Annual Sarachek Basketball Tournament Tips Off at Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University’s 21st Annual Red Sarachek Invitational Basketball Tournament tips off Thursday, March 22 at 10 a.m. at the Max Stern Athletic Center on YU’s Wilf Campus. The tournament, named after revered former Maccabees coach Bernard “Red” Sarachek, features 20 Jewish high school basketball teams in a dramatic five-day tournament before live crowds and broadcast audiences in the thousands.

This year’s field includes schools from across the U.S. and Canada: Bnei Akiva Schools – Or Chaim (Toronto, ON); Columbus Torah Academy (Columbus, OH); Cooper Yeshiva (Memphis, TN); Frisch School (Paramus, NJ); Fuchs Mizrachi School (Beachwood, OH); Hebrew Academy High School (Montreal, QC); Houston Bnei Akiva (Houston, TX); Jewish Educational Center/RTMA (Elizabeth, NJ); Maimonides School (Brookline, MA); North Shore Hebrew Academy (Great Neck, NY); Samuel Scheck Hillel School (North Miami Beach, FL); SAR (Riverdale, NY); Shalhevet High School (Los Angeles, CA); Torah Academy of Bergen County (Teaneck, NJ); Weinbaum Yeshiva High School (Boca Raton, FL); Yavneh Academy (Dallas, TX); Yeshiva Atlanta (Atlanta, GA); Yeshiva of Virginia (Richmond, VA); YULA High School for Boys (Los Angeles, CA); and Yeshiva University High School for Boys/Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (New York, NY).

The Annual Sarachek Tournament runs from March 22 - 26.

Complete coverage of the tournament, including live play-by-play broadcasts, as well as updated scores, statistics, game summaries and pictures will be provided by MacsLive. For the first time in its history, all of the coverage of the Sarachek Tournament will be broadcast live in high-definition video to fans around the world. This broadcast is made possible with the support of Yeshiva University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Center for the Jewish Future.

Fans can also follow the action on Twitter using the hashtag #sarachek2012.

Exhibition Presented by YU Museum in Collaboration with Einstein Explores Jewish Encounter with Modern Medicine

Modern medicine emerged in the second half of the 19th century, as innovative technologies and new theories of disease paved the way for extraordinary medical advances. For Jews, and for the Jewish community at large, the field of scientific medicine presented new opportunities, new challenges and new ways to engage with modernity. Through an array of original medical instruments, artifacts, documents, letters, photographs and video, Trail of the Magic Bullet: The Jewish Encounter with Modern Medicine, 1860-1960, explores the Jewish encounter with modern medicine on an individual, communal and religious level. The exhibition, on display at the Yeshiva University Museum through August 12, brings the conversation up to the present, concluding with a specially produced film that examines key issues in contemporary Jewish bioethics.

Einstein's Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman speaks to local high school students.

On March 21, Trail of the Magic Bullet was the centerpiece of two educational initiatives. In the morning, in a program organized by Ilana Benson, museum educator at the YU Museum, 80 students from four Jewish New York area high schools used the exhibition as the jumping off point for discussions around the role of halakha in medicine and the training of the Jewish medical student across history. Science, pre-med and AP biology students from Yeshiva University High School for Boys, Yeshiva University High School for Girls, DRS Yeshiva High School and Yeshiva of Flatbush participated. In tandem with tours of the exhibition, Rabbi Dr. Edward Reichman of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine led the students in discussions of key medical case studies and gave an interactive lecture on the history of the training of Jewish medical students. In addition to seeing a range of rare medical artifacts, documents, posters and letters, the students from these schools had the chance to engage on topics such as organ donation, genetic testing and general Jewish medical ethics.

In the evening, the Yeshiva University Medical Ethics Society also brought 40 undergraduate students to the museum to experience the Trail of the Magic Bullet exhibition, and to participate in another lecture given by Reichman. The students heard about and discussed the experience of Jewish doctors in the modern medical field and developments that have facilitated the participation of Jewish doctors within modern medicine. The program featured a rich and engaging discussion around such issues as the acceptance of Jews into secular medical schools, advancements in medical technologies, and the role of halakha in connection to the medical field and contemporary bioethics.

Surgery, Newark Beth Israel Hospital, early 20th century / Collection of the Jewish Historical Society of New Jersey

These two programs highlight the educational impact and potential of the exhibition and attest to the value of the collaboration between the YU Museum and Einstein.

The exhibition celebrated its opening with a program on February 29, 2012, which featured a discussion by Dr. Edward Burns, executive dean of Einstein, on the Jewish role within the medical profession; and the screening of “Heal, You Shall Heal” (produced and directed by Ilana Trachtman), a film that was commissioned and developed by YU Museum in conjunction with the exhibition.

YULA Panthers Defeat SAR Sting in Rematch of 2011 Sarachek Finals; Win Record Seventh Championship

After five days of thrilling basketball and friendly competition, the YULA Panthers of Los Angeles, CA were crowned champions of Yeshiva University’s 21st Annual Red Sarachek Invitational Basketball Tournament. The Panthers defeated the SAR Sting of Riverdale, NY by the score of 45-35 before a packed crowd in YU’s Max Stern Athletic Center. The win avenges last year’s championship game loss to the Sting and gives YULA its record seventh Sarachek Championship.

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The tournament, named for legendary former YU Maccabees coach Bernard “Red” Sarachek, featured 20 Jewish high school basketball teams in a dramatic tournament played before live crowds and broadcast to audiences in the thousands.

