Sunday, May 26
Salute to Israel Parade; buses depart MTA @ 11:15am
Monday, May 27
KS"A Halacha Shiur - free donuts; 9:10am in room 203 Senior Trip Departs
Tuesday, May 28
Chabura w/ Rav Twersky will meet after davening
Tanach Final @ 11am Honors College program in the "dark room" during lunch Chabura w/ Rav Willig will meet during lunch Library Squad meeting during lunch Chorus practice during lunch in room 404 Band practice during 5th period in the band room Wednesday, May 29
Chaburas w/ Rav Twersky and Rav Schachter after davening
11th Grade Trip Day
Senior Trip Returns
Arista Study Night; all students invited. 6-9pm in the Library
Thursday, May 30
KS"A Halacha Shiur - free donuts; 9:10am in room 203
Chorus practice during lunch in room 404
Dismissal @ 515pm
Last Day of Classes
94th Annual Commencement Exercises, 7pm
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Grand Siyum Celebrates Completion of Masechta by over 170 Students
by Yosef Schatz ('14)
 On Thursday night, MTA held its annual end-of-the-year Grand Siyum, celebrating the completion of a masechta by over 170 students! The siyum took place in YU's Furst Hall, and many students, parents and faculty members attended.
 To start off the evening, Rabbi Taubes spoke briefly, thanking all the students and rebbeim who participated in completing a mesechta, and explaining why a festive meal is the appropriate way to celebrate such an occasion. He then called up RIETS Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Mordechai Willig, who delivered a brief dvar Torah, inspiring everyone to set aside time for Torah quantitatively, qualitatively, and as the central component of one's value system. Rabbi Danto was then called up to announce the students who would be making the siyum. Hillel Fuld ('14) said a dvar Torah on Maseches Tamid and Ilan Steinmentz ('15) made the siyum; Meir Finkelstein ('13) finished up the end of Bava Metzia and Menecham Mermelstein ('13) made that siyum; finally, Avi Gruen ('15) finished up Rosh Hashana and Ari Mandelbaum ('14) made that siyum. The siyumim were completed with Nachi Penn ('13) saying the Kaddish.
 All guests then made their way to the dance floor for ruach filled dancing to some beautiful music. A video of the dancing, courtesy of Mr. Alan Fuchs, father of Elliot ('14), is available on YouTube. After the dancing, everyone enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner provided by Carlos and Gabby's. As people finished eating, divrei Torah were shared by Yitzi Lindenbaum ('14) and Rabbi Julius Berman, longtime Chairman of the Board at RIETS, a prominent leader of many Jewish organization, and grandfather of two current MTA students: Chanoch ('15) and Shlomo ('16) Aminsky.
 Following dinner, the students who participated in learning a mesechta for the siyum received a translation of a sefer written by the Chofetz Chaim called "Loving Kindness." Each rebbi presented the sefer to each of his talmidim, with a personalized inscription on the inside cover. The siyum concluded with benching and maariv.
 Thank you to the shuirim of Rabbis Beitler, Cohn, Cohen, Danto, Kerner, Kessel, Mendelson, Pearl, Richter, Schenker, and Soniker for finishing a mesechta for the siyum. A special thanks to Rabbi Pearl and Rabbi Danto who organized the siyum, and to Rabbi Green for all of his help. Thank you as well to all the sponsors and speakers at the event. This was an amazing year, and we capped it off with an amazing night.
More photos available on Flickr.
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Freshmen Class Rafts Down Lehigh River
by Shimmy Mandelbaum ('16)
 After much anticipation and waiting following a postponement due to weather, the annual freshmen rafting trip finally took place this past Tuesday on the Lehigh River. After davening on Tuesday, the freshmen class piled into 2 Monsey Tours coach buses, and enjoyed a gourmet breakfast of delicious cinnamon/chocolate buns from Grandma's and sun cups for the commute. Although it was a long trip to the river, the boys were energetic and enthusiastic throughout the bus ride, making sure there was not a dull moment.
