Shalhevet Boiling Point Vol. 19, Issue 4 by The Boiling Point

SHALHEVET HIGH SCHOOL • Los Angeles, CA shalhevetboilingpoint.com June 2019 • Sivan 5779 Vol. 19, Issue 4

BP Photo by Ashley Botnick

LOSS SHARED

CLOSE: At the funeral of Lori Gilbert Kaye, victim of the Chabad shooting in northern San Diego County, mourners heard words of inspiration and pain.

Bohemian is Back! By Molly Litvak, Outside News Editor Did Freddie Mercury know that his music would not only still be popular but be the focus of a world-renowned movie in 2018? Did trendy people in the late ‘80s and ‘90s think mom jeans would be fashionable 30 years later? More and more music and fashion throwbacks have been highlighted in pop culture in the last year, and the trend is growing. Many people who have grown up in the 2000s have become fans of artists and songs from the 20th century. Senior Lily Drazin’s favorites include Fleetwood Mac, the Beatles, Queen, Simon and Garfunkel, and Joy Division. “I enjoy experiencing music from a generation I didn’t get to live through,” said Lily, who said she started listening to old music partly through her mom. “The old music I’m typically drawn to is super simple, and usually only includes guitar and maybe one other instrument,” she said, “and I find it more enjoyable than more modern music that has way too many things going on.” Parental influence is common, especially in music, as is pop culture -- for example, hits like Bohemian Rhapsody, which won four Oscars and Best Drama in the Golden Globes. Trends come and go more often in fashion, but even there, specific throwback styles are circulating now from the ‘50s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Sophomore Michael Dahan listens to both older and newer music, but particlarly

BP Photo by Neima Fax

Continued on page 15

Fairness Committee overturns election By Jacob Joseph Lefkowitz Brooks, Community Editor and Molly Litvak, Outside news editor Shalhevet’s Fairness Committee will have three co-chairs next year, after a Fairness deliberation changed the result of a Just Community election May 10 for the first time in school history. The decision will take effect next year and apply only to next year, and the Fairness Committee also said the voting process should be improved. Eight current Fairness members participated in the unanimous decision, which was made after a 30-minute hearing attended by a standing-room-only crowd of around 54 students in Room 308 during breakfast. Several students had to sit on the floor of the

room, also known as the Music Room, which is among the largest classrooms at Shalhevet. It was held a day after leaders of the Agenda Committee asked Fairness to decide what to do, after they decided that the school’s computerized “instant runoff” voting system, being used for the third year, had not accurately tallied the votes. The reason was that the race was for two equal co-chairs, but votes for the two slots were counted as first- and second-place votes for the same office. This had the effect of not counting some voters’ votes for first place and other voters’ votes for second place. That, everyone agreed, yielded a result that did not reflect the community’s views as to who the Fairness co-chairs should actually be. Alumnus Sam Hirschhorn ‘17 — the computer program’s Continued on page 5

SKIRTED: Why girls can’t wear pants at school By Nicholas Fields, Torah Editor, and Clara Sandler, Co-Editor-in-Chief

they may reveal less of a girl’s figure than some skirts do. But modesty, it turns out, is not all that’s involved. Shalhevet’s dress code, described very simply in the Student Handbook, has a number of factors behind it, including some that might even seem like they are in contradiction with one another. The first is Jewish law -- halacha. Devarim 22:5 states that a woman should not wear the clothing of a man. In 2019, which gender wears what is not as simple as it might have been in the past, but this factor is still a consideration. The second is minhag, or custom. Most Shalhevet faculty cite this as the strongest reason for Shalhevet’s rules -- the idea of a “normative culture” of Modern Orthodoxy today, along with a sense of formality to show respect at school. And finally, there is modesty. As shown by riding-up pencil skirts, culture and hala-

Shalhevet has never had an official uniform, but girls at Shalhevet have a sort of pseudo-uniform, one made up of a pencil skirt and a sweatshirt. It complies with the school dress code and is an easy outfit to put together. But just because it complies with the dress code does not mean that it is always modest, or tsanua. Some girls believe that because the skirts are short and can ride up, pants would make it easier to be modest. “I think pants are less revealing than skirts,” said junior Maia Lefferman. “I think that we should be able to wear what we want to wear, and the school should not be able to tell us what we can and can’t wear.” So why aren’t pants allowed at Shalhevet? It would seem that if loose, like sweatpants,

cha do not automatically promote what is most modest. Freshman Rayna Kent believes that wearing pants is more tsanua because it covers more. “If the whole thing about tzniut is that you don’t want to be too revealing,” she said, “you’re revealing more of your body and leg with a pencil skirt than you are with sweatpants. Sweatpants aren’t made for you to look good in, they’re just meant to be comfortable.” But she still thinks sweatpants are more modest than a pencil skirt. “We’re a Modern Orthodox school and I don’t think it’s part of the vision of a Modern Orthodox school,” said Rayna. On page nine under Dress Code, Shalhevet’s Student Handbook says this: “All skirts must reach the knee when standing and must fall vertically over the knee when seated. Skirts should be closed all the way and fit properly (and please, do Continued on page 16

WHAT’S INSIDE...

GRACEFUL UNDER PRESSURE: NEW DANCE CLUB MAKES A VIDEO

ONE MORE TIME: Israel WILL GO back to the polls after BIBI CAN’T FORM COALITION

ADVANTAGE SHALHEVET: IT doesn’t take six-figure bribes TO HAVE AN edge in college ADMISSION

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Community

2 Massage? Catered breakfast? Must be Shalhevet PTA Outgoing presidents changed fundraising system, making year-round pampering possible for faculty, administration and staff By Eva Brous-Light, Staff Writer In a candlelit room with incense wafting through the air, people were unwinding as they receive massages, experiencing complete relaxation. But this was not a spa day at Burke Williams. It was a regular school day at Shalhevet High School, and the room was the Wildfire Theater. The people getting massages from two trained masseuses -one female, one male -- were teachers, administrators, secretaries and custodians. It happens twice a year, and it’s just one of the many techniques Shalhevet’s parent-teacher association has used this year to show its appreciation for the teachers and faculty. Math teacher Ms. Jennifer Kong said she loved it. “I felt rejuvenated and relaxed after the massage,” said Ms. Kong later. “My neck and shoulder pain were reduced. It was really amazing. “I could never imagine that I would get massages at my workplace,” she added. “This is really unbelievable.” Custodians, secretaries and support staff receive the gifts too. “I needed that massage,” said Mr. Diego Agustin Sanchez of the Maintenance Department, who spends much of his day moving tables, chairs, books, lecterns, mechitzot and carpet squares in and out of the gym and Beit Midrash. “It was the smoothest massage ever,” Mr. Sanchez said. “I’ve never been in a workplace that can provide that kind of love.” Led by then-new co-presidents Liora Rothchild and Tanya Surpin, Shalhevet’s PTA decided two years ago to make teacher appreciation a bigger priority. With a strategic shift in fundraising, it has been able to plan more events. This year and last, teachers have received not only massages but lunches, pre-Pesach car washes, breakfasts on Rosh Chodesh

BP Photo by Carin Arbib

and fresh challot and muffins from Bibi’s once a month. There have been appreciation breakfasts on the roof complete with omelette bar and serenading student violinists, and gift cards on Chanukah and the end of the year. “I usually like to take the muffin for myself for a Shabbos morning treat which I eat with a cup of coffee and my book, and it makes my Shabbos morning,” said Ms. Ilana Wilner, Director of Student Activities. “The challah is just an extra stop I don’t need to take care of before. It just shows that the BP Photo by Emma Mackler PTA is thinking of us.” LOVE: The PTA provided free car washes in the parking lot April 17. Below left, math teacher Ms. And then there are the Tamara Gidanian received a massage May 9 in the Wildfire Theater from masseuse Rachie Meisel. massages, given in a darkened Male masseur Marcos Cohen gave massages on the other side of the mechitzah. room -- either the theater or a basement classroom -- with through holiday gift cards from individual parents. dim lamps instead of overhead Shalhevet teachers interviewed noted the particular thought lights, and calming music playing. Teachers sign up weeks in advance on a Google doc schedule. that seemed to be put into the various gifts. Sometimes on hot If there are leftover spots, they can have more than one. And the days, for example, the PTA takes individual orders for Iced Blendeds from Coffee Bean. Teachers who don’t order one find appreciation, it seems, goes both ways. “I feel like you guys are really good appreciating our assistants extras in the Teacher Workroom refrigerator later in the day. It and our work we do for you guys,” said Mr. Sanchez. “I do feel also stocks a refrigerator with sodas and flavored water. “It’s the small little gestures, that no one realizes, that really appreciated and its pretty nice that the PTA does that for us.” Ms. Rothchild, who is the mother of senior Ari Reder, said help us out and make our days,” said Ms. Wilner. Judaic Studies teacher Rabbi David Stein agreed. that previously the PTA collected funds through an email sent “Everything they are doing for us creates an atmosphere and annually to families around Hanukkah. In 2017, they came up culture of appreciation and we really feel it,” said Rabbi Stein. with a new approach. Head of School Rabbi Segal said that supporting teachers “Instead of asking people to pay sometime in the middle of the year, we included the Parent Association fee as part of stu- can have a positive effect on the whole school. “Teachers who feel appreciated, challenged and who have dent tuition,” said Ms. Rothchild. That raised the teacher appreciation fund by $10,000, she the resources to do their jobs, make for a great education and a said, bringing its annual budget currently to $22,000, for less school with happy students.” But the grand gestures are appreciated too. than $100 per family. Families can opt out of paying the Parent “The massages show that thought has been put into deciding Association fee, but Ms. Rothchild said most pay it. The additional investment has set Shalhevet’s employee ap- what the faculty might like to receive,” said English teacher Ms. preciation apart from what exists at most other schools. Though Nancy Fasules. “The worst part is minute 19, when you know the massage is no teachers contacted by the Boiling Point were willing to complain about PTAs where they taught before, Mr. Boris Suarez, a about to end.” teacher at City Charter School on Rodeo Road in Los Angeles, Outside News Editor Molly Litvak contributed to this story. said that appreciation at his school is typically shown annually

MORE ON THE WEB: VIDEO: Firehawk Robotics 2019 VIDEO: Basement flood Shalhevet students help at birthday party for homeless kids downtown Boiling Point staff explores flooded basement classrooms LIVESTREAM: Rabbi Segal Press conference Letters to the Editor Humans of Shalhevet Slideshow of One-Act Festival Boiling Point Awards To stay in touch over the summer, download our new app, Student News Source, and search for Shalhevet

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The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Community

Basement flood repairs will take all summer, officials say By Molly Litvak, Outside News Editor

60 seconds to midnight By Elianna Khoobian, ninth grade What is the deal with teachers and 11:59 p.m.? What is the difference between 11:59 pm and 12 midnight? Teachers make every assignment on Schoology due at 11:59, and that number is now a very stressful number. Even if the assignment is turned in at midnight it will be registered as late, and either won’t be accepted or will have points taken off. And yet 11:59 and midnight are only one minute apart, 60 seconds to be precise. Can they not wait 60 seconds? Teachers might not even be awake at 11:59 p.m. and will check it the following day, so why stress us out if it will not make a difference? I once submitted an assignment at 12:02 and I got points taken off. The assignment was finished on time but it took a while to upload; how is this fair? Teachers have told me that Schoology defaults at 11:59; when a due date for an assignment is set, the default time is 11:59 p.m. With just a few clicks, they can change it, but they don’t because the teachers think that it is helpful. But for many students, it’s really not. Maybe some teachers believe that if all the work is due at midnight, we will go to sleep earlier and get more sleep. However, it does not work that way. When I have work from many different classes due at 11:59 p.m., in reality I stay up later, because I am so stressed about completing all the assignments on time and then having to study for my many upcoming tests. Staying up later means we are zombies the following day and do not participate well in our classes. It would be much better to have the assignments due at 8 a.m. the following day. Why? Because if assignments were due at 8 a.m., we could wake up earlier from a longer night of sleep and finish the assignment in the morning. In the morning we are fresher, making it possible to submit a better assignment and get a better grade, even aside from it being on time. You might say you would stay up later anyway and not get more sleep. But going to sleep earlier -- say at 10:30 or 11 p.m. -- would be best. You would wake up with much more energy. This would also help the quality of your work throughout the day. Eight a.m. is also the start of school, so the teacher can grade the assignment during breaks. However, if a teacher really wants to be nice and cares for the students, he or she can make the assignment due right after davening and breakfast, so we can work on it during the hour we have. And if a student really cares about an assignment and wants to use the hour during davening and breakfast, he or she will most probably try their hardest to make it to Hashkamah, so they can have that hour, when they’ve already prayed and eaten breakfast and are fully awake. Speaking from experience, when I have more time to submit an assignment I will try my hardest on the assignment and will aim for the highest grade I can receive. I do not feel the urge to cram in all my work. I hold myself to a higher standard and aim for a higher grade. I really hope that teachers will start to realize the amount of extra stress that they cause us when an assignment is due at 11:59 p.m., and how that affects not only our grade on that assignment, but also how we participate the following day at school. Maybe Schoology can change the default assignment due time. Or maybe we can ask our teachers to make a few extra clicks away from the default, so we can get a better grade, do better work, and participate better the following day at school.

Shalhevet basement classrooms have been closed since April 2 and will be closed for the remainder of the school year after a broken water main flooded the underground level with up to six inches of water. The water main, which was on Fairfax Avenue near 8th street, broke at around 1:30 am, and was still gushing into the Shalhevet basement through an underground wall when security arrived at around 6:30 a.m. By that time, all of the level’s carpets had been soaked, and chairs, desks, file cabinets and some papers and posters were sitting in standing water. A stray candy wrapper floated in the hallway outside B101. Northbound lanes of Fairfax were closed until mid-afternoon during repairs, and news reports showed traffic jams and crews working to repair the break on site had to usher drivers around the area. According to CBS2 News, pipes break all the time from being old and experiencing a lot of “wear and tear.” BP Photo by Neima Fax At school, classes were immediately rePROTECTION: Workers from 911 Restoration put on protective clothing before heading located to rooms on the second and third downstairs to the work area. According to Mr. Albert Garcia, those working in the area must wear floors, where they have been held ever protective clothing to avoid being exposed to any of the contaminants. since. “I’m 99.9 percent` sure it will be ready to start for next academic year,” said Head of School Rabbi Ari Segal in a meeting with the into the building and migrated throughout without it. The most crowded result has perhaps Boiling Point editors last month. “But for the lower basement area,” said Mr. Garcia. “Materials like drywall and wood, within been in the art room, where two classes share this year it’s out of commission.” Repairs are being conducted by a compa- 24 to 48 hours of exposure to that, they will the space during certain periods. One of the rooms flooded was an art space that Ms. grow mold on them.” ny called 911 Restoration. Samantha Garelick had set up for her two Since time period has already passed, The water in the lowest storage room was 19 inches deep at 2 p.m. on April 2, while he said, the assumption is that mold has al- freshman art electives. Now that the basement the classrooms and school hallways, about a ready grown. To eradicate room is out of use, she has it, the company will cut foot higher in elevation, were about 3 inches “We’re going to be creative relocated to the main art out drywall, the material under. room on the third floor, The leak was discovered by a school se- that makes up walls, to a and resourceful. We’ve been where she also is teaching curity guard who was doing his morning point where every wall in using the basement so we classes for art teacher Ms. the basement is only four sweep of the building. The guard, Edwin B., know what was missing, so Roen Salem, who has been feet tall. declined to share his last name. out sick. Ms. Garelick says As of now, the area is we do get the opportunity Mr. Albert Garcia, account and senior having all her classes in the project manager of 911 Restoration, the still closed off and no one to fix.” same room is beneficial. is allowed to come in. But company in charge of repairs, said the water ” There were a few art Mr. Garcia said it wasn’t flowed downward into Shalhevet. -Ms. Sarah Emerson, Shal- supplies that were damaged “The water came downhill and there was so dangerous anymore. so much water that it forced its way through When they first put the hevet Chief Operating Officer in the flood, but this only included pads of paper, the foundation of the building,” Mr. Garcia microbial hazard sign on some oil pastels, and other the door, if someone was said. “Whatever is at street level, obviously it picked it up and it carried it with it down to to enter the area without the proper gear recyclable materials, student’s personal artand suit, they might work was not affected, she said. the basement. So we’re gonna de“I would say that the flooding kinda breathe in airborne contaminate it before it’s turned When the water came in threw everyone for a loop,” Ms. Garelick mold spores, which back over.” to the building, it brought could have resulted said. “I think I was the only one who had Flooded were all five basein asthma or allergic real supplies that I didn’t want to be left in ment classrooms, along with in with it contaminants storage for who knows how many weeks or reactions, he said. bathrooms, storage rooms and that are on the street, in months, so the amazing custodial staff on “There’s different the electrical room. The Boiling Point office, the soil -- carried them into things that affect dif- one Friday afternoon, including Lily, helped ferent people,” Mr. me move everything upstairs.” maintenance and non-profit of- the building and migrated According to Ms. Sarah Emerson, ShalGarcia said. “If you fices and elevator level weren’t throughout the lower basehevet Chief Operating Officer, the renovawere to go in there, affected because they are nine maybe your eyes tions may benefit Shalhevet in some ways in steps higher than the basement’s ment area,” classroom level. -Mr. Albert Garcia, would water. Maybe the long run. For example, one classroom another person would didn’t have the right type of electrical outlet Rabbi Segal said cleanup and 911 Restoration go in there and they so they ran an extension cord, so now they repairs, which are being conductwould sneeze, an- know how to address these issues and imed by a company called 911 Restowould go in there prove the basement. ration, would involve replacing basement other person “We’re going to be creative and resourceand get a headache.” flooring, cutting out and repairing drywall in ful,” said Ms. Emerson. “We’ve been using However, since then, they have cleaned the basement walls, and thoroughly cleaning out the mold so it’s not as dangerous any- the basement so we know what was missing, the whole area. so we do get the opportunity to fix.” “Whenever something like this happens, more. A similar situation happened three years According to Mr. Garcia, there are many we don’t know the quality of the water that ago, she said, when a broken water main things involved in repairs and reconstruccame in,” Rabbi Segal said. “Until 911 Restoration tells us that it’s safe for people to be tion. First, they have to get all the contents flooded the basement, and the repairs took down there, we can’t even start reconstruc- out of that level, some of which can be sal- around the same amount of time. Last time, the renovations were paid vaged and some of which can’t. tion.” for through LADWP self-insurance, which He said each room would be isolated and The space is not only damaged, but dangerous. The doorway by the elevator that addressed separately. That way, once they are means the agency had put money aside to leads to the lower basement room has a seal all done and a consultant comes to test them, deal with issues like this rather than buying on it that says “microbial hazard” under a red if one room needs more repair then they can insurance, but according to Rabbi Segal it circle that says “danger.” The seal also says fix it without having to change the other iso- was challenging since it was a governmental agency and there were “many bureaucratic to “keep out,” “authorized personnel only,” lated areas. levels to go through.” Shalhevet has been managing without and “respirators and protective clothing are This time, Shalhevet repairs are being the five classrooms by relocating them to required in this area.” paid for through the school’s own insurance rooms upstairs, and no class has had to be “When the water came in to the building, it brought in with it contaminants that displaced to, say, the turf. According to Rab- company. are on the street, in the soil -- carried them bi Segal, the school can technically function

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The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Community

‘Ranked Choice’ replaces ‘Instant Runoff’ as new election format in first Just Community decision this year David Edwards is elected Agenda Chair, sets proposal vote at his first Town Hall By Alex Rubel, Sports Editor In the first Town Hall led by the newly elected Agenda Committee, the community voted May 15 to institute a new “ranked choice” system of voting in future spring elections, replacing the current “instant runoff” system. It was the first binding policy decision made by the Just Community this school year. Incoming chair David Edwards, who led the meeting since seniors were in Poland, said the community urgently needed to vote on a proposal brought forward by the Agenda Committee to consider changing the school’s current system. “Today we’re really trying to have progress within the Just Community,” said David, who was elected May 8 for next year. “The Agenda Committee is sorry that we didn’t properly explain the [old] voting system, and that it did not work as intended.” It was the first Town Hall since part of this year’s election results were overturned May 10, after a problem with the instant runoff computer program caused a top vote-getter to lose the election for Fairness Co-chair. After a public hearing in Room 308, this year’s Fairness Committee voted to have three co-chairs for the next school year instead of two, so everyone who had been deemed a winner could serve. At Town Hall, the Agenda Committee proposed four potential voting systems: instant runoff, simple plurality, approval voting, and ranked choice. “Ranked choice” won with almost 56 percent of the vote -- 74 votes of 133 total cast, David said. “Simple plurality” came in second with 35 percent (47 votes), while instant runoff finished third with six percent (eight votes). In an instant runoff system, second-place votes from the lastplace candidate are added to other candidates’ tallies to determine a winner if no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote initially. (See related story.) “Approval voting,” in which students vote for as many candidates as they like, came in last with three percent (four votes). Once the systems were explained by David, the floor was opened up for a discussion. The Just Community -- students, teachers and staff -- voted right afterwards, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. David announced the results at 2:33 p.m. in a Schoology post. The ranked choice system was proposed by junior Zach Helfand, currently an 11th-grade Agenda representative. Under the system, voters rank each candidate from favorite to least favorite, and the winner is the candidate who was, on average, voted the highest. “This is the ultimate form, I’d say, of trying to see what is the popular opinion of everyone in the school,” David said during Town Hall. At first, debate during Town Hall seemed to favor the re-institution of a simple plurality system, which had been used for most of school history. David opposed it, and said the Agenda Committee made a last-minute decision to include it. “I thought it was a given that people realized how poorly it represents the most averagely-liked person in school,” David said. But many speakers at Town Hall said they felt that the simple plurality system would be the easiest fix to a complicated voting system. Junior Gabby Lasry said she supported a simple plurality system, with voters voting for their favorite candidate, and whoever gets the most votes wins. In races with two winners, the top two vote-getters would be elected. “I think we’re over-complicating things,” said Gabby. “I think it would be so much easier if everyone just votes for one person.” Junior Noah Hertzberg said voting for more than one person, as in ranked and instant-runoff systems, isn’t logical. “People actually are only concerned with their first place vote,” said Noah, who ran for Agenda Chair under the instant runoff system this year and lost. “For Agenda, no one’s actually concerned

LAST: As explained in this video, in an Instant Runoff the last-place candidate’s second-place votes are assigned to someone who earned more. But it doesn’t quite work when voting for two winners.

