Volume 35 Issue 1

LT the lion’s tale

The Lion’s Tale

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Volume 35 Issue 1

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August 29, 2017

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CESJDS

Even in face of tragedy

chain remains unbroken, pg. 06-07 Remembering Senesh Magill, pg, 02

Meet the new faculty, pg. 08

Summer of love, pg. 12

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News Briefs Aug. 31, Sept. 7 MS and HS back to school nights Parents get the opportunity to visit their children's classrooms and teachers.

Sept. 8-9 Freshman Shabbaton The freshman class will spend Shabbat at Capital Camps.

They will pray and participate in various bonding activities as a grade.

Sept. 17-18 Senior retreat Rather than a Shabbaton, the senior class will head to Capital Camps on Sunday, September 17 so as not to interfere with standardized testing.

Sept. 20-22 Erev Rosh HaShanah and Rosh HaShana School will be closed for Erev Rosh HaShanah, which is September 20, and will remain closed for Rosh Hashanah, which is September 21-22.

Sept. 29 Kol Nidre

Remembering Senesh Magill ari feuer editor-in-chief In one word, Senesh Magill’s friends described her as “happy.” In more than one word, their praise for Senesh was effusive. She was positive, always enthusiastic and made bad days better just with her presence and her smile.

Senesh passed away at the age of 12 on May 26, 2017, a day that was supposed to be a one of excitement. Since the entire Upper School was out on visual arts field trips, parents were the first to receive the tragic news about Senesh’s death due to a brain seizure. While students were supposed to learn about Senesh during assemblies after the trips, word leaked out as some parents texted or otherwise informed their children.

Senesh came to JDS in fifth grade excited for a new opportunity and quickly integrated herself into the Class of 2022. Senesh was at the center of her friend group and rarely walked the hallways alone.

With Senesh’s enthusiasm came strong opinions and a clear sense of self. Senesh wanted to become the

first female president of the United States. During Hebrew class before the 2016 election, Senesh and her classmates discussed the events of the day, but just talking was not enough for Senesh.

During each conversation, Senesh brought up her desire to become president herself. Not one to just have a wish and sit on it, Senesh opened her computer, went on Buzzfeed, and took quizzes about being the president to prove that she would be perfect for the job.

Senesh was named for the famed poet Hannah Senesh, who was executed by Nazis after parachuting into Hungary to assist the Jewish resistance. She was born to Kari Butcher and Jordan Magill on June 21, 2004. Senesh was the middle child in the family — her older sister Brenner is a sophomore at JDS while her younger brother Boaz does not go to JDS. Before JDS, she and her family lived in Sacramento, Calif. Both Senesh and Brenner Magill joined the JDS community in 2014.

Throughout her life, Senesh’s energy rarely abated. One January, the day after winter break, Senesh came into school and, so excited

to see her friends, quite literally jumped into the conversation. Senesh ended up on a friend's back as if she were being given a piggy-back ride. The crowd at Senesh’s funeral largely reflected her impact on the community. The ceremony, held at Ohr Kodesh Congregation on May 29, was attended by hundreds of JDS community members from administrators to teachers to students from each grade. Many of the attendees had never even met Senesh.

Last year, Senesh was in science teacher Cassandra Ly’s seventh grade life science course. Ly, like Senesh’s friends, described her as “energetic” and with boundless excitement. Ly recalls teaching about meiosis, the process by which reproductive cells form the new cells that turn into a human embryo.

Ly said that in order to have some fun and make the room a bit “awkward,” she started off the lesson by saying, “When a man and woman love one another and get married…”

At this point, though, Ly said that Senesh interjected and “sassily” said, “But they don’t have to be married.”

According to Ly, Senesh always managed to catch her off guard and the

classroom burst into laughter.

Other times, Senesh would arrive to Ly’s class with a snack, which was against the rules in Ly’s classroom. Instead of putting the snack away, Senesh simply stood in the doorway and watched the lesson as Ly told her to hurry up to no avail.

Even though Senesh was rebelling against her teacher, Ly found a certain peppy charm in Senesh's attitude and had a lot of fun with her.

Outside of the classroom, Senesh was an avid runner and was on the JDS track team. In a team-wide email, coach Jason Belinkie echoed Senesh’s friends and wrote, “Her warm presence, beautiful smile and passion for running are just a few of Senesh's qualities that have undoubtedly impacted everyone on our team who spent time with her everyday.”

Senesh’s legacy will live on throughout the 2017-2018 school year and beyond in the memories that the people who met Senesh retain.

“She had so much energy, pep, sass and genuine joy,” Ly said.

School will end at 12:15 to give families time to prepare for Yom Kippur, which starts the night of Sept. 29 and continues through Sept. 30 at 7:32 p.m. in Rockville.

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Administration restructures middle and high school schedules again High school block schedule returns with modifications kate sosland contributing editor After receiving feedback from faculty, students and parents, CESJDS altered the schedule for the 2017-2018 school year by switching back to a three day block-schedule rotation for high school students.

The new schedule echoes the format of previous years.

The new schedule took approximately a year to plan, according to High School Principal and Associate Head of School Marc Lindner.

Initially, the administration made small adjustments to the schedule for the second semester of the 2016-2017 school year, but, after considering feedback, it decided that more substantial revisions were necessary.

In November, 2016, the administration sent out a survey to students. Along with the questionnaire, a faculty committee was organized in order to assess the

schedule and analyze survey results. Lindner also met with the student council to hear direct feedback. Though Lindner is confident the new schedule will be in place for an extended period of time, he is open to comments.

“I’m really optimistic about this schedule for next year for the high school,” Lindner said. “I think it’s got a lot of benefits and I appreciate all of the input and feedback that students and parents and faculty gave to get us to this point.”

According to Lindner, the high school schedule allows students to have more flexibility and “breathing space” during the day by having Community Time after second period or extended with lunch. This shift will give students an opportunity to have time to meet with teachers and attend clubs.

