Volume 32 Issue 2

The Lion’s Tale

Volume 32 Issue 2

October 31, 2014

CESJDS

WE ARE J DS

CELIAC 08 AWARENESS BREAKING GENDER 10 BARRIERS

HOJDS

12

02

the lion’s tale

editorial

Staff editorial

the

lion’s tale editors editors-in-chief

jeremy kaplan, nina simpkins managing editor, copy

dina rabinovitz managing editors, design

malka himelhoch, david kulp managing editor, web

matt litman copy

cole cooper, yonatan greenberg news

uri schwartz, jonah shrock & mark reichel chadashot

mijal altmann, margalit zimand & michael berkowitz features

emma hofman, alysse weinberg & hannah nechin entertainment

sj hyman, shira ungar & hannah wexler in depth

maddie dworkin, carol silber & josh paretzky

Value those who care If you flip through the pages of this issue of The Lion’s Tale, you’ll see a common theme: the incredible humans we have at CESJDS. From weight-lifting girls to ballet-dancing boys to kitchen staff members training to deal with Celiac, our community is filled with passionate, dedicated individuals.

We are fortunate to be a part of a community that places such a high value on each of its members.

Our Humans of JDS spread showcases the amazing relationships students have established with their peers and teachers; our celiac disease article demonstrates how willing students are to support their

friends with the disease.

We realize that we must eventually leave the comfort of the JDS community. And yet we find that our alumni have remained connected to JDS, still wander its halls during their breaks, still maintain communication with their former teachers. We may graduate JDS after 13 years, but to some extent, we’re never truly gone.

But while leaving JDS doesn’t mean that we’re abandoning it, it also doesn’t mean that we’ll always remain in a community that cares so deeply. When we exit JDS, we will not likely be in an environment where we will always be comfort-

able, where we know everyone from our teachers to our administrators is there to support us.

We’re not alone, though, when we exit JDS. We’ll leave with the knowledge we’ve gained from our classes, with the wisdom our teachers have bestowed upon us. In our anti-Semitism article, an alumna speaks about how the Israel trip prepared her to encounter this sort of hate; our guest column demonstrates how the tolerance we have learned at JDS can carry into the real world.

We have incredible resources within our walls. We have teachers dedicated to our well-being,

administrators who want to ensure that we’re on the right path. And we should take advantage of these resources. We should instigate discussions about difficult topics like anti-Semitism to prepare us for when we leave. We should support our friends in all their endeavors, whether they be fights to help those with diseases or efforts to destroy gender barriers. We have a valuable community within JDS, and we should use it wisely.

-The Lion’s Tale

sports

evan kravitz, brian schonfeld & gaby pilarski multimedia

yosi vogel graphics

r’ay fodor photo

ariella kulp, dahlia lehman

Staff editorial

Remembering Ilan

social media

jeremy schooler business

alec schrager, allie wiener

senior reporters robbie belson, danny waksman

reporters isaac dubrawsky, jonathan foldi, jacob gross, talia horowitz, yonah hyman, ethan kane, miriam minsk, aaron schonfeld, brian shorr, gabi swagel, joel vardon, elizabeth warrick & arielle weinstein

staff adviser claire burke

adviser emerita susan zuckerman

On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Ilan Rasooly (‘11) passed away from injuries he suffered while visiting the University of Maryland over Shmini Atzeret.

Rasooly was reportedly visiting friends on Oct. 15 when he tripped while walking backwards and fell, sustaining injuries to his brain.

He was taken to the Washington Adventist Hospital and later transported to the MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

While at CESJDS, Rasooly was a member of the cross country team, an actor in school musicals, and a passionate baseball and basketball fan.

At 20 years old, Rasooly was a senior at Cornell University, where

he was in his final year at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration and president of the Cornell Center for Jewish Learning.

Rasooly is remembered, by those who knew him at Cornell, CESJDS, and Kemp Mill Synagogue, as a passionate learner, a dedicated student, and an all-around giving, caring person.

According to the Cornell Sun, Rasooly always cared about his friends, and was never without a smile. He was dearly loved and a strong leader at the Center for Jewish Learning, constantly striving to engage his peers and always enthusiastic about his studies.

Former Head of School Jonathan Cannon, reminiscing about

Rasooly online, described him as someone with a “perpetual smile.”

He was incredibly welcoming, always willing to go the extra mile to help a friend or family member in need.

In his biography on the Center for Jewish Learning website, Rasooly described himself as a lover of Hogwarts, a cooker of soup and a video game fanatic. He is remembered as a genuine and caring individual who strived to make a difference in his community.

May his memory make for a blessing. May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion.

The Lion’s Tale Editorial and Ethics Policy As the student newspaper of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, The Lion’s Tale is a forum for student opinion and expression. All content is determined by students. Its purpose is to inform the CESJDS community and to express the views of its staff and readers. The staff has made every effort to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of its news.

