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The Weekly Newsletter of
Weinbaum
Yeshiva High School
Parshat Chaye Sarah
Friday, November 2, 2007
Shabbat begins in Boca @ 6:20
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From the desk
of
Rabbi Perry
Tirschwell
Though the school is located in Boca Raton,
close to
half of WYHS' students live in other communities
throughout South Florida. Attracting and
servicing
these students and their families is a high
priority to
the school.
The energy created by the mix of students
from different communities is an important
component in the WYHS experience. After
attending
pre K through middle school with the same
classmates, WYHS students truly appreciate the
infusion of new personalities and talents.
The major Jewish communities to the south
(Hollywood, Miami Beach and North Miami Beach)
provide the lion's share of WYHS' commuters,
though
students also come from Aventura, Coral Springs,
Parkland, Plantation and Weston. To the north,
students hail from Boynton Beach, Lantana, Lake
Worth, and Palm Beach Gardens. WYHS even has
three students from Jacksonville who board.
WYHS coordinates busing from the three
major communities to the south. When it runs
programs on non-school days (basketball
practices, first night of Selichot,
prospective student
barbeque), WYHS endeavors to do this in a
central
location. The boys optional Sunday morning
mishmar takes place in four different
locations
each weekend.
WYHS goes on the road a number of times a year.
Parents are invited to express their concerns
and
suggestions at Town Meetings (four of
which
will take place this month), which are run in 5
communities. To help parents get to know the
school's Judaic faculty, the rebbeim
and their
families spend Shabbatot in other
communities. To show his appreciation for the
commuting students, each Purim Rabbi Tirschwell
personally delivers mishloach manot to
each
student, from Miami to Lantana.
In turn, these communities have been very
supportive of WYHS. WYHS' president, Dr. Sam
Lasko, hails from Hollywood. A significant
number of
board members live outside of Boca. A high
percentage of the members of the Keter Society,
comprised of friends of WYHS who have made
multiple year commitments to supporting the
school
in a significant way, come from Broward and Dade
counties.
The vision of our school's founder, Rabbi Kenneth
Brander, was to build a
yeshiva the services all of South Florida.
This has
certainly come to fruition.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Perry
Tirschwell
Click
on the images below
to
link to these
nine websites
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Good and Welfare
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Mazel Tov To:
Netanel Schlesinger ('01) on his
engagement to Netanela
Hermus in Israel
Condolences To:
Dr. Michael Kanner on the loss of his
mother
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Singing,
Simcha,
and Shabbat Ruach
Boys MAD Tisch at
WYHS
By Yoni Levenson ('09)
This past Shabbat, all of the boys stayed
in Boca
for the
annual mad tisch and boys shabbaton. As
Shabbos
started, the boys met at shul for a
meaningful
Mincha and Maariv. Following
davening, the boys proceeded to their
respective
Gemara Shiur Rabbi's house for a
delicious
meal in
good company.
Without even a chance to digest the great
meal,
the
students were gathered at the home of Student
Council
President, Anosh Zaghi, for the true
highlight of the
night, the Mad Tisch.
The Tisch began with zmirot, song
after
song as
boys coming from all over Montoya Circle piled
through the
doors. As the students settled in and
everyone calmed
down from the energizing singing
taking place
in the
room, the boys were fortunate to hear several
Divrei
Torah
on a wide range of topics from Matt Orlinsky
('11), Max
Singer ('09), Anosh Zaghi ('08) and our very
own
Rabbi
Sugerman, while consuming bowl after bowl of
Terry's
classic chulent.
The night was a true success; a night
filled with
zmirot, food and inspiration. Thank
you to the
faculty
for making the night as special as it was and
a very
special
thanks to the Zaghi family for opening up
their home.
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Helping the
Community,
One House at a Time
By Perla Maikhor ('09)
This past Sunday morning, WYHS students had
the
opportunity to participate in this year's
first Habitat
for
Humanity program. For four hours, the
students
dedicated their time to helping a family in
need. Because of their helping hands, the
house
progressed to another level of construction.
As the house quickly became
occupied
with numerous juniors and seniors, gardening
tools
and
working gloves were distributed and barrels were
continuously overflowing with dirt. The students
enthusiasm was evident. They started their
day by
leveling dirt to make the side yards smooth,
flat,
and
even. Everyone worked diligently as a team, and
put a great deal
effort into their work.