In addition to YULA and SAR, this year’s field includes schools from across the U.S. and Canada: Bnei Akiva Schools – Or Chaim (Toronto, ON); Columbus Torah Academy (Columbus, OH); Cooper Yeshiva (Memphis, TN); Frisch School (Paramus, NJ); Fuchs Mizrachi School (Beachwood, OH); Hebrew Academy High School (Montreal, QC); Houston Bnei Akiva (Houston, TX); Jewish Educational Center/RTMA (Elizabeth, NJ); Maimonides School (Brookline, MA); North Shore Hebrew Academy (Great Neck, NY); Samuel Scheck Hillel School (North Miami Beach, FL); Shalhevet High School (Los Angeles, CA); Torah Academy of Bergen County (Teaneck, NJ); Weinbaum Yeshiva High School (Boca Raton, FL); Yavneh Academy (Dallas, TX); Yeshiva Atlanta (Atlanta, GA); Yeshiva of Virginia (Richmond, VA); and Yeshiva University High School for Boys/Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (New York, NY).

The second tier title went to Cooper Yeshiva, third tier went to Maimonides and fourth tier went to Columbus. YULA forward Jack Gindi won tournament MVP honors.

Excitement permeated Yeshiva’s Washington Heights Campus upon the invasion of fans and athletes of the tournament. For the first time in its history, those who could not attend the tournament  in person could still keep up with the action via broadcast in high-definition video provided by MacsLive. The broadcast was made possible with the support of Yeshiva University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Center for the Jewish Future. Fans also kept up with latest tournament news in real-time via Twitter and Facebook updates.

But the tournament served a function beyond the court. For many of the participants and fans, the tournament offered an opportunity to be introduced or re-introduced to the culture of Yeshiva University. Throughout the weekend, tours were conducted all over the campus so the young all-stars could gain an early appreciation for the unique educational environment offered at YU.

“I love this tournament,” said Jacob Kestenbaum, a tournament rookie from the North Shore team.  “It’s a great experience and a great atmosphere and I look forward to returning next year.”

Jacques Kaswan, another first-timer from Hillel Miami described the whole weekend as “very cool,” he said. “Its amazing that YU puts this whole thing together every year.”

Friends, family and fellow students all crowded the bleachers to watch the games. Ira Shein, a grandparent of two Fuchs Mizrachi athletes who had no previous YU connection was impressed with the grand nature of the tournament. “This is a wonderful event,” he said. “I think YU is giving these kids a great opportunity to feel a part of the American sport scene within a Jewish environment.”

Aviva Schechter, an aunt of two Miamonides students shared these sentiments. “This is so much fun,” she said. “The boys are having such a great time.”

Cindy Ashwal drove the 8 hours from Cleveland to watch her son Eli, from the Fuchs Mizrachi team, play in the tournament. “I would not have missed this for anything,” she said. “This is fantastic for my son to meet up with Jewish boys from all over the country. I hope YU keeps it up every year.”

For complete coverage of the tournament, including scores, statistics, game summaries and awards visit MacsLive.

YU High Schools Film Project Keeps Memories of the Holocaust Alive

For one week in December and February, classrooms in the Yeshiva University High School for Boys / Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (YUHSB) and the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (YUHSG) were transformed into a professional recording studio. Two cameras and an advanced lighting system focused in on a small table with two chairs. Every day of the week, YU High School seniors invited Holocaust survivors to share memories of their lives before, during and after the tragedies of the Shoah as part of the Names, Not Numbers project.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJc4AdJ18T0

Created in 2003 by Tova Rosenberg, director of Hebrew language and the Israel exchange programs at both high schools, Names, Not Numbers teaches students the skills needed to interview and film an oral history of Holocaust survivors. To date more than 250 testimonials of survivors and World War II veterans have been recorded by more than 750 students.

The demanding project is offered as an elective or senior project to seniors and involves thorough participation of the students at every level of the process.

“Students are taught the skills needed to produce their own Holocaust oral history documentary,” said Rosenberg. “Professionals train them on everything from researching and interviewing to filming and editing.”

YUHSB's Akiva Blumenthal interviews his grandmother, Edith Blumenthal. To date, Names, Not Numbers has recorded more than 250 testimonials of survivors and World War II veterans.

The project culminates in a documentary film and DVD titled Names, Not Numbers and a behind-the-scenes film, Names, Not Numbers: A Movie in the Making. The documentaries are archived at the National Library of Israel, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Yeshiva University’s Mendel Gottesman Library.

This year, a first occurred during the project. Mina Tiefenbrunn, a YUHSB parent, told the story of her parents’ survival while being interviewed by three different students, one of whom was her son Aryeh.

“I felt very strongly that there is not enough second-generation advocacy,” said Tiefenbrunn. “For children of survivors, it is important to get the message across—the message being: have faith, help your fellow man, share and be kind.”

Aryeh shared these sentiments and said, “It is so important for these stories to be perpetuated to the next generation.”

Rosenberg was particularly satisfied because three of the interviewees had never shared their story of survival before.

“I started this program as an intergenerational project,” said Rosenberg, “but over time I realized that it has become something else. The project touches the souls of the students. This is not just about Holocaust studies; it is about hesed [good deeds].”

Rosenberg described how students contacted the survivors whom they interviewed to wish them a Shabbat Shalom and forge a stronger relationship—a gesture that greatly touched one survivor, Chaim Weiser.

Yolly Dratch of YUHSG, interviews Joseph Guttmann, a Holocaust survivor.

“It was very heart-warming to have received the special warm wishes for a Good Shabbos,” Weiser wrote in an e-mail to Rosenberg. “The last few days following the interview a certain calmness, a feeling of relief has descended upon me. It feels as if a heavy stone has been lifted from my heart. You have provided me a platform where I was able to unburden myself, somewhat, of the great pain that is forever lurking within.”

As the student participants of Names, Not Numbers finish their studies at YU High Schools, the effects of the program become more and more apparent. One YUHSG alumna, Mindy Sojcher, described how her involvement influenced her studies in college. A current Legacy Heritage student at YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Sojcher intends on pursuing a career in Holocaust education.

“What’s amazing about Names, Not Numbers is that my generation has grandparents and great grandparents who are survivors. We all know about the Holocaust, but we rarely really think about it,” said Sojcher, who serves at the associate director of YU’s Student Holocaust Education Movement. “The program helped me understand what the Holocaust was and why it is so important that we learn about it.”

