Volume 1, Issue 5 (June 2011) - The Heschel School

“…Know that every deed counts, 

that every word is power…” 

—Abraham Joshua Heschel 

V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 5 J u n e 2 0 1 1 

Heschel Eighth Grader Takes 

Home the Gold 

By Coby Goldberg 

The G-Word 

By Dylan Posner 

It happens every year to the eighth 

grade. After they have bonded through 

Early Childhood, Lower School, Middle 

School, and through their Israel trip, 

they must say goodbye to this part of 

their lives. This year, it has happening 

to an 8th grade that has become a thoroughly 

bonded group. Did it happen 

during the two grade-wide snow day gettogethers, 

or during the movies we saw 

together? Whatever the reason, this tight 

group feels that their connection was 

torn apart by the g-word, graduation. 

About half of the current eighth 

grade is not returning to Heschel High. 

After the end of the year, the unified 

grade will go its separate ways. Most fear 

that high school will get in the way, and 

students will lose connections to one another. 

Luckily, the eighth grade has remarkable 

memories of its time together. 

The Graduation Ceremony took 

place on June 14. Jordan Ofek said, a bit 

teary eyed, “Graduation makes me feel 

that I’m done here, at Heschel, and I’m 

taking the next step in life.” Jordan is 

using the theme of commencement, as 

a beginning and a start of something 

new. Numerous eighth graders have remarked 

that the Middle School has been 

one of their favorite places, and it is quite 

upsetting and depressing to leave it. One 

student, Orly Silverstein, put it this way, 

“I’m excited about graduating, but there 

is a part of me that wishes we could all 

just stay at the Middle School.” 

After classes for the eighth grade 

concluded, on June 6, students dove 

into an intense week rehearsing for the 

ceremony. Anna Savant wrote the script, 

using three questionnaires based on the 

Middle School “experience”: education, 

friendships, and the Israel trip. 

Anna Savant, director, Joe Ancowitz, 

the music director, and Lori Skopp, 

the Middle School principal, designed a 

ceremony that they hope will be remembered 

for many years by parents, family, 

and friends. 

It is certain that all the eighth graders 

cherished their graduation, as they 

go their separate directions for High 

School, and will never forget the friends 

they’ve made, and memories they have 

of Heschel. ◆ 

On Monday, May 23, eighth grader 

Jonathan Granowitz won First Place in 

the Gotham Games long jump competition. 

His winning jump measured 5.2 

meters or 17 feet. The Gotham Games 

are a competition for the City’s best 

private school track and field athletes. 

To compete in the Gotham games, the 

athlete must place in the top sixteen in 

a qualifying event. Despite a stellar performance 

in the games themselves, the 

qualifying process was not made easy for 

Granowitz; he had to go to the qualifying 

meet only a few hours after his arrival 

back in New York from Israel. After 

almost jumping five meters in the qualifiers 

(he jumped 4.94 meters), Granowitz 

said he, “set a goal of jumping five meters. 

It felt fulfilling to reach that goal.” 

Once all the competitors had 

jumped three times, Granowitz was 

pronounced the official winner. An announcement 

was then made on the Middle 

School loudspeaker that he had won. 

Rick Munn had this to say, “Jumping 

17 feet is pretty impressive. When I was 

doing long jump with fifth graders in 

school I set out three mats… I told them 

Continued on page 3

2010-2011 

Editors 

Coby Goldberg 

Daniel Ernst 

Daniella Nevid 

Sydney Shaiman 

Contributing Writers 

Alexa Ringer 

Aliza Astrow 

Amelia Sylvor-Greenberg 

Ariella Kahan 

Benjamin Shapiro 

Benjamin Sternklar-Davis 

Chloe Weinstein 

Dylan Posner 

Eliana Salmon 

Ella Kaplun 

Hallie Fawer 

Hannah Zhukovsky 

Jonathan Mack 

Laura Glesby 

Mirina Rosen 

Nico Miller 

Noah Shapiro 

Ronen Schatsky 

Sasha Chanko 

Sonia Epstein 

Artists 

Lizzy Kaner 

Orly Silverstein 

Photographers 

Karen Dorr 

Daniel Ernst 

Judy Katz 

Rick Munn 

Faculty Advisor 

Karen Dorr 

Layout & Design 

Abe Hendin 

Letter from the Editors 

Dear Heschel Middle School, 

It’s hard to believe that a whole 

school year has gone by since the beginning 

of the Heschel Herald. At the beginning 

of this year, the Heschel Herald was 

just a distant idea in the minds of some 

hopeful eighth graders. It seems like 

just yesterday that we were dreaming up 

names and mastheads for our new newspaper. 

Now, ten months later, thanks to 

you, the Heschel Herald has become a 

reality. 

The issues produced this year have 

been a breakthrough in our school’s 

news distribution. We are very proud of 

what this newspaper has become, and 

we are positive that you have enjoyed 

it. Thank you for the support you have 

shown. 

As we, the eighth graders, leave 

the Middle School and continue on to 

high school, we have only one wish for 

the future of this newspaper. We wish 

that the Heschel Herald will continue 

to flourish and grow under the leadership 

of its new editors, Amelia Sylvor- 

Greenberg, Ariella Kahan, and Nico 

Miller. We truly believe that the Heschel 

Herald has a bright future. 

It has been a pleasure for all of us 

to be the editors of this great newspaper 

this year. We wish you a fantastic summer 

full of fun, friends, and laughter, 

and good luck in the coming school year. 

Sincerely, 

Daniel Ernst 

Coby Goldberg 

Daniella Nevid 

Sydney Shaiman 

Heschel Herald Editors 

Letter to the Editors 

Dear Editors, 

I want to publicly thank you for 

your dedication and extraordinary efforts 

to create a new and improved 

school newspaper, the Heschel Herald. 

As you may recall, the staff in the fall began 

with twelve reporters, and grew to 

thirty by mid-year. This growth can be 

directly attributed to the enthusiastic response 

your first issue garnered, and to 

the energy and excitement you brought 

to every Tuesday afternoon session. 

Each of you contributed your editorial 

skills to every article written, and 

wrote at least two to three articles for 

each issue. You galvanized and led your 

staff by example; every week students 

diligently worked on their articles motivated 

by the desire to deliver interesting 

and relevant pieces. You have set a 

high bar for the incoming editors, who 

I know have been inspired by the model 

you set. 

I vividly recall the day, last year, 

when Daniel Ernst and Coby Goldberg 

first approached me. We were walking 

to various childcare centers for Hesed. 

Daniel and Coby politely introduced 

themselves, and declared, “We want 

to start another newspaper that students 

will actually read!” And the rest is 

Heschel history… 

I will miss you all, and promise that 

we will send you next year’s first issue. 

Keep journalism alive! 

Best wishes, 

Karen Dorr 

Heschel Herald Faculty Advisor 

THANK YOU ABE, 

FOR ALL YOU DO! 

