June 6, 2018

Abegail Javidzad,17
High School: YULA Girls High School
GOING TO: USC

Abegail Javidzad wants to become a dermatologist and to give back to the world. The daughter of Iranian-American immigrants, Javidzad has excelled in the sciences and has immersed herself in charity work at YULA Girls High School.

“I’ve always had a love for the sciences and medicine, especially when I studied science in ninth grade with Mrs. [Sandy] Waleko,” Javidzad said. “She taught in a clear way that solidified my love for science and helped make it clear that medicine was the right field for me.” 

Javidzad, who will be graduating as salutatorian of her class, will be a pre-med student at USC this fall. 

“I’m really into skin care,” she said. “Whenever my friends have a skin issue, they ask me, ‘Oh, Abby, what do I do for acne scars?’ I like doing research into that field of medicine. And I think skin care is really important.”

Outside of the classroom, Javidzad volunteered at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and United Care Family Medical Center, where she shadowed doctors and took vital signs. 

“Since I was volunteering in patient transport [at UCLA], I saw every single department,” Javidzad said. “At United Care, I got to see what it was like to work with family medicine in a private practice and be one on one with patients.”

She enjoyed her time at the hospital and health care center, she said, because “I was the first face [the patients] saw. I learned a lot of things from the doctor. He said you should always sit down when you come into the room because it makes patients feel more comfortable. Patient interaction is one of the most important things because it’s how you get the patient to trust you.”

“Mrs. Waleko taught in a clear way that solidified my love for science and helped make it clear that medicine was the right field for me.”

Javidzad’s compassion and care for people is also evident in her other volunteer work. She founded and is the current president of Clothes for Care, where she collects clothes from her classmates and takes them to the National Council of Jewish Women, Los Angeles. So far, she has coordinated more than 500 donations. 

“It’s important to give back,” she said, “and this is such a simple thing that anyone can do.”

In Javidzad’s spare time, she served as editor-in-chief for three years of The Panther Post, YULA High Schools’ newspaper, and served on the board of the YULA Israel Advocacy Club. 

In the fall, she will be attending USC on a presidential scholarship, a half-tuition award, and will be part of the Trojan Scholars Society, the organization for students with academic scholarships. She plans to continue learning about the intersection of science and medicine. 

“I really want to help others and combine that with science,” Javidzad said. “The best way to do that is [through] medicine.”

Jacob Feitelberg, 18
High School: Shalhevet High School
Going to: Johns Hopkins University

Jacob Feitelberg has been incredibly busy for the past four years at Shalhevet High School. He studied hard, earning a National Merit Commended Student award, was one of the founders of the school’s robotics team, served as editor-in-chief of The Boiling Point school newspaper, played the violin in the Los Angeles Youth Orchestra and sang in the Shalhevet Choirhawks. 

But what Feitelberg has enjoyed the most, and what he hopes to devote his life to, is biomedical engineering, which he will study this fall at Johns Hopkins University. 

“I just want to help people live longer,” Feitelberg said, in a phone interview with the Journal. 

Feitelberg plans to pursue tissue engineering, which involves replacing or mending damaged tissue and organs with those created in a lab. 

“Your organs fail when you get cancer and disease, or just when you become older,” Feitelberg said. “Using a healthy organ to replace it is going to be a lot better for you. There are so many people waiting for donor organs, and there is no real clear way to get these organs other than someone dying in a car accident and happening to be a donor. Theoretically, if you could get [new organs] from your same cells, it’d be a lot better.”

“My family doesn’t come from a science background so I had to push to find it where I could.”

This past summer, Feitelberg participated in a bio lab program for high school students called Pathways to Stem Cell Science at UCLA. He spent eight weeks working on a small device that expands and contracts based on its temperature. Although it’s currently being used for purely research purposes, the device attempts to mimic how the lungs also expand and contract. 

Looking back on his experience in the bio lab, Feitelberg said, “It was one of the best summers I ever had.”

