STAY CONNECTED! 

MAZAL TOV TO

HISTORY DAY WINNERS

   

Each year self-selected students opt to enter New York City History Day, a competition that brings together hundreds of entrants from diverse backgrounds throughout the city who have pursued their passion for historical research and are prepared to present their results in one of five categories: historical paper, documentary, dramatic performance, website or exhibit board.

We are proud to acknowledge the achievements of:
 
Gabriel Klapholz (8) 1st Place for his research paper "The Nationalization of the Suez Canal: A Waterway to a New World Order"
 
Jacob Aufzien (8) 3rd place for his research paper "Ignac Semmelweis: Washing Our Hands of Sepsis" 
 
Lillian Pravda (7) 2nd place for her dramatic performance "The Fair Labor Standards Act: Was It Enough to End Child Labor?"  
 

All of these students were invited to defend their titles at New York State History Day in Cooperstown, NY in April.  Successful students there can compete for top recognition at National History Day in June.

WE ONCE AGAIN EXTEND OUR GRATITUDE TO

GAIL HADANI

AND THE CAST AND CREW OF

BIBLE ROCK FOR SUCH A

MAGNIFICENT SHOW.

WE SALUTE GAIL FOR

HER PERSONAL TALENTS

AND THE TALENT THAT

SHE BRINGS OUT IN OUR STUDENTS!!!

Four uniformed members of the Israel Defense Forces, two in the famed 8200 intelligence unit, the third a naval lieutenant serving on a submarine, and the fourth the captain of the world's largest all female combat unit, lunched with our students. They described their duties, explained the insignia on their uniforms, and answered students' questions. Our guests all opted to continue army service past the mandatory time requirement. "It is now our chance to give back and protect our families and our country," one said.

Please read Dr. Judy Sokolow's recently published article printed in the Jewish Educational Leadership issue on Tikkun Olam. The article on the impact of community service on students mentions Ramaz's past political activism.

The publication is produced by Bar Ilan University and the Lookstein Center in Israel.

PRE-PESACH MESSAGE

It was the last Friday before Pesach vacation and Morah Smadar  assumed the customary spot behind the podium at the main minyan for the usual Friday Devar Torah. But it was not things as usual. Instead of referencing the weekly parashah, Morah Smadar retold Elie Wiesel's story "Testament of a Jew from Saragossa." In part reading verbatim from the text and in part retelling passages in her own words, she captivated the students with this haunting story that begins in Spain and ends in Jerusalem.

Mr. Wiesel recounts that, as a tourist in Saragossa, a Christian guide offered him his services and, in the course of conversation learned that Mr. Wiesel spoke Hebrew. With "insistence in his voice" the guide prevailed upon him to go to his house where he produced a scrap of inscribed yellowed parchment. "Is it Hebrew?" he wanted to know. Upon seeing the document, Mr. Wiesel was visibly shaken as he realized that he held in his hand a spiritual will written by one Moses, son of Abraham, who had succumbed several centuries earlier to the coercion of the Spanish inquisition; but, had left a legacy to his offspring that "on the day when Israel will be able to walk again, its head high under the sun, without fear and without remorse, they will know where their roots lie."

Mr. Wiesel wanted to purchase the document but the Spaniard, equally disconcerted, refused, saying that it was an amulet passed down in his family. "Know only this," Mr. Wiesel told him, "You are a Jew."

The Spaniard was taken aback. He knew nothing of Jews other than that they existed and wanted to know more. From the Bible to the Prophets to the Temples to the Golden Age in Spain to the Inquisition to Auschwitz to the establishment of the State of Israel, Mr. Wiesel acquainted him with the highlights of Jewish history. The Spaniard began to cry and did not want Mr. Wiesel to leave. Mr. Wiesel read him the document once again, "the testament that a Jew in Saragossa had written long ago, thinking of him," and went on his way.

Years later, while hurriedly walking down a street in Jerusalem, Mr. Wiesel was confronted by a man who grabbed his arm and insisted that they speak. Mr. Wiesel was perplexed, even irritated, until the man uttered the word "Saragossa."  The man then cajoled Mr. Wiesel to return home with him, where he showed him the amulet, now suitably framed. The two Jews talked, the Spaniard about his move to Israel and Mr. Wiesel about his travels. "I have learned to read Hebrew," the Spaniard said. "I am ashamed to have forgotten [you]," Mr. Wiesel confessed. "I have not told you my name," the Spaniard rejoined. And pausing a bit to heighten the moment, he said, "My name is Moshe ben Avraham."