Due to early dismissal for athletic commitments, many students were concerned about constantly

missing the same classes, according to Lindner. To remedy this issue, the new schedule has a rotation of classes, preventing students from missing the same subjects. Lindner believes this change will allow students to better balance school work with their athletic commitments.

As a member of the tennis team, junior Daniel Morgan likes the changes to the schedule because they better accommodate athletes. “[The administrators] care how well their students are doing and they're trying to make it easier for the students to not miss the same class over and over and do better in school,” Morgan said.

Along with the block rotation, the new schedule will also include shortened classes that are 57 to 59 minutes in length Monday through Thursday, and on long Fridays. According to Lindner, the previous schedule’s time allocations were intended to enable some courses to be

50 minutes, and others to be set for 70 minute periods. The time allotment was intended to be effective for learning, however, due to the wide range of subject offerings, the school was not successful in scheduling specific subjects for intended time periods.

“It’s not possible in our high school, given a schedule with two different length class periods, to designate all classes from particular subject areas to either the longer or shorter class period,” Lindner said. “Therefore, it doesn’t make sense for us to have different length classes, and that’s why we went back to equal length,” Morgan appreciates that all classes will be the same length and is pleased that the new schedule no longer has the same classes every morning and afternoon.

“I like the new changes because I think the variety [of class times] will allow us to not get bored,” Mor-

gan said Like Morgan, Jewish History Department Chair Sara Coxe found students consistently had trouble maintaining focus at the end of the day “It would have been nice to have them half the time at a different slot and that's what the new schedule does,” Coxe said.

Coxe, however, is disappointed that the schedule will no longer have the consistency of this past year’s schedule. She liked always having classes at the same time to remain more organized.

Nevertheless, Coxe appreciates the openness the administration has maintained throughout this process. “[The Administration] can recognize that something wasn't working, they could change it and I think that's a really valuable tool for any leader,” Coxe said.

ca Weisman, classes on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays will still be 39 minutes, but classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays will be a longer 54 minutes to allow for more in-depth lessons.

History teacher Eytan Apter believes the changes have addressed the needs of students by distributing different content throughout the week.

“As we transition we are always trying to make the schedule better for everyone,” Apter said.

Apter does not believe that class length truly affects the total amount of information a teacher can teach, as long as “you adapt accordingly.”

Eighth grader Eva Bard likes that classes are no longer all 39

minutes because she felt the short amount of time limited productivity. Yet, she wishes all classes could be a median between 39 and 54 minutes.

“I see the effort there but it doesn’t really seem effective,” Bard said, referring to the schedule fixes.

In the 2016-2017 school year, Fridays were set aside for specialty classes and workshops, however student and parent feedback prompted the administration to spread these courses throughout the week. Some of these specialty classes such as Huggim, middle school clubs, will be eliminated from the schedule. The math and science workshop will carry on within classes, not as their own periods during the day.

“I am really excited about next year's schedule because we feel that it keeps all that was working well of second semester this year,” Weisman said.“The other pieces and other refinements that we would love to see happen we [are] able to get with the new schedule.”

The math and science workshop was not the only interactive course introduced last year, but it is the only one that will be fully integrated into other curricula. The Judaics workshop will carry on every long Friday, while humanities experience continues each Tuesday and Wednesday.

Bard likes that courses such as Huggim are no longer part of the schedule because they felt like “time fillers.” Bard, however, thinks

the administration should have gone even further and eliminated Lion Time and the Judaics Workshop.

Despite the different schedules for middle and high school, Z'man Kodesh will remain at the same time for the entire student body, giving high school students the opportunity to help out in middle school Z'manei Kodesh.

“As much as we’re two divisions and two different schedules, we’re like a marriage because we share a lot of resources, we share physical space, we share human resources and certain times,” Weisman said.

Middle school classes lengthened, Friday specialties spread out kate sosland contributing editor

compiled by amelia davidson and sara sporkin

Follow The Lion's Tale on Instagram @jdslionstale for exclusive content

photo courtesy of zoe wertlieb Senesh Magill (left) and her friend eighth-grader Zoe Wertlieb (right) stand on the National Mall. Magill was always happy with her friends.

photo courtesy of zoe wertlieb Laughing as usual, Magill celebrates at a party with her friends, eighth-graders Sam Melnick (center) and Yoni Liebstein (right).

While the high school is reverting back to a familiar schedule, the CESJDS middle school is taking last year’s revolutionized schedule and changing it. The goal is to find a way to keep the good in last year's schedule while heeding recommendations from across the school community.

During the 2016-2017 school year, middle school academic classes lasted 39 minutes each. After teachers and students voiced concern that consistent 39 minute periods were insufficient, the administration found what it considers a happy medium. According to former Middle School Principal Rebec-

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lion’s tale to fight hate, come together with love

Editorial and Ethics Policy As the student newspaper of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, The Lion’s Tale is a public forum for student opinion and expression. All content is determined by students. Its purpose is to inform the CESJDS community and to express the views of its staff and readers. The staff has made every effort to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of its news.

Signed columns reflect the opinion of the writer; staff editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of The Lion’s Tale editorial board.

The staff of The Lion's Tale welcomes letters to the editor and guest columns, all of which must be signed. The staff reserves the right to refuse any material and may edit letters or columns for length, clarity, libel, obscenity and/ or disruptiveness. Submissions may be emailed to jdslionstale@gmail.com or mailed to The Lion’s Tale at 11710 Hunters Lane, Rockville, Md., 20852.

The Lion’s Tale is funded by The Simon Hirshman Endowment for the Upper School Newspaper and The Kuttner-Levenson Endowment for the Upper School Cultural Arts and Student Publications, and community advertisements. The Lion’s Tale reserves the right to refuse advertisement for any reason.

The staff will adhere to the ethics policies of The Society of Professional Journalists. The adviser will be held to the Journalism Education Association’s Adviser Code of Ethics. The Lion’s Tale belongs to the National Scholastic Press Association and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

The Lion’s Tale prints 800 copies of every issue, which are distributed to students and staff at the Upper Campus. PDFs of the paper are available at issuu.com/lionstale. The Lion’s Tale website is lionstale.org. All contents copyright of The Lions’ Tale. All rights reserved.