Daniel, Daniella, Coby, Sydney, 

& Karen 

2 ◆ Heschel Herald, Volume 1, Issue 5 The Abraham Joshua Heschel School

Winding Down? Another 

Urban Myth 

By Daniel Ernst 

It is a commonly held perception that 

school ends for the eighth grade after 

Spring Break—but not one that is necessarily 

true. This year, the eighth grade 

has received a surprising amount of 

post-Israel schoolwork. 

One student has said that the 

amount of work in May has been “so 

much, more than before Israel. I thought 

we were going to come back from Israel 

and would be done with school.” This is 

certainly not the case. 

With class officially ending for the 

eighth grade on June 6, teachers are 

forced to pack in the rest of the year’s assignments 

in just three weeks following 

Israel. One question is whether or not 

teachers “have something to prove.” It 

is important to many teachers to make 

sure the students know that school certainly 

does not end after Passover. 

But for many students it is hard to 

balance the heavy workload with the 

lasting fatigue and jetlag. Having arrived 

from Israel on a Monday, followed 

by school early Tuesday morning, at 

10AM, naturally students were tired Tuesday 

night. And “unnaturally,” at least to 

us, there was homework to do, during 

which a number of students fell asleep. 

There is a constant debate about 

the right amount of work to give students 

immediately after Israel. Of course, 

teachers have the right to give work, but 

how much is too much? ◆ 

Journalist of the Month: 

Tom Verducci 


For those of you who normally could 

care less about international journalism, 

here is our first Heschel Herald Sports 

journalist of the month: Tom Verducci. 

Verducci came to the Sports Illustrated 

magazine in 1993, following ten 

years as a sports journalist for Newsday. 

At Sports Illustrated, he is a senior writer 

who specializes in professional baseball. 

According to Tom Verducci, his 

most compelling story was the story 

Going Green, One Tissue at a 

Time 

By Alexa Ringer 

If you look around the school, you 

may notice something. Not that Jacob 

has a new office, or that whiteboard 

markers are continuously disappearing 

mysteriously. You might observe that 

there are green tissue boxes placed in 

almost every classroom throughout the 

building. Starting at the beginning of 

the year, Bev Shnaps began to purchase 

these tissue boxes from an office supplier 

called Weeks Lerman. These tissue boxes 

are “tree-free,” as it says on the small 

Sayonara 

fo’ the 

Summah! 

he wrote in 1995 

titled “The Dead 

End Kids.” This 

article was about 

the struggles of 

Darryl Strawberry 

and Dwight 

Gooden, two 

of the New York Mets stars at the time. 

He wrote this article soon after joining 

Sports Illustrated, when he was assigned 

to cover the Mets. 

For all of these reasons and more, 

Tom Verducci is this year’s last Heschel 

Herald journalist of the month! ◆ 

green label on each box. “Emerald brand 

facial tissue is made from bagasse and is 

100% biodegradable,” it says on the back 

of the tissue box. It also clarifies why 

the material bagasse is used. Sugar cane 

is a readily renewable resource, grown 

extensively in a number of developing 

countries. After the sugar cane is juiced, 

the use of the fiber waste provides a value-added 

product from what is generally 

considered a waste product. When 

sugar fiber can be turned into products 

normally made from wood pulp, an additional 

benefit is the elimination of the 

pollution created from wood pulp. 

However, the box, containing the 

tissues is made from paper. ◆ 

Heschel Softball Wins 

Championship 


On Monday, June 6, the Heschel Softball 

team won the championship of its league, 

AIPSL, beating Winston Prep six to five. 

It was a close and highly competitive 

game all the way through. Heschel took 

the lead in the top of the seventh inning 

(the final inning in the AIPSL league) after 

Sasha Chanko tripled, Daniel Ernst 

drove him in and Sam Lippman drove 

Ernst in, making the score six to four. 

Lippman pitched the full game and in 

the bottom of the seventh allowed the 

bases to be loaded. He allowed one run 

to score and with two outs and the bases 

loaded, induced a ground out to third 

base. Said Lippman, “It was exhilarating 

and frightening…like nothing I ever felt. 

But I knew I could trust my teammates 

to make the play in the field.” This win 

was especially big after Heschel’s one 

loss of the season coming at the hands 

of Winston prep only a few days before. 

One outfielder, Rachel Wenger, said, “It 

feels amazing to have come so far after 

our first big loss to Winston Prep (a 10 

to 0 defeat). It was a lot of fun and a very 

exciting game.” Congratulations to the 

whole Softball team! ◆ 

GOLD, cont’d from page 1 

that one kid in the Middle School would 

have needed a fourth mat, and they were 

in awe.” 

Congratulations to Jonathan on taking 

home the gold! ◆ 

The Joseph Slifka Middle School June 2011 ◆ 3

Eighth Grade in Israel 

“In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.” —David Ben Gurion, 1956 

Yom Haatzmaut in Israel 

By Daniella Nevid 

This year the eighth grade had 

the privilege of celebrating Yom 

Haatzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, 

in Israel, a truly special experience. Yom 

Haatzmaut has so much meaning and 

value to the people living in Israel; it 

means one more year that this world finally 

recognizes Israel as a Jewish state. 

The day preceding Yom Haatzmaut 

is Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Memorial 

Day where all of Israel mourns the fallen 

soldiers. The effect of having one day of 

sorrow preceding another day of complete 

joy and celebrations is quite strong. 

The entire country goes from utter stillness 

to all around thrill and pleasure. 

Still there is a connection between both 

days that is very beautiful; everyone in 

the country cries for one another as if 

they were each other’s brothers, sisters, 

parents or children, and then the next 

day they all celebrate together as one 

family. There is no other nation that I 

can think of that has such pride in their 

Yom Hazikaron Ceremony in 

Be’er Sheva 


In Israel, the majority of the population 

is bound by a unifying culture, and 

a unifying sense of patriotism. Although 

I am not Israeli, never before have I felt 

so much a part of this nationalism than 

at the ceremony commemorating Yom 

HaZikaron (Remembrance Day) in the 

city of Be’er Sheva. 

It was a cold night when we got off 

the bus in Be’er Sheva. We walked to a 

large square filled with seats, and a platform 

in front of the chairs. After everyone 

settled in, the Master of Ceremonies 

spoke briefly, and then the siren sounded. 

It was a shockingly loud, wailing siren. 

It was an air raid siren; its pitch went 

eyes on their independence day as Israel 

does. 

On Erev Yom Haatzmaut, the eve of 

Yom Haatzmaut, the country makes the 

transition between Yom Hazikaron and 

Yom Haatzmaut and that is when the festivities 

begin. Every city, town, kibbutz 

and home has some sort of celebration 

ranging from bonfires to concerts and 

festive dinners. 

As a part of our Israel trip the eighth 

grade had an opportunity to attend the 

city of Be’er Sheva’s Yom Haatzmaut 

concert. We arrived at the town plaza at 

Continued on page 10 

up then down and back up; it sounded 

like someone was crying. It gave me 

goose bumps, and made the hair on my 

arms stand straight up. Its sound demanded 

that I think; I thought about 

how everyone in the State of Israel was 

standing at this moment, hearing the 

same siren I was hearing, and thinking 

similar thoughts. Israel is a unified 

country, unified through the young men 

and woman it has lost in the name of 

freedom. 