Photo by Neima Fax ACTION: David Edwards started his term with a proposal for four different voting systems. A vote was held immediately after. In the ranked choice system, voters rank their candidates from with their second and third choice… there’s only one Agenda chair favorite to least favorite. The winner is then calculated by determinoption.” But once all options were introduced, sentiment seemed to shift. ing which candidate was overall ranked highest -- on average, which Junior Evan Rubel favored a voting system that would consider candidate was ranked the most positively. In the instant runoff system, if a candidate has not received a the overall sentiment of the Just Community. “I really think it’s valuable, in terms of the instant runoff and majority (50 percent) of the votes, then the second place votes of ranked voting systems, that the people that are elected represent the those who voted for the last place winner as their first choice are given to the candidate voted second as first place votes, until someone consensus of the people,” said Evan. Zach Helfand said a simple plurality vote could result in a reaches 50 percent, and wins the race. David said the hypothetical winner of the Fairgenerally unpopular canness Co-chair race has not been determined using didate winning an elec“I want to make sure that the Just the ranked voting system instead of the instant tion with a small percentCommunity is active and not just an idea that runoff system. He was unsure if it would change age of the electorate. “We shouldn’t be we talk about from time to time. I want to be the results. He also said it could not be determined yet voting for someone that voting on things, and making sure there is no anyway, since the technical elements of the ranked might be most-liked but not actually well liked separation between the student body and the voting system -- like how valuable a first-place vote is compared to a second-place vote -- are yet amongst the distributed Agenda Committee.” to be decided. The Just Community will be able school,” Zach said. --David Edwards, to introduce proposals to decide the specifics, He said the instant he said. runoff system would be 2019-20 Agenda Chair unreliable, and the apDavid defeated juniors Noah Hertzberg and proval voting system would Maya Tochner in the Agenda Chair election on May 7, which imbe confusing and couldn’t reflect strong voting preferences. Instead, Zach said he prefered a ranked voting system that he mediately followed an Agenda Chair debate that same day. The Just Community Constitution was a hot topic in the debate. said would better reflect the overall opinion of the school. In an interview with the Boiling Point May 15, David said he “You get as much analysis and statistical data from the entire would hold a Constitutional Convention next school year to reschool,” Zach said. “You get the average.” Freshman Noah Masliah worried the ranked voting system write the school’s Constitution, which was ratified in 2003 but has could still cause a candidate with the most second-place votes to not been followed in recent years. It was lost from 2013 to 2016. “I think it’s frankly ridiculous that we have a document we talk overpower the first-place winner. “It’s not fair, because it cancels out the one who actually had about so much at school, we say it represents our school, and we the most amount of votes,” have it hanging on the wall,” David said, “but there are major inconsistencies with the way the school runs and the Constitution. Noah said. MORE ON THE WEB: “I would even go so far as to say that there are more things in the What went wrong with the Freshman Victory Constitution that we don’t do [than] that we do.” Instant Runoff system? For Next year, David said the Just Community should expect fewer Fuchs said a system that story and video about this and more relevant moral dilemma discussions, which constituted preferred generally liked year’s election, scan this code. candidates could result in the majority of Town Halls this year. “I would like to focus more on the Just Community and the election of fewer “bold” school-related things,” David said. candidates.” In an interview after the voting system Town Hall, he said bind“If we have have a system in which the most average ing proposals and voting in Town Halls will happen more often. “I want to make sure that the Just Community is active and not person wins every time,” said Victory, “then we’re not just an idea that we talk about from time to time,” David said. “I want to be voting on things, and making sure there is no really going to have a lot of change in the Just Commu- separation between the student body and the Agenda Committee.” nity.”

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The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Community

CONTEST: Students heard candidate Gilad Spitzer, right, argue against the school election results May 10, as candidate Joseph Klores, left, current Fairness Co-Chair Jordana Glouberman and candidate Evan Rubel looked on.

BP Photo by Zoey Botnick

Fairness Committee overturns election results By Jacob Joseph Lefkowitz Brooks, Community Editor, and Molly litvak, Outside News editor Shalhevet’s Fairness Committee will have three co-chairs next year, after a Fairness deliberation changed the result of a Just Community election for the first time in school history. The decision will take effect next year and apply only to next year, and the Fairness Committee also said the voting process should be improved. Eight current Fairness members participated in the unanimous decision, which was made after a 30-minute hearing May 10 attended by a standing-room-only crowd of around 54 students in Room 308 during breakfast. Several students had to sit on the floor of the room, also known as the Music Room, which is among the largest classrooms at Shalhevet. It was held a day after leaders of the Agenda Committee asked Fairness to decide what to do, after they decided that the school’s computerized “instant runoff” voting system, being used for the third year, had not accurately tallied the votes. The reason was that the race was for two equal co-chairs, but votes for the two slots were counted as first- and second-place votes for the same office. This had the effect of not counting some voters’ votes for first place and other voters’ votes for second place. That, all agreed, yielded a result that did not reflect the community’s views as to who the Fairness co-chairs should actually be. Alumnus Sam Hirschhorn ‘17, the computer program’s author, pointed this out himself when reviewing the vote results. He shared his view with Agenda Chair Talia Gill and Fairness candidate Gilad Spitzer, who in the flawed count came in third. Winners originally announced had been Joseph Klores and Evan Rubel. The fourth-place candidate was Ashley Botnick. In an instant runoff, voters choose their first, second, third and fourth-place choice for each office. The candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated, and his or her voters’ second choice votes are allotted to the remaining candidates and a new tally made. Because of the way that system works, second-place votes for

candidates other than the candidate with the fewest first-place votes did not play a role in the election, and neither did first-place votes for the candidate with the second-most first-place votes. Even before the hearing began, the formula Sam created was deemed by both Agenda and Fairness leaders to be unsuitable for contests among multiple candidates for two winners. Sam himself wrote to Gilad about it, after realizing that he had lost even though he received the second-most first-place votes of any candidate — because those votes Each candidate exhibited a tremendous were not counted. amont of maturity and each sought the “We looked at the results and refairest solution, thus suggesting that all alized it might pothree were deserving of the posiiton. tentially make more -- Statement of the Fairness Committee sense if votes were on how it reached its decision counted as putting someone number one and number two were [tallied as] equal,” wrote Sam. “We looked to see what would happen if we did that and saw that the results changed (you won).” Unsure of how to handle the mistake once results had been announced, the Agenda Comittee turned to the Fairness Committee for guidance, which led to Friday’s hearing. After the hearing, the eight Fairness members deliberated for 15 minutes about three options which had been suggested by the candidates to remedy the situation: counting the votes with a system where first- and second-place votes would be given equal weight, re-voting, or having three chairs. No one argued for keeping the system that had been used, or for staying with the results of the election as they had been announced on Tuesday. Instead, the Fairness Committee ultimately decided to have three co-chairs for the upcoming year: Joseph, Evan, and Gilad, whose votes in the 258-vote contest were said to be very close to the

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other two candidates, and who would have won if the formula had counted all of his first-place votes. “Through tallying the votes to account for this and to stay true to the voting system used for this year, Evan, Joseph and Gilad each have valid claim to the chair position,” wrote the Fairness Committee in a statement provided to the Boiling Point. “Additionally, each candidate exhibited a tremendous amount of maturity and each sought the fairest solution, thus suggesting that all three were deserving of the position.” The committee that made this decision was made up of its two outgoing co-chairs, Jordana Glouberman and Jonathan Fishman, and six representatives instead of the normal eight. That’s because Evan, the current Fairness Secretary, and Gilad and Joseph, this year’s 11th-grade representatives, were all candidates. Fairness Secretary-elect and current 9th-grade representative Henry Fried served as secretary. Most speakers were in favor of having three co-chairs, but Evan believed that the only way to move forward was with a re-vote. “Since it’s become so muddy whether we should be using the first program or the second program,” Evan said. “The only fair thing to do is have a clean slate and redo the vote with an informed student body and a correctly formatted and structured ballot.” The meeting began with Agenda Chair Talia Gill explaining how the instant runoff voting system worked in this election, and why it was problematic. Next, Gilad addressed both the revote and recount solutions, saying that he would understand if the committee came to either conclusion, yet he felt they each had flaws. Gilad said the instant runoff system should have accounted for the fact that there would be two co-chairs — that rather than ranking candidates in order 1,2,3,4, students would have voted 1,1,3,4, thus equalizing the points allotted to their top two first-choice candidates. “[But] if the committee decides either of those… there is a loser, and there is someone who is being unfairly treated,” he said. “That’s why I think a potential solution... could be a partial solution, only this year, that would allow for three chairs to preside.”

Lacking rules from last time, committee rules this time and wonders about next time By Jacob Joseph LeFkowitz Brooks, Community Editor, AND Molly litvak, Outside News editor Throughout this year’s election controversy, the absence of a school Constitution was keenly felt, making the Agenda and Fairness committees unsure of their responsibilities regarding elections. On the one hand, there is no clause in the old school Constitution about who should run elections. On the other, it offers a process to amend the Constitution — perhaps including election rules — if approved by a two-thirds majority. There is no discussion at all of how a contested election is supposed to be handled or which committee should handle it. But on the other hand, the Constitution has not been followed in recent years in any case. In prepared remarks at the open Fairness meeting that changed the outcome, Gilad Spitzer referenced a 2017 Boiling Point article about the Agenda Committee’s original decision to adopt the instant-runoff voting system. He pointed to the fact that at that time, a committee of nine voted 5-4 to approve the vote to amend the the school Constitution, which originally stated that candidates were elected by a simple majority. With a two-thirds majority vote required to approve a Constitutional amendment, “I don’t know why this was even instituted,” said Gilad. Additionally, Gilad said that the 2017 proposal was never

He also saw flaws with a potential revote. brought before the Just Community as a whole at Town Hall be“Conditions are now different than how they were, which could cause there wasn’t enough time left in the school year when it arose influence positions and change the data which we currently have,” — so the students never had any say in the manner. said Joseph. After Gilad spoke, both Evan Rubel and Joseph Klores Everyone seems to shared their view of events and express their opinion on agree that the school’s moving forward. Evan argued for a revote. The big picture and take-away from this “The students were not well-informed of how the rankcase should be that a new voting system has election system needs to be changed, but few seem ing was happening,” said Evan, adding that the way the to be implemented to ensure this does not to be saying who should ballot was structured, with a first and a second choice, was happen again. change it. “fundamentally flawed.” The Fairness Commit“If there is a close race in the future, what’s to stop a --Ashley Botnick, 11th grade tee, in its eventual ruling, candidate from saying, ‘Look there was a mistake in the used the passive voice and program or the ballot was fundamentally flawed?’” Evan left the details for the fusaid later. “I think it would be great for all three of us to participate in this ture. “The decision for having three chairs would only apply to the amazing opportunity,” Evan said. “ I just don’t know if it’s in the interest of the students if adding a third [co-chair] would necessari- 2019-2020 school year and the voting process must be amended for ly take away from the student’s voice, because that’s not necessarily future elections,” the Fairness decision said today. And junior Ashley Botnick, the only Fairness chair candidates what they voted for.” Joseph favored either recounting the votes with a system that not to be awarded the position for next year, spoke for many in counted first and second place votes as the same, or having three agreeing that one way or another, this week’s events should not be repeated. chairs. “I just think that the big picture and take-away from this case “Gilad, Evan and I are all well-deserving and qualified for this position, and because of it and the unorthodox turn of a events, I should be that a new voting system has to be implemented to ensure this does not happen again,” Ashley said. would be open to having three chairs,” Joseph said.

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The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Community

Celebration without a home

Students from the Hope for Humanity Club travel downtown to volunteer at a monthly birthday party for homeless children. “We all never see that kind of stuff, and the whole experience And everybody danced, including a costumed character of Popjust changed my perspective on things, and like woke me up,” Maya py from the animated children’s movie Trolls. Gabby Lasry, who started Shalhevet’s Hope for Humanity club said. Banners hung all around, decorating the rooftop space. Lights “Obviously you know in the back of your head that this stuff flashed and music played loudly, the bass trembling. The tall build- along with her fellow junior Caroline Edry, said the dancing was does exist, but you really need to see it for it to impact you.” ings of downtown LA loomed in the near distance, their tops hid- a highlight for her, even though she was hesitant about it at first. A 2018 count by the Los Angeles “I started laughing and some of den in a thick layer of clouds blanketing the night sky. Homeless Services Authority found the kids looked at me and started It was February and the air was a chilly 60 degrees, but the chilthat there were 2,473 minors who dren and their parents stepping out onto the roof and didn’t seem laughing too,” Gabby said. “We all never see that kind of stuff, were part of family units living in “And they pushed me to the to notice. Most were coming where they live, just a few floors below and the whole experience just changed my shelters. An additional 491 children — in the Union Rescue Mission Homeless Shelter, the only home- dance floor and they said, ‘Come were found to be unsheltered. we’ll dance with you.’ And to me less shelter in downtown’s Skid Row that houses children. perspective on things, and like woke me up. Mary Davis, who started Wor“There’s a big turtle, look! Come!” one boy shouted as he arrived it was so beautiful that they didn’t Obviously you know in the back of your head thy of Love with her husband Ari on the rooftop, running to a small animal enclosure that held a even know me, and the fact that they cared to make sure that I had a good tortoise and a python. that this stuff does exist, but you really need in 2013, said that when the charity first began hosting these parties, only time was pretty amazing.” The scene was a birthday party, but not a yearly one. A non-profto see it for it to impact you.” 15 kids lived at the shelter, but in Shalhevet sophomore Josh Harit organization called “Worthy of Love” has been hosting it on the the years since that number has inlast Thursday of every month for kids with that month’s birthdays, rison led planting in the gardening -- Maya Shapira, 11th grade creased to 200. beds — and also danced. all of them homeless children who live in the shelter. “I had this little kid I was hanging This time, they were joined by members of Shalhevet’s Hope For So has the number of birthday party volunteers. Now, Worthy Humanity club. On Feb. 28, 23 students and two faculty members out with all time he was so cute and he was amazing,” Josh said. “He had the best time ever — he was happy the whole time and he of Love has to turn some away due to limited space on the rooftop. took a bus downtown to volunteer. “We’re here tonight to celebrate the lives of over 200 children They greeted the kids and their families as they arrived, offering always wanted to dance.” Maya Shapira, another student volunteer, said driving to the here,” Mrs. Davis told the volunteers before the party began. “You headpieces and light-up jewelry. Then they worked various booths, including a bracelet-making table, a glitter tattoo table, and garden- shelter and seeing the tents of homeless people gave was memorable guys, some of these kids have never even had a birthday party. Can you imagine that? But we’re here tonight to make dreams come in itself. ing beds where fresh soil had been brought in. true.” The dance floor stayed busy with songs like Michael Jackson’s “Black and White” and the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow.” There was also a group-wide singing of “Happy Birthday,” with some of the lyrics changed to “happy birthday to everybody.” Towards the end of the party, volunteers, children and parents wearing balloon hats and flashing headpieces joined hands and walked in a circle, swaying to Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.” When the party was over, Mrs. Davis called the volunteers into a circle. “Tonight, when the families go downstairs and their heads hit the pillows, they’re going to remember this night.” Mrs. Davis said. “And they’re going to remember that we looked to the left, looked to the right, and said, ‘You are worthy of love’,” she said, referencing an earlier event during the evening. The Davises started the organization after a family tragedy. “My husband and I suffered a miscarriage and we couldn’t throw a birthday party for our child,” she said, “so we decided to do it for kids that don’t get birthday parties.” On the bus back to school, Gabby stood up and said the evening had sanctified God’s name in the world. “It was a huge kiddush Hashem,” Gabby said. She said she hopes that the club can come again, but there are Photo by Sam Rubanowitz mwany groups volunteering and it’s hard to secure a spot. She recCELEBRATE: Members of the Hope for Humanity Club set up decorations on the roof of the Union Rescue Mission downtown Feb. 28. A city ommended students try on their own. report found 2,473 minors living in Los Angeles shelters last year. “If they can’t have 30 volunteers,” she said, “I hope individuals will reach out to Worthy of Love and volunteer with them.”

By Sam Rubanowitz, Staff Writer

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New student-led committee will approve chesed hours Town Hall votes to reduce requirement from 100 hours to 80, but only 15 hours can be in-school. Action comes after complaints that this year’s chesed trips were mostly bonding and gave more hours than people worked. By ALEX RUBEL, SPORTS EDITOR, and Jacob Joseph Lefkowitz Brooks, Community Editor A proposal to reform the school’s chesed, or community service, policy was approved 55 to 45 percent at the last Town Hall of the year May 29. Among the changes the proposal will bring is the institution of a new three- to five-person Chesed Committee to encourage schoolwide community service. In addition, school chesed trips for sophomores and juniors will award much less than the current 25 hours, and Just Community chesed -- volunteer work performed in or around school -- will be capped at 15 hours. Students will also need 80, not 100 chesed hours to graduate. The proposal, made by juniors Ari Schlacht and Nicholas Fields and sophomore Jordan Simon, was introduced in the beginning of Town Hall by Agenda Chair David Edwards. It only applies to students who graduate after 2021. “The goal of this proposal is to ensure that the Chesed experience for students is one in which chesed is consistently done throughout their high school career,” stated the proposal, which was posted on Schoology after the vote, “and where they must commit to an organization to strengthen their relationship with chesed.” At 4:40 p.m., the results of the vote were posted on Schoology, along with the official text of what had been approved. It was the second Just Community proposal to have passed in as many weeks. A week earlier, a proposal to amend the school’s voting system passed, replacing the instant runoff system with a rankedchoice voting to be used in future spring Just Community elections. A day after the chesed proposal was approved, David said on Schoology that the administration had planned to change the school’s policy for chesed trips anyway, but that the proposal gave

students to have a say. “The chesed proposal was a way for students to help create the new policy for next year instead of just handing it over to the administration,” David wrote. This past April, juniors received 25 hours of community service credit for attending their grade-wide to Phoenix, where they worked for about five hours playing board games with senior citizens, packing food for at a kosher food pantry, and reading and

decorating water bottles for the homeless with preschool children at the Pardes Jewish Day School. Head of School Rabbi Ari Segal criticized the hour count during a press conference with Boiling Point editors on May 12. “If I were weighing in on it I would say no there’s way - that’s crazy,” said Rabbi Segal. Dean of Student Life Dr. Jonny Ravanshenas said that while he believes chesed should be done altruistically, sometimes people need an incentive to become interested in it. “In general, I’m not a big fan of chesedhours because chesed should be 24 hours a day,” said Dr. Ravanshenas. “I understand why they do it. Sometimes people need to be nudged. Chesed sometimes requires coming out of your comfort zone, so sometimes people need to be set up. The rest of the trip was spent on recreational inter-grade activities including playing mini-golf and going to an Arizona Coyotes game. “I think it’s worth it,” said Rabbi Segal during the April press conference. “I think taking students away as a class to bond, it’s worth it.” Rabbi Segal said that if it the trip’s only purpose was chesed, the amount on the trip would not be enough as it is. “If you look at it as a bonding trip with some chesed on it, which I think it’s both of Photo by Neima Fax these then it’s fine,” he said.