Signed columns reflect the opinion of the writer; staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of The Lion’s Tale editorial board. The Lion’s Tale staff welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns, all of which must be signed. The staff reserves the right to refuse any material and may edit letters or columns for length, clarity, libel, obscenity and/or disruptiveness.

Submissions may be emailed to jdslionstale@gmail.com, mailed to The Lion’s Tale, or brought to room 328.

The Lion’s Tale is funded by The Simon Hirshman Endowment for the Upper School Newspaper and The Kuttner-Levenson Endowment for the Upper School Cultural Arts and Student Publications, and community advertisement. The Lion’s Tale reserves the right to refuse advertisement for any reason.

The staff will adhere to the ethics policies of The Society of Professional Journalists and the National Scholastic Press Association. The adviser will be held to the Journalism Education Association’s Adviser Code of Ethics.

For more tales from the lion’s den, visit:

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@jdslionstale

@jdslionstale

the lion’s tale

policy changes

03

Guest column

Evolving tolerance of differences

by tessa silverman senior As many of you may have read on Buzzfeed and other esteemed publications, Rabbi Steinlauf of Adas Israel recently announced that he has finally come to terms with his homosexuality, a fact that will end his marriage of twenty years. This news, delivered to our congregation shortly after the high holidays, came as quite a shock to us all, but because Adas has worked

lately to bring more young people into the community, I felt relatively confident that on the whole, Rabbi Steinlauf’s admission would be accepted and even praised. Among friends who belong to Adas, though, I’ve consistently heard, “Wow! Good for him. I wonder what people will say . . .” People, in this context, referred not to young liberals like ourselves, who were almost too excited to hear about the end of Steinlauf’s marriage, but to the older generation of shul-goers. We worried that they would be more resistant to the prospect of a gay rabbi in a conservative synagogue.

Although there will inevitably be those who respond to this incident with intolerance and bigotry, I have yet to encounter an adult who has expressed anything but compassionate support for Rabbi Steinlauf and his family. Their

overwhelming reaction, though, has been awe. While I and my friends marveled over how the Rabbi suppressed such a crucial part of himself for upwards of two decades, my parents were struck by the fact that society has reached a level of acceptance that enabled him to, at long last, share it.

They didn’t mean to say that he shouldn’t embrace his true identity, but that it is remarkable how different circumstances are now from when they were growing up, when it wasn’t shocking for a gay man to ignore his sexuality, marry a woman and have children. The fact that this concept was so incomprehensible to me affirmed their assertion that our world truly has evolved.

I think we often take that for granted.

Of course, our current situation is nowhere near perfect: homophobia and other forms of hatred are still pervasive, and the LGBT

community hasn’t been afforded all the rights that it deserves. But think about how far we’ve come! This month, a Conservative Jewish Rabbi came out as gay, and not one piece of the sky came crashing down. To the contrary, the synagogue that he leads lauded his bravery, promising loyalty and support, and his community met him with open arms, minds and hearts. The publicity of this event has been a terribly challenging thing for him and his loved ones to endure, but it’s exposed something important about our culture, which is that we’re ready for change. We have a long way to go as a society in terms of our tolerance of others, but we should be proud of having arrived at a moment when that progress seems very much within reach.

Guest column

Improving scholarships for Israel

by drew hein senior As senior year arrives so do the expenses of going on the Israel trip. It’s something every kid who has ever walked the halls at JDS knows about. Unfortunately not every student is aware of the financial difficulties that can come with having to pay for the trip.

While I know the cost might be less

substantial for some students, for others, it can pose a huge burden. The Israel trip is something so essential to the school’s identity but also to the senior year experience. It’s not only something students believe to be a life changing experience; the school itself promotes this idea. The CESJDS website has multiple pages dedicated to showcasing how this trip acts as a culmination of our studies.

As a lifer, going on the senior trip is more than just a fun time. It’s the opportunity to experience the holy land with all my peers with whom I’ve grown up with, while providing the chance to learn more about Israel and to develop a greater connection to it. Statistics have shown that students who have had had this opportunity have grown into adults more involved in

Jewish philanthropy and Jewish causes.

For this reason, it’s imperative that all students have the ability to attend the trip.

Especially because the trip is so important to JDS’s mission, financial reasons should not be a factor in deciding whether one can attend.

The school does have a small fund that helps support students who are facing this difficult financial situation, which personally I am extremely grateful for.

However, there is no guarantee how much a student will get for the trip, which means that the burden falls on the student to come up with the remainder of the funds they need for the trip. This falls in the middle of senior year, applying to college, Prom, and the enormous amount of stress that goes along with that.

Yes, thankfully there are places to personally help fundraise your trip to Israel like JNFs Plant Your Way (www.jnf.org/pyw).

I have been very fortunate to have received support from many, including friends, family, and angel donors who I and my family wish to thank from the bottom of our hearts.

With this so central to JDS’s mission, there should be a greater effort in increasing the scholarship funds for students who can’t afford the trip. I think the senior class as a whole should make a concerted effort to fundraise to help lower the costs for ALL students. Hopefully there will be more thought provoking conversation in regards to the efforts of fundraising towards the Israel trip for next years students, and beyond.