Names, Not Numbers will be screened at YUHSB on May 1 and YUHSG on May 7.

Yeshiva University and the Student Holocaust Education Movement (SHEM) will present a Yom Hashoa Ceremony on April 17 at 8:30 p.m. in Lamport Auditorium on the Wilf Campus.

Yeshiva University High Schools Present Annual Dinner of Tribute on May 16

Yeshiva University High Schools (YUHS) will hold their Annual Dinner of Tribute on Wednesday, May 16, 2012 at Congregation Ahavath Torah in Englewood, NJ. This year’s honorees include Harvey and Deena Wrubel, Rabbi Tanchum Cohen and Rabbi Zvi Lew.

Harvey and Deena Wrubel

Harvey and Deena Wrubel are YU Benefactors and pillars of the Teaneck, N.J community. Strong supporters of a host of worthy organizations in the United States and Israel, the Wrubels are deeply involved in The Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, Yeshivat Sha’alvim and their shul, Congregation Bnai Yeshurun. The YU High Schools are proud to honor the Wrubels by dedicating and naming Yeshiva University High School for Boys’s (YUHSB) Beis Medresh Katan Program in memory of Harvey’s father, Mr. Julius Wrubel z”l. The Wrubels are the proud parents of four children and four grandchildren.

Rabbi Tanchum Cohen

Rabbi Tanchum Cohen, a popular maggid shiur at YUHSB, is the founding rebbe of the Beis Medresh Katan Program. He is a graduate of RIETS and Yeshiva College and was a Wexner Kollel Elyon Fellow for four years. Rabbi Cohen serves as assistant rabbi of Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield, N.J. and he and his wife, Yaffa, are the proud parents of six children.

Rabbi Zvi Lew

Rabbi Zvi Lew is the Israel guidance adviser at Yeshiva University High School for Girls (YUHSG) and wears many hats. He teaches 10th grade chumash and 11th grade kashruth/halakha, advises YUHSG’s champion Torah Bowl team and delivers a regular Friday shiur to returning alumni. A product of Yeshiva College and RIETS, Rabbi Lew resides with his wife, Elana, and their four children in Kew Garden Hills, where he also gives several regular shiurim throughout the community.

For reservations or for more information about the dinner, please contact Rabbi Moshe Kinderlehrer at 212-960-5489 or email mkinder@yu.edu, or visit www.yu.edu/hsdinner.

Yeshiva University Celebrates Israel with Largest Contingent at Annual NYC Parade

More than 1,500 students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends of Yeshiva University marched up Fifth Avenue, cheering and greeting the crowds as they celebrated Israel’s 64th year of independence at the annual 2012 Celebrate Israel Parade on Sunday, June 3.

Accompanied by the YU parade float, President Richard M. Joel led a contingent that included representatives from the University’s undergraduate schools, affiliated high schools, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and Albert Einstein College of Medicine and their families.

“The Yeshiva University community is proud to participate in the Celebrate Israel Parade as we have for many years,” said President Joel. “Our students relish the opportunity to express their support and commitment to the future of the State of Israel and we are delighted to be one of the largest delegations at the parade.”

Alumnus and Longtime YU Libraries Contributor Honored at June 26 Reception 

On June 26, Yeshiva University honored Professor Ronald Rubin ’57YUHS at YU Libraries, in a special reception organized in recognition and appreciation of his many gifts to YU in recent years, including his gifts to the Mendel Gottesman Library’s rare collections. At the reception, Rubin received a framed certificate marking and commemorating his contributions to the University.

Rubin’s most recent gifts to the YU Libraries include a beautifully-bound, four volume Biblia Rabbinica (Mikra’ot Gedolot, 6th ed.) published in Basel in 1618-1619 and commissioned by the Christian Hebraist Johannes Buxtorf.

Rubin officially donated the Biblia Hebraica back in April, in honor of a significant birthday he was celebrating. He first became a patron of the YU Libraries four years ago, when he began contributing rare items to its collection. These items include a series of bound volumes of American newspapers from the early 1800s and a deed signed by former Texas governor George T. Wood, granting a tract of land near Austin to Jacob de Cordova, a Jew who settled in the Republic of Texas in 1837. By 1848, de Cardova ran one of the largest land agencies in Texas. Rubin has also donated to YU-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and recently dedicated a room in the Jacob and Dreizel Glueck Center.

Continue reading at the YU Libraries Blog…

Fellowship Pairs YU High School Students with University Faculty for College-Level Research

Five students from the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB) have been named Senior Fellows for the 2012-13 academic year. Taking advantage of its physical and institutional proximity to Yeshiva University, the program—in existence since 2006—pairs competitively-selected high school seniors with University faculty to conduct thorough research in a variety of fields.

YUHSB seniors Yonatan Schwartz, Dovid Schwartz, Akiva Schiff, Yisrael Snow and Yosef Sklar will work closely with YU faculty.

“We wanted to make it a win-win for both the high school and the University,” said Dr. Ed Berliner, executive director of science management and clinical professor of physics at YU and director of the YUHSB Honors College. “For YU, it is an opportunity to expose our most impressive students to the high-caliber YU education, and in terms of the students, it truly is a unique opportunity to be paired with the best and brightest professors in their fields.”

Akiva Schiff, Dovid Schwartz, Yonatan Schwartz, Joseph Sklar and Yisrael Snow will spend the upcoming year studying topics as diverse as bible, chemistry and economics with YU faculty members including Dr. James Kahn, Henry and Bertha Kressel University Professor of Economics; Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought; Dr. Raji Viswanathan, professor of chemistry; and Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, the Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Professor of Talmud at YU-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS).

Rabbi Jeremy Wieder, left, will mentor Schiff.

