Shevuon, April 20, 2012

Detective Brian Smith’s visit to Gann, in which he spoke to students

about school security, raised concerns from some students and sparked conversation throughout the school. The as-sembly came in the wake of a flood of attacks on Jewish targets, most notably on a day school in Toulouse, France on March 19th. The attack killed three children and one teacher. Dean of Students Laila Good-man explains, “The goal was to increase student understand-ing that [students] are often the gateway into the school and that they need to be thought-ful around security issues.” Laila assures, however, that “we didn’t want to raise anxiety or create a sense of alarm, yet we did feel it was important to bring Brian to reinforce the importance of following our security plan.”

One of the main tenets of Gann’s security plan is ensur-ing that students do not open the doors freely to strangers. In the past, students have often opened the doors to people wait-ing outside. Several students spoke up at the end of Detec-tive Smith’s speech expressing concerns about the complexities of denying entry to strangers. One student noted that it would be difficult to close the door on someone walking right behind you. Detective Smith attempted to reassure these students by

emphasizing the power of man-ners and encouraged students to politely ask visitors to ring the bell to enter the building.

Additionally, Detective Smith stressed the importance of being aware of one’s sur-roundings and making sure to inform a faculty member of any suspicious behavior. Sopho-more Si Squires-Kasten worries

that what he sees as ambiguous criteria for reporting strangers could lead to inefficiencies in the security system. Moreover, Squires-Kasten notes that “our only criteria for reporting strangers is based entirely upon profiling,” lending itself to the possibility of racism.

Another concern for some students is the lockdown proce-dure, which, although written, has not been practiced in recent years. Junior Julia Goldberg recalls that at her public middle school, lockdown drills were practiced often and were par-

ticularly useful when an actual incident put the school on lock-down. Goldberg, astonished, stated she “couldn’t believe some students didn’t even know the purpose of a lockdown drill.” She continued to suggest, “We should be having lockdown drills as much as fire drills or at least once a year.”

Christine Miller, Gann’s Chief Financial and Administra-tive Officer, has stressed that although Gann hasn’t conducted a whole school (i.e. with stu-dents) lockdown drill recently, Gann does provide emergency training for faculty and staff members as a part of the orien-tation program. She also stated that Gann’s administration plans on conducting a whole school lockdown this year, before the end of the school year.

Nonetheless, in the eyes of freshman Oren Bazer, the ad-ministration’s goal in bringing Detective Smith to Gann was achieved. “I found the assem-bly to be very informative and reassuring,” Bazer shares. Bazer admits, “Before what happened in France, security at school was never something I thought about. It was good to hear that there are multiple plans in effect in case of a crisis.” Goldberg agrees, saying, “I think the presentation was very good for Gann to hear to make us aware, to take precautions and to keep our school safe.”

Admissions MishapUCLA mistakenly sends out nearly 900 acceptance letters to rejected applicants.

Settlement ControversyControversy erupts over the attempted eviction of six Israeli families amid concerns over a lack of proper documentation.

Friday, April 20th, 2012 • כ׳׳ח בניסן ,תשע״ב • Shabbat: 7:14 - 8:17 • Volume 15, Issue 1

Detective’s Visit Sparks Security DiscussionBy Sara NewmanSpotlight

Page 2 Page 5

In Here

• This past year’s Stu-dent Council holds an inauguration ceremony to pass the torch down to next year’s officers on Tuesday during Hakhel.

• In lieu of the tradi-tional Day Of Silence, on Wednesday Gann’s Open House hosts a Day of Dialogue to discuss contemporary issues facing the LG-BTQ community

• On Yom HaShoah, Gann students organiz-es Holocaust remem-

Out There

• Boston hosts the annual Boston Marathon on Monday, with 21,000 runners from around the world competing.

• National scandal broils the Secret Service as members assigned to protect the President in Brazil are sent home for sexual misconduct.

• WikiLeaks founder Ju-lian Assange is kicked off his own Russian government-sponsored TV talk show by interviewing Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah.

brance activities.

Christine Miller, the Chief Finan-cial and Administrative Officer, hard at work on the security plan.

