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The Weekly Newsletter of
Weinbaum
Yeshiva High School
Parshat Tetzaveh
Friday, February 15, 2008
Shabbat begins in Boca @ 5:55
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From the desk
of
Rabbi Perry
Tirschwell
It's still hard to believe- we cancelled Color War
this week, just before breakout.
Despite all our attempts at secrecy, everyone knew
exactly when it was coming. The breakout seemed
superfluous. However, just as it was about to begin,
we received the unfathomable news of the
untimely passing of
one of our school's founders- Mr. Elie Berdugo,
age
52. Color War could not go on. There was a greater
message to teach.
Elie Berdugo was a true prince of a man. He
was the leader of Boca Raton's Sephardic community,
often lead
tefillot and delivered divrei Torah
every Shabbat. He was a daily minyan
and daf yomi attendee with a regal carriage
and an unusually balanced temperament. He was
both Yissachar and Zevulon- he
dedicated significant time to learning Torah, and
supported others who did as well.
WYHS is eternally grateful to Elie Berdugo z"l
for
four unique contributions.
Elie and his wife Guila, ybl"c, took a chance on
us. They sent their only son to us in our first year.
For three years, our basketball team's strategy was
to "get the ball to Yogev." Yogev Berdugo ('01) went
on
to study at Brandeis, to play professional basketball in
Israel, and has been working for his father and
pursuing an MBA.
Mr. Berdugo designed, permitted, and built the
facility we occupy in an unthinkable timetable of
10
months. It was a labor of love. When it looked like
the building wouldn¡¦t be ready in time, Elie moved his
office to our location to make sure it was finished. In
recognition, the room in which our Sephardic students
pray each morning is named after Elie's sister.
The Berdugos created a Sephardic
Scholarship Fund at WYHS. When Shimmie and I
approached him about the growing needs of these
children of recent immigrants to the US, Elie offered
us significantly more than what we asked him for.
WYHS' students were his children, who
davened in the Beit Midrash named
for his sister, and went to class in his building.
Lastly, Elie was a true role model to our students,
particularly Sephardic boys. He was the Israeli
emigre who made it big, became a ben
Torah
in the process, and became a leader in the Jewish
and business communities. He was respected by all
who had the privilege of knowing him.
Life is like a symphony. It is not measured by its
length, rather by its beauty. Elie Berdugo lead a
beautiful life. The WYHS has gained a melitz
yosher in heaven and has lost a true friend below.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Perry
Tirschwell
Click
on the images below
to
link to these
nine websites
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10 Year Anniversary Journal Dinner
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Tuesday, March 25 @
6:00pm
Join the Tribute
Committee
Names received by 9:00am
Tuesday
will appear in the dinner
invitation
Download the Ad
Blank
Tribute Committee (in formation)
Ellen & Jay Adler
Idit & Jonathan Agus
Lisa & Phil Baratz
Alyssa & Menachem Baumgarten
Deborah & David Benaim
Helene & Abbey Berkowitz
Batzi & Billy Berman
Carol & Howard Bienenfeld
Deena & Steve Borzak
Broad & Cassel
Claudia & Doug Cohen
Shulamit & Stephen Danis
Mona & Alan Fisher
Susan & William Ganz
Dorit & Ben J. Genet
Monica & David Genet
Rachel & Neil Greenbaum
Miriam & Levi Grunhaus
Anna & Stanley Haar
Jodi & Jeffrey Harris
Anita & Samuel Heering
Shari & Moshe Hirth
Elaine & Merv Jacobs
Judy & Gary Krasna
Lori & Harold Landa
Ellen & Jon Lasko
Arlene & Sam Lasko
Marissa & David Levenson
Ruth & Gideon Losinski
Fay & Jose Poliak
Chani & Bennett Salomon
Dana & Barry Schecter
Loren & Eric Stein
Ted & Linda Struhl
David & Haya Tepper
Jonathan & Pam Turk
Fay & Jeffrey Wolkowicz
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Upcoming Events
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Presidents Weekend -
No
School
Sunday-Monday, February 17-18
Freshman Night Out
Tuesday, February 26 @
3:45
pm
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Good & Welfare
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Mazel tov to Mr. & Mrs. Jon
Kaweblum
on the birth of a son
Mazel tov to Bruria Lieberman on
her
engagement
Condolences to Guila, Yogev ('01),
Eidan and Adi Berdugo
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WE ARE THE
CHAMPIONS!
