Please Join Us at the Annual YUHS Dinner on May 12th!
|
Mazel tov to Dani ('09) and Naomi Weinberger upon the birth of a baby boy!
Mazel Tov to Sam Neumark ('08) upon his engagement to Liz Uretsky!
|
MTA Students Hear Hespedim For Rav Aharon Lichtenstein z"tl
The Yeshiva University Family mourns the passing of the Senior Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion (Gush), RIETS Rosh Yeshiva, and inaugural Rosh Kollel of YU's Gruss Institute/Kollel in Yerushalayim. Rav Lichtenstein zt'l was a true gadol b'Torah of the first order, with a unique breadth of knowledge encompassing many areas, and was an inspiration and a guiding light for our community by virtue of his great yiras shamayim, his remarkable moral and ethical conduct, and his exemplary personal middos. Yehi Zichro Baruch.
Rabbi Taubes and Rabbi Eli Cohn, both of whom were talmidim of Rav Aharon, spoke to the student body about their Rebbe and shared personal insights reflecting the gadol that he was. Please click here to listen to the hespedim.
|
|
| משה פרץ - אח שלי
The English lyrics can be found here |
This past Wednesday, our entire student body gathered for an assembly to honor those 23,320 Israelis who have died defending and supporting the State of Israel over the last several decades . Preparation for our Yom HaZikaron program began months in advance. Lead by the Hatzioni Israel Club, MTA students read daily bios of all the soldiers who died this past summer in Operation Protective Edge, in association with the Lev Echad Memorial Program, which united some 5,000 Yeshiva High School students from around the country dedicated to one cause: "To remember what we have lost." Once the day of Yom HaZikaron finally arrived, our students were ready to feel and comprehend the huge losses which the State of Israel has endured ever since its establishment in 1948.
 As part of this year's program, we watched a recently released documentary that focused on the establishment of Israel and how the fledgling Israeli Air Force played a major role in defending the newly formed state, after the Holocaust. The documentary revolved around one theme: "Would you risk everything - your future, your citizenship, and even your life - to help out a brother in need?"
In 1948, just three years after the Holocaust, a group of Jewish American pilots answered a call for help. In secret, and taking huge personal risks, they smuggled airplanes out of the United States and trained for the inevitable upcoming battle in the Israeli War of Independence.
As members of an organization comprised of "foreign fighters," called "Machal," this team of Jewish Americans changed the course of Jewish history for the better. In the end, these young pilots experienced a revived sense of Jewish pride as they renewed their connect to Medinat Yisrael, am Yisrael, and klal Yisrael.
Following the film, a special Israeli music video was shown that depicted loved ones of lost soldiers gathering together near where their family members were killed.
|
An Inspiring Yom Ha'Atzmaut
by Hillel Krief ('16)
On Thursday morning at MTA, the scene was blue and white. MTA students started off the day with an inspiring davening led by Rabbi Tani Cohen followed by words of chizuk from Rabbi Taubes. Rabbi Taubes explained to us that we are living in a generation where we don't readily recognize what Hashem has given us. We take for granted the opportunity to go to Eretz Yisrael, whether to visit, to spend a summer, or to learn for a year or two. But until just 67 years ago - and for about 2,000 years before then - the Jewish nation was without a home of their own. When we then said Hallel, the reciatation was so much more meaningful, as we can now indeed better appreciate the gift that Hashem has given to our generation.
Following davening, students went to their respective shiurim and learned a little about Yom Ha'Atzmaut and Eretz Yisrael in general - with a spice of Torah making the day feel more complete. Immediately following shiur, students and faculty went down to The Den and enjoyed what people were saying was the best Yom Ha'Atzmaut chagigah in MTA history!