Join the conversation at www.lionstale.org Have an opinion about anything in this edition of The Lion’s Tale?

Find the article on our website, and add your opinion in the comments section. Or visit www.lionstale.org/opinion and submit a letter to the editor.

04

the lion’s tale

middle school

School receives grant to restructure middle school jonathan foldi reporter Over the summer, CESJDS secured a “Headway Enrichment Grant” from the Legacy Heritage Foundation to redesign the middle school curriculum by partnering with several educational organizations.

This year, the school will begin a three year reconstruction of the middle school curriculum that aims to enrich the overall experience by creating a more “academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually appropriate” curriculum, the school wrote in an email.

“Middle school students in particular are seeking opportunities to find meaning and relevance in their learning as they extend and broaden their thinking skills,”

Middle School Principal Rebecca Weisman said. “We should be taking a fresh look at how we create those experiences.”

Over the next three years, beginning this school year and concluding in the 2016-2017 school year, the redesign backed by the grant will be gradually implemented.

The grant will focus on the middle school because, according to Weisman and Head of School Mitchel Malkus, the middle school curriculum is more flexible than that of the high school.

“When you’re in high school, a lot of the class requirements are driven by the requirements to graduate by [that] county and that state and by what the colleges require,” Malkus said. “When you’re in middle school, we’re not driven by those things.”

This school year, JDS will start partnerships with two foundations: Facing History and Ourselves and the Ojai Foundation. These partner-

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ships require grant funds, both for the rights to the course content and for teacher training.

Facing History and Ourselves will be supplying the curriculum for a class entitled “Holocaust and Human Behavior,” which will be taught to eighth-graders after Winter Break. The unit will be taught in English, History, and Toshba classes over a six-day period.

According to the foundation, the goal of the class is to help students “investigate the complexities of human behavior, judgment, memory, and how we as individuals and members of groups can make a difference in the world today.”

The methodology of the Ojai Foundation, on the other hand, will be implemented in everyday classes, and there are plans to implement it in an extended Kehillah.

The Ojai Foundation’s mission statement is “to inspire engaged, compassionate school communities through practices that connect academic and social emotional

learning.”

Ojai aims to teach students “to speak with brevity” and “to speak spontaneously so that you don’t feel the need to plan what you talk about while trying to listen to others,” Weisman said. According to Weisman, that is “how you learn to speak with an open heart.”

JDS is also planning partnerships with other organizations, possibly among them the National Institutes of Health. The administration hopes that students will be able to go to laboratories at NIH and have guest speakers come into school and give a talk or lead an activity. The grant also provides for possible partnerships with other leadership organizations.

“We’re in Washington, D.C.,“ Malkus said. “It’s the capital of the United States, so there are a lot of organizations [and] programs that focus on leadership. We think that we can partner with them in some of these areas.”

The question as to whether or

not the sixth grade will be moved to the Upper School was discussed in the grant, and Malkus said the decision will be made “fairly soon.”

“In the grant we asked for some money to look at our building to see if it’s possible to either remodel or reconfigure in some ways,” Malkus said. He made clear that there would be room in the Upper School for the sixth grade if the school decides to move it.

Malkus hopes that the grant will help make students’ transitions from middle school to high school more seamless. “[Middle school] is the last time to do a lot of these things,” Malkus said. “When they get to high school, we want them to be prepared for a more rigorous academic program and really to take advantage of all of the opportunities that are available in high school.”

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the lion’s tale

aims

05

AIMS accreditation continues with three day visit miriam minsk reporter From Oct. 26 through 29, members of the Association of Independent Maryland and D.C Schools (AIMS) visited CESJDS to observe classes and evaluate its facilities as part of the accreditation process the school is undergoing.

Accreditation is independent certification that JDS is providing a high standard of education for its students.

The multi-year accreditation process began in the winter of 2013, when the JDS administration decided to switch from the Middle States Associations of Colleges and Schools (MSA) to AIMS, and will end in the spring of 2015 when AIMS decides whether to accept JDS’s application. According to Head of School Mitchel Malkus, AIMS is the “gold standard” of accreditation associations in the area.

Notable members of AIMS include Sidwell Friends School, Georgetown Day School, Bullis School, the Potomac School and Green Acres School.

Malkus believes that accreditation from AIMS will prove that JDS “meets a certain standard” that is also met by “all of the other wonderful independent schools in the area.” Accreditation from such a prestigious organization would like-

ly appeal to current and prospective JDS parents.

The AIMS accreditation process is different than most. Instead of having a specific checklist of requirements for each department, AIMS urges faculty to evaluate their current status and look for ways to reach their goals. Whereas the MSA accreditation process was completed once the accreditation was issued, AIMS will continue to work with JDS to improve and grow even once the accreditation has been granted.

“The process is more than just the standards, it’s really looking at ... what will make us the best institution for who we believe we are,” said Academic Dean Aileen Goldstein, who is co-Chair of the AIMS Accreditation Process.