TRAVEL: Zev Kupferman and Maital Hiller read stories at the Pardes Jewish Day School in Phoenix on the junior chesed trip. Students received 25 hours of chesed credit.

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Community

Late-start school day gets a tryout

Reactions are mixed to late day, which would not be daily but quarterly or monthly. Research says it could help student health and attention. By Sam Rubanowitz, Staff Writer Shalhevet tested a 90-minute-later school start May 1 in what officials called an “alpha test” of one of various options to improve student health, rest and work-life balance. The “alpha test,” as Principal Mr. Daniel Weslow dubbed it in an email announcing the one-day experiment, included separate follow-up surveys for students, parents and faculty that showed mixed reactions to the idea. Mr. Weslow said it was the first step towards seeing if something like this might work. “For the last four years, we have talked as an educational leadership team, as well as received feedback from parents on sleep studies and how sleep impacts teenagers,” Mr. Weslow said in an interview. He said the school looked at what other institutions were doing to address the situation in which “teenagers are over-programmed and staying up too late and not getting the appropriate rest they need to kind of have work-life balance.” An alpha test is performed as an experiment early on, whereas a beta test catches errors in a program that is running. Other options that the administration considered included giving students a week off of homework, quizzes, and tests each semester, Mr. Weslow said. “I think there’s value in kind of alpha-testing or even beta-testing these ideas from time to time,” Mr. Weslow said, “to ensure that we maximize the student experience both from a teaching and learning standpoint, but also from a human development and wellness standpoint.” The reason for testing a later starting time is that studies have shown that for teenagers, it’s not just a matter of how much sleep they get, but when they get it. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has said that daily late start times have positive effects on adolescents. “Studies comparing high schools with start times as little as 30 minutes earlier versus those with later start times demonstrate such adverse consequences,” the AAP stated in a 2014 article, “such as shorter sleep duration, increased sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, behavior problems, and absenteeism.”

Photo by Zoey Botnik

REST: :Junior Noah Hertzberg catches some zz’s on a second-floor couch May 31. BP photographers had no difficulty finding tired students to take pictures of for this story. worthwhile to explore down the line.” Starting late regularly would mean “drastically changing the school schedule,” the principal said, “and to be honest, I didn’t feel like we were ready to kind of make that jump and that level of commitment.”

besaid, something for students to look forward to in the humdrum of school. Rabbi Schwarzberg said that realistically, he sees a late start happening eight to 10 times a year. “It’s a dynamic institution, it’s not same old same old every day,” Rabbi Schwarzberg said, “so this is another thing that can help that.” The Boiling Point could not obtain results from the parent Dr. William Walton, Math Department chair and Dean of survey. But faculty rated the late start less well than students: 42.5 Curriculum and Instruction, has studied some of the research on percent thought it would be nice to have monthly, and 21.2 per- schedules and sleep. He favors getting rid of seasonal time changcent said “never.” Smaller percentages favored weekly, bi-weekly or es for daylight saving, for example, saying a single time schedule quarterly. should be used all year long because time changes are disruptive. Dean of Students Rabbi Ari Schwarzberg said said his first-peAsked about a late start schedule at Shalhevet, Dr. Walton said riod class felt stronger than usual on the day of the experiment. he would love to wake up and come to school later, but that others “Everyone was present, it was alive, people weren’t fatigued, don’t really have that option. they had already had some food in their belly,” Rabbi Schwarzberg “In LA you’ve got the commute problem and there’s people Student reaction to the test was varied, and seemed influ- said. coming from very far away,” Dr. Walton said, “so it’s one of those enced partly by Freshman Anya Mendelson had expected to like the things of like no time is going to make everybody happy. how much they late start, but she missed her free periods, which had been “Based off of what the research says, you would just decide to missed Flex pericut from the schedule so the late dismissal wouldn’t be as do a late start, right? But that’s not the only factors that are being od -- which was late as the late start was. School was out at 5 instead of taken into consideration.” cancelled for the 4:30. Milken Community Schools, he said, decide their start time in day -- and how far Flex period, normally 40 minutes, was cancelled, and coordination with other schools, to mitigate traffic. the person had to classes were shortened by 10-15 minutes. “All those schools had to coordinate their start times because commute. Also, “I know my classes were shorter,” said Anya, “but it you couldn’t have them all starting at the same time,” he said. “It some benefits were made everything feel a lot longer because I just went from really has nothing to do with the research.” not realized beclass to class, and we didn’t have any of Team sports, othcause the test was the frees, which give me a break in beer co-curriculars and “You can’t do everything -- you can’t only for one day. tween all the classes.” Hashkama minyan (earIn all, 152 stuhave a late start, have davening, and not end ly-morning prayer) are “The day was supposed to feel shorter dents and 33 facbut it just ended up feeling a lot longer.” also involved, as well as the school super late, and have the same ulty voted in sepDriving and carpools were an issue for commutes. arate surveys using many.Sophomore Hilla Lasry, who lives length of periods that we have normally.” But he likes the way Fax Photo by Neima Google Forms. in North Hollywood, said it took longer Shalhevet’s schedule is -- Rabbi Ari Schwartzberg, About 55 percent for her to get home than if if she had left currently set up, with Lethargic: Juniors Caroline Edry and Joseph Klores of students gave school at 4:35, the usual end time. block periods that roDean of Students tried to stay awake. A regular school day runs from 8 the day a positive “Five o’clock...is the exact time of tate to different times on a.m. to 4:35 p.m., not counting co-curriculars. rating, about 47 traffic hour for people going to the Valley different days, because it percent said it imand stuff,” said Hilla. helps with students’ lethargy. pacted their sleep According to a Boiling Point report on Shalhevet com“In terms of the research saying the students do better with positively the night before the late start. muters last year, in May 2018 more than half of students live in more sleep than at later times of the day -- our rotating schedule As for their sleep the next night, about 38 percent said the late Beverlywood, Pico-Robertson, Westwood, Beverly Hills, Miracle partially addresses that,” Dr. Walton said. start impacted it negatively, 33 percent gave it a neutral rating, and Mile or Carthay Circle. Their commutes are 20 minutes or less, That meanas each class can experience a range of student behavabout 30 percent said it helped. the report found. ior according to the time of day, he said. Some who support late start said that because the test was for But there were 15 student households in the San Fernando Val“I think being able to experience things at different times is only one day, it didn’t help their sleep at all. ley, along with two each in Westchester, Venice and Brentwood great,” he said. “We already kind of do that.” “The schedule doesn’t work if the next day it’s not the same and one each in Glendale, Bel Air and the Mulholland canyons. For now, Mr. Weslow said the educational leadership team “is thing,” said junior Anna Weiss. “When you’re ending later, you’re Together they accounted for 23 students. reviewing the data and discussing what pathway” to take for the going to sleep later, and you don’t really end up saving any time or Their commutes ranged from 45 minutes to more than an upcoming school year. saving any sleep.” hour-and-a-half. They accounted for 23 students. “The follow-up survey data is fascinating,” the principal said, Anna Weiss, who lives near school, said supported the idea beJunior Noah Hertzberg, who also lives in the Valley, got home adding that he was still reading through it and would be sending hind the test run, but said that without consistency, a late start after 6:20 p.m. the day of the alpha test. out an update. would be pointless. “It negatively affects anyone living in the Valley,” The problem, she said, is with the morning after. said Noah. “I’m in the car for not only the usual 40 For example, Anna has choir practice after school on Wednes- minute drive, now it’s an hour-and-a-half.” day, the day of the week the late start was tested. Practice finished Mr. Weslow acknowledged the carpool issue and later so she got home later -- at 7:45 p.m. instead of 6:50. said it would be an important consideration. That meant that with homework and studying, she went to bed “That’s a significant data point for me,” said Mr. later than normally does. Weslow. That would have been fine, she said, if the next day the same late-start schedule had repeated. But she had to be up at her usual Rabbi Schwarzberg said the school’s mission is time for regular-day start on Thursday. multi-faceted, making scheduling inherently difficult. “You end up with the same pattern” of late bedtime and too-ear“We have dual curriculum,” Rabbi Schwarzberg ly rising, Anna said. said, “and we have a responsibility to have davening “I don’t know if it should be once every other week or once ev- at the right time every single day. So you can’t do evPhoto by Carin Arbib ery few weeks,” she said, “but once a month -- it’s like it’s pointless.” erything -- you can’t have a late start, have davening, Mr. Weslow partly agreed. and not end the school super late, and have the same “All the research that is put out there, what does it show?” Mr. length of periods that we have normally.” TIRED: Freshmen dozed on the turf May 31. Studies suggest that schools that Weslow said. “It shows that consistency is key, that a rhythm or start 30 minutes later see less absenteeism and fewer behavior problems. He said a late start would mean the school day pattern is key, to really improving and bringing about change in would have to end later. this arena. And I know it’s contradictory to what the research says, Perhaps it could be looked at as a special day, he but I think we wanted to try it as an alpha test just to see if it’s

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Outside News

JUNE 2019

The Green New Deal: Big cost, big ambitions economic output in the United States by the year A resolution that seeks the physical result of protecting the en- 2100,” the document states. Saving the environment, vironment combined with the more abstract result of an improved economy has been drafted into the Green New Deal by Rep. Alex- it says, provides the opportunity to solve social problems such as andria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) Unlike a law, bill or funding package, a resolution expresses the racism and income inequality, because sentiments of a single house of Congress, and is not legally binding. well-paying jobs created to combat global This one was introduced on Feb. 7, sponsored by Rep. Ocasio-Cor- warming will raise living standards. Like the New Deal of 1933, it envisions an economy in tez and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). It failed in the Senate after all 53 Republicans and four Dem- which the government plays a strong role. The resolution lists five ocrats voted against it on March 26, and has not been introduced general goals: net-zero carbon dioxide emissions, which are believed to the floor of the House by Democrats. House Majority Leader to be raising world temperatures; the creation of high-wage jobs; Nancy Pelosi has said she would rather vote on environmental legis- improvement of infrastructure and industry; a clean and sustainable environment; and justice and equity. lation than non-binding environmental resolutions. It goes on to list measures needed in order for these goals to be But it has attracted both interest and controversy: interest because it claims to be able to solve problems that are urgent and seem met. They include elimination of greenhouse gasses, upgrading all unsolvable, and controversy because of accusations that it is unrealistic, gives the government too much power in economic matters, existing buildings for maximum energy efficiency, guaranteeing a and is very expensive. Some sources speculate it would cost up to job with paid vacation to all people of the United States, and ensuring or providing healthcare, higher education and housing to all. $93 trillion. < good? Critics have deemed the deal unreasonable due to its 10-year The Green New Deal calls for the government to respond to goal, the combining of issues, and the price climate change on a similar scale to tag. Most of its estimated cost is for the social, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s not the environmental, improvements. response to the collapsed economy Douglas Holtz-Eakin, economist and forduring the Great Depression. With It’s really not a matter of, ‘This mer director of the nonpartisan Congressional unemployment at 25 percent, the New is too expensive, we can’t do it.’ It’s a Budget Office, estimated that implementing Deal created government programs matter of are you willing to do it.” all of the Green New Deal’s programs would including Social Security, Medicare, -- Roberta Giordana, cost between $51 trillion and $93 trillion, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Sunrise Bay Area Hub most of it for jobs and health care. Commission,while employing millions Writing on the website of the American building huge infrastructure projects Action Forum, of which he is president, Mr. like Hoover and Grand Coulee dams, Holtz-Eakin put the price for transitioning to LaGuardia Airport and national parks. a low-carbon electricity grid at $5.4 trillion, Much of it was financed with debt. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez explained the connection in an interview $2.7 trillion for a net-zero emissions transportation system and $4.2 trillion for “guaranteed green housing.” with MSNBC March 29. The costs for universal healthcare and job programs were esti“We could solve all of the environmental issues in the world if those climate policies and solutions are grafted onto the existing mates: for example, “$6.8 to $44 trillion for guaranteed jobs.” “Even if the estimates are five to 10 times too high (and I susframework of economic injustice,” said Rep. Ocasio-Cortez in an pect they are more likely too low), it is hard to wrap one’s head interview with MSNBC on March 29. The resolution begins by stating that climate change is closely around numbers these large,” wrote Mr. Holtz-Eakin, a former adlinked with economic issues, thus the two issues can be solved to- viser to Sen. John McCain who is president of the American Action Forum, on the AAF website. “But if you manage to do so, be aware gether. “Global warming at or above 2 degrees Celsius beyond pre-in- that the likely social upheaval would be even larger.” Roberta Giordana, a volunteer organizer with Sunrise Bay Area dustrialized levels will cause more than $500 trillion in lost annual By Kate Orlanski, Staff Writer

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Hub, an environmental activist group for young people, said that the cost shouldn’t be an issue when considering the resolution. “You will hear that it’s not feasible, that it’s expensive, you will hear that from lRepublicans, and really conservative folks that ultimately want to maintain the status quo,” said Ms. Giordano in an interview with the Boiling Point. “It’s really not a matter of ‘this is too expensive, we can’t do it,’ it’s a matter of are you willing to do it,” she said. Opponents say that the price point makes the deal unfeasible. “Ninety-three-trillion dollars is more money than the United States government has spent in its entire history,” said Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) in a speech to the Senate on March 26. “It’s taken us 230 years of history to spend the amount of money the Democrats want to spend in 10 years. “The Democrats’ Green New Deal will put the government in charge of a large portion of the economy, and significantly shrink America’s freedom.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the deal will result in a loss of jobs. He said in a Tweet that it would mean “killing off entire domestic industries, winding down millions of jobs, basically outlawing the only sources of energy that working-class and middle-class families can actually afford.” But Rep. Ocasio-Cortez believes that the solutions to climate change as well as economic and social injustice go hand in hand. “These are not different problems, these are part of the same problem,” Rep. Ocasio-Cortez said on MSNBC. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Especially when our greatest existential threat is climate change. “And so to get us out of this situation, to revamp our economy, to create dignified jobs for working americans, to guarantee healthcare and education, we will have to mobilize our entire economy around saving ourselves and taking care of this planet.” The Green New Deal is supported by some Democratic 2020 presidential candidates, including Senators Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Andrew Yang. Opponents of the deal include President Donald Trump, Senator Mike Lee, and Senator Lamar Alexander

Trump lawyer Michael Cohen begins three-year sentence for lying

BOP.Gov SENTENCE: The Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville, N.Y., where President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen will begin serving his sentence May 6.

Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former personal lawyer, is scheduled to report to the Federal Correctional Institute at Otisville, N.Y., on May 6 to begin serving a three-year sentence for infractions including lying to Congress, tax fraud, and campaign-finance violations in connection with bribe payments to an adult-film actress who claimed she had an affair with Trump. He took the witness stand Feb. 27 before the House Oversight Committee, claiming that Trump directed him to lie about a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, He also said the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and the chief financial officer of Mr. Trump’s company, Allen Weisselberg, had arranged those payments. Mr. Cohen also said he had lied previously to Congress about when then-candidate Trump stopped talking with Russian contacts about a proposed Moscow Trump Tower project. He had earlier said that those discussions ended in January 2016, nine months before the general election, but in fact they continued throughout the campaign.

That is important because people have been trying to figure out whether Trump was offering to reduce sanctions against Russia, changing American foreign policy, in return for a favorable contract to build in Moscow. Some believe that Trump was putting his business interests ahead of U.S. political and security interests. One of the president’s lawyers, Jay Sekulow, said there was no truth to Cohen’s allegation. “Today’s testimony by Michael Cohen that attorneys for the president edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false,” Mr. Sekulow said in a statement Feb. 27. President Trump himself said his pledge not to conclude new deals only applied after he had been elected and inaugurated. He was completely within his rights to continue to run his businesses even as he pursued his presidency, he said. But Mr. Cohen said that President Trump’s intentions were clear. “Mr. Trump did not tell me to lie to Congress,” Cohen said. “That’s not how he operates. He would look me in the eye and tell me there’s

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no business in Russia and then go out and lie to the American people by saying the same thing. In his way he was telling me to lie about it.” During his appearance before a House committee, Cohen delivered an account of his dealings with the man who he helped win the White House, saying President Trump is a “racist,” a “con man” and a “cheat. ” Mr. Cohen’s credibility has been directly and frequently challenged by Republican representatives and supporters of the president, who note that he is a recently convicted felon who lied to Congress two years ago about the same subject -- what he had done on behalf of the president. President Trump commented on Twitter. “Michael Cohen was one of many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately),” President Trump tweeted Feb. 27. “He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time.” -- Jolie Wineburgh, Staff Writer

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Outside News

Second elections in a year set for September as Israelis can’t agree By Sivan Karz, Staff Writer After a close election result in Israel in April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to form a coalition government and the country will hold elections again in September. On May 13, Netanyahu had asked for a two-week extension of the normal one-month window for forming a government. But he was not able to form a majority coalition because Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the secular conservative party Yisrael Beiteinu, would not join a government committed to maintaining Haredi exemption from the draft. The rest of Netanyahu’s would-be coalition were religious parties, which insisted on continuing the exemption. So after the two weeks, on May 29, the Knesset voted to dissolve itself and hold elections again, leaving key policy decisions still undecided since no one knows who will join an eventual coalition. “This is part of the democratic process,” said Zev Hurwitz of the American Jewish Committee. “This is the first time it’s ever happened this way. But the fact that it’s going back to voters, and it’s not being decided in closed rooms or by some sort of authoritarian figure who is just going to decide.” Israelis first voted April 9 on whether Netanyahu would secure a fifth term in office or if it was time for a new Prime Minister -- possibly former IDF chief Benny Gantz, who turned out to be Netanyahu’s main rival. Kobi Gideon via pmo.gov.il When all the votes were counted, Gantz’s new Blue and White party and Netanyahu’s Likud had each secured 35 Knesset seats. RETRY: Prime Minister Netanyahu met with his security team March 26. Religious and defense-oriented parties could not agree on a coalition after April vote. The parties with the next-most seats were Shas, a Haredi political party, and United Torah Judaism, both considered right-wing and expected to be part of Netanyahu’s coalition. In 2009, for example, Tzipi Livni of the Kadima party was not According to Israel Education teacher Mr. Jeremy Shine, wheth- Lieberman will say security is more important and we have to super Haredim should have to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces was port the Likud on the security issue” said Mr. Shine just after the able to form a coalition. So Likud was given the chance to try and it succeeded. April vote. the issue most important to those groups. But this time around, current President Reuven Rivlin was not Instead, Lieberman once again was the spoiler. “The religious parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism, tend to able to ask Benny Gantz or anyone else. In April, according to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics 5.8 go with whoever can offer them the most,” said Mr. Shine in an “The Knesset voted to dissolve itself, which prevented the Blue interview back in March. “If the left can offer them exemption from million Israelis were eligible to vote, 79 percent of whom were Jewserving in the army, they’ll go with the left. If the right offers them ish and 16 percent Arab. Ra’am and Balad, both Arab political par- and White party from having an opportunity to try to form a government,” said Mr. Hurwitz. “But more practically speaking, they ties, combined and won four seats. that, they’ll go with the right.” weren’t going to form one. There were too many members of the In Israeli elections, any party that does not receive at least 3.25 Most observers thought they would join Netanyahu’s coalition percent of the popular vote gets no representation at all Knesset in the right-wing parties that were not joining a left-led or even without his guaranteeing a in the new Knesset. This electoral threshold ensures that center-left government.” military exemption. Sure enough, Meanwhile, the election itself brought changes in Israeli policy. all parties who are there have at least three seats. when the election was over, acWe always talk about Israel being Three days prior to the elections, Netanyahu said if he won he The party with the most seats generally offers mincording to news reports, leaders a shining example of democracy in a isterial positions to leaders of other parties in exchange would annex the West Bank. Currently, there are major Israeli cities of both Shas and UTJ immediateneigborhood that doesn’t have a lot of it. like Efrat that are located there that all agreed would be part of for their support. ly announced they’d join Likud. -- Zev Hurwitz, Unlike in the U.S., where you vote for a person Israel in any two-state solution. But their votes were not American Jewish Committee But the area is not formally recognized as part of the country, who is on the ballot, in Israel you vote for a list of party enough to secure a majority for members and depending on how many votes that party and there are many smaller settlements there that are illegal under Netanyahu in the Knesset. Algets, starting from the top, a certain number of the peo- current Israeli law. These settlements would all become officially though he had been negotiating part of Israel. ple on the list will get to sit in Knesset. since his victory on April 9, he About 2.5 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, compared “We always talk about Israel being a shining example of democwas only able to reach 60 seats, one short of a majority. Netanyahu’s previous government had a slim majority of 61 racy in a neighborhood that doesn’t have a lot of it,” said Mr, Hur- to 400,000 Jews. “Voters keep asking this question: Who is the most suitable to Knesset seats, which led to the early elections. He previously had witz, a Shalhevet alumnus from the class of 2011. Once the Knesset representatives are finalized, Israel’s president be prime minister?” Mr. Hurwitz said. “Even supporters of other held 66 seats, but former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman pulled his party, Yisrael Beiteinu, out of the coalition partly because decides which individual candidate is most likely to be able to form parties, the smaller parties who know that their top person isn’t a stable coalition. That individual then has 28 days to attempt to going to be prime minister because they just don’t have the votes, of the draft law. “It could be that Lieberman would be willing to make that a form a coalition, and the president can grant the party a 14-day are saying the most suitable to be prime minister is Netanyahu.” secondary issue not to be pursued in this particular term, because extension if needed.