Credit: Brittany Gellerman

Shevuon Hatichon שבועון התיכון

Shevuon hatichon, Friday aPril 20th, 2012 • כ׳׳ח בניסן ,תשע״ב • Shabbat: 7:14 - 8:17 • Volume 15, Issue 1 Page 2

On Wednesday, March 14th, Student Council officer elections were held, and a new group of students were elected by the Gann Academy student body to be next year’s officers.

One defining characteristic of this group of elected officials is that they have a lot of previous experience in Student Council. For this group, serving the students of Gann Academy is nothing new, as each member of the group of officers has been involved in Student Council affairs previously in their respective Gann careers. Juniors Brit-tany Gellerman, Officer of Programming, and Jackie Teperman, Treasurer, have both served as freshman grade representatives. The Secretary, sophomore Keren Radbil, served as sophomore grade rep this past year. Sophomore Ben Aronovitz, the Vice President, has been very active in student politics over his time at Gann, serving as both freshman and sophomore grade representative. Finally, Junior Jordy Gar-denswartz, Gann’s new Student Council President, has an abundance of experience working in Student Council. Gardenswartz has been part of Gann’s student govern-ment in every year of her high school career. Before becoming head of Student Council, she operated as a representative of her freshman and sophomore class, as well as Secretary.

The common denominator between the new Student Council officials is that they are all extremely dedicated to the students

of Gann Academy. Radbil expresses her excitement for working as a member of Student Council as she says,”[Gann stu-dents] are really my passion…I will do my best to give them the best experience that Gann has to offer.” Gellerman, echoes Radbil’s statements as she says that she “[loves] coming to Gann every day and be-ing familiar with both the students and the

faculty here.”The Student Council constitution states

that the Gann Academy Student Council exists for two reasons: “To improve student life and to empower students.” The new members of Student Council are working hard to make the students’ next year at Gann a truly special experience. Teperman reveals that “Student Council is planning a variety of activities: events that incorporate community service, food, music and a mix of everything!” In addition, Aronovitz states that his goal for this year is “to have

a school concert with someone famous.”It is clear that Student Council is burst-

ing with ideas on how to make the next school year special, and the emphasis of this year’s Student Council is to really get the students involved in student gov-ernment. Gardenswartz says, “This year, Student Council will hopefully make Gann a place more driven by the student body.” She goes on to state that “one way we can do this is by having committees comprised of both Student Council members and other students to accomplish specific tasks.” In addition, Gellerman declares that it is her goal to get the students to play a bigger role in planning events. She states, “I hope to make JSL programming more open to stu-dents, so students become more involved with the scheduling at our school.”

As of now, Gann students are expecting big things from this year’s Student Coun-cil. Junior Michael Handler expresses his high hopes for this year’s batch of student officials, saying, “I am optimistic about next year’s Student Council and believe that they will be extremely successful.” With the help of the students, these new of-ficers promise not to let Handler or any of the other students of Gann Academy down. This group of Student Council officials is defined by its strong work ethic and will try its hardest to achieve its overarching goal: to make the next year at Gann Academy unforgettable.

Gann’s New Student Council Has High Hopes for the Coming YearBy Jonathan KoralnikSpotlight

Credit: Jeremy Kelleher

Gann Academy’s 2012-2013 Student Council officers.

UCLA Accidentally Accepts 900 Waitlisted StudentsBy Eleora PasternackIHOT

Who doesn’t want to read, “Congratu-lations! You are offered admission to [fill with name of dream school] for the fol-lowing year” at the end of his or her high school career? Well, 20% of UCLA appli-cants, hoping for that same letter, received the following: “Dear Prospective Student – Congratulations! It is our pleasure to offer you admission to UCLA for the Fall Quar-ter 2012.” However, shortly after learning what seemed to be good news, nearly 900

of these ‘accepted’ students were informed that they had received the wrong letter, and their acceptance had been rescinded.

At the beginning of the month the UCLA Financial Aid Office sent out an email intending to inform accepted stu-dents of the school’s decision to grant them financial aid. At the bottom was a short line congratulating the receiver on his or her acceptance to the university. However, when 894 of the aforementioned students

clicked on the link pasted in the note, it became clear that they had not been ac-cepted, merely waitlisted, as reported by newsroom.ucla.edu.