 Upon their arrival, the freshmen, along with their rebbeim Rabbis Richter, Pearl, Cohn, and Schenker, as well as Mr. Gillers, were all greeted by the kind staff of the rafting tours. Everyone was given a wet suit in order to keep warm in the water and each raft was supplied with two buckets: one filled to the brim with food, and the other to splash each other with. After approximately 3 hours of on the river spent rafting, getting stuck on rocks, jumping (and falling) out of rafts and splashing, the group made a pit stop and enjoyed the food they were provided by the school. Subsequently, everybody piled back into their rafts and took off once again for an additional hour.
 Once the expedition ended, the boys and faculty were driven back to the headquarters where they enjoyed a delicious barbeque with hot dogs, burgers, chicken and steaks. The boys also had the opportunity to play ball, frisbee or anything else they could come up with. After all was said and done, the two buses drove everyone home to their communities. Overall, we immensely enjoyed the trip, and are excited about all the other great things MTA has in store for the Class of 2016! |
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Juniors Take Trip to Museum of Natural History and Hayden Planetarium
by Binyomin Shtaynberger ('14)  | |
Akiva Pudell, Yaakov Saks, and Shaya Kestenbaum , along with Mr. Dobrick, enjoy the Dinosaur exhibit (Photo Credit: Ari Wallach ('14))
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This past Tuesday, following the Memorial Weekend break, the 11th grade took a trip to the American Museum of Natural History. Upon reaching the museum, the students were divided into groups with different chaperones from the faculty who led the students on their own personalized tours. Early in the visit, the students watched a presentation about the giants of the ocean-whales. The next presentation that the students saw was one about the Monarch Butterfly. The students were shown a fascinating documentary about the discovery of an oasis composed of millions of the butterflies, which a scientist had devoted his entire life to discover. The movie contained an interesting combination of biology, scientific processes, and an ultimate emotional revelation of self fulfillment, which comprised this scientist's romantic quest. The students then had spare time to walk through the museum and examine some of the exhibits for themselves. The dinosaur exhibit, containing a vast array of fossils from many different organisms, was especially intriguing to the AP Biology students who were able to see the study of Darwin and evolution manifest itself beyond the pages of a text book.  | |
Ari Mandelbaum, Mr. Lightstone, and Netanel Niazoff enjoy the museum
(Photo credit: Ari Wallach ('14))
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As exciting as the beginning of the trip was, the highlight was certainly the planetarium display. The students sat in the famous large, spherical theater of the Hayden Planetarium, which features a massive "full-globe" television on the top of the inside of the planetarium. The students were taken on a virtual trip through space while the narrator explained what stars are, the way that the sun works, gravity, and about the configuration of the universe in general. The presentation was both awe inspiring and thought provoking. Overall, the trip was a huge success and the students gained a lot through their adventure to the American Museum of Natural History. |
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Hon. Gil Lainer, Israeli Consul General for Public Diplomacy, Keynotes Hatzioni End-of-Year Luncheon
by Zev Markowitz ('14)
 On Wednesday, Hatzioni hosted its End-of-Year Luncheon, which featured Hon. Gil Lainer, Israeli Consul General for Public Diplomacy. Lainer, a career diplomat who has held postings in Africa and the United States, talked about what Israel has to offer and its importance in the Middle East region. During this meeting, the club honored outgoing presidents Shlomo Anapolle, Eli Weinstein, and Binyamin Pfeiffer. Thanks to all three of them for being so dedicated to Hatzioni and for working so hard to expand the club's offerings.  | |
Incoming Hatzioni Presidents Shaya Kestenbaum, Netanel Niazoff, and David Aaronson, Hon. Gil Lainer, and outgoing Hatzioni Presidents Shlomo Anapolle, Eli Weinstein, and Binyamin Pfeiffer
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Students Participate in 2nd Annual CIJE-Tech Young Engineers Exposition
by Gavriel Mayer ('15)
 On Thursday, students in Ms. Harris-Linton's Scientific Engineering courses headed to HAFTR for the 2nd Annual CIJE-Tech Young Engineers Exposition. The students arrived early and quickly set up their demonstrations.
 At the start of the exposition, all the participants were allowed to view each other's projects and to learn from their mistakes. It was amazing to see all the different areas of life that all the prototypes attempted to improve. These protoypes included ideas in in agriculture, music, electronics and more. It was also great to see all of our hard work over the year translate into a final project that required us to utilize the many skills we had learned over the year.