Though Feitelberg also is interested in the arts — he’s been playing violin since he was 8 and sang in the Choirhawks in 10th and 11th grade — both took a backseat this year because he was co-captain of the robotics team and editing The Boiling Point. While at the paper, he won a National Quill & Scroll Award, as well as a 2017 first prize in News & Feature Writing on Current Events Involving Israel award from the Jewish Scholastic Press Association, for his Shimon Peres obituary.  

Feitelberg is excited to go to Hopkins next year, where he will take some music theory classes, but mostly will focus on his biomedical research. “I’m looking forward to having a lot more opportunities for research, which is what I want to do. My family doesn’t come from a science background so I had to push to find it where I could. I’m going to get to pursue what I want, and I hope to help many people.”

Gidon Amsellem, 17
High School: YULA Boys High School
Going to: Cornell University

Whether he’s taking five advanced-placement classes or playing in the Jazz Ensemble, YULA senior Gidon Amsellem is a straight-A student to be reckoned with. Academically driven, artistically passionate  and Jewishly committed, Amsellem sees a future in which he’s able to help people as a Jewish leader and, following in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather, as a doctor.

“My mother’s father was a general surgeon and a great man,” Amsellem said in a phone interview. He explained that his grandfather — who died three years ago —  had come to the United States from Iran to do a medical residency and stayed.  “He had a great impact on my family. He paid for my Jewish education, and as a doctor, provided free practice for people who didn’t have insurance. He was also supportive of charities.”

Amsellem’s family is Moroccan on his father’s side and Iranian on his mother’s side. He’s involved in the Sephardic minyan at YULA, where he also served as gabbai, an experience that moved him spiritually and gave him a mandate for his future commitment to Judaism. 

“It’s a responsibility that brings me closer to God, to know I can help other people to do [Jewish things]. If the Hillel needs help, I want to be there, especially for the Sephardic community.”  

Music has “always been my main thing,” Amsellem said, since he started playing in ninth grade. “I picked up the clarinet and started playing. I wasn’t good. I got better.” After the Jazz Ensemble’s saxophone players graduated, Amsellem “got myself a sax and started playing — that’s been my main instrument from then on.” He is also a vocalist and also plays EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument). He recently performed at YULA’s Open House, and does charity gigs. Leaving the ensemble has been emotional, he said. “It’s the end of something I’ve put a lot of work into.” 

“BIMA Arts Program (at Brandeis University) really opened me up as a musician and as a person. Almost all of the participants were Jewish, with not too many Orthodox people, but all found Judaism interesting.”

He especially noted the impact of the BIMA Arts Program at Brandeis University, which he attended for three summers while at YULA. BIMA brings together arts faculty members and peer musicians for artistic discovery and Jewish experiences. Each summer gave him the opportunity to focus on music/theater/vocal music or sculpture, as well as on biblical texts. 

“BIMA really opened me up as a musician and as a person,” Amsellem said. “Almost all of the participants were Jewish, with not too many Orthodox people, but all found Judaism interesting. You’d see other people’s interpretations of the text in their art and it helped you visualize what that understanding of the text was. It developed me to be loving of all other Jews and all other people no matter where they came from.” 

Amsellem plans to spend a pre-college year at Yeshivat Orayta in the Old City of Jerusalem before heading to Cornell to start his pre-med studies. Although he’s not on track for a career in music, he knows that the future is still unwritten. 

“I’ll definitely keep playing music for the rest of my life,” he said. He can even see the possibility that he might do it semi-professionally, performing at bar and bat mitzvahs and weddings.

“Everything’s a possibility,” he said.

Rena Perl, 17
High School: Harkham-Gaon Academy
Going to: Cal State Northridge

If Rena Perl ever decides to abandon her dream of becoming a teacher and pursue politics, she may have the attitude for it.

“If there is something I have learned throughout my life, it is nothing is black and white,” Perl said in a phone interview. “It bothers me people are so adamant about their opinions that it prevents things from getting done. It divides us more than is necessary.”