Chair of the visiting AIMS team Zippy Schorr said that AIMS is looking at the school’s mission statement in order to understand whether it is fulfilling its goals.

While the AIMS team believes that JDS is strong, they will provide extra guidance on how to further improve.

AIMS stood out to Malkus because it could open JDS up to professional development opportunities, resource networks and support in all aspects of the school.

AIMS has several workshops regarding topics of interest to schools

and teachers, including help with financial aid and diversity and special needs training. On Oct. 20, AIMS held its annual conference, which Spanish teacher Deby Kijak and guidance counselor Rachel Soifer attended.

“Professional development is key for ... any teacher at JDS because I think that when you go to conferences and you talk to other teachers you learn and reflect on your own teaching,” Kijak said.

Over the course of the 20132014 school year, faculty and staff worked to write evaluations of individual departments, held many meetings about the departments’ current state and discussed areas for improvement. A vision packet was completed with questions for each department along with an Action Plan about how to move forward.

The vision packet includes general questions answered by the administration such as “How are programmatic decisions at JDS made?” For more specific questions, the entire faculty was divided into inter-departmental groups so that there was a glimpse of everything that goes on in the school.

Questions ranged from “How does the school build cumulative skills in its students?” to “how does the program reflect the school’s commitment to diversity?”

English Department Chair Thomas Worden explained that while writing evaluations, it is important to “be honest about who you are at this moment.”

A common goal expressed by multiple department chairs is that AIMS accreditation will foster new relationships between departments, which according to Worden, “is one of the areas we really need to grow.”

The AIMS accreditation process has also encouraged more cooperation between the Upper and Lower School administrations. Malkus has rearranged the weekly professional meetings so that the Upper and Lower School administrators are able to meet together once every few weeks, whereas they used to meet much more infrequently. This new schedule aims to allow the two campuses to build a stronger relationship.

The faculty’s reaction to the accreditation process has been positive overall.

“I would like to say that I am really excited about the accreditation process as a whole but also really happy that it coincidentally came at a time when we have a new administration that’s also looking strategically at what [JDS is], what [JDS will be] moving forward,” Jewish Text Thought and Practice Department Chair Etan Weiss said.

The AIMS accreditation pro-

The Trinity School of Frederick

Waldorf School of Baltimore

Frederick

The Holton-Arms School Bethesda

cess will hopefully allow the school to change and grow. Malkus wants to focus on redesigning the middle school, increasing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in the Lower School, and creating a larger variety of Jewish classes in the high school.

“The AIMS accreditation team has seen a lot of schools so they know what works and what doesn’t and they can give teachers good advice,” sophomore Alexander Missner said.

Overall Malkus was pleased with the AIMS visit at JDS. “I think it is going incredibly well and there are no surprises for us,” Malkus said. “The committee has already shared back that they are incredibly impressed with the school ... from my perspective I’m really excited about it and I don’t have any worries about the accreditation.”

According to Director of Arts Education David Solomon the AIMS process has been beneficial to the JDS community.

“We are a wonderful school and we will always be a wonderful school,” Solomon said. “We always have to make sure that we take time to reflect and evaluate in making sure that we know where we want to go and we know how to get there.

It’s an exciting process and it’s a very worthwhile process.”

Baltimore

Bullis School Potomac

Jewish Primary Day School

Sandy Spring Friends School Sandy Spring

Washington, D.C.

Aleph Bet Jewish Day School Annapolis

Who is AIMS accredited?

Sidwell Friends School Washington, D.C.

The Country School Easton

Green Acres School Rockville

06

the lion’s tale

anti-semitism

A RISE IN

ANTI-SEM July 14: Anti-Israel demonstration turned into mob attack on Paris synagogue

June 22: Forty gravestones pushed over and smashed in the Blackley Jewish Cemetary in Manchester, England

August 20: P demonstrator Frankfurt sup violent chant

April 26: Swastikas and other graffiti scrawled on a synagogue and five schools in Canada

carol silber and naomi cohen-shields in-depth editor and reporter In France, civilians yelled voilent threats to customers eating at a kosher restaurant, and in Germany, a synagogue was firebombed. These events, which occurred this past summer, fit with a trend of rising anti-Semitism around the world.

“It’s been a rough summer for the world,” Jewish History teacher Rachel Bergstein said. “When you see times of turmoil and stress, you also see rises in anti-Semitism.

We’ve seen that pattern repeat throughout history.”

Though less dramatic than those in Europe, there have also been increasingly frequent instances of anti-Semitism in the U.S., especially on college campuses.

The Anti Defamation League (ADL), whose mission is to prevent anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination worldwide, notes on its website that universities are places of “scholarly debate and student activism in a sheltered environment.”

As such, universities can become repositories for anti-Semitism when speakers from extremist organizations like the Nation of Islam visit campus and coerce students into taking on certain viewpoints.

These speakers take advantage of students’ “developing political passions, or couch bigotry in academic terms designed to appeal to their intellectual curiosity,” the ADL says.

