Rosh Hashanah at Milken

Rosh Hashana photos
From left to right: Ms. Mallor hands out apples to students, Asher Levy '12 participates in the shofar-blowing competition, Milana Bochkur-Dratver '14 and Noah Wallace '14 distribute honey. Photos by Samantha Simon.

Leigh Jacobson

Editor-in-Chief

This year, Milken has taken a new approach to an old holiday. The Jewish Leadership Board (JLB), in conjunction with student government, has planned a series of events and activities to ring in the new Jewish year.

Book of Life poster
A poster urges students to write in the Book of Life. Photo by Leigh Jacobson.

“We’re trying a lot of different approaches,” Mazkira Yael Glouberman ’12 said. “We want to make the holidays as relatable as possible, and we definitely don’t want someone to be turned off to the celebration of a holiday because we tackled it in only one way that they cannot identify with.”

The first activity was the bathroom mirror campaign, inspired by Dove’s “You are Beautiful” campaign. According to Glouberman, each bathroom mirror in the school contains the question: “When you look in the mirror, do you like the kind of person you see?”

“The quote is meant to inspire a self-reflection, and is consistent with the Teshuva aspect of the holiday,” Glouberman said. Additionally, in the spirit of self-reflection, the JLB has been passing out anonymous journals called “The Book of Life”, in which students are encouraged to write down their “New Year’s Resolutions”. These journals have been placed randomly throughout the school and will be returned to the JLB after Yom Kippur, when they will be put on display in the library.

The activities culminated on Tuesday, September 27 in the amphitheater with a New Years Party and Shofar blowing contest. According to Glouberman, the ideas stemmed from the collaborative effort of the JLB, but within the JLB a specific committee was in charge: Anna Stern ’14, Jodi Marcus ’14, Arielle Mokhtarzadeh ’14 and Shannon Delijani ’14.

“We’re excited to change things up this year, and Milken can expect fun and original celebrations in the future,” Glouberman said.