Schiff, of West Hempstead, NY, is looking forward to analyzing the different styles of traditional commentary on the Torah with Wieder. “I think it will be interesting to learn something from a different perspective, and in so doing, learn to rectify certain common mistakes that are made when these texts are read and discussed,” said Schiff. “This seems like a wonderful and unique opportunity to study something on the college level with the guidance of an expert in the field, while still in high school.”

“I have been very impressed with the sophistication and drive for intellectual advancement of the students I have mentored,” said Wieder, who, along with Viswanathan, has served as a mentor to previous fellows.

“My past experience with the fellowship was very enjoyable,” said Viswanathan, who will mentor Yonatan Schwartz as he researches the role of proteins in the biomineralization process. “It gives the high school students an introduction to current research and makes them familiar with the opportunities available at Yeshiva University.”

Learn more about Yeshiva University High School for Boys at its October 28 Open House.

Led by Yeshiva University, High School Students Head to D.C. on Israel Lobbying Mission

More than 100 high school students headed to Capitol Hill on October 15 to lobby on behalf of Israel. The mission, organized by Yeshiva University, was directed by Matthew Schwartz, YU’s assistant director of recruitment and high school programming, and Ethan Wasserman, last year’s president of YUPAC (Yeshiva University Political Awareness Club) and a current YU presidential fellow.

The lobbying mission came about after Rivka Abbe, a senior at Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central), approached Rabbi Kenneth Brander, David Mitzner Dean of the Center for the Jewish Future, with the idea. Abbe became passionate about politics and lobbying after working closely with former YUPAC president, Dina Muskin, who organized lobbying training for students at Central. After hearing Abbe’s idea, Brander asked Schwartz to lead the event.

“I approached Rabbi Brander last year because I heard about all the things CJF does for Jewish communities around the world,” said Abbe, who also shared the idea with Rabbi Steven Burg, managing director of the Orthodox Union and international director of NCSY. “They agreed that it would be ideal to run this as a joint program between the OU and YU.”

“We saw this as a great and creative opportunity to enrich high school students’ curricula and experiences,” said Schwartz, who reached out to several high schools to participate.

In all, 12 high schools took part in the mission, including Central, Yeshiva University High School for Boys (MTA), Jewish Educational Center High School, Hillel Yeshiva of Deal, Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls, Hebrew High School of New England, North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, Bruriah High School for Girls and Ma’ayonot Yeshiva High School for Girls.

Students prepared for their trip by learning about issues ranging from foreign aid to Iran, and heard from prominent speakers including Brooke Goldstein, director of the Lawfare Project, and Rabbi Steven Burg.

On the day of the mission, students were buzzing with excitement as their buses pulled up to Capitol Hill, engaging each other in intellectual and political debates, while practicing their lobbying tactics. The students then divided up into groups to meet with 15 congressional offices before meeting in the White House with Jarrod Bernstein, Jewish liaison to the White House. Bernstein addressed the group—discussing his background, how he got to his current position and what his job entails—before answering questions from the students.

“I learned that it is easier to function in Washington as a frum Jew than I originally thought,” said Yehoshua Zafranski, a student at MTA. “It was also a great experience to meet other kids my age that share the same passion.”

Covenant Foundation Awards YU Museum Grant for Educational Partnership with Lincoln Center Institute 

On the basis of an innovative arts-based educational program, Yeshiva University Museum is the recipient of a prestigious Signature Grant from The Covenant Foundation, which develops and supports Jewish education and community-building projects and programs in the U.S.

Yeshiva University Museum will receive $135,900 over three years to expand Re-Imagining Jewish Education through Art, an initiative that uses the arts and critical inquiry to enhance and deepen learning and appreciation of Jewish texts and of art.

Through the program, the museum adapts an arts-based educational approach and philosophy pioneered by the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education, and re-conceives and applies it in Jewish schools. Re-Imagining is designed to be multi-dimensional: it enriches learning of traditional Jewish texts and allows for appreciation of their beauty and aesthetic character, and, at the same, encourages the use of textual approaches—careful reading and analysis, reverence and spiritual value, historical context and awareness—to develop and deepen an appreciation of art.

The museum will partner with LCI to train teachers and educators in the approach, and will run the program in Jewish day schools across the denominational spectrum in and outside of New York. The grant enables further development of the museum-school partnerships and is aimed toward enriching the culture of text study and of arts-based learning on a national level.

Re-Imagining was launched in 2010-11 as a pilot program through an Ignition Grant from the Covenant Foundation. The YU Museum, which implemented the program in three Jewish High Schools—Heschel High School, SAR High School and Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys, and one youth education group, Kings Bay YM-YWHA—will expand the initiative to partner with at least six Jewish Day Schools – middle and high schools – and, in the second year, will work with at least one school outside the New York area.

“We are thrilled to be able to continue and expand this program,” said Dr. Jacob Wisse, director of Yeshiva University Museum, “and grateful to the Covenant Foundation for making it possible and for being so supportive of the role of museums in strengthening Jewish education through the arts and enriching the learning experience of students.”

Yeshiva University Museum is dedicated to the presentation and interpretation of the artistic and cultural achievements of Jewish life. Founded in 1973, the museum is distinguished by its wide-ranging and intellectually rigorous exhibitions and, as the cultural arm of Yeshiva University, by its strong educational mission.

The Lincoln Center Institute trains educators within selected schools in “creative aesthetic education,” an acclaimed teaching methodology it created. Yeshiva University Museum is adapting the Institute’s model to teach Jewish texts in Jewish educational settings. The museum’s team instructs educators on the new approach as well.

Re-Imagining Jewish Education through Art will be led by Gabriel Goldstein, project director and an independent curator, and Ilana Benson, museum educator at Yeshiva University Museum. According to Benson, the program enables educators to implement a new approach that honors the aesthetic power and beauty of traditional Jewish texts.

“We are enthusiastic about this new grant to Yeshiva University Museum, with its focus on Jewish education and its strong public programming, exhibitions and partnerships with schools and other educational institutions,” said Harlene Winnick Appelman, executive director of The Covenant Foundation. “We look forward to seeing this unique initiative with Lincoln Center Institute develop and grow, and present an exciting new model of arts-based Jewish education.”

