Leffell School Observes Jewish Rituals in Mock Trial Win
5.5.2026
The Leffell School’s Mock Trial team overcame unique challenges competing in the New York State Bar Association’s regional tournament last month while also observing the Jewish Sabbath, which precludes writing and using technology.
In preparation for the tournament, the team and its advisers devised a plan to stay in a hotel within walking distance of the tournament and planned meals ahead of time. The biggest challenge by far was finding a strategy to compete without writing instruments, which are not permitted from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday.
Leffell School principal and mock trial coach Eric Bassin says team members at first were unhappy about the restrictions.
“We are building a sense of pride in making accommodations,” he said. “A lot of the students do not uphold the traditions in their own individual lives. They are observing at a higher level because they know that is the expectation observation level that the school requires at school events.”
Team leader Zach Mann explains how they used colored post-it notes to communicate among the team without writing during the trial.
“We were at a disadvantage going into the trial. In our system, each colored post-it had a different meaning and the team attorneys had to remember what elements they wanted to incorporate into the closing without writing anything on paper,” he said.
Team attorney Brady Schreiber says his performance turned out better than he expected.
“I really felt that not being able to write would be crippling as the lead attorney. It turns out it wasn’t because we won,” he said. “Our closings turned out better at the regional than at the county level.”
This is the first time in the school’s 25-year history with the Mock Trial program that the team will advance to the state tournament level. The students came away from the experience at regionals with a newfound confidence and feeling of pride in their heritage.
“We were able to integrate our Jewish values and our values not related to Judaism like mock trial, which is important to us. We succeeded in both religious values and secular values,” said Lev Held.
“It felt like a badge of honor. We walked into that room and we identified as Jewish. We had kippahs on. Everyone knew that we weren’t able to write but we took pride in that, we adapted and it ended up working well,” said Jack Kriegel. “We can still compete in mock trial and do well and uphold religious values that are equally important to us.”
Sabrina Brown is excited to take her team to the state tournament and compete against the best in New York state.
“I remember watching the state finals on YouTube. It’s crazy that we’re on par with those teams and we’re competing against them and will see the state finals in real life,” she said.
The NYSBA Mock Trial program celebrates its 44th year of competition this year. There are 400 teams involving 4,000 high school students in the competition. The program is sponsored by the New York State Bar Association’s Law, Youth and Citizenship Committee. The New York Bar Foundation provides some of the funding.