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‘Right’ or ‘left’? In politics, it’s not always clear what they mean By Sivan Karz, Staff Writer “Right” and “left” are used as political terms all the time,but their meaning can be unclear. The terms left and right were first used during the French Revolution, when supporters of the monarchy sat on the right of the National Assembly while those who favored democracy sat on the left. Today, the right is generally more conservative, meaning they seek to protect existing power structure. Historically, the powerful people have wealth and do not want to share it, for example in the case of tax cuts, which the right is in favor of. The left, on the other hand, is more likely to want to assist those on the bottom, often through increasing the government’s involvement with society. Medicare is an example of the government stepping in and attempting to help citizens. According to Government and Economics teacher Mr. William Reusch, these two sides of the political spectrum focus on different parts of society. Mr. Reusch said that the left is skeptical of

big business and private enterprise, while the right is skeptical of big government. “Right is order and Left is chaos” said Mr. Reusch. “Too much order is bad- that’s authoritarian ship, that’s Nazism. Too much chaos is anarchy.” According to Wikipedia, the term “leftwing” generally implies a commitment to egalitarianism, support for social policies meant to appeal to the working class, and multiculturalism. “The right says that… we need to make it so people from the bottom can go up,” said Mr. Reusch. “It’s all about work hard, work hard, do your thing.” “The left says ‘yeah, that’s good, but what about [the lower class]’?” They focus on them, because they don’t have a voice.”

BP Drawing By Rachel Metzger

But the terms are not exact in how they apply in the real world. For example, abortion and gun rights. Liberals wants restrictions on hate speech and guns but not on who you can marry. These roles are sometimes reversed in Israel as well -- and sometimes not. The Israeli right is more likely to support building more settlements in the West Bank to solidify Israel’s presence there. The left is more concerned about the rights of the less powerful -- in this case, Palestinians -- and still supports a “two-state solution” that would give Palestinians a country of their own, including some land currently under Israeli control. Similarly, Zev Hurwitz of the American Jewish Committee said that regarding Haredi conscription, the left favors some more regulation -- requiring Ultra-Orthodox Israelis to serve in the IDF -- while many on the Right would argue that they should have the personal freedom to prioritize Torah study. But on the other hand, the religious right is

favors laws that would close stores for 25 hours on Shabbat, in line with Jewish law -- more government regulation -- while the left would say that policy hurts the secular population as well as Israeli commerce and business at large, and the government should stay out of it. “The whole left-right prism is shifted” in Israel, Mr. Hurwitz said, “and that’s why you’ll hear Blue and White and the Labor party referred to as the ‘center-left’ as opposed to the ‘left-left.’” Many expect Prime Minister Netanyahu to form a coalition government with “right-wing” parties, including traditional religious parties that favor freedom from the draft law but not from 25-hour business closures. But so far he has not been able to. Israel Education teacher Mr. Jeremy Shine said there are not many clear distinctions between the Likud party and its main rival, the Blue and White. “Blue and White say they want to negotiate with the Palestinians,” said Mr. Shine. “We don’t hear much about that from Likud, but they haven’t said we’re not going to negotiate with the Palestinians. It could be the fact that Netanyahu is up for indictment charges for corruption pushed people towards (Blue and White’s) Benny Gantz.”

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Outside News

No bribes, but Shalhevet students have an edge for college Combination of advantages makes admission easier; some students feel disadvantaged because of programs to even playing field Even race and ethnicity sometimes work to Shalhevet students’ advantage, however. Students whose parents come from Latin No Shalhevet students were involved in the America, South Africa or Morocnationwide college admissions bribery scandal. co have geographic backgrounds But merely attending Shalhevet almost certainly that distinguish them from Eugrants them an advantage over students at most ropean or Middle Eastern-origin public schools. whites, and some of them say so “People have the assumption that college adon the Common App. missions is a meritocracy,” said Ms. Aviva Walls, The application asks sepaDirector of College Counseling and Dean of rately whether a student is HisAcademic Affairs. “It’s not. It never has been a panic or Latino, which would meritocracy. There are all sorts of ways that try be an ethnicity -- defined by The to rig the system to make it as fair as possible, Oxford dictionary as “The fact but it’s an unfair system.” or state of belonging to a social Ms. Walls said that there was a vast differgroup that has a common nationence between Shalhevet students’ and public al or cultural tradition.” school students’ experience applying to colleges. Sophomore Mimi Czuker, For a senior class numbering 64 students who is white, said that while she this year, Shalhevet has two college counselors, sees a need for addressing disboth of whom worked on the college side of adadvantages, the Environmental missions before. Ms. Walls was an admissions Context Dashboard is not the BP Photo by Neima Fax counselor at Barnard College and Senior Assisright way to go about it. PRIVILEGE: Mr. Eli Shavalian is one of two college counselors at Shalhevet. Only a third of public schools have even one. tant Director at the NYU Office of Admissions, “I think the main reason that and Mr. Eli Shavalian worked as Assistant Diit bothers me is because [disstudent at private schools,” said Lord. “Private vet students believe the reverse is true: that being rector of Undergraduate Admission at USC. advantage] is not the kind of thing that can be That is luxurious by national standards. Ac- schools tend to be really good at using their re- more affluent and not belonging to a racial mimeasured,” said Mimi. “I think there’s a lot of cording to a study published by Education Week, sources to have smaller class sizes” and more in- nority puts them at a disadvantage when applying different factors that go into it…. Maybe there the average public school college counselor is re- teraction from the college counseling department to college. are even more disadvantaged people that won’t be sponsible for 470 students.The same study found with students. measured either. What if, let’s say, their parents According to a Boiling Point poll taken May that only a third of the nation’s high schools have have money but they’re not willing to spend it on Responding to this, colleges that see their 28 at lunch, a third of Shalhevet students expect any college counselor at all. About two-thirds of that?” education as a way for the less advantaged to extra hurdles when they apply to college, comprivate schools do. Sophomore Alessandra Judaken, who is Lati“Having a college counselor who can make a move up are trying to even the playing field some- pared to students who are racial minorities and-or na, agreed. phone call to college admission offices is huge,” what, even if it will never be exactly possible. Ms. come from less privileged backgrounds. “Although it is to my advantage, I would have Of 75 students who responded, 33.8 percent Ms. Walls said, as is having “two people who have Walls supports their efforts. to say I am completely against this,” said Alessan“I don’t think we should responded to the question of “Do you believe been admission ofdra. “People should be getting accepted to college all be born on third and your race or ethnicity put you at a disadvantage ficers who can read for what college is for -- academics and education, I don’t think we should think that we hit a triple,” in being admitted to colleges?” with “yes.” They applications with a not by the color of their skin.” said Ms. Walls. “I think were also asked about their own race; all but one critical eye.” Alessandra disagreed with the Environmental all be on third base and think that we should recognize who answered “yes” were white. Also important Context Dashboard plan. that we hit a triple. I think we Junior Joseph Klores said he believes a minorithat we’re in a fortunate pois the counselor’s’ “Both my parents are immigrants,” Alessandra sition. And that is literally ty student who had worse grades than his might ability to bring adsaid, “and they worked day and night, constantly should recognize that we’re in a the very least we could do.” be admitted over him because of his or her race. missions officers to working, three jobs at one point and four jobs at “If I have a similar resume to someone who’s Measures have been Shalhevet to meet fortunate position. one point, not coming home at night so I don’t taken by both the College black, and mine’s a little better but they’re black, students and have a have to worry about money, so I don’t have to Aviva Walls, Dean of Board, which runs the SAT, they’ll probably accept the black person because look around. worry about the college process and tutors and “We are in a poAcademic Affairs and some colleges, includ- they’re black even though I have close to a whole everything like that. ing UCLA, to account for better resume,” said Joseph. sition to say, ‘Who “Life isn’t fair and everyone should be treated Junior Jacob Benezra, who is the only Afrithe disadvantages faced by are our friends who and accepted into colleges equally, and based on students who are less priv- can-American student at Shalhevet, does not see we can bring to talk their standardized test scores, grades, what they ileged and bring economic a problem with accepting a minority student who to our students?’” Ms. have accomplished or are involved in, and their has relatively similar or slightly lower grades comand social diversity to their campuses. Walls said. application. That’s it.” For example, since 2017, the College Board, pared to a white student. That means Shalhevet students can personJacob agreed with Alessandra that he has an “If it’s just this kid who’s just straight D’s but ally meet college admissions officers, who travel the company that runs the SAT, has been testing advantage because of his race. around the country to meet students and college an “Environmental Context Dashboard” for SAT because he’s black, we’re accepting him into col“Baruch Hashem I’m with you guys,” said Jalege, then I don’t think that’s right,” said Jacob. counselors -- only at certain schools out of about takers, supplying the score to 50 colleges. cob referring to white students at Shalhevet. “I am This feature, which has been referred to as an “But if we’re giving them the same opportunity total 37,000 U.S. private and public secondary at an advantage just because I have the resources “adversity score” measures disadvantages found for them to shine and really prove themselves, schools. to get into good colleges, plus I am a minority so Pre-college events like essay workshops, in a student’s school and neighborhood. They in- that they can be a part of this situation, then I I have a combination of both.” grade-level college nights and case studies nights clude college attendance, median family income, think we can set the bar maybe a little lower, bemay exist at other schools, but without college ad- local crime rate and more. The student is given a cause of their background -- then I think that’s Ms. Walls said that when it comes to students okay because diversity is important.” rating between one and 100. missions officials as speakers. choosing how to describe Ms. Walls said that Last month, the College Board announced it “Students who are in less resourced schools, their ethnicity, it is for the there was a vast adeven when their college counselor has the resourc- would cover all schools beginning in 2020. most part a personal choice. The dashboard “allows colleges to incorpo- vantage for Shalhevet es and the know-how to do that, they don’t get the In a poll of 29 Shalhevet “Your identity has to rate context into their admissions process in a students applying to same RSVPs,” Ms. Walls said. start with yourself,” said students who were preparing These differences alone are enough to provide data-driven, consistent way,” the College Board’s colleges. Ms. Walls. “We’ve had stuShe agreed that Shalhevet students with a substantial advantage in website says. to take the SAT or ACT, 19 said dents who have identified as Another example is being used by UCLA. To colleges seek students applying to colleges and universities of all types. or Asian American that they had a tutor. Sixteen Latino But Shalhevet students also have advantages in compensate for students having different back- from diverse backeven African-American begrounds, Ms. Walls says that instead of judging grounds, and since the preparation for the SAT and ACT exams. said that they spent at least fore. If that’s a huge part of Not only do they receive a better education all applicants against all other applicants, UCLA majority of applicants your identity that is a piece $500 on study methods. along -- because of things like smaller classes, and Admissions has begun to judge them relative to do not come from of who you are I think you those backgrounds, more parental involvement, advanced equipment students from their own high school. should express that on your That would mean that a student from Shal- they they keep their eyes and advanced course offerings on topics required application.” for the test -- but many receive outside tutoring hevet who had a high GPA would be in a lower open for strong disadJacob Benezra said that ideally race would not percentile in their school than a student who had vantaged or minority students. for these tests. be a factor, but that the correlation between racial But she said that “doesn’t erase all of the adIn a poll conducted in October of 29 Shalhe- the same GPA who came from a school with a minorities and more socioeconomic and educavantages that our students have.” vet students who were preparing to take the SAT lower average GPA. tional disadvantages -- the poverty rate for white College applications – including the Com“It really gives a numerical context for the stuor ACT, 19 said that they had a tutor. Sixteen of Americans was 8 percent in 2017, while for black 29 polled said that they spent at least $500 on dent,” said Ms. Walls. “The student who’s coming mon App, used by over 800 colleges -- ask for stuand Hispanic Americans, it was 20 and 16 perfrom Shalhevet is going to have a very different dents to list their race on their applications. The study methods. cent, respectively -- necessitates action by colleges. Joshua Lord, who tutors students at Shalhevet reality of what those percentiles look like than a Oxford English Dictionary defines race as “Each “We can all agree at the end of the day, if we and elsewhere for standardized tests, said those he student coming from the Central Valley, where of the major divisions of humankind, having dishad a perfect world, it should never come to race,” tutors and who keep up with studying can see a there’s very different-college going culture, or tinct physical characteristic.” said Jacob. “But I think the reason why it comes While the degree to which students’ race af160- to 200-point gain on the SAT, which is grad- from South LA or from East LA.” to race is because of how the system is already set In a 2017 study conducted by Opportunity fects admissions is a matter of contention, most ed out of 1600 total points, and three to six points up. Black people, Latino people, they’re living in Insights, of all elite colleges ranked, UCLA was Americans believe that it should not have any inon the ACT, which is graded out of a total 36. terrible conditions and that goes all the way back Mr. Lord said that private school students the highest in its “overall mobility index” which fluence at all, as shown in a recent Pew Research when America first started... tend to come into his tutoring at an advantage, measures “the likelihood that a student at UCLA study finding that 73 percent of Americans be“Right now race plays a role because, I which he believes is due to the attention paid to moved up two or more income quintiles” after re- lieve that colleges “should not consider race or wouldn’t say we’re trying to fix the past, but we’re ethnicity when making decisions about student ceiving a UCLA education. students at those schools. trying to give opportunities to those people.” But in spite of their advantages, some Shalhe- admissions.” “There is more attention to the particular

By Jacob Joseph Lefkowitz Brooks, Community Editor

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The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Outside News

Lori Gilbert-Kaye, Poway Chabad victim, is remembered for strength and ‘radical empathy’

By Clara Sandler, Co-Editor-in-Chief Her favorite song was “Eshes Chayil” -- Woman of Valor -- sung around tables on Friday nights just before Kiddush, as several speakers pointed out over the course of her funeral April 29 in the town where she lived. And so, as Lori Gilbert-Kaye was laid to rest that Monday, her family, neighbors and friends sang “Eshes Chayil” to her one last time. Two days before, a 19-year-old white supremacist had opened fire with an assault rifle in the lobby of Chabad of Poway during Shabbat services, killing Mrs. Kaye and injuring her rabbi, Rabbi Yisrael Goldstein, along with eight-year-old Noya Dahan and her uncle, Almog Peretz, 34. Mrs. Kaye had stepped in front of Rabbi Goldstein and saved his life while losing her own. Anjelica Feig, a senior at San Diego’s Torah High School and a resident of Poway, said the town 22 miles northeast of San Diego is considered safe. “We just moved there two years ago and we moved there because we wanted a safe atmosphere for my younger siblings to grow up in,” said Anjelica, who is known to several Shalhevet seniors through mutual friends who knew her from NCSY. “Nothing happens there because it’s just pleasant people,” she said the day after the attack. “It’s just tucked away, inland. It’s the country.” Anjelica said the shul’s members are mostly elderly people and families with young children, and not many teens. She attends once or twice a month, and said there are 40 to 50 people present on a typical Shabbat. Attendance was higher April 27 because it was the last day of Passover. “I’ve seen a [security guard] there when there have been big events, but not on a typical Shabbat,” Anjelica said. The shooting took place six months to the day after one at the BP Photo by ashley Botnick Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh killed 11 Jewish worshipers COMMUNITY: Visible on an outdoor screen, the sanctuary of Chabad of Poway was filled to capacity ajd many mourners watched outside in the rain.. and injured seven more. This time, the attack was just a two-hour drive from Shalhevet. Rabbi Goldstein was shot in both hands and lost his right index ing around the country and around the world, I had to show sup- could with music and dancing.” finger. Filmed later that day by chabad.org in the hospital where port for one that was especially close to my community,” Ari said. Hannah said they took long drives together and listened to muhe was recovering, he said the attack began as his congregation was “It can be really easy to hear about these events and feel sad and sic, talked about everything, and overcame their differences to apfinishing up the Torah reading for the eighth day of Pesach. preciate each other wholeheartedly. afraid but not do anything about it.” He said he’d stepped out to “freshen up” before reading the She said her mother taught her “radical empathy.” Among the speakers were Elan Carr, U.S. Envoy for MoniHaftorah. In the lobby, he met Mrs. Kaye, who asked him what toring and Combating Anti-Semitism; Eitan Weiss, the Acting “I am telling you that our story was, is, and will forever continue time Yizkor would be. Consul-General of Israeli for Los Angeles and the to be nothing short of remarkable,” Hannah said. “We are magic toHe told her it started Mrs. Kaye’s husband, Dr. Howard Kaye; gether. Together, we achieved the impossible dream. A mother who I am telling you that our sto- Southwest; at 11:30, and as he turned her daughter, Hannah; and Mrs. Kaye’s sister, Randi I’d telling anything to, who could listen to me without judgment, around, he heard the first shot. ry was, is and will forever continue Grossman, who lives in Pico-Robertson and is West who would advocate for things I need to support myself. I wanted a “I got up on a chair and mother who would see me as I wanted to be seen, who would love director of Chai Lifeline. to be nothing short of remarkable. Coast yelled loud and clear, with my Also in attendance were the other victims of the me as I wanted to be loved. My dear mom, my sweet Lori Lynn, you fingers bleeding profusely, sayattack; at least 20 Chabad shlichim -- rabbis who are gave me all of this.” We are magic together. ing ‘Am Yisrael chai’ -- nothDuring their last drive together, Hannah asked her mother if she of Chabad’s teachings; Jewish, Christian, -Hannah Kaye, emissaries ing is gonna take us down,” Muslim, Sikh and Chinese religious leaders; leaders was proud of her, something she would ask often. says Rabbi Goldstein in the “I’m so proud of you,” she said her mother said. Lori Kaye’s daughter of law enforcement; the mayor of Poway; and three video, which was posted on Rabbi Cunin encouraged people to take on mitzvot in Mrs. San Diego-area members of Congress. Facebook. Kaye’s memory, saying womChabad of Poway synagogue president Sam “This is what the Rebbe has taught us,” he continued. “We are Hoffman addressed the crowd first and then introen should light candles, men going to stand tall, we are going to stand proud of our heritage. duced the other speakers as they came up to speak. should wrap tefillin and nonA human being has fallen due We’re gonna come through this; we’re gonna get through this.” Jews should observe the seven Mr. Hoffman welcomed all the guests and thanked Mrs. Kaye’s funeral began at Chabad of Poway and ended at El the shul’s next-door neighbor, St. John’s of Damasto ignorance and bigotry. Noahide laws, which include Camino Memorial Park. Among hundreds in attendance were nine cus church, which opened its doors last Saturday stealing, not murdering, -- Davinder Singh, founder of not seniors and two juniors from Shalhevet, who responded to Head to help victims and again during Monday’s service setting up courts and not worof School Rabbi Ari Segal’s announcement on Schoology that he so those standing outside could use their facilities. Duwara Conscious Foundation shipping idols. would be driving a van for whomever wanted to go. Davinder Singh, founder of Over the years the two institutions have also shared Senior Ariella Sassover went to the funeral to show solidarity and furniture and parking space, he said. Duwara Consciousness FounJewish strength. dation, a Sikh food pantry that “Thank God that you are with us,” said Mr. “After the constant anti-semitic attacks that have been happen- Hoffman. serves people regardless of reli-

“

BP Photo by Ashley Botnick

MOURNER: Mrs. Kaye’s daughter Hannah said she and her mother had overcome temporary estrangement. “We marveled at the joy of one another, where we found incredible acceptance for our differences and where we celebrated them as much as we could with music and dancing.