This is not the first time the University of California school system has made such a mistake. In 2010, UC Santa Barbara also accidentally admitted waitlisted students, and the year before UC San Diego mistak-enly admitted 29,000 rejected students by email. Other schools, such as Vassar

continued on page 3

Shevuon hatichon, Friday aPril 20th, 2012 • כ׳׳ח בניסן ,תשע״ב • Shabbat: 7:14 - 8:17 • Volume 15, Issue 1 Page 3

At Gann, we live in a fairly safe en-vironment, but we are not immune to the notion of bullying. Although cases of extreme bullying are not common at our school, I’m sure we have all heard at least a few unkind whispers in our hallways or seen deriding texts and posts about class-mates on social media. Though many derisive comments or actions may be made in jest, we have learned through school programs and personal experiences that bullying can hurt people, both emotionally and physically.

According to the production notes for the recently released documentary BUL-LY, over 13 million American kids will be bullied this year, thus making it the most common form of violence experienced by young people today. This character-driven documentary focuses on the impact of bullying on the lives of five kids and their families. The documentary is produced by award winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch, who was a victim of bullying in his youth. The film evolved following the publicized death of two eleven year-old boys who took their own lives as a result of the trauma of bullying.

This movie, while admittedly important and timely, has not been without contro-versy. Part of the controversy stems from

the proposed rating the film was to receive from the Motion Picture Association of America. Originally, due to the language used in the film and some graphically violent scenes, the movie was supposed to be rated R, meaning those under seventeen years of age would have to be accompa-

nied by an adult to view the film. After some lobbying by the film’s distributors and a decrease in obscene language, a new version of the film has been released with a PG-13 rating. However, the film has yet to be released to the national market.

Additionally, the film has been accused of creating sensationalism about the topic. It seems unlikely that these bullies would blatantly taunt and harm their victims in front of a camera. Hirsch notes, “Because we spent so much time in the schools, we eventually became like the wallpaper and were able to witness what a very typical day looked like.” As a result, he claims that the film depicts many incidents as they happened. Some have criticized the filmmakers for not intervening when they witnessed a kid being bullied, but Hirsch points out that the process was “enor-mously challenging, in part because there were legal reasons not to physically inter-cede.” Eventually, however, Hirsch and his crew reached a “breaking point,” and got involved by bringing the evidence they had filmed to the police department and the victim’s family.

Faculty member Jeff Spitzer has been following the press on the film closely. He says, “The real question is how the bullies could continue to act in the ways they do knowing that they were being filmed. They either have no shame, or there is a really warped culture of celebrity.” Mr. Spitzer notes, however, that he thinks that “this movie has the potential to help the victims by letting them see that their persecution

New Movie Confronts Youth BullyingBy Abby SchwartzStudent Lounge

Bully, a new documentary, that attempts to deal with adolescent bullying recieves mixed reviews.

Credit: jjie.org

College and the University of Delaware, have seen similar mishaps in recent years.

While it may seem that college and university electronic admissions systems are prone to mistakes, College Counseling co-director Sherri Geller reports that a rela-tively “small amount of errors” slip through the system. Considering the number of ap-plicants nowadays, the chance for mistakes has increased drastically. Geller addition-ally cites our nation’s college fixation as inducing more media hype than warranted, emphasizing that “any story about college admissions draws a lot of interest... when something unusual happens, it’s news.”

While the electronic admissions system does have its flaws, there still are advan-tages for both sides. Colleges can cut down on an expense, which, in part, allows more money to be funneled into other under-takings such as financial aid. Using the Internet allows information to be delivered faster, which benefits students who used to be forced to wait by their mailboxes anx-iously.

One of the most critical concerns a col-lege or university has after an admissions mix-up is public reputation. As a former admissions officer at Brandeis University, Geller has not experienced this scenario

personally but has observed other univer-sities’ damage control tactics following similar snafus. The gravity of the UCLA incident is magnified, however, because it is the nation’s sixth most common “dream college” for aspiring students according to princetonreview.com. However, in a survey administered to the student body, the majority of Gann students would not be deterred from applying to a school even if it had history of admissions errors.

