MS Moments May 17, 2024

HANC

Middle School

YOM HASHOAH

This year to commemorate Yom Hashoah the Middle School hosted Rabbi Hanoch Teller as our featured speaker. Rabbi Teller is a prolific author who has written close to 30 books. His most recent book was written about Rabbi Kelemer, ZT”L. Rabbi Teller regaled us with many stories. One that the audience will never forget was of a young man who accidentally revealed tattoos that he got when he was much younger before he converted to Judaism. He was very embarrassed about it. One elderly gentleman went over to him, rolled up his sleeve to reveal the numbers he received during the Holocaust, and said, “Look I also have a tattoo.” Rabbi Teller also spoke about the importance of unity and this year Yom Hashoah took on an extra significance in light of what is going on in Israel and around the world.

YOM HAZIKARON

On Monday, May 13, Yom HaZikaron, the students in Morah Aronowitz’s 8th-grade class made a presentation about the day of remembrance for soldiers and civilians killed in the protection of the land of Israel. They read poems, sang songs about Yom Hazikaron, and heard Rabbi Hecht’s prayers for the nation. Some of the speeches they wrote were about the two-minute sirens that play on Yom HaZikraron at 8 PM and 11 AM. Others spoke about the day's history, and some speeches were about our memories of October 7th. Before the whole school sang HaTikvah, Israel’s national anthem, we heard a presentation about the history of the song and its significance. In addition, the last words of two soldiers who fell in Gaza, Ben Zussman and Elkanah Vizel, were read to the entire student body.

YOM HAATZMAUT

For Yom Haatzmaut this year, we had two different programs. In the morning, our very own Benci spoke to the students about his experiences as a Chayal in Tzahal. He spoke about his experiences in an elite unit. Benci took out a satchel, which contained in it the things that he always had with him, no matter what. These were his Talit, tefillin, Siddur, and a special Mi Shebairach prayer that he said before he went on a mission. He also told the students about how careful each of the members of his unit was around these items and how they would say the special Tefila even though they were not necessarily religious. It was very moving.

In the afternoon, we went to 609 and participated in the Mordechai Shapiro concert. Before the concert, we announced a Mazel Tov and Tzeitchem L’Shalom to the families making Aliyah. As usual, Mordechai was awesome and everyone enjoyed singing and dancing with incredible Ruach. When he sang the Mi Shebeirach L’Chayalai Tzahal, it was especially moving. A big thank you to 609 for hosting!

DEBATE

On Thursday, May 9th HANC attended their fourth and final debate of the school year at HAFTR. The resolution was that students over the age of 13 should be held criminally responsible for the negative effects of bullying in schools or online.

Congratulations to our winners:

Second-place speaker: David Alper

Third-place speaker Jacob Schoenfeld

Third-place speaker: Agam Youseffia

Second place team: Lexi Rosner and Agam Youseffia

Third-place team: David Alper and Sean Mann

Third-place team: Jacob Schoenfeld and Josh Kohen.

We look forward to next year!!

YESHIVA MATH TOURNAMENT

Our 7th-grade girls math team joined The Michael and Irina Kimyagarov Math Tournament hosted by Bnos Malka Academy. This competition challenges students with advanced mathematical concepts and problem-solving techniques. There were six schools from the tri-state area that participated in the competition. Hannah Hirschel won first place in the individual round and our team, including Dana Lazarus, Rebecca Pockriss, Yael Hoffman and Adriana Yusupov won first place in the team round.