Correction: A May 24 article about extended time said that extended time can apply to any assignment. This is untrue. Extended time does not apply for homework; it is meant for tests, quizzes and in-class essays.

As we begin a new school year and look back on a summer of strife, we must consider the tragic events in Charlottesville, Va. On Aug. 11 and 12, alt-right protesters, including white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis with weapons and swastika flags, gathered in Charlottesville for the "Unite the Right" protest. According to The Atlantic, men dressed in fatigues armed with semi-automatic rifles stood across the street from Congregation Beth Israel as Shabbat services were being held inside.

Nazi websites posted a call to burn their building.

The concern over Charlottesville has been twofold: Partially, on the anti-Semitic and other hateful cheers and statements made by the alt-right neo-Nazis, and partly on President Donald Trump’s lackluster condemnation of neo-Nazis, when he said that there was blame on “many sides.”

"You had a group on one side and you had a group on the other and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch,” Trump said at an Aug. 14 press conference. “But there is another side. There was a group on

this side — you can call them the left, you just called them the left — that came violently attacking the other group. So you can say what you want, but that's the way it is.”

There is no excuse to be taking these sentiments lightly. It is important to acknowledge the seriousness and scary nature of neo-Nazi threats and chants, and President Trump’s naive remarks are equally concerning.

At the very least, these protests should serve as a reminder that anti-Semitism is alive and well in America. Many of the protestors directly sided with the people who carried out the mass murder of 6 million Jews.

As students at a Jewish day school, we may not often see anti-Semitism as a threat to our very comfortable lives, but it is.

The Southern Poverty Law Center counts 18 hate groups in the state of Maryland, including white supremacist organizations, neo-Nazi groups and offshoots of the Ku Klux Klan. These groups, while not always visible, are encouraged by the events of Charlottesville and are ever-present.

Simply acknowledging that these sentiments exist outside of

amelia davidson contributing editor

cartoon by ben shrock

the comfort of our community will not suffice. Rather, we must broaden our horizons and listen to the thoughts, opinions and stories of individuals who were raised with different beliefs and backgrounds inside and outside our usual circles. Instead of allowing hate to grow out of division, we must allow love to blossom out of coexistence.

In the face of hate, we must unite and preach kindness, sensitivity and understanding.

We, as members of the Jewish

community, should be alarmed by the events in Charlottesville.

In times where hate, especially towards us as Jews, seems to be particularly prevalent right now, it is imperative that we embrace our faith and be loud and proud about who we are: Jews.

-The Lion’s Tale

Lend new teachers a helping hand

josh diewald reporter At the end of each school year, some first-year teachers packed their bags, never to return to teaching again. In fact, a nationwide 2015 study found that almost 30 percent of teachers quit within the first five years. The current school culture in our country is leading to a growing teacher shortage.

Throughout my years at JDS I have seen many new teachers come to our school, but rarely have

I heard the same complimentary statements made about more experienced teachers made about new teachers. The new teachers at JDS have tended to be younger, and that youth makes them sometimes seem inexperienced. Once they make one mistake, the students sometimes assume they are not qualified to teach and start to lose respect for the teachers.

The students are not the only ones to blame. Parents are also big contributors to the trend of younger teachers leaving. While parents have never been in class with the teachers, some act like they have, and sometimes complain even more than the students. Parents constantly email their children’s guidance counselors to complain and hope that the teacher is gotten rid of as soon as possible.

Of course, there may be some students who like the teacher, but

that will change as it becomes cool to joke about how bad the teacher is. The few that continue to like the teacher are looked at as weird and are in the small minority.

As all of this is happening, the teacher still has a job to do.

They need to stay professional and not show their emotions. This challenge becomes increasingly difficult as students start to misbehave and show their increasing disrespect for the teacher. What students do not realize is that teachers hear what is said about them and it makes their job even harder. The students' disrespectful comments can end up leaving the teacher questioning if education is the right profession for them.

A 2015 study by the Learning Policy Institute found that American classrooms were short 60,000 teachers. That statistic predictably will only get worse as the

05

Seeds grow beyond their roots

the

editors-in-chief ari feuer, rina torchinsky managing editor, copy isaac silber design editor caroline weinstein copy editor addie bard news editors amelia davidson, sara sporkin opinion editor gabe krantz in-depth editor aliza rabinovitz features editors emily cohen, kate sosland sports editors devira friedman, jessie lehman style editors ilan cohen, shira godin multimedia editor lily daroff editorial cartoonists beyla bass, ben shrock reporters sabrina bramson, ethan chanin, josh diewald, jesse edberg, izzy friedland, danny ingber, ilana kaplan, ethan kulp, izzy may, ben robinson, lily rosenberg, ben savarick, josh siegel, rebecca weiss staff adviser jessica nassau adviser emerita susan zuckerman

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same study found that around 35 percent fewer people enrolled in teacher-preparation programs that year. Reasons cited for the drop in enrollment included teachers feeling stressed and worrying that the joy of teaching may no longer exist.

To get what we want out of our beginner teachers, we need to give them more time to adjust. We can't expect them to be perfect on their first day or even their first year. The more time we give them to grow, the more the students and the teachers can benefit. We get the method of teaching we want, and the teachers get to educate the next generation of students and prepare them for success.

I had never even heard a national anthem in any language beside English and Hebrew. But there I was, standing in respect for the Palestinian national anthem as people around me sang with pride. I stood surrounded by people singing in foreign languages and making fun of how pale my skin is. I could not have felt more different, and yet somehow these people would become my safety net, and this place would begin to feel like home.

This summer, I spent threeand-a-half weeks at Seeds of Peace International Camp in Maine. For those three-and-a-half weeks I played sports, talked, joked, debated, laughed and cried alongside 180 Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Indians and Pakistanis.