Other speakers were Rabbi Goldstein and Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, director of West Coast Chabad. Mrs. Kaye’s daughter Hannah, 22, gave an impassioned eulogy for her mother, describing a time when they were estranged and how they had reconciled. Hannah said that for the last two years, she wrote thank-you letters to her mother on her own birthday, thanking her mother for having her, raising her and being her “best friend, my greatest advocate and my dance partner.” “Behind every action or intention whether it has frustrated or pleased me has and will always be her love for me,” said Hannah, who is a student at UCLA. “We became each other’s closest confidants. We marveled at the joy of one another, where we found incredible acceptance for our differences and where we celebrated them as much as we

gious beliefs, said he attended to show solidarity with the Jewish community. “A human being has fallen due to ignorance and bigotry,” Mr. Singh said. “It’s basically just as much our brothers and sisters who have fallen as much as it’s anybody else’s brothers and sisters. This is the time for us to come together and start a relationship with one another as human beings.” So many people attended the funeral that while hundreds were present inside the synagogue, hundreds more watched on a wallsized screen outside, though the weather was cold and rainy. Both synagogue and graveside services were also streamed live on Facebook by StandWithUs. The synagogue service began around 2:15 and ended at 4:15. Attendees then drove 40 minutes to get to El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, where the funeral concluded. Shalhevet’s van returned to school at around 8 p.m. But for Anjelica and many others, the events of last Saturday will endure, at Chabad of Poway and beyond. “I feel weird, like our space was invaded, like our sanctuary was ruined,” Anjelica said. The shooter, John Earnest of San Diego, is facing one charge of murder and three counts of attempted murder. At his first hearing, May 1, he pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing is set for July 8.

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Features

RONELL ZAHIR

NOA KLIGFELD

SELF-TAUGHT ENGINEER

15 COLLEGE CHOICES

By Victory Fuchs, ninth grade “I found a passion pretty early on in life: there’s videos of me when I was two and there’s a screwdriver in my pocket. Sometimes I stay in the robotics lab until 7 just hanging out in there. So the day before this pep rally, Ms. Wilner comes up to the robotics” lab begging for a T-shirt cannon. I went to Lowe’s and I thought of it in the store and I assembled it in the store. Most of my knowledge comes from YouTube. You just need something to hold the air, something to release the air, something to hold the T-shirt. The ingredients: plumbing stuff, some sprinkler pipes, some sprinkler valves. I just like helping people. At school, I figured out how to unlock the thermostats and use the Apple TV and my friends saw and all spread the word. Soon I was the teacher’s choice if there’s a problem, ‘Oh Ronell, fix it.’Soon I was the teacher’s choice if there’s a problem, ‘Oh Ronell, fix it.’” - Ronell Zahir, Grade 9

WHICH: Senior Noa Kligfeld, shown at a USY event last fall, was accepted by 15 colleges this spring. It took her most of April to choose one.

USY.org

By Tobey Lee, Features Editor “The first thing that I had that was most helpful was a Notes doc on my phone. It was really, really long by the end of the first week and I basically dumped all of the information onto that Notes document: pros and cons lists, lists of lingering questions, quotes from when I talked to people. That whole first week I talked to so many people -- mentors who I trust, alums of the schools, people who work at the schools, people who go to the schools. At a certain point, it became more about like what I was feeling, rather than just all of the information. I want to study the intersection of computer science and government -- not just those two things separately -- and there were a lot of students I had met who were studying the exact same thing. And I had an amazing Shabbat experience there. I was just so struck by the warmth of the students. I felt like I really made connections with the students at the Hillel and the Hillel was just right for me. ” - Noa Kligfeld, Grade 12

BP Photo by Neima Fax

DRIVEN: Freshman Ronell Zahir watches Youtube videos to learn robotics.

More Humans ... on the web

Let’s get personal

Aaron Schlacht Eliana Khoobian

You pass them in the stairwell and you see them on the turf, but how many do you really know? ‘Humans of Shalhevet’ is a new series that shines a light on some of the 300-plus students and staff who together people our school. We hope -- using their own words -- to make everyone a little more ... human.

MITCHELL HOENIG NON-VIOLENT MARTIAL ARTIST

By Tobey Lee, Features Editor “I’m not a very violent person. I love Krav Maga and jiu-jitsu and I only use it in times of need. I’ve been doing Krav Maga and a little bit of Israeli ju-jitsu for several years now. I want to fight so that I can protect myself and the people around me. Right now, a big challenge that I’m currently facing is that I have arthritis and I haven’t been able to train for seven plus months. When I got diagnosed with arthritis, I started teaching other people. I’m starting my own self-defense school, in a way -- I’m teaching my own classes. It gives me meaning to know that I’m helping other people learn how to defend themselves and how to stay safe.” - Mitchell Hoenig, Grade 11 BP Photo by Emma Mackler

PRACTICE: Mitchell Hoenig (left) is teaching martial arts while his own training is on hold.

Adam Hertzberg Liad Machmali

Zhak Goldemberg Jessica Melamed

NOA SILBERSTEIN

SHOES: A NEW CANVAS By Tobey Lee, Features Editor “I have always doodled on notebooks and stuff and then everyone was like ‘Oh, it’d be cool if you drew on shoes.’ My friend gave me her shoe to draw on and I did it, and then other people saw it and then I just kept doing it. When I’m selling them online I buy the shoes and then I draw on them and then sell them for the profit. But if not, I charge $40 for the art. It probably takes me three hours for both [shoes]. I’ll bring them to school, and I’ll do them during free periods. At home, I usually work on them after I’m done with my homework or just while I’m watching TV. First I use pencil and then I just use sharpies. People don’t tell me exactly what to draw; but sometimes people will be, ‘Oh, I liked what you did on that pair of shoes, can you do it on this pair?’ It gives me a creative outlet, which I like -- a creative outlet that affects other people.”

BP Photo by Neima Fax

CREATIVITY: In the evenings, Noa SIlberstein paints her friends’ sneakers when she’s done with her homework.

- Noa Silberstein, Grade 10

Page design by Zev Kupferman

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Features

14 CLASS OF 2019: They'll be heading coast to coast... Brandeis University Gabby Grunfeld

Binghamton University Abby Blumofe

Case Western Reserve University Honor Fuchs

Fashion Institute of Technology Elinore Kerendian

Jamie Berman Boston University

Chapman University Hannah Merritt

Brown University Adam Ritz

Lily Drazin

Harvard University Noa Kligfeld

Indiana University Brandon Gold Sam Navon New York University Katia Surpin Eva Suissa Sadie Toczek Princeton University Talia Gill Nomi Willis University of Michigan Aaron Wiesel

Stanford University David Mazouz

The New School Ben Reich

Cal Poly SLO

Ayala Chocron

UC Berkeley Lucy Fried

Tulane University Aaron Navon Hannah Friedman

Isabella Hoffman University of Chicago Clara Sandler Yeshiva University

University of Miami

Santa Monica College UCLA Ari Sassover

Amir Maman

Jordana Glouberman

Abbi Sentchuk

Asher Dauer

Adira Waldman

Eitan Remer

Yakir Kanefsky

Jeremy Ashaghian

Washington University in St. Louis

Bailey Mendelson

Jenny Javaheri

Albert Gordon

University of Maryland

Leor Kaminski

Vanderbilt University Ari Reder

Jonathan Fishman

Eliana Cohen

Noah Rossi Stern College for Women

Eytan Kent

Jackie Faerstain

Michael Soussana

Brittany Marshak

Josh Sarir

University of Southern California Maya Miro

Kira Faerstain

Sharon Khalil

Natanel Sadeghi Tara Chriki

JACK SANDERS

...BUT FIRST, A STOP INGAP-YEAR? ISRAEL WHERE ARE THEY SPENDING THEIR

A passion for argument

Ein Hanatziv Adira Waldman

Yeshivat Torat Shraga Asher Dauer Jonathan Fishman Joseph Zaghi Noah Rossi

Bar Ilan University Aaron Navon Ari Reder Ayala Chocron Ben Reich Brandon Gold Daniel Medavoy Matan Segal Mikey Kahtan Sam Navon Tara Chriki Talia Abel Zack Muller

Mevaseret Zion Michael Soussana

Sharfmans Seminary

Brittany Marshak

Amudim

Kivunim

Jamie Berman Nomi Willis

Yeshivat Reishit Jeremy Asheghian

Amir Maman

Midreshet Harova

Oraytav

Abbi Sentchuk

Ethan Blacher Yakir Kanefsky

Yeshivat Lev Hatorah Albert Gordon Dylan Corn

Nishmat

Nativ Hartman Institute Lucy Fried

Sharon Khalil

Lindenbaum Seminary Clara Sandler Talia Gill

Yeshivat Har Etzion Ami Nelson Eitan Remer Eytan Kent

Page Design and Graphics by Zev Kupferman and Rachel Metzger

Ari Sassover Eliana Cohen Gabby Grunfeld Honor Fuchs Jackie Fairstein Kira Fairstein Lily Drazin Noa Kligfeld

DEBATE: Freshman Jack Sanders enjoys discussing world issues,

BY ELLA KLEIN , 9TH GRADE "I’m the school anarchist: nothing that the government does is better than the private sector. This is just one example of something I am very passionate about. I’ll debate anyone on anything. Gun rights? I’ll debate. Is taxation theft? I’ll debate. Is water wet? I’ll debate. I love expressing my opinions by debating on all sorts of things. I love educating others on current issues within our society that disappoint me -- like how in many places, people have to hide their right-wing or left-wing opinion in fear of getting labeled as things such as racist, homophobe, xenophobe, etcetera. It saddens me how words like that are losing their value due to being used so much. My main goal from debate is to educate more people on social and political problems. I hope people become more aware of these types of things." - Jack Sanders, 9th Grade

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Features

Bohemian

ISis

Back

Popular music and fashion from the ‘50s to the ’90s is trending in pop culture and at school. Should you thank your parents? continued from page 1

able for sale on iTunes, and everything now is available on Spotify, Apple Music, etc; Prof. Riggio also thinks it was because mulikes Queen. “I think I started listening to old music in middle school be- sicians from those periods were mostly singercause my sister was into it, so she got me into it too,” Michael said. songwriters, performers who wrote their own In the case of Bohemian Rhapsody, both influences are at play. music and could ensure that it reflected their The film tells the story of Queen and the life of its lead singer, feelings. Today, few artists write their own Freddie Mercury, who lived from 1946 to 1991, when he died of songs, but those who do are very popular AIDS. It was released Nov. 2 of last year and was still in theatres such as Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran. “If you talk about The Beatles and the in late January, unusual considering most movies stay in theatres Stones and all that, they not only perfor about a month. Many people started listening to Queen’s music after seeing formed their own music but they wrote their own music,” he said. “There was the movie. Sophomore Sophie Handleman listened to Queen before see- sort of the appreciation for the artistry ing the film, but saw it twice and said she listens to their music of both writing and performing your own music.” more now that she’s been introduced to more of their songs. And finally, so-called “baby boom“Old music has always been flowing through my house, so now on the daily I listen to ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s and more of those types ers” -- his generation, which first listened to rock music -- now control of music,” said Sophie. What do those of the previous generation think of the fact many media and are selecting that so many younger individuals are listening to music from that older music being selected for play on radio stations, in television time? Professor Ronald Riggio of Claremont McKenna College no- shows and in film. “There’s a lot of these classic rock ticed about five years ago that students on his campus were listening to “really old rock music” such as Led Zeppelin, The Rolling stations and part of that is because my generation, we're kind of a big market,” he said. Stones and The Beatles. It was strange for him to encounter this because he hadn’t real- “We’re older people with money, so I think there’s ized that his generation’s music was making a comeback. He wrote kind of a market to those people. I think that keeps it going. If you look at the soundtrack of movies, a lot of an article about it in Psychology Today. “I was walking across campus last spring, and blaring out of movies are using that kind of classic rock.” Those same trends could be influencing more than music. several dorm rooms was (surprise) loud music,” Professor Riggio wrote in the article, which was published in 2014. “Only this Senior Gabby Grunfeld, co-president of the Shalhevet Fashion wasn’t current music, but ‘classic rock’ – Led Zeppelin, Van Mor- Club, said she has noticed that many clothing styles lately mimic trends from the mid-late 20th century. rison, Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.” “I’ve noticed a lot of different styles being reimagined and reFive years later -- to his surprise -- the professor said he still focused into something that’s a little more modern but still has a hears this music being played all the time on campus. “I’m always blown away,” Professor Riggio said in an interview lot of the same retro elements,” Gabby said. Some examples she gave were jackets from the ‘50s, including with the Boiling Point. “I walk by the dorms and I hear the same bomber jackets, windmusic I listened to in colbreakers and motorlege 40 years ago. cycle jackets. According “They’re playing new "When I go to rock concerts, I see lots of to her, stores such as Urmusic too, but there parents and their children.That was unusual a ban Outfitters, Forever is surprisingly a lot of generation or two ago." - Prof. Ronald Riggio 21 and Zara sell cloththat classic rock being ing that incorporates played.” style from different eras. In the Psychology ToGabby also has day article, the professor noticed Target selling suggested five reasons for styles from the ‘70s, like this phenomenon. Perfloral print maxi-dresshaps the greatest influes. This style of dresses ence, he said, was more was highlighted in the involved parenting. He Shalhevet fashion show said teenagers are inin January, especially troduced to older musince it’s a fashionable sic by their parents and look for Orthodox through listening to that women who also seek modesty. music around the house growing up. Prof. Riggio thinks that, too, can be a sign of parental influ“The parents today are more involved with their kids than were parents in previous generations -- particularly fathers,” Pro- ence. “Kids today might see their parents wearing clothes from the fessor Riggio said in an email to the Boiling Point. “So, there is more sharing of information (including music) from parents to 70’s or 80’s and they might go, ‘Wow that’s kind of cool,’” he said. Hair-wear from the past is also back, for example the hair their kids. When I go to rock concerts, I see lots of parents and accessories known as “scrunchies,” which were huge in the 80’s. their children. That was unusual a generation or two ago.” Second, music from the ‘60s and ‘70s has been well preserved Scrunchies are thicker fabric hair ties that typically are colored or for the current generation, not only through the recording meth- have some sort of cool design on them. Urban Outfitters, a popular store for teenage girls, has a large ods of the time but through continuous updating of formats. In other words, records were re-mastered into CDs, CDs were avail- collection of them now and it’s quite common to see Shalhevet

Photos by Neima Fax Page design by Sarah Feuer

students wearing them either to in ponytails or as soft bracelets on their wrists to match their outfit. In fact, the girls in Choir Hawks bought matching $18 dark red velvet scrunchies to wear on their wrists when they perform in their dress outfits this year. Hannah Friedman, co-president of the Choir Hawks, said she and co-president Josh Sarir thought of the idea when deciding how to bring some flare to the girls’ outfits, which were otherwise all black. “Josh and I walked around and tried to look for red accessories to make things a little bit more exciting, and then we came across those,” Hannah said. “We thought it would be perfect, the red and black, especially because scrunchies are something we know people can use everyday after.” In a 2018 article called “The Scrunchie Makes a Come back, Some Priced at Near $200,” the Los Angeles Times said scrunchies came back through a fabric recycling maneuver. “The scrunchie trend ironically rolled back into fashion circa 2010, when Dov Charney blanketed American Apparel’s cash wrap shelves with the fluffy hair tie, a maneuver to recycle and profit from fabric scraps,” the article says. Gabby thinks all these fashion comebacks are happening because people get inspired by those they look up to. “A lot of times people start to run out of ideas,” said Gabby, “or people have different mentors or icons or different people that they look up to and they start dressing like them, or they are inspired by them in the clothing that they design.” All of these throwback trends are circulating rapidly and it doesn’t look like they’re dying down any time soon. As for Freddie Mercury, perhaps he always knew that his music would be popular for a while -- though he might have been surprised that the reason would relate to parenting. He married but never had any children of his own. Although the Boiling Point could not find an original source, many colleagues and websites have quoted him as saying “I won't be a rock-star. I will be a legend.” Almost everything “Bohemian” is back in fashion now -- and the rhapsody by that name perhaps most of all.

Torah

JUNE 2019

SKIRTED: Why girls can’t wear pants at school Continued from page 1

Like Shalhevet, SAR and Berman allow girls to wear sweatpants on trips, according to SAR senior Ranya Braverman Goldstein and Berman senior Avital Fink. But according to Frisch senior Serana Bane, at Frisch pants are allowed only if the girls are on a single-gender long bus ride. Yoetzet Segal said the active nature of the particular activities makes it more tsanua for girls to be wearing pants. On a plane, for example, people

Abbi Sentchuk, also a senior, thinks students take advantage of the privilege. She understands why Shalhevet allows girls to wear sweatpants for hiking and bus rides, but still thinks it shouldn’t. “When Shalhevet allows sweatpants to be worn, people wear leggings and tight sweatpants,” said Abbi. “If you cannot find loose sweatpants, do not wear sweatpants. As a Just Community, I think we can see that this has been taken advantage of and should be taken away.”

There are two other issues as well. One is Beged ish -- the prohibition against men wearing women’s clothing and women wearing men’s. Some consider all pants male clothing, and therefore prohibited for women. According to the Minchat Yitzchak -- Rabbi Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss, a Halachic and Talmud scholar who was head of the Beit Din in Manchester, England -- pants were clothing intended for males, and are therefore inappropriate for women to wear at all and all pants are Beged ish. Rav Ovadia Yosef, who served as the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 until 1983, disagrees. He says that there’s a difference between pants made for women and men. On this point there is a division within the Shalhevet faculty. Yoetzet Segal agrees with Rav Ovadia Yosef. Beged ish, she said, “for sure is an issue, which people feel holds, but I don’t feel it holds.” “The halachic tradition that I subscribe to doesn’t feel that it still applies,” she said, “because that’s based on societal mores that might have been true in the late 20th century but I think it’s no longer accurate.” But Judaics Studies teacher Rabbi Abraham Lieberman believes that beged ish is the reason why girls cannot wear pants in school. “The issue of wearing pants is a very complicated issue halachically, because it’s not just about tzniut,” Rabbi Lieberman said. “We can’t argue about the fact that pants cover up more, but pants get into the issue of beged ish and beged isha which is a Biblical commandment and exactly what it means.” The second issue has to do with the split between the legs, and originates in Bavli Pesachim 3a. Women were not allowed to sit on horses because it was considered a sexual position. According to Avdi-Avodia, a Syrian-born rabbi who immigrated to Israel, pants are clothing of promiscuity because they highlight this split and would thus lead to inappropriate relationships between men and women. Yoetzet Segal does not believe that this rule applies to Shalhevet. “If we felt that that was really that problematic then we wouldn’t allow girls to wear sweatpants on trips,” she said.