Perl, the valedictorian at Harkham-GAON Academy, is Orthodox but she has cultivated unorthodox experiences. She has never visited Israel but she is not planning to enroll in a seminary or sign up for Birthright. After middle school, she looked beyond the local major Orthodox day schools when selecting a high school.

She opted for a Jewish day school that offers blended and online learning that allows students to undertake courses for college credit at Santa Monica College (SMC) as part of a dual-enrollment program. 

Perl is graduating from Harkham after only three years, and she already has taken courses at SMC in philosophy, biology, art history and child development. She has developed an interest in artist Edgar Degas, a French impressionist known for his paintings of ballerinas. 

Perl is something of an amateur ballerina herself. “People tend to tell me I am quite graceful,” she said. “I think I have a natural propensity for it. Dance is used for celebration for a reason, so I think it is quite fun.

This summer and fall, when she is not at a ballet class, Perl will continue to take classes at SMC. She plans to transfer to Cal State Northridge in spring 2019 to pursue a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential. Eager to start her career as a teacher, she already has taken the California Basic Educational Skills Test.

“I’ve always been passionate about becoming a teacher,” she said. “I’ve always loved kids. I feel like I definitely have the talent for it. I’ve been tutoring a long time and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.” 

At Harkham, she has taken part in the Yeshiva University National Model United Nations program. She represented Yemen, Sierra Leone and Qatar, respectively, in ninth, 10th and 11th grades.

The Model U.N. program, she said, has heightened her interest in world affairs. Particularly valuable was meeting with the permanent mission to Sierra Leone while in New York.

“What I really liked is we talked about issues and had intelligent conversations, and they liked what we were saying,” she said. “Just kind of helping people is something that I think definitely calls to me. I learned that from Model U.N.”

Perl also recently volunteered to become an advocate for the Borgen Project, an organization that combats global poverty. This summer, she will work as a counselor at JCamp, which is run out of the Westside Jewish Community Center.

Children, along with Judaism, are her greatest passions. 

“I feel Judaism really adds something special that satisfies your soul,” she said. “And if you don’t have it, there will be something lacking.”

abandon her dream of becoming a teacher and pursue politics, she may have the attitude for it.

“If there is something I have learned throughout my life, it is nothing is black and white,” Perl said in a phone interview. “It bothers me people are so adamant about their opinions that it prevents things from getting done. It divides us more than is necessary.”

Perl, the valedictorian at Harkham-GAON Academy, is Orthodox but she has cultivated unorthodox experiences. She has never visited Israel but she is not planning to enroll in a seminary or sign up for Birthright. After middle school, she looked beyond the local major Orthodox day schools when selecting a high school.

She opted for a Jewish day school that offers blended and online learning that allows students to undertake courses for college credit at Santa Monica College (SMC) as part of a dual-enrollment program. 

“If there is something I have learned throughout my life, it is nothing is black and white.”

Perl is graduating from Harkham after only three years, and she already has taken courses at SMC in philosophy, biology, art history and child development. She has developed an interest in artist Edgar Degas, a French impressionist known for his paintings of ballerinas. 

Perl is something of an amateur ballerina herself. “People tend to tell me I am quite graceful,” she said. “I think I have a natural propensity for it. Dance is used for celebration for a reason, so I think it is quite fun.

This summer and fall, when she is not at a ballet class, Perl will continue to take classes at SMC. She plans to transfer to Cal State Northridge in spring 2019 to pursue a bachelor’s degree and teaching credential. Eager to start her career as a teacher, she already has taken the California Basic Educational Skills Test.

“I’ve always been passionate about becoming a teacher,” she said. “I’ve always loved kids. I feel like I definitely have the talent for it. I’ve been tutoring a long time and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.” 

At Harkham, she has taken part in the Yeshiva University National Model United Nations program. She represented Yemen, Sierra Leone and Qatar, respectively, in ninth, 10th and 11th grades.

The Model U.N. program, she said, has heightened her interest in world affairs. Particularly valuable was meeting with the permanent mission to Sierra Leone while in New York.