Seeds of Peace revolves around dialogue sessions where we discuss conflict. There are two

simultaneous programs: the Middle East program, which discusses the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the South Asia program, which discusses the India-Pakistani conflict. I participated in the Middle East program, so I spent my days with people from the Middle East, but I actually lived in a South Asia bunk, so I had the unique opportunity to bond with people who come from radically different lifestyles.

It is hard to even articulate how incredible and transformative the experience was. I came in expecting to learn and make some friends, but I could not have possibly imagined how close I would become to people who I would have previously considered to be an adversary simply because of where they came from.

That is not to say it was all perfect or easy. Seeds of Peace certainly is not the type of place where you end up agreeing to make peace and then sing Kumbaya. The dialogue sessions, which lasted for two hours each day, were extremely difficult.

There was screaming, crying, chair throwing, you name it. I heard things that prior to Seeds, I would not have believed I had the strength to endure without a fight. But I did endure them, and they changed me.

Most people who know me know that I am not the type of person to listen to an argument

without sharing my opinion. But coming to Seeds, I promised myself that I would try to listen to all sides so that I could come away from the experience with a greater understanding of the different narratives surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While difficult at times, I was able to restrain myself and truly listen to what others had to say, and I do not regret that for a second.

The most common question I’ve gotten since coming back from Seeds is, “Did it change your political opinions?” At first, I had a really hard time answering that. But after reflecting for a few weeks, I think that the experience taught me more about my own opinions rather than change them.

I came into Seeds of Peace supporting Israel, while recognizing that there were serious flaws on all sides. At camp, I heard absolutely heartbreaking stories from my Palestinian friends, and I learned pretty quickly that I was often simply unable to justify Israel’s actions.

Nevertheless, I never once wavered in my support for Israel as a whole, which taught me that my love for Israel runs deeper than political logic or reason.

The one clear transformation in my views is that Seeds made me less naïve. Before Seeds, it was easy for me to just say, “Yes, of course peace

is possible if we work hard enough.”

But sitting in dialogue on the first day and hearing the shouting, the crying and the hatred coming from both sides, I felt that entire notion falling apart.

Outside of the dialogue sessions, I saw the Palestinians and Israelis who were screaming at each other just hours earlier sitting and joking around, and I would be dumbfounded that people whose political beliefs differed so much were able to put that behind them and become friends. I saw that with my friendships too; some of my best friends from Seeds are Arabs who told me that before they came to Seeds they had never met a Jew, nor had they particularly wanted to. I myself had no Arab or Muslim friends before Seeds, and I never really paused to think about that.

But now, it seems crazy that it took me 16 years to even meet some of the most incredible people I’ve ever met.

The Arab poet Rumi wrote, “Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing there’s a field. I’ll meet you there.” Painted on one of the central buildings on the camp field is the phrase “This is the field…” to pay homage to that quote. It almost shocks me how accurately those words describe life at Seeds. We truly were able to go beyond ideas

of right and wrong and ideas about conflict that had been ingrained in us since birth. While we didn’t exactly leave them behind, we succeeded in rising above them and forming bonds that transcend those differing opinions. It was impossible, and painful, and some days it is crazy for me to believe that it really happened. But it did.

Leaving Seeds was one of the most difficult things that I have ever done, and describing the experience without sounding incredibly cheesy and fake is almost as hard. There have also been some hard moments with my friends from Seeds since the experience ended, like having to explain to a Palestinian friend why I can’t exactly come visit her in the West Bank, or discussing the violence in Jerusalem in the past month with both Palestinians and Israelis who live in Jerusalem.

But for every one of those difficult discussions there has been a beautiful moment when someone paused the conversation to say, “No matter what we believe, you know I love you, right?” And the fact that those relationships exist, against all odds, is what at the end of the day gives me hope.

photos courtesy of amelia davidson

Farah Bassem, a girl from Egypt, teaches Davidson to play ukulele. Davidson spent most of her days with Egyptians, Palestinians, Jordanians and Israelis.

Campers walk into the dining hall before a meal. All campers wore Seeds of Peace T-shirts or sweatshirts so that they all looked as similar as possible.

Davidson and her dialogue group participate in a group challenge, in which campers complete team building exercises to help them work together as a group.

Davidson poses with her dialogue group. The group, which was comprised of people from the U.S. and across the Middle East, spent two hours each day discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well as doing daily sport and arts activities.

A building next to the main field reads “This is the field....”

This is in reference to a Rumi poem which says, “Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing there’s a field. I’ll meet you there.”

A fence near the entrance to the camp reads, "The way life could be." This idea, that Seeds of Peace camp was an environment where things that didn't seem possible in real life could occur, was a defining characteristic in the experience.

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isaac silber and rina torchinsky managing editor, copy and editor-in-chief

even in face of Tragedy

chain remains unbroken

When a student’s grandparent dies, the school typically helps students mourn the loss by reaching out to the family and being lenient about homework deadlines. But there was no precedent for a student death in the Upper School until this past school year when seventh-grader Senesh Magill died suddenly on Friday, May 26. “[Senesh's death] was very different,” Dean of Students Roslyn Landy said. “[It] affected every single human being in this building.”

Magill died on the morning of the school-wide visual arts field trip prior to a four-day break for Memorial Day and Shavuot. Her funeral was held on May 29, with shiva following the funeral.

“The outpouring of love, support and desire to comfort was amazing,” Landy said.

Landy noted that juniors who attended the funeral likely had never met or spoken to Magill before. She asked them why the juniors were there and she said that one junior simply responded, “She’s part of the community.”

High School Principal and Associate Head of School Marc Lindner believed that hearing a “unified message” from the school was important for students in the aftermath of Magill’s

death, which is why there was a school-wide assembly on the Friday after Magill’s death.

“I think that when there’s a death that impacts the community, there’s a variety of things that people need,” Lindner said. “One of them is that overt, explicit sense of community that you get when we’re all together in the gym.”

But when the school community returned to its normal routine for the end of the school year, the long process of grief had only just begun.

