fornia

One of the reasons Vardi pursued this position is because JDS has such a strong, pluralistic community. Vardi believes that many of the values she holds align with the values the school espouses. Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), for example, is infused into the JDS curriculum.

“That’s sort of beyond community service,” Vardi said. “But how do you empower students to go out and be change-makers in the world?”

Vardi is also a big believer in experiential education. When she was in high school, Vardi joined a program called Amigas de Los Amer-

Vardi made an appearance as Madonna in “The Wedding Singer,” the musical at Bullis.

Vardi spent one month studying Russian at Pushkin Language Institute in Moscow, Russia. icas, where she spent four weeks in northern Costa Rica vaccinating baby cows. This specific experience altered the way she values experiential learning and global studies.

Vardi believes working in education taught her to take risks, persevere and always be a learner. She is enrolled in Harvard’s Certificate in School Management and Leadership online course, and she has recently finished the Leading People course and hopes to finish the other courses in the program over the next year.

She is looking forward to getting to know the high school students and is prepared to incorporate her background into her new role.

“I can only bring in my values and I can only bring in my learning,” Vardi said. “I think it’s premature to say, ‘Here is my vision and here is what I want to do.’ I can bring in my experiences, I can look, learn and listen.”

Catching up with former principal Marc Lindner

A look into the past administrator’s new job at Sinai Akiba Academy in California

Dr. Lindner overlooking the beautiful view of Los Angeles from his home. Stepping into the new role as Head of School at Sinai Akiba Academy.

Mischa Trainor Editor-in-Chief

Former principal Dr. Marc Lindner returned to Los Angeles to assume the role of Head of School at Sinai Akiba Academy. Lindner was High School Principal and Associate Head of School of CESJDS for four years. During his time, he oversaw the beginning of distance learning.

As Head of School, Lindner oversees all of the operations of the school, supervises all the administrators, works on the budget and represents the Sinai Akiba Academy community. Sinai Akiba Academy is a Jewish day school that runs from kindergarten through eighth grade.

“My favorite part about my new job is that I get to build on a very strong foundation, strong Jewish tradition, Jewish values that have been here and find ways to move the school to its next levels “We hope to be able to visit and definitely welcome anybody from JDS that happens to be visiting, you know, LA we’d love to see them.”

-Dr. Marc Lindner

and to the future,” Lindner said.

Lindnerhenjoyedjmany aspects of JDS during his time working there, and he believes that JDS is an amazing school that excels both in general and Judaic studies.

“When I moved to Maryland to work at JDS, I had the expectation that it was really [one of the best] Jewish day schools in the country in terms of its program, both in general studies and Judaics, or Jewish studies. That was true. And I still believe that to be true,” Lindner said. “So I miss, you know, all of the excellent work that students and faculty do at JDS.”

Lindner and his family made the move from Maryland to California over the summer. Despite moving cross country during a pandemic and having to observe social distancing guidelines, it went well. Lindner and his family lived in California previously so coming back was an easy adjustment.

“This is where my wife grew up. She was born here and where she grew up, where I lived for 20 years before we moved to Maryland. So it felt very much like just coming back home,” Lindner said.

The people at JDS are one of the things that Lindner misses the most about his time there. Lindner and his family look forward to visiting Maryland in the future and reconnecting with the JDS community.

“I miss the people at JDS,” Lindner said. “JDS is a fabulous, wonderful community of bright, ambitious, smart, soulful people in my opinion, and I really do miss the people very much and the entire community.”

Cartoon by Ariana Ravitz

Conspiracy theories must be shut down

Conspiracy theories are not a new phenomenon, but recent platforms have brought them more attention and strength than ever. These conspiracy theories are immensely dangerous to both the credibility of our information and the Jewish people, who are continually targeted.

People in power that support conspiracy theories, such as Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, continue to exacerbate the problem. Along with many other absurd theories, Greene claimed that “Rothschild Inc.” was responsible for forest fires by shooting space lasers down to Earth. The Rothschild family accumulated great wealth in the 18th century from their banking establishment and serve as the perfect example of Jewish power and wealth.

Many of the conspiracy theories Greene continues to support and advance are rooted in a fear of Jews having too much power.

Similarly, in 2018, Washington, D.C. Council member Trayon White Sr. posted a video claiming that the winter storm was caused by climate manipulation by the Rothschilds.

But it’s not just Greene or White. In 2020, The New York Times found that 37% of Americans believe that there is one group secretly controlling the world. Instead of trying to understand the complexities of the world, conspiracy theorists take the easy route out and search for simple explanations, even though they are often absurd. Why learn the intricate science behind climate change when you can just explain this phenomenon with something more basic?

With a multitude of stereotypes attached to Jews throughout history, Jews never cease to be the scapegoat. So long as there is a stereotype of power-hungry and rich Jews, there will be conspiracy theories rooted in the idea that they control the world.

In addition to conspiracy theories being a result of antisemitism, they also can dangerously encourage and spread it. Because these conspiracy theories make Jews out to be all-powerful and threatening, people feel more justified in attacking them.

Although both White’s and Greene’s comments were about the weather, at their roots these conspiracy theories are perpetuating the antisemitic trope that Jews are corrupt and control the world.

Instead of taking action against conspiracy theories, we often just make fun of them and laugh. While this might be the easier response, we can no longer accept it as an appropriate reaction. We must put more effort towards supporting trustworthy news outlets and calling out media that spread misinformation. We must advocate for a more comprehensive study of antisemitism in all curriculums and engage in more conversations with non-Jews about Jewish history.

Without putting a stop to these theories, they simply linger in the air waiting for another public figure to give the theory a bigger push into the spotlight. We must shift our reaction from laughs to actions, and do as much as we can to put these dangerous theories to rest.

“Without putting a stop to these theories, they simply linger in the air, waiting for another public figure to give the theory a bigger push into the spotlight.”