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Home > Fresh Ink for Teens
Due On Monday
Talia Rosenstrauch in front of Livingston High School. by Talia Rosenstrauch “Talia! Candles!” “Mom! We have four more minutes!” “We’re lighting now!” Nooo This happens to me just about every Friday night and it probably happens to you too. If you go to a Jewish private school then maybe you’re cramming in TV and computer instead of homework, but you’re cramming. Everyone needs more time before Shabbat begins to finish or to do something. Though some may disagree, I believe that public school Jews have the most problems with the lack of time before Shabbat. Most of our teachers aren’t Jewish. Some don’t even know what Shabbat is. They just pile on the homework. If you’re in a normal class then Sunday is long enough to finish the homework for the weekend. But if you’re in honors or AP you have problems. You either break the Holy Shabbat by going on the computer or writing homework or risk an incomplete or failure in a grade book. By keeping Shabbat you lose an entire day to get work out of the way. You might not realize it when you pick and choose which level courses you’ll take next year, but this is one of the major problems an observant Jew faces in public school. If you pick the more difficult class, it’s harder tests and less free time during the week plus homework and projects you’ll end up having to do over the weekend. Whether teachers think so or not, those 30 math problems do take more than 20 minutes and even if we do all of our chemistry homework we need a whole lot more practice to be ready for the test on Monday, especially if we got the homework wrong. Then there are those days you miss for yom tov. “It’s when there’s a Jewish holiday because there is just as much work for less time,” said a sophomore at Livingston High School in New Jersey who’d rather stay anonymous so he or she will not seem helpless. The Jewish students of Livingston are lucky because most of the population is Jewish — Reform, but nonetheless Jewish. We get Yom Kippur and Rosh HaShanah off because otherwise there would only be a few students in each class. Sukkot and other lesser-known holidays are a different story. My parents send in a note with the days I can’t attend because of a holiday, everything’s OK on that front. But then I have to make up the notes and work that I missed. Any school tough classes learn several pages of notes each day. Missing that day affects how the test goes because there isn’t someone to teach the material as well as it was taught in class. Sometimes the missed day is the day of the test. On average, tests probably take one class period. The retake can be during lunch or before or after school, which cuts into de-stress time or homework. Either way you look at it, being a Jew affects which classes you can take. I am generally happy with the classes I chose. This fall Shabbat and the holidays affected math and biology; I had to make a hand-written copy of a four-page packet in biology. What I could accomplish over the weekend was reading, studying, and answering short questions in my head. Some teachers might have allowed extensions, but then the work would have rolled into Monday night homework and, God knows, there was no way I could handle that. So every weekend of yom tov I finished the homework late at night on Sunday. Not much different then a normal school night, right? “Knowing how to prioritize, self-discipline, and organization are key to students with constraints on time,” said John McEnroe, a guidance counselor at Livingston High School. I recommend not wasting time on the computer or by texting. When you have time to do homework get it out quickly and complete it. I have not had to fight with teachers about making up tests or getting notes but I’ve gotten a reaction. Freshman year I wanted to join the snowboarding team but I found out it meets on Friday nights. I asked the club supervisor if that was the only time it met because if it was then I couldn’t come. He said they might be meeting on Saturdays, to which I responded I couldn’t attend either. He looked at me irritated and said, “When can you come?” Needless to say, I ended up not joining the club. I do whatever homework I can on Saturday which lately includes reading a chapter for English and studying Biology. One of the good things about Shabbat is that it gives you a chance to organize your thoughts and priorities. There’s nothing else to do besides worry, which doesn’t have any benefits. The best part about Shabbat is it creates time to spend with family. Although it frustrates me that I can’t do anything one-seventh of the week and I have to stop in the middle of doing my homework, Shabbat is helpful in subtle ways. You get closer to your family, and can relax mentally and physically. Shabbat can be annoying, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, I think, after we light the candles and begin Friday night dinner. Talia Rosenstrauch is a sophomore at Livingston Senior High School in Livingston, N.J.
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