This spring, Yeshiva University Museum will announce the schools with which they will be partnering during the first academic year of their Re-Imagining Jewish Education through Art in 2013-14.

High Schools Face Off at Sarachek Basketball Tournament; Watch LIVE!

Yeshiva University’s 22nd Annual Red Sarachek Invitational Basketball Tournament tips off Thursday, March 7 at 10 a.m. at the Max Stern Athletic Center on YU’s Wilf Campus. The tournament, named after legendary former Maccabees coach Bernard “Red” Sarachek, features 20 Jewish high school basketball teams from across North America in a dramatic five-day tournament before live crowds and broadcast audiences in the thousands.

This year’s field is seeded as follows:

1. Shalhevet High School (Los Angeles, CA)
2. Frisch School (Paramus, NJ)
3. Magen David (Brooklyn, NY)
4. North Shore Hebrew Academy (Great Neck, NY)
5. Yeshiva University High School for Boys / Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (New York, NY)
6. Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School (Woodmere, NY)
7. RASG Hebrew Academy (Miami, FL)
8. YULA High School for Boys (Los Angeles, CA)
9. Weinbaum Yeshiva High School (Boca Raton, FL)
10. Cooper Yeshiva (Memphis, TN)
11. Valley Torah (Valley Village, CA)
12. Beren Academy (Houston, TX)
13. Maimonides School (Brookline, MA)
14. Ida Crown Jewish Academy (Chicago, IL)
15. Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy (Rockville, MD)
16. Bnei Akiva Schools – Or Chaim (Toronto, ON)
17. Fuchs Mizrachi School (Beachwood, OH)
18. Columbus Torah Academy (Columbus, OH)
19. Akiva Hebrew Day School (Southfield, MO)
20. Hillel Academy of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)

Complete coverage of the tournament, including live play-by-play broadcasts, as well as updated scores, statistics, game summaries and pictures will be provided by MacsLive. All of the coverage of the Sarachek Tournament will be broadcast live in high-definition video to fans around the world. This broadcast is made possible with the support of Yeshiva University’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Center for the Jewish Future.

View photos from last year’s tournament.

YU High School Varsity Hockey Bids for League Record Tenth Championship this Sunday 

With a win this Sunday, the Yeshiva University High School for Boys / Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA) Lions will make Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Hockey League history—becoming the first team to win ten championships.

The MTA Lions go for their league record tenth championship Sunday, March 10.

After a dramatic comeback in their semi-final matchup against Davis-Renov-Stahler Yeshiva High School, which saw the Lions score two goals in the final two minutes of a 3-2 victory, the Lions are set to face off against the Torah Academy of Bergen County Storm in the Varsity Championship Game. MTA won both regular season meetings this year against TABC: 2-0 in Teaneck on November 17 and 3–2 in Washington Heights on Feb. 11.

Led by senior Captain Menachem Mermelstein, MTA enjoyed an 11-2-0-1 season, finishing second in their division. The Lions last championship came in 2011.

The Championship Game will take place on Sunday, March 10 at 3:45 p.m. at Lawrence Middle School, 195 Broadway, Lawrence, NY. To purchase tickets to the game, email Head Coach Dovie Quint at dgquint@yahoo.com.

YU High School for Boys Sophomore Brings Shakespearean Objects to Life

Hillel Jacobson, a sophomore at Yeshiva University High School for Boys, faces challenges and acts on them.

Inspired by Shakespeare, YUHSB sophomore Hillel Jacobson built a stock similar to the one used in King Lear.

In his study of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Jacobson took a strong interest in the Globe Theater, where the plays were performed. Along with his father, Jacobson constructed a model of the theater, capturing the beauty and intricacies of the stages and seating as well as the area where the groundlings stood.

Recently, when studying King Lear in Harriet Levitt’s English Sophomore Honors class, Jacobson became fascinated by the stocks—a punishment apparatus used in the story to hold Kent. With the help of his father, Jacobson constructed a solid wood, five-foot structure, replicating the stocks used in King Lear.

“The study of Shakespeare is not limited to the famous lines,” said Levitt. “It incorporates all the stage devices that enlarge the imagination. Reading ‘Kent is put in the stocks’ is not as meaningful as actually seeing Kent put into stocks.”

She added, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, the actual object is worth many more.”

Jacobson and Levitt

Graduate Profile: Devir Kahan, Yeshiva University High School for Boys

A common spirit runs throughout Yeshiva University: the mandate to matter.

Students of all ages and backgrounds come here to pursue a range of professional and personal dreams, from scientific research and medicine to law, Jewish education or public policy. Our students seek to harness their unique talents and YU education to make a lasting impact on the world around them. This spring, when they graduate from YU, these new alumni will hit the ground running.

In the weeks leading up to Commencement, YU News will feature one remarkable graduate from each school, reflecting, in their own words, on their time here, their passions and their dreams for the future.

Meet the class of 2013.

YU High School for Boys senior Devir Kahan

Name: Devir Kahan

School: Yeshiva University High School for Boys / Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (MTA)

Hometown: Monsey, New York

Passion: Information technology

Why did you choose MTA?

Coming out of middle school, I liked the idea of a high school on a college campus. MTA feels like a university. When you have a free period, you can go to the library or the gym.

In 11th grade we met with YU Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Hershel Schachter. It was right before Pesach, and we were all sitting around asking questions to this posek who most people wouldn’t be lucky enough to meet. That’s because of the high school’s ties with the University, and it’s just one of the things I got to experience here that I couldn’t have done anywhere else.

What was your most memorable high school experience?

In 10th grade I participated in the Makor Chaim exchange program. Ten students from each grade get sent to this high school yeshiva in Israel for six weeks, and then five or six of their students come to us for six weeks. I’d been to Israel before but definitely hadn’t lived there as an Israeli high school student. It was a pretty amazing experience. All the classes were in Hebrew. Every week, the students voted on important issues in their school—they were really making major decisions about the way their education was organized to help each student grow religiously and as a person. It was different than anything I’d seen in America.