After a long, long minute, Israelis 

sat down, and the ceremony continued. 

It continued with tearful speeches and 

heart-wrenching songs. It didn’t matter 

that I couldn’t fully understand the complex 

language they were using; I knew 

what they were saying. 

And then came a family—a mother, 

a father, and a brother, mourning the 

Jerusalem: A Synagogue for 

Everyone 

By Aliza Astrow 

On the eighth grade Israel trip, the 

eighth grade had the opportunity to attend 

Shabbat services at different synagogues 

in Jerusalem. Each student chose 

from among several options where they 

wished to attend services. Each of the 

synagogues offered an out of the ordinary 

experience, and everyone enjoyed 

the chance to participate in Israeli services 

different from the ones we are used 

to in New York. The following are the divergent 

synagogues that students in the 

eighth grade attended. 

Shira Hadasha is a liberal modern 

Orthodox service, with a translucent 

mechitza. Women are allowed to lead 

the services and read from the Torah. 

There was a lot of singing, contrary to 

many traditional Orthodox services. 

Kol Haneshama is a Reconstructionist 

synagogue with a focus on 


loss of their young son Yonatan. The 

simplicity of their speech meant I could 

understand every word of the lamenting 

story of a mother answering a knock on 

the door one Erev Shabbat. During that 

story it didn’t matter that it was freezing 

outside, or how tired I was. I felt like 

I was mourning each of Israel’s losses, 

that I was mourning my own people. ◆ 


Masada 


On the recent eighth grade class trip 

to Israel, one of the many places visited 

was Masada. Masada is a mountain overlooking 

the Dead Sea which King Herod 

built into a fortress as a place of refuge 

for himself in case of a revolt. During 

the First Roman-Jewish War, a group 

of Jews led by Eliezer Ben-Yair used the 

mountain fortress as a base for harassing 

Romans. The Romans then laid siege 

to Masada and after three months were 

finally prepared to breach the fortress 

and take the mountain. However, upon 

reaching the top of the mountain the 

Romans found that all of the inhabitants 

had committed mass suicide. 

After waking up at four in the morning 

and hiking to the top of the mountain 

in time to watch the sunrise, the 

eighth grade went to an overlook. At the 

overlook, when you shouted, there was a 

loud echo a few seconds later that sounded 

like many voices. At this point our 

tour guide had us shout the phrase that 

graduates of basic training in the army 

say as a sort of allegiance while atop Masada, 

“Masada lo tipol shenit”, “Masada 

will not fall again.” 

At this point I realized what Masada 

represented and why it is such an 

important place. Masada represents the 

beginning of the two thousand years of 

exile. It was the last place of Jewish resistance 

for two thousand years. The falling 

of Masada would represent the downfall 

of the Jewish state of Israel, a second 

exile, which is why Masada cannot fall 

again. ◆ 

Eighth Grade in Israel 

An Israeli Energy Dilemma 

By Ben Sternklar-Davis 

Israel’s lack of domestic natural 

resources such as oil and gas has been 

acknowledged for many years. David 

Ben Gurion foresaw the future when he 

set a personal example by choosing to 

settle in Kibbutz Sde Boker at the centre 

of the Negev, and established the National 

Water Carrier to bring water to 

the area. He saw the struggle to make the 

desert bloom as an area where the Jewish 

people could make a major contribution 

to humanity as a whole. From Israel’s beginning, 

the need for energy resources 

has meant that Israel has had to invest in 

greener, more efficient energy technology 

such as solar power and wind farms. 

Yet the recent discovery of huge reserves 

of natural gas off the country’s northern 

coast threatens the country’s adoption of 

greener energy. 

Israel uses its energy very resourcefully. 

It has almost constant sunlight 

and therefore it is capable of generating 

a great amount of electricity due to the 

hundreds of solar fields. Additionally, 

Israel has many hilltop wind turbines, 

Politics and the Israel Trip 

By Ronen Schatsky 

During a two-week-long experience 

in Israel, eighth graders had numerous 

opportunities to develop their opinions 

and feelings about Israeli politics. To 

determine whether this happened, this 

reporter briefly asked a representative 

sample of eighth graders whether the 

trip affected their views about Israeli 

politics; approximately one quarter of 

this sample answered in the affirmative. 

One of them, Sarah Joyce, states 

that she “used to think of Israel as just 

another country,” but now she feels it is 

“her home.” This has caused her to, “take 

a stronger stand in its politics.” It is clear 

that Sarah’s intimate experiences, with 

the land and its people, impacted her political 

interests. Apparently, the trip was 

somewhat successful in connecting students’ 

interest in Israeli politics. The assertions 

of other eighth graders, support 

which generate much wind electricity. It 

also has many water turbines. 

In 2009, about 120 trillion cubic 

feet of gas reserves were discovered in 

the Mediterranean, much of it within 

Israeli territory. Some months later, another 

field, sized at 8.7 trillion cubic feet, 

was found, and then a second, twice the 

size. These gas fields are so big that Israel 

could easily become an exporter of nonrenewable 

energy. 

Now some Israelis are concerned 

that the use of nonrenewable energy will 

force the renewable energy plants to shut 

down. On the other hand, if Israel can 

replace its coal-based electricity with gas, 

this might mean that the air will become 

cleaner and new technology such as gaspowered 

public transport and electric 

cars will develop. 

The discovery of such huge gas reserves 

could make a big difference to 

Israel’s economy. Many hold the hope 

that it will not affect the development of 

renewable energy, and will not mean a 

complete return to a wasteful and environmentally 

destructive time, especially 

since Israel currently has the greenest 

energy policies in the region. ◆ 

this. Lena Diamond, for example, describes 

greater awareness of the goingson 

of the State after the trip. Moreover, 

Dassi Kalmanofsky says that her preexisting 

opinions about Israel “became 

stronger,” mainly because of “the argument 

on the bus.” 

Dassi’s remarks highlight another 

aspect of the trip: the conversations 

among students, who seemed to become 

closer as the trip wore on. The said “argument,” 

really more a shouting match 

of opposing views than a disciplined 

expression of opinions, exemplifies a 

social situation that further developed 

students’ opinions about Israel. As often 

happens when students have strong 

feelings, few opinions could be fully 

expressed without interruptions from 

those with opposing viewpoints. So, it 

was not clear how much was learned 

from the perspectives of others, but, at 



Washington, DC and Philadelphia 

DC Trip—National Gallery 

By Ariella Kahan 

On the last day of the Washington 

D.C. trip, the seventh graders went to the 

National Gallery. The National Gallery 

is an extraordinary art museum with 

an exceptional collection of art from the 

Renaissance. The seventh grade focused 

on Renaissance art during their tours of 

the museum to augment their humanities 

study of the Renaissance. 

In the National Gallery, the grade 

was split into four groups based on their 

advisory. For an hour, each group was 

led by a tour guide through the museum 

and learned about 

a variety of paintings. 

