SHALHEVET HIGH SCHOOL 910 S Fairfax Avenue Los Angeles, CA December 2020 • Tevet 5781 Vol. 21 • Issue 3 shalhevetboilingpoint.com
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, ‘master of thought’ and a Rashi of our time, has died at age 71 By Talia Davoudian, STAFF WRITER
BP Photo by Ellie Orlanski BACK: Rabbi Block taught his senior Advanced Jewish Philosophy class in person for the first time Dec. 1, in the ‘Sarah’ tent outside the Beit Midrash on the third floor. Temperatures that day were in the upper 60s. Students who stayed home could follow on Zoom via Owl devices.
Distanced, exciting and ‘weird,’ optional in-person school reopens outside in tents By Molly Litvak, Editor-in-Chief In the thousands of years that Jews have studied in chevruta, probably never before have partners been forced to learn from six feet apart while almost shouting to hear each other’s voices. “I don’t think so,” said Rabbi David Block, Associate Head of School, in an interview this month. “Can’t imagine there would be a reason for it.” But on the first day of in-person class in almost nine months, Tuesday, Dec. 1,
that’s exactly what happened. Inside the “Sarah” tent on the third floor patio that day, 12th-graders were considering the story of Channah from the First Book of Samuel. Working in pairs, everyone was still required to follow social distancing guidelines and wear masks. “It was a little hard because everyone was speaking at the same time,” said Gaby Bentolila, who like Rabbi Block was enjoying her first class at school since March. “It was different from what I was used to, because we were farther apart. But we
made it work.” The in-person chevrutas were a result of Shalhevet opening school for on-campus Judaics Studies classes for the first time since the coronavirus brought everything to a halt on March 12. General Studies classes are still on Zoom, and students can stay and watch them from campus. For the last three weeks, one grade at a time — just a quarter of the student body — is invited on any given day, a maximum of about 60 students on a campus that usually holds 240. Everyone else is still on Continued on page 3
Breath that carries music now quiets the choir Aerosol issue sends choir into Zoom squares, where simultaneous singing is impossible By Keira Beller, Staff Writer Nothing is the same for the Shalhevet Choirhawks, who are now completely barred from singing together, unable to have even just a little of what they used to as the school’s touring, concertizing, and Chanukah-caroling co-ed Jewish a capella group. Since the coronavirus outbreak in March, the Firehawk choir has had to abandon the Shalhevet music room and try
to sing over Zoom, due to a health prohibition directed specifically at singing because it spreads the virus faster. This has had the effect of stopping choir almost entirely, because it can’t simply move rehearsals and concerts online. Zoom features a slight audio delay -- a seemingly small problem that throws off the choir’s entire sound by preventing people from singing at exactly the same time. Tiny delays destroy the entire performance, turning what should be a sonorous blend into a meaningless cacaphony. “In choir, everything needs to be exact, exact, exact, and Continued on page 6
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, author of more than 30 books, and the one to thank for the introductions and commentary in the Koren Siddurim and Machzorim, passed away from cancer at the age of 72 on Saturday, Nov. 7, in London. During a school-wide Zoom assembly Nov. 9, teachers shared quotes, stories, and divrei Torah about and from him. Rabbi Abraham Lieberman said the entire Shalhevet community stands on his shoulders. “We are sometimes blessed with people who literally are in our midst, who are giants, and Rabbi Sacks, Ya’akov Zvi ben David Arieh, was that giant,” said Rabbi Lieberman at the morning event. “We stand on his shoulders here at Shalhevet,” he continued, “because if you go through his books, what has he done? He’s taught us Jews how to engage the world, how to be proud of who we are.” Rabbi Sacks was the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1991 to 2013. He was a philosopher, speaker, teacher, and author, publishing more than 30 books, along with hundreds of other articles, throughout his lifetime. His most recent book, Judaism’s Life-Changing Ideas: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible, was published just two months ago. He was awarded a seat in the British House of Lords in 2009. In the British Parliament, the people who make up the House of Commons are elected, whereas the people who make up the House of Lords are awarded a seat because of their accomplishments. Another honor he received was the 2016 Templeton Prize, an international award given to someone who “harnesses the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind’s place and purpose within it.” Rabbi Sacks also traveled widely and met with students and communities around the Continued on page 8
When it comes to Chanukah gift-giving, ritual is whatever you grew up with By LIAD MACHMALI, Features editor This Chanukah 5780, senior Yael Rubin’s family will be exchanging gifts among aunts, uncles and cousins. Dean of Students Rabbi Ari Schwarzberg will be giving gifts just to his wife and kids. Freshman Davina BeneBP Illustration by Elliot Serure
Local protest
lyahu’s family and junior Benny Blacher’s family will not be exchanging presents at all. The cultural backgrounds of those four families are different from one another — the Rubins and the Schwarzbergs identify as Ashkenazi and Modern Orthodox; while the Benelyahus are Sephardic and the Blachers Continued on page 6
BP Photo by Sam Elyaszadeh
Demonstrators worried about gentrification marched in Beverlywood Nov. 29 to protest the planned purchase of a Baldwin Hills shopping mall by a local businessman. The purchase was later cancelled. Story, page 5.