Fortunately, according to Geller, no student at Gann has ever suffered from a mix-up such as the recent case at UCLA, and hopefully no students ever will.

UCLA Accidentally Accepts 900 Waitlisted Students continued from page 2

continued on page 6

Shevuon hatichon, Friday aPril 20th, 2012 • כ׳׳ח בניסן ,תשע״ב • Shabbat: 7:14 - 8:17 • Volume 15, Issue 1 Page 4

Mother Heifer’s Advice Column

Which

teacher

participated

in their friend’s

wedding dressed

as a medieval

serving wench?

Problem: There are only two stalls in the bathroom. Who has time for lines?

Advice: Know if you’re going to need to “go.” Try and avoid the bathrooms during busy times (i.e. Mincha before softball, lacrosse and frisbee games). Remember, we have private bathrooms in our homes, so plan ahead of time. This way, you minimize your time spent in lines, and you get to avoid staring at the various old cam-paign posters littered around the bathroom...#JORDYFORPREZ. Your time is valuable, so plan accordingly.

Teacher Trivia

Answer: JodiLyn Solomon

Quote of the WeekIn light of the beginning of

baseball season...

Dale Doback: I manage a base-ball team.

Nancy Huff: Oh, Little League?Dale Doback: Fantasy.

-Step Brothers

 Harris Wallack 4/19

Corey Welheimer 4/21Polly Lejfer 4/21Sarah Katz 4/21

Emma Klapper 4/22Ayelet Pinnolis 4/22

B i r t h d a y s

Meme of the Week

T.G.I.F. -- Thank Gann It’s Friday

Heartbeats Jose Gonzalez Veneer

Sugar Garrett Gue Tall Drink o’ Water

Circus Christopher Williams Something as Simple

Credit: Apple

Shevuon hatichon, Friday aPril 20th, 2012 • כ׳׳ח בניסן ,תשע״ב • Shabbat: 7:14 - 8:17 • Volume 15, Issue 1 Page 5

It is my pleasure to introduce to you the first edition of the Shevuon Hatichon, Volume 15. I am very excited to assume the position of Editor in Chief of the Shevuon, and am looking forward to upholding the proud tradition of student journalism at Gann Academy. This year we have an ex-cellent staff, with new writers who show promise and a commitment to excellence, and a new editorial staff who has shown its leadership potential as we worked to get this first edition up and running.

There are many changes to the Shevuon that we hope you will enjoy. To name a few, we have decided to move on from Gann-book to a new, unique page, TGIF. We have revamped the entertainment page in a way that we feel is both amusing and appealing. Additionally, we will also be introducing the first ever Gann Academy advice col-umn, which will provide a forum to discuss certain issues within the Gann community.

Though becoming the Editor in Chief of the Shevuon is admittedly daunting, I have been lucky enough to take over the well-oiled machine that has been developed and improved upon by Jeremy Jick’s adminis-

tration and those before him. I would like to thank Jeremy for all of the help he has given me over the past couple of months. His advice and guidance have been invalu-able. I can see now how much effort and time he and his fellow editors put into the Shevuon, and I hope to continue their work

to present the Gann community with a high-quality publication.

I would also like to thank Jonah Kriger for his unyielding support and continued enthusiasm. Thank you to the rest of the editorial team, Rachel Brody, Jordy Gar-denswartz, Matt Zackman, and Max Fine-

man, for all of the hard work put in thus far. Thank you to Emily Dale and Josh Mocle for all of their technological help. I would also like to thank Lily Cohen for all of her hard work; she really has gone above and beyond in her role as Layout Editor. I would also like to thank Shoshanah Zaritt for all of her help. Her expertise, advice and honest opinions have been reassuring and extremely helpful! I look forward to a fantastic year together.

