Excerpted from YU News Blog

Thousands of students and members of the Yeshiva University community, including over 80 MTA students, poured into Lamport Auditorium on Tuesday to welcome Gilad Shalit and members of his unit who came to share their experiences.

On June 25, 2006, Shalit was captured by Hamas in an attack that also killed two soldiers in his unit. Shalit's captivity lasted five years, during which Jews all over the world campaigned for his release and organized prayer on his behalf. Shalit's commander, Yoav B., told the crowd, he and his unit, now reservists, hoped to find closure by telling their story. "We have all carried around a heavy weight for the past five years," said Yoav. "We want to go on with our lives."

The unit also felt their message was important for the Jewish community to hear. "This last mission my company is taking is not just on behalf of Israeli Jews, but on behalf of international Judaism," said Yoav.

Translated by Daniel Green, a Yeshiva College senior who also served as an officer in the Israeli Defense Forces, the soldiers answered questions about their experiences in the army, their feelings about Shalit's captivity and recovery, and whether they believed captured soldiers should be recovered at any cost. One soldier, Or G., stressed that what he shared was a personal rather than political view, described a sense of responsibility and obligation between soldiers: "Even if it means going on a large rescue mission, I would go back for any soldier," he said. "These are the values that are still instilled in the soldiers we train today."

"In the long run, Gilad's captivity opened up a hundred wounds in our private lives," said Yoav. "One thing that helped us heal was that we persuaded the chief of staff of the entire IDF to remain serving as a combat unit on the front and help us search for Gilad. In the end, doing all we could helped us go on and enabled us to continue serving our country."

"When I heard Gilad was coming home, happiness flooded me," said Ron D., another soldier. "I was losing my mind the whole time he was captive."

To read the entire article, visit the YU News Blog.

by: Shimmy Mandelbaum ('16)

On Wednesday, the freshman class went on an exhilarating hike in northern New Jersey through Norvin Green State Forest. During the hike, the grade played a game in which one student would hand off a flag every five minutes to another student. But there was a catch: one was allowed to hand the flag only to somebody that he did not know, so that everyone could meet new friends. Along with Rabbi Pearl, Rabbi Cohn, Rabbi Richter, Rabbi Schenker, Rabbi Danto and Rabbi Green, the boys traveled through the woods, over (and even through) streams, with some help from classmates. They climbed and slid down rock walls landing in some mud, having a great time doing so.

After the 3.5 hour hike the boys drove to a local park, where they played ball, ran around and engaged in recreational activity by the playground, all having a blast. After this, they settled down for a delicious barbeque, cooked by Chef Rabbi Green; they also all signed the flag that they carried. Delicious steaks were raffled off to the students who best knew the names of other students. The grade then bentsched and davened mincha led by the wonderful chazzan Avi Rothwachs ('16). When the 9th graders finally arrived back at school after an exhausting day, they thanked the bus drivers and went home. This will be a day that we as freshmen will remember for many years to come.

More pictures on Flickr.

By: Binyamin Pfeiffer ('13)

On Monday, seven MTA students went to Washington, D.C. on the Yeshiva University High School lobbying mission. The trip was initiated by a training session on Sunday. In this session, we learned lobbying techniques and how to most effectively try to influence government decision making. In addition, we became experts in the two topics we were lobbying about: foreign aid and Iran. The following day, we enjoyed the five hour bus ride to the capital. What made it enjoyable was the accompaniment of Mr. Adam Dobrick, our esteemed Dean of Students. Mr. Dobrick took us to the world famous Air and Space Museum, where we actually reached and touched the moon (or a small piece of it). After this, we participated in a lobbying meeting with the assistant to Congressman Alcee Hastings. We also heard from the Jewish representative to the President, Jared Bernstein, which was both exhilarating and interesting. The trip to Washington was a great success!

Some more pictures available on Flickr.