Giving the students a moment for their thoughts and emotions to resolve, Morah Smadar asked how many would be spending Pesach in Israel. A good number raised their hands. "How lucky we are," she said, "that wherever we are spending the holiday we will be doing it as proud and free Jews, able to hold our heads up high."

Cookie served at lunch

BOOK DAY: PROLOGUE

The theme of our Book Day this year was "Photography: A Lens to Interpret the World." In a change from tradition, the focus of this annual event was a work of non-fiction and pre-Book Day discussions took place in History (and not English) classes. Students read and analyzed the iconic portraits and scenes in 13 Photos Children Should Know by Brad Finger, which includes, for example, Albert Einstein with his tongue hanging out, Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon, and euphoric Berliners "tearing down that wall."

 CHAPTER 1

At Book Day's opening session, teaching artist and book illustrator Jeff Hopkins drew students in Grades 5-8 into a conversation about the choices photographers make in setting up their pictures. "It's more than just being in the right place at the right time," he said. He showed several examples of how photos were cropped so as to accentuate a certain theme or to create greater artistry.

Students were asked to think about the effects that photographers can create by varying the distance between themselves and their subjects, or pointing the camera upwards from below or downwards from above. Mr. Hopkins then distributed cardboard viewfinders (alternately, souvenir bookmarks of his visit) and asked the students to look through them at a classmate from differing angles, as if they were setting up a photo shoot that would capture their subject from a variety of perspectives.

Perhaps the most intriguing of the photographs that Mr. Hopkins shared was this one: "Was it a purposeful choice or luck?" Mr. Hopkins speculated with the students.

Mr. Hopkins is a celebrated personality at the Middle School. As part of our partnership with the Jewish Museum over the past six years (for which we are very grateful), he has helped Grade 7 students to grasp themes and techniques from gallery exhibitions and to reinterpret them through their own art projects. We once again applaud his talent for enriching our students' cultural palette.

CHAPTER 2

According to Ms. Wachs, it was serendipity. In a casual conversation with Emma Sokolow (7) in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, Emma mentioned that her aunt's gallery in lower Manhattan had been flooded. Ms. Wachs soon learned that the reference was to art historian and curator Andrea Meislin, whose website identifies the gallery as "featur[ing] a strong schedule of exhibitions by important established artists, interspersed and strengthened by history-based photography exhibitions about or from Israel."

In introducing her aunt at Book Day, Emma asked rhetorically, "Is photography art or merely documentation? When we take a photograph, are we just recording an image or are we creating something beautiful, lasting, and moving?"

Ms. Meislin shared with the students a host of photographic images, which illumine life as the Zionist dream was being realized. At first, she said, photographers wanted to capture a record of what was happening to bolster morale and to preserve history. More contemporarily, she added, many Israeli photographers are using their cameras to produce images with more of an artistic bent. As they viewed each photo, Ms. Meislen told the students to keep in mind three factors that make an image successful: the visual or the way the picture looks, technique or the way the picture is made, and content or the story the picture is telling.

For many in the room Ms. Meislin awakened memories and emotions as faculty and students connected the images with personal experience and knowledge. For all, the presentation was a visual portal into a subject that is part of our collective identity at Ramaz.

It is far more than serendipitous that Ms. Meislin has graciously agreed to share her passion for Israel and photography with our students at future events and we thank her.

CHAPTER 3

Another guest presenter at Book Day was E.Y. Zipris, Manager of Program and Professional Development at the Museum of the City of New York, whose audience was students in Grades 7 and 8.

E. Y., as she likes to be called, introduced the students to the amazing collection of 120,000 New York City based images that can be accessed through the portal on the home page of the museum's website. With a contemplative affect, she said, "Which should I choose?" as she described to the students the challenge she faced in preparing for her time with them. Judging by the spirited discussion that her presentation evoked, her choices were certainly optimal.

 For example, the students were able to identify this 1875 albumen print as recording an early stage in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. E. Y. explained that building this link established a "new world order" in our city's history. For one thing, it became the city's tallest structure, overtaking Trinity Church's spire, which can be seen in the photo's background. The students learned that, to demonstrate its safety as well as to tout his circus, P. T. Barnum paraded 21 elephants, led by Jumbo, across the span in 1884.