Over the past couple of months, I have taken the time to establish my goals for the future of the Shevuon. I am committed to improving journalistic standards and to de-livering time sensitive, thought provoking and even controversial articles to the read-ership. We will strive to print articles of interest to the Gann community. We will be conducting research to find out what you, the readers, want to see in the newspaper as part of our commitment to continuously improving the Shevuon. I hope that we can exceed your expectations. With all that said, I would like to state once again that I am looking forward to the year to come, and I hope you all are as excited as I am!

Letter From The EditorBy Sloane Grinspoon

The Shevuon Editors for Volume 15.Credit: Brittany Gellerman

Just as they moved into their new home in Hebron, several Israeli families were evicted by order of the IDF, acting under the guidance of Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Despite the fact that the families moved into the Machpela house without proper authorization, this story has sparked intense controversy throughout Israel, calling into question the future of Jewish residency in Hebron.

Amid this controversy, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has over-ruled Barak and issued a freeze on the evic-tion pending an investigation. No specific timeline was set up for the investigation.

Hebron is a hot-button issue in Israel because it is home to the ma’arat hamach-pela, the Cave of Machpela. This cave is traditionally believed to be the burial ground of key Jewish partriarchs and ma-triarchs, which makes Hebron particularly spiritual for certain Jewish settlers. Addi-

tionally, Hebron is important to the Muslim community because what Jews call the Cave of Machpela is what Muslims call the Ibrahim Mosque, which is also a holy site to Islam.

David Wilder, a spokesman for the set-tlers of Hebron, swore, “It’s the beginning” of the issue, and “there will be more.” He then said that the families’ documenta-tion was “100% in order” and claimed the evacuation was for “political reasons.” However, the Civil Administration, Israel’s governing body in the West Bank, denies any political motives and attests that the evictions were because “the settlers had failed to obtain the required permit to pur-chase property in the occupied territory,” as reported by The Guardian.

Barak assured reporters that his minis-try would continue to look into the matter but that for now, the government could not allow settlers to “[dictate] facts on the

ground.” He continued to state, “It is not possible to allow a situation where actions are taken contrary to the law,” which, as he saw it, was the case with these six families and their attempted move. As Yediyot Achronot, a local newspaper, reports, “their stay [would violate] public order.”

The city, home to nearly 180,000 Pales-tinians, is no stranger to confrontation and controversy. The Ibrahim Mosque was the same mosque where, in 1994, a settler shot and killed 29 Palestinians.

As the investigation unfolds, more will become clear concerning the highly con-tested documentation issue. However, even with the facts still hazy, many in Bibi’s cabinent are supporting the settlers. Yis-rael Katz, Transport Minister, reiterated that “as soon as it is clear the purchase is legitimate… the Israeli government should support the settlers.”

Israeli Settlers Under Eviction InvestigationBy Jonah Kriger, Managing EditorIsrael

Shevuon hatichon, Friday aPril 20th, 2012 • כ׳׳ח בניסן ,תשע״ב • Shabbat: 7:14 - 8:17 • Volume 15, Issue 1 Page 6

Gunter Grass, the German Nobel laure-ate whose political poem “What Must Be Said” criticized Israel and triggered a media firestorm last week, need not worry about smoothing things over in person with the Israelis he assailed. Eli Yishai, Israel’s Inte-rior Minister and member of Shas, a right-wing theocratic political party, personally declared Mr. Grass a persona non grata, officially banning the poet from Israel. Yis-hai explained that Grass’s “distorted poems are not welcome in Israel.” A democratic nation selectively banning intellectuals for speaking their minds ought to strike Americans, and the Jewish community in particular, as an alarming paradox. The greatest irony, however, is that the Netan-yahu administration managed to confirm Mr. Grass’s accusations so precisely. This Israeli government only gives legitimacy to those capable of doing real harm by taking a reactionary stance against such attacks.

We should already find Minister Yis-hai’s involvement in the academic contro-versy troubling without even discussing the literary and personal issues behind Mr. Grass’s writing. Yishai was only one of many prominent government officials who publicly weighed in on the German’s po-etry. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office de-clared that “Gunter Grass’s shameful moral equivalence... says little about Israel and much about Mr. Grass.” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the poem “an expression of the cynicism of some of the West’s intellectuals who, for publicity pur-poses...are willing to sacrifice the Jewish

nation a second time on the altar of crazy anti-Semites.” Why Israel’s Prime Minister felt compelled to comment on a poem that “says little about Israel” was not addressed in the statement. Also unexplained was Lieberman’s association of this “shameful moral equivalence” (his boss’s words once more) with the Holocaust.

