Mazel Tov to Daniel ('07) and Eliana Berman on the birth of a son! Mazel Tov also to grandparents Zev and Judy Berman, great-grandparents Rabbi Julius and Dotty Berman, and former YUHSB Rebbe and Dean Rabbi Michael ('57) and Sarah Hecht.
Mazel Tov to Charlie ('02) and Jodi Fried upon the birth of a son!
Mazel Tov to Mechi ('02) and Serena Jenkelowitz upon the birth of a son!
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Ari Krul (6/12), Benjy Bral (6/13), Aryeh Zeiler (6/13),
Elimelech Zeiler (6/13), Chezkie Lauer (6/14),
Natanel Malkoukian (6/15), Benjamin Mankowitz (6/15)
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LEADers Enter the Lion Tank
After months of developing their ideas, attending workshops and presentations by various business professors and executives, and receiving mentorship from Sy Syms School of Business School students, a few members of the MTA LEAD program presented their business plans to the MTA LEAD Executive Council members who were in attendance. Simcha Hoffman ('16) showcased his app, G-List, which allows people to easily collaborate on lists, Noam Mayerfeld ('19) shared his unique idea of easily accessible and relatively inexpensive kosher food in demographic areas that would most benefit, and Akiva Cooper ('18), who worked on his project with Elie Burg ('18), showcased a website that would more easily aggregate shopping information by product.
Each of the presentations were incredibly well put together and thought out. After much delibiration, the committee selected Simcha Hoffman's presentation as the 2016 MTA LEAD winning project; Simcha will recieve an Amazon giftcard as a reward. Each of the projects will be eligible for further mentoring and guidance by a business leader. Congratulations to all!!
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MTA Sweeps Bronka Weintraub Bekius Program Competition
During the past academic year, over thirty yeshiva high schools and more than 250 students across the country participated in the Bronka Weintraub Bekius program, in which students learned and were regularly tested on Gemara Bekius; this year the Massechta studied was Makkos. The program awarded close to $11,000 towards the purchase sefarim for those who excelled on their tests, and certificates will be sent out to all of the students who completed the entire learning program and took all of the tests. The daf track offered top prizes of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000 to those who achieved the three highest scores, while the amud track presented top prizes of $1,500, $1,000 and $500.
Incredibly, MTA students swept the three prizes in the daf competition and took first and second place (and fourth) in the amud competition! On the daf testing, Yair Caplan ('17) finished in first place with a perfect score of 100, while Yehuda Goldberg ('17) and Yitzy Weiss ('17) tied for second place with scores of 99.
On the amud testing, Yehuda Snow ('19) took first place with a score of 97.5, while Shlomo Fink ('19) took second with a score of 96.25. David Tanner ('18) was awarded honorable mention with a score of 95.
Mazel Tov to the winners and to all of the MTA boys who completed the program with such hard work and achieved such tremendous success!
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Class of 2016 Bids Farewell
by Shimmy Mandelbaum ('16)
 This past Tuesday night, the MTA class of 2016 spent their final hours in the school which they had learned to call home over the past four years. MTA's 97th annual commencement took place that night in Lamport Auditorium starting promptly at 7 PM. After all the graduates marched down the south aisle of the auditorium and took their places, the crowd was greeted by Rosh Yeshiva and Head of School, Rabbi Michael Taubes ('76), who shared words of wisdom with regards to both the graduating class as well as the parsha, noting that a successful teacher, like Moshe Rabbeinu, knows that he has to go the "extra mile" for his students, and adding that one should take this approach in every area of life. Immediately following this, Jason Blatt ('16) delivered the Invocation, providing a heartfelt and personal account of his MTA experience and, after explaining that Chazal instituted Modim DeRabbanan during the repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei because thanks must always be personal, he then thanked all those, including the school itself, for making him into who he is today.