The paintings 

were by Botticelli, 

Leonardo da Vinci, 

Bellini, Titian 

and many other 

great artists. Some 

paintings that the 

seventh grade saw 

were: Ginevra de’ 

Benci, The Adoration 

of the Magi, both by Leonardo 

da Vinci and many others. Many of the 

paintings had Christian themes, but one 

unique painting depicted a story from 

the Torah. This was exciting to many 

students because after seeing numerous 

paintings of the Madonna and the Saints, 

it was exciting to see that the Torah was 

also a subject of art during the Renaissance. 

Additionally, it was great to connect 

what we saw in the museum to our 

studies in class. As one seventh grader 

said, “It was very exciting to see the 

paintings of artists we have been learning 

about all year. We saw paintings of 

Botticelli, and we read Primavera which 

was based on the painting ‘Primavera’ by 

Botticelli.” 

Two of the four tour guides were 

very good, and made the experience at 

the National Gallery a favorite of many 

students, but unfortunately the other 

two tour guides were not as good. Because 

of this, the National Gallery got 

mixed reviews. Some students called it, 

“amazing,” and said it was the best part 

of their trip. Other students did not like 

it as much, and were disappointed in 

the museum. One seventh grader said, 

“It was one of the 

best museums 

of the trip!” Another 

said, “it was 

very interesting 

and we learned 

about some of 

the Ancient gods 

and also about a 

famous painter 

named Titian. 

overall the paintings 

were beautiful and articulate.” Although 

many reviews of the museum 

were very positive, other students were 

not as favorable about the National Gallery. 

Some students thought they were 

too tired to enjoy the museum, and 

others thought the tour guide was boring. 

Despite the negative reviews, many 

students agreed that all around, the 

museum was both fun and interesting. 

However, many seventh graders hope 

the sixth grade will have better luck with 

their tour guides next year! ◆ 

We May Look Different 

By Hallie Fawer and Noah Shapiro 

On May 4, 2011, the sixth grade went to 

the Amish country in Lancaster, Philadelphia 

with Shoshana Jebwab, Marilyn 

Tawil, Paulette Cohen, David Frankle, 

and Donna Aber. After they saw the 

film “Jacob’s Choice,” a brief film that 

explained certain Amish traditions, they 

explored a model of an Amish one-room 

schoolhouse, and then visited an Amish 

farmer’s house. Once students were inside 

and seated, Sam Riehl, the farmer, 

welcomed everyone. He reminded students 

that every culture has different 

beliefs, and that they may look different 

but they, like everyone, “are still just human 

beings on earth.” 

As a matter of fact, a lot of people 

thought that the Amish’s homes would 

look different from ours. To most people’s 

surprise, there were few differences. 

A sixth grader commented, “Their houses 

looked exactly like ours, except there 

were no electric lights, televisions, or 

computers. Though everyone noted that 

their clothes were different than ours, no 

one really focused on that, but instead, 

focused on the fact that their activities 

were different. Instead of sitting on a 

couch with their eyes glued to their electronics, 

they were doing farm work, and 

even the younger children helped.” 

Amish farmer Sam Riehl also explained 

to the sixth graders about the 

tradition of “Rumspringa,” which is defined 

in German as, “running around.” 

This refers to a period that begins at 


Holocaust Museum Exhibit: 

“State Of Deception” 

by Nico Miller 

The seventh grade traveled to 

Washington DC on May 5. While there, 

they went to an exhibit in the Holocaust 

Museum about Nazi propaganda, called 

“State of Deception.” When students first 

walked into the exhibit, the sound of 

Nazi marching music and the sight of 

bright colored posters instantly bombarded 

them. These posters depicted 

a “happy” group of young people who 

were going to save the world by getting 

rid of the Jews. There was no mention 

of the Nazis’ assault on Europe or anything 

negative. The exhibit’s design was 

intended to make the viewer feel happy 

and safe. 

If the viewer did not know that this 

exhibit was about something horrifying 

like the Holocaust, he would have 

thought that Hitler was doing something 

good. It was clear how powerful 

propaganda is, and how easy it is to get 

manipulated by it. First of all, the joyous 

marching music brought a happy 

atmosphere to the room. Next, there 

were posters depicting people smiling 




Beth Sholom Synagogue: 

Frank Lloyd Wright or Frank 

Lloyd Wrong? 

The Sixth Grade’s First Taste of Modern 

Architecture 

By Hannah Zhukovsky 

After an early wake-up call, the 

sixth graders all piled into the coach 

bus, then, after a long and sleepy ride, 

managed to stumble out of the bus into 

a strange pyramid figure supported by 

obelisks at its side; the building is the 

Beth Sholom Synagogue designed by 

Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect of the 

Guggenheim Museum. 

After walking through a long carpeted 

hallway, we were greeted by Mordechai 

and Mati Rosentein, grandparents 

of fellow sixth grader Ava Pearlman. 

We were then ushered into one of the 

many chapels to watch a short video 

about the construction of the building. 

The Rabbi of Beth Sholom Synagogue, at 

that time, was Mortimer J. Cohen. When 

Rabbi Cohen was at Beth Sholom, many 

members of the synagogue, located in 

Philadelphia, left to move to the suburbs, 

and the old building was in disrepair. He 

decided to move the synagogue to Elkins 

Park, and to build a new synagogue. 

Rabbi Cohen’s mission was to expand 

the congregation attending the Synagogue, 

and at the same time think about 

the architecture of the new building to 

connect Judaism with the modern world. 

He even said he wanted a building that 

had “the American spirit wedded to the 

ancient spirit of Israel.” 

In order to accomplish his dream, 

in 1953 Rabbi Cohen sent Frank Lloyd 

Wright , one of the most famous and 

accomplished architects in the world, a 

personal letter to convince him to consider 

the project. Frank Lloyd Wright 

at the time was best known for designing 

the extraordinary home, “Falling 

Water.” Wright, a Welsh Unitarian, had 

been asked before to design and build 

a synagogue, but had always refused. 

Rabbi Cohen would not take “no” for an 

answer, and after much coaxing, Wright 

agreed to go along with the project. 

After meeting, Cohen and Wright 

soon became great friends, and Cohen 

maintained the position of Co-Designer 

of the building, a position never given 

away before by Wright. Thus, they started 

to work on the six-sided pyramid with 

tripod beams laden with plastic panels 

within the structure, which resembled 

Mount Sinai. 

After the video, we walked up the 

carpeted stairs into the main sanctuary. 

As soon as we arrived into the room, 

there were gasps of “oohs”, and “aahs.” 

Many kids loved the open space, while 

others said it was too “overwhelming.” 

The main sanctuary, when first looked at, 

resembles a modern cubist design done 

to give the sacred holy place an “edge.” 

However, the inside, such as a piece of 

Jewish text, has many deep interpretations 

of mystical ideas and tradition. 