The fact that Israel’s most prominent politicians commented at all on a German academic scandal is suggestive of their at-titudes toward governance. M.K. Yishai’s post in the Cabinet requires him to make decisions about marriages, Jewish identity, and settlements. Foreign Minister Lieber-man is Israel’s representative to nations abroad, and Prime Minister Netanyahu is the country’s chief official. As statements

made by all three make clear, Israel faces very real existential threats. But Gunter Grass is not among them. Anti-Israel intellectuals pose an insignificant threat until Israel bestows credibility by elevating them to the stage of public opinion, and le-gitimizes academia by creating the illusion that nonsensical arguments are worthy of response. Gunter Grass wrote that he feared the “verdict anti-Semitism” brought on by criticism of Israel. Israel’s official labeling of Mr. Grass as an anti-Semite, along with the government’s banning of the poet from the country, validated the writer’s work more than any rabidly anti-Israel Jew-hater ever could have dreamed.

Fundamentally, the conflict over a 69-line poem represents a larger failure of this Israeli administration. To criticize and antagonize opponents both real and manu-factured is the easy part of politics. The role of opposition is one in which a fractured coalition can unite behind attacking the en-emy, finding faults in complex legislation and choices without having to offer an al-ternative. Once an opposition becomes the leader of government, however, lawmaking must replace rhetoric, and actual decisions with meaningful consequences must be thought through. The Netanyahu coalition has shirked responsibility by governing from the opposition, setting straw men on fire and claiming victory over the ashes. Israelis deserve leaders willing to confront facts and inconvenient realities. The pres-ent administration fails that litmus test, and it is past time we advocate for real change.

German Poet Sparks Controversy Among Israeli GovernmentBy Gabriel KargerOpinion

Credit for Eli Yishai: Alternativenews.orgCredit for Gunter Grass: Sheikyermani.com

Israeli Theocrat Eli Yishai (top) speaks out against German Poet Gunter Grass (bottom).

New Movie Confronts Youth Bullying continued from page 3

Upcoming Events: Monday: Rosh Hodesh Wednesday: Vaad Elections Yom Hazikaron

Thursday: Yom Haatzmaut

is irrational. It is very hard to look ob-jectively at one’s own situation, [and the victims often end up blaming themselves]. I hope that the victims of bullying in this movie can look at themselves and affirm that they do not deserve the treatment they have received.”

Freshman Janelle Kesner recently saw BULLY and agrees that it is an extremely important and compelling film. In fact, she is approaching the Gann administration to try to arrange for a screening at the school.

It seems likely that in the weeks and months ahead, more people will see the

film. If they react as Hirsch hopes they will – that is, to see the real harm that bullying can do and decide to take a stand against it – perhaps we will see an instance where media has made a real, positive impact.

All information regarding the film was taken from thebullyproject.com.

Shevuon hatichon, Friday aPril 20th, 2012 • כ׳׳ח בניסן ,תשע״ב • Shabbat: 7:14 - 8:17 • Volume 15, Issue 1 Page 7

WritersBen Bryer ‘15, Rachel Butler ‘14, Harrison Dale ‘15, Aaron Dvorkin ‘13, Annika Gompers ‘14, Daniel Gray ‘14,

Aaron Hunt ‘15, Gabriel Karger ‘13, Jonathan Koralnik ‘14, Joshua Lange ‘15, Sara Newman ‘14, Oshri Olsberg ‘14, Eleora Pasternack ‘14, Jacqueline Pollock ‘13, Rebecca Pritzker ‘13, Gil Propp ‘13, Sarah Salinger ‘15,Abby Schwartz ‘13, Maya Sinclair ‘15, Jacqueline Teperman ‘13, Nicole Teperman ‘14, Adam Yates ‘15

