The Rampage The Newspaper of the Ramaz Upper School
New York • Volume 54 • Issue 3 • November 2019 • Cheshvan 5780 • the-rampage.org
A Farewell To Rabbi Lookstein’s Jewish Sexual Ethics Rebecca Massel '21
For the past three decades, Rabbi Lookstein has taught Jewish Sexual Ethics, a class specially designed for Ramaz sophomores during their teenage mental and physical development. This class focused on Judaism's view of sexuality, prompting the students to explore their bodies and sexuality within the confines of halacha as they quickly turn from children into young adults. This course paused in the middle of last year, when Rabbi Lookstein decided to step down from teaching the class. Thus, neither half of the Class of 2021 nor the Class of 2022 have had the opportunity to take a course in sexual ethics from a Jewish perspective. In past years, Rabbi Lookstein came to Ramaz for six to eight weeks and taught in place of one quarter of sophomore Hebrew classes. He discussed the Torah’s views on issues such as abortion, the LGBT Movement, taharat hamishpacha (Jewish laws of family purity), and Jewish divorce. The homework consisted of readings from newspaper articles or theological essays. Seniors noted that in the past, Rabbi Lookstein class did not insist on strict halacha, but was rather a discussion based on the Torah’s view of sexuality. Ten years ago, in a New York Times article about his class, Rabbi Lookstein stated, “This is one of the most favorite things I do in the world…. I love the interaction with students — and being able to open their eyes to the way in which Judaism approaches the basic facts of life.” Students thought this class was enlightening and raised important discussion questions. Jack Fisher ’22 said, “This class shed light on how the Torah viewed sexuality. It was really interesting to hear about these issues not only from a regular sex-ed perspective.” Elizabeth Newman-Corré ’22 said that she found it powerful when Rabbi Lookstein discussed the continuity of the Jewish people.
“It is crazy to think that our children are continuing the Jewish people, especially with the increasing issue of assimilation in society,” she said. According to Ms. Krupka, Rabbi Lookstein unfortunately decided that teaching this class would no longer work for his schedule. One student commented that she often received emails or Schoology posts from Rabbi Lookstein informing the students of their free period at the time when class was supposed to start, letting them know that he would have to miss the class for his many other responsibilities. The Ramaz administration is planning to modify the Jewish Sexual Ethics class and to continue it for juniors starting this year. An issue with the previous scheduling was that Jewish Sexual Ethics was during the Hebrew slot, which meant that during those six to eight weeks, students were not learning Ivrit. Ms. Krupka commented on this, “We always felt terrible that we were taking a subject that doesn’t even meet that often in the rotation and just canceling it.” The administrators consider teaching students about sexual ethics in Judaism to be extremely important. Ms. Krupka said, “I think there are a million messages we get in this world about body, sexuality, relationships, gender. How do those things interact with our relationships now? How will they interact with our relationships going forward? The school feels that it is necessary for the class to be taught in tandem with the junior sex education health class.” In addition, it is important to teach this critical view of the Torah before senior year, when students are busy preparing for college and graduating. This year, the school will be integrating Jewish Sexual Ethics with the JLT classes. Many of the details still need to be decided, including when in the year the
topic will be taught and whether it will be taught by the JLT teachers or by another teacher. Ms. Krupka will likely teach a few sections because she has taught a mini-course on love and intimacy to seniors for the past few years. Although Rabbi Lookstein will not be teaching the class, his years of experience will continue to be passed down to future generations. Rabbi Lookstein shared his curriculum with the current JLT teachers, and they are building on it. Rabbi Lookstein learned much of his curriculum from being a community leader for many years. Instead of teaching from the perspective of a community leader, Ms. Krupka may go into more details regarding taharat hamishpacha. Rabbi Schimmel may bring his philosophical perspective into the curriculum. Each teacher will add his or her own flavor to the class. Overall, Rabbi Lookstein’s class will be greatly missed at Ramaz. Newman-Corré ’20 said, “I think that it is important to hear about this serious topic from someone with such stature as Rabbi Lookstein, and his class brought out some very important questions and discussions.”
