Happy Chanukah - The Jewish Georgian

November-December 2011 THE JEWISH GEORGIAN Page 33
students voted to form the 2011-2012
Knesset. This year’s middle school governing
body is a responsible and talented group
of individuals who will be involved in
organizing and implementing student
fundraising efforts. Pictured: (from left,
back row) Ilene Tuck, 7th-grade vice president;
Melanie Gelernter, administrative secretary;
Gregory Fish, 8th-grade vice president;
Abby Blum, president; and Jake
Bardack, recording secretary; (front row)
Sloan Wyatt, public relations; Avi
Botwinick, treasurer; and Robyn Salzberg,
6th-grade vice president
EPSTEIN ALUMNUS GETS SOLO AT
HARVARD. Alex Miller (pictured), Epstein
Class of ’07 and currently a student at
Harvard University, was recently inducted
into the Harvard Din & Tonics, an a cappella
group established in 1979. Alex also successfully
auditioned for a solo part. He
credits his years performing in musicals and
Shiriyah at Epstein with helping him
achieve this honor.
EPSTEIN FEATURED IN GUIDEBOOK.
The Epstein School is featured as one of the
“Best Private Schools on the Planet,” in the
Sandy Springs/Perimeter Guidebook, a forward
thinking resource guide that is distributed
to residents, businesses, and governmental
agencies. This magazine-style guide
is sponsored by the Sandy Springs
Perimeter Chamber of Commerce and
showcases the best that Sandy Springs has
to offer. The article mentions the high caliber
of Epstein students, the unparalleled
bilingual education, and the school’s 2011
Duke TIP Qualifiers, Technology State
Champions, and MAAC League
Champions. Four Epstein students placed in
the top three at the State Level Competition
of the 2011 Georgia Educational
Technology Fair. Pictured: (from left) Sarah
Peljovich, Jack Schneider, Olivia Fox, and
Yoel Alperin.
2012 TORAH. This year, The Epstein
School is celebrating a yearlong project, the
2012 Torah, in which students will receive
a new Torah for the school, fulfill a mitzvah,
and learn how and why a Torah is written.
At the school’s recent Torah Talk and
Technology Tours, grandparents met and
viewed samples from Rabbi Mordechai
Danneman (pictured), the Sofer who is
writing the 2012 Torah. They also saw the
21st-century learning environment in the
school’s computer labs. Jacqueline Granath,
who has five grandchildren at Epstein, was
impressed with Rabbi Danneman’s Torah
discussion and scribe demonstration.
STUDENT SUMMIT. On September 20,
Greenfield Hebrew Academy hosted a student
AIPAC summit. GHA, Weber, Torah
Day School of Atlanta, Davis, Yeshiva
Atlanta, and Epstein each sent five delegates
to the summit, which also included
representatives from AIPAC and the Day
School Council. Political consultant and
GHA Class of 1983 Alumnus George
Birnbaum started the program with a presentation
on the U.N. resolution; then, each
school prepared a presentation on his discussion.
These presentations reflected a
solid understanding of the main issue at
stake: resolutions in the U.N. don’t take into
account Israel’s safety concerns; only negotiations
do. Pictured: GHA students prepare
their presentation with Rabbi Buckman
(left)
SHOFAR FACTORY. On September 14,
GHA parents and students crafted their own
Shofars for Rosh Hashanah. According to
Jewish history, the sound of a Shofar
accompanied G-d’s giving of the Torah to
the ancient Hebrews at the foot of Mount
Sinai. Jewish tradition states that the
Messianic Era will be ushered in with the
sounding of the great Shofar. Shofar
Factory visitors (pictured) learned what criteria
an animal’s horn must meet in order to
qualify as a genuine Shofar. Then they
sawed, drilled, sanded, shellacked, and polished
their own Shofars and learned how to
sound the traditional notes.
YAD B’YAD CELEBRATION. GHA’s 7thgrade
class had its first Yad B’Yad
Celebration, on October 26. Yad B’Yad
(“hand in hand”) is a group of students who
have recently celebrated bar or bat mitzvahs.
In lieu of gifts to each other, these students
(pictured) donate to various charities,
which they select after conducting research
and presenting information to the entire
group. After this year’s donations, Yad
B’Yad will have given approximately
$132,000 in its 13 years of existence. This
program gives students an opportunity to
choose an organization that is close to their
hearts.
PRAYING FOR GILAD. GHA was privileged
to be part of a worldwide congregation
that prayed for the well being and
release of Gilad Shalit. The assembled
group (pictured) was a unique Tzibur (gathering)
consisting of 80 schools of various
denominations from across the U.S. and
Canada, a school in Argentina, a group in
the Netherlands, and Yeshivot and seminaries
in Israel. The teleconferenced service
included tehillim (psalms), comments from
Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of
London and Elie Wiesel, and appreciation
expressed by Noam Shalit, Gilad’s father.
THIS I BELIEVE. Weber sophomore Josh
Cohen (pictured), had his freshman “This I
Believe” essay chosen for publication on
the “This I Believe” website. Founded in
2004, “This I Believe” is an international
organization that encourages and inspires
youths and adults worldwide to write and
share essays describing their core values.
Under the direction of English teacher Sam
Bradford, Josh’s essay was chosen from
thousands submitted for publication. Many
AP Literature teachers use “This I Believe”
in tandem with college essay writing, so it
is possible that Josh’s essay may be used in
these classes as an example.
FALL SPORTS WRAP-UP. Fall brought
another impressive athletic season for the
Weber Rams. Boys Soccer was the region
runner-up and state semi-finalist for the
second year in a row. Varsity Volleyball was
region champion for the second year in a
row, and senior Allison Fuhrman (pictured)
was selected as a state GISA all-star and
competed in South Carolina against a team
of SC all-stars; JV Volleyball posted its best
record in school history. The Cross Country
Boys team placed third in the region, qualifying
for state, while the Girls team was the
region runner up and also qualified for
state.
NATIONAL MERIT SEMI-FINALIST.
Weber senior David Nelwan (pictured) has
qualified to enter the 2012 National Merit
Scholarship Program and receive semifinalist
recognition. As a semifinalist, David has
the opportunity to continue in the program
and compete for National Merit
Scholarships worth more than $36 million.
The nationwide pool of semifinalists represents
less than one percent of U.S. high
school seniors. To ensure that academically
talented young people from all parts of the
United States are included in this talent
pool, semifinalists are designated on a state
representational basis and are the highestscoring
entrants in each state.