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The Weekly Newsletter of the Weinbaum Yeshiva High School
Parshat Tetzaveh
Friday, March 2, 2007
Shabbat begins in Boca at 6:04pm
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From the desk of
Rabbi Perry
Tirschwell
I’d like to share with you the amazing story behind the
challenge grant the school has received.
Two months ago, a couple whose children have
attended WYHS called Shimmie and me for an after
hours meeting. They hinted that it was about a
donation. We had no idea what we were in store for!
They said that they feel that WYHS is the most
important institution in the South Florida Jewish
community. They had assumed that it would take the
school a number of years to attain academic
excellence, and were pleasantly surprised that it had
in such a short period of time. In terms of fun and
inspiration, WYHS was far beyond their personal high
school experiences.
What was even more amazing was their desire to
attack the school’s deficit. The original gift of a million
dollars, which started the school, covered the school’s
deficit for three years. Due to the Keter Society,
Sephardic Scholarship Fund and careful budgeting,
this is the second year that the school is operating “in
the black”. In the intervening years, the school racked
up a deficit of $700,000. It was down to $625,000 by
August, 2006.
The philosophy of our founder Rabbi Kenneth Brander
was not only “build it, and they will come”, but “build it
great, and they will come in droves”.
We have certainly seen the wisdom of his words, but
must now foot the bill before we can go to the next
stage in the school’s history.
WYHS is, G-d willing, about to experience a number of
years of significant growth. Though our present home
is a comfortable fit for this year and next, we will be at
capacity in 2008-2009, and over capacity in 2009-
2010. We need to move.
Please accept this family’s challenge. They will match
your donation, dollar for dollar, up to $250,000.
Between that and conservative budgeting, we want to
erase the deficit by the end of this calendar year. That
will allow us to begin building a permanent campus.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Perry Tirschwell
Click
on the images below
to
link to these
five websites
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Upcoming Events
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Annual Purim Chagigah
Sat. Night, March 3 @
8:45pm
Junior Class Ski Trip
March 4-7
Donate Extra Mishloach Manot
@ WYHS March 5-9
Hollywood Family Shabbat
March 16-17
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Good and Welfare
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Mazel Tov to
Mrs. Esther Grossman on the marriage of
her
sister
Refuah Shleima to
Mr. & Mrs. Adam Dobrick’s son Ethan,
who is recovering from surgery
Mr. Jules Weiss
who is recovering from surgery
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Adar-Fest
5767:
It Takes "Talent" To be "Lazy"
By Amanda Krasna ('07)
WYHS celebrated Rosh Chodesh Adar a
little differently
this
year. Instead of the traditional Topsy-Turvy
Day, the students
of
WYHS were treated to the first annual
Adar-Fest, featuring
a girls
talent show and a boys Lazy Man Olympics.
Mrs. Kanner opened the show with a
d’var Torah
that praised
each person’s own unique abilities and
skills. The girls were
able to
showcase hidden talents in this year’s
unforgettable talent
show.
Memorable acts included a hilarious song and
dance routine
performed
by the Tirschwell sisters and Shoshana
Tornopsky’s (“09)
poignant
original song. The teachers even got up on
stage, as Mrs.
Horowitz,
Mrs. Schochet, and Mrs. Jacob performed the side-
splitting “WYHS
Girl” to Madonna’s “Material Girl.”
All of the participants performed
amazingly, with the
audience
cheering their friends and classmates on.
The boys, however, got “lazy” in the first
ever Lazy Man
Olympics.
Each boy was able to compete in
“strenuous” events such
as
wiffle ball, table tennis, air hockey,
foosball, video games,
and
the crowd favorite, Dance Dance Revolution.
Despite the “lazy” title, the
competition was intense and
serious. The senior boys were victorious
over the
sophomores to
take the wiffle ball championship, while
Hillel Leftkowitz (’07)
dominated the air hockey table. Spectators
were entertained
by the
brother on brother DDR match up between Zack
(’07) and Matt
(’08)
Firestone.
Thanks to Amanda Krasna (’07), Esti
Tokayer (’07), Ethan
Wasserman (’07) and Rabbi Spodek, the
students were able to
bring in Rosh Chodesh Adar in a completely
new way.
Start
practicing and training for next year’s Adar
Fest!
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Rallying For
JusticeWYHS Students Fight For
Agunot
And Take A Stand
Against Iran
By Jordana Kaminetsky ('07)
and
Danielle
Wolkowicz
('09)
This week, WYHS students have
made
bold
political statements and have gotten involved for
the good
of the
community and the Jewish nation.
This past Tuesday, the senior class attended the
agunah rally in Boca Raton. Armed with
posters, water
bottles,
and desire for justice, the seniors, along with
Rabbis
Tirschwell, Sugerman, and Horowitz, joined the BRS
community
and
protested in front of Dr. Abisror’s office, who will not
grant his
wife a
get—Jewish divorce.
After the first day of rallying was
unsuccessful,
the seniors took this woman’s struggle to heart
and felt an
obligation to champion this woman’s cause.
The class has learned how important it is to help our
fellow
Jew and
help this agunah in her struggle for justice. G-d
willing, with the seniors
help,
may this agunah be the last of her
kind.
On Thursday afternoon, Ta’anit Esther, students of
WYHS
gathered in the Boca Raton Synagogue for a rally
against
Iran and
its race to build nuclear weapons. The students
were
inspired by
the illustrious speakers who addressed them, in
particular
Senator Ted
Deutsch and an emotional “Am Yisrael Chai” led by
Rabbi
Friedman.
Rabbi Friedman urged the students to
become
aware of the conflicts in Iran, but not to fear because
“Haman tried
to destroy us, and he’s no longer here. Hitler tried
to
destroy us,
but he’s no longer here.” The students were truly
moved and
left with a
better understanding of the conflicts in Iran and how to
speak
out
against them.