“What I really liked is we talked about issues and had intelligent conversations, and they liked what we were saying,” she said. “Just kind of helping people is something that I think definitely calls to me. I learned that from Model U.N.”

Perl also recently volunteered to become an advocate for the Borgen Project, an organization that combats global poverty. This summer, she will work as a counselor at JCamp, which is run out of the Westside Jewish Community Center.

Children, along with Judaism, are her greatest passions. 

“I feel Judaism really adds something special that satisfies your soul,” she said. “And if you don’t have it, there will be something lacking.”

OLIVER LEE, 18
HIGH SCHOOL: New Roads School
GOING TO: California Lutheran University

Between visiting patients at Cedars–Sinai Medical Center and making lunches for the homeless, high school senior Oliver Lee has gained perspective beyond his 18 years. “[Volunteering] gives me a sense of purpose,” he said.

His life experiences, too, have informed his wisdom. Lee was born with hydrocephalus, a condition that causes the brain to swell due to the accumulation of fluid. He also has a life-threatening allergy to latex. And when he was in middle school, bullies threw a book at him. The book caught the corner of his eye, dislodged the muscle and eventually caused diplopia (double vision). Lee changed schools. 

These experiences, he said, have motivated him to give back. They also have pushed him to pursue a career in medicine. This fall, he plans to study biology with an emphasis in pre-medicine at California Lutheran University.

“I’ve always had an interest in the human body, anatomy, biology, and I guess the fact that I’ve had over 30 surgeries has played a major role in why I want to get into medicine,” he said.

As an only child, Lee is close to his parents. His father is an architect and his mother is a graphic designer. He is proud of his Jewish heritage. His mother’s last name is Spitalny, which is Polish for “of the hospital.” Lee’s ancestors were doctors who fled Poland and Russia during the Russo-Japanese War. His grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather consecrated Congregation Beth Israel, the first synagogue in Phoenix.

“I guess the fact that I’ve had over 30 surgeries has played a major role in why I want to get into medicine.”

“I see Judaism not just as a religion but more so a sense of community and a sense of people, friends and family, who can come together and talk about their struggles and bonds based on history and tradition and be together,” he said. “That’s what Judaism is for me.”

Lee juggles his interests with a passion for the arts. Prism eyeglasses have corrected his double vision, and he has honed his photography skills, capturing textured objects in nature and experimenting with the color and monochromatic settings on his SLR camera. 

No Instagram filters for this budding artist.

In his free time, Lee enjoys mountain biking with his father. He’s also found an outlet in improvisational comedy and has taken several improv-comedy classes at The Groundlings in West Hollywood.

“Not that I intend to be on television or be in the movies, but that’s a space for me to play with my emotions and express myself,” he said.

Ultimately, the future M.D.’s M.O. is overcoming that which is beyond his control, whether bullying or a latex allergy, to live his best life.

“I don’t let that personally define me as a person. I am Oliver Lee,” he said. “I’m not Oliver Lee with this and this and this who was bullied.”

Benjamin Levy, 17
High School: Valley Torah High School
Going to: Harvard University

Remember the name Benjamin Levy, because at some point in the not too distant future, there’s a good chance he will be at the forefront of some major scientific breakthrough.

With a maturity that belies his 17 years, Levy, who will graduate as valedictorian from Valley Torah, already has spent the past four summers as a computational biology intern at the City of Hope. He has worked with experts in the field to design novel cancer drugs by utilizing a mechanistic understanding of cancer-associated protein dynamics. He has co-authored two publications on the project results in cancer research, he has worked on Type 1 diabetes and has worked on the structural deviation between two superimposed proteins in conjunction with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, based on the Mars Rover software.

“My goal is to ultimately work in the pharmaceutical industry in the new paradigm of drug development,” Levy said in a phone interview. “My passion is biophysics, which started with an interest in physics.” That interest began with reading books by Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose. 

Levy will attend Harvard and study computer science after spending a gap year at Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi in Jerusalem, and this summer he will be working as a software development intern at Google. “That was really competitive to get into,” he said, “and I’m really excited about it.”