 Following Jason, the President of Yeshiva University, Richard M. Joel ('68), spoke to the crowd regarding the extraordinary class seated there that night and urged them to recall that Hashem is always "taking a picture" and that one must therefore be careful to put one's best foot forward. President Joel was followed by Ari Hagler ('16), who gave a humorous Salutatorian address, including an insightful explanation of why we count the days during Sefiras HaOmer, which served as one of the many highlights of the evening. The program progressed when Tsahi Halyo ('16), this year's Valedictorian, addressed the crowd and after quoting the Gemara that one learns from his teachers, from his friends, and from his students, presented Mr. Adam Dobrick, Assistant Principal for General Studies, with his very own cap as he would be "graduating" along with the rest of the class that night, moving on next year to a new position. This act sparked both emotion and laughter amongst the guests and graduates alike, in recognition of Mr. Dobrick's devotion to our school and its students.
Soon after, the crowd enjoyed a musical interlude by the MTA award winning chorus as well as the MTA award winning band. This helped pave the way for the rest of the evening which included a Siyum, a long-standing practice at MTA graduations. The Siyum was introduced by Associate Principal Rabbi Shimon Schenker, and then delivered by Shalom Stieglitz ('16), who read the last passage of Masseches Makkos and recited the Hadran.
 After the announcement of various individual awards and honors by Mr. Dobrick and Grade Dean Rabbi Avraham Shulman, Michael Kolber ('16) provided the Benediction, beautifully and clearly analyzing what the recitation of a berachah really represents, before all the graduates symbolically threw their caps in the air. Finally, Dr. Seth Taylor, Principal for General Studies called up all the students for the presentation of their diplomas, and the graduates then left the MTA building for the very last time of their high school careers (except for the U.S. History Regents exam next week!). A festive collation for all the graduates and guests in Belfer Hall's Weissberg Commons capped off this special evening.
 On a personal note: it has been an honor to serve as Editor in Chief of such a fine publication as A Lion's Life and I am proud to say that I have been involved with this publication from my first week of high school until my last. I am sure that next year's editors will live up to the title and maintain the publication's illustrious reputation. All in all, it has been an honor writing and editing for the newsletter as well as an honor to have attended such an amazing high school as MTA. I know that I am a #lion4life!
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Click here to read the profile on Shimmy Socol ('16) for YU's "Meet The Class."
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MTA Celebrates 68 at Celebrate Israel Parade
by Ben Tzion Zuckier ('17)
 This past Sunday, Yom Yerushalayim, MTA marched in the annual Celebrate Israel Parade down Fifth Avenue in New York City. The day began in school with davening in which Hallel was sung at the end to mark the 49th anniversary of the unification of Yerushalayim. A regular morning of Shiurim followed, ending with Mincha and the boarding of the busses. Then, joining over 40,000 marchers from different schools and organizations to support Israel and entertain hundreds of thousands of spectators in New York and on TV, the Yeshiva University schools, including MTA, Central, Yeshiva College, Stern College, Einstein, and Cardozo, joined the parade at 3 o'clock. The parade was scheduled rain or shine and it was certainly raining for most of the morning and even when the students departed from Washington Heights; however, when it was time for us to march, the skies cleared up! The march was exciting and enjoyable as the students enthusiastically paraded down Fifth Avenue singing and chanting for Israel along with many of their Rebbeim and teachers. Busses returned students to MTA after the event in high spirits and joyous for the Land of Israel. All students who attended the parade were treated the next day to a pizza lunch, as a "thank you" for coming out even under less than ideal weather conditions to show their support for the Jewish homeland.
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Arista's Bi-annual Study Night a Huge Success
by Ari Englander ('17)
This past Wednesday evening, following the last day of regular classes before exams, Arista held their bi-annual Study Night to assist anyone who felt he needed a little help with preparing for finals. At 6:10 PM, the first of three 1 hour long periods commenced. During these periods, students had the opportunity to go to the designated classrooms of their own particular teachers, who graciously reviewed their respective subjects. Additionally, students had the option to seek help from one of the Arista student tutors who utilized the lab and Room 404. After about an hour, pizza and water were distributed to all, followed by Maariv and Oreo's at 9:00 PM. Thank you to Mrs. Levitt and the Arista Society for organizing yet another successful Study Night, and to all of the teachers and Rebbeim who stayed to help! Good luck on finals!
