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

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.” ◆
12 ◆ Heschel Herald, Volume 1, Issue 5 The Abraham Joshua Heschel School