The only difference between the two is 

that the interpretations are played out in 

the many facets of the architecture, not 

words. Inside the main sanctuary, where 

the pyramid peaks, the floor is tilted in a 

certain way, which gives the effect of one 

being cupped in God’s hands. The Bima, 

a representation of angels ascending to 

heaven, is lined with modern shaped 

patterns (usually six on each side, to 

represent the twelve tribes) and in the 

middle is the triangular shaped ark with 


So You Think You Can Fly? 

By Ella N. Kaplun 

The man who said, “Tell me, have I 

done anything of worth?” Is the same 

man who invented the Great Kite, the 

ornithopter flying machine, the parachute, 

and who painted the Mona Lisa. 

This Renaissance man was Leonardo Da- 

Vinci. 

During the sixth grade trip to Pennsylvania, 

specifically Lancaster and 

Philadelphia, sixth graders went to the 

Leonardo DaVinci exhibit in the Franklin 

Institute. There, we watched a video 

about Leonardo, looked at Leonardo’s 

paintings, read his journal entries, and 

viewed the astounding drawings of his 

inventions. Much of what we saw was 

Leonardo’s actual writing, as well as 

touch screen reproductions of his work. 

Before we went to the museum Gary 

asked that we choose one invention of 

DaVinci’s that we’d like to take home. 

Would we choose: The Great Kite, Aerial 

Screw, Mechanical Lion and Bat, Self- 

Propelled Cart, or the Harpsichord Viola.” 

Looking at thirty-seven results, 

three people wanted to bring the Aerial 

Screw home, twenty people wanted to 

bring home the Great Kite, five people 

wanted to bring home the Mechanical 

Lion and Bat, five people wanted to bring 

home a Self-Propelled cart, and four others 

opted for the harpsichord-viola. 

In 1498, Leonardo DaVinci completed 

work on his painting, “The Last 

Supper.” He thought of flying machines 

400 years before electronic flying machines 

were made. In addition, he helped 




Lockup: The Eastern State 

Penitentiary 

By Eliana Salmon 

The sixth graders’ last stop on their 

Pennsylvania trip was the notorious 

Eastern State Penitentiary. Located in 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Eastern 

State Penitentiary was once a prison 

for some of the world’s worst criminals, 

including Al Capone. The penitentiary 

opened in 1829 and housed criminals for 

142 years, until it was shut down in 1971. 

The penitentiary reopened as a tourist 

site and is now a U.S. National Historic 

Landmark. 

It has become one of the most famous 

prisons in America; people visit 

to see the architecture of the structure. 

There are tall walls that surround the 

prison that reach up to 30 feet high and 

are anchored 10 feet under the ground. 

From the outside, the penitentiary gives 

the viewer the impression of a Gothic 

castle; the tour guide explained the design 

was intended to scare off any unwanted 

visitors. One thing that truly 

surprised the students was that it was 

one of the most expensive buildings in 

America of its time, and the prisoners 

had indoor plumbing before it was installed 

in the White House. There was a 

very specific reason for this. The builders 

believed in “reform.” 

Before Eastern State Penitentiary, 

prisons were very violent places and all 

types of criminals were mixed in together. 

For example, murderers were put in 

the same cell as thieves. The founders of 

Eastern State Penitentiary believed that 

all criminals (even if they had committed 

notorious crimes) were created in 

the image of god, and they could be reformed. 

They believed that other prisons 

made prisoners worse than when they 

arrived. 

When criminals arrived at Eastern 

State, they were held in solitary confinement. 

They did not leave their cells and 

received their food through a slot in the 

door. Indoor plumbing meant that criminals 

could remain in complete solitude. 

The founders of the Eastern State Penitentiary 

believed that their way would 

cause the criminal to regret what they 

did, and feel shameful. 

Each cell was twice the size of cells 

at other prisons. The cells consisted of a 

cot, a toilet, and a small table. Each cell 

had its own small yard where the prisoners 

would exercise for one hour each day, 

but in solitary confinement. Every cell 

had a skylight that the prisoners called 

the dead eye or God’s eye. The walls 

were very thick so that the criminals 

heard no noise and there was absolute 

silence all the time. When the prisoners 

first arrived, they were led to their cells 

with their eyes covered. The blindfolds 

prevented the prisoners from seeing the 

layout of the prison; nor could they see 

any of other prisoners and their cells. 

As soon as they entered the prison, they 

were no longer addressed by their name, 

but they only had a number. As a reward 

for being good prisoners, the criminals 

would receive a book to read, the Holy 

Bible. The prisoners were allowed only 

two to three showers a month although 

there were unsanitary conditions. Mice, 

rats, and insects were common in the 

prison. At the turn of the century, conditions 

got even worse. 

At that time the prison population 

increased and they could no longer keep 

the prisoners in solitary confinement. 

Inmates started sharing cells and there 

were 4 to 5 prisoners in one cell. The 

number of criminals arriving at Eastern 

State kept increasing, and the prison had 

to build a second floor. The prisoners 

no longer had an exercise yard, and the 

criminals on the first floor had no skylight. 

They built a field for the inmates to 

exercise together outdoors. 

Over the period of time in which 

Eastern State was an active prison, there 

were only 100 escapes and only one escaped 

without getting caught. His story 

is the most famous escape story at the 

penitentiary. Six men gathered together 

to plan their escape. One of the men 

was a carpenter and he built a ladder. In 

broad daylight, the 6 men climbed over 

the wall using the ladder and once out 

of the prison, they hijacked a few cars. 

Five of the men were caught and brought 

back to the penitentiary, but one was 

never found. 

One thing that many of the sixth 

graders found surprising was the fact 

that the prison had a synagogue. About 

80 inmates were Jewish and went to the 

synagogue to pray. They had a kosher 

kitchen and an ark that held a Torah. 

Interesting Facts 

• Al Capone had his tonsils removed 

at the prison infirmary. 

• Babe Ruth came to play baseball 

with the inmates. 

• They had a greenhouse where they 

would grow vegetables for the prisoners. 

• There were many cats roaming the 

prison when it first opened. 

• In the mid-twenties, there were 

more than 1800 inmates at Eastern 

State. ◆ 


After Two Long Years, 

Vending Machine Finally Shut 

Down—For Good 


The decision to permanently shut 

down the vending machine was made 

earlier this semester by principal Lori 

Skopp, and Beverly Shnaps-Morris. After 

going through numerous vendors, while 

facing constant problems, it was decided 

that having this vending machine was 

simply not worth the countless hours 

spent managing its flaws. 

The vending machine, sometimes 

considered Student Council’s greatest 

A Sarcastic Ode To the 

Vending Machine 

By Amelia Sylvor-Greenberg 

I have sad news to report; the vending 

machine died. It’s gone. Everyone really 

loved that thing, and I’ve got to admit 

that it was pretty swanky. I mean, you 

could put $1.50 in, and that magic food 

robot would give you a bag of “organic” 

potato chips or a “healthy” soda. So like I 

said, swank-o-rama. I didn’t have much 

against the vending machine, only one 

or two issues with it. Or three or four… 

Issue #1: The fact that people would 

always hang out in front of the vending 

machine. People are like moths, and 

for some reason they’d just flock to the 

machine. They would stand there without 

buying anything. They would press 

their faces against the glass and stare at 

the food for an entire 10-minute break. 

