Spring Edition 2016

Baeck In The Middle For us, by us In this issue:

Israel AdvocacyCommunity Project in the News - Seth, Sam and Noah G Gaming GoonsLeo K-L The Little Prince Review- Josh T. Baeck To SportsSeth

The Baeck In The Middle We are very excited to bring you the second Baeck in the Middle of the school year! -Kayla and Rachel From the RSA’s teaching us their very important lessons on being kind on the internet, to Proso planning the amazing Purim rotations, to the play and the other great work we do here, with the help of our advisor, we are proud to share the second Baeck in the Middle, Spring Edition!

PRESIDENTS Maya Nadler

CO VP’S OF COMMUNICATION

Russell Mandel

Kayla Segal

Sam Greenspoon

Rachel Rusonik

CO VP’S OF PROSO Noah Gelbloom Leeor Freiman Mitchell Richmond

Allegiant ReviewAshley , Maya E and Yael Comic by Stacey G. We Create ChangeMaya N and Aliza Shayna’s Fun Facts Shayna Shrek Reviews Yael and Josh Co-President’s Update Purim Pictures

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Israel Advocacy and Eliminating Bias By Seth, Sam and Noah G. CNN showed videos that Hamas sent them, showing hundreds of dead corpses of men, women and children. This made everyone extremely upset and take Hamas’s side in the conflict. It was later revealed that the footage that was taken was of fake corpses. CNN had to apologize and it showed the truth about Hamas on a global scale. This is just an example of one incident of Israel on a global scale.

In today’s society we are faced with many conflicts across the world. Getting the truth out of current events is something that we fail to do. Whether you are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, right wing, left wing, male or female, there will always be bias in the information that is gathered. The topic that we are discussing is the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The best way for us to show the conflict is by a specific example, the 2014 Summer Gaza War, or Operation Protective Edge. The two combatants were Israel and Hamas, a radical Islamist group, which resides in the Gaza Strip. The ongoing conflict really escalated on July 8th, 2014, as Israel responded to the heavy rocket fire coming from the Gaza strip. The rockets that were being fired from Gaza were aimed at innocent civilian targets who had nothing to do with the conflict. As Israel returned fire, many Hamas militants were killed. That would seem justifiable for Israel, but most news networks thought

In a smaller and way less powerful scale, it's like a bully, bullying an innocent child. When a bully is constantly fighting and bullying the innocent child you can't expect them to just keep taking it, they have to fight back. That is just like what is happening to Israel. When Hamas is firing rockets into Israel and actually killing people, you can expect Israel to just take it. When you are being bullied you are supposed to tell an adult. In this situation the UN is like the adult, they are supposed to help the situation. Throughout all the bias and lies it's hard to know the truth, and there has to be a change.

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Gaming Goons by Leo Kesik-Libin Hello, devoted readers. Welcome to the second column of Gaming Goons. This is where I talk about the hottest, newest and coolest games in 2016! This time I will be talking about Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Hd and Star Wars Battlefront. Let’s first start off with Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam. This instalment in the Mario & Luigi RPGs is quite a surprise for us gamers. It combined the regular Mario & Luigi storyline with a much loved other Mario series, Paper Mario. The plot is that Luigi by accident opens a book to the Paper World (Where Paper Mario, Peach, Bowser and Toads dwell) and all the paper people fly into the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario & Luigi are tasked by Paper Peach and regular Peach to round up all the Paper Toads who are scattered across the mushroom kingdom. Soon Mario & Luigi are accompanied by Paper Mario who is willing to help. While all three heroes are distracted, Bowser and Paper Bowser (who have teamed up) kidnap both princesses. Now Mario, Luigi and Paper Mario must save the princesses and toads all while battling enemies and paper enemies. I really enjoyed this instalment in the Mario & Luigi series. It’s silly, light hearted and very creative. I have never really liked the Mario & Luigi series myself, from it’s difficulty to it’s mundane plots. I think Nintendo noticed that mistake and tried to make it better, and they succeeded. Personally, my favourite part of this game is probably the Papercraft Battles. The Papercraft Battles are where you are controlling a cardboard mech (which follows the paper idea) and attacking other cardboard mech. As you move on through the game, you get more mech characters (for example a Mario mech or a Yoshi mech) to control each with their own bells and whistles. I also like the level design, although it has the classic fields, deserts, mountains etc. But Nintendo ‘brightens up’ these things. To make it feel alive. It really is nice to see that Nintendo is bringing their better game with RPGs. Even though there are quite a few glitches, I really recommend this game who are looking for variety in the Mario games. Goon Grade: 4.5/5