not roll up the skirt.)” It doesn’t mention pants at all -- assuming that everyone would know they’re not an option and only describing appropriate skirts, shirts and shoes. Mashgicha Ruchanit Yoetzet Atara Segal said there are two reasons for the restrictions against pants. One is their tightness, which can be very revealing. The other is what she called the “societal norm” of Modern Orthodox Judaism. “We really feel like it being too tight is more of the issue, in terms of tzniut,” or modesty, Yoetzet Segal said in an interview. “There is also a value in general of being more formal, a value of fitting into what our society as a whole talks about,” she said. “We are a Modern Orthodox school, and a Modern Orthodox society has girls wearing skirts.” This is also stated in the Handbook, which gives a definition for modesty in its dress code. It says: “Shalhevet’s respect for tzniut in dress is reflected in a dress code that represents Jewish values, which ask us to focus on a person’s spiritual and personal qualities above his or her physical ones.” The Handbook also says that the dress code “permits self-expression BP Photo by Zoey Botnick within parameters of respectfulness toEFFORT: Girls at a recent Town Hall showed the problem with modesty and skirts. They are required at Orthodox schools around the U.S.. ward oneself and others, and prohibits dressing in a way that undermines or distracts from the important work of JewSenior Kira Faerstain thinks students should ish and general education in the school” -- what might want to fold up her legs or otherwise move be allowed to wear sweatpants all the time for around to stay comfortable. Yoetzet Segal referred to as “formality.” “Going on a plane is an experience where it modesty reasons. Although not in the handbook, Shalhevet “I believe that loose pants are more modest makes exceptions during Color War, Purim, team makes sense to wear sweatpants,” Yoetzet Segal sports and school trips, including longer bus said. “If you’re doing activities for Color War, it than a tight skirt regardless of length,” said Kira. “If students were to wear loose fitting pants, they rides, airplane flight and Shabbatons. During makes sense. It’s part of the societal expectation. “During class, during certain types of school would feel more comfortable and be less worried those activities, girls are permitted to wear loose trips, then skirts make sense because that’s part about getting dress-coded.” sweatpants or shorts to the knee. Maia Lefferman said that girls should at least of what is considered Faculty announces formal and appropriate be able to wear pants occasionally at school. on Schoology the ““If they’re not going to allow us to wear them attire.” night before if girls It’s important to include somewhere Otherwise, Yoetzet all the time, then they can allow us to wear them will be allowed to in this conversation that tzniut is not As a teacher, mother and Jew herself, Yoetzet Segal sees no reason for every once in a while,” said Maia. wear sweatpants at Sophomore Mimi Czuker thinks modesty is Segal is much more concerned about teaching the girls not to wear pants as school. only about dress. It’s about attitude and spirit of the law. long as they are modest. the key. comportment. “I don’t stress skirts, I stress appropriateness,” “It’s a lot more modest to be wearing sweatPants that meet her defiVersions of the — Yoetzet Halacha Atara Segal, nition of modesty are pants, because it covers more in different kinds of Yoetzet Segal said. “I would do that if I had sons, same policy are in Judaic Studies “Aladdin” pants, which positions,” she said. I would do that if I had daughters. place at Modern “I don’t think it’s appropriate for Though halacha is not are pants that are loose Orthodox schools boys to wear tight, tight pants, I don’t around the leg but tight the main issue driving around the country. It’s a lot more modest think it’s appropriate for girls to wear Shalhevet’s dress code, around the ankle. The Frisch School of to be wearing sweatpants, tight, tight pants.” “That’s the societal norm so I subscribe to that modesty is a religious Paramus, N.J., Berman Hebrew Academy of SilRabbi Block agrees and said boys ver Spring, M.D. and SAR of Riverdale, N.Y. all societal norm,” Yoetzet Segal said. “There’s no concept that has groundbecause it covers more in should be penalized at school for the ing in Jewish thought other compelling reason not to.” require female students to wear skirts at school. different kinds of positightness of their pants. and teaching. “Girls are required to wear a dress or skirt that tions. “When guys wear very tight pants “I think it’s important Outside of school -- an arguably less formal covers the knee while they are standing,” states — Mimi Czuker, or very informal and casual pants, the handbook of Frisch. “Slits in skirts cannot be place where handbooks are not involved -- there to include somewhere 10th grade that is a dress code violation that open above the knee. Divided skirts, cutoffs, and is some flexibility within Modern Orthodox cus- in this conversation that is just as serious as any other,” said tom. Yoetzet Segal said she herself does not “gen- tzniut is not only about slacks are not permitted.” Rabbi Block. SAR’s handbook says: “Girls must wear skirts erally” wear pants, but will if the pants are modest dress,” said Yoetzet Segal. But pants are not the only dif“It’s about attitude and that cover the knees; front slits are not permitted.” and the activity requires pants. ference in how girls are permitted to And when she doesn’t, it’s only because of the comportment.” Berman Academy’s handbook is similarly dress at Shalhevet compared to boys. worded, adding that both skirts and dress “must “societal expectation of Orthodox women wearBoys Firehawk basketball players wear open, The origin of the prohibition against girls ing skirts,” she said. fall below the knee when standing and seated.” Shalhevet girls have a wide range of opinions wearing pants, as well as its societal expectation, is loose-fitting tank tops, while female Firehawks “Tight fitting skirts or dresses are not permitted,” it adds. “Skirts or dresses with inappropriate on the subject. Some see it as Yoetzet Segal does, found in a discussion in Bavli Brachot 24a . The wear closed t-shirts with short sleeves. Rabbi Block said this was an issue that needs while others do not understand why Shalhevet Gemara lists things that evoke erva, which literimages, words, or logos are not permitted.” to be thought about more. ally means nakedness, arousal or the erotic. How strictly these rules are enforced is not en- ever allowed girls to wear pants at all. “Men wearing tank tops has been less of the The Gemara says that the “shok” is erva. But “We go to a Modern Orthodox school; we tirely clear. The Boiling Point did not conduct a wide survey on this issue, but Shalhevet girls had should not be allowed to wear sweatpants,” said the meaning of shok is dispute. The Mishna Bru- target of ‘lack of tsanua’ questions than women mixed experiences. Some said they saw skirting senior Bailey Mendelson. “If we’re not allowed to rah says it means the thigh -- that is, the knee wearing tank tops,” he said. “But, it’s worthwhile intermittently -- one said “like all of my friends wear sweatpants at school, we should not be al- to the top of the leg. The Chazon Ish, a 20th- thinking about it more carefully.” have been skirted at least five times” -- while oth- lowed to wear them on long bus rides. Like what century leader who lived in B’nai Brak, Israel, said it means the entire leg. -- you can’t wear a skirt and leggings?” ers saw it less often.

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The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Torah

Costumes, nerves, silliness found higher purpose on Purim By Shani Shaham, Staff Writer Freshman Victory Fuchs sat anxiously in her seat as she waited to be called up to the stage in front of the whole school last month for the Purim Talent Show. She’s been studying singing for five years and had practiced her aria, “Je Veux Vivre” from Charles Gounod’s fiveact opera Romeo et Juliet, countless times. But even though she had volunteered to sing that day, suddenly she wondered why she was there. “When they called my name, I immediately had second thoughts about performing,” said Victory later. She said she asked Nick Parsons, the school’s technology director, what to do. “I went up to Nick and I said, ‘Should I just quit now, should I just not do it?’” she said. “I was shaking uncontrollably, my heart was beating so fast, and I was really nervous. But all my practicing made performing so much more natural.I took some deep breaths, calmed myself down and I told myself that I could do it.” BP Photo by Alyssa Wallack Purim, which which this year was on March 21, is supTALENT: Sophomore Hannah Poltorak and freshman Emily Klausner were among the costumed performers at this year’s Purim party and carnival in the gym March 22. posed to be about celebrating life and Jewish identity, after the Jewish people’s pur – literally “lot,” or destiny — was to perish, and Haman drew lots to choose a date. Jewish comThere were about 10 performances – fewer than usual because er Ms. Ilana Wilner. Ms. Wilner said that the talent show is not munities around the world the holiday was the same week as four school-sponsored trips — the only about the performances, but also about the community-buildWhat I really like is that dress up, throw parties and Sarachek basketball tournament, the Boiling Point’s CSPA trip, the ing that goes along with dressing up in silly and creative costumes everyone is supportive of put on carnivals to tell and or presenting a quirky skill or act. Robotics shabbaton, and the AIPAC Policy Conference. everyone’s talents, even when celebrate the story. “What I like is that everyone is supportive of everyone’s talents, But those who did perform took it pretty seriously. During the you would think it’s a weird School is closed for the week before Purim, Victory practiced her aria three times every day. even when you would think it’s a weird talent, no one is embartalent, no one is embarrassed, holiday, so the school party “I go into my garage, I play the song, either a karaoke version rassed, because they are a part of this community,” Ms. Wilner said. because they are a part of this was held the next day, on “I think that is the point of Purim. Haman’s critique on us is or another singer singing it, and I practice,” said Victory. “I really community.” “Shushan Purim” — which that we are a spread-out, dispersed nation, so all the mitzvot that we wanted my performance to be good.” history records is when it was There were also impressions, dance and lots singing and piano. do in Purim we have to do with other people.” — Ms. Ilana Wilner, Director celebrated in Queen Esther’s She said mishloach manot, gifts to one another; matanot Daniella Silva, Shalhevet receptionist, sang “Someone Like You” by of Student Activities time. This year’s event was Adele. Freshmen Danielle Finn and Amanda Wannon sang “Tatty l’evyonim, gifts to the poor; Megillah reading and the Purim meal, held March 22. or seudah, are all about bringing people together. My King” with fellow freshman Audrey Gold on piano. It included a costume “And that’s a little bit of what we are doing here at the talent A group of six senior girls dressed as the boys basketball team contest, though no winner was declared. Costumes ranged and danced to the song “Get Your Head In the Game” from High show,” Ms. Wilner said. “I think that the fact that people are in from Captain Underpants to a handful of animal onesies and a School Musical. The Judaic Studies department had made a video costumes makes them feel more comfortable to show their true self group wearing caution tape, medical masks and signs reading on stage.” titled “Shali Shtark,” based on the popular “Baby Shark” song. “Caution: we have whooping cough,”’ to represent the recent perThe carnival was organized by SAC, led by Judaic Studies teachtussis outbreak at school.

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Shavuot: In Jerusalem, anticipation rewarded, then and now By Clara Sandler, Co-Editor-in-Chief The morning I flew to Israel, I woke up at 6:20 am even though my alarm was not supposed to go off until 7:15. The anticipation boiled through me as I finally was going to the country I had heard and learned so much about -- my homeland. I did not sleep at all during the four-hour flight from Warsaw to Israel, nor did I sleep much my first night in Israel, but that was because of other logistical reasons. On bus rides throughout the trip, I would force myself to stay awake so I could experience Israel’s landscapes and appreciate the beauty of Israel. One part of my trip to Israel I was eagerly awaiting was going to Jerusalem, the Old City and especially the Kotel. I loved Jerusalem -- the shuk, the food, the people. It is beautiful. I cannot believe how lucky I am to get to live there next year. The Old City was also beautiful -- the Jerusalem stone pathways traced thousands of years of Jewry. And as we approached the Kotel for the first time, for my first time, my friends Nomi Willis and Ari Sassover held my hands as I closed my eyes as we neared the Kotel. And then I opened my eyes, and I saw it. And not to burst anyone else’s bubble, but I was sort of underwhelmed. It was grand and looked beautiful under the night sky, but the women’s section was very small, you have to push your way to actually touch the wall and until I touched the wall, it looked exactly like

BP Photo by Joelle Keene

CONNECTED: In ancient times, Jews came from all over Israel to pray at the temple in Jerusalem. Today, praying there on any day can bring feelings of unity across time. it did in pictures. As I pushed my way to the front of the crowd, touched the Kotel and said the Shema, I did not cry and kiss the wall the same way the women around me did.

Waking up early to learn something different By Liad Machmali, Staff Writer

rom the start of the school year all the way until the end, every weekday at 7.a.m., three students met with Rabbi Abraham Lieberman to explore a piece of Gemara they might otherwise never have learned. The students -- sophomore Josh Glettner and juniors Joseph Klores and Abraham Czuker -- finished Perek Aleph of Talmud Yerushalmi’s Masechet Brachot before Pesach and were well into the second chapter -- page 25 -- by Shavuot. Rabbi Lieberman said that he never believed this would be the outcome. “I thought I’d be going maybe one daf ” -- page -- “of the Yerushalmi a month,” said Rabbi Lieberman, who last fall on Schoology invited anyone at school to join. “But we finished an entire chapter.” Although Shalhevet students develop skills in Talmud Bavli from

the LaHav curriculum, the Talmud Yerushalmi is a bit different in both text set-up and language. For example, both are in Aramaic but one uses a Babylonian and the other a Palestinian dialect. Students said Yerushalmi also exposed them to a different type of discussion from what they’re normally introduced to at school. “The big thinwg with the Talmud Yerushalmi is it has less editing,” said Josh, “... just quotes and quotes, whereas the Talmud Bavli will explain things. So it’s a bit more difficult because since it doesn’t explain itself it causes a variety of meaning.” The learning was set in an open environment every morning, available to any boys or girls interested in joining whenever they could come. Joseph said that even though waking up earlier can be difficult, it’s worth it. “It’s annoying waking up a half an hour earlier but I enjoy learn-

But I did connect to the millions of Jews over thousands of years who stood where I stood to get closer to holiness. And I also remembered those who didn’t, who never could. Shavuot is one of the three pilgrimage holidays -- shalosh regalim -- where in ancient times, thousands of Jews went to the Beit Hamikdash to give special sacrifices. In Shemot 34, the Torah states: “You shall make for yourself a Festival of Weeks, the first of the wheat harvest.” Again in Devarim 16, the Torah says, “You shall perform the Festival of Weeks to the Lord, your God, the donation you can afford to give, according to how the Lord, your God, shall bless you...And you shall rejoice before the Lord, your God.” Today, because we have the miracle of the State of Israel, people go to the Kotel on these occasions -- and also any time they want. That is what I connected with when I was at the Kotel: that my resilient people finally has sovereignty after thousands of years in exile. Next week as you celebrate Shavuot, learn Torah and eat some cheesecake, even if you do not connect to every single tradition, know that you are living the Jewish dream of being able to observe freely. And even if you don’t stay up all night, maybe you, too, will wake up early -- with the anticipation of receiving the gift we were given so long ago, that has renewed itself so completely in our time.

YERUSHALMI: Sophomore Josh Glettner was one of three studying Masechet Brachot of Talmud Yerushalmi with Rabbi Lieberman, learning a different kind of Talmud.

BP Photo by Alyssa Wallack

ing in the morning, and even though I’m tired and sometimes I just don’t want to get out of bed, I think -- while I’m there I enjoy it and if I could go back I would do the same thing over again.”

The Boiling Point • June 2019

18 The

BOILING POINT When we know it, you’ll know it

Co-Editors-in-Chief Lucy Fried and Clara Sandler

Opinion

EDITORIALS

Community Editor Jacob Joseph Lefkowitz Brooks Outside News Editor Molly Litvak Torah Editor Nicholas Fields Features Editor Tobey Lee Arts & Culture Editors Nicholas Fields Jacob Joseph Lefkowitz Brooks Sports Editor Alex Rubel Art and Design Director Zev Kupferman Layout Editors Ellie Orlanski Sarah Feuer Chief Photo Editor Neima Fax Photo Editors Zoey Botnick Alyssa Wallack Captions Editor Tobey Lee Advertsing Editor Shayna Becker Website Editor-in-Chief Gilad Spitzer Social Media Editor Alyssa Wallack Faculty Adviser Mrs. Joelle Keene THE BOILING POINT is the student-produced newspaper of Shalhevet High School and a public forum for the students and the community. Unsigned editorials represent the majority view of the members of the Editorial Board, which consists of the Co-Editors-in-Chief, Web Editor, Community Editor and Faculty Advisor. We welcome submissions for signed editorials from members of the Shalhevet Community, and the final decision about printing them is made by the Editorial Board. Letters to the Editor may be submitted via e-mail to shalhevetboilingpoint@gmail.com. The Boiling Point reserves the right to edit letters and opinion submissions and all become the property of The Boiling Point. Signed opinion articles and advertisements in The Boiling Point do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Editorial Board or The Boiling Point as a whole. To advertise, please contact the Advertising Editor at beckershayna@ gmail.com Corrections: The Boiling Point encourages readers to inform the newspaper of any possible factual errors found in print or online by emailing us as at shalhevetboilingpoint@gmail.com. When appropriate, we will fix the story online, and correct the error on Page 2 or on this page in the next print edition. Policies on conflict of interest and the use of anonymous sources can be viewed at shalhevetboilingpoint.com under the “Policies” tab.

QUILL & SCROLL National Scholastic Press Association

Online Pacemaker Award 2018 Pacemaker Finalist 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018 Online Pacemaker Finalist 2015, 2017

Sweepstakes Awards 2016, 2018, 2019 Blue and Gold Comprehensive Writing Award 2016 National Award Winners

Story of the Year Awards 2010 - 2018 Multimedia Story of the Year Awards 2015, 2016, 2018 Design of the Year Award 2017, 20

Awards in Jewish Scholastic Journalism 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

Gold Crown Award 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 Gold Circle Awards 2011-2018 Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Simon J. Rockower Awards 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

The rabbi, the coach and the media By the Boiling Point Editorial Board There are few figures at school more beloved than Coach Ryan Coleman. Adored for his devotion to his players, revered for his basketball intellect, he of course would be upset when he had good reason to believe that the coach of a rival school -- and someone he’d considered a friend -- had been helping an opponent defeat his varsity team. And doing it in a way that exceeded interscholastic norms. Of course Coach Ryan talked to Rabbi Segal. Of course Rabbi Segal shared his feelings. And in Rabbi Segal’s view, the fact that the offending coach worked for another Jewish school elevated the offense to the status of a chillul Hashem -- a desecration of God’s name -- because members of the Jewish community should not harm or speak ill of each other. The Boiling Point Editorial Board heard from many quarters that its coverage caused criticism of Coach Ryan. It was Rabbi Segal who made the decision to change our relationship with Valley Torah basketball, but the click culture picked up on Coach Ryan -- whose stellar reputation reaches far beyond Shalhevet’s walls -- and made him into a sore loser and worse. On social media, a toxic meme can spread forever while the thorough, lucid and balanced story behind it, though still visible online, is obscured in oversimplification and slander -- drawing attention to a story, but not necessarily the facts. Welcome to 2019. Journalism is a risky business. Social media make it moreso. This danger is ever the more present outside our immediate community among

people who do not know figures like Coach Ryan and might make assumptions that those of us who know him personally would not consider. The Boiling Point, too, became a target. One meme showed a bank of computers being managed by a clown, with the title, “The Boiling Point working on its next story on Valley Torah.” Another showed someone putting Boiling Points in the trash. This sort of thing doesn’t hurt the Boiling Point. But some believe it could hurt Coach Ryan -- who had every right to share his concerns with his head of school. It is difficult to prevent any of this and still cover the news. There are plenty of stories the Boiling Point doesn’t cover -- why certain teams are not invited back to Glouberman, for example, or embarrassing accidental occurrences on social media, or students receiving consequences for bad behavior. But this one involved the entire Los Angeles Orthodox community, almost all of which is invested one way or another in high school basketball. We are a news source for that community. We trust that Rabbi Segal would only call an opposing coach’s actions a chillul Hashem and cancel regular-season games if there was good reason. We encourage our readership to take this information into account when choosing how to assess blame in this situation, though with some of the evidence held back, this is a bit harder to do. Still, while it’s easy to look for reasons to blame authority figures with whom one disagrees, we should strive to see the best in those who have made their lives’ work education and leadership. That includes coaches, and rabbis.

The Just Community may be back By the Boiling Point Editorial Board Greek legend tells us of a mythical creature called the phoenix -- a flaming bird that every 500 years would self-immolate and turn into a pile of ash, from which a new phoenix would be born. While our school’s mascot is a Firehawk -- not a phoenix -- which has no mythological background, the phoenix’s representation of rebirth carries weight at Shalhevet of recent. Shalhevet has grown from the small experimental school founded by Dr. Jerry Friedman in 1992. We now have almost twice the number of students, a brand new building and new school administrators. The constitution that once anchored our Just Community now is little more than a large document that sits on a wall of the second floor. And most importantly, there is little engagement with the democratic system that was originally initiated 27 years ago. This is not the fault of any one student, administrator or teacher, but rather a shared lack of

interest and responsibility. But maybe the tide is beginning to shift.

In the past two months we have seen two Town Hall proposals: one deciding on a new voting system for Just Community elections and one changing the school’s chesed-- community service -- system. There have also been two open Fairness hearings: about this year’s Fairness chair elections and the other about whether people should be able to vote in elections that do not affect them. And last Thursday, a group of students and administrators met with Dr. Friedman to discuss bringing back the constitution in a revised form. Two months is clearly just a small amount of time and we are aware that in any government, not just Shalhevet’s, new leadership often enacts swift change and then slowly retreats back to previous norms. Despite this, there is an intriguing surge of enthusiasm into our school’s core institutions. We hope that this culture shift will continue into the next school year and after that. Perhaps we will look back at the end of this school year as the moment when the Just Community rises like a phoenix from the ashes of apathy.

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Opinion

TWO BOILING POINTS OF VIEW:

Should chesed trips go out of town? No: Keep chesed and bonding separate, in LA

Yes: Transformative trip inspires local chesed By Gabby Lasry, 11th Grade

By Ari Schlacht, 11th grade Chesed trips -- school trips organized around chesed, which means acts of lovingkindness -- in theory are an excellent idea. On paper, grade bonding and fun activities are perfectly balanced with service and by the time the buses arrive back at Shalhevet, kids supposedly have experienced the joys of giving back. Unfortunately, this is not the full story. Students come back to Los Angeles ready to mark off 25 chesed hours out of the Shalhevet mandatory total of 100, when in reality, they only did between three and five. Classmates also set out for the trip thinking they are going to experience an incredible and unforgettable couple of days of service. But in reality, most times they have not. The only way this problem would be solved would be if Shalhevet significantly increased the funding to the trips, so that the chesed would be guaranteed to be meaningful, and the distance part actually necessary. This would mean finding disasters wherever they might be, and providing help that’s truly in short supply. Shalhevet has done this at least once in the past. In the fall of 2017, the then-junior class flew to Houston to support communities devastated by Hurricane Harvey. The class of 2019 helped tear down homes, met with homeowners, and overall did semi-labor-intensive work together, as a class. It couldn’t have been done locally, because the need wasn’t local. The storm especially impacted an Orthodox community there, which made it feel closer to home and also probably easier to arrange, since our school leaders were closely connected to those to whom they could reach out and offer assistance. By contrast, the juniors this year traveled to Arizona for their chesedtrip. While the group volunteered at a food pantry and did meaningful work, it was not necessarily a chesed need that was specific to Arizona; sorting things at food pantries and talking with the elderly can easily be done in Los Angeles, saving money and time. Bonding trips, on the other hand, can be local and inexpensive. The annual senior retreat takes place locally, and seniors sleep at school before doing a local activity such as a hike or an escape room. This involves no chesed but provides opportunity for students to bond. It would make much more sense to address these two worthy goals separately. For bonding, there should be a more local, gradewide retreat, solely focused on fostering fun vibes and memorable group opportunities. Chesed should be accomplished through periodic mandatory chesed opportunities two to eight times per year. Chesed would not be sacrificed -- in fact, community service might even be more meaningful if we were giving back to our very own community in Los Angeles, or somewhere else nearby. As things stand now, these two goals have been forced to coexist in one short retreat when they, in truth, can only fully flourish on their own. Students deserve time off to relax together, but that time should not come at the expense of doing chesed. And chesed should not be contained to a few measly hours that would otherwise be used to give grades time to bond.