According to Cannon, two extremely important aspects of grief are talking about grief using real words and getting support from the surrounding community.

JDS consulted Cannon and also turned to counselors from area schools including Berman Hebrew Academy, as well as counselors from outside service agencies including the Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA) and the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse (JCADA). The additional counselors were made available throughout the school day to students who needed one-on-one support.

“One of the things that we were seeing and that we were learning from the counselors is that everyone reacts differently under these types of circumstances,” Lindner said. “So trying to tailor one type of support or help didn’t feel like it would be the right approach. Having it more individualized felt like it was the right way to go.”

While eighth-grader Zoe Wertlieb, a friend of Magill’s, did not find much meaning in the assembly, she appreciated that guidance counselors were available whenever she needed them.

“I think that really helped,” Wertlieb said. “Otherwise I think I kind of would have felt like I couldn’t get

help if I needed it.”

In addition to providing the counselors for student support, JDS opened the school on May 30 for parents to hear from Cannon about dealing with grief, especially in children. She talked about what grief is and is not, and she did a lot of “normalizing” by explaining to parents that there is not one correct response to grief.

“I think the school did an amazing job,” Cannon said. “I think they really understood the complexity of any loss to a community.”

dren and adults may grieve the same loss, they grieve differently. Often, children will “move in and out” of their grief. They might think about the loss for one moment, and then immediately shift to an unrelated activity.

“We teach children that you can laugh and grieve at the same time,” Cannon said. “It’s very very important that just because you’re laughing doesn’t mean you’re disrespecting [the deceased].”

Adolescents also have a lot on their minds and the addition of grief

“Grieving has no timeline. There is no end to it.

People don't get over grief. They learn to live with it because it’s a part of them.”

- gilly cannon, director of child bereavement services at hospice caring inc.

Months Later As the school year begins, some students are still coping with grief.

Middle school guidance counselors will remain available to younger students who need to step out of class and talk to someone. In addition, Landy will speak about the continuation of the grieving process with the sophomore class, which includes Magill's older sister, Brenner.

“Grieving has no timeline,” Cannon said. “There is no end to it. People don't get over grief. They learn to live with it because it’s a part of them.”

According to Cannon, children often “re-grieve,” developmentally returning to their grief as they mature. They might not only mourn the loss of the loved one, but also grieve the experiences that they will never share with the one they lost, such as graduating high school or getting married.

Cannon, who is a teacher by training with counseling qualifications, specializes in grief support for children. She first became interested in grief counseling when her father died and she had to talk to her young children about the death of a family member.

“At that moment, I understood that children are so wise and they know so much more than we expect them to,” Cannon said. “We owe it to them to bring them into the grieving process, like we bring them into a new baby being born.”

While chil-

might be hard to cope with on top of the changes they endure as they mature.

“You’ve got all that going on and then somebody dies, and it’s like your whole world turns upside down,” Cannon said.

In a high school environment, teenagers and adolescents strive for a sense of belonging, and grief can act as a barrier to the normalcy students seek out.

Jewish Response Although grief can be secluding, shiva, the seven-day mourning period prescribed by Jewish tradition, allows the community to visit the mourner. In the mourner’s home, members of the community come to support the mourner and cope with the loss of the loved one together. According to Director of Jewish Life Stephanie Hoffman, the shiva environment can help the mourner process the loss, but the constant discussion of the loved one might be challenging for mourners.

“That initial shiva period, I think is extremely powerful to have people coming in and visiting and hearing from the person who lost someone, about that person,” Hoffman said.

“That person who is hearing gets to process through things in a way that otherwise they might have avoided.”

Following the shiva period, mourners continue to a period called shloshim, 30-days that include shiva in which some mourners begin Jewish text study in memory of the deceased. When the 30-day period elapses, the mourner continues in an 11-month mourning period with

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07

limitations such as not attending non-Jewish celebrations like concerts or live events. During these mourning periods, a mourner traditionally recites the Mourner’s Kaddish daily.

Just as the Mourner’s Kaddish might remind the mourner of the life of the deceased, reading can help mourners process their feelings.

Cannon created the Bringing Books of Comfort program, which offers the mourner a selection of books that can prompt discussion about the loss among family members, and the volunteer who delivered the backpack of books.

In addition to the Bringing Books of Comfort Program, Cannon runs the Good Grief Club, a support group designed to help elementary through high school students cope with grief.

The seven-week program is led by a volunteer from Hospice Caring, Inc. and a school counselor or organization representative. The program is divided into weekly sessions that focus on emotions, family adjustments and healthy coping methods.

According to Cannon, the leaders work to help the group “normalize grief,” and identify and validate the diverse array of feelings that the grieving students are experiencing.

“All of these feelings are okay,” Cannon said. “There are no bad feelings. There are no good feelings.

They’re just feelings. It’s what you do with the feelings that may be an issue.”

As the seven weeks draw to a close, the leaders work with the group to recognize the progress that they have achieved.

“Things will get easier,” Cannon said. “They will get easier. You will be able to rebuild your life. It won’t be the same, but it won’t stay the same as you’re feeling right now.”

As students continue to grieve, high school guidance counselor Melissa Gartner encourages those who are concerned about how to address the loss in the community to seek support from the guidance suite.

In addition to continued support from counselors, there will be some sort of commemoration or memorial, which will serve as a permanent reminder of Magill’s life. The administration is not yet sure what this memorial will look like. The memorial’s presence will help students remember Magill as they continue to grieve.

“Grief never goes away,” Cannon said. “You learn to live with it. You absorb it being part of you, and it shapes you.”

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the lion’s tale

Meet the new faculty

compiled by emily cohen photos by emily cohen

Jennifer Abercrombie

Naomi Federman

Upper School Media Center

Middle school English

Abercrombie was a librarian at the Lower School. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs and has her masters in library science.

Federman lived in Australia and New Zealand for the past few years. She was in a Burger King commercial in New Zealand.

Arantxa Alegre

Robbie Shorr

Upper School World Languages

Middle school math

Alegre was born in Spain and most recently taught Spanish at Towson University. She loves to dance tango and scuba dive.