Come on, people. Were the snacks in 

there REALLY that exciting? 

Issue #2: The healthy snacks that 

weren’t really that healthy at all. Think 

about it: just because the soda was 

mango flavored didn’t mean it was better 

for you than Sprite. Just because the 

cookies said “natural” on the packaging 

didn’t mean that they were not cookies. 

Naturally blue potato chips are still just 

starch fried in oil. But the vending machine 

brainwashed everyone with the big 

slogans written on it: “Health! Environmentalism! 

Organic!” 

Issue #3: How people complained 

when the machine was closed because 

there were some peanuts in it. It’s pretty 

inconsiderate. So many people in this 

school have nut allergies, and it isn’t cool 

that people want to risk other kids’ lives 

so they can have a snack. It makes me 

want to ask them, “Hey, you want that 

granola bar so very much that you will 

risk making someone have an allergy attack 

in order to eat it?” 

Issue #4: this one is the most obvious. 

The machine was just a money 

waster. I mean, I think we all have access 

to snacks at home, so why should we pay 

extra to eat snacks that have been regurgitated 

by the school’s residential robot? 

And worse, not only did the robot eat 

money, but also it never spat up change. 

You could give the robot your $5 bill for 

your $1 snack, but the robot might decide 

to be greedy and take all your money. 

Silly robot. 

So there you have it: my four complaints 

about the vending machine. Despite 

those four tiny issues, the vending 

machine will be missed. Rest in peace, 

oh great snack robot. Rest in Peace. 

(You can e-mail me your angry 

rants against this article at ameliasy@ 

heschel.org.) ◆ 

accomplishment, was brought to the 

Middle School by the 2008-2009 Middle 

School Student Council members. It was 

received extremely well by students, and 

was frequently used- while it was working. 

But what came with the vending 

machine was a series of never-ending 

problems and elusive vendors. Most recently 

the vending machine had to be 

temporarily unplugged due to nut products 

being found in the vending machine. 

Unfortunately the vendor was on 

a three-month long vacation, and could 

not fix the situation. When the vendor 

finally returned, the nut item was replaced, 

however this time, with a nonkosher 

item. And this was not the first 

unsuccessful vendor that the school has 

used. 

Finally, the decision was made to 

discontinue its use, and just chuck the 

thing. The vending machine does not 

cost money to house and the money 

from sales go directly to the vendor. 

However the hassle of dealing with unreliable 

vendors pushed the school’s decision. 

The current Student Council has 

been dealing with possible alternatives 

for the vending machine, although it is 

unlikely that they will come up with any 

significant replacement. ◆ 

Soaring Words 

By Ariella Kahan 

On Thursday, May 12, the Hesed Club 

decorated a blanket that will be delivered 

to a sick child in the hospital. This 

event was run by the Soaring Words 

foundation. The head of Soaring Words, 

Lisa, and two Heschel High school interns 

came during clubs to the Hesed 

Club. Lisa explained that she started this 

organization to brighten the time that 

sick children spent while in the hospital. 

The idea was to create blankets made by 

children of the same age as the recipients. 

Every member of the Hesed Club 

had an opportunity to decorate at least 

one square of a quilt. Everyone was told 

not to write anything on the blanket that 

might remind the sick child of their illness 

like, “get well,” or “feel better soon.” 

Instead, everyone drew pictures of rainbows, 

flowers, hearts, and covered every 

inch of the quilt with happy images. 

This activity gave the Hesed club 

the opportunity to do something that 

did not involve money or fundraising, 

but will improve a sick child’s day with 

their hands-on effort. Although at first, 

many Hesed Club members were not 

very excited about doing an activity with 

Soaring Words, many people grew to appreciate 

the organization, and enjoyed 

decorating the blanket. Several Hesed 



atzmaut, cont’d from page 4 

about 9:30PM and the place was packed. 

At about 10:00PM there were fireworks 

and then we departed at 10:30. 

There were many protestations from 

the students when it was time to leave . 

Many of the students, including myself, 

believed that we should celebrate 

for a little bit longer, because it wasn’t 

every day that you get to celebrate Yom 

Haatzmaut in Israel. Some were annoyed 

because people of our age were only just 

arriving as we were leaving; it appeared 

to us that we were leaving along with the 

strollers and grandparents. The majority 

of the grade was very disappointed with 

how the night panned out; everyone had 

heard from former eighth graders that 

Yom Haatzmaut was the best night of the 

trip, and that they always stayed out late 

having fun. We were angry and wanted 

to stay; we even tried to convince the 

teachers to let us, but there were six kids 

who were sick, and it wouldn’t have been 

good for their health to stay out any later. 

That night, I was one of the six sick 

ones, and even I wanted to stay out longer 

to celebrate. Looking back, I think 

that no matter how long we stayed, orwhere 

we went it would not have made 

for a greater time. We had a great night, 

because we were there as a grade- smiling, 

laughing and just having fun. At the 

time I was pretty upset, but now I regret 

that I got so upset, because it soured the 

moments that we did get to celebrate. In 

truth, until we were informed that we 

had to leave, I had a great night celebrating 

with Israel, and that’s what I believe 

made that night so special. In addition 

to enjoying it with my friends, I was feeling 

such joy for Israel, and recognizing 

a strong connection with Israel that I 

hadn’t felt before. ◆ 

Synagogues, cont’d from page 4 

singing and harmonizing. The service 

is completely egalitarian; both men and 

women led the service. 

The Conegliano Synagogue is a 

small Italian shul, which many students 

went to for a new experience. Joseph 

Harari said, “It was very small and the 

ark was very intricate… They even had a 

key to open it!” 

The Great Synagogue is an enormous 

modern orthodox shul, in a beautiful 

building. The women are seated up- 

stairs in the huge sanctuary. The singing 

is grandiose and impressive. 

Hovevei Zion is a traditional Israeli 

modern orthodox synagogue. The service 

there is quick, with minimal singing. 

There is a translucent mechitsa. 

Chesed VaRachamim is a small 

Sephardic synagogue. The women sat 

upstairs and the service followed the 

orthodox rules in general. Very few students 

chose to visit this shul, but one of 

the three who did, Dylan Posner, said “it 

was a really, really beautiful synagogue, 

and the members were very welcoming.” 

All in all, everyone really enjoyed 

the opportunity to visit different kinds 

of services in Jerusalem, and many hope 

for a chance to revisit the service they 

went to, next time they’re in Israel. ◆ 

Politics, cont’d from page 5 

the very least, students did make their 

own opinions “stronger.” 

Although, the Israel trip which included 

hiking through the desert, reliving 

Masada’s story, visiting David Ben- 

Gurion’s former home, and experiencing 

the lively culture of Jerusalem and Tel 

Aviv, did not impact the politics of three 

quarters of the eighth grade- it did result 

in stronger ties to Israel. Whether or 

not the trip was politically inspirational, 

eighth graders loved it to such a degree 

that it had meaning in it for everybody, 

whatever form that meaning may take. ◆ 

Deception, cont’d from page 6 

and having a good time, lastly, there was 

even a part of the exhibit with entertaining 

board games. All of these things 

demonstrated how much a government 

could do, to in this case, to make the 

world believe in the Nazis, and believe 

that their leadership will benefit the 

greater good of the people. 