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Next, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. Back in 2006, Twilight Princess was released for the GameCube and the early Wii we know and love today. This ground-breaking game took a more serious, realistic tone to The Legend of Zelda series, and people loved it! Recently, Twilight Princess was announced for the Wii U in November 2015. People were excited for this game. From what I heard, it’s supposed to be a pretty decent game. The original game, according to us who want HD and stuff, the graphics were supposed to be horrible. And Nintendo did an amazing job at polishing this game, although the cutscenes can be a little graphically sloppy. This game is compatible with amiibo. Amiibo are kind of like Skylanders. They assist you in certain games. In multiple games, the amiibo give you different bells and whistles depending on the character to help you complete or play the game. For example, in Super Mario Maker (which is by the best game EVER) for example if you use a Yoshi Amiibo in it, you can get a Yoshi costume that 8-bit Mario can wear while in courses. In TPHD, you can use the amiibo to help or toughen your adventure. If you use the Link or Toon Link amiibo, you equip double the arrows that you have, If you use the Zelda or Shiek amiibo, your health is doubled, but if you use the Ganondorf amiibo, when enemies attack you, it doubles the damage that it would normally give you. TPHD comes with it’s very own amiibo; Wolf Link. When you use the amiibo, you will enter a super hard dungeon with an awesome prize. You get a wallet that can hold 9,999 rupees. But the dungeon can only be played with Wolf Link. TPHD also introduces Master Quest. This was first introduced in Ocarina of Time’s disk drive counterpart, which was only sold in Japan. It was later inputted in Ocarina of Time 3D without and additional cartridge. In TPHD, Master Quest flips the world differently. For example, if a tree in normal mode was on the right, in Master quest it would be on the left. Along with that, The enemies in Master Quest do double damage to you. So if you use the Ganondorf amiibo in Master Quest, enemies will do Four times more damage than they would normally do. Overall, I am content with this game. I wish Nintendo could’ve added more new features to the game. But this is just a port of another game. Hopefully, The Legend of Zelda 2016 will be much better Goon Grade 3/5

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Now, finally, to Star Wars: Battlefront. This game was released in November, but with The Force Awakens still in theatres and May the fourth right around the corner, I’m going to give it some time to shine. There have already been other Battlefront games since the late 20th century. But this one is different from the others. It is a first person shooter and a third person shooter. You travel to different planets fighting legendary fights we know and love from the movies. You can customize your rebel fighter or stormtrooper the way you like it and fight these battles. Different modes are Heroes vs. Villains, where you get put on either side and you fight each other until you win best out of three. You occasionally get to play as your favourite rebels or siths like Han Solo or Darth Vader. Another mode is Walker Assault. Where you attack those walking mech (AT-AT for those Star Wars buffs out there) from Hoth and Endor. You are tasked to destroy all these mechs before you loose. There is one mode where you get to fly around in spaceships instead of fight on the ground, which is really fun to play online. Overall, this game is pretty fun. It’s a ground-breaking instalment into the Battlefront series and I think it’s going to be remembered very fondly later in life. Plus, The Force Awakens DLC (downloadable content) is arriving soon with Rey, Finn, Kylo Renn and other things. Goon Grade: 4/5

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The Little Prince Movie Review By: Josh Till

The Little Prince is an animated children’s movie that hit theatres March 11th, 2016. With Zootopia getting all of the attention, The Little Prince was not a huge success at the box office. It is definitely worth seeing in theatres if you like to let your imagination run wild. The Little Prince is based on a famous book by French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The story, which was first published in 1943, is based on the author’s life. Its popularity makes it a classic even to this day and it is the 4th most translated book in the world, having been translated in over 250 languages and dialects, including Braille. 
 
