Forward:

Rochelle Zell Jewish High School in the north Chicago suburb of Deerfield is small—165 students, total—but mighty, at least in Model UN circles. For the third straight year, it captured the national Model UN title, this time representing Iran. It was probably the first time Iran had ever been represented by so many people in kippot. And for the Zell team, it was a learning experience.

“A lot of kids that go to our high school have gone up through the Jewish day school route,” said the team co-president, Felix Rosen. “We’ve lived in a Jewish bubble. And then we were being asked to understand and embody a different culture.”

Zell has 28 students on its Model UN team, making it one of the largest in the national competition in which 2,000 students represent 23 countries. The organizers make country assignments based on size. Iran has a large delegation. So Zell, the only Jewish school, was Iran. Previously it had represented Germany, France, and Saudi Arabia.

The students traveled to New York for the Model UN competition, which took place last week, from March 15 to March 18. But they have spent the past six months studying up on Iran’s perspective on various subjects and writing position papers, guided by Rosen and his co-president Zev Mishell. At the Model UN conference, they spend three days meeting in councils and committees with representatives from other countries to solve international crises. Judges award points to participants for making the most valuable contributions to the discussion...

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