Tuesday, September 17 - Sunday, September 29 Sukkos break
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A Message From Our Rosh Yeshiva
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Sukkos: Serving G-d With Happiness
Rabbi Michael Taubes
Why, of all of our holidays, is Sukkos the one which is specifically identified as " Z'man Simchaseinu," the time of our happiness?" After all, isn't there a mitzvah to rejoice and be happy on Pesach and Shavuos as well? In explaining why we do not recite Hallel on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, the Rambam states ( Hilchos Chanukah 3:6) that those days are not days of " simchah yeseirah," or excessive joy, due to their status as times of Divine judgment. Apparently, there are certain days which are indeed to be characterized as days of simchah yeseirah - but the Yomim Noraim are not among them.
Which days on our calendar, then, are in fact defined as days of excessive or unlimited joy? The days of Sukkos! The Rambam himself makes this point when describing the festive celebrations which took place in the Beis HaMikdash each night of Chol HaMoed Sukkos (the Simchas Beis HaShoeivah), saying (Hilchos Lulav 8:12) that these days were indeed days of simchah yeseirah. While he then goes on to illustrate how this special sense of gladness was manifested, through joyful singing and dancing, he does not teach us why these days were so designated, other than by referring to a verse from the Torah, in the section detailing the special mitzvos of Sukkos, which speaks of rejoicing when in the direct presence of G-d (Vayikra 23:40).
One explanation might relate to the juxtaposition of these days to the just concluded holiday of Yom Kippur. This most unique and sanctified day is associated as well with our being in the direct presence of G-d, but the mood is one of seriousness and solemnity, as we beg for forgiveness and pledge to change our behavior for the better.Yom Kippur is a day of awe, and the challenge then is to relate to G-d in a spirit of reverence. On Sukkos, however, the mood is one of joy and happiness, as we celebrate by singing and dancing in the Beis HaMikdash. The challenge on this holiday is to relate to G-d in a spirit of happiness and joy - indeed, unlimited joy. It is perhaps for this reason that specifically Sukkos is called Z'man Simchaseinu, because on the heels of Yom Kippur, when we connected to G-d with reverence, we are now enjoined to connect to Him with happiness.
When considering our observance of the Torah, we recognize that many of our obligations stem from our mandate to serve G-d with reverence; we therefore do things He has commanded which are sometimes difficult to understand and which do not always seem so pleasant. But we must also serve G-d with joy, fulfilling tasks which we are happy to do, which make us feel good as human beings, which uplift us. There are plenty of those commandments too! Indeed, perhaps Sukkos reminds us that we should each look for those mitzvos which we enjoy, and at which we can excel, and perform them carefully, not to the exclusion of any others, but with a special feeling of excitement which can connect us to G-d through joy and happiness.
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Six Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists
Congratulations to (l. to r.) Ori Putterman, Elliot Fuchs, Yitzi Lindenbaum, Daniel Jaroslawicz, Aryeh Klein and Asher Guigui upon being named National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalists! About 1.5 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2014 National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, the PSAT's. There are only 16,000 semi-finalists in the entire state. Mazel Tov!
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"Names, Not Numbers" is Off and Running
by Avi Weschler ('14)
As a new year has begun, so too has MTA's amazing "Names, Not Numbers" oral history project. Led by Mrs. Tova Fish-Rosenberg and Dr. Geoffrey Cahn, some thirty students from this year's senior class will have the opportunity to be a part of history.
Our first class began with a moving introduction by Rabbi Taubes about the Torah's mandate to ask things of those who are older than we and about our unique responsibility given that we are the last generation to have the honor to learn about the Holocaust directly from the very people who witnessed its horrors. We were then shown a clip of '"One Survivor Remembers", a 1995 documentary short film by Kary Antholis. In the film, Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissmann Klein recounts her six-year ordeal as a victim of Nazi cruelty.
After the clip concluded, the silence in the room was deafening, as the weight of the project we had just undertaken became clear. We were about to begin a yearlong commitment to record the sorrows of a generation of heroes. With the guidance of Mrs. Rosenberg and Dr. Cahn, we are certain to be successful and give due honor to a generation lost.
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Students Learn Arabic in MTA
by Efraim Tepler ('14)
 This year, MTA is proud to offer a new class in its languages department, Arabic. It is being taught by Mrs. Esther Captan (pictured). This selective class of nine students will be learning the basic structure and grammar of the Arabic language, as well as vocabulary and conversational skills from a highly qualified veteran teacher.
This is a truly great opportunity for these students to be exposed to a language that is outside the typical high school foreign language sphere. We are excited about this brand new program and we hope that it continues to grow and flourish in the future.
