Maimonides Will Bask in the Warmth of Maccabeats' Sound Early Acceptances Inspire Class Of
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KOL RAMBAM Winter 2011-12 • aŠryz zay-zah-elqk MAIMONIDES WILL BASK IN THE WARMTH OF MACCABEATS’ SOUND The Maccabeats, the a cappella singers Rhythm and Shmooze is one of several booking dates all over the country. who have brought audiences to their feet upcoming events, including several that There are 14 singers in all; Maimonides worldwide, will perform in Maimonides are new, designed to appeal to not only will host a seven-man subset that travels School’s Fox Gymnasium on Sunday current students, teachers and parents to engagements around the country. afternoon, Feb. 12, 2012 – an event enti- but also the greater school community. Also on the school calendar are tled Rhythm and Shmooze. A number of generous donors are under- Grandparents and Special Visitors Day The 2 p.m. concert, a joint effort of the writing part of the concert. Tickets, which on May 11, a special celebration for the Maimonides PTA and the Development cost $5 per student and $10 per adult, are Class of 2012, and donor recognition din- Office, will be followed by a reception in available from the school’s Development ners. The Alumni Council is discussing a Saval Auditorium, including refreshments Office ([email protected], 617-232- reunion in connection with the upcoming and the singers selling and signing com- 4452, ext. 410). The event is expected to 50th anniversary of Saval Campus. pact discs. Music by the Maimonides Jazz be sold out in advance. The annual gala will not be held, as the Band will open the show. The Maccabeats originated four years range of highlights was considered serv- ago among Yeshiva University students. ing the school community better than a EARLY ACCEPTANCES Appearances began at university events single evening. INSPIRE CLASS OF ‘12 and activities, and soon the group was Chanukah was still several days away when sounds of rejoicing resounded through the Maimonides Upper School hallway and classrooms. The celebrating was seniors’ response to an unusual amount of mid-December early college acceptances. These included Columbia University (two), University of Hartford, IDC Hertzliya, Indiana University, The Johns Hopkins University (two), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, New York University, Northeastern University, University of Pennsylvania (two), Princeton University (two), Rutgers University, Stern College and Yeshiva University (two). “This process is all about the individual stu- dent and our goal is to help each student find a match that is right for him or her,” said Tamar Gelb, director of college coun- seling. “Sometimes the path is smooth and sometimes a bit bumpy, but there are Maria Guzman and her 11th grade Spanish class share a light moment. Ms. Guzman is the good matches for all of our students. “ Foreign Language Coordinator in the Middle and Upper School. 1 STUDENT DRAMA CLUB TURNS TO SHAKESPEARE FOR ANNUAL PLAY The Maimonides School Drama Club will present the comedy “Twelfth Night” by William Shakespeare on Sunday and Monday evenings, March 4 and 5, in Judge J. John Fox Athletic Center. Shakespeare hasn’t been attempted since the earliest years of the annual play. “I was really interested in doing Shakespeare,” said senior Eitan Kahn, this year’s student director. “I love the language, his wit, his humor. And com- pared to previous years, when there has been a relatively small cast, I wanted to expand. In a Shakespearean play you have major roles, but also a lot of minor characters who are crucial to the play but don’t have a lot of lines.” Eitan Kahn, second from right (standing) and the cast of Twelfth Night. So with a cast of 17 students, “a lot of excitement is spread throughout He also performed the following year undergraduate. “In ninth grade I was the school.” Rehearsals began in early in the medley of one-act plays called really sure I wanted to major in acting, December with some improvisational “Flip,” and last year in classmate Naftali maybe make a career out of it,” he said. work “to get people warmed up, a Ehrenkranz’s original “Awkward.” “But the more I thought about it, the couple of games, running through the As student director he isn’t part of the more I realized it would be extremely scenes,” he related. cast. “I wanted to take the challenge. I difficult, especially when you have to “The language is a bit tough. Words wanted to see what being the director resolve all sorts of issues that can arise. aren’t readily recognized,” Eitan was like,” he explained. So I’m trying to be more practical – but I’m still trying to figure out how to keep acknowledged. During rehearsals, “We After a year learning in Israel, Eitan is my involvement in theater.” talk about what the character is trying considering