Click Here To Read Agunah Rally Article In FJN
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Boys Varsity
Basketball
Make Their Last Game A Slam Dunk
By Eli Baratz ('08)
This past weekend, the boys varsity basketball
team
traveled
up to New York for the first annual DRS invitational
basketball
tournament. While the Storm lost to host DRS
and JEC,
the boys
team came up only one point short in a spectacular
game
against
Memphis.
However, the Storm was able to regain some
glory, as they
defeated Memphis in one of the tournament’s most
suspenseful
games in the consolation round. The Storm won
big in
their final
game of the season, with Michael Schiff (‘08)
sinking a
whopping
15 points, and ended their season on a positive note.
WYHS didn’t leave the tournament completely
empty-
handed--
captain Anosh Zaghi (‘08) was named to the All-
Tournament
team upon
scoring an amazing 24 points in the final game, and
averaged
16 over
the course of the tournament. Overall, the season
was
a
success, and
the Storm has high hopes for next year’s returning
team.
Special thanks to coaches Jon Kaweblum and
David
Kornbluth,
who led the team with passion and dedication
and
helped the
team achieve all that they did. Look out for next year’s
boys
varsity
basketball team!
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One Man's
Junk
Is the
Junior
Class' Treasure
Junior Class Breaks Fundraising Records
By Julie Rosenberg ('08)
In an unprecedented effort, the
junior
class has
raised a whopping $1000 in just three weeks!
Led by the
class
presidents Julie Rosenberg and Daniel Shimansky,
the junior
class
has shown an amazing amount of effort and
dedication to
ensure the
entire class can enjoy the memorable class ski trip.
In order to fundraise for the upcoming junior ski
trip, the
class
of ’08 has done everything from selling dozens of
cookies
and
Snapples during breakfast and lunch, to holding a
garage
sale.
After collecting donated items from all over South
Florida, the
junior
class held a garage sale at the Boca Raton
Synagogue’s Purim
carnival. The juniors were able to raise over $700 in
just one
day!
Thank you to all those who supported
the
junior
class by buying cookies or donating items to the
garage sale.
Special
thanks to Mrs. Belolo for helping bake cookies, and to
Rabbi
Spodek for helping to organize this event. Hopefully
this will be the
best
class trip
ever!
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Up Close And
Personal With
Ms. Dana Sardano
Learning Specialist
By Shira Borzak (’07)
The Academic Guidance Department is a
crucial part of
WYHS.
With the help of teacher and Learning
Specialist Ms. Dana
Sardano,
students are able to manage their schedules,
balance their
workloads
and receive help for different learning
styles. Here, Ms.
Sardano tells
us about what she does and why she does it.
Describe your most rewarding moment as a
teacher.
I just love when kids, who have convinced themselves
for
their entire academic career
that
they can’t learn or that they just can't "do" a
certain subject, succeed. To be able to be a part
of that is really
rewarding.
What drew you to education?
As a high school student, I lacked inspiration in the
classroom. Very often I would watch my teachers and
think to myself how I would make kids actually want to
learn.
How did you get into the field of Learning
Specialist?
As far as I can remember, I have always appreciated a
good challenge. My strengths include an ability to
connect with people, maintain a positive spirit and
energy, and unwaver in my determination. My mother
wanted me to
take these strengths and make my millions in sales;
however, I
wanted to make a difference in the
life of a child.
What do you love most about working at
WYHS?
The food! But what I really love about WYHS
is the faculty. The nice thing about being in a
yeshiva is the focus on religious values. There is a
level of
professionalism that goes
hand in
hand with these values. At WYHS, I know I’m working
with people who
are reverent,
professional,
and truly care about what’s going on with our
students.
In
too many schools,
teachers
just teach. Here, it’s really a calling.
What have you implemented in WYHS?
The planners! In my first year here, I had to
beat kids over the
head and
force them to use their planners. Now kids
run into my office on
the first
day of school, beating down my door for a
planner. It has
become a
necessity—it started for freshmen, but now I
order one for every
student and some faculty members! During the first
week, I’m the most
popular girl in school!
What advice can you give to the students?
Because this is such a
rigorous curriculum,
you have to break things down in
pieces and stay on
them
nightly. Then it won't get away from you.
Avoid the inferno
by
putting out little flames as they start.
Is there anything your students don’t know
about you?
I think they know a little too much! But
seriously—that teaching them is my first priority, and
there is nothing else I would rather do.
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2
Namesakes of the
school--Jack and
Ginger Weinbaum
289 Number of students
who have attended WYHS since it was named
for the Weinbaums
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$4,062 Amount raised by students
for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
194,000,000
Number of people
in the world currently diagnosed with
Diabetes who will be helped by this donation
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9
Number of years
WYHS has been in existence
1,604 Number of Mishloach Manot
the Tirschwells have sent to WYHS families
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"Here I know that
I’m
seen,
here I know that I’m heard.
You take time and
hear what I’m saying.
Here is where I can be the real me."
-- Shoshana Tornopsky( ’09), sung
in the
Talent Show
about her WYHS experience
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here
Yeshiva Highlites
Staff |
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| Shira Borzak (’07) |
Editor-in-Chief |
Alexa Bryn (’08) |
Assistant Editor |
Mrs. Claudia Cohen |
Director of Technology |
| Alana Dweck ('09) |
Assistant Photo Editor |
Jordana Kaminetsky (’07) |
Senior Editor |
Benjamin Shai (’07) |
Photo Editor |
| Rabbi Josh Spodek |
Staff Advisor |
Danielle Wolkowicz ('09) |
Chief of Correspondents |
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