Recently, anti-Semitic activity manifested itself at Emory University in Atlanta. Swastikas were found spray-painted on a Jewish fraternity house on the morning of Oct. 5, hours after the conclusion of Yom Kippur.

Alumna Haley Lerner ('14), who attends Emory University, found the incident alarming.

“I was completely shocked,” Lerner wrote in an email. “I never would have thought that something like this could happen at such a Jewish school where Judaism is so commonly practiced and respected.”

Roughly 30 percent of the

student body at Emory is Jewish, and, according to Lerner, the campus has an active Jewish life and culture.

“Most of my friends are Jewish, we all go to Hillel almost every Fri-

fact, she feels that the student body is very tolerant.

“Everyone here is so outward about their Judaism and is proud to be Jewish,” Lerner wrote. “Everyone is supportive of different back-

“

I never would have thought that something like this could happen at such a Jewish school where Judaism is so commonly practiced and respected.“ Emory Student and Alumna Haley Lerner (‘14)

•

day night, and go to different Jewish events on campus,” Lerner wrote.

“Non-Jews even come to Jewish events on campus because they are curious about Judaism and want to learn more about our culture and religion.”

Prior to the graffiti, Lerner had not experienced or witnessed any type of anti-Semitism on campus. In

grounds, religions and ethnicities.”

CESJDS students are used to a similarly tolerant environment. For that reason, senior Talia Gasko was surprised to encounter anti-Semitism close to home.

In the beginning of the school year, Gasko went with friends to rally in support of Israel in front of the White House. While there, she was

faced with protesters who disagreed with her views.

“There were people calling us Hitler,” Gasko said.

When confronted by opposing protesters, Gasko was unsure how to respond.

“At school, we really just learn about supporting Israel,” Gasko said. At JDS, she explained, “it’s hard to debate the other side without people shutting you down and accusing you of not supporting Israel.”

In some ways, JDS students are educated about anti-Semitism. It is heavily discussed in 10th grade Modern Jewish History during the Holocaust unit. The course covers the entirety of the Holocaust, from the Nazi party’s rise to power to the places where Jews settled afterward. However, it does not specifically confront the issue of modern anti-Semitism.

Bergstein believes that modern anti-Semitism is an important issue to address, especially given its recent rise to prominence.

“I started all my courses this

the lion’s tale

MITISM August 21: Jewish school vandalized in Copenhagen

Pro-Palenstinian rs in Dortmund and pport Hamas with a

year with an article talking about the present anti-Semitism in Europe,” Bergstein said. “I think it’s important to connect it to all of our Jewish History courses.”

Currently, the Jewish History department does not offer a course that specifically addresses modern anti-Semitism. Bergstein explained that the department will consider integrating the issue more formally into the curriculum if the situation continues to escalate.

However, she noted the connection between anti-Semitism’s historical and contemporary forms.

“In order to understand what’s going on now, you need to have the historical perspective to be able to appreciate what’s stayed the same and what’s changed,” Bergstein said. “To know how to approach it, you have to understand the background.”

Bergstein believes that the best

way for students to prepare themselves to encounter anti-Semitism is to be educated on its history.

Junior Elianna Mendelson, whose grandfather is a Holocaust survivor, approaches the issue of anti-Semitism in a similar way to Bergstein.

“Being the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor has instilled within me how important it is to understand your past, and how important it is to help other people understand your past to prevent other things from happening in the future,” Mendelson said.

Mendelson had a hard time hearing about her grandfather’s experiences. His family, originally comprised of 120 people, was reduced to six by the end of the

Holocaust.

Despite the sadness, Mendelson, like others who have Holocaust survivors in their families, feels invigorated against anti-Semitism.

She believes that her grandfather’s story “proves that we can’t let anti-Semitism get out of hand,” and that the motto “never again” must be embraced wholeheartedly.

For many the recent rise of anti-Semitism has made the preservation of these stories especially important. The current situation forces students to become more aware of their Jewish identities and how they wish to present it to others. Some JDS students reported that they have on occasion been afraid to show their Jewish identities. Anti-Semitism and a

anti-semitism

07

RECENT ESCALATION TRIGGERS FEAR, pride fear of being judged or bullied were the main reasons that students cited as instigators of their fear.

However, for Gasko, confronting anti-Semitism gave her the opposite approach.

“I realized how important it is to share my Jewish identity and to be proud of who I am,” Gasko said.

08

the lion’s tale

celiac awareness

Step into Celiaction

Sophomore Ariella Kulp completes the Celiac Walk sporting a shirt that reads “Grainless is Painless.”

Kulp’s friends and family support her in the Celiac Walk.

Sophomores Maya Arbor, Avital Krifcher, former student Cami Cohen, Samantha Haas, Dahlia Lehman and Sara Heckelman flank Kulp (third from right)after completing the Celiac Walk.

carol silber and talia horowitz in-depth editor and reporter

W

hen freshman Matthew Landy gives his order at Chop’t, a local salad chain, the employees immediately throw out their rubber gloves, replace them with clean ones, and wipe down the previously-used salad boards. Landy has celiac disease, and restaurants like Chop’t make it easy for him to stick to his gluten-free diet.

Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects the digestive abilities of the small intestine.

When people with celiac disease eat a product containing gluten, their immune system responds by attacking the small intestine, inhibiting the body’s capability to obtain important nutrients, according to the Celiac Disease Foundation.

The most common symptoms of celiac disease are stomach aches, diarrhea, weight loss and a type of rash that causes the skin to blister. Landy developed such a rash about a year ago, and a blood test determined that celiac disease was the cause.

Initially, the diagnosis came as a shock, but Landy has come to accept it.

“I’m going to have this for the rest of my life so I can’t look at it in a bad way,” Landy said. “I have to look at it in a positive way.”

Living with celiac disease has caused Landy to make significant lifestyle changes and to take on more responsibilities and precautions. For example, he has to read every detail on food labels and menus to ensure that he eats foods that are completely gluten-free.

Although these extra precautions can be painstaking, being gluten-free has become easier recently. Sophomore Ariella Kulp, who also has celiac disease, noted that current dieting fads have made it easier for her to find gluten-free foods.

“Being gluten-free is a trend right now,” Kulp said. “A lot of people want to be gluten-free because they think it’s healthy for them, so it’s pretty easy to just go to the grocery store and get gluten-free food.”

For Kulp, celiac disease affects more than just her diet; she and her family have incorporated it into their lives and their community. For the past five years, Kulp and her mother, who also has celiac disease, have participated in the Making Tracks for Celiacs Walk, an annual 5K in Baltimore to raise awareness and money for the disease.

“This year we raised $450, which was really exciting,” Kulp said.

Through the walk and other celiac disease-related events, the CESJDS community has made a big effort to support Kulp.

“It’s really great to have my friends with me be-

cause I • About 1% of the always American population feel like they have has celiac disease my back,” Kulp said.

“Everyone at JDS has been very supportive of me, and I really appreciate that.”

Food Service Director Erick Gilbert does what he can to accomadate students with celiac disease by providing them with gluten-free lunch options. This year, he said, the cafeteria makes a gluten-free lunch for six people each day.

“On pizza days we have three pizzas that we serve here,” Gilbert said. “We serve the whole wheat pizza that comes from the pizza shop, we have the cheese-free pizza ... and we make gluten-free pizza.”

At least once a year, the kitchen staff has training to ensure that everyone knows and can practice the proper protocol for preparing food for students with gluten or other food allergies. It is not uncommon to find Gilbert quizzing staff members on the contents of the food they are preparing.

For students like Kulp and Landy, knowing that the school cares about their allergies is “very reassuring,” Landy said.

“You know that someone actually cares and is looking out for your food needs.”

Editor’s Note: The Lion’es Tale staff recognizes that Sophomore Ariella Kulp quoted in this article is also • The average person a member of our waits six to 10 years to be staff. As she is correctly diagnosed one of the two students in the • Current estimates say school with Celiac disease, we 83% of Americans who deemed it neceshave celiac disease sary to interview are undiagnosed or her. She was not, misdiagnosed with other however, involved in the writing of this conditions at first article.

s

photos by david kulp

• No pharmaceutical cure for celiac disease has been discovered

Sou rce: Nat iona l Fo und atio n fo r Ce liac Aw are nes

Students confront the difficulty of a gluten-free lifestyle

the lion’s tale

fall

09

Leaf your troubles behind As the leaves fall, students’ spirits rise Q: Do you have any plans for fall?

A:“This fall my sister is getting married, which I am really looking forward to. This is the first wedding I have ever been to, which is even more exciting. I am also a bridesmaid, which is special.”

-Freshman Brooke Cohen

photo illustration by hannah nechin

Q: What are you looking forward to this fall?

A: “I am looking forward to the Redskins bouncing back from a [losing] record. Plus, I am looking forward to my birthday!”

-Freshman Daniel Ingber

Q: What has been the highlight of fall so far?: A: “My mom has been making a lot of soup. It’s been great. Also, three words: sweaters, scarves, and boots. End of story.”

-Junior Eliana Katz

Q: How are you taking advantage of the weather?

A: “I went to Shenandoah last weekend with my family and it’s beautiful, you can see fall in the trees and all the leaves.”

-Sophomore Shai Zarka

Q: What are you planning on doing?

A: “Singing with my chorus, working on my college applications, [and] maintaining my grades... through the year.”

-Senior Yale Friedman

compiled by joel vardon

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the lion’s tale

making strides

Breaking the barrier Athletes make strides in dismantling gender stereotypes arielle weinstein reporter Wrestling and football. Ballet and figure-skating. Nowhere is today’s gender dichotomy more prevalent than in sports. Yet a few students are ditching these conventions as they participate in unlikely activities.

This summer, CESJDS sixthgrader Talia Lloyd competed in the USA Weightlifting National Youth Championships and walked away with multiple medals, including one gold. Now she has been chosen to represent the U.S. in the International Youth Invitational at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado. Although hardly a middle schooler, Lloyd is helping break down stereotypes by representing girls in a traditionally maledominated sport.