At the end of the long but rewarding day, the
students truly saw the outcome of their hard
work.
Iliana Nash ('09)
remarked, "It
was definitely worth the drive from Aventura.
I really
enjoyed doing this; not only was it
productive but it
gave me
a chance to give back to my community."
For the students at WYHS, a day like
Sunday was very special. Their help was an
integral
part of
the building of the home. Aesop, a famous
writer of
fables,
once said, "No act of kindness, no matter how
small, is
ever wasted." The students' amazing
efforts will
have a great , positive, and lasting impact
on one
family from Boynton Beach.
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Teachers Go Back To
School
Professional
Development at WYHS
By Rabbi Alan Houben
The faculty is offered many opportunities for
professional development throughout the calendar
year. This past week, the high school's
Judaic and
college preparatory teachers, together with
their
colleagues from Donna Klein, Hillel Day
School, and
Torah Academy, participated in the Jewish
Federation
of South Palm Beach County's annual Day School
Educators Professional Development Conference.
After a brief dvar Torah from the
Executive
Director of the Federation's Jewish Education
Commission, Dr. Leon Weissberg, the assembled
were treated to a keynote address by Dr. Rona
Novick,
Associate Professor at Yeshiva University's
Azrieli
Graduate School of Education, entitled "The
Holiness
of Our Work." The schools then broke out
into smaller
sessions geared towards the particular
clientele of
each school.
WYHS faculty met with Azrieli Doctoral Candidate
Penina
Joel to discuss Differentiated Instruction- an
approach to teaching that recognizes the varying
needs of students in the classroom and
attempts to
maximize the success of each student by reaching
each child where they are, b'asher who
sham.
A highlight of the program was when the
faculty broke
up into
smaller groups, giving them the opportunity
to engage
in a cross curriculum dialogue about common
challenges they face when addressing the
needs of
all of
our students. The faculty relished the
chance to
speak both theoretically and practically with
their
colleagues.
In addition to providing the speakers at this
conference, Yeshiva
University equipped WYHS and twenty-nine other
Jewish day
schools across North America with video
conferencing capabilities. A star studded
lineup of
speakers present via videoconference on various
topics. The faculty is blessed to have access
to world
renown educators without even leaving the
confines of
the school.
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Up Close
and
Personal
with Mrs.
Vivian Kestenbaum
By Daniella Greer
('09)
This year, WYHS has welcomed several
new faculty
members into the WYHS
family. We are especially pleased to
introduce Mrs. Vivian
Kestenbaum, who
is teaching Spanish and advanced Ivrit. In
addition, Mrs.
Kestenbaum
substituted for Mrs Horowitz's chumash class
during her maternity leave. Having only been at
the school for
two months, Mrs.
Kestenbaum has already welcomed students
into her
house a myriad of times
for Shabbos meals, Challah making
classes, and a Spanish
fiesta. Below, I speak to Mrs. Kestenbaum
about her time so
far at WYHS and
what she wishes for her students.
How has your experience been so far at
WYHS?
She said: Absolutely amazing! The
students and
teachers have been so
welcoming. I am so happy to be here.
What is the most important thing you wish
to impart to
your students in
the classroom and out?
She said:
To feel good about themselves and have
self-confidence.
What did you enjoy most about teaching
chumash?
She said:
I learned that each student
in my class has something to offer, and I
have learned so
much from every
one of them.
Having come from other schools, what
strikes you as
the most unique aspect
of WYHS?
She said:
The school is so accepting of everyone for
who he/she is.
And as
a whole, the teachers at our school tend to
really care about,
and even love,
their students and the students feel the same
way.
This is one aspect of the school
that is extremely
special.
What is it like to teach both a Hebrew and
Spanish
class?
She said:
It's very fun to go from one language to
another and see the
students in different atmospheres.
Is there anything you want your students to
know about you
that they might
not know?
She said:
Well, I've lived on three different
continents. I'm from Peru, then I moved to
Israel, and
now, of course, I
live in the US.
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"Many thanks for sending us the
Yeshiva Highlites.
They are very
interesting
and we look forward
to receiving them
each
week."
-- Esther Benzaquen, Aunt
of Rachel Benaim ('10)
who lives in
Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory
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