Although the CESJDS community could not gather as usual on Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), the community still came together on Zoom for a meaningful commemoration. “I think we are all suffering from Zoom burnouts, but it was really heartening to see our community come together despite all the limitations of Zoom,” Jewish History Teacher Dr. Dan Rosenthal said. “I think that the importance...

Yossi Klein Halevi, an American-born Jewish author, immigrated to Israel in 1983, where he currently works as a writer, journalist, and political activist. In 2018, Halevi published his latest book, Letters To My Palestinian Neighbor, in which he opens a profound dialogue with a hypothetical Palestinian on the other side of the border that separates West Jerusalem and the West Bank. In each chapter,...

On March 16, Robert Aaron Long shot and killed eight people in Cherokee County, Georgia, six of them of East Asian descent. Just three days later, the school joined together for Town Hall. I was expecting the topic would be about hate crimes against Asians, which have escalated by 150% this year in the U.S, But it was not. Although the topic chosen, cancel culture, was still relevant and important,...

Although celebrating Passover last year was different than anyone could have once imagined, freshman Sela Wertlieb found a silver lining in the one-of-a-kind experience. Since Wertlieb’s family did a Zoom seder, it gave her the chance to talk to her family that lives far away without having to travel. This year, Wertlieb will continue the Zoom tradition. “I like [the way we celebrated last year]...

Aside from last year, I have attended a catered program for every Pesach since I was fourteen months old. As a result, ironically, I’ve rarely had classic matzah brie or matzah pizza, and my leil haseder matzah balls often consisted of potatoes rather than matzah meal. All of these classic Pesach foods fall into the category of gebrochts — foods in which baked matzah comes in contact with a...

Racism against Black Americans exists in the Jewish community too, according to four Black panelists — two of whom are Jewish — who spoke at Town Hall on Feb. 5 in honor of Black History Month. Interviewed together during the schoolwide meeting on Zoom were Shalhevet faculty Mr. Fred Leach, Digital Firehawks Instructor, and Ms. Valencia Wilson, Educational Support Specialist; along with Rabbi...