Chaburah with Rav Schachter (Rav Twersky is away this week) - after davening - Beis Medrash

***Halacha final - 12:20 Dismissal*** 

Bergen County Night Seder - 9:00-10:00 - Beth Abraham

Yeshiva University celebrated many great achievements over the course of 2013 and we are proud to be a part of such an incredible educational institution. Please click here to watch Yeshiva University's 2013:The Year in Pictures.

  Click here for more pictures from week 2 of Makor Chaim 

Our second week at Makor Chaim proved to be just as eventful as our first-with the exception of snow of course! Alas, the snow in Kfar Etzion has in fact begun to melt and we are finally on a regular school schedule.

Unlike MTA, Makor Chaim begins its morning with minyan at 7:00 am followed by breakfast. After this, we go to our morning shiurim with our Rabbanim, Rav Sharone Ehrenreich and Rav Michael Ben Channan. We have been privileged with the opportunity to partake and integrate ourselves into Israeli society and yeshiva life. This includes hearing a plethora of excellent speakers from across the Holy Land, among them a Knesset member and a favorite of the group, Rabbi Yonatan Billet. The only thing that could have made the speeches better would have been English subtitles!

The highlight of our week, though, was the inspiring trip to Yad Vashem in Yerushalayim -- the world's largest and mostfamous Holocaust museum. We were given a guided tour of the museum by Malkah Weissberg, a graduate of Central, which we all can agree could not have been better. She showed us the importance of remembering the horrors of the Holocaust, but at the same time stressed the importance of preserving the way of Jewish life which existed before the war. On Thursday, we reflected upon our personal experiences with our fearless leader, Mrs. Tova Rosenberg.

Here's to another inspiring week!

Shabbat Shalom from Eretz Yisrael,
Mendel Weintraub and Daniel Mirsky

Mr. Azani gave a very enthusiastic, energetic, and entertaining presentation. 

He began by speaking about his background as an Israeli diplomat, and the pathway he took to his current position in the government of Israel. Shahar then addressed the issue of the constant bias which exists against Israel in the media, and gave examples of how we, as students, can combat it and stand up for the Jewish State. He spoke about ONECLICK, his new initiative to promote pro-Israel news in the mainstream media.

After his speech, Shahar took several questions from the audience, and shared his thoughts on several topics raised by the students. Many Rebbeim and Talmidim came up to Mr. Azani after the event to express their appreciation and interest in his work.

This was yet another truly remarkable Hatzioni event. Thank you to all who attended and participated and we invite you to join us for our next event in early February, featuring Israeli Ambassador Danny Ayalon. 

This past Sunday, the 25th annual Great Debate was held at Yeshiva University. Due to the snowstorm that occurred on the originally scheduled date for the Great Debate, the event got pushed off a week. Nevertheless, we still had a great showing, totaling 40 debaters from several area yeshiva high schools. There were 3 rigorous rounds, where debaters discussed whether or not the government should continue to collect the digital records of its citizens without warrants. MTA proudly swept the overwhelming majority of trophies and titles. Our very own Yisrael Freidenberg ('15) won 1st place individual speaker, CJ Glicksman ('16) won 2nd place individual speaker, Asher Finkelstien ('15) won 4th place individual speaker, and Yitzi Lindenbaum ('14) won 5th place individual speaker. Additionally, Yisrael Friedenberg and CJ Glicksman won 1st place team and Yitzi Lindenbaum and Asher Finkelstien won 3rd place team. 

It was an invigorating afternoon, enjoyed by all the many participants, and a truly fitting way to commemorate the 25th year of this wonderful program. Thanks as always to Mrs. Levitt and to all the many staff members from the various schools who worked so hard to help make this year's Great Debate another great event! 

Click here for an article on the Great Debate 

in this week's issue of The Jewish Link: Bergen County