PhotographersBrittany Gellerman, Jeremy Kelleher, Sarah Litwin, Alicia Zolondick

Entertainment PageJosh Chartock, Michael Handler

Editor in Chief Sloane Grinspoon Managing Editor Jonah Kriger Layout Editor Lily CohenAssistant Editors Rachel Brody, Jordana Gardenswartz & Matthew Zackman Copy Editor Maxwell Fineman

Faculty Advisor Shoshanah Zaritt Faculty Consultants Deb Carroll, Matt Conti, & Jonah Hassenfeld

Parshat Shmini contains the story of two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Abihu, who are consumed by fire from God for offering a sacrifice of “foreign fire.” In response, Moshe, far from consoling, offers Aaron a cryptic teaching: “This is what the Lord said, saying, ‘Through those who are close to me I am sanctified, and before the entire nation I am glorified’” (Lev. 10:3). Clearly, Moshe believes that this proverb is appli-cable to the events that have just unfolded, yet the intention of his words is not clear.

The key to making sense of it rests in two literary connections. First, the Hebrew word for “those who are close” and the word for “sacrifice” share the same root. Since the other notable use of the root that these two words share appears when Nadav and Abihu “sacrifice” with their “foreign fire,” it seems that Moshe means to con-nect Nadav and Abihu to the “ones who are close” that God refers to.

Second, at the end of the chapter, right before the story of Nadav and Abihu, Moshe and Aaron emerge from the Tent of Meet-ing, bless the people and “the glory of God appeared to the entire nation” (Lev. 9:23). Here, Aaron causes God to be glorified

before the entire nation. In similar fashion to his connection between “those who are close” and Nadav and Abihu, it appears that Moshe also means to connect Aaron to the second half of his proverb about God being glorified before the entire nation. In this way, Moshe’s cryptic proverb can conceivably be read, “Through Nadav and Abihu I am sanctified and through Aaron’s actions I am glorified.”

Still, what is the function of Moshe’s words? What is he trying to convey to Aaron and to us, the readers? The answer is that in this text, sanctity (kedusha) and glo-ry (kavod) are to be seen as two sides of the same coin. When things are done properly, as when Aaron performs his blessing, God can be brought to and experienced by the individual in a safe, controlled way. Here, this is identified as the glory of God being revealed. At the same time, attempting to come too close to God in all of God’s holi-ness can lead to disastrous consequences. This was the case with Nadav and Abihu. With good intentions at heart, they acted out of love for God but came so close that simply revealing God’s glory turned into stumbling onto actual holiness. The result

of their overstepping was death.Therefore, Moshe’s words serve two

purposes. First, he tries to console Aaron by pointing out that his sons’ deaths don’t mean that they were evil or that God re-jected them. They were the victims of their own good intentions. Second, Moshe re-minds Aaron that there is still a job at hand. Although his sons are gone, Aaron still has to continue his work of revealing God’s glory to the nation. Even more so, Moshe is assuring Aaron that there is in fact a safe way to reveal this glory without exposing the people to unadulterated holiness. Aaron cannot do his job well if he is afraid every time he makes a sacrifice.

The aspect of this story that we can all truly learn from is Aaron’s response to Moshe. The text simply says that Moshe recited his teaching “and Aaron was silent” (Lev. 10:3). In one, unwavering reaction to the death of his children and Moshe’s subsequent words, Aaron both expresses unspeakable grief for his sons and resolute agreement with Moshe’s call to duty. The internal fortitude required to have that type of reaction is a strength we all need in our lives.

Parshat ShminiBy By Ezra Porter and Clare ProberDvar Torah

Due to some technical issues there will be no Hebrew article this week, but we promise to be back next week with a great article!

עקב מספר סיבות טכניות לא יפורסם השבוע מאמר בעברית, אולם אנו מבטיחים לשוב בשבוע הבא עם מאמר מקסים בעברית.עמכם הסליחה, צוות השבועון.