Most of the seventh graders thought 

that this exhibit was extremely powerful. 

Although this is a gloomy subject, the 

majority of the students learned a lot. It 

made people eager to want to learn more 

about this subject next year in Social 

Studies. Grace Gilbert from the seventh 

grade said, “ It was scary how convincing 

the propaganda was.” I think that 

many students would agree with that 

statement. The seventh grade has been 

learning about propaganda for a long 

time, but it was still hard to imagine 

how people can get manipulated so easily. 

After seeing this exhibit, it became 

more understandable how people can 

get brainwashed into beliefs quite easily. 

That was the most frightening part of the 

whole thing. Propaganda is a systematic 

use of words in order to manipulate the 

target audience. The question is: how 

can we resist this? ◆ 

Different, cont’d from page 6 

the age of sixteen and ends when each 

young person chooses to either be baptized 

at the Amish church, or choose 

to leave the Amish community. He told 

students that he decided to be baptized 

at the church and become a farmer. He 

also told students that it is rare for the 

members of the Amish community to 

leave after “Rumspringa.” After saying 

our good-byes to Sam Riehl, we went 

into the barn and watched the cows being 

milked by an Amish woman. Then, 

we went into the gift shop that sells trinkets, 

candles, books, and more, and were 

able to meet the farmer’s wife and granddaughter. 

For most sixth graders, this visit 

was an amazing experience that allowed 

them to learn more about the Amish 

community in an enjoyable way. One 

sixth grader, Aaron Priven, said that 

visiting the Amish “was exquisite, and 

a good learning experience; I had never 

met or even seen an Amish person before 

the trip.” ◆ 


Hip, Hip, Hoorays for the Hot 

Summer Days! 

By Alexa Ringer 

Russell Baker, a notable journalist 

and author of the Pulitzer Prize- winning 

autobiography, Growing Up, said this, 

“Ah, summer, what power you have to 

make us suffer and like it.” This could be 

interpreted in several different ways, but 

here is one. After a long, grueling year of 

school, children and adults alike suffer 

from the need for a summer break. Just 

as suddenly as it comes, it goes, and upsets 

almost everyone. Despite all of this, 

we all still love it. 

Inventions made in winter for our 

summer enjoyment: Did you know in 

the winter of 1905, an 11-year-old boy 

named Frank Epperson invented the 

first popsicle? He created it completely 

by accident by leaving a mixture of powdered 

soda and water with a stirring 

stick, on his porch. He awoke the next 

morning and found a frozen pop! He 

first named his frozen pop an “Epsicle”, 

but when he got older his kids asked for 

“Pop’s” sicle and the new name was born. 

Here are some summer themed 

jokes to start an enjoyable summer: 

Q: What does the sun drink out of? 

A: Sunglasses 

Q: Which letter of the alphabet is 

the coolest? 

A: Iced tea 

Finally, for those of you traveling, 

Russell Baker had this to say, “The worst 

thing about being a tourist is having other 

tourists recognize you as a tourist.” 

Have a wonderful and safe summer. 

◆ 

The Heschel Herald 

Needs 

YOU 

in September! 

Sleep Deprivation 

By Jonathan Mack 

Usher says in his song, “DJ Got Us 

Fallin’ in Love Again,” “Thank God the 

week is done, I feel like a zombie come 

back to life.” He could not be more 

correct. There are many students who 

complain about their lack of sleep. It is 

recommended that the average middle 

school student get 9 hours of sleep per 

night, according to an article in The Science 

Daily.* A small sampling of Heschel 

students revealed that the average Heschel 

Middle School Student gets 8 hours 

of shut-eye a night, with many getting 

below 7.5 hours. 

A group of students were recently 

interviewed to find out the causes of this 

issue, as well as their comments. Sixth 

grader Eliana Salmon says, “You wake 

up in the morning and go to bed late. 

Then you wake up early the next morning 

and go to bed late also. It’s just a big 

cycle and the tiredness builds up as the 

week progresses.” Jordan Ofek, who gets 

an average of 6.5 hours of sleep per night 

and Clara Eshaghpour who gets an average 

of 7 hours of sleep per night, both 

agree with Eliana. 

Fly, cont’d from page 7 

advance the study of anatomy, astronomy, 

and civil engineering. 

DaVinci was born in Vinci, Italy, in 

1452 and died on May 2, 1519, in France. 

He was left-handed, and wrote in his 

journal in Italian, backwards. ehT naM 

etorW sdrawkcaB ekiL sihT. DaVinci’s 

father was an artist, so that is probably 

where Leonardo, early on, learned his 

skills. 

Several sixth graders had positive 

responses to the exhibit: “It was amazing! 

It was a really great way to introduce 

our current science unit on flight.” Nathan 

Finkle said, “I really thought it was 

fascinating how DaVinci was 300–400 

years ahead of his time. I thought that 

seeing his journals and some models of 

his ideas was fun and interesting. Overall, 

I had a great time.” Ilana Stein added, 

“I liked seeing all the cool sculptures he 

created.” Leonardo DaVinci defined 

what a renaissance person is: a man of 

multiple talents and interests. ◆ 

According to students, there are 

many reasons for lack of sleep. “Lack of 

sleep causes lack of focus, and therefore 

teachers should think about this when 

they assign homework, and they should 

think about whether they want their students 

to pay attention in class the next 

day, or not,” says an anonymous sixth 

grader who thinks that homework is 

the greatest cause. “Many students get 

little sleep because they are apprehensive 

about a test/quiz the next day, or are 

anticipating an exciting event,” says Logan 

Geller. He thinks that apprehension 

is a major reason for sleep deprivation. 

“Some students don’t get enough sleep 

because they feel the need to beat their 

video game record, and not get their 

needed rest,” says Noah Shapiro. Another 

big reason for lack of sleep is procrastination, 

which leads to pileup of homework, 

and late nights with little sleep. 

So when you can, see if you can 

catch nine hours of this essential shuteye; 

you will greatly appreciate it later! ◆ 

*Source: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/ 

06/080609071341.htm 

Soaring, cont’d from page 9 

club members commented on their experiences 

with Soaring Words. Two 

sixth graders said, “We really enjoyed 

the project.” Another sixth grader said, 

“It was really nice and fun to make the 

blankets.” 

After the program, it was clear that 

people enjoyed decorating a simple blanket, 

and giving a short time of their lives 

to improve another child’s life. Most 

people also agreed that this would be 

a fun activity for the whole school to 

take part in after Hesed Day, instead of 

watching a movie. Everyone could decorate 

one square of a quilt that a sick child 

might treasure for the rest of his or her 

life. 

