Sunday, May 26
Memorial Day Weekend, No Classes
Monday, May 27
Memorial Day, No Classes
Tuesday, May 28Freshmen Whitewater rafting trip (rescheduled from 5/23)
Chabura w/ Rav Twersky will meet after davening
Chabura w/ Rav Willig will meet during lunch 11th Grade trip to the Museum of Natural History; buses depart @ 12:40pm MTA Chorus practice during lunch in room 404 MTA Band practice during fifth period in the band room
Captains debate @ MTA; 6pm Wednesday, May 29
Chaburas w/ Rav Twersky and Rav Schachter after davening
Hatzioni End-of-Year Luncheon; Featured Speaker: Hon. Gil Lainer, Israeli Consul General for Public Diplomacy
Thursday, May 30
KS"A Halacha Shiur - free donuts; 9:10am in room 203
Chess Championship; bus departs @ 11:30am
Trip to the 2nd Annual CIJE-Tech Young Engineers Exposition
Hatzioni presents: Avi Schranz, Treasurer of NORPAC; during lunch in the Library
MTA Chorus practice during lunch in room 404
MTA Band practice during fifth period in the band room
Grand End-of-Year Siyum, 6pm
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The YUHS Community Gathers for the Annual Dinner of Tribute; Dr. Taylor Is Honored
by Jesse Tawil ('13)
 This past Wednesday night, the annual Yeshiva University High Schools Dinner of Tribute took place at Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadows, Queens. The evening started with a special shiur delivered by Meir Finkelstein ('13), followed by a special shiur by a senior from YUHSG-Central. After the shiurim, a buffet dinner was served. Donny Chamish ('14) and Tsahi Halyo ('16) had a booth to present their projects for MTA LEAD (MTA's program in partnership with the Sy Syms School of Business), and a booth was also set up to present some of the unique Torah opportunities available at MTA and to distribute copies of the inaugural issue of Pirchei Yitzchak (a collection of hebrew divrei torah written by MTA rebbeim and students).
 After the dinner and socializing, the guests made their way to the next room as Dinner co-chair David Schwartz ('94) introduced the program. Mrs. C.B. Neugroschl, Head of School at Central, spoke and presented a faculty award to Mrs. Linda Smith, Central's longtime Director of Athletics. Mrs. Smith proudly accepted the award and humorously spoke about her pride in being part of the school, as well as about how much she has learned about Judaism along the way.  Next, Rabbi Taubes took the podium and highlighted some of the many things that have taken place at MTA over the past year, and delivered a message from The Rav about the need for emotionally connected and empathetic educators, who can relate to their students in many different ways. This, of course, connected well to Dr. Taylor who was MTA's faculty awardee and who has been a proud member of the MTA faculty for 25 years with his dedicated and passionate commitment to teaching history, as well as serving as our General Studies Principal and coordinating all of our schedules. Many alums from the past 25 years came out to pay tribute. Dr. Taylor accepted the award, and described that it was, in fact, his mother that had initially submitted his resume to the school - unbeknownst to him - while he was a doctoral student at NYU.  Following the faculty awards, a special presentation was made to honor Yishai Eisenberg ('16), this year's winner of the International Chidon HaTanach and the first American to earn this prestigious victory in 25 years. After watching a clip of the conlcusion of the competition, which took place in Israel on Yom HaAtzma'ut, YU President Richard Joel presented Yishai with a framed certificate and a leather bound Tanach. Finally, Mrs. Miriam Goldberg, the beloved Chair of the Board of Trustees, took to the stage to bestow an award to the evening's Guests of Honor, Mr. and Mrs. Louis and Naomi Tuchman.  The evening concluded with dessert and a wonderful performance by the MTA band. Seniors were invited to attend the dinner and it was a great opportunity to have the chance to gather with the MTA community to celebrate the school. On a personal note, let me add that it has been a privilege to have been a student here for the last four years. It has been a long and important part of my life, as I'm sure it has been for all of us seniors, and I just want to say THANK YOU to all my teachers and friends for this school and the experience it was for me. We couldn't have done it without each other, and I look forward to being in contact with all of you in the future. May more pictures of the Dinner are available on Flickr, courtesy of Shimmy Socol ('16). |
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Model UN Team Visits the Actual United Nations
 On Thursday, members of the Model UN team, joined by a few members of the Hatzioni club, traveled down the FDR to the United Nations headquarters for a private tour of the facility. The phenomenal tour guide, who hailed from the African nation of Eritrea, explained to the students the many details of the organization and the challenges it faces. She explained about the peacekeeping missions, nuclear armament agreements, economic aid projects, and many other UN programs. Students also had the chance to visit the General Assembly and Security Council chambers. The tour guide expressed how impressed she was with the group and the caliber of their questions.