Girls are not the only ones tearing down gender barriers.

Sophomore RJ Firestone is a wrestler, football player and ballet dancer.

Firestone, who is one of only two boys in his company, has been performing ballet since he was three years old. When explaining to his friends why he dances, Firestone cites the advantages ballet gives him.

“They reacted weirdly a couple years ago, but I also tell them it helps with wrestling and the other sports I do, like football,” Firestone said. “When I list out the benefits it gives you, they understand.”

Even sports as dissimilar as ballet and wrestling have parallels.

Firestone credits the movements involved in ballet with helping him improve his wrestling game.

“Ballet focuses on your [abdominal] muscles and your leg muscles because, like in a flying kick, you need them to push off the ground,” Firestone said. “Ballet

treated any differently even though strengthens the same muscles you she is a girl. “The coaches really try use in wrestling.” to include me as an equal member Senior Leah Fogel, however, of the team and so do the guys, joined the male-dominated sport but a lot of the time I’ll notice that of wrestling simply because she when we’re actually wrestling my wanted a new experience. teammates will go a little easier on “My only motivation to join the team was to try a new sport,” Fogel said. “I you have to be prepared to come looked at all the home with bruises and be intensely other winter sports and none of them sore and be ready to be in that appealed to me ... I just decided male-dominated environment.” to ask the coach, who at that time senior leah fogel was Coach Lipp, to join the wrestling team. The team welcomed me.” me,” Fogel said. “I want to not only As the sole female member be pushed as an equal member of of the team, Fogel notices that the team, but I want them to go as some of her teammates seemed hard as they can or as normal as uncomfortable around her. they would with anyone else so However, she does not want to be that I can try and challenge them as well and not just have it be easy for both of us or a workout for only one side.”

Nevertheless, Fogel has to deal with wrestling’s rigorous training regime like any other member of the team.

“For wrestling specifically, I would say that a huge part you have to be ready for is the mental struggle,” Fogel said. “You have to be ready as a girl to do that, you have to be prepared to come home with bruises and be intensely sore and be ready to be in that maledominated environment.”

Much like Fogel, sophomore Mollie Griminger did not consider breaking stereotypes when she decided to join the JDS hockey team. She “just wanted to play

photo provided by rj firestone Sophomore RJ Firestone plays the Arabian prince in Balence Ballet’s performance of “The Nutcracker.”

“

•

hockey.”

Griminger, who started the sport just 18 months ago, was welcomed as a new addition to the team.

“They were excited to have new kids on the team, because that’s what they really needed,” Griminger said. “Since the beginning, they were very supportive of me. Nobody treats me any differently than I think they would.”

Senior William Horwitz, a member of the team and a more experienced hockey player, does not see any major changes in the team’s routine due after Griminger joined.

“It’s been a very easy transition,” Horwitz said. “It’s at a point where she’s basically one of the guys on the team … We’re all aware of the fact that she’s a girl, but it hasn’t been an obstacle.”

While Griminger is more readily received, Fogel works to better connect with her teammates.

“You might be missing out on some of the locker room bonding, but … there’s still so many things that you can do, so many times you can be with them,” Fogel said.

“You do have to make that effort to be a part of the team, but I haven’t noticed that I’ve made a huge, extra effort for missing out on that time.”

Despite not participating in all aspects of team bonding, Fogel believes there are still plenty of opportunities.

“As long as the team accepts you, regardless of whether there’s one girl or a couple of girls, you’ll still feel like a part of the team,” Fogel said.

Go to Lionstale.org to learn about new developments in the sports medicine program.

the lion’s tale

jews for jesus

11

Jacob, Judah, Joshua ... Jesus?

We may pray for the Messiah to come, but in their eyes, he was already here. yonatan greenberg copy editor

A short walk from CESJDS there is an office with shofars, menorahs, tallitot and Jewish books. If you ask the workers there what their religion is, they will tell you they are Jewish. It’s just that they believe in Jesus, too.

Larry Dubin is the director of the Jews for Jesus outreach center on Nebel Street in Rockville, Md. Lanky but medium-sized with a graying, scruffy beard and glasses, he has the look of someone who has done his fair share of Bible study.

“We are Jewish people and we have come to believe that Jesus, or Yeshua, is the promised Messiah,” said Dubin, who often refers to Jesus by his Hebrew name. “Moses and the prophets, they all talked about a coming Messiah, and we seem to think that Jesus is the one that Moses was talking about.”

For Dubin and his colleagues, there is no contradiction between belief in Judaism and belief in Jesus; God said that a Messiah would come, and he did. However, they do not believe in Rabbinic Judaism, which began to develop only around the same time that Christianity did. Rather, their religious beliefs fall mostly in line with those of most Christian churches.

What makes Jews for Jesus unique is the emphasis it put on the connections between Judaism and Christianity, and the work they do to point out those ties to Jews especially.

