A MESSAGE FROM OUR ROSH YESHIVA
One of the most important phrases stated at the Seder is that which is found in the Mishnah in Pesachim (116b): b'chol dor vador chayav adam lir'os es atzmo ke'ilu hu yatza mimitzrayim - in each and every generation, one is obligated to view himself as though he (personally) has come out of Egypt. What this line communicates is that when we recount the story of the Exodus, we are not only to reflect upon an event that transpired many, many centuries ago, we are to relive it and act as if we ourselves experienced it.
It is well known that the Rambam, among others, has a slightly different presentation of this text, indicating that the obligation on Pesach is not - or not only - lir'os es etzmo - to view himself - but lehar'os - to demonstrate, to show himself, indeed to act, as though he personally has come out of Egypt. In other words, one's behavior at the Seder should be that of someone who has experienced this miraculous salvation and he should thus show others, with pride and excitement, exactly how he feels. The Rambam (Hilchos Chametz U'Matzoh 7:6-7) explains that this is precisely why we do things like recline and drink four cups of wine at the Seder, to actually show that we are free and independent people. The mitzvah to recount the story of the Exodus is therefore not only to talk, but to demonstrate what we are trying to communicate.
This style of teaching, involving not only verbalizing but showing by example, is not necessarily limited to the night of the Seder on Pesach. Whenever one wishes to communicate something important to others, it is beneficial to not only talk about the message one wishes to share, but to demonstrate how it can be lived and experienced on a personal level. This is especially true in the realm of talmud Torah and mussar. A Rebbe should certainly talk about and explain the significance of yiras shamayim on an intellectual level, but he must also be a living example of it himself. Students are influenced not only by what their teachers say, but how they act. The most successful pedagogue is the one who not only conveys the necessary verbal information to his students, but also behaves in a manner that reflects proper character traits. May we all merit teaching our children and our students by our own appropriately exemplary behavior - on Pesach and year round!
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Chag Kasher V'Samei'ach
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"Mah Nishtanah" by the MTA Arabic Class
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Hatzioni's MTAPAC Lobby Mission a Huge Success
by David Aaronson ('14)
Last week, more than 50 MTA students and faculty members went to Washington DC for Hatzioni's second annual Israel lobby mission.
The day before the trip, a training session was held at which students went over their talking points and heard a presentation from Jasmine Patihi, Director of High School Programming at StandWithUs, a pro-Israel lobbying group.
The next morning, we awoke bright and early for Shacharis at 6:20AM, after which we boarded the bus for Washington DC. Our first stop was Congregation Kesher Israel of Georgetown, where we had lunch and heard from Katharine Nasielsky, Director of National Initiatives at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
We then headed to Capitol Hill for our congressional meetings and where we discussed US support with representatives of Congresswoman Grace Meng, Congressman Scott Garrett, Congressman Eliot Engel, Senator Robert Menendez, Senator Cory Booker, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
When we departed from Capitol Hill. went to nearby Rockville, Maryland for a fancy Chinese dinner at the Royal Dragon restaurant, followed by Mincha/Maariv.
The trip concluded when we returned to MTA at approximately midnight. Thanks so much to everyone who made this trip a huge success. Please be sure to join us for more Hatzioni events.
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Shmoozing with Morah Haibi
This past week, 3 lucky individuals, Yehoshua Szafranski ('14), Dovi Leiter ('14), and Yisrael Freidenberg ('15), were invited to a dinner with one of our school's finest and most esteemed educators, Morah Haibi.
This came about through the following:To encourage students to give tzedakah, as well as to enhance school spirit, the administration organized a Chinese Auction on Rosh Chodesh Adar II. Among the possible prizes was "Shmoozing with Haibi"; this entailed having a meal with Morah Haibi and two friends in a restaurant of the winner's choice.
Hmm... this sounds like a good deal! So what is the catch? Good question! The catch is that all conversation throughout the entire meal had to be in Ivrit, meaning, we had to come prepared with a topic (we chose politics) and thus had to literally "shmooze with Haibi" about 'said' subject while munching on some "geshmak" shwarma.
Needless to say, all participants had a blast! We all learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed our food. There is only one thing to say after an experience like this. "Morah Haibi... Same time next week?"
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Names, Not Numbers: Paul Rusesabagina (Video)
Dear Students and Parents,
It gives me great pride and pleasure to send you the link above (please click on the image to play it).
This is a clip from the unique session the students had with Paul Rusesabagina from Rwanda.
I wish all of you a healthy and kosher Pesach.
L'Shalom,
Dr. Geoffrey S. Cahn
Coordinator of Names Not Numbers at MTA
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MTA Soccer Cruises to 13-2 Victory Over Ezra
by Azriel Markowitz ('15)
With the Lions defeating Ezra 13-2, they have expanded their record to an unbelievable 5 and 1. The Lions exploded out of the gate and were up 7-1 at the end of the first quarter. It was domination throughout with the final score resulting thanks to the great goaltending from Azriel Markowitz and Alexander Bramson along with the great offense. Dovid Ort had a career night, scoring five goals.
Our next game is on April 27th against SAR at SAR at 1:30. Be there or be square!
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Yisroel Sabel ('17, right), winner of the Chanukah raffle prize "Rangers Game w/ Shuey," on the Ranger's ice with Ezra Wildes ('17) , Max Herskowitz ('17) and Dovid Schwartz ('17), after the Rangers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.
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Mazel tov to Rabbi Elon Soniker and his wife on the birth of a son!
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Thursday, April 10 - Wednesday, April 23
Pesach Break
Thursday, April 24
Yeshiva resumes
Bergenfield Shacharis and Shiur
Baseball vs. TABC
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4.12
Yaakov Saks
4.13
Isaac Greenberg Lawrence Likhtenstein Eli Richland Yitzchak Richter J.J. Mandelbaum
4.15 Daniel Klein Asher Finkelstein
4.16 Adam Perlmutter Sammy Rabinowitz Aaron Saxon
4.17 Shaya Kestenbaum |
4.18
Elan Dayanov
4.19
Yishai Eisenberg
4.20
Jeremy Herskowitz
Nathan Rakhman
4.21
Dovie Neuburger
Aryeh Halpert
4.24
Menachem Horwitz
Moshe Horwitz
4.25
Yaakov Richland
Shaanan Miller
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Please share with us your significant family milestones so we may appropriately acknowledge events and losses and properly communicate information. Please contact Mr. Nachum Cooper at ncooper@yuhsb.org
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A Lion's Life Executive Staff
Editors-in-Chief: Joey Goffstein '14, Ori Putterman '14 and Avi Weschler '14
Executive Editors: Binyomin Shtaynberger '14 and Efraim Tepler '14
Sports Editor: Jeremy Borgen '15
Associate Editor: Shimmy Mandelbaum '16
Photography Editor: Shimmy Socol '16
Faculty Advisor: Mr. Nachum Cooper '09
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