“I think it’s very important to have a grounding in the liberal arts.”

However, lest you think that Levy is just a science geek, he’s not. “I’ve never considered myself either a STEM person or a humanities person,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in both. I want to help design the drugs of the future and, in doing so, I think it’s very important to have a grounding in the liberal arts from philosophy to literature to history. I don’t think you can have an impact on society if you don’t have an understanding of society,” he said.

At school, he founded and became president of the Tutoring Club, and also founded the school’s Debate Club. “I put in an inconceivable amount of work into that club, and I’m really proud of it,” he said. “The reason I’m interested in debate is the same reason I’m interested in computer science,” he added. “I like thinking about it as the manipulation of information.”

Levy also enjoys karate, which he’s been studying since he was 5 years old, and has taught karate to special needs kids. “It’s the entire mindset that I love,” he said. “It’s really meditative and helps me clear my mind in every aspect of my life.”

For now, Levy is busy writing his valedictory speech, which he says will focus on the passions everyone has at Valley Torah. “It’s amazing to me how everyone at [school] has a passion and they’re willing to put their energy and effort into that passion,” he said.  “When you’re in an environment where you want to do something important with your life, and you’re not just sitting around and playing video games, you learn a lot from that.”

Gabriella Resnick, 18
HIGH School: de Toledo High School
Going to: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

During the second half of her freshman year at de Toledo High School, Gabriella Resnick spent nearly as much time in doctor’s offices as she did in classrooms. After years of eating everything, most food began to bring on stomach cramps, not sustenance. 

Tests came up negative and despite a slew of diets and medications, nothing worked. Then, last November while on vacation in the Bahamas with her family, she fell violently ill and went into a tailspin. 

“I remember being in my bed, not wanting to get out of bed, but thinking, I can’t do that again,” she said in a phone interview. “I can’t be that upset again. I need to be putting my energy into something.”

Cooking became her salvation. She found unbridled joy in experimenting with healthy recipes and documenting the journey on her website — The Involuntary Vegan. “I didn’t choose the vegan life, the vegan life chose me,” her bio reads.  

“Regardless of whether or not it helped anyone, I needed to put my energy into something I was passionate about and I hoped people would see that passion and come with me on that journey,” she said. 

Sure enough, classmates and even teachers came along for the ride. Many complimented her on the honesty in her site’s personal essay titled “My Wellness Journey,” in which Resnick confessed to feelings of isolation caused by her food intolerances. In it, food, being communal and unifying for so many, she reasoned, could also be exclusionary. 

“I didn’t choose the vegan life,

the vegan life chose me.”

Classmates and teachers dealing with self-diagnosed food intolerances now regularly reach out to Resnick. She has shared gluten-free lunches with teachers and received many heartfelt thanks from classmates and students’ parents who’ve tried her recipes at home. She’s had countless conversations with classmates to dispel stigmas about healthy food being tasteless. In some cases, she’s made believers out of people who don’t have allergies and simply use her recipes because they enjoy the dishes. 

Resnick has even taken the mission outside de Toledo’s walls. For her Senior Capstone Internship, Resnick spent six weeks working for Culinary Kids Academy, a Los Angeles-based company that combines an educational curriculum with experiential cooking classes. 

She also maintains a regular column in the school newspaper on healthy eating and serves as a volunteer peer mentor to members of the de Toledo freshman class. The totality of Resnick’s impact on campus — and in the kitchens of classmates and faculty — garnered her a spot as one of her school’s peer-selected graduation speakers. 

“That distinction meant the world to me,” she said of the honor. “I value honesty and in my writing, I try to display that.” 

In the fall, Resnick will attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as a nutrition major, and hopes that her wellness journey continues to inspire. 

“Hopefully, once I have the education to couple with everything I’m putting out into the world, my work will continue to gain traction, attract attention and spiral into something,” she said. “I’m also passionate about the psychology of eating. Food is just a big part of my life and I think it will always be a big part of my life, regardless of what I do.” n