 At the conclusion of the tour, the students were greeted by Josh Berliner ('01), son of our own Dr. Berliner, who currently serves as the Director of Business Development at the Israel Economic Mission and formerly worked for the Israeli Consulate. Josh explained some of the work that he does, the goal and aims of the mission, and why the Israeli government chooses to participate in the UN despite the body's often controversial decisions against the Jewish State.  The students, who have had the chance to participate in YU's Model United Nations, enjoyed the opportunity to learn first-hand about the actual world governing body. More pictures available on Flickr. |
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Jarrod Bernstein, former Obama Administration Counter-Terrorism and Community Outreach Official, Presents to Students
by Avi Weschler ('14)
 On Monday, the shiurim of Rabbis T. Cohen, Hecht, Mendelson, Danto, Beitler and Schiller were fortunate to hear from Jarrod Bernstein in the newly renovated lecture hall, room 404. Mr. Bernstein is the former Obama Administration Counter Terrorism and Community Outreach official. He was appointed Director of Jewish Outreach in October of 2011 and served until January 2013. Prior to that, he served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs for United States Department of Homeland Security. Mr. Bernstein spoke about the different Jewish organizations that he dealt with and how they impact our communities and Israel. He also spoke of his unique experiences in the White House, such as meeting Elie Wiesel, and of his humorous experiences, such as almost knocking over Lady Gaga. He left time for many questions, which was certainly needed as he captivated the attention of all in the room. A special thanks to Shlomo Anapolle ('13) for organizing this unique presentation.
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Ulpan Classes Celebrate Culmination of School Year at Golan
by Moshe Bochner ('13)
 Last week, as a culmination of a year of learning practical and conversational Hebrew, forty members of the senior class were treated to a free lunch at Golan Heights Grill. To celebrate their success in mastering conversational Hebrew, both of Morah Haibi's twelfth grade Hebrew Ulpan classes were invited to the Israeli style restaurant.
 Along with Morah Haibi, Mrs. Rosenberg and Rabbi Taubes, the students sat at several tables in the restaurant and conversed in Hebrew among themselves and with the teachers. A delicious Israeli lunch, Hebrew conversations, and camaraderie among students and teacher alike was a proper way to end a wonderful year of Hebrew language education. Thank you to Morah Haibi and Golan for a wonderful lunch outing!
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Rabbi Jeremy Stern, of ORA, Speaks to Seniors
by Shlomo Anapolle ('13)
This past Thursday, Rabbi Jeremy Stern from ORA, the Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, delivered a presentation to Seniors regarding a major issue facing our community, the issue of Agunot. There are two ways that a woman can become an Agunah. One is when her husband withholds a Get from her, and she is then not able to remarry. The more classical one, found in the Gemara, is when a man disappears and it is unclear whether or not he has died. For example, if a man traveled overseas by ship, fell overboard, and was not found after that. Because there is a degree of doubt as to whether or not he survived, then his wife may not remarry because he may still be alive. Today, most of the Agunot cases fall under the first category. Rabbi Stern presented us with two current examples of this type of case: Steve Scher from Roanoke, Virginia and Aharon Friedman from Silver Spring, MD. Regarding both cases, we heard and saw conversations and demonstrations organized against these husbands in order to try and pressure them to give a Get. However, both have been still been withholding for close to 10 years now, as these issues are very hard to deal with, and require much pressure to make the husbands cave in. Rabbi Stern then provided a modern day solution: a halachic prenuptial agreement. He showed us two examples of these documents, which are legally binding in the secular court system as well. The document requires the husband to pay the wife $150 per day from the day they separate until he gives her the Get. Rabbi Stern told us that 100% of the couples that have signed this agreement and have needed a divorce have given the Get and not had to pay.
