Last week, WYHS and 20 other Jewish schools from across North America traveled to the Jewish Community High School of the Bay of San Francisco to compete in the 2011 Moot Beit Din competition. This unique event, initiated by RAVSAK, the North American network of Jewish community day schools, is a contest between high schools where students' knowledge and understanding of halacha, Jewish law is tested at the highest level. This year's topic was, in essence, the ethics of cloning.  The case presented the situation of parents of a son who was tragically killed in a car accident. They tried, unsuccessfully, to have more children and, as a last resort, would like to create a child using the DNA from their deceased son. WYHS was proud to send four outstanding seniors, Joshua Stadlan, Arie Hizkiya, Yedidyah Weiss and Adam Poliak, along with Head of School Rabbi Perry Tirschwell to vie for the "halachic crown" in San Francisco. I was privileged to talk with Student Council President Joshua Stadlan and Vice President of Torah Affairs Arie Hizkiya about their experience with the Moot Beit Din competition.

Darren Jacoby: How did you get selected for this awesome program?

Joshua Stadlan: Seniors Adam Poliak, Yedidyah Weiss, and Arie Hizkiya had been learning, of their own volition, with Rabbi Tirschwell once a week.  The subject of study was the Minchat Chinuch, which discusses the mitzvot in the order that they appear in the weekly parashah.  I joined them a few weeks into the year.  During one session, Rabbi Tirschwell asked if we wanted to go to San Francisco to attend the Moot Beit Din competition.  A pretty tough offer to turn down, right?

DJ: How did you prepare for the competition?   

JS: Using the bibliographies of a few halachah journal articlesas our springboard, we plowed through 3,500 years of Jewish documents.  The sources relevant to our case about cloning ranged from the Torah [which mentions the mitzvah of pru u'rvu (procreation), the prohibition of kilayim (crossbreeding) and the concept of tzelem Elokim (humans are created in the image of G-d), to name a few] to Talmudic accounts of mystical creations of human-like beingsand modern-day responsa regarding in-vitro fertilization.  After weeks of research, we compiled a written psak (legal decision).  Then we used the main arguments from the paper to formulate what the judges called a "clever and witty" Powerpoint presentation to accompany our oral report.

DJ: How would you describe the atmosphere and level of competition at the program?

Arie Hizkiya: Overall it was incredibly inviting yet simultaneously competitive. One of the most enjoyable parts of the program was the quaint atmosphere that the select group of students provided. It was exciting to see that everyone had a common goal and were well prepared to debate the topic at hand.

DJ: How much did you feel you accomplished at the program?
AH: A tremendous amount. It was very rewarding to see all the hard work that we put into our research and thesis pay off.  

DJ: Who would you say was the MVP from WYHS?
AH and JS: Definitely Rabbi Tirschwell, for serving as our advisor and fearlessly taking on the vertical roads of San Francisco

Just hours after returning home from Key West, the WYHS JUMP team flew back to New York City for the final round of the NCSY JUMP challenge. Seven junior girls, Chana Leah Batt, Ariana Genet, Amy Glaun, Elana Kaminetsky, Shoshana Linzer, Rashel Maikhor, and Sarah Struhl, and faculty advisor Shira Englander, were privy to join three other schools to conclude this intensive year-long competition. After months of hard work, which included planning events such as a clothing drive for AVDA, a Tzedakah fair, an Oneg Shemesh concert, and a teenager "Share a Shabbat" program, the team descended on the Big Apple to be recognized for its incredible accomplishments.

Early Tuesday morning, the team put its finishing touches on the competition as they practiced their brilliantly conceived speeches for the last time before they would present at the important conference. The conference was held in the Trump Building in New York City, which is a building that has also hosted conferences between prominent world leaders. Competing against three other well-qualified and hardworking schools, the girls presented their accomplishments in front of guest judges Rabbi Steven Weil, Phil Rosen, and the world renowned Ivanka Trump.

Each team member spoke brilliantly about different aspects of each challenge. The team impressed the judges with their eloquence, confidence, and creativity. Subsequently, the judges deliberated amongst themselves and then commended each team aloud for their hard work and remarkable achievements.

They praised the students for their endeavors as leaders and mentioned that the focus of this closure was to look to the future and capitalize on this opportunity in order to help Klal Yisrael as a whole. In fact, Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, creator of JUMP, noted that "there were tears in the eyes of at least one judge who was so moved, not only by their presentation but by knowing the effort and commitment that these very special young women put into this year's competition".

Although the WYHS team did not place first, they finished a very close second and were commended on their accomplishments.  As a reward for their efforts, the coordinators of JUMP invited WYHS to join the winning team on an NBC Studios tour. The girls then enjoyed dinner in the city as a well-deserved reward for their months of hard work.

A special thank you goes to Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone and Hanna Sorkin from New York NCSY for their superhuman efforts in creating this program that provided WYHS with this amazing opportunity. Congratulations to the team on their remarkable accomplishments and we look forward to seeing more amazing things from the participants.