SHALHEVET HIGH SCHOOL • Los Angeles, CA June 2018 • Sivan 5778 • Vol. 18, Issue 6 shalhevetboilingpoint.com
Student parking lot to reopen, seniors will have priority Administration says it will follow results of Town Hall poll; Tom Bergin’s not responding to inquiries on leasing unused lot next door BY Lucy Fried, Torah Editor
BP photo by Neima Fax
BRAID: Ms. Yona Nadelman, second from right, described her Holocaust experiences while making bread with students in the Wildfire Theater May 17. The event was sponsored by the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust and led by students.
‘La Dough Va Dough’ weaves challah and history Holocaust survivors share their stories with students while making bread By MOLLY LITVAK, Staff Writer Holocaust survivors and high school students braided challah together in the Shalhevet theater last week, sharing the life-changing events of World War II in a means they hoped neither would forget. The event was called “La Dough Va Dough,” a pun on the Hebrew expression l’dor vador which means “from generation to generation.” Sophomore Noa Nelson, one of the organizers, said it was put together with the idea that students would learn more about the Holocaust in an environment away from textbooks. Additionally, she said, braiding challah is a tradition that both generations can bond over. It’s not so much that the challah has
anything to do with the Holocaust,” said Noa. “It’s more that braiding the challah creates an open new environment for the survivors and students to share and connect.” Three survivors — Martha Sternbach, Yona Nadelman and Gabriella Karin — were there, and each shared her story with one third of the group, which was divided among three tables for the May 17 lunch. The event was organized by Noa, sophomore Emma Mackler and junior Jonathan Fishman, all of whom are on the teen advisory board at the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. Ms. Karin, who spent the war hidden with her family in a small apartment in
Slovakia, has spoken all over including Yad Vashem in Israel and at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. She also has gone on the March of the Living trip seven times and been featured in multiple publications, including the Los Angeles Times and as a cover story of the Jewish Journal. “It was nice to speak to a small group,” Ms. Karin said. Ms. Karin is also a sculptor. Her work can be found in Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, the Museum of Tolerance, the Slovakia Holocaust museContinued on page 2
A legacy of excellence as Ms. Sunshine retires BY CLARA SAndler, community editor, and Hannah Jannol, editor-in-chief Mrs. Tove Sunshine, known for her commitment to advanced subjects, her organized teaching style, her fairness to all students and her readable facial expressions during Town Hall, is retiring this month after 11 years of teaching psychology, history and Jewish history courses at Shalhevet. Alumni and current students praised her as being inspirational, some saying she sparked an interest in psychology that they plan to pursue professionally. She believes she has taught somewhere around 935 students since arriving in 2007. “I want to slow the pace of my life down,” BP Photo by Neima Fax Mrs. Sunshine said in a Boiling Point interview. “I still really enjoy teaching -- the nitty gritty FAIR: Students said Ms. Sunshine's classes went by quickly and changed isn’t so fun. [There are] other things I could be the way they think. She inspired several alumni to become psychologists. doing that I really love and value. I want to do Continued on page 8
After four years of time-consuming and often expensive student improvisation to find parking spots -- including paying upwards of $20 daily to park at the Petersen Museum, or risking a ticket at the meters on San Vicente -- Shalhevet’s old student lot will reopen for school use next fall. Seniors will get priority for the limited number of spots, after administration approved the results of a non-binding survey taken at Town Hall on May 17. Head of School Rabbi Ari Segal said he had decided to follow results of the vote, in which a plurality of students favored “senior priority” as a means of dividing up spots. Other choices had been priority for carpools, distance from school, and some kind of combination of those. “I would defer to the vote,” Rabbi Segal said. “I just always ask that the seniors and the Just Community consider students who are coming from far, far away. I think it’ll depend on how many spots we can get out of there.” The lot was closed to students in 2015, when Alliance Residential began using it to house trailers connected to construction of the Vinz apartment complex. Now that the Vinz has opened, the lot is empty. “We have to repave it,” Rabbi Segal said, “so once we repave it and put the new fence up we’ll be able to see how many spots we can get and then we’ll know how many people wanna drive, carpool.” He also said the school had approached Tom Bergin’s restaurant -Shalhevet’s neighbor to the north, which now operates only on Fridays -- to see if it would be willing to rent its parking lot to Shalhevet during school hours. The restaurant has not responded, he said, in spite of numerous attempts to reach them. “They’ve been completely unreceptive to it,” Rabbi Segal said. “You’d think they would say sure, because we literally need the parking lot when they’re not there, and we’re happy to pay a normal amount for it.” Still, there is hope for student parking next year. With about 20 spots somewhat up for grabs, the Agenda Committee devoted Town Hall to the topic while seniors were in Israel. Incoming Agenda Chair Talia Gill said that the lot, located at the northwest corner of Fairfax and San Vicente, would be given to students -- but would only allow for approximately 20 cars, not nearly enough for the entire driving population. At the end of Town Hall, Agenda posted an anonymous survey so the community could give feedback as to how the system should work. It was not meant to be binding, the committee said at the time. The survey asked first whether students should have to pay for parking, and then how the spots should be given: a first-come, first-served or random basis; priority to residents of the Valley; priority to seniors; priority for carpools; or various combinations of these. The results were calculated automatically, and Talia posted them later that evening. Eighty-two percent voted that students should not have to pay. Out of 163 votes in the survey, senior priority won a plurality with 41 percent; “Must meet certain criteria” was second with 18 percent. “First semester just seniors, second semester seniors and juniors” came in third with 16 percent; while a combination of Valley and senior priority came in fourth with 9 percent. Valley priority received 6 percent; and carpool priority and no priority tied for last place with 5 percent each. Preceding the results, Town Hall had consisted of constant hands flying in the air and passionate speeches made in attempt to persuade the community of various views as to who deserved the parking priority. Freshman Noa Silberstein, who lives in the Valley, said that giving priorContinued on page 3
WHAT’S INSIDE... Outside News, Page 6
6
GAZA Students defend Israel's reactions on the border while also struggling with their fatal results
5
Features, Page 5 POLAND + ISRAEL Feeling farther than ever while being closer than before
3
Community, Page 3 ELECTIONS Another Gill takes over, and SAC leadership grows from 2 + 1 to 3+2