Girls Varsity Basketball
Team
Wins
Nation Wide Tournament
By Ilana Ben-Ezra ('10)
This year's WYHS Girls Varsity
Basketball Team showed us all what it means to be a
hardworking and successful team, finishing the
season with
an impressive 14-6 record. We played hard
during every game and each victory was well earned.
From our game in the Miami Heat Arena to our
appearance at the Regionals, this year's season
has been truly memorable and exciting!
At this year's RASG Hebrew Academy Girls
Basketball
Tournament, the Storm picked up where last
year's team left off, winning our first two
games versus Yeshiva Atlanta and Rambam of
Baltimore. Although we had a tough loss to YULA, we
still secured a spot in the final round.
Coming in as the heavy underdog, the Storm
played their best against the SAR High School Sting
and pulled off a 33-32 victory in a
nail-biting game. The game itself was played
through fever and tears, and it was an emotional end
to our seniors' high school basketball careers.
Congratulations to MVP of the WYHS
team Tamar Koenigsberg
('08),
MVP of the tournament and runner-up in the Hot Shots
Competition Daniella Litwin ('10), winner of
the
Hot Shot Competition and runner-up in the Three
Point Shoot Bassie Orzechowitz
('08), and to the whole team for an amazing
tournament and season.
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Recognizing the
Gift of
Life
WYHS Adds Over 60 People to
Bone
Marrow Registry
By Iliana Nash ('09)
A couple of months ago, the school decided it
would be interesting and educational to bring
in a
speaker from the Gift of Life Foundation. The
Gift of
Life, a bone marrow donor recruitment
organization
and donor registry was established in 1991 by
Jay
Feinberg.
After an inspiring presentation, the students at
WYHS were committed to the cause. However, one
must be eighteen years of age or older to be a bone
marrow donor. Being that most
students are younger than eighteen and can't join the
registry, the
WYHS students searched for other ways that they can
help this wonderful organization. Therefore, WYHS
decided to
sponsor a Gift of Life registry at the recent
Boca Raton Synagogue health fair. Nineteen students
and
three
devoted faculty members, Mrs. Goldstein, Mrs.
Andron,
and Mrs. Englander, dedicated their
time
and volunteered at the station from 11AM to 2
PM.
Because of the students' and faculty members'
devotion and enthusiasm, sixty-four more
people have registered and are now possible bone
marrow donors for the Gift of Life Foundation.
Volunteer Shani San Solo ('09)
remarked, "participating in the gift of life
drive enabled
me to contribute to and learn about the
importance of this tremendous cause."
We encourage all those who are eligible to go
online
and register for this amazing cause because
"He who
saves one life saves the entire world" (Gemarah
Sanhedrin).
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It All Adds Up
WYHS' First Ever Math Club
By Shmuel Dresner ('09)
The Weinbaum Yeshiva High School
math club started this year with over
twenty-five eager
participants who wished to show off their math
genius. Over the weeks, however, the true
"mathletes"
emerged: those who actively and repeatedly
came
to meetings and competitions and who enjoyed
spending lunchtime engaging themselves in
mathematical enigmas.
On average, the math club boasts about a
10-15
person group that meets during Tuesday lunch
and is
led by Mrs. Doughty, a teacher who is always
prepared
and ready to infuse us "mathletes" with her
enthusiasm and love for math.