Shevuon hatichon, Friday aPril 20th, 2012 • כ׳׳ח בניסן ,תשע״ב • Shabbat: 7:14 - 8:17 • Volume 15, Issue 1 Page 8

This year, the Boys’ Varsity baseball team has struggled to readjust to a new, much younger team after the loss of last year’s seniors, all of whom were essential assets to the team. Last year, the boys took a leave of absence from their league to play more challenging competition.. However, this year the boys returned to playing teams who are also in the MBIL league.

Although the team entered the season determined, they have had a rough start. The first game ended with a 14-1 loss, and the second game with an 11-0 loss. After such a disappointing start to the season, there wasn’t even time for more practice. For spring sports teams, the highly antici-pated spring vacation can be a concern for some coaches. Because of the way that the Gann schedule works out most years, spring is a difficult time to keep in shape, and this year is no different. The teams get in shape during their preseason, have a game or two and then leave for Explora-tion Week. After coming back from Explo Week, the team only had three days to get

back into the rhythm of the season be-fore going on break for Passover. While coaches encourage their respective teams to continue some sort of fitness plan over their week off, to some, sitting inside playing video games seems so much more

appealing. But not Boys’ Varsity Baseball! The

captains even organized a practice over break. Sophomore Ben Aronovitz says, “The captains have brought the team closer together, and [the team] gets along very

well.” The boys are extremely commit-ted to the sport and ready to pick up their game. They are prepared to run the extra mile and push themselves harder. Junior Matt Zackman says of practice, “Instead of standing around waiting to hit, players have been capitalizing on the extra time by doing soft toss and hitting off of a tee,” small exercises that Zackman feels, “make a world of a difference.”

The extra practice was put to the test on Tuesday in a game against Chapel Hill. Not only did the boys pull out a win, but they “slaughter ruled” them. If you aren’t a baseball connoisseur, “slaughter ruling” a team means that Gann was ahead of Chapel Hill by ten, immediately ending the game. The boys came together and really worked off of each other. Freshman Ben Bryer says, “I enjoy baseball this season because everyone on the team directly contributes to a win.” Come cheer on Boys’ Varsity Baseball next week at their home games on Wednesday and Thursday!

The Girls’ Varsity Tennis team, which kicks off their season this week, has had a major makeover this year due to the addi-tion of many new talented players. In fact, six of the 14 players on the squad this year are freshmen. Freshman Jaclyn Eagle com-mented, “Not only is this year’s group of girls packed with young players but many freshmen are top players on the team.” Freshman Julia Saxe added, “This is the first time I have ever played competitive tennis, and it is great to have such support-ive teammates around me to help me out. Also, having so many freshmen with me helps me with my confidence.” Although the lowerclassmen outnumber the upper-classmen, the team has treated each other as if they were all in the same grade. Eagle has enjoyed getting to know her older teammates, noting that “the upperclassmen

and the lowerclassmen are getting along very well and often start practice every day by getting to know each other on a personal note by sharing stories and a couple of

laughs. We end every practice with a team cheer, which helps maintain team spirit.” Junior Hannah Ephraim declared that “the freshmen this year are very strong players.

There are a lot of good girls, and it shows that we will be a great team this year. The future for Gann Girls’ Tennis seems very optimistic.”

This is Ephraim’s first year on the squad, and she has also been welcomed with open arms. Similarly, freshman Sarah Salinger is very pleased to be a part of such a friendly team, commenting, “It’s a real honor and privilege to be a part of the tennis team this year. I hope we can each grow individu-ally as tennis players and grow as a team as well.” Salinger adds, “The two senior captains, Sarah Waxman and Ilana Wasser-man, are amazing, and all the upperclass-men have really welcomed the freshmen onto the team.” The team is scheduled to begin matches this week, and the Gann Girls’ Varsity Tennis squad’s season looks promising.

An Optimistic Season Lies Ahead For Girls’ TennisBy Ben Bryer

Let’s Play Ball!By Jackie Teperman

MVP of the Week

goes to Chera Garlick for scoring the game-tying goal in the Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse game on Tuesday against

Brimmer and May.

Gann varsity baseball players on the bench during a home game.

If you are interested in guest-writing for the Shevuon Hatichon next year, please contact

Sloane Grinspoon ‘13.

Credit: Jeremy Kelleher