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Parent-Son Learning Day a Huge Success
by Daniel Jaroslawicz ('14) 
Click here for more pictures from Parent-Son Learning
This past Sunday, MTA held its annual Parent-Son Learning Day for the new school year. After davening Shacharis together in Lamport Auditorium, parents and students enjoyed a breakfast of baked goods and drinks in the main lobby. Following breakfast, we returned to the auditorium where Rabbi Taubes introduced long-time YU Rosh Yeshiva Rav Herschel Reichman, shlita, for a special shiur. Rav Reichman discussed the differences between the aspects of tzibbur and yachid with regards to the Yomim Tovim of Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos. He concluded his Shiur on a personal note, relating how much he had enjoyed reciting Selichos the previous week at the high school Minyan in the Beis Medrash and how impressed he was with the fact that the chazzan each day was an MTA talmid! He remarked that indeed the students who are privileged to attend this yeshiva high school are most fortunate, as are the parents who had the wisdom to send their sons here!
When Rav Reichman's shiur ended, the students directed their parents toward their own individual shiur rooms, where the parents had the opportunity to meet their son's rebbe and hear a shiur from him. In many cases, parents and children paired up to learn b'chavrusa before hearing a wonderful presentation from the rebbe; it was truly a special morning for all of us. |
MTA teams up with Bonim of Bergen County
by Dovid Lipner ('15) 
On Tuesday, Rabbi Soniker and his talmidim went to Teaneck and Englewood to build sukkahs for individuals in the community who are not physically able to build their own, under the auspices of the volunteer organization "Bonim." The shiur split up into five groups of three with each group building one sukkah. Some groups did more than just build;they also helped decorate the sukkah and made it a more pleasant place to be. The students all worked very hard and did a tremendous chesed by helping these people be able to properly observe Sukkos.
Their efforts were certainly appreciated and the boys were asked to return after the holiday to take them down. We are grateful to Rabbi Soniker for always looking for new ways to enable his talmidim to do kindness for other people.
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MTA Takes to the Hills
by Mr. Murray Sragow
On Friday, August 28th, the new MTA Outdoors Club held its inaugural hike on Bearfort Mountain above Greenwood Lake in Northern New Jersey. Four seniors, led by Club President Shai Cohen and accompanied by faculty advisor Mr. Sragow, were rewarded for their strenuous ascent with some of the nicest vistas in the metropolitan area. Along the way they enjoyed interesting geological formations such as Schunermunk puddingstone, a fascinating type of rock unique to this area, and interesting wildlife including a bagel-eating snapping turtle.
For more information about this and many other terrific hikes in our area, visit the New York / New Jersey Trail Conference's website at www.nynjtc.org. The directions for this specific hike are found at http://nynjtc.org/hike/abram-s-hewitt-state-forest.
The Outdoors Club is looking to enjoy our natural neighborhood on future Fridays and Sunday afternoons with additional hikes, biking, kayaking, and water sports. For more information please contact Shai Cohen.
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Hatzioni Club holds first meeting of the year
by Yosef Schatz ('16)
On Wednesday, the Israel Club at MTA, Hatzioni, kicked off the year with an opening meeting during lunch. The meeting started off with the faculty advisor, Rabbi Eli Cohn, introducing the club and explaining what the club is all about. He then introduced our new staff including President David Aaronson ('14), Co-Presidents Shaya Kestenbaum ('14) and Netanel Niazoff (14), and Vice Presidents Asher Finkelstein ('15) and Yisroel Friedenberg ('15).
After he introduced the staff, David read a note sent from Netanel Niazoff ('14) who is currently in Israel (where his family lives) until Sukkos. In the note, Netanel talked about how people could keep up with Israeli current events through many sources. He suggested that instead of focusing Hatzioni's publication mainly on current events, the focus could also be on personal stories and events that connect to Israel.
Rabbi Cohn discussed what might be included in Hatzioni's Open House edition to be given out to prospective students and parents. Many people offered interesting ideas about what subjects could be written for the articles.
Speaking about his experiences as the past President of Hatzioni, Shlomo Anapolle ('13), now the club's college advisor, related to the members that Hatztioni had one of its most successful years ever last year and that he hopes that this coming year will be even better.
David closed the meeting with a look towards some upcoming events which include fabulous guest speakers and another MTA lobbying trip to Washington to discuss Israel's needs with government representatives. He concluded by expressing the hope on behalf of everybody that the Hatzioni club will have another exciting and successful year.