As most juniors at Shalhevet will tell you, the chesed trip is one of the greatest parts of the year. The chesed trip, which is offered to both juniors and sophomores, is an excellent way to do community service outside of school and bond with classmates at the same time. Last year, the sophomore class went to Nevada, where they performed a number of different chesed activities. At a food packaging facility, they threw oranges into bins and put boxes away, and felt they were actively improving lives and had truly completed the chesed. This instilled an everlasting love for helping others. I can vividly remember my friends and me discussing how we appreciated that we are able to help those in need. Other students later joined in on the conversation and said things like, “We don’t even care about the chesed hours, what we are doing here is incredible.” That is the point of this trip. It is not so students can simply get a few extra hours toward a requirement. It is for students to value chesed, enjoy chesed, and realize it’s importance. Also during my sophomore year, I remember walking around the women’s shelter in Henderson, Nev., and learning about the challenges that the women there have to face. This event had allowed students to feel so much gratitude for the lives they live, and also understand the reality of the world we live in. In fact, these trips were among the various reasons that Caroline Edry and I decided to start our new club, Hope4Humanity, which offers students the opportunity to do chesed once a month in the Greater Los Angeles Community. The point of Hope4Humanity is the same as the chesed trip -- to expand the type of chesed the student body participates in. Furthermore, the goal is to interest all types of students so they want to help the less fortunate. By joining with many different organizations, both Hope4Humanity and the chesed trips hope to include all types of students, and show everyone new ways to help others. The chesed trip is not merely about leaving school for a few days and partaking in fun activities, though certainly that happens. it is about discovering what chesed means to you personally, while bonding and creating a connection with your classmates. I know that I personally have Photos by Neima Fax developed a deeper love and appreciation for the abundance of non-profit organizations around the world whose members take time out of their days and their lives to help others. And at same time, I know that I have also made friends that will remain my best friends for life. That doesn’t diminish the value of the chesed trips. It increases it.

Page design by Ellie Orlanski

Our college graphic: A dissent By Jacob Joseph Lefkowitz Brooks, Community Editor Last month, I faced one of my most difficult decisions on the Boiling Point Editorial Board -- one which a year or even a month ago would not have seemed like an issue at all. Every May, many seniors across the country experience the euphoria of committing to the school where they will spend their next four years. I was elated to see my friends who I’d watched work tirelessly be rewarded for their efforts, some being accepted into extremely prestigious universities. So when it came time to decide whether the Boiling Point would design a graphic that showed which colleges our seniors would be attending, --- something we had done many times before -- my initial thought was to put our graphic right in the

middle of our paper, where it would be sure to be seen. However, after contemplating some recent events, my opinion shifted radically. This past March, federal prosecutors disclosed a massive bribery scandal, allegedly involving more than 50 parents who had paid upwards of $25 million in bribes and other fraudulent compensation to get their children into particular colleges and universities. This prompted me to think about why people would go to these lengths. And much of it came down to pressure -- a competitiveness whereby one person getting into Harvard or Yale or USC puts immense pressure on other students to do so. And this pressure extends to, and then is transferred from, families and schools. And it can cause students to feel the need to cheat to attain lofty grades. In fact, a Boiling Point poll conducted last October found that 47.5 percent of students surveyed said praise for students getting into prestigious colleges makes them want to cheat.

This is why I believe that any form of publicizing the colleges that our senior graduates will be attending would be contributing to a toxic culture that helps no one. Granted, while The Editorial Board came to the decision of not putting the graphic in the center of our paper, where it would have received even more space and attention, I was the only student who voted not to include it at all. I was outvoted. Of course, whether or not our paper featured a college graphic would have little to no effect on a student’s anxiety about college or their decision to cheat. However, I believe that our job as a newspaper is not just to report the facts -- in this case, the list of colleges -- or to do a courtesy to our studious friends who made it into Ivy League schools. It is also to consider the type of environment that we wish to foster. And that is most certainly not an anxiety-ridden, non-stop competitive culture that would lead anyone to cheat.

Arts & Culture

June 2019

Famous choreographer brings a new lens to dance club this big part of what it’s like to be professional dancers,” Sheyna every move seems to convey emotion. said. Her videos feature many different photography angles and fastThe new dance club was formed this year so students with previmotion editing. Technicolored lights illuminated the dancers, as one by one “Contemporary doesn’t read very well on camera -- no one reeach was absorbed in the whirlwind of a new experience. Soon after ous dance experience could receive private lessons and professional ally understands it, it’s kind of too slow and too artsy,” Ms. Klein warming up and practicing, each member of the new Shalhevet guidance at school. The girls’ teacher was the well-known modern dance influencer said. “I found a way to make contemporary work on social media dance club got a chance in the spotlight, as a professionally videographed and choreographed dance was recorded May 9 in the Erica Klein, who has worked as a choreographer on Jennifer Lopez’s video-wise and also commercially, giving it more interest to the World of Dance TV show and has a huge social media following -- general public instead of just artsy dancers who like contemporary.” Wildfire Theater. Sheyna said it was Danya’s dad, They’d only had one chance to practice -- at their prior meeting more than 240,000 followers on Instagram. A videographer who often works with Ms. Klein made the recording. the musician Robby Helperin, who in April -- and now each girl was given a minute or less to complete The club’s co-founders, Sheyna and fellow junior Danya made the connection with Ms. her segment of the dance to the song “Movement,” by Hozier. “Working with seven kids is Klein, though he didn’t know her Potential mistakes were taken into account by giving each girl Helperin, had long wished they could dance at school and literally the smallest class I teach, decided to be proactive and create something of their own. beforehand. two chances in front of the camera. “I’ve always been dancing outside of school,” said Dan- but it’s really cool because I’m able “A lot of the time I spent at The video has now been finished and sent to Mr. Weslow, and Danya’s house, we would have conwill be sent to just a few administrators who were involved with ya, “and although this school has all of these other types to give every person corrections and versations with her dad about how planning and sponsoring the club. It will not be released publicly of arts programs like journalism, visual art, film club, and actually watch them.” drama, it doesn’t really have dance. So I felt sort of a lack Shalhevet should have a dance club,” because club members thought it was too personal. Sheyna said. “To be completely honSheyna Schusterman, co-founder of the dance club, said it was of representation, and I wanted to sort of bring my two -- Erica Klein, Dance Club teacher est, her dad came up to us and sort worthwhile anyway, because it showed the members how filming worlds together.” Practice was held once a month for four months in the of asked us, like hey, would you girls was done in the professional world. It was the first professional theatre. Other club members are Eva Suissa, Nooria Kerenbe interested in doing something like dance recording any of them had made. this?” “Having the camera follow you around was kind of nerve- dian, Shira Weinreb and Aviva Waldman. With so few people, they had more time to notice and work on Mr. Helperin asked Danya and Eva Suissa who their dream wracking, but that could be because it was new for all of us,” said Sheyna. “We appreciated it at the end, because we got to experience each of their struggles, they said. That was also meaningful to Ms. teacher would be and they agreed on Erica Klein. Ms. Klein’s career Klein -- who said teaching at Shalhevet was different from her usual took off after she was featured on World of Dance, and she curclasses, which have hundreds of rently teaches at dance complexes TMILLY and Millennium dance people and many different levels in Los Angeles. of ability. “My dad was like, we have to shoot for the stars,” said Danya. “Working with seven kids is An email and phone call were all it took -- partly because Mr. literally the smallest class I teach, Helperin mentioned that the club would be for a Jewish school. but it’s really cool because I’m Ms. Klein, it turned out, was very interested. able to give every person correc“Randomly, like a few minutes into the conversation, he mentions and actually watch them,” tioned that he was Jewish,” said Ms. Klein. “And I was like wait said Ms. Klein in an interview -- what, did you guys even know I was Jewish? with the Boiling Point. “I’ve “I just felt more excited, more inclined I guess, because I never never really had those smaller really see people that are Jewish in my life, because the dance world private classes.” is not very Jewish.” Ms. Klein is also known for Club members thought decided as a group not to send their vidbeing featured in Elliot Moss’ eo out publicly. And some of the dancers asked not to be included well-known music video, “With- in it at all, though everyone was recorded. Danya said Admissions out the Lights.” As seen in many Director Natalie Weiss, Yoetzet Halacha Ms. Atara Segal, Head of postings on Youtube, her work School Rabbi Ari Segal and Judaic Studies Principal Rabbi David combines a graceful fluidity with Block will be invited to see it. sharp, almost jerky motions and She said dancers are naturally critical of themselves, and so pubfacial expressions that give her lishing the video could have been embarrassing. dances a theatrical feel. “That’s just the nature of artists,” said Danya. “If it’s not their She attributes her success best work, they don’t want to publish it… It seemed like something to her ability to make contem- that should be for friends and family, not the world.” porary dance -- which she said Danya and Sheyna are still figuring out the probability of conwas usually only appreciated by tinuing the club next year and who would teach it. “This is sort of a test run,” said Danya. BP photo by Rose Julis those within the dance industry -- accessible to a general audiMs. Klein is hoping it will continue, and include her. MOVEMENT: Senior Adira Waldman performed Erica Klein’s choreography for the camera. The videotape will ence with the use of social me“It just depends on everything, half them, half my schedule, but not be widely shared because the dancers consider it too personal. dia. She’s often on the floor, and I love doing it so I’d definitely be down,” she said.

Jolie Wineburgh, Staff Writer

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‘Shazam’ spins superhero fantasy into an appreciation of chosen families By Yishai Thau, Staff Writer Kids feel less important than adults. Kids are shorter, not as strong, and not as powerful. If a kid were suddenly given all the size, strength and power of an adult, what would happen? What if a child had the size and strength of an adult, but not the mind? To take that a step further, what if a kid became an adult superhero? Shazam powerfully explores this by giving the adults watching a chance to remember that little kid we all still are inside. Directed by David F. Sandberg and written by Henry Gayden, Shazam follows Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a street-smart 14-yearold foster kid who, after running away from too many foster homes, is transferred to a group foster home. There he meets Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), an awkward yet lovable kid with a walking disability. Freddy, Billy, and his newfound foster siblings are all enrolled in the same school. After an escape from the local bully, Billy encounters an old magical being named Shazam, played by Djimon Housou. Shazam makes Billy “champion of the gods,” giving him the speed, strength, and agility of several gods of Greek mythology. This movie is a delightful ride. Its characters are loveable, and each one is developed strongly and written with complexity and relatability. Billy Batson is given a great backstory, including having been orphaned at a very young age. Without spoiling the ultimate reveal, this backstory is given an added perspective that shifts Billy’s emotional connection towards his foster family. We experience Billy’s loss and regret with him, and the closure that

Steve Wilkie/Warner Bros WOW: Freddy Freeman, played by Jack Dylan Glazer, is amazed by Billy Batson’s transformation from boy to superhero. comes later, too. The connection between Freddy Freeman and Billy Batson also makes Shazam special. Both cast off at a young age and bullied for it at school, the characters’ shared suffering fuels a strong and visible bond. An emotionally resonant writing style drives the audience’s connection to them -- each one goes through so much struggle and strife that by the end of the movie, the rewards in the story are all the more satisfying for everyone.

Shazam also explores uncharted territory within the superhero genre, including the effects of childhood abandonment and chosen families. The best movies today blend genres together, and recently the best superhero films have as well. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) is also a political spy thriller; Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) is also a comedic space opera. Shazam is both a superhero movie and a comedic family drama, making it fresh and original. But Shazam’s most impactful quality is its powerful message: that chosen families could actually be as or more important than biological ones. It’s one that anyone can take with them. Billy Batson starts out reluctant to join this group home of other kids he doesn’t think are his real family. But as the film progresses, he realizes that they are his true family, and care more for him than any biological one he’s ever had. As a 14-year-old kid, Billy also has to stand up on his own two feet and become deserving of his newfound superhero powers. The physical and mental weight he has to carry is immense, and sometimes nearly impossible. He has to both juggle his school life as well as his superhero life. He tries and fails many times at doing this, and finally matures enough to earn his superhero name -- though in the end, he still retains his childlike wonder and sentiment. Shazam thus delivers on the promise of giving kids the feeling of what it’s like to be an adult and a superhero on a basic level. But it also pulls at our heartstrings, delivering an impacting story about the strength of friendship and the families we that we deserve.

The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Arts & Culture

Connecting the disconnected in ‘Technical Difficuties’ One-acts written and directed by students were more about humans than machines By Lucy Fried, Co-Editor-in-Chief With an overarching title of Technical Difficulties, the seven original plays in this year’s One-acts Festival all explored the way that human relationships are tested or strengthened by games and technology. From the dark side of computer spying to being outdoors sans cellphone service or see-sawing on a playground, they showed how an increasingly technological world has vast and powerful potential to connect people, but also poses new challenges to relationships, while non-electronic games were depicted as a more stabilizing connector for humanity. The festival had public performances April 7 and 11, and student performances throughout that school week, all in the Wildfire Theater behind the gym. ‘Overlooked,’ which was written and directed by Hannah Merritt, shed light upon the increasingly common reality of invasive technological monitoring. A data analyst named Fin watches a teenage girl as she walks the school hallway, texts her boyfriend, and gossips with a friend. Played by senior Adam Ritz, Fin is observing Shelby, played by senior Donna Grunfeld, but not in person or even on television -- he’s watching from a computer screen far away. Without her knowledge, BP Photo Courtesy of Daniel Reichert he is monitoring her cell phone activity for the company he works for. MONITOR: A data analyst played by Adam Ritz decides to overstep professional boundaries in order to help a girl whose phone activity he oversees. The production used two wall-size screens, which projected pre-recorded scenes in the play that were interspersed with the live action on the Some comic relief was provided by Recess, had only been presumed of one another because comedy’s role in enabling people to bond. It left stage. One showed the view from Shelby’s cell written by Ariel Urman and directed by drama they had never spoken. When human connecthe audience questioning the extent to which phone, which Fin was monitoring, and the other teacher Ms. Emily Chase. Expanding tion is the only option, the girls overcome their technology should overtake society, impacting showed Fin’s boss, played by Jacob Lefkowitz the meaning of “technical” far beyond what differences. even the most fundamental human traits, like a Brooks, holding long-distance conferences with we usually think of as 21st-century technology, universal sense of humor. him. This involved a projected life-feed of Adam Recess showed two elementary-schoolers, played In a similar vein, “Family Game Night” from behind the stage. by freshman Talya Kukurudz and sophomore From the world of sports -- the real kind showed board games as a unifier in an act that Fin becomes concerned when he sees Shelby Rebecca Cohen, navigating playground social -- “Benchwarmers” by senior Albert Gordon ofmixed comedy with nostalgia and some family being the victim of abusive behavior. Despite conflicts. fered an ode to competition, guilt. Written by freshman repeated warnings from his boss, played by With Talya as a cheerful but unconfident luck and the intensity of the Noah Masliah and dijunior Jacob Lefkowitz Brooks, he begins to girl who gradually emerges from the shadow of clock. ‘Team Building,’ by Jacob Lefkowrected by Hannah Merritt, monitor her with more care than is professionRebecca’s character’s mean friendship, Recess Sophomores Hannah Polthe play starred Haim Oliel itz Brooks, explored friendship ally necessary. managed to make interpersonal power dynamtorak and junior Anna Weiss as a young boy who wants dynamics through the more speThe festival’s most powerful and disturbics hilarious and provoked laughter throughout. cheered, groaned and bickered to enjoy a family game cific lens of teenage-hood, showing as high school basketball playing play, “Overlooked” captured the conflicts Beyond the actors’ hilariously recognizable night with his sister, played modern technology as a barrier between empathy portrayal of childers Cal and Jordan experiencby Ariel Urman, and father, to connection while distance from and professionalism hood immaturity and ing a game from the bench. played by Albert Gordon, as Adam’s character The pair spend the entirety screens can by itself foster truer Beyond the actors’ hilariously recognizable por- their perfect comedic the way had in the past. questions whether of the game hoping to be chorelationships. “I miss being a family!” trayal of childhood immaturity and their perfect timing, the play clearly to overstep profesresonated with audisen to play, and therefore wish Haim’s character of Derek comedic timing, the play clearly resonated with ence members’ experisional boundaries in vocally for another player to cries, when both his dad order to potentially audience members’ experiences of bullying and ences of bullying and foul out. Their conversation and sister disappoint him the conflicts within friendships that endure far the conflicts within save her. throughout the scene, which by having other plans that Ultimately, he beyond the grade-school years. friendships that endure was directed by Ms. Chase, revolves around night. intervenes to help, far beyond the gradewhether either of them will be chosen and how Both eventually cancel other plans in order which is objectively school years. desperately they want to be played. for the three of them to spend the evening beneficial to her, As the suspense reaches its climax, Cal is fitogether. The games serve as a unifying force but likely profesTwo of the plays, nally moved off the bench -- and the buzzer goes in their family, where the distractions of their sionally damaging to him -- and which also “Team Building” and “Family Game Night,” fast-paced lives had been forcing them apart. The off, meaning the game is over and he’ll have no exposes technology’s challenge to anyone’s right were expressly about what technology takes time on the court after all. The actors evoked the actors infused the performance with subtle and to privacy, even as it takes on an increasingly away. Written by Jacob Lefkowitz Brooks, “Team sweet nostalgia and heartwarming humor. eager, invested enthusiasm similar to that seen of integral role in human life. Building” explored friendship dynamics through Shalhevet’s own Firehawk team. A family’s bonds are tested again in “Dance,” the more specific lens of teenage-hood, showing But meanwhile, the excitement of the game written by sophomore Rebecca Cohen and modern technolhas bonded the players regardless of whether they directed by Donna Grunfeld. Two teens, played ogy as a barrier to actually played. by Hannah Poltorak and Anna Weiss, practice connection while a dance routine, then one gets news that her distance from For everyone who saw it, Technical Diffamily is moving to another city before the screens can by ficulties highlighted just how influential both performance. itself foster truer technology and games are in people’s lives and An older sister -- also a dancer -- played by relationships. interactions. Games, it said, provide a relifreshman Talya Kukurudz must convince their Donna Grunable source of passion and camaraderie, while parents to let her stay in town long enough to feld and Hannah technology proves to be more complicated. Thus, perform. In this scene, dance bonds the two Merritt portrayed the title is meant both literally and figuratively, sisters, mending a strained relationship. high school because with technology comes complications, juniors in differand with games come normal human difficulties. “Comedy is a Serious Business” showed the ent social groups But conflict, the festival showed, is present irony of that statement through a layered scene who had never in both. Technology’s impact on such crucial in which senior Daniel Medovoy played Bruce, been friends. But an actor who pitches a script idea to “Neima Fax- behaviors such as humor, bonding and personal separated from Machine,” a robot eponymously played by junior security is complicated and only beginning to be their camping understood. By contrast, the games of the past Neima Fax. The robot rejects all script ideas as groups -- and “not funny enough,” asserting that human come- could appear as more simplistic and understandtheir cell phones, able, coming with more familiar conflicts than dy is unnecessary because robots have conquered BP Photo Courtesy of Daniel Reichert the girls talk, the ones society has now begun to grapple with the world and can do it better anyway. SEESAW: Talya Kukurudz and Rebecca Cohen played schoolgirls in an problematic working through -- and partly through the mirror of plays like The scene, written by freshman Dallas Corn differences that friendship in Ariel Urman’s “Recess. “ these. and directed by Donna Grunfeld, highlighted

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The Boiling Point

Sports

JUNE 2019

Playoff appearance caps strong season for baseball team Happy Endings: The Raptors need to win By Clara Sandler, Co-Editor-in-Chief Acharon acharon haviv. The last one is the most precious. This Rashi perfectly embodies how I feel as I write this last, most precious column. How is my run with the Boiling Point, with the sports section, over? Instead of dwelling on the sad, let’s focus on the exciting. The exciting that is the NBA finals this year, which may -just may -- have a different kind of ending. Obviously the Golden State Warriors are in the mix. I really never thought there would be a scenario where I would root for Canada over the USA, but the entire United States, minus Northern California, is rooting for Canada. North American love! Basketball is getting boring. This routine of the Warriors always making the playoffs makes every other team look like they’re bad. And they’re not! Why is it that the Clippers gave the Warriors the biggest run for their money, even though the Clippers were the eighth seed, and the Warriors the first? The Rockets and Trail Blazers did not even come close. Maybe things are happening that we hadn’t noticed and basketball is on its way to becoming exciting. Then Game One of the finals happened, and the Warriors lost. Is this game a foreshadow for what the rest of the series is going to look like? Will the Warriors lose to a team that is not the Cavaliers for the first time in what feels like forever? Although the Warriors prevailed in Game Two, I believe there is still hope. Put simply, the Raptors need to win. They need to win so that the Warriors superteam crumbles. So that Kevin Durant leaves the Warriors. So that Northern Californians lose the obnoxious smugness with which they carry themselves. It has come to the point that I would prefer any team to the Warriors, because I just want basketball to be rich and fulfilling again. Currently, as the same team wins over and over, basketball is boring and more of the same. Basketball needs competition, not the same team winning all the time. And so the finals this year are exciting. The possibility of a Warriors failure, even if it is far more likely that they will succeed again, is tremendously riveting. So how do I spend my last column? Kvetching about the Warriors and putting all my faith in the only Canadian team in the NBA. But before I go, I want to thank the Sports Section for being such a significant part of my high school experience. I’d like to thank my dad for teaching me sports, my grandmother for teaching him sports and my friends for chatting with me about sports. Without regard to my gender. Acharon, acharon haviv.

