Ramaz 10th grader Gabi Flatto-Katz was born for public speaking. However, being an Orthodox Jew in the high school debate world is not an easy task — at least, it wasn’t until recently. Along with his love of acting and being on stage, Flatto-Katz has always enjoyed staying up-to-date on politics and current events, reading the paper every Shabbat and watching the news on TV. He loves public speaking and performing for crowds. 

Upon entering high school, Ramaz’s debate and Model United Nations teams have been the perfect opportunity for Flatto-Katz to “mix that love for putting himself out there and even acting, because a lot of debate is just improvising. And I got to mix that with my love for politics and current events.” 

As Flatto-Katz explained in his National Debate Team biography, “All the improv classes I had taken taught me to think on my feet and prepare rebuttals in minutes or seconds. Debate is the art of mixing intellect and performance — merging my two passions.”

Until recently, Yeshiva League schools had an inherent disadvantage in district-wide debate competitions; all the schools in one district compete against each other, typically on Saturdays. “Every month,” Flatto-Katz explained, “we have a debate in a different school, so either we all go to Heschel or all go to SAR, and that’s great. But the issue with that is that once you win, that’s as far as you can go. You can’t go on to the next level. You can’t go to the state level or the national level.” Yeshiva League schools never advance beyond local wins because they cannot compete on Shabbat.

This year, Ramaz discovered a district called Citron Online District, which was chartered in 2022 for Yeshiva League schools. This unique district is not based on area, but on values. According to its website, “The Citron District is the first district to make it possible for Jewish students who observe Shabbat and others who can not compete on Friday or Saturday to compete in National Speech and Debate Association competitions. We believe that every student, regardless of religious convictions, should be able to compete in speech and debate at the highest level.”

As Flatto-Katz described, “This year, Ramaz was added to the online district of all the Yeshiva Leagues across the country. So there are schools from Chicago, there are schools from L.A., there are schools from Florida. At first, they just had a few debates throughout the year to get to know the Zoom format and their specific rules for debate. At the end of the year, starting in late March or April, the district had qualifying events where anyone from any Yeshiva League school could compete. If you won, that meant you qualified to go on to the national level.”

Competing in a district of such distinctive structure comes with its fair share of difficulties. “The biggest challenge is that it can’t be in person. Everything we do is on Zoom — all our practices and competitions are on Zoom. Zoom is good for a lot of things, especially because it connects people from all different areas, but when we get to the actual national competition, half of my team members are people I’ve never met in person. So there’s going to be a bit of a divide when I get to nationals. I’m going to have to readjust myself.” 

This adjustment is also difficult because with debates on Zoom, it is possible to mute or turn off a camera, but those luxuries are not offered during in-person debates. This is certainly a possible adjustment, but an adjustment nonetheless. However, this quirk creates a special bonding opportunity for its participants: “We all come from different backgrounds, but the benefit of this is we’re all connected through Judaism, whereas in the other districts, for the team events, they just throw together a completely random team and a lot of times they only meet once they get to nationals.”

Flatto-Katz has qualified to compete in the Worlds competition at nationals, but his participation is not guaranteed, not without help. Flatto-Katz and his team have been working night and day to prepare for nationals, but the competition has not put in the same work to accommodate the Citron District team. The National Speech and Debate Association finals take place in Des Moines, Iowa this June, a place where it will be incredibly difficult to find kosher food and Shabbat accommodations.

Alex Libkind, founder of the Citron District, is spearheading this project. According to Flatto-Katz, “He’s putting together kosher meals with the Chabad for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If it happens that we compete on Friday [with finals taking place on Friday morning], which I’m hoping we do, he also has Shabbos arrangements set up for us. He has places to stay. He’s finding the best hotels so that we can go for the least amount of money. He’s really putting it all together so that once we get to Iowa, not only are we ready to stick to our Orthodox values and keep halacha there, but we also have the best chance of doing as well as possible.”

This challenge comes at a cost, but each Yeshiva League competitor is hoping they won’t have to pay it alone. Each of the 30 competitors is responsible for about $1,200 in fundraising to cover low floor hotel rooms and kosher meals for the duration of the competition.

To Flatto-Katz, this competition is more than just a chance to win. “I think we’re seeing more than ever, with the rise of antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric on college campuses and around the world, that Jews need to be able to defend themselves not only physically, but also with speech. We need to be able to argue in support of the things we believe. Everyone in this team is between 10th and 12th grades, so we’re going to be the future people fighting for Am Yisrael on college campuses and in the professional world.” 

This passion is also needed to inspire others, as Flatto-Katz explained: “It’s really important to strengthen the Jewish people’s place not only in the law world, the arts world or the sports world, but also in the world of being able to speak up for ourselves. And we need to have people who can really argue everything that we believe in, and to have a Jewish and especially an Orthodox Jewish presence there is crucial to show the world that we know what we’re talking about and we’re not just blindly supporting something, but we’re thinking through it. That’s really important, especially today.”

To support Flatto-Katz on his journey to nationals, donate at causematch.com/citron2025/gabriel_flatto_katz. To learn more about Citron District, visit www.citrononline.org.

Eliana Birman is the assistant digital editor for The Jewish Link. She is a rising sophomore at Barnard College and lives in Teaneck.