 The Little Prince tells the story of a little girl, played by Makenzie Foy. While home alone, a propeller from her neighbour, played by Academy Award Winner Jeff Bridges, lands in her house. This is the beginning of the relationship between the little girl and her neighbour and the story she will soon experience through his eyes. He tells the story of a pilot who crashes his plane in the Sahara Desert. When he wakes up, he finds a little boy whom he refers to as the Little Prince (Riley Osborne). The two form an unlikely bond and the Little Prince then tells the pilot about his life. Through his journey, the Prince meets a rose (Marion Cotillard) whom he falls in love with. Running away from his emotions, he then encounters a snake (Academy Award Winner Benicio Del Toro), an untamed fox, (James Franco), and 3 men (Bud Cort, Ricky Gervais, Albert Brooks). The beautifully told tale explores themes of loneliness, friendship, love and loss, and transcends both the real world and the world of carefree childhood imagination. So, how do you think the story ends? You’ll have to watch it to find out. What I will say is that the adaptation is amazing. I recommend this movie for every age and rate it an 8.5/10.

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Baeck to Sports

MLB After last

Welcome to Baeck to Sports the article that takes you on a tour of the world of sports. In this article you’ll see standings, statistics and a whole lot of Torontonian sports talk. This particular segment will comprise of four main sports leagues that are currently being played in the world and they are the: NHL, MLB, NBA and MLS. We will be primarily focusing on the Toronto sports teams and their journeys to glory or in the Leafs case repeated failure.

season’s disappointing end, the Jays look ready to take the AL by storm and battle hard all season long for another great year. Their Spring Training results certainly show their spirit, as the Jays have only lost six out of 27 pre-season games. Youngster pitcher Roberto Osuna has been named as the team’s closer, beating out other veteran pitchers with much more experience. The team has put a lot of faith into him and if his performances were anything like last years, the Jays are in amazing shape. So if you want to see an amazing ball team produce day in and day out, go buy

These two players have been leading the team and were recently named co-players of the month for the Eastern Conference. In the NBA, nine teams have also clinched a playoff spot among them being the Golden State Warriors who are currently chasing the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls record for most wins in a season. The Warriors are currently 68-8 meaning they need to go at least

NHL

5-1 in their last six games to beat the 72-10 record set by the Bulls.

The past month of the NHL season has been extremely exciting and interesting with nine teams clinching a playoff position. Among those seven teams are last year’s Stanley Cup champions; the Chicago Blackhawks and the red hot Washington Capitals who have the league leading 113 points this season. Leading the scoring race is the Blackhawks own Patrick Kane racking up an astounding 39 goals and 55 assists and with only five games left to play, he seems likely to win the Art Ross trophy which goes to the player with the most points at the end of the season. For the first time in NHL history, all Canadian franchise teams have been officially knocked out of playoff contention. Finally, the rest of Canada will know the pain of being a Leafs fan! Although no Canadian teams are going to be rooted for this year, the playoffs brings people together and I suggest you watch this year’s entertaining games!

MLS some Jay’s tickets.

NBA With the Leafs out of playoff contention and the Jays season just starting, the most exciting Toronto sports team to watch is the Raptors! The Raptors have been in scintillating form recently, clinching a spot in this year’s playoffs along with six other NBA teams. The Raptors are number 1 in their division and a huge factor to their success is thanks to the dynamic duo of Demar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry.

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The MLS season has just recently started and so far TFC are off to a pretty disappointing start. In the first four games of the season TFC has one win, one tie and two losses. Not an ideal start to the season but we still have superstar Sebastian Giovinco scoring goals for fun in the league. In other MLS news, Pedro Morales leads the goal scoring charts with 4 goals while Toronto-born Cyle Larin is close behind with 3 goals. by: Seth Martosh

The Divergent Series: Allegiant Movie Review By: Maya Elgez, Yael Rusonik and Ashley Dreyzin