Shorr was a lifer at JDS and graduated in 2013. He attended Washington University in St. Louis and hates watermelon.

Marnina Cowan

Cheryl Strausberg

Middle school Hebrew Cowan was a lifer at JDS and graduated in 2006. She went to Dhaka, Bangladesh this summer to help tuberculosis victims.

Allison Davison High school English Davison taught at JDS from 2011 to 2013 and then worked at the Bullis School. She can make sushi by hand.

Upper School Media Center Strausberg was a librarian at the Berman Hebrew Academy. She grew up in Maryland and tap danced for many years.

Natalie Gutman

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the lion’s tale

09

munch on thiS

Cafeteria starts card-Based food court rina torchinsky editor-in-chief Food courts are often found in malls and airports, but now, there is also one in the CESJDS cafeteria.

JDS’ former lunch program featured a daily meal calendar with one option per day along with pre-prepared substitutes such as sandwiches, but limited flexibility. The new food court and payPAMS system offers many more full-fledged lunch options each day for students.

The payPAMS system allows parents to load money onto their child’s account which corresponds to a PIN number that students can punch in when paying for their meal, a process that will be shepherded by a cashier at the end of the lunch line.

Rather than one entree, students can choose from three meal options or choose to purchase meal elements a la carte. A full meal, which consists of an entree, two sides and a beverage, costs $8.50. P.E. teacher Becky Silberman liked the flexibility for many dietary needs.

"There were also plenty of op-

tions for vegetarians, in that there was tofu," Silberman said.

For students who are in a rush, there is also a kiosk that serves Grab n’ Go boxed lunches for $6 and Power Booster bento boxes for $4. This way, students will be able to get lunch before clubs or meetings without having to wait in potentially long cafeteria lines.

The changes are part of an effort to increase choice and efficiency for consumers of hot lunch. While previously, students had to sign up for a full session and were stuck with paying for lunch whether they liked the food or not, the new system will allow students students to pay only for the meal elements they want.

High School Principal and Associate Head of School Marc Lindner is excited for the new system.

"It's got a lot of potential to alleviate some of the issues that we've had in the past," Lindner said. "Like anything new, there'll be some kinks that need to be worked out at the beginning of the school year, but over time it's gonna work out well."

Food services staff member Terri Pollard serves food to faculty from the Pacific Fusion Kitchen window. PFK serves steamed brown rice, crunchy tofu and other dishes with an array of sauces and sides.

High School Principal and Associate Head of School Marc Lindner grabs lunch from a cafeteria worker during the first trial of the lunch program on Aug. 25. Lindner selected the “Wing Empire” option.

Upper School Admissions Associate Emma Hart helps herself to lettuce from the salad bar to top her hamburger. A small salad costs $3.50 and a large salad costs $6. Salad can also serve as a side with the $8.50 full meal.

Food Services Manager Erick Gilbert helps Dean of Students Roslyn Landy pay for her meal. The new payPAMS system allows parents to load money to their child’s account and view their child’s purchase history.

photos by rina torchinsky

Off the beaten path

Students embarked on service trips through Rustic Pathways, which gives teenagers the opportunity to travel worldwide.

by ethan chanin

Middle school Hebrew Gutman taught Hebrew in Haifa for five years. She got her graduate diploma in Education studies at Oranim College in Israel. Guttman first moved to the U.S. last year.

Eleazar Rubenstein-Edberg Marla Narcisenfeld Middle school English Narcisenfeld is substituting for Davida Yitzhaky, who is out on maternity leave.

Raquel Salimova Middle school guidance Salimova will be substituting for Rebecca Philbrick, who will be out on maternity leave.

Upper School instrumental music Rubenstein-Edberg is a professional musician. He has performed widely and taught workshops in schools and community centers. He was on his honeymoon when The Lion's Tale went to print.

Mickey Rubin Middle school Jewish text Rubin was the Director of Education and Engagement at Bolton Street Synagogue in Baltimore. He was on paternity leave when The Lion's Tale went to print.

photo courtesy of lena lerner

photo courtesy of ethan missner

Senior Lena Lerner went to Australia this summer.

She stayed in multiple cities including Darwin and Brisbane, but most of her trip was focused on the Northern territories of Australia. In Kununurra, Lerner worked with many underprivileged and malnourished children.

"It was very physically challenging for me, but I know how much we take for granted, like having access to healthy fruits and vegetables.” Lerner said. "So being able to give that back felt really good."

Junior Ethan Missner traveled to Costa Rica. He primarily resided in the small town of Uvita. Missner was amazed by the town’s positive and close-knit community, despite their struggles with poverty.

“In an undeveloped town where people don’t have air conditioning and constantly have to work just to survive, you would think the people are less happy than other places,” Missner said. “It’s the opposite.”

photo courtesy of alex landy Freshman Alex Landy visited various parts of Peru. Though his trip was based at Lake Titicaca, Landy ventured to other cities and towns including Lima, Ollantaytambo and Puno.

Landy explained that the trip was meaningful, as he was able to assist people in need by constructing kitchens for their communities. In return, Landy gained a great amount of insight into the Peruvian culture and some of their rituals and customs.

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the lion’s tale

Sports Schedule Boys Varsity Soccer Aug. 31 - away game at 4:30 p.m. against Spencerville Academy Sept. 6 - away game at 4:30 p.m. against Sandy Spring Friends School Girls Varsity Soccer Aug. 31 - home game at 4:30 p.m. against Spencerville Academy Varsity Track Sept. 6 - PVAC meet at 4:30 p.m. at Sandy Spring Friends School Sept. 13 - PVAC meet at 4:30 p.m. at Sandy Spring Friends School Girls Varsity Volleyball Sept. 6 - home match at 4:30 p.m. against McLean School Sept. 7 - home match at 4:30 p.m. against Grace Brethren Sept. 14 - home match at 5:30 p.m. against Berman Hebrew Academy Girls Varsity Tennis Sept. 12 - home match at 4:15 p.m. against Oakcrest School Sept. 14 - away match at 4 p.m. at Grace Brethren Sept. 18 - away match at 4 p.m. at Washington International School

Lions represent US at Maccabiah Senior Kaitlin Goodman, Bryan Knapp ('17), Reuben Winston ('17) and coach Becky Silberman compete in "Jewish Olympics" izzy may reporter Over thirty thousand Jewish people from around the world gathered at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem on the evening of July 9 to watch the Maccabiah Games' opening ceremonies. Music blasted through speakers, bright lights illuminated the stage and thousands of fans cheered.