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JV Softball Hits Their Way to the Championship Game!
by Akiva Richman ('19)
The MTA JV Softball Lions team played HAFTR last Friday in the semi-finals. Both teams scored a run in the first inning; in the second inning, HAFTR scored another run, but MTA was able to score 3 runs making the score 4-2. MTA's second run of the game came home thanks to a solo homer by Chaim Weinstein ('18). Later in the game, a HAFTR player hit a double, but was then called out when MTA appealed the play at first base, since the HAFTR player missed the bag on his way to second. At one point, Eitan Pfeiffer ('19), MTA's pitcher, was in a tough battle against one of HAFTR's hitters. After 7 pitches, Pfeiffer won the battle by making a full extension diving catch in foul territory. After a little more scoring, MTA scored 2 insurance runs in the sixth inning, and won 7-4. The Lions are now headed to face DRS in the championship game, scheduled to take place Sunday morning, June 19th, at Frisch Field! More details and fan information will be sent out shortly.
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Academy News Prepares for Next Year
This past Wednesday, the Academy News met to start preparing for the upcoming school year. Former Editor in Chief and MTA alum, Eli Berger ('13), spoke about the keys to a successful newspaper, and suggested strategies for maximizing talent and resources. Afterwards, everyone proposed new ideas, and two new columns and sections were born. We are looking forward to a successful year of reporting. We are pleased to announce our new staff, listed below. Writers are always welcome!
Staff
Editors-in- Chief: Yitzy Richter ('17), Noam Josse ('17)
Layout Editor: Ben Tzion Zuckier ('17)
Sports Editor: Ariel Feuerstein ('17)
Tech and Science Editors: Raziel Siegman ('17), Jack Alkhabaz ('17)
Around MTA Editor: Shlomo Meisels ('18)
Arts and Culture Editor: Yaakov Lauer ('18)
Humor (NEW!) Editor: Yair Caplan ('17)
Business Editors: Zachary Fish ('17), Zack Steiner ('17), Aryeh Kimmelfeld ('18)
Torah Umadda (NEW!) Editor: Ezra Wildes ('17)
Political Editor: Noam Josse ('17)
Official Writers: Zach Stein ('17), Yedidya Schechter ('19),
Raphi Felder ('17), Shaya Forman ('17), Yosef Lemel ('17),
Yacov Steinberg ('18), Jack Alkhabaz ('17)
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Lunchtime Shmooze with Morah Haibi
by Zeve Kornwasser ('18)
This past Wednesday, a number of tenth grade students were treated to a delicious Golan lunch by Hebrew instructor, Morah Haibi, for a prize they won in the annual Chanukah auction. While this adventure physically took them only across the street, the conversation took them thousands of miles away. While speaking in Hebrew, the students discussed issues in Israeli politics such as tax rates in different communities, security issues, and the struggle to oppose the BDS movement. Topics also included what each student would like to do as a profession as well as how Morah Haibi became a teacher at MTA. Thank you to Morah Haibi for an amazing experience and a wonderful year.
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Congratulations to Aryeh Greenberg ('18) upon his nomination for the
Outstanding Chemistry Student award from the American Chemical Society.
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Please share with us your significant family milestones so we may appropriately acknowledge events and losses and properly communicate information.
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Support YUHSB at these stores!
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A Lion's Life Executive Staff
Faculty Advisor: Elie Hirt
Publishing & Design: Devir Kahan ('13)
Editors in Chief: Shimmy Mandelbaum ('16), Raziel Siegman ('17) & Ari Englander ('17)
Executive Editors: Rafi Felder ('17), Bentzion Zuckier ('17) & Rami Nordlicht ('16)
Sports Editor: Aryeh Bienstock ('17)
Director of Digital Content: Shimmy Socol ('16)
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