The long awaited next installment of the Divergent Series will have you on the edge of your seat! This PG-13 movie is sure to catch any teen’s attention. It is an action packed movie with 2 hours of non-stop excitement. You are sure to fall in love with the beloved characters who will keep you guessing. The amazing special effects are ahead of their time, extremely realistic and eye catching. This movie is well worth the trip to the theater, so get off your couch and go see this movie right now! The story starts off with with Tris (Shailene Woodley), our main character, struggling to decide whether she wants to forgive her brother Caleb, (Ansel Elgort) who betrayed her. The tension inside the city walls is growing, and without Tris’ help, Caleb will be killed, along with all the other traitors. Her boyfriend, Tobias Eaton (Theo James) also know as Four is struggling to decide whether he wants to forgive Caleb as well. Soon after, Tobias and Tris take Caleb, who they have decided to forgive, Christina (Zoe Kravitz) Tris’ best friend and Tori (Maggie Q) the tattoo artist who has become close with Tris and Four. Somehow, they also end up taking Peter (Miles Teller), the rude, deceiving and clever enemy of Tris, to the unknown place beyond the walls. Decieving the laws, they go beyond the wall, where no one has dared to go, despite the new leader and mother of Tobias, Evelyn’s (Naomi Watts) warnings.

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They scale the very large wall, being shot at by Evelyn’s army. Will they make it over? What’s on the other side of the wall? Is there even anything beyond there? Is it something that will change their perspective of their home, Chicago? This movie is adapted from a book written by the author, Veronica Roth. It was very loosely connected to the book and almost had a different story altogether. This is mainly because the book was split into two movies, which means the writers and producers have to make the story longer. This was bad in some ways, but good in others. Each character was explored more because of the extra amount of story, but the original character developed was lost at times. Lovers of the book may be disappointed by this movie. On the other hand, anyone who has not read the books, will enjoy this a lot. There is a great plot and very interesting characters. Also, this movie does not give false expectations for relationships that normally come with young adult movies. In this movie, Tris and Four struggle to keep their connection and trust. This gives a realistic idea to viewers, especially some who have never been in relationships before. In all, this movie is amazing and should be watched whether you have seen all the movies, read all the books, or never heard of the series itself.

Comic by Stacey Goldberg

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We Create Change With a Game Show Launch By Maya Nadler and Alyza Avon

After We Day, Tikkun Olam was committed to raising money for one of their amazing causes. We debated the available campaigns and decided to focus on Change for Change with a focus on education. Not only was that the Vow of Silence theme of the year, it is a huge problem throughout third world countries, and we knew that we could make a difference. Inspired by last year’s Trivia Night, we thought it would be fun to launch the fundraiser with a game show. The game show was called Are You Smarter Than A Leo Baeck Teacher? The idea was that since the theme of both the Vow of Silence and the campaign was education, we should base the game show on the education the kids and teachers get in and out of school. In small groups, the members of the Tikkun Olam (Repair the World) committee came up with many different questions appropriate for both students and teachers. After much work, we finally completed preparations, and were ready to get all the kids excited to donate money! After two separate assemblies geared for different age groups, our cause was made clear and we revealed our decorated collection jars that would be places in Homeroom classes. After collecting the donations, we counted the change which added up to $400. Everyone had a great time helping to create change in access to education around the world.

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Shayna’s Fun Facts by Shayna Feldbloom 1. “Facebook Addiction Disorder” is a real mental disorder identified by Psychologists.

2. A group of crows is called a murder.

3. The tongue is the longest muscle in your body. 4. Hitler’s mother considered abortion but the doctor persuaded her to keep the baby. 5. The Bible is the most shoplifted book in the world. 6. George W. Bush was once a cheerleader. 7. In Singapore Ronald McDonald is known as “Uncle McDonald”. 8. Ants never sleep 9. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher because people lick them. 10. More germs are transferred from shaking hands than kissing.

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Shrek The Musical: A Play Review by: Yael R This amazing Leo Baeck production of Shrek, a gripping musical has left the audiences speechless. It was a beautiful portrayal of the classic childhood movie. The play debuted April 6th and 7th and was a play not to miss! This wonderful performance was brought to you buy the director, Mr.Peters, the producer, Ms. Spritzer, the talented cast and the volunteers who made it possible. These forces combined to make one of the best plays Leo Baeck has ever seen! I think we should all congratulate the cast who worked so hard to put this together! Make sure to give your talented classmates a pat on the back. This play followed a green, gross ogre who had lived alone in a swamp most of his life. Then one day the fairy tale characters invaded his swamp and he had to go to Lord Farkwad to demand them to move. On his way he met his companion for the trip Donkey, a funny talking mule. However; like all good stories do, there was a catch. Shrek had to go save Fiona the princess who had been locked up in a towers guarded by a fire breathing dragon since she was 7! Shrek rescued Fiona and I'm not going to spoil anything else in case you want to see a different production of it! It was a very exciting plot though without a single dull moment. This play contained many great actors and singers! Our lead role Shrek was beautifully done by grade 8 student, Seth Martosh. He gripped the audience with his passion and impressive dramatization. Shrek’s pal Donkey was also amazingly done by grade 7 student, Yaelle Rom. She played a funny, good spirited role that's hard to forget! Our lead female Fiona in the time the play took place was portrayed by grade 8 student Maya Nadler and grade 7 student Vanessa 12