For me, it was a great opportunity not only to prove to myself that I could do something really challenging, but also to live in a totally different and fully immersive culture. At times it was hard, at times it was emotional, but I’m very glad I did it. And next year I’ll be going back to Israel when I begin my studies at Yeshivat Reishit.

What are some of the extracurricular activities you’ve been involved in?

I joined choir because I always liked singing. Lately I’ve been working on the yearbook, too. A friend of mine also got me involved in Model Congress. This being my last year at MTA, I wanted to say yes to as many opportunities as I can.

There’s also a program called MTA LEAD which I got to be a part of. If you have a business idea, MTA and Sy Syms School of Business pairs you up with a professional in the YU network who’s successfully done something similar. I started a website, BitQuill, when I was 12 or 13. It’s for the technologically inclined. The word “geek” comes to mind. I review technology, interview someone, or write how-to guides or general articles about the industry that would be interesting to someone interested in that stuff, like me. There are 20,000 to 30,000 people who read it every month.

I wanted to get some tips and pointers for the site, so I signed up for MTA LEAD with a friend who’s been helping me with the site. We spoke to someone who built a site where patients can review their physicians about how he had developed marketing and expanded traffic to his site, as well as general good practices.

How did you discover your passion for technology?

I really identified with New York Times columnist David Pogue growing up. He writes a weekly technology column which is really great, witty and a little odd. But originally, he was also going to go into play production—he’s written music for shows and he’s part of the League of Magicians. He wrote this book Magic for Dummies, which I loved.

I also play the piano and was always interested in magic, too. I read an interview with Pogue about how he became interested in technology. He said the only thing he could come up with was that he liked technology for the same reason he liked magic: the awe of not knowing how something works and wanting to figure it out. That’s basically how I feel. I understand the big ideas, but how little wires make whatever comes up on the screen—that’s magic to me.

How are you hoping to incorporate your fascination with technology into a profession?

I’ve been taking a computer programming course at MTA, which was something that I always wanted to learn. I’d love to work on my site and be a programmer, designing something really big—an application that people can use and enjoy.

What does the idea of Torah Umadda mean to you?

We were just discussing in my Jewish History course about when the concepts of Torah and madda became disassociated from each other in Jewish culture… we’re put here on Earth to grow and enhance the world, whether that’s through literally learning Torah and sharing Torah or by being a good person and creating something the world didn’t have before. I feel like that has got to count for something.

Yeshiva University Commemorates the Life and Legacy of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik

On April 14, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Rabbinical Theological Seminary (RIETS) and Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) commemorated the 20th yahrtzeit [anniversary of death] of “the Rav,” Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l, Torah luminary and YU Rosh Yeshiva, with a full-day learning program that took place in the Lamport Auditorium on YU’s Wilf Campus. Thousands attended in-person or followed the event online to gain insight into the Rav’s life and legacy through lectures, discussions and presentations given by his family and closest students.

“I experience a sense of déjà vu standing in this room today, for in this very room we waited with baited breath for the Rav to enter and deliver his famous shiurim on his father’s yahrtzeit each year,” said Rabbi Joel Schreiber, Chairman of the RIETS Board of Trustees, in his opening remarks to the participants. “In this room thousands of men and women had their hearts, minds and souls lifted to unimaginable heights by the Rav.”

The program kicked off with “Multiple Faces of the Rav,” a panel that brought together Rabbi Soloveitchik’s daughter, Dr. Atarah Twersky, and several students of the Rav, including Rabbi Herschel Schachter, RIETS Rosh Yeshiva; Dr. David Shatz, YU professor of philosophy; and Rabbi Kenneth Brander, David Mitzner Dean of the CJF, to examine the many and varied roles played by the Rav during his lifetime.

Speaking about her father’s early career, after he arrived as a young man in Boston with limited English skills, no rabbinic experience and no knowledge of the American Jewish community, Twersky noted, “Many people—including my father himself—would later refer to the Rav as a melamed [teacher]. While I would call him this, too, if I had to find one word or phrase to describe him, it would be baal emunah – my father was a man of faith, and his faith inspired his role as a teacher.”

While Schachter and Shatz explored the depth and reach of the Rav’s philosophy, Brander, who served as his shamesh [assistant], touched on a more uncommon theme: the ideals of chessed [acts of kindness] Rabbi Soloveitchik inherited from his grandfather, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk. “When people think of Rav Soloveitchik, they describe his brilliance,” Brander said. “The Rav not only inherited Reb Chaim’s intellect, he had internalized Reb Chaim’s ideals of chessed. He truly felt the pain of others and was happiest when he could solve their dilemmas, pained when he could not, sleepless and steadfast when he had the opportunity to marshal his intellectual arsenal to help another human being.”

Brander added: “There is no Jewish community in the world that has not been touched by the Rav, his students or his writings.”

Rabbi Mayer Twersky, RIETS Rosh Yeshiva and grandson of the Rav, delivered the day’s keynote lecture, “Mesorah & Modernity: The Role of the Rav.” Discussing the interaction of Western ideals and the Rav’s hashkafa, Twersky argued that his self-identification as a teacher of Torah provided Rabbi Soloveitchik with the means to reconcile any conflict arising between the two—without compromising on his religious beliefs.

“Torah is not always in sync with the tempo of the times,” Twersky said. “The force of the Rav’s majestic, charismatic personality, his brilliant shiurim and his projection of the vitality and multidimensionality of halakha, the confidence which he represented and radiated in our mesorah [tradition], all distilled the message of this melamed par excellence into a simple phrase well known to all of us and a message that his and our generation very much needs to hear: ‘Moshe emes v’soraso emes– Moses is true and his Torah is the truth.’ ”

Breakout sessions during the afternoon portion of the programming enabled audience members to join in the conversation. Sessions in the first time slot included a discussion of the Rav’s unique Derech Halimud [approach to learning] led by Schachter and RIETS Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Menachem Genack;  exploration of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s thoughts and rulings on interfaith relations led by Shatz and Dr. David Berger, dean and Ruth and I. Lewis Gordon Professor of Jewish History at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies; and the reflections of Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and senior scholar at the CJF, on the importance of the Rav’s teaching in modern society.