a business major as an to say, the goal for the scene. Then we get a clear picture.” GIRLS HIT HOME RUNS WITH DIVREI TORAH In “Twelfth Night” and other Shakespearean plays, he said, “a lot of Seventh graders Gabriella Jacobson yan to recruit more boys to serve in the emphasis has to be on actions and and Annika Tarlin shared insights on leadership roles during davening. At the not just words. So we emphasize facial Parashah Vayeira with the Middle and same time he collaborated with Sara expressions, movements, properties, Upper School student body one recent Herst, director of student activities, to how they talk. That way the audience morning immediately after tefillah. “We involve girls in preparing and sharing should be able to understand what’s wrote it together and we presented it divrei Torah after shacharit. going on.” together,” said Gabriella, who added The results have been gratifying; that “we were pretty nervous – and we The director lives in Portland, Maine, Shoshana Ehrenkranz, Tara Hanau and were really proud.” with his family, and boards in the Jessica Shrayber also were among those Brookline area during the school week. The Middle Schoolers are among a new to accept the challenge. “Tara spoke “My first stage experience was in a shul cohort of girls in Grades 6-12 preparing about Sara Imeinu and lessons that we play called “Back Bay Shtetl” when I was and delivering divrei Torah. can learn from her positive perspective eight. That’s when I knew acting was for “It has been pretty impressive,” said on life,” Rabbi Huff said. “It was par- me.” Eitan had the lead role as Aladdin Rabbi Dov Huff, assistant principal. ticularly fitting as we benefit from the in his Portland middle school produc- “They step up, they prepare something Torah knowledge and life perspective of tion. of substance and they deliver. It’s not our own strong Jewish women here at Maimonides.” As a Maimonides freshman he played easy to command the attention of sev- Jay in the production of “Lost in enth through twelfth graders, but they Rabbi Huff was among those impressed Yonkers.” He said it was “immedi- have been doing a great job.” by the girls’ research, thought process ately one of my favorite activities at The system began as part of an initia- and presentation. “There was some Maimonides. The camaraderie of the tive in which Rabbi Huff worked with depth to them, there was substantial cast, just to be able to act -- I loved it.” the gabbaim of the Upper School min- content,” he said. 2 INNOVATIVE THERAPIST SAYS MAIMONIDES PROVIDED FOUNDATION Dr. Dvora (Kranz) Corn ’78 and her website says the organization and its students “learned simple things about husband, Dr. Benjamin Corn, have affiliated programs have reached more finance and business management.” developed one of the world’s most than 10,000 patients, family members Dvora also emphasized the importance innovative and effective service net- and professionals. of “spirituality” in her work. “Religion works supporting individuals and fami- “The work that I do has a couple of and spirituality are not necessarily one lies facing end-of-life illnesses. dimensions,” Dvora explained -- “The and the same,” she said. “A spiritual And when she has time to think about organizational component, including life brings meaning to every person, as “why I’m doing what I’m doing,” Dvora chairing a network of 22 agencies that I learned when I began to work with says, she realizes that the foundation work in collaboration with our organiza- people who are very sick and dying.” for these skills and aspirations was tion, and the dimension of understand- The inspiration, she said, “came from nurtured and fortified during her eight ing the spiritual components of deal- Rabbi (Isaiah) Wohlgemuth’s class in years at Maimonides School. ing with chronic and life-threatening Beurei Hatefillah. That’s what any gradu- The non-profit organization is called health issues.” Life’s Door-Tishkofet (LDT), with She said her organizational skills devel- branches in Israel and the U.S. Dvora is oped within “a very ripe environment executive director; her husband is chair. at Maimonides to become active and According to its website, LDT “has been make a change.” transforming the experience of facing Dvora recalled moving to Boston at age serious illness from one of anguish, 10 from Flatbush, a very large commu- confusion or denial to one that encour- nity with many schools and subcultures. ages collaboration, growth and healing “All of a sudden I found myself in an for patients, families and professionals.” intimate, more manageable environ- The couple initiated the organization ment. Even as a kid in fifth grade I felt a with its own funds and now is sup- loss of the large community. But when ported by thousands of donors, includ- I got into seventh grade, something ing Maimonides alumni.