The U.S. team marched out into the screaming crowd, brandishing the American flag. Among them, three CESJDS athletes, senior Kaitlin Goodman, alumnus Bryan Knapp (‘17), alumnus Reuben Winston (‘17), and JDS coach middle school P.E. teacher Becky Silberman.

“There were like forty or fifty thousand people there," Knapp said.

"It was ridiculous."

Knapp competed for Team USA basketball in the Juniors competition, ages 15-18. In an 8-point victory over team Israel, Knapp and his team won the championship game and took home the gold medal.

Unlike many other teams, Knapp and the rest of the American basketball Juniors trained a week before Israel Connect, a seven-day tour of the most well-known sights prior to the competitions. They met in Atlanta, which he said gave them an advantage because they got to meet each other and practice as a team before arriving in Israel.

In contrast to Knapp, Silberman didn’t meet the girls on her team until they arrived at the airport in Israel. Though she was able to email them a training schedule, she wasn’t

able to practice with them until a few days prior to the start of the games.

Silberman coached the girls Juniors basketball team through three preliminary games, before winning the semi-final match-up. The team's run came to an end after it lost to Team Israel by 60 points in the championship. Team Israel brought their under-18 national team to Maccabiah, which made them a tough competitor.

“I’ve always been running, representing my school, and now I’ve gone on a much larger scale and I’m representing my country."

- senior kaitlin goodman

“Once we saw Israel play, we were like, 'we just want to play our best game against them,' which in the championship game we did, so that’s all you can hope for,” Silberman said.

JDS' presence at Maccabiah extended beyond the basketball court. Goodman was on the track, competing in the 200-meter and the 100-meter in the Juniors competition, and Winston raced the half marathon in the open competition, reserved for the top competitors in each delegation.

In order to qualify for the Maccabiah Games, Winston was required to race the half marathon with a six minute pace per mile. Prior to the

80 countries

Sports Stat

For Goodman, her race felt like an ordinary race. Goodman did not qualify for the 200 finals, but she earned 7th place out of the 16 athletes running in the 100 finals.

“I’ve always been running, representing my school, and now I’ve gone on a much larger scale and I’m representing my country,” Goodman said. “So it was kind of a proud thing for me to do.”

Goodman and Winston were known as two of the top runners for the JDS cross country and track team, according to middle school and varsity cross country and track coach Jason Belinkie.

“They’re two runners that have worked very hard to get to where

they are,” Belinkie said.

In addition to their competitions, the U.S. team traveled to Israel a few days before opening ceremonies, and embarked on a program called Israel Connect, where the athletes toured Israel and visited tourist locations including the Western Wall, Masada and the Dead Sea. During the week of Israel Connect, the athletes practiced from 5:30 to 8:30 every morning, and then traveled the country for the rest of the day.

After all of their games and events were over, the athletes left Israel on July 19, saying goodbye to their teammates and international friends.

“There were a couple kids who were on the team that I only grew very close to in the last four or five days; like as soon as you’re best friends, then you’re cut off,” Knapp said.

Though the next Maccabiah in Israel doesn’t take place for another four years, the athletes have the option to try out for the Pan American Games, which will be held in Mexico City, and the European Games, which will be held in Budapest, Hungary. Both Silberman and Knapp expressed an interest in competing in those games.

“If anyone gets the opportunity to go [to Maccabiah] I would take it, because there’s nothing else in the world like it,” Winston said.

participated in the Maccabiah Games this year. Nine Countries participated for the first time this year.

photo courtesy of kaitlin goodman Senior Kaitlin Goodman stands with the rest of her USA track team.

3000 events

were played this summer at the Maccabiah Games including wrestling, archery and fencing.

sabrina bramson reporter This year, edible cookie dough has become a huge hit in New York.

Recently, it made its way to our area, with a kiosk opening at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. After all of the publicity this treat has received, I decided to visit Cookie Dough & Co. In the mall, the kiosk is on the first level near Forever 21. Cookie Dough & Co. is visually appealing, as the various toppings and flavors for the cookie dough are colorful. The kiosk itself has marble countertops which add a nice contrast to the vibrant colors of the menu, items and logo.

When ordering, there are not too many options, making it easier to select items from the menu. Cookie Dough & Co. sells cookie dough bites, cookie dough by the cup or cone, unicorn drinks, coffee and milk. The cookie dough bites are balls of chocolate chip cookie dough covered in rainbow sprinkles and come with or without a peppermint patty in the middle. I bought two cookie dough bites without the peppermint patty in the center which together cost $3. They were fun to try because of their multicolored

photo courtesy of bryan knapp

appearance, but were very bland.

On the bright side, it had the exact same texture as cookie dough before it gets baked in a home oven.

The cookie dough comes in five flavors, served in a cup or cone: chocolate chip, peanut butter, s’mores, unicorn and Oreo. The cones come in five flavors and cost an extra $2: chocolate hazelnut, blue corn, red velvet, French vanilla and green tea. I decided to stick to a cup and one scoop each of peanut butter, unicorn and Oreo which cost $11 total. Although this is extremely overpriced, the employees use ice cream scoops, making the portions quite large.

On top of the cookie dough, you can choose one topping such as graham crackers, chocolate chips or rainbow sprinkles. Any additional toppings cost 75 cents. Also, the kiosk has milk on tap which is served in a miniature glass rimmed with icing and sprinkles. Each order of cookie dough comes with a free shot of milk, but they sell bigger cups of milk for $2.50.