In the second time slot, Rabbi Shalom Carmy, YU assistant professor of Jewish philosophy and Bible, and Rabbi Michael Taubes, head of school at Yeshiva University High School for Boys, delved into the Rav’s philosophy on prayer, while Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld, rabbi emeritus at Young Israel of Kew Garden Hills, and Rabbi Julius Berman, RIETS Board of Trustees chairman emeritus, took an in-depth look at the Rav’s policies on relating to and engaging with other denominations in the Jewish community.

“Events like these make me realize how much I would have learned from the Rav himself,” said Leba Winter ’11S. “His philosophy really emphasizes the idea of time and Torah having a sense of direction, carrying messages from the past to the way we live our lives today.”

Yishai Eisenberg is First Non-Israeli in 20 Years to Win International Bible Competition

On April 16, Yishai Eisenberg, a freshman at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy / Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB), became the first non-Israeli in 20 years to win the Chidon HaTanakh, Israel’s annual International Bible Competition for high school students. Eisenberg, of Passiac, NJ, dominated the competition from the outset, becoming the first champion in its 50-year run to share the winner’s circle when he finished the final round in an unprecedented tie with Elior Babian of Beit Shemesh.

Rabbi Shai Peron, minister of education; Yishai Eisenberg; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and Elior Babian.

An illustration of the country’s desire to connect Jewish independence to Jewish values, the annual contest took place on Yom Ha’atzmaut at The Jerusalem Theater, under the auspices of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Rabbi Shai Piron.

“We are all very proud of Yishai’s amazing accomplishment,” said Rabbi Michael Taubes, head of school at YUHSB. “We know how much time and effort he put into preparing for this and were all rooting for him. It’s unbelievable just to qualify for the competition, but to actually win is incredible.”

When the international competition began, 58 contestants from over 26 countries took the stage. Eisenberg secured a spot in this year’s competition by achieving the only perfect score at the National Bible Contest, which took place at Yeshiva University on May 6, 2012.

In what was intended to be the tie-breaking final round, host Avshalom Kor presented Eisenberg and Babian with a series of difficult questions, allowing each only five seconds to answer with no opportunities to correct themselves. After 12 intense rounds of head-to-head competition, both contestants received perfect scores, leading the judges to unanimously declare a tie.

Yeshiva University High Schools to Honor Community Leaders and Beloved Faculty Members at May 22 Dinner

Yeshiva University High Schools (YUHS) will present their Annual Dinner of Tribute on Wednesday, May 22, 2013 at Terrace on the Park, 52-11 111th Street, Flushing Meadows Park, NY. This year’s honorees include Guests of Honor Louis and Naomi Tuchman and faculty honorees, Lynda Smith and Dr. Seth Taylor.

Guests of Honor Louis and Naomi Tuchman

“The Board of Trustees joins the Yeshiva University High School community in paying tribute to two inspiring, beloved and dedicated faculty members,” said Miriam Goldberg, chair of YUHS. “Our guests of honor, Naomi and Louis, are a rare blend of community leaders who graciously give their time from their professional and person lives.”

Louis, a dedicated YUHS board member for the past five years, and Naomi are alumni of YU High Schools and are pillars in their community of Hillcrest, NY. They passionately share the vision of YUHS in educating young men and women to serve as future Jewish and lay leaders. Louis is an experienced tax attorney and was recently named chair of the tax department at Herrick Feinstein, after three decades at Kaye Scholer. Naomi is a CPA with her own independent practice.

Smith is the athletic director at the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls, coach of the tennis and volleyball teams and physical education instructor for all grades. She created the “Athletes Giving Back” program, a chesed project that has the sports teams raise money for nonprofit organizations. She is vice president of the Nassau County Board of Gymnastics High School Officials and a member of the NY State Board of Gymnastic Officials.

Taylor is principal for general studies and an instructor in European and world history at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy / Yeshiva University High School for Boys. A master teacher and administrator, he is the author of Between Tradition and Modernity: A History of the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy and is celebrating 25 years at YUHSB.

For reservations or for more information about the dinner, please contact Rabbi Moshe Kinderlehrer at 212-960-5489 or email mkinder@yu.edu, or visit www.yu.edu/hsdinner.

Basalely Will Serve as Edmond J. Safra Sgan Mashgiach in YU Sephardic Community Program

Rabbi Simon Basalely has been appointed the Edmond J. Safra Sgan Mashgiach for the Sephardic Community Program at Yeshiva University. Basalely, a graduate of the Israel Henry Beren Institute for Higher Talmudic Studies, also known as the Beren Kollel Elyon, will assume his new role at the start of the fall semester, providing guidance to the Sephardic students on the Wilf campus.

Rabbi Dr. Herbert C. Dobrinsky, YU vice president for university affairs, played a key role in securing the newly established position which was made possible with a grant from the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation.

Rabbi Simon Basalely

“This is a realization of our dream to give more spiritual guidance on campus to our ever growing Sephardic student population at Yeshiva,” said Rabbi Moshe Tessone, director of YU’s Sephardic Community Program and a faculty member at the Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies and the Philip and Sara Belz School of Jewish Music.

Basalely received his ordination from RIETS in 2010 after graduating Yeshiva College in 2005. He studied at the Mir Yeshiva and at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh in Israel and is also pursuing a master’s degree in Jewish education from YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to use my personal experiences at Yeshiva University to help the Sephardic students on campus feel at home here,” said Basalely.