 At the exposition, we also had the opportunity to hear from one of Google's top engineers. He explained how he uses redundancy in his effort to protect the enormous amount of programming that Google is responsible for. He also spoke about the technical differences in the products of Google in relation to its competitors.
It was an incredible experience for all those that participated.
More pictures available on Flickr.
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Seniors Hear from Rabbi Tropp of Aish HaTorah's Project Inspire
by Gabi Steinberg ('13)
 Fortunately, more Torah is being learned now than at any time since the second Bais Hamikdash. However, despite this beautiful phenomenon, only 500,000 of the 6,000,000 Jews in the United States are keeping Shabbos.
Rabbi Mordechai Tropp from Aish HaTorah's Project Inspire came to MTA last Tuesday to discuss this issue with the seniors. He began by informing us of the tragic situation that faces Jews in the United States and related to us the mitzvah that obligates us to bring other Jews closer to God. By showing us a short video clip, Rabbi Tropp, a former rebbe at MTA, made us aware of the fact that, generally, non-religious Jews are interested in learning about Judaism.
The remainder of the seminar was dedicated to debunking four major misconceptions regarding Judaism:
1. "Some Jews are better than others"
Unfortunately, many Jews look down at others because of their religious standing. This terrible habit can turn others off Judaism. We care and love every Jew.
2. "Religion takes the fun out of life"
God doesn't ask us to pray because He needs an ego stroke. Or to skip the bacon because it makes him nauseous. For over three thousand years the Torah has been teaching us how to build a life of meaning and maximize pleasure.
3. That Judaism is an all or nothing religion.
Many people think that if they can't take on all the mitzvos then there's no point in getting started.
4. "Being religious is an escape"
Many believe that "once you're religious, you stop thinking," as religion removes us from reality.
In order to effectively inspire others, we must learn not to judge others. We need to show others how enjoyable it is to be observant and make it clear that each and every mitzvah we do is precious and priceless. Finally, we must prove that the Torah is true, real and the standard for ethical conduct.
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Avi Schranz, Treasurer of NORPAC, Visits MTA
by Chanoch Aminsky ('15)
 This past Thursday, students had the privilege of hearing from Avi Schranz, treasurer of NORPAC, a pro-Israel political action committee. He spoke about how NORPAC provides funding for members of Congress, in addition to hosting Israel advocacy events, including a mission to Washington. He explained how critical volunteering is to the organization and how volunteers keep NORPAC running, as it's made up of 99% volunteers. Mr. Schranz himself organizes and educates for NORPAC among other organizations.
 Mr. Schranz stressed that to better advocate for Israel, research, writing, networking, and a love for America and Israel are pivotal. We thank him for being the final Hatzioni speaker of the year and look forward to more amazing Hatzioni events next year!
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- On Thursday, the chess team headed downtown to play in the Chess Championship at Ramaz. Unfortunately, the Lions could not pull off the final victory, despite a win by Yoni Schwartz ('13) and a tie by Ori Putterman ('14). "We had a great season, but sadly fell just short," explained Daniel Jaroslawicz ('14). "We have expectations for another strong season next year, and hope to bring home the trophy."
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 Alumnus Zack Schreiber ('08) has launched his political career as he runs for New Jersey Assembly from District 38. Read more about Zack in The Jewish Link or at his campaign website.
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Download this week's edition of
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MAZEL TOV
Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Al Cohen upon the marriage of their granddaughter this past week in Chicago.
Mazel Tov to Eli Gold ('03) upon his marriage to Lilly Berley. Mazel Tov also to parents Mr. and Mrs. David and Debra Gold, and to brother Daniel ('16).
Mazel Tov to Rabbi Dovid ('02) and Lisa Kram upon the birth of a daughter. Mazel Tov also to parents Dr. and Dr. Michael and Elyse Kram, and to brother Yoni ('13).
Mazel Tov to Yehuda Beilin ('08) upon his marriage to Aliza Ben-Arie. |
Gabriel
Bonduryansky
6/2
Yoni Ahronov
6/3
Joseph Goldberg
6/3
Yisroel Schatz
6/5
Josh Birnbaum
6/6
Yitzi Lindenbaum
6/6
Aaron Landy
6/8
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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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