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Debate Team Opens Up with a Model Debate
by Noam Josse ('17) 
One of the things for which MTA is well-known is the wide array of clubs which are available to enhance the academic and athletic achievements of the students and to provide for their enjoyment. The school offers the traditional Business Club, Mock Trial Team, Model Congress and many other popular groups which students can become affiliated with. Furthermore, MTA has a very élite Debate team, which produces some of the most original, and intelligent debaters in the New York area.  This week, as a new freshman, I was invited to attend the Debate team's first official meeting of the year. Here, I was introduced to some of the many religious, philosophical, socio-economic, and political themes which the team deals with. Teams of two are told the topic of the debate well before the actual competition so that they may properly prepare. However, they are not told which side of the debate they will side with until just ten minutes before the activity starts.  At this first meeting, a few of the members of the team presented a model debate. The case at hand was of a boy, Roland, who had broken his college's computer policy by using the college's computer equipment for commercial gain. He did it, however, with utmost caution, and without placing his jobs in front of his studies. When Roland was ultimately caught, his professors were trapped in the question as to whether they should punish Roland for his use of school property as a means to reach an end of seeming self-gain, even though his school performance was not impacted. The team's next debate will be on October 2nd, on the issue of the death penalty, and tryouts for this novice debate will be on Tuesday, October 1. The Debate Team is certainly an intellectual force to be reckoned with and is thus one of the many clubs to join at school. It is led by the debate coach, Mrs. Harriet Levitt, who is the chair of MTA's English department and one of the 9th Grade Deans as well as debate presidents Yitzi Lindenbaum ('14) and Asher Finkelstein ('14). No high school has a debate team like the one at MTA. |
Meet Your 2013-2014 Student Council
Student Council elections were held this week and the results are in!
12th Grade - School Presidents
Joey Goffstein and Rafi Hizami
11th Grade
Aaron Black, Hillel Jacobson, and Yehuda Weschler
10th Grade
Rami Nordlicht and David Pando
9th Grade
Mattew Albert and Raziel Siegman
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| Meet the new Director of Admissions |
Mr. David Leshaw ('09) is the new Director of Admissions. We sat down with Mr. Leshaw to find out more about his experience as a student in MTA and what he looks forward to in his return.
When you were a student in MTA, you were very involved in different activities; can you describe how some of those prepared you for your job now? My experience writing for and editing The Academy News was good preparation for the substantial amount of writing, editing and formatting that the Director of Admissions does. My experience on the Debate Team gave me the ability to speak publicly, a skill that comes in handy at meetings with parents and at the Open House.
What have you been up to in between graduating and now? After I graduated MTA, I learned in Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi in Israel for nearly two years. I subsequently attended Hunter College, where I majored in English Literature and minored in Political Science. I interned for a number of months at Sony Music Entertainment, and later worked in marketing at The Copia, an eBook start-up company. I also recently got married!
What are you most looking forward to in returning to MTA? I most look forward to just being around MTA's phenomenal and unmatched Torah U'Madda environment. That my office is just a few yards from the Beis Midrash and one floor below dynamic courses in Physics or Literature reflects a culture I love being a part of, and one to which I hope to contribute.
How has the school changed in the last few years? The school has certainly widened its course offerings and learning opportunities in both Torah and General Studies; in particular, the availability of foreign language programs and the accessibility to YU Roshei Yeshiva are some things that have been substantially improved. Also, the kids seem smaller.
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- The first part of our library renovation was finished this week, with the completion of the glass-enclosed reading room on the top floor of the library. See more pictures here.
- All the MTA seniors had the opportunity last week to meet with Yeshiva University President Richard Joel (himself an MTA graduate) in his office, together with their Rebbeim, and enjoyed hearing inspiring words from him and asking him questions on a variety of topics.
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מזל טוב
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Mazel Tov to biology and scientific/biomedical
engineering instructor Mrs. Megan HL Zacks (formerly Ms. Harris-Linton) on her marriage to Mr. Jonathan Zacks.
Mazel Tov to Shimon Kronenberg ('10) on his engagement to Talia Yudin.
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ברוך דיין האמת
| On behalf of the entire YUHSB community, we extend our
heartfelt condolences to Rabbi Michael Berg, father of David Berg ('16), upon the loss of his father.
May the Berg family know of sadness no more and be
comforted amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. |
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Shema Koleinu
| | Click Here for a special Sukkos issue of Shema Kol VeOhr Lebeinu. |
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Upcoming Events
10/3
Opening Mishmar
10/16 PSAT Administered 10/27 MTA Open House No Sessions
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9/8
Gabi Bean
Ezra Teichman
9/9
Kovi Diament
9/10
Yisroel Ben-Porat
Aaron Schwartz-Messing
9/11
Shmuel Bitton
9/12
Jonathan Gibber
9/13
Meir Barg
9/14
Yoni Samet
9/15
Daniel Gold
9/16
Eliyahou Fink-Errara
Gavriel Rosner
9/17
Ephraim Taber
9/22
Ronen Rahmanou
9/23
Moshe Frid
Shlomo Rosen
Eitan Shatkin
9/25
Moshe Rosenbaum
9/26
Daniel Kramer
9/27
Dani Chamish
Ariel Dubizh
Zvi Goldstein
9/28
Aaron Fried
9/30
Jack Alkhabaz
Shai Cohen
10/1
Amiel Katz
10/4
David Baturav
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INTERESTED IN GAINING EVENT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE?
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