CONTENTS

1. YBA at a Glance
2. YBA Or Etzion Student Awarded the Ilan Ramon Prize
3. YBA Bnei Brak Students Win and Place at Regional Bible Contest
4. YBA Bnei Brak Grad Gets His IAF Wings
5. Yagdil Torah Project: YBA Talmud Scholars in Training
6. YBA Hadera to Become Cutting Edge Science & Technology School
   
   

YBA AT A GLANCE

            YBA schools strive to help every student realize his or her maximum potential, academically, socially, ethically and spiritually; 75% of YBA graduates achieve full matriculation for college entrance – well above the national average, and many schools have received national awards for educational excellence and leadership.

            The mission of Merkaz Yeshivot Bnei Akiva is to train Israel’s next generation of leaders, steeped in Jewish learning while totally involved in modern Israeli society. Graduates of YBA educational institutions will be committed to serving the Jewish people and the State of Israel, and will strive for excellence and leadership in all their endeavors, guided by the eternal values of the Torah.

YESHIVOT BNEI AKIVA – FAITHFULLY SERVING THE JEWISH PEOPLE AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL

Click here of read more about Who We Are.

YBA OR ETZION STUDENT AWARDED THE ILAN RAMON PRIZE

            Yehoshua Ambiala, a 12th grade student at YBA Or Etzion at Merkaz Shapira, near Ashkelon, was one of six high school students nationwide chosen for the Ilan Ramon Award, named after the famous Israeli astronaut. The prestigious award, sponsored jointly by the Israel Industrialist Society and the Ministry of Education, was established to recognize Israeli youth that exhibit exceptional values of excellence, innovation and leadership.

Yehoshua Ambiala

            Ambiala immigrated to Israel only five years ago with his family and lives in Arad. Within a year after his arrival in Israel Ambiala was already fluent in Hebrew and won the local Bible Contest!

            In the past two years Ambiala has "adopted" his yeshiva's class of recent Olim from Ethiopia, and has taken upon himself to assist the newcomers both scholastically and socially. His teachers at the yeshiva discovered only recently that Ambiala has been tutoring whoever requested his help in his spare time, helping them with their homework and in their spiritual growth, while at the same time maintaining a straight-A average and studying for the highest possible 5-point Bagrut (matriculation) exams in mathematics and English.
Ambiala was cited as an example of giving tirelessly and without thought of reward, out of a sense of responsibility for one's community.

YBA BNEI BRAK STUDENTS WIN AND PLACE AT REGIONAL BIBLE CONTEST

Rabbi Wexler with Daniel Greenberg and Shmuel Schreiber

            Daniel Greenberg, a 10th grade student at YBA Bnei Brak took first place for the second time in the Tel Aviv regional Bible Contest, scoring a perfect 100 points. In second place, only a few points behind Daniel came YBA Bnei Brak 11th grader, Shmuel Schreiber. Both students major in physics at the yeshiva.
            Rosh Yeshiva Zvi Wexler praised Daniel as "a serious well-rounded student that excels in many fields. He plays trumpet and piano in the school band and is the school's shofar blower for Rosh Hashanah. He is also a leader in his Bnei Akiva chapter. Shmuel Schreiber is also a gifted student who excels in all areas of Jewish studies. This is the fourth year in a row that our yeshiva's students have won first place in the regional, national and international Bible Competitions."

YBA BNEI BRAK GRAD GETS HIS IAF WINGS

            In a ceremony at the Hatzerim Israel Air Force Base near Beer Sheva, G.L., a graduate of YBA Bnei Brak received his IAF Wings from the IDF Chief of Staff, after completing the grueling pilot training course with high honors as a combat navigator.

Rabbi Wexler with fresh IAF Navigator G.L.

            Beside the fresh navigator's proud family at the ceremony sat Rabbi Zvi Wexler and Rabbi Haim Dagan, G.L.'s Rosh Yeshiva and high school principal from YBA Bnei Brak. The base commander sent a special invitation for the two rabbis to attend in recognition of the quality of education and social fabric at the yeshiva, which leads its graduates to seek to excel in every endeavor they chose.

            After the ceremony Rabbi Wexler hurried to point out that the combination of values G.L. learned from his parents at home and the yeshiva's emphasis on bringing to fruition each student's character, abilities and talents contributed to G.L.'s success.

YESHIVOT BNEI AKIVA TALMUD SCHOLARS IN TRAINING

YBA students at Yagdil Torah conference

            250 students from 13 Yeshivot Bnei Akiva high schools gathered at YBA Neve Herzog, at Moshav Nir Galim, outside Ashdod on March 18, 2009 to mark the 50th anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Yitzchak Halevi Herzog, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, for whom the Yeshiva is named.

            The conference was part of the YBA Yagdil Torah Project, in which the students voluntarily take upon themselves to master 50 daf (2-sided pages) of Talmud during the course of the school year, over and above their school’s normal Talmud curriculum. At the end of the year they will be tested on the study material and those who pass the exam will win a full set of Talmud, valued at $250.

Rabbis Katz, Shapira, and Toiber with Ben Lande

            The students were addressed by Rabbi Haim Drukman, Chairman of YBA in Israel and Rosh Yeshiva of YBA Or Etzion, and Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Merkaz Harav Kook in Jerusalem. Rabbi Shmuel Katz of YBA Neve Herzog also presented a slide show depicting the life and accomplishments of Rabbi Y.H. Herzog, who worked to save Jewish lives in Europe before, during and after the Holocaust. Yagdil Torah Project benefactor, Mr. Ben Lande, was also present to study and celebrate with the students.

Click here to read abstracts of Rabbi Drukman's and Rabbi Shapira's lectures.

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