Mr. Deutsch's New Library Reading Initiative Isaac Silverman ’21 Mr. Deutsch, better known as the “The Master of Books,” has been in charge of the library since last year, making impressive strides and transforming the library through several initiatives, including hosting monthly movie nights, offering textbooks for student use in the library (with the help of Rabbi Blaustein, aka “The Bookmaster”), and most recently, remodeling the library’s layout. Recently, Mr. Deutsch has taken upon himself another mission, particularly important to him: getting Ramaz students to read. According to Mr. Deutsch, the first step involves filling the library with books that students actually want to read, and this past month, students were surveyed in their English classes about the types of books they read for pleasure. The Rampage spoke to Mr. Deutsch to learn more about his new initiative. Towards the end of last year, Mr. Deutsch, along with several student volunteers, began emptying nearly all the shelves in the library. His goal was to try “to get rid of a lot of books that were outdated and/or didn't really fit our needs,” specifically books that had been collecting dust for many years. The next step he thought, was to “modernize our collection, and make it more relevant or appealing to the kinderlach.” And what better way to find out what the “kinderlach” wanted then to ask them? That was when he came up with the idea to create the survey. The results would generate a better understanding of which books would replace those discarded. Mr. Deutsch said that he “would much rather get popular books that kids would actually read than books that I might or other teachers might think are great, but that will collect dust on the shelves.”
Inside this issue...
Looking over part of the data collected, Mr. Deutsch has already begun making some discoveries. A large number of the student body does not read for pleasure, which did not come as a shock. However, the part of the student body that does isn’t that small of a group. According to the survey, most of the kids who do read for pleasure, only do so once a week which Mr. Deutsch
assumes is on Shabbat. One common response that Mr. Deutsch found particularly interesting had to do with the question of what medium students read. A large number of the student body said that they read from actual books— not on e-readers or on their phones. This “could certainly effect purchases,” said Mr. Deutsch. He would still like to create some sort of a “pilot program” of installing e-books and Kindles into the library as well. Although they are not as popular, he believes that they are great resources and hopes to get kids more interested in them. However, Mr. Deutsch admits that more data is necessary. He wants this initiative to incorporate all st-
dents' opinions. However, he feels he does not yet have everyone’s input. The 10th grade, in particular, Mr. Deutsch points out, has not provided him with much information, and he is excited to learn more. However, even students who did fill out the survey did not answer as specifically as he had hoped. Mr. Deutsch noted that he would “like to get more details on specific authors that kids enjoy since it might help me do a better job of finding material kids will read.” Another survey would be helpful to give him some more concrete results. Many students hate having to even read books for school, let alone for pleasure. Mr. Deutsch loves TV and movies, but, according to the Master of Books himself, reading “opens up whole new worlds of knowledge and imagination.” Even if knowledge and imagination aren’t concepts that appeal to you, reading remains a necessary skill for life. It should be developed and not left to waste. Mr. Deutsch stresses that reading comprehension skills will also improve writing skills, which is, of course, another valuable skill. Mr. Deutsch’s overall goal is “to make the library a better place for the students,” and to do that, he needs the input of the students. The library of the past was a much less exciting place, but Mr. Deutsch is working on changing its purpose altogether. Mr. Deutsch emphasized that any recommendations are welcome, whether it’s a book genre you’d like to see more of in the library, board games you’d want to play, certain magazines, or even new ways to utilize the space. The library should be a place for students to do all sorts of things, and Mr. Deutsch wants to try his best to make that happen.
No Strikes Until October 4th?.........................................................................................................page 2 Ramaz Celebrates the Chagim.......................................................................................................pages 4-5 When Do Ramaz Students Learn to Drive?......................................................................................page 6 How Early Should College Guidance Start?...................................................................................page 8