Parshat Chukat: Holiness and community, drop by drop

Zev Hurwitz, Acting Editor-in-Chief
June 30, 2010

Having just dealt with the revolt of Korach, Moshe and Aharon are faced in Parshat Chukat with a new wide scale issue: a lack of water. Bnei Yisrael approaches the brothers to complain of dehydration: “Why have you brought the congregation of Hashem to this wilderness to die there…there is no water... Read more »

Mr. Meyerson explores new professions

Zev Hurwitz, Acting Editor-in-Chief
June 30, 2010

Mr. Gabriel Meyerson will be leaving at the end of this academic year after a year of teaching a Jewish History and Middle East and Holocaust studies as well as Hebrew language.  He is planning to leave teaching and explore other career opportunities. During his stay at Shalhevet, Mr. Meyerson was able... Read more »

Rabbis Seidenfeld and Ovadia, leaving part-time positions, will remember students

Zev Hurwitz, Acting Editor-in-Chief
June 30, 2010

Shalhevet’s Judaic department will lose two familiar part-time teachers at the end of this year. Rabbis Shlomo Seidenfeld and Haim Ovadia will both return full time to their primary careers. Rabbi Seidenfeld, a full time real estate agent, was brought in the middle of the 2008-2009 school year where... Read more »

Parshat Bamidbar: Like Grains Of Sand…

Zev Hurwitz, Opinion Editor
May 23, 2010

In the early months of this year, hundreds of advertisements were plastered around Los Angeles advocating that residents fill out their 2010 Census forms. “How can we know how many hospitals to build if we don’t know how many people we have?” one billboard poses to passersby on Fairfax Blvd. A... Read more »

NY vote opens school debate on whether Orthodox should ordain women rabbis

Rebecca Asch, Torah Editor
May 23, 2010

Women rabbis. Some people cringe at the idea. Some leap out of their chairs in excitement. So of course, in a classic expression of Shalhevet’s love for controversy, it was the Town Hall topic April 29. At a conference in New York April 27, the Rabbinical Council of America approved a resolution stating... Read more »

For Shalhevet this spring, a half-Hallel

Zev Hurwitz, Opinion Editor
March 24, 2010

The Artscroll siddur very clearly explains that the Hallel recited on Rosh Chodesh and the last six days of Pesach is a condensed version where several paragraphs of text are omitted. Because it is only a minhag, or custom to say Hallel on these days, two paragraphs are not recited to differentiate those... Read more »

From hugs to handshakes, struggling with ‘shomer’

Lexi Gelb, Editor-in-Chief
March 18, 2010

As senior Doreen Cohen and Josh Chowaiki – a sophomore who’s the younger brother of her friend Joey – embraced in a hug between classes Feb. 11, Tanach teacher Rabbi Richler was visibly distraught. “Hey, you!” he yelled across the hallway in his signature comic nasal tone. “Get your hands... Read more »

Class helps seniors answer the ‘big questions’ — or not

Rebecca Asch, Torah Editor
March 18, 2010

JPL teacher Rabbi Ari Leubitz offers a new spin on Jewish philosophy Ten minutes into Mincha, the seventh period Jewish Philosophy and Law class is still relatively full of seniors taking a test.   “We stay through Mincha pretty often,” explains Rabbi Ari Leubitz, the teacher of the class, as he... Read more »

To Moshe and all of us, a call to action

Zev Hurwitz, Opinion Editor
March 18, 2010

What’s in a name? Well, if it’s the name of this week’s sedra, a lot! Parashat and Sefer Vayikra begin with a seemingly basic phrase: “And Hashem called to Moshe and he spoke to him…” (Vayikra 1:1) Immediately, the Ramban, Nachmanides, questions Hashem’s action of ‘Vayikra,’ and... Read more »

Honors Minyan tops radical new davening system

Zev Hurwitz, Opinion Editor
January 9, 2010

“I got a golden ticket!” exclaimed one girl as she ran down the hallway before breakfast Nov. 30th as she held a Hershey’s bar with a bright yellow piece of paper attached. “I got one too!” said another.  In fact, more than 40 Shalhevet students received “golden tickets” attached to chocolate... Read more »