teen profile

dvar Torah/parshat Toldot

by Polina Fradkin

by Yona Isaacs

teen spirit

special week of costumes, song and dance is part of FJA's 10th anniversary.

Top row far left: Tana Freedman

and Wm! Foster, both 16, of West

Bloomfield. Middle: Aaron and Elana

Folbe, both 16, of Huntington Woods

exchange Identities. Right: Yale

Williams, 16, of White Lake and Josh

Sider, 15, Huntington Woods.

Second row: far left and middle:

Justin Polk, 17, of Walled Lake eats

his way to a win in the pie eating

contest Left: Michelle Kappy, 17, of

Orchard Lake and Blake Orman, 17,

of West Bloomfield

n the hectic weekend leading up to Spirit
Week at the Frankel Jewish Academy in West
Bloomfield, my classmates and I frantically
called, texted and messaged each other, organiz-
ing matching costumes for Twins Day, writing
lyrics to grade songs and choreographing dances
for the inter-grade dance competition.
FJA is known for its spirit and involvement in the
community, and for its dual curriculum that allows
students to incorporate Jewish studies and secular
studies into their everyday high school lives. We
work hard and we pray hard. And Spirit Week is a
time for crazy, goofy, unconditional fun.
In honor of the school's 10th anniversary, Student
Government incorporated the theme of 10 into ev-
ery day of Spirit Week activities. "Once we had the
idea of `10,' the whole week's events fell right into
place — Ten Commandments, Ten Plagues, Big Ten
and Top Ten iTunes were the grade dress-up themes,
and teachers dressed up as the Ten Most Wanted,"
said Samantha Zwick, 10th-grade president.
Certain moments of Spirit Week are unforgettable.
The "musical chair battle" between the sophomore
and senior classes drew cheers that reached deafen-

ing levels. The more than slightly sickening-yet-ex-
hilarating pie eating contest was equal parts yuck
and determination. Senior Justin Polk of Walled
Lake won Tuesday's pie-eating contest. Wiping bits
of crust and cherry filling from his cheek, Justin said
of his epic win: "It was disgusting, but rewarding!"
Water balloon battles and a vocabulary challenge
using the Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew lexicon kept
every grade cheering for their team.
During Spirit Week, it's just as common to see
boys rollerblading through the halls as it is to get
homework assignments. Passersby danced in the
hallways to Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA (until a
teacher took the boom box away, of course). This
has undoubtedly been a Spirit Week to remember!
"The senior class has won Spirit Week since the
annual tradition started at FJA 10 years ago," said
freshman Allison Karp of West
Bloomfield. "We'll see if next year
that changes!" f

best to be
yourself

ust about everyone has abrother
or sister — or at least a friend so
close he or she might as well be a
sibling. And everyone can agree,
no matter how much we may love
them, all siblings have their differ-
ences.
In this week's Torah portion, we
learn about two siblings with com-
pletely clashing personalities, Jacob
and Esau. Even from the time they
were in her womb, the twins' moth-
er, Rivkah, was warned that she was
about to give birth to two separate na-
tions. As if just giving birth to twins
wasn't hard enough!
Jacob and Esau were, in fact, very
different men. When describing them,
the Torah refers to Jacob as an eesh
tam, a simple man. Esau on the other
hand was an eesh yodeah tzayid, eesh sa-
deh, meaning he was a hunter and a
man of the field.
In describing Esau, the word eesh,
Hebrew for man, is used twice; where-
as with Jacob, it was used just once.
This distinction shows us that Esau ac-
tually had a bit of a double personal-
ity. Typically, he acted as a man of the
fields, hunting and devoting his life
to the land. Around his aging father
Isaac, however, he acted righteous
and earned the place as his father's
favorite. The fact that Esau acted two
different ways resulted in the Torah's
use of the word eesh twice.
Jacob, on the other hand, was an
honest man who spent his time study-
ing and learning. He acted properly
around not only his father, but also
everyone else.
This teaches us that people should
always be themselves and act honestly
rather than catering to what different
people expect of them. Basically, even
when you get in a fight with a sibling,
don't pretend to be suddenly inno-
cent once your parents get involved.
Chances are they'll figure out the true
story eventually any-
way. H

Yona Isaacs, 16, Is a

Junior at Berkley High

School.

Polina Fradkin, 15, is a sophomore at

the Frankel Jewish Academy in West

Bloomfield.

teen2teen November 19 • 2009

TT3