The chagigah began with some breif additional divrei chizuk from Rabbi Taubes, who then introduced Mr. David Leshaw, our Director of Admissions, who announced that he and his family will be making aliyah this coming summer! This was followed by a a very spirited and high energy firsat dance set. We then had the honor to hear a dvar Torah from Rabbi Shulman which included reflections on his own experience learning in Israel, and a message about how we have to have bitachon in Hashem and why we should celebrate Yom Ha'Atzmaut. After a rocking performance by the MTA band, another dance set finished it all off. The dancing was inspiring to everyone and sent a message to everyone as to how much we all care about our precious homeland.
|
Hatzioni Hears From Kasim Hafeez
 This past Tuesday night, members of Hatzioni joined with the Yeshiva University Israel Club and various other student and non-profit organizations who hosted Kasim Hafeez, a renowned Muslim Zionist. Mr. Hafeez is well known for founding "The Israel Campaign." His fundamental belief is that much of the hatred and intolerance in the Arab world towards Israel stems from general ignorance.
Hafeez explained how he grew up with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel ideologies, in Pakistan and the United Kingdom. However, a book called "The Case for Israel," by Alan Dershowitz, changed it all for him.
The Hatzioni members left with an enlightened view of Israel as a state. Furthermore, Hafeez explained how much hatred there is in the world - for no logical or historically correct reason - towards the state of Israel.
After explaining to us various effective methods in spreading Israel's rich history, he closed by telling us that we must always stick up for what we believe in because "if we don't, then who will?"
|
Yom HaZikaron Conference Call
by Moshe Hecht ('16)
This past Tuesday evening, students who were engaged in this year's Lev Echad Memorial Progarm participated in a special Yom HaZikaron conference call. The Lev Echad Memorial Program is a program inaugurated this year where students took upon themselves to read daily biographies of the 60 fallen Israeli soldiers who perished this past summer in Operation Protective Edge.
The participants in the program had the privilege of having a a few soldiers - Naftali Gross, Rafi Wein, and Amazia Fensterheim - speak to them during the call about their personal experiences in Operation Protective Edge. The students were also able to ask questions about specific ways to help Israel and its soldiers. There was then a short siren for the remembrance of the 23,320 Israelis who lost their lives protecting Israel over the decades.
The soldiers had inspiring stories that showed the achdut within the state of Israel. One of the soldiers told the students about a day this past summer when he was detained in a hospital during the war; while there, he found out about thedeat of one of his friends. A five year old girl saw him crying and handed him a lollipop. The soldier felt that that specific experience helped him get through the aftermath of the war.
Another soldier, a tour guide before the war, was hiking in the Galilee and found out that his brother was called up to fight. Everyone tried to comfort him -religious and secular Jews alike. This event really inspired him and showed the unity of the different sects of jews in the country. This conference call event showed the various high school students real life experiences that occurred in Operation Protective Edge.
As we have concluded reading the daily biographies of all the soldiers who died this past summer, we will never forget that without them, we would not be where we are now. As this unique Lev Echad Memorial Program concludes, which united 5,000 students from Yeshiva High Schools across America in one cause, we will always remember that our people are strongest when unified.
|
Yeshiva Fellowship Kashrus Trip To Mike's Bistro
by Shaya Forman ('15)
Click here for more photos
This past week, students in MTA's unique Yeshiva Fellowship program took a trip to Mike's Bistro, a restaurant in New York, to learn about some hands on applications of the laws of Kashrus. After davening, the students prepared for the trip by studying some of the basic halachos of Kashrus with Rabbi Bechhofer. The discussion began with an exploaration of some of the issues in American kashrus both today and in the 20th century. The presentation continued with an overview of the the halachos of Kosher animals, for example, how and why an animal has to have healthy lungs in order to be deemed fit for Kosher consumption.
When we arrived at Mike's Bistro, we met Rabbi Dov Schreier, the Rabbinic Coordinator of the OU Kashrus Division. He showed us a very informative PowerPoint pointing out all the halachos that we should know when going to a weekend simchah at a hotel, a Shul kiddush, or an ordinary restaurant. We then went downstairs with Rabbi Fuchs, an OU Rabbinic field representative, who took us to the meat refrigerator. He showed us that all of the meat is completely verified as Kosher by double bagging and double checking the meat.