This year's first communal Honors College took place this past Thursday, as each grade's Honors College cohort gathered together in the library for an exciting lecture. We were honored to have Rabbi Yosef Blau, RIETS Mashgiach Ruchani, come speak to us. The chosen topic of the night was "Jewish attitudes toward non-Jews, according to our rabbinic traditions." Rabbi Blau began by quoting a Rashi on the topic of Eved Evri  - a Jewish slave. Rashi says that if the Jewish community found out that a fellow Jew was sold into the service of an idol-worshiping gentile, they must raise money to buy their fellow Jew out of servitude. From this, Rabbi Blau made the point that we must treat gentiles fairly, as seen from the fact that the Jewish community must buy and not forcibly take back their fellow Jew.

Next, he moved to a difference of opinion between the Rambam and Tosfos. The Rambam says that we have a moral duty to treat gentiles fairly, as they are human beings. Tosfos on the other hand says that we should treat them fairly out of fear of what the nations might do to us if we did otherwise. Rabbi Blau then added that while we must treat them fairly, we don't have to treat them the same way that we would treat a fellow Jew. For example, while we may not charge interest on a loan to a Jew, one may do so when dealing gentile. In addition, if one has the choice of giving a loan to a Jew or gentile, he should forfeit the extra money acquired through interest and give the loan to the Jew. 

Read the rest of the article on the MTA News Blog.

The Varsity Basketball Lions opened up their 2012-13 season with a hard fought home win over the TABC Storm. The Storm were able to respond to MTA's quick 15 - 5 lead to open up the game by slowing down the game's tempo and with the help of strong front court play. The Lions held their lead throughout the game until the final minute when TABC tied the game at 37 a piece -- sending the game into overtime. The Lions ultimately pulled away with the victory after a series of key offensive drives, most notably a baseline jumper by starting center Hami Alexander to give MTA a lead that they would not surrender.

After a grueling victory at home the day before, the MTA Lions traveled to Woodmere to play the DRS Wildcats in the first round of the Magen David Preseason Tournament. DRS is a top seeded team with a strong size advantage over the Lions, so the Lions knew going in that this game would have to be a hard fought victory as well. Starting power forward Ben-Zion Feld started things off for the Lions -- scoring 11 points in the first quarter, showing range as well as good post play.  The second quarter was all about starting shooting guard Zak Lenik, as he scored 7 points in the quarter to help give the Lions a 31-29 lead going into the half. The Lions came out of half time with a defensive mindset and held the Wildcats to only 10 points in the half. The Lions got strong contributions for point guard Shai Kaminetzky and small forward Shauli Naumberg to cap off an impressive 52 - 39 win over a tough DRS team.

In the Quarterfinals of the Magen David Preseason Tournament, the MTA Lions played the Ramaz Rams. The Lions seemed sluggish in the first half as they quickly fell behind 20-7. However, MTA did not give up and were able to go on a run and bring the game to within three points by the half. The teams battled throughout the second half until the Lions ultimately found themselves down by one with under a minute left. As if on cue, starting small forward Shauli Naumberg (13 points on the game) scored on a clutch drive to put the team up by one. Shai Kaminetzky (7 points) then sealed the deal with two free throws to put MTA up by three. The final score was 45-42 Lions.

On Thursday night, the Lions traveled back to McDonald Ave in Brooklyn to take on a talented Frisch squad in the Semifinals of the Tournament.  The Lions looked sharp early, despite playing in their 4th game in 5 nights. MTA jumped out to a quick 10-3 lead on the strength of several fast break buckets.  The Cougars hung around all night on the strength of the 3 point shot, making a terrific 10 of them for the game. The Lions, on the other hand, played a different style and attacked the rim hard all night.  While the Lions led the entire game, the Cougars heated up from behind the arc to cut it to 37-33 at one point before the Lions restored their lead to double digits. The Lions balanced offense was led by Shai Kaminetzky (18 pts), Shauli Naumberg (15), Zak Lenik (11), Hami Alexander (10) and Ben Zion Feld (8).

The Lions advance to face the host and one of the league's pre-season favorite teams, the Magen David Warriors in the Championship game of the 16 team tournament.  The game will   take place this Saturday night, 10/20, at 9:00pm at the Magen David Elementary School located at 2130 McDonald Ave (between avenues S&T) in Brooklyn.