Most members agreed that this organization 

is powerful, because they 

have the ability to make a sick child happier 

with something as simple as a blanket; 

a blanket that took the group twenty 

minutes to make. ◆ 


Yom Hashoah at Heschel 

By Ben Shapiro 

On the morning of May 2, sixth and 

seventh graders came to school wearing 

dark pants and white tops to mark 

the remembrance of the six million Jews 

killed during the Holocaust. First there 

was a reading of poetry and then there 

was a special guest speaker, Ray Kaner; 

she was introduced to describe her experiences 

as a survivor of Auschwitz. 

Ray spoke of starvation, horrible 

disease, cruel punishments, and the loss 

of loved ones. She had personally experienced 

all of this, and she said that, “the 

luckier ones died from illness in their 

own home; my mother and father were 

‘fortunate’ enough to experience this, but 

my two brothers weren’t so lucky and 

died painfully at the hand of German 

soldiers.” Ray revealed that one of the 

worst parts of her experience was the 

feeling of starvation. She only received 

one slice of bread in the morning, nothing 

for lunch, and a small bowl of soup 

for dinner. Later, conditions became 

worse, when she only had one bowl of 

soup to share with nine others for the 

entire day. It takes a great deal of courage 

to speak of times that were so painful, 

but she feels it is important that her 

story is heard, and passed on to a new 

generation. 

Candles were lit in the memory of 

all those who perished. 

During T.S.B.P that day, everyone 

went to the memorial, set up every year 

in the lower school lobby, to light candles, 

and watch a slide show of the many 

Heschel family members who died. 

Some students served as quiet guards; to 

silently protect the lit candle in the center 

of the room at the lower school. 

At eleven o’clock that morning a siren 

went off in memory of the millions 

who died, and no matter where students 

were, everyone stood in silence to listen 

and remember. ◆ 

A Celebration of 

Independence 

By Sonia Epstein 

On Tuesday, May 10, Jewish adults, 

children, and Israel supporters alike 

celebrated Israel’s hard-fought independence. 

It was celebrated, in Israel, countries 

all around the world, and at the 

Heschel School. 

First, let us go back sixty-three years, 

to May 13, 1948. The British Mandate was 

about to expire; the British Mandate was 

the period of time when the British governed 

Palestine, the country now known 

as Israel. After World War I, the British 

seized Palestine from the Ottoman Empire 

of Turkey. After some time, because 

there had been so much war in Palestine, 

the British didn’t want to be involved 

with the country anymore. Their plan 

was to divide the state between the Jews 

and the Arabs, but the Jews had other 

plans. This was their chance to take the 

state they had always wanted. If they 

acted, they would have to do so right after 

the British Mandate expired, which 

would be in twenty-four hours. 

There was a lot to be done in so little 

time. First, the Administration had to 

decide on a name; David Ben-Gurion 

suggested the name “Israel.” Then they 

had to find a place to hold the reading of 

the Declaration of Independence. They 

decided that the Tel Aviv Museum, on 

Rothschild Boulevard would be the best 

place. Most important, they had to write 

a Declaration of Independence. David 

Ben-Gurion and twelve members of the 

Administration wrote it together. The 

first issue was whether to mention God 

in the Declaration of Independence. 

Once more, David Ben-Gurion solved 

the dilemma, and decided to use the 

phrase “Rock of Israel.” He convinced 

half the Administration that this referred 

to God, and the other half that it 

did not. 

On Friday, May 14, 1948, about 250 

people gathered at the museum, and 

many more turned on the radio to hear 

the proclamation. It contained three sections: 

first was the reading of the Declaration, 

and the signing of the Council 

members’ names to it; second, was the 

reading of the first laws that would begin 

to govern Israel; finally, Israel’s national 

anthem “Ha-Tikvah” was played. At 4:38 

pm, David Ben- Gurion declared the assembly 

officially over. The State of Israel 

had been established. 

Sixty-three years later, Israel’s independence 

is celebrated at Heschel. This 

year celebrations included: learning 

Israeli songs and dances, eating Israeli 

food, watching Israeli movies, creating 

posters to encourage travel to Israel, 

Israeli military training, and learning 

about Israeli history. One student commented, 

“The Israeli dancing was great 

fun, and other parts of the festivities 

were wonderful too.” All in all, it was 

a day to be celebrated. Happy Birthday, 

Israel! ◆ 

Synagogue, cont’d from page 7 

the word “Kadosh” (holy) traced three 

times each in a different color. Originally 

Rabbi Cohen wanted it to read 

“Kadosh” three times, but since there was 

not enough room, Wright traced it three 

times instead. 

Lining the walls opposite the sanctuary 

are little triangular lights with 

plastic three-dimensional pyramids 

directly on top. The lights are actually 

models of the Star of David. Facing 

directly in the center of the chapel 

is (again) a triangular light filled with 

many colors. The light was actually inspired 

by the kabalistic idea that God 

has many sides, and that idea is shown 

through the eighteen different colors. 

After looking inside, we were lead 

outside into the warm Pennsylvania air 

to look at the exterior of the building. 

The pyramid building, costing about 1.3 

million dollars to build, resembles a tepee. 

This design was meant as a tribute 

to the American Indian motif, which 

was part of Wright’s idea of the American 

Synagogue. Sadly, Frank Lloyd 

Wright never lived to see the completion 

of this masterpiece. A masterpiece 

that was praised as, “an immortal gift to 

Frank Lloyd Wright’s memory,” and as 

“a singular gift to American Jewry.” ◆ 


Book Reviews 

By Hannah Zhukovsky 

Grad Pix 

Leonardo’s Shadow 

is an historical 

fiction novel 

written by Christopher 

Grey. The 

novel takes place 

during the Renaissance 

in the home 

of Leonardo Da 

Vinci. The main 

character, Giacomo, 

a servant 

of Da Vinci, is unaware of his own past 

and parentage. As his servant, Giacomo 

learns of the financial situation of Leonardo 

Da Vinci, and strives to help Leonardo 

become the greatest artist of all 

time. This is an easy to read novel that 

records historical moments such as the 

painting of the “Last Supper.” 

Reading Level: Sixth Grade 

My Name is Asher Lev is a fiction 

novel written by Chaim Potok. The 

novel follows Asher Lev, a Ladover Hasid 

living in Brooklyn. Asher has always 

been a talented artist; a skill his parents 

thought useless. After being introduced 

to artist Jacob Kahn, he starts to take lessons, 

plunging him into the world of art, 

and pushing him farther away from the 

ways of the Ladover. When his art causes 

controversy for the people he love, he is 

forced to make the biggest decision of 

his life. This is a harder novel to read that 

is recommended to lovers of The Chosen. 

Reading Level: Eighth Grade 

East is a fantasy novel written by 

Edith Pattou. The story follows Ebba 

Rose, a young girl living in Norway. 

She has always been an adventurer, and 

one day a white polar bear comes to her 

house and requests that she come with 

him in exchange for health and prosperity 

for her already ailing family. She 

reluctantly accepts the bear’s invitation, 

and follows him into the world of magic, 

and there, finds herself a purpose and 

starts her own quest. 

Reading Level: Seventh Grade ◆

Volume 1, Issue 5 (June 2011) - The Heschel School

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