Basalely has served as a Shoel U’Meishiv at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy / Yeshiva University High School for Boys and in YU’s Stone Beit Midrash Program. He has also held rabbinic internships at Yeshivat Noam in Paramus, NJ and at the Young Israel of Hillcrest, NY with a special focus on the Sephardic minyan within that congregation.

A native of the Persian Mashadi community of Great Neck, NY, Basalely currently lives in Washington Heights with his wife and three daughters.

Six Yeshiva University High School for Boys Students Named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists

Six seniors at the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB) were named semifinalists in the National Merit Scholarship Program after performing extremely well on their Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Tests (PSAT/ NMSQT). The students are Elliot Fuchs, Asher Guigui, Daniel Jaroslawicz, Aryeh Klein, Yitzchak Lindenbaum and Ori Putterman.

YUHSB’s six National Merit Scholarship semifinalists: Yitzchak Lindenbaum, Elliot Fuchs, Daniel Jaroslawicz, Aryeh Klein, Ori Putterman and Asher Guigui.

“We are proud that our Yeshiva has so many semifinalists this year,” said Dr. Seth Taylor, principal of general studies at YUHSB. “Moreover, this figure is quite similar to the amount of semifinalists we had last year and the year before that. That’s confirmation of the fact that a lot of bright young men decide to come to our school because of the superior education they know they will receive.”

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. Awards are given annually to students with the highest PSAT/ NMSQT selection index scores qualifying them for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Less than 1 percent of the 1.5 million entrants from over 21,000 high schools advance to finalist standing.

To become a finalist, students must have an outstanding academic record throughout high school, be endorsed by their principal and earn SAT scores that confirm the students’ earlier performance on the qualifying test. The finalists continue in the running for the opportunity to compete for some 8,200 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $35 million, which will be offered next spring.

“I’m so grateful to all my teachers and mentors at YUHSB who helped me reach this point,” said Fuchs, from Teaneck, NJ. “I couldn’t have achieved this without their guidance and support.”

Register today for the October 27 Open Houses at Yeshiva University High School for Boys and Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls.

YU High School for Boys Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Great Debate Tournament

When Harriet Levitt began teaching English at Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB) / The Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy in 1982, she saw a tremendous opportunity to enrich her students’ education through a competitive sport that had long been her passion: debate. “The degree of intellectuality that exists at the high school was amazing to me,” she said. “Our students argue gemara back and forth every morning. I realized the activity of debate would push that even further.”

Harriet Levitt, along with her husband, Dan, formed the Yeshiva Debate League in 1988.

Having loved her own experience as a high school and college debater, Levitt wanted YUHSB students to be able to participate in the National Forensic League. But there was a problem—the League’s debates all took place on Saturdays.

Undeterred, Levitt began recruiting thoughtful judges and organizing debates between YUHSB and its sister school, the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central). Levitt and her husband, Dan, also a college debater, began inviting other schools in the tri-state area, and before long local high schools and yeshivas were calling them, asking to get involved. In 1988, Levitt and her husband drafted a policy statement and formalized the first Yeshiva Debate League.

Now made up of close to 20 local yeshivas and high schools and celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Annual Cross-Examination Debate Tournament, or “Great Debate,” the League has made an impact on hundreds of students and alumni—particularly at YUHSB, where participation on the debate team is, for many, a highlight of their high school careers.

“I remember being pretty nervous at the beginning of my first debate, then a couple minutes in feeling thrilled and energized,” said Moshe Spinowitz ’97YUHS, who joined the team as a freshman and found himself hooked right away. He enjoyed debate so much that it played a role in his eventual decision to pursue Harvard Law School and a legal career; Spinowitz went on to clerk for United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia before becoming an associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

“I loved learning how to focus on the key issues that are likely to persuade your audience, whether that’s a judge presiding over a debate, a judge presiding over a court, or even the opposition, all while developing rational arguments and presenting them effectively,” Spinowitz said, noting that all of those skills prove critical to him on a daily basis in law. “Mrs. Levitt also really helped build a strong atmosphere of camaraderie among the debaters that made it not just a great educational experience, but a great social experience as well. I stayed in touch with her over the years and she’s been a key mentor.”

For Yehoshua Levine ’99YUHS, that atmosphere of camaraderie helped him feel connected not only to other debaters on his team, but to members of different classes and even different schools in the League. “Debate helped us cross class and school lines,” he said, recalling Levitt’s policy of having senior debaters coach freshmen. After graduating from Harvard Medical School, Levine now finds that he draws on the communication tools he honed in the League regularly as a practicing cardiologist. “Medicine calls for a lot of quick decision-making, critical thinking and multidisciplinary communication and interactions as you navigate the health care system, and those are all things I learned in debate,” he said.

That Levine and Spinowitz are still using their debate skills in two very different but similarly high-powered careers more than 15 years later is no accident—Levitt has always coached her students with an eye toward the future. Her debaters must wear a jacket and tie to every meet, no exceptions. “You are what you wear,” she said. “It puts you in a different mindset than if you’re simply wearing school clothes.” They also must know arguments for both sides of every issue they debate, no matter how strongly they agree or disagree with one in particular.

YUHSB students argue their case at the Great Debate in 2010.

“I tell them it will help them to know the opposition’s arguments and better equip them to respond,” Levitt said. “When I give students a topic they learn every possible fact about it, becoming mini-experts who are able to speak fluently, write about, and rely on their knowledge of the subject. They come out of the experience asking good questions based on the facts and with really considered, in-depth conclusions.”

Shani Pollak joined the debate team at Central as a freshman because she saw it as a great way to enhance her public speaking skills. “I have been on the team for all four years of high school and was lucky enough to be chosen as one of the captains,” she said. “I know I’ll walk away from debate with the ability to communicate effectively, research rigorously and think critically.”

Levitt agreed. “All of this is training for the mind that can’t happen in any other way than debate,” she said.

This year’s Great Debate will be held on Sunday, December 22, at Furst Hall on the Wilf Campus.