To quote Rabbi Stern, "The reason one would make this type of agreement is to show to his wife-to-be that because he loves her so much, he doesn't want there to be the possibility of hurting her down the line in case of disagreements." Therefore, Rabbi Stern encouraged all of us to spread the word about this prenuptial agreement and help and make it a standard in our communities.
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College Bowl Teams Celebrate Season with Lunch at Chop Chop Restaurant
by Jesse Tawil ('13)
On Tuesday, the College Bowl team went to Chop Chop, an on-campus kosher Chinese and sushi restaurant, to celebrate an exciting and successful season. This year, Varsity College Bowl, comprised of Yonah Stromer ('13), Shmuli Novogroder ('13), Jesse Tawil ('13), Zack Kaufman ('13), Ori Putterman ('14) and Ari Brown ('14), secured a trip to the playoffs for the first time in four years, beating out DRS for the wildcard spot before dropping a close game in the semifinals. The JV team, comprised of Josh Birnbaum ('14), Shai Cohen ('14), Adam Perlmutter ('14), Shlomo Fried ('14), Daniel Sternbach ('14), Larry Likhtenstein ('15), Max Landsberg ('16), Rami Nordlicht ('16), Nathaniel Korb ('16), Meir Barg ('16), and Mendel Weintraub ('16), also had a great year competing and taking a few close games. At the lunch, stories were recounted, memories were shared, and it was nice to spend time with the team and our head coach, Mr. Arthur Toporovsky. We concluded the lunch with the presentation of the Buzzies, which was a great way to recognize everyone's contributions to the team.
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Hatzioni Announces 2013-14 Board
Presidents- David Aaronson ('14), Shaya Kestenbaum ('14), Natanel Niazoff ('14)
Editors-In-Chief- Asher Finkelstein ('15), Yisrael Friedenberg ('15), Rafi Anapolle ('15)
Junior Editors- Zev Markowitz ('15), Aryeh Burg ('15), Chanoch Aminsky ('15)
Associate Editors- Shimmy Mandelbaum ('16), Tsahi Halio ('16)
Senior Head of Recruitment- Yehoshua Szafranski ('14)
Head of Freshmen Recruitment- Jason Blatt ('16)
Senior Event Coordinators- Eitan Seigman ('14), Ezra Teichman ('14), Yaakov Samel ('14), Asher Guigui ('14)
Associate Event Coordinator- Yaakov Kurlantzick ('16)
Business/ Tzedakah Coordinators- Jeffrey Younger ('14), Dovid Ort ('14)
Head of Photography- Shimmy Socol ('16)
Senior Donut Coordinator- Ari Wallach ('14)
Presidents Emeritus- Binyamin Pfeiffer ('13), Eli Weinstein ('13), Shlomo Anapolle ('13)
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 To help students review for the upcoming regents exam, Mr. Pershan held Google Hangout review sessions on Sunday, in which he spent time going over the Pythagorean Theorem with freshmen and reviewing square roots and radicals with the sophomores.
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 Although School Spirit Week took place a few weeks ago, the pride of being a Lion continues. This week, the " We are Lions" video, produced by David Herskowitz ('13), was released.
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Download this week's edition of
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MAZEL TOV
Mazel Tov to Jeremy Hertzberg ('08) upon his engagement to Shlomit Geller.
Mazel Tov to Ptach instructor Rabbi and Mrs. Boruch Danzger upon the birth of a daughter. |
Refael Mizrahi
5/27
Jeffrey Younger
5/27
Roni Dulitz
5/29
Aryeh Klein
5/29
Shmuel Nenner
6/1
Gabi Rosenthal
6/1
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Upcoming Events
6/2
Salute to Israel Parade
6/6
Last Day of Classes
Commencement Exercises
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STUDY NIGHT
Study Night will take place on Wednesday, June 5, from 6-9pm in the Library. Pizza will be served.
Teachers and Arista National Honor Society members will coach in all subjects as a service our school provides prior to final exams. All students are welcome.
Sign up in Mrs. Levitt's office, room 444B.
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SUMMER OPPORTUNITY
MTA students and alumni: looking for some paid work this summer? The library needs your to help expand our online catalog.
Email Ms. Lewis or stop by the library for details.
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Sruli Baum ('13) will be biking 175 miles to help support Chai Lifeline.
To support his ride, please visit his donation page.
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