Saul. Both of these young actors had strong, beautiful voices that enhanced the entire play. These are just a few highlighted roles but the entire cast were very talented and all did an excellent job in this production. We look forward to see more plays in the years to come.

And for another perspective, from the stage…

Shrek, The Musical by Joshua Till

Shrek: The Musical came to the Leo Baeck North Stage for its 2-night debut on April 6-7. Let’s just say, the cast and I had so much fun. Iplayed Polonius on of Lord Farquaad’s guards in the show. We started in the middle of October. Everyone who wanted to be in the show auditioned. Then, about a week later, we started to rehearse and get our parts. Throughout the next few months, the cast were rehearsing lines, blocking, using props and getting tons of forms. By the near-end of March we were practicing onstage and in costume. I couldn’t wait to see what my costume was. We practiced with microphones and real-life props. Then, the curtain fell. And on both nights we got a standing ovation. It was great to be sitting on the stage and see your friends, family, or even random strangers applauding non-stop for you. It just felt right. During Intermission, we would play Ninja or practice our dancing. All of the cast before the show would practice the dances. I still have one more year at Leo Baeck. I can’t wait to be in the next show. Just to say, everyone was amazing and thank you audience for coming to our show. Thank you also to our amazing director, Mr. Peters! Next stop, Broadway! 13

Co- Presidents Update Have a Great Day, Leo Baeck!

This year has been a blast working with and being apart of the Communications Team. Joining the committee in the beginning of the school year, we didn’t really know what to expect. But after many monthly meetings and slowly gaining confidence, we have become an active member of Communications.

I have learned that all of communications leads up to one big achievement, Baeck in the Middle. Baeck in the Middle has become one of the Middle School’s signature features, published a few times every year. It is a great opportunity for the middle school students to write their own article on whatever they feel passionate about. Giving middle school students an amazing way to express themselves about something they love to the school benefit s the individuals and ,hopefully, brings insight or joy to our community. Communications involves: announcements, photography, LBTV and, of course, Baeck in the Middle. Great work everyone!

-Russell Mandel

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Proso- Always On the Go Being co-president, I get to experience so many different things. One of these things is contributing and being an active member of the Proso team. Proso is in charge of organizing all the spirit days and many school events, as well as running them. Through my experience on the committee, I have helped setup the Yoey Awards, created posters for Purim, participated in P.I.N.K. Shirt Day and much more. Being on Proso is a great experience, and all the members are extremely happy to be a part of this exciting committee.

When you are in Proso you get a behind the scenes look into how all of the amazing spirit days at Leo Baeck are made and how much time and effort goes into each one. Getting the message across of when these spirit days are, and what to do to prepare is shared through Student Council, which all three co-presidents lead.

Each committee has a specific responsibility to fulfill and has specific way to help contribute to making Leo Baeck and our Middle School the and positive school environment that it is. I really enjoy being a part of that!

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The RS360- A Full Circle Approach to Promoting Respect and Inclusion:

The RS360 Team continues to work on a common goal, to promote respect and inclusion among the school community. I am part of both the RSA’s (Respectful School Ambassadors) and was part of Lunch Bunch for the first part of the year. It’s great to see the Fun Budz outside with the younger kids. Being part of Lunch Bunch or Fun Budz means helping to make younger children’s days more enjoyable, and I’m happy to say that everyone in these committees have been doing their absolute best to fulfill this mission. In RSA, we are continuing to talk about our digital tattoos and work on our next lessons. Everything we said on P.I.N.K. Shirt Day, which was a huge success, continues to be our missions. All of us in the RS360 are so proud of our accomplishments this year. -Maya Nadler

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We are very proud of what the Proso team has accomplished, providing us with such an amazing Purim experience! Here are some pictures from the Purim:

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