The peanut butter dough was certainly a favorite. It had Reese’s Pieces which made it all the more interesting. The crunchy Reese’s Pieces served as a nice bite against the richness of the peanut butter

dough.

The unicorn dough had much less magic than the name entailed.

The base cookie dough was dull, so unless there’s an added taste to it, like the peanut butter, the flavor falls flat. As pretty as the electric blue dough and rainbow sprinkles were, I would not recommend it.

Last, I tried the Oreo cookie dough which ended up being my favorite flavor. It tasted exactly like room temperature cookies and cream ice cream, but with the heavier texture of cookie dough.

Aside from cookie dough, the kiosk also sells unicorn drinks. The drinks cost $5.50 and are made up of simply vanilla, chocolate or strawberry flavored milk with whipped cream and candy on top.

Due to the high cost, I ultimately decided it was not worth getting.

I would not recommend going to Cookie Dough & Co. because most of the flavors are disappointing in taste and it costs more than it is worth.

Cookie Dough & Co. is located on the first level of Westfield Montgomery Mall, 7101 Democracy Blvd, Bethesda, Md. Hours are Monday Saturday 9 a.m. - 10 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

photo by sabrina bramson Rainbow sprinkle-rimmed milk shots are served with each edible cookie dough purchase. Larger cups of whole, skim and soy milk are on tap for $2.50.

photo by sabrina bramson The menu features five flavors of cookie dough: chocolate chip, peanut butter, s’mores, unicorn and Oreo. The ice cream scoop allows for generous portions.

Yiddish film “Menashe” opens window to New York’s Hasidic community ilan cohen style editor

47

were competed in at the Maccabiah Games. The sports with the most competitors included soccer, swimming, tennis and basketball.

Bryan Knapp ('17) dunks the basketball at the 2017 Maccabiah games.

11

Cookie dough kiosk serves vibrant colors, half-baked flavors

sports

3000 tournaments

At the JCC Maccabi games four CESJDS students competed, three of whom medaled.

compiled by jessie lehman

time trial, Winston’s half marathon time was one hour and twenty three minutes, which averages about 6 minutes and 33 seconds per mile. In November, though, Winston ran the 13.1 miles in 1 hour and 18 minutes, which gave him qualification.

Winston considered the Maccabiah race in Israel to be the hardest race of his life due to the extreme heat and hilly course. He placed 6th out of about 500 athletes.

style

the lion’s tale

photo courtesy of A24 Menashe Lustig lights a yahrzeit candle in honor of his deceased wife.

There is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., a thriving metropolis, that is sequestered away from the rest of the world. The Hasidic community of Borough Park is one of a kind. In these few city blocks, it no longer feels as if you are in New York City. School buses have Yiddish on their sides, and there is little variety in the clothing worn by the people quickly bustling by, speaking languages other than English. Few outsiders understand the lives of those on the inside. The film “Menashe,” directed by Joshua Weinstein, successfully draws the outside viewer deep into the heart of this uniquely cultured society.

The movie stars Menashe Lustig as Menashe, a clumsy widower and father to a ten-year-old son

named Rieven. Menashe sticks out in society as a sore thumb, waddling around town, the only Jew in his community who does not wear a black hat or jacket.

There are unfair and inhibiting societal expectations that Menashe struggles with, and as a result he is not respected. As a single father, his son Rieven is not allowed to live with him. Rieven lives with his late mother’s brother, who is successful, married and fairly affluent.

Menashe, who wants nothing more than to be able to raise and teach his own son, is told that he must have a proper home, which ultimately includes a wife.

To make matters worse, Menashe is in a poor financial situation, working as a grocery store clerk, nearly unable to make ends meet, and running behind on his rent for his small unkempt apartment.

Furthermore, Menashe risks trouble and challenges social norms by continuously bringing his son home, ignoring his rabbi’s orders.

The film does a wonderful job of bridging secular American culture to the isolated Hasidic community of Borough Park. The struggles that Menashe endures as a father, in some ways are relatable and can make the viewer sympathize with him, but in other ways the film further underscores the cultural differences, including the tight grip that his rabbi has on the community.

Overall, the Yiddish film is understandable, though there are many religious and cultural references that likely would not make sense to those less educated in Jewish culture and law. These gaps may make the film’s plotline seem confusing to the average viewer.

The film’s largest downfall is

the language. Though there are subtitles, there is still a barrier that will likely prevent mainstream cinemas from showing this film. However, the language is also one of the film’s strong points as it only increases the authenticity of the film, further demonstrating the cultural divide between the Hasidic community and the outside world.

“Menashe” is playing at Landmark Bethesda Row Cinema located at 7235 Woodmont Ave, Bethesda, Md., as well as Angelika Film Center Mosaic located at 2911 District Ave., Fairfax, Va.

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Summer lovin'

With four engagements, one new wedding and three new babies, the past few months were particularly lively for JDS faculty and staff compiled by ari feuer

ENGAGED: Science teacher Cassandra Ly and Sean Batson

NEW ARRIVAL: To English teacher Davida Yitzhaky and Adam Yitzhaky, Eve Yitzhaky

ENGAGED: Senior administrative assistant Jillian Pedone and Ben Corbin

ENGAGED: Front desk administrator assistant Kendra Dunbar and Travis Green

ENGAGED: Jewish History teacher Aaron Bregman and Caren Auchman

NEW ARRIVAL: To history teacher Carl Atwood and Halley Fehner, Weston "Wes" James Atwood

NOT PICTURED: Instrumental music teacher Eleazar Rubenstein-Edberg got married over the summer and was on his honeymoon when The Lion's Tale went to print. Jewish text teacher Mickey Rubin welcomed a new baby over the summer and was on paternity leave when The Lion's Tale went to print.

Photos courtesy of (clockwise from top-left): Jillian Pedone, Cassandra Ly, Davida Yitzhaky, Carl Atwood, Aaron Bregman and Kendra Dunbar