Thirteen San Diego Jewish Academy high schoolers participated in the Maimonides Moot Court Competition in New York earlier this month, which brought together over 300 high schoolers from all over America, Israel, Canada, and Argentina. The trip was not only a debate competition, but also a Shabbaton (Shabbat retreat) with social, religious, and educational programming. This gave students ample opportunity to bond with one another and make friends from around the world, all while studying Torah and celebrating Shabbat. Two of SDJA’s teams received second place awards in their divisions, according to a news release.
“Moot Beit Din has been an incredibly special academic opportunity that I’ve taken advantage of from 6th grade all the way to 12th,” said senior Julia Nieberg in the news release. “Being able to explore Jewish law to tackle modern ethical dilemmas has been very interesting and has provided a great avenue for me to look into old Jewish texts I might have never encountered otherwise.
“This experience lets you grow intellectually, socially, and religiously and I’m grateful for all of the lasting, impactful memories this program has provided me. The four day weekends are a wonderful way for Jewish teenagers across the world to meet and engage in fun social activities, interesting lectures and text studies, and, of course, the actual competition. Thanks to Moot Beit Din, I’ve developed a confidence in asking targeted questions on the fly, working collaboratively with others and valuing hearing others’ unique perspectives, and being more open to Jewish experiences I might not experience day-to-day back at home.”
The Moot Court Competition is an annual event where students are tasked with applying Jewish legal thought to a contemporary ethical dilemma. This year’s topic was “The Ethics of Gambling” and explored whether it is halachically (Jewish law) permissible or even recommended to legalize, regulate, and tax gambling to fund an educational program.
Throughout the year, students have attended weekly meetings where they have studied Jewish texts and contemporary psychological research that discussed ideas such as whether gambling is theft, what it means to be of sound mind, in what situation might constructive ends justify ethically questionable means, what guardrails can ensure a more halachically sound gambling experience, and in what ways gambling might get in the way of or even serve as a vehicle to becoming godly, the news release stated.
“We say Yasher koach (good job) to all the participants for their hard work preparing for this event and for presenting and defending their compelling arguments at the competition,” said SDJA teacher Micah Klareich, who oversees the team, in the news release. “As a kehillah (community), we are immensely proud of all participants for their commitment to this meaningful program. Additionally, I am grateful and honored to have had the privilege to work with this group of outstanding students.”