“We are not a church and we are not a congregation,” Dubin said. “We are a group of missionaries, a group of Bible teachers, who believe the biblical story and we are taking it out to our Jewish people.”

Overall, their goal is to convince Jews that Jesus is their Messiah, too. Mainstream

movements in Judaism, which do not consider Christ believers to be Jews, have little patience for the organization’s proselytization

Chag Purim Sukkot Pesach Challah

that they were not Jews, and thus not eligible for citizenship under the Law of Return.

According to Jewish

JEWS FOR JESUS efforts.

According to Dubin, “99.9999 percent of the Jewish world is not receptive to what we have to say.”

“If not hostile,” his coworker David Leibman added.

In 1989, the Israeli Supreme Court was forced to weigh in on the Jews for Jesus controversy. Gary and Shirley Beresford, believers in Messianic Judaism, attempted to obtain Israeli citizenship under the country’s famous Law of Return, which grants automatic citizenship to any Jew. The Beresfords considered themselves Jews, practicing many ritual laws that even Dubin does not, and even rejected many parts of Christian theology. However, the fact that they believed that Jesus was the Messiah was enough for the Israeli Supreme Court to rule

Lulav Torah Mikvah Kohanim Mechitza Matzah Ark Dove Moses Kashrut Taharah Megillah Tehillim Israel Kiddush Talmud Tanakh Heritage Tradition Apples Honey Blessing Kippah Dreidel

History Department Chair Sara Coxe, Jews often have a lot of hostility towards Jews for Jesus because its mission of proselytization essentially works to pull Jews away from Rabbinic Judaism.

According to her, most people do not appreciate being told what to believe — in this case, that Christ is the Messiah.

Dubin has been to events at the JCC of Greater Washington, though not as “an invited guest,” he said with a chuckle. Visits to JDS are not in his future, as Jews for Jesus does not proselytize to minors.

However, Dubin could certainly relate to JDS students about many things, as he grew up in a religious Jewish family.

“If you look at the people who are at the wailing wall in Jerusalem or if you look at a lot of Orthodox Jewish people up in Brooklyn, those are my dad’s people,” Dubin said.

It was only later in life, while going through some serious issues in the Navy, that Dubin said he turned to Jesus. But his Jewish roots are still quite evident: he can discuss the minutiae of laws regarding Sukkot, knows stories from the Bible well enough to fit into any JDS Tanakh class and refrains from eating leavened bread during Passover.

Dubin gets especially excited about Passover, which for him highlights the Jewish heritage of Christianity.

“What a lot of Christians call the Last Supper, it was really a Passover meal,” Dubin said. Pulling out a box of Streit’s matzah, he gave a long explanation of the symbolic significance of the matzah. For him, the unleavened bread represents Jesus’ “sinless nature,” the holes in the matzah are a reference to Zachariah, and the burnt stripes reflective of a passage in Isaiah.

“I think that matzah is pointing to Jesus, to Yeshua,” Dubin said.

Though that explanation may seem like a bit of a longshot to most Jews, some of his other ideas regarding various Jewish holidays have more concrete support. For example, he believes that Sukkot “is pointing to a future time of rejoicing,”— in other words, Jesus’ redemption. For Rabbinic Jews, however, that many of the holidays have to do with the coming of the Messiah in no means indicates that he has already arrived. And thus, the debate rages on.

On the wall of Dubin’s office, below an Israeli flag, there is a bumper sticker with Hebrew writing on it. The Hebrew words translate as “Jesus equals salvation.” It’s a Christian message, just written in Hebrew.

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the lion’s tale

hojds

Eighth-grader Benjamin Robinson

Senior Roee Carmeli and junior Yonatan Baruch JTTP teacher Paul Blank

Freshman Noa Schisterman Eighth-grader William Margel

Q: What do you like about being a sibling?

A: “I always have someone I know I can count on and who will love me no matter what.” - Nadav Kalender

Sophomore Nadav Kalender and senior Yaira Kalender

Q: If you had all the money in the world, what would you do?

A:“I would automatically follow the example of my father and give 10 percent off to charity, but I would also establish all kinds of foundations and fellowships and all kinds of stuff like that with the rest of the money.”

HUMANS OF CESJDS Freshman Matthew Swire

Eighth-grader Justin Galitzer

Senior Rachael Schindler

Freshman Mira Rodney

Seventh-grader Matthew Wieseltier

Each student and teacher has a story; together they make up our community Eighth-grader Jessica Lehman

Senior Robert Belson and freshman Jenny Belson

Math teacher William Kaplan and senior Lauren Spiegelman

Q: What’s a motto that inspires you?

A: “Just keep swimming.”

Jesus Portillo, Facilities staff

Q: What do you like about the teachers at JDS? A: “Mr.Kaplan is always there to help me with math, and I know that if I’m not able to meet with my teacher, he’s always there.” photos by Ariel Kulp, Dahlia Lehman and Abigail Israel

Q: What do you love most about your brother?

A: “He has high expectations for me and he helps me reach them.”