Welcome back to 2018

We hope that everyone had a relaxing and enjoyable summer holiday. Over the break Year 10 Class of 2017 attended the Chavayah program in Israel and by all accounts the participants had a wonderful time. We also welcome back from their exchange programs to France, Miriam Itzkowitz (10) and Natasha Gering (11) and look forward to hearing about their experience. We also warmly welcome the incoming Year 7 students and their Tutors, Sarah Clark and Oren Thaler; our Year 8 cohort, Samantha Kagan and Saul Colombas; in Year 9, Maximillian Friend and Year 11, Jesse Harrington and William Stevenson. All new students were given a Szenes Cap as a welcome gift.

We also welcome the return of Hannah Chedzey (Tutor of Year 12 Szenes, 2017) who is replacing Lara Ephron as Tutor of 8.1 Szenes.

Upcoming events:

• Year 11 information evening –  Monday 5 February
• Photograph day – Wednesday 7 February
• Swimming Carnival – Monday 12 February (compulsory for all High School students)

From our House Captains

Szenes House has accomplished many things last semester and our consistent participation, enthusiasm and House Spirit have allowed us to raise the bar. A big win for Szenes was achieving 1^st place in House Music last term, in which many of the Szenes House Year 11 Leaders put an immense amount of effort in order to produce and showcase the amazing talents within our House. Our Rock Band, small House Choir and Xfactor performances showed the incredible passions of many of the individuals. Our big House performance, enabled everyone to be involved. This semester there are various House events including the Swimming Carnival which will take place on Monday 12 February. This upcoming carnival with hopefully get our House excited to participate and generate some friendly rivalry between the Houses. We are extremely excited to see how Szenes House is able to connect and grow together throughout the year ahead.   

House Captains with the results of the Commitment activity

Szenes House
Tu Bishvat ceremony

Our committed House Captains, Allegra Goldman and Michal Wolstein, organised a special House Assembly to mark Tu Bishvat and commemorate our namesake Hannah Szenes. Thank you to our speakers including Sonia Redman, Gabriel Wolf, Gabriel Sebban and Jade Reuveny. Gabriel Wolf sang a beautiful rendition of Eli Eli accompanied by Gabriel Sebban on piano.

An excerpt of the presentation:

“The Jewish festival of Tu BiShvat marks the new year for trees and marks the new blooming season for the fruits of these trees. Its purpose is to mark the time when people can begin to eat the fruit of their trees.

In Leviticus, it was stated that fruit from the trees may not be eaten during the first three years, the fourth year is for God, and after that the fruit may be eaten. Judaism sees many similarities between trees and a spiritual person, through their roots, body and leaves.

The roots and body of a tree act similar to those of a human – they keep us grounded and connect us to our past while helping develop our future. The faith that Jews have in our religion connects us to it, showing our commitment to upholding the traditions and beliefs of our ancestors.

The leaves, and the fruit that comes with it, are similar to the act of sharing our tradition. Having others see the leave and fruit of a tree is like us having an impact on others, through showing our faith and acting through and for our beliefs. Hannah Szenes did this, and her actions showed her commitment to the Jewish people and to the religion itself. Although she did not survive the war, her memory lives on and we stay committed to keeping her memory alive, just as we keep committed to growing fruit trees. Trees are steadfast, even when buffeted by strong winds, standing up to challenges that threaten its existence, committed to remaining strong and enduring, just like Hannah Szenes’.

Quotation of the week

“The goal is not to be better than the other person, but your previous self.” – Dalai Lama

 Enjoy the weekend

Shabbat Shalom

Szenes House