At MDS vs. Brandeis, MDS jumped out to a 15-0 first quarter lead and led 21-4 at the half.  Eight different players scored for MDS led by Leeat Kraus who scored 7 points.  The other scorers were Chaya Greenwald (6), Becky Laufer (6), Avigayil Karasick (5), Avital Goldstein (4), Esther Robinson (4), Rachel Sheinwexler (3), and Melanie Cohen (2). At Ramaz, MDS trailed 11-10 at halftime before starting the third quarter with 6 straight points to take a 16-11 lead.  Ramaz cut the lead to 16-15 before MDS pulled away midway in the fourth quarter to ensure their undefeated regular season record.  Chaya Greenwald led MDS with 9 points.  The other scorers were Leeat Kraus (6), Melanie Cohen (6), Avital Goldstein (3), and Rachel Sheinwexler (2).  Yakira Langer did not score but made a great pass to Melanie Cohen which led to an important lay-up in the fourth quarter.

            The playoff victory against Ramaz at MDS was one of the most intense and exciting games in recent memory.  With the score tied 6-6, Ramaz scored 8 straight points to take a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter.  Ramaz still led 18-12 late in the quarter until MDS scored 5 quick points to cut the Ramaz lead to 18-17 at halftime.  MDS struggled offensively in the third quarter and still trailed 21-17 late in the period.  However, baskets by Leeat Kraus (4 points), Chaya Greenwald (18 points), and Avital Goldstein (6 points) started a 10-0 run by MDS and gave the Killerbees the lead at 27-21 late in the fourth quarter.  But Ramaz came back with two quick baskets to make the score 27-25 with less than a minute to go.  Avital Goldstein made two pressure free throws to seemingly clinch the game for MDS.  However, Ramaz scored two free throws of their own with 1.5 seconds to go and then stole the inbounds pass and actually got a shot at the basket which could have tied the game.  But, fortunately for MDS, the shot missed and MDS held on for the 29-27 victory.  Avigayil Karasick scored an important free throw in the second quarter which started MDS on their comeback.  Yakira Langer and Leeat Kraus were amazing at rebounding and fast breaking with great passes to Chaya Greenwald which led to layups.  Becky Laufer and Avital Goldstein played excellent defense on the press which led to steals.  All in all it was a great "Team" victory.  The semi final game will be played at MDS against either WDS or Hillel.  We will keep you posted.  Thank you to Richard Acosta for taking the great pictures of the team!

            The MDS JV Boys finished their season at 8-2, tying an MDS record for victories by a JV team.  They will be playing HAFTR at MDS on Monday March 1st at 7:30PM. In their last two games, MDS easily defeated MDY 43-26 at MDS but lost a tough 31-26 decision to undefeated HALB.  Against MDY, MDS jumped out to a 27-15 lead at halftime and coasted the rest of the way.  Drew Stomer led MDS with 16 points.  The other scorers were: Sam Schwartzben (9), Simon Kofman (8), Daniel Vogel (5), Eli Friedman (3), and Brian Inker (2).  At HALB, MDS led 14-6 at halftime playing great defense.  However, HALB came out on fire in the third quarter outscoring MDS 15-2 to take 21-16 lead into the fourth quarter.  MDS trailed 31-22 before making a mild rally in the closing minutes to cut the HALB lead back to 5 points but time ran out.  Drew Stromer led MDS with 16 points.  The other scorers were Eli Friedman (6), who played the entire game as point guard, Yoshua Segal (4), And Yosef Segal (2).

            The MDS Varsity Boys finished their season with a record of 4-6 when they rallied from an 8 point deficit in the fourth quarter at ASHAR for a 41-35 victory.  We will have more details of the Boys Varsity season in a future Messenger.

           3) There are 50 even #s.           4) There are 50 odd #s.

Good luck with this week's funny challenge!  It's Purim so let's get a little silly!

1)        Think of the longest sensible sentence you can in which every word begins with the letter A.

2)        In each of the following words, BOAST and THIRST, drop one letter at a time and rearrange the remaining letters to spell a new word

Get your name in the Messenger!  Email your challenge to Ms. Wolf by Tuesday!

Thank you for your participation in and support of the Limud Program!  Here are this week's dedications:

• Lois Liebowitz gave a silver sponsorship for the month of February in honor of Toby Reich. 

• Mazal tov to Rabbi Besser on his daughter Leora's forthcoming marriage to Naftoli Klein.
• Mazal tov to Dr. Jay Bauman, father of Yael (8G) and David (5B) on receiving smicha in Yerushalayim on February 1st.
• Thank you to the Parents' Council for preparing mishloach manot for the faculty.

• February 28          Purim!
• March 1               Shushan Purim
• March 1               Grade 2 Chagigat HaChumash (with chumash distribution and collation)
• March 1               ECD Costumes and Face Painting
• March 1               MDS Has Talent: Middle School Talent Show!
• March 2               Aleta's afterschool cooking class cancelled for 3/2; make-up date in spring
• March 3               Nursery 4 trip to Theatreworks play Click Clack Moo
• March 5               Grade 2 Chagigat HaChumash (play only)
• March 7               Family Fun Days: Meet the author of the Magic Tree House series! 
• March 12             Grade 1 Chagigat HaSiddur: 1C will star at 9 am; 1A will perform at 11 am 
• March 14             Annual Scholarship Dinner honoring Rabbi Besser and Marc Eisenmann
• March 14             Deadline to apply to Israel Parade's "Lights, Camera, Israel!" poster contest
• March 14             Community Flyers: Support a Soldier Day at Ramat Orah, 1-4 pm
• March 17             Parent-Teacher Conferences (by request only), 1:30-6:00 pm
• March 17             No afterschool clubs; 1:30 pm dismissal
• March 18             Rosh chodesh speaker
• March 26-April 7   Pesach vacation 

• We are delighted to let you know about a brand new weekly chessed project, Zeidy and Bubby Chat at the Esplanade.  The group will next meet on Wednesday, February 24th, at 9:15 am 
• Parents Tehillim group meets each morning at 8:15 am in the library
• We are continuing to collect cell phones in the lobby for the Major Stuart Adam Wolfer Cell Phone Drive.  These phones will be exchanged for calling cards which Jewish U.S. soldiers can use to call home. 
• Please label your childrens' clothing and other items.  We have a large lost and found for misplaced items.
• Thank you for keeping our school nut-free.

Cookie Ingredients:

                1 cup margarine               1 cup sugar

Blend well, and then add the following ingredients:

                2 teaspoons vanilla extract     

                3 beaten eggs                          

                4 cups flour                              

                1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix well and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Filling:

                1 jar prune lekvar (by Simon Fischer)    

                1 teaspoon orange rind (fresh or jar)                 ½ cup chopped walnuts

                4 teaspoons honey                                         ½ of 12 ounce jar of Apricot preserve

Mix well.  Yields three (3) dozen, three (3)-inch hamantaschen

Enjoy!  Email your recipe favorites to Lisa Gross and Sarra Schwartz for inclusion in future Messengers and our MDS cookbook!