We were then led into the kitchen. The kitchen was filled with barriers between milchig and fleishig areas, in addition to color coded utensils and cutting boards. After we were given a tour of the kitchen, we went to Amsterdam Burger for lunch.
The trip truly enlightened us about the extraordinary complexities and minute details associated with kashrus in the moden world.
|
Dr. Nadine Katz Offers Business Insight and Advice
by Ari Kimmelfeld ('18); Noam Itzhak of SSSB contributed to this article
As part of the MTA LEAD business program, high school students have the opportunity each week to participate in the Sy Syms School of Business' Kukin Lecture Series. On Friday, April 17, the students were invited to hear from Dr. Nadine Katz, Vice-President at Montefiore Medical Center and Medical Director for the Einstein Campus. Dr. Katz provided a number of important lessons. She explained that collaborating with others and thinking outside the box is the key to business success. It is important to be open to change and to be willing to contribute to any situation. Dr. Katz mentioned that when she is a member on a board of any organization, she envisions herself as becoming the director within a couple years; she does this as a way of being motivated towards success.
Dr. Katz also provided an overview of the healthcare business. She explained that hospitals work on very slim margins. They have a lot of expenses and they operate differently than other businesses because they are controlled by many government regulations. Montefiore is an Accountable Care Organization. They provide enhanced care and coordination and focus on prevention and wellness. Medicare designated them in 2011 as a pioneer ACO. They achieved highest financial performance in year one at 7.2% and 7% in year two (about $14 million). They accomplished these staggering numbers because their doctors work more efficiently, taking care of more patients per week.
Important takeaways from Dr. Katz's presentation included:
- Look for opportunities everywhere, no matter what it takes
- Have multiple mentors
- Manage your time well
- Stay true to your values
- Seek feedback constantly
- "You can have it all, just not all at once"
We all learned a lot from this incredible and informative experience, and it is a great and unique privilege that it is accessible to a high school student at MTA.
|
Tennis Looks To Rebound
by Binyamin Kermaier ('18)
Coming off an all around dominating performance on the previous Monday, MTA felt pretty confident about their chances this week against the best team in the league, DRS. Unfortunately, however, despite the hard fought games that were played all around, and the heroic effort by senior Gabriel Bonduryansky, MTA went down 5-0.
As our coach said "our boys fought hard, but those Five Towns boys were just better this time." We are looking forward to this coming Monday when we hope to continue our winning ways of the previous Monday against HAFTR.
|
YU Drama Society Member Speaks To English Class
by Max Hersokwitz ('17)
On Wednesday, Mrs. Levitt's Honors English class had the the pleasure of hearing from YU student Jack Turell. Jack is an actor in YU's Drama Society and has acted in many plays and performances.
He was able to share with us what it takes to be a good actor and the many ways to prepare for a performance. As a class, we are currently preparing to perform our own production of "King Lear" which is considered one of Shakespeare's best plays.
We thank Jack, along with Mrs. Levitt, for arranging this great learning experience.
|
MTA Hockey Features 6 All-Stars
This coming Sunday, April 26th, the Esther Semmelman All-Star Hockey Game will be taking place at TABC, with proceeds to benefit i-SHINE.
Featured from the MTA Lions:
Junior Varsity (1:00 pm)
Aryeh Bienstock
Zack Borgen
Varsity (3:00pm)
Zev Markowitz
Ezra Quint
Ami Rosenfeld
Shuki Weinstein
For game details, please see the poster below.
|
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
|
|
Support YUHSB at these stores!
|
A Lion's Life Executive Staff
Editors-in-Chief: Aryeh Burg ('15), Rafael Anapolle ('15)
Sports Editors: Jeremy Borgen ('15), Zev Markowitz ('15)
Associate Editor: Shimmy Mandelbaum ('16)
Photography Editor: Shimmy Socol ('16)
Faculty Advisor: Mr. Nachum Cooper ('09)
|
|