This past Tuesday, the math club had its
first
major competition: the Mathematical
Association of
America's American Mathematics Competition (AMC
10A/12A). Ninth and tenth graders worked
hard on
one test, while the upperclassmen were given
a more
rigorous examination. A select few students
with high
enough individual scores, will be given the
privilege
and opportunity of entering into yet
another-more
distinct-math competition. Throughout the
year,
the upperclassmen, Shmuel Dresner ('09),
Yocheved
Tirschwell ('08), Brett Aiken ('09), Danny
Aiken ('09),
Elan Aiken ('09), Noah Cohen ('09), Sofia
Peimani
('09), and Ariella Davis ('09), have acted as
mentors and role models for to their younger
teammates to improve and expand their math
skills. All in all, the math club is a group of great
people and most of all, great fun.
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Welcome, Class of
2012!
Prospective Students Get to Know Each
Other at Barbecue
By Paul Hess ('11) and Hadassah Tirschwell
('11)
This past Sunday, Mrs. Kanner and Rabbi
Tirschwell opened their homes to the prospective
incoming
freshmen, the class of 2012. The girls
interacted over
pizza and ice-cream sundaes while the boys
bonded
over hotdogs, hamburgers, and ices and each group
enjoyed meeting future teachers and learning
more
about WYHS.
At Mrs. Kanner's house, the girls chatted
with
teachers and student ambassadors, current WYHS
students. Mrs. Kanner gave a beautiful Dvar
Torah about Parshat Terumah and
linked it
to the uniqueness of WYHS. Then the
girls
got to know each other in an action-packed game
of "Sister-Sister" with WYHS paraphernalia
awarded to
the three winning teams.
At Rabbi Tirschwell's house, the boys enjoyed a
delicious barbeque with the WYHS Rabbeim and
male student embassadors. The house was filled
with sounds of laughter, conversations about sports,
and discussions about the
school. Then, the attendees went outside
and played a fun game of knockout, with the winners
and runners
up receiving WYHS memorabilia. Afterwards,
everyone enjoyed refreshing ice pops. it was evident to
all the
perspective WYHS freshmen that there is so much
more to get
out of
WYHS in addition to the challenging and exciting
learning. Thank you to Rabbi Tirschwell and Mrs.
Kanner for
graciously opening up their homes, to
Mrs.
Melissa Pereira for organizing this
spectacular event,
and to all of the students who came to represent
WYHS.
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Up Close and
Personal
with Girls Varsity Basketball
Captains
By Daniella Greer ('09)
This year, the Girls Varsity Basketball
Team held
the greatest record in all of WYHS history. I
spoke to
the GV captains, Tamar Koenigsberg ('08) and
Bassie
Orzechowitz ('08), regarding their time as
captains.
What do you think made this season's
varsity
basketball team so successful?
Tamar: In the beginning of the year,
everyone
thought we would be so bad. However, we worked
really hard together and as a result, did
extremely
better than anyone thought possible.
Bassie: Because we lost so many key
players from last year, everyone though we
didn't have
a chance. This made us push even harder, and
gave
us more of a drive to win.
How does it feel to be the captain of the
school's
most victorious team?
Tamar: Amazing! I had so much fun
getting to
bond with the team and leading them.
Bassie: I really feel like a leader. I
remembered how it felt to be new on the team,
so I
was able to help the new people in the same
way I
was helped, which really benefited the team.
What role did you play in leading the
team on and
off the court?
Tamar: Whenever a member of the team
had
a problem, I helped her with it. I also
helped people
focus while playing the game. I was more of
an on
court mentor and Bassie was involved more in
mentoring off the court.
Bassie: I helped each player develop her
skills and
also really became friends with all the
members of the
team. I was able to help them with any of their
problems and was there for anyone who needed me.
What message would you like to leave next
year's
GV team with?
Tamar: Even though a lot of people are
leaving the team, don't worry. We were so
successful
because of the new members we got from JV, so
I'm
sure you will succeed as well. Also, don't
let any
negative comments about the team get to you.
Bassie: No matter what negative comments
you may get, don't let any of them bother
you. Also,
whoever plays hard and with their heart will
get what
they want-guaranteed.
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"I have been so impressed with
the
students from Weinbaum!
They are truly remarkable,
and you
should be proud of their accomplishments
on
behalf of the bone marrow drive."
Jay Feinberg, Executive Director
of Gift of Life
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