to Connect: How Technology Affects Our Relationships.” Olivia Rudd ‘16 chose to research the experiences of women in science for her Keystone. Avidly interested in chemistry, Olivia approached the topic of women in STEM fields from a feminist perspective, interviewing and profiling women scientists for their views. Jordan Kochavi ‘16 with the instrument he constructed in order to better comprehend the physics of music. Created from PVC pipe, bottles, redwood planks, and pallets, Jordan’s instrument is tuned so that one must play across the various materials to produce a complete
scale, resulting in a variety of timbres to any performance. It took ingenuity and creativity for Sam Klapow ‘16 to construct a homemade banjo for his Keystone Project. Inspired by the guitar that American blues artist Seasick Steve made from two Morris Minor 1000 hubcaps, Sam used a Star Wars Lunchbox and wood to create his instrument. Jones Bealum ‘16 offered a thoughtful discussion of how people of marginalized genders can reclaim public spaces in the face of harassment. As part of her project, Jones edited a selfpublished ‘zine of submissions from individuals inside and outside of the JCHS community that comprised personal responses to their experiences of safety (or lack thereof) in public spaces.
Emma Goldbrener ‘18 and Mitchell Zvagelskiy ‘18 in Introduction to Studio Art class.
The Notebook is a quarterly showcase of work by students at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay. To comment or contact the editor, please email notebook@jchsofthebay.org.
The Jewish Community High School of the Bay (JCHS) is a unique college preparatory high school committed to integrating deep learning, universal wisdom, and Jewish values. We empower each student to embrace her or his Jewish identity, generate empathy and compassion, delight in lifelong education, and improve the world. 1835 Ellis Street SF 94115 | www.jchsofthebay.org | 415.345.9777