NBA.com STAR:Toronto Raptors forward Kawhi Leonard gets ready to drive in the Raptors 118-109 victory over Warriors on May 30.

BP Photo by Sabrina Jahan DOMINANCE: Senior Eytan Kent winds up to pitch in the second inning of the 8-7 Firehawk victory over YULA April 14. that it’s only going to move in the right direction from here.” Coach Remer said that the baseball program is now leAfter having a season last year that was described as a “de- gitimate. “People will take it seriously,” he said. “Kids understood bacle” by parents, the boys baseball team finished this season that baseball was serious.” playing 17 games and making the playoffs. Two years ago, the team went 7-8-1, and last year, the The Firehawks finished the season 8-7 but fell 13-9 to the Hillcrest Christian Saints of Thousand Oaks in the first round team finished 5-10. “We made the playoffs of course, which was one of my of the CIF playoffs on May 2. biggest goals,” Coach Gunches said. “Next year we’ll be even Head Coach Brad Gunches said a lack of playoff experibetter, cause there were a lot of times where we only played ence contributed to the loss. “They looked a little nervous,” said Coach Gunches, who with nine players.” His players agreed. became the head coach in January. “Playing in the playoffs is “I want to go further,” said Zach. “I a lot different than playing in a regular game want to make a drive in the playoffs.” and it’s very hard to coach kids how to play The team currently has five juniors a playoff game. “We could’ve done a lot poised to lead the team next year as se“Either you win or you go home.” better… and there were niors. This year, they had three seniors, but And they went home. In that game, the none were on the team last season as jua couple of games that Firehawks jumped to a quick 4-0 lead in the niors. Players are already beginning to retop of the first inning. However, they blew we could have pulled out, cruit incoming ninth-graders for next year. the lead when the Saints responded with 10 could’ve won,” Although he said the season was great, runs in the bottom of the first, most unearned --Coach Gunches there’s still room for improvement, said due to errors. Coach Gunches. “We fell apart,” Coach Gunches told the “We could’ve done a lot better… and Boiling Point. there were a couple of games that we The team rallied and chipped away at could have pulled out, could’ve won,” he their six-run deficit but it was too little, too said. late, and they ended up losing by four. Junior Jonah TochNext year, the team will have a longer regular season and a ner said that the playoff game was symbolic of their whole winter program with weekly practices and scrimmages. Freshseason. “We started off strong in the first inning, went down by I man second-baseman Andrew Petlak expects the hard work think six runs in the second inning, but we never let that get will pay off. “That’ll be better for our team chemistry,” said Andrew. to us,” said Jonah, who plays shortstop and pitcher. “We kept According to Coach Remer, the team will have Fairfax fighting, and I think that’s indicative of our whole season.” Junior outfielder Zach Helfand was upset to have had the High School’s baseball field for games and practices, and on Sundays, will play at Valley College against other Jewish day team’s playoff run end in the first round. “It was frustrating,” said Zach. “Especially the way we lost schools. Josh Harrison said everything about this season was better it, we kind of gave them the game.” Sophomore Josh Harrison, who plays shortstop and third- than last. “The practices are just so much more efficient and better; base, was happy to have made the playoffs. we actually did drills that could help us in the game,” Josh “It was amazing,” Josh said. “Such a good feeling to actusaid. ally accomplish that this year.” Josh said that Coach Gunches was especially supportive The Firehawks last made the playoffs in 2017, but lost 13-3 in the first round with their seniors absent in Poland of the team. “He knew what we wanted; he wanted us to be comfortand Israel. able in our positions,” Josh said. “The coach actually wanted Despite the loss, Athletic Director Jeff Remer said the baseball program has improved substantially from last season. us to get a lot better, and he actually believed that we had “Baseball’s on the upswing,” said Coach Remer. “I think what it took to win.”

By Tobey Lee, Features Editor

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The Boiling Point • June 2019 • Sports

Shalhevet suspends most basketball against Valley Torah Complains of oversharing of information with Palm Springs before CIF Div. 3A playoff game in February “The fact that Ryan thought, ‘Hey, we could probably beat them by 20 points, maybe he thought, ‘We were better, how did we Shalhevet has decided not to play Vallose?’” Coach Schwartzberg said. “I think ley Torah in regular season boys’ basketball that’s partially why Coach Ryan jumped to while the school’s current head coach leads that conclusion, because he knew that Chris the team, because of help that coach prois one of my closest friends.” vided to the Palm Springs High School InCoach Schwartzberg said he regrets dians, the Firehawks’ opponent, in advance talking to Coach Howard at all about the of this year’s CIF quarterfinal game, Rabbi Firehawks, because of the subsequent harm. Segal confirmed last month. “In hindsight, knowing Shalhevet’s perThe Feb. 14 game against Palm Springs spective on the whole interaction, I would was the first time a Jewish high school had probably tell Howard that I am not the perreached that level in California Interschoson to talk to,” Coach Schwartzberg said. lastic Federation competition. Palm Springs Coach Howard generally defended Coach defeated the Firehawks 56-48 in the matchSchwartzberg, telling the Boiling Point the up and later advanced to the Southern Seconly advice he received from him was to play tion Division 3A championship game. zone defense -- advice he said he ignored. Officials and players of all schools inRabbi Segal said there was much more involved agreed that Valley Torah Head Coach formation given than that. He told the BoilLior Schwartzberg gave information about ing Point that Valley Torah had “stepped over Shalhevet to Palm Springs Head Coach a line,” though he declined several requests to Chris Howard, to help his team win. offer specifics. But they disagreed on the extent of the “I feel sufficiently confident that stuff was information given, and on whether it was shared beyond ‘play them zone defense,’” out of the ordinary. Shalhevet says Coach Rabbi Segal said. Schwartzberg gave Palm Springs plays and Firehawk suspicion about the Palm film, while Valley Torah says Palm Springs Springs team’s information came early in was given much less and the information their first-ever match in February. Team capwasn’t significant. tain Zack Muller said he noticed during the Rabbi Segal didn’t call the assistance game that Palm Springs was very familiar “cheating,” but said he considered it a chilwith Firehawks plays. He also thought Palm lul Hashem, or a desecration of God’s name. Springs could read Shalhevet’s hand signals. He declined to provide the Boiling Point “Anything we called, they called it back, with specific evidence, replying “no comand then they defended it very well,” said ment” when asked why, but later saying he Zack, who was named co-MVP of the Red opted to take the “high road” and not pubSarachek Tournament in New York in March. licly release it. Zack said he believes Coach Schwartz“I thought it was a chillul Hashem that a berg gave Palm Springs the Firehawks’ plays, Jewish team would give another team video scouting reports and a “blueprint” for beatof another Jewish team for scouting purposing them. es,” Rabbi Segal said. Palm Springs Coach Howard acknowlRabbi Segal said he had informed Rabbi edged the calling back of plays but said it was Avrohom Stulberger, Dean and Rosh YeBP Photo by Neima Fax just a ploy. He said he would intentionally shiva of Valley Torah High School, of his call back plays Coach Coleman called to make RIVALRY: Firehawk and Wolfpack players fought for position to get a rebound in Shalhevet’s 55-41 victory at the opening decision. game of the Steve Glouberman Tournament last fall. Shalhevet believes Valley Torah interfered improperly in a CIF playoff it seem as if Palm Springs knew the play. “I told Rabbi Stulberger that, for the game against Palm Springs in February, by sharing more than the usual amount of information about Firehawk plays. “At a timeout,” Coach Howard said, “one time being, while Coach Schwartzberg is the of our kids said, ‘Coach we got them rattled, coach at Valley Torah, we won’t be playing because they think we know all their plays, Both sides agree that Palm Springs obtained film of Firehawk them in boys basketball,” Rabbi Segal said in games -- a standard basketball procedure, especially for playoffs. just because we’re repeating what they said.’” a meeting with Boiling Point editors. Neither Zack nor Coach Remer accepted this explanation. Asked whether an apology might be sufficient instead of a dis- Shalhevet contends that they were given to Palm Springs by Coach Coach Remer said he was told by an unnamed Valley Torah player missal of the coach, Rabbi Segal said an apology would have to be Schwartzberg, which Palm Springs and Valley Torah deny. Firehawks Coach Ryan Coleman agreed that coaches sharing after the game that it was almost as if his team knew Shalhevet’s extremely sincere. plays and hand signals as well as the Firehawks did themselves. advice with one another is a common practice. “An apology was not offered or suggested,” Rabbi Segal said. “They knew everything perfectly,” said Coach Remer, who But this was different, he said. Rabbi Stulberger said he believes Valley Torah only gave Palm He said Valley Torah coaches and players had been attending coaches the Shalhevet girls basketball team. “It isn’t possible that Springs a “general assessment” of the Firehawks’ strengths and most of Shalhevet’s games for the last two years, gathering film someone didn’t tip them.” weaknesses. Their suspicions were validated the day after the Palm Springs He said he regretted Coach Schwartzberg’s actions and told and information that Palm Springs would not have been able to game, when Coach Howard and Coach Coleman discussed ways him not to do it again. But hethought Shalhevet’s response get on its own. “I know from two consecutive years of Valley Torah being at Palm Springs could defeat Santa Barbara in the CIF’s semi-final was too strong. most of our games, and we have run the same plays for those two round. “To me, Jewish schools Shalhevet is not in any Coach Coleman said that in that call, Coach Howard admityears,” said Coach Coleman, who was named 2017-18 Jewish playing each other is part of kind of feud with Valley Hoops America Coach of the Year. “There’s nobody who could ted he’d received information from Coach Schwartzberg about the the L.A. fabric,” Rabbi StulFirehawks. know more about our team than Lior.” berger said in a telephone Torah,” Rabbi Segal wrote. “He told me on the phone that day that Coach Schwartzberg He said he and Coach Schwartzberg were friends, and he has interview with the Boiling “I have great respect for evidence that Coach Schwartzberg gave Palm Springs a “very de- gave him what he needed,” Coach Coleman said. Point. “I think it creates the school, their parent and tailed” scouting report on the Firehawks. But Coach Howard told the Boiling Point he knew the Fireexcitement for the fans, parstudent body, and Rabbi What bothered him most, Coach Coleman said, was that he hawks plays so well because he devoted hours to watching games ents, and for the community. videos of their games. Stulberger. felt betrayed. “I would have hoped that “I told [Coach Coleman]: ‘Hey man, it was hours and hours “I would never give a detailed scouting report about somebody we could come up with a -- Rabbi Segal of film,’” said Coach Howard. “I called who I was friends with in the coaching indifferent resolution than the off Wednesday from work just to watch very drastic step of not playing each other,” he continued. dustry,” said Coach Coleman. “It’s kind of film.” like an unspoken coaching rule.” “At the end of the day, it’s basketball.” Lior’s version of the story is very Coach Howard admitted speaking Shalhevet Athletic Coordinator Jeff In a Schoology post about the decision May 16, Rabbi Segal different than [Shalhevet’s] version of with Coach Coleman directly after the said the schools still maintain strong relations, and that the deci- Remer, who attended the Palm Springs game, but told the Boiling Point that the story, so I’d rather give everyone the game and whose sons play on the Firehawk sion pertains to basketball only. what he said to Coleman was, “Give team, agreed with Coach Coleman’s overall benefit of the doubt that it’s a misunder“Shalhevet is not in any kind of feud with Valley Torah,” Rabbi that one to Lior” -- meaning not that Segal wrote. “I have great respect for the school, their parent and assessment. standing.” Coach Lior Schwartzberg had provided “We don’t have a ‘smoking gun,’” Coach student body, and Rabbi Stulberger.” -- Rabbi Stulberger, Dean and Rosh key info, but that it would please Valley Shalhevet and Valley Torah usually play each other once or Remer said, “but when you take the totality Yeshiva of Valley Torah High School Torah because of the rivalry between two of all the circumstances, you come to one twice a year – sometimes during the CIF season, or at Shalhevet’s Jewish teams. Steve Glouberman Tournament or the Red Sarachek Tournament conclusion and one conclusion only.” “When we win, Lior wins,” the Palm Rabbi Stulberger of Valley Torah thinks at Yeshiva University in New York. Springs coach told the Boiling Point. “Because obviously Lior nevRabbi Segal’s action means that the school will not schedule a different view is possible. “Lior’s version of the story is very different than [Shalhevet’s] er beats Shalhevet.” regular season games with Valley Torah, but will still play Valley For now, Shalhevet’s basketball players seem unphased by the version of the story,” Rabbi Stulberger said, “so I’d rather give evTorah in other tournaments if they match up. controversy. “This is not a boycott — if we are matched in Sarachek or eryone the benefit of the doubt that it’s a misunderstanding.” Rising-star guard Jacob Benezra said he doesn’t expect the deciCoach Schwartzberg denied giving Palm Springs’ Coach HowCIF, we will play them,” said Rabbi Segal in the Schoology post. sion to have any effect at all on the way he plays the game. ard any films he had of Shalhevet, or any “malicious” advice. In “However, I do not feel comfortable actively scheduling games “I suit up and play whatever team coach tells me to play,” Jacob an interview, Coach Schwartzberg said he thinks Shalhevet didn’t with them in the context of this incident.” The last time the Firehawks played the Wolfpack was in this expect to be beaten by Palm Springs, and so his friendship with said. year’s Glouberman Tournament first round on Oct. 31, and Shal- Coach Howard -- which was known to Coach Coleman -- might have made him an easy scapegoat for the loss. hevet won 55-41. They did not meet at Sarachek this year.

By Alex Rubel, Sports Editor

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The Boiling Point • June 2018 • Sports

Star golfer Wiesel represents Firehawks at CIF playoffs teams are considered “clubs,” ineligible for CIF playoffs. “We have to go out-recruit other schools and form As the Firehawk golf season came to a close, sean independent league, which is what we have done,” nior star golfer Aaron Wiesel represented the entire said Shalhevet Athletic Coordinator Jeff Remer. “It Shalhevet team at the CIF playoffs to compete against 120 other golfers from Southern California for the takes four teams to have an actual program in the league.” top spot. Coach Remer says reaching this threshold won’t The competition was held at the River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard on May 6. Aaron placed in the top be difficult next year, because a fifth school will be 100 of all golfers, though he did not have a notable fielding a golf team next season. “Now we have Vistamar, Pac Lutheran, and Amenough run on the course to be mentioned for any bassador in it, and Rolling Hills accolades or to move onto the next Prep is joining next year,” he said. round. Because Aaron was able But he said that didn’t matter to “I expect the team to expand, to qualify for the CIF playoffs, him. grow, and do great things.” Coach Remer said that the golf “It felt nice to represent Shalhe--Jonah Ackerman, 9th grade program is a legitimate team, and vet in the tournament,” said Aaron. not a club. “The athletic department has done “If it were a club, then it so much for the team and it felt like wouldn’t be under the auspices I was returning the favor.” of the CIF,” Coach Remer said. Of all the members of the team, only Aaron -- who Despite only Aaron qualifying for the playoffs, graduated last weekend -- participated in the competition. The star player’s absence will leave a void to be players said the rest of the team -- led by Coach Charley Wiesel, Aaron’s father -- grew in ability and prowfilled next year. Junior Gilad Spitzer said the team’s loss of not just ess by the end of the season, especially the rookies to Aaron, but also three other seniors , would have a both the team and golf in general. “Coach Wiesel showed me how to hold the club huge impact on future seasons. and how to keep my head down and keep my feet “I’m going to have to step up as a leader and as planted,” said Jonah Ackermann, freshman rookie and captain of the team,” said Gilad. “I want to encourage a rising star on the golf team. “All this stuff helped me more underclassmen to step up.” Without the addition of underclassmen or more hit the ball farther and straighter.” Jonah was one of eight players to play in tournaplayers, the golf team might no longer have a big ment matches this year and the only freshman to parenough roster to have a team. That, it turns out, would cause the entire league ticipate. In CIF golf, eight players per team compete in a match. Jonah is primed to lead the team over the to fall apart. In the Mulholland League, a minimum of four next three years. “I expect the team to expand, grow, and do great schools have to commit to a new, independent league for any team to qualify for the playoffs. Non-league things,” said Jonah.

By Caleb Fishman, Staff Writer

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BP Photo by Gilad Spitzer

DRIVE: Senior Aaron Wiesel hits a stroke in the CIF playoffs at the River Ridge Golf Course in Oxnard on May 6. Aaron represented the entire Shalhevet team and participated against 120 other golfers.

New boys volleyball team is focusing on growth Players, all underclassmen, hope losing season is a prelude to greatness as more join the team next year handful of players had a conflict, Coach Remer explained. A volleyball team needs six players on the court at all times Eventually they decided to give it a try anyway. In what turned out to be a tough league, Shalhevet’s new “We decided that if those eight kids would be locked in, boys volleyball team went 2-7 this spring, but the players and committed, we would go with a volleyball team,” Coach and coaches expect plenty of growth next season. The effort started last summer when then-incoming Remer said. Then Shalhevet’s practice and game schedules were shortfreshman Noah Masliah approached Athletic Coordinator ened even more, due to school holJeff Remer about forming a team. idays and trips. They were only able “He said, ‘Just keep in touch with me, and to practice a maximum of two times we’ll talk about it,’” said Noah, who is the “Coach Jelly was an a week. team’s co-captain along with fellow sophoNoah thinks that was because the more Yakov Berg. amazing coach who got our team’s coach, Coach Jelly Castellanos, Coach Remer said as long as a team foundteam playing well in a couple was more serious about the sport, and er recruits enough players, the school will take of weeks,” demanded more commitment than care of the rest. most prospective players had. “If you want to make something happen “She was a good coach,” Noah said. here, the school will always support you if you --Eitan Jalali, 9th grade “But she was pretty strict, so kids didn’t can get it off the ground,” said Coach Remer. like the fact that she made us run.” And that’s what happened. The volleyball The Boiling Point was unable to team has joined the Mulholland League, in reach Coach Castellanos for comment which most Shalhevet sports teams play. At in spite of repeated tries. season’s end, they were one game shy of makFreshman Eitan Jalali admired how the coach was able to ing the playoffs, according to Coach Remer, and everyone get the newborn team on its feet quickly. on the team seemed pleased. “Coach Jelly was an amazing coach who got our team Yakov Berg expects improvement moving forward for the playing well in a couple of weeks,” Eitan said. all-underclassman team. In April, the team participated in the Milken Tourna“We have a lot to improve because some of us are firstment against seven other schools from Southern California. time players,” said Yakov. “But I think if we keep playing for the next two or three years, if all of us stay on the team, we They ended up in the loser’s bracket and placing last, but players were still pleased with their performance. can get good.” “We did well considering the circumstances,” said Eitan. There was a month-long delay in getting the program Every team in that tournament gets an all-team honors started, however. Although 16 boys had tried out and made award. Yakov Berg won Shalhevet’s. the team, they soon began dropping out. The Firehawks also almost beat St. Monica -- the eventuThe roster fell to eight, and school officials hesitated -al tournament winner -- in the second round of a placement worried that a small squad would have to forfeit if just a

By Alex Rubel, Sports Editor

game, but ended up losing 19-25. Noah said communication between the players and coaches could be improved. He said the team accidently left Shalhevet on a bus without Coach Castellanos before its first away game. But that might have been a good thing. “Because we forgot her, we realized the bus driver had the wrong address,” Noah said. Though Noah wants to expand the team’s season, he said starting on time next year is more of a priority. “I’d love more games, but the team starting up late was definitely a big issue.”

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BP Photo by Rayna Kent Teamwork: Firehawk players warm up ahead of a match against the Pacific Lutheran Stingrays on March 25. In their first year, the boys’ volleyball team went 2-7, but the young team expects to grow moving forward.