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From: Rabbi Perry Tirschwell <rpt@wyhs.net>
Subject: Color War Special Yeshiva High-lites
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Color War Special Yeshiva High-lites
YESHIVA HIGHLITES
COLOR WAR SPECIAL
Weekly Newsletter of Weinbaum Yeshiva High School
Parshat Vayikra 5768
Friday, March 14, 2008
Shabbat begins in Boca at 7:11
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In This Issue

From the desk of
Rabbi Perry Tirschwell

Picture a student who each day sits quietly in class doing his work, doesn't start on a sports team, and never stars in a dramatic or academic presentation.

Now picture that same student standing on a chair, mustering up all the energy he can, leading half of the school in an ear shattering cheer.

That sums up why we run Color War. Amongst the many often dormant creative skills that Color War brings out in our students are:

  • Artistic (banner making and decorating) and Instrumental (STOMP)

  • Oratory (Divrei Torah) and Linguistic (Text Twist)

  • Pedagogic (teaching songs and cheers) and Photographic (photography competition)

  • Scientific (Junkyard Wars) and Lyrical (Team Songs)

  • Athletic (in sports the school doesn't compete) and, of course Leadership.

    Thanks to Program Director Rabbi Josh Spodek , assistant Program Director Rabbi Allan Houben, Mrs. Amy Horowitz, the Student Council Presidents, and the entire faculty for their hard work in making this the best Color War in WYHS history. This special edition Yeshiva Highlites gives you a taste of the energy and excitement that pervaded school this past week.

    Shabbat Shalom

    Rabbi Perry Tirschwell

    Congratulations to both teams for a battle well fought and to captains Eli Albert ('09), Aryeh Genet ('08), Perla Maikhor ('09) and Yocheved Tirschwell ('08) for energetically leading your teams. Mazel Tov to the Rosh Team on their victory!

  • Breaking Out the Battle:
    Color War Begins with
    Old Classics and New Additions

    CLICK ON PICTURE FOR INCREDIBLE SLIDESHOW

    by LeeLee Borzak ('10)

    "Live, from Boca, it's color war!" shouted Bassie Orzechowitz ('08), initiating the most anticipated and exciting time of the year.

    After receiving a plaque from a member of Temple Beth Am in Jupiter which recognized the impressive way she handled her 3 point shootout battle with the FHSAA, Bassie broke out color war to an ecstatic student body. The energy was prevalent as students got their color war shirts-gray for team Rosh and red for team Lev and then gathered into their respective teams.

    Rosh captains Eli Albert ('09) and Yocheved Tirschwell ('08) and Lev captains Perla Maikhor ('09) and Aryeh Genet ('08) greeted their team members with cheering and enthusiasm and began to assign students to various tasks which ensured that each person had a job. Whether it was working on the banner, participating in sports or the amazing race, working on songs or cheers, or building a kite, everyone was involved.

    The broad list of activities guaranteed that each student could help to lead his or her team to victory.

    The festivities began with intense rounds of dodge ball; a classic color war competition. Teams were divided into boys and girls then separated further into 9th and 10th graders and 11th and 12th graders. The students dodged, ducked, dipped, dove, and had an amazing time. Even after getting out, the players continued on the team spirit by cheering for their team members on the sidelines.

    New this year was "Human Twister." Students had the chance to display their flexibility as they were instructed to put their hands, feet, and even heads on specified areas of the Twister board for extensive periods of time. It really tested the participants' endurance.

    Next, teams played "Capture the Flag," another new addition to color war. The playing field was huge, which intensified the game and made it fun for everyone.

    Team members really displayed their team spirit as many stayed at school till the wee hours of the morning working on various aspects of color war. From creatively decorating the hallways to writing songs and cheers, teammates proved to be extremely dedicated to their team.

    Color war was truly off to an exciting start!


    Twisting Text, Delivering
    Divrei Torah, and Creating Kites

    by LeeLee Borzak ('10)

    After returning from Logger's Run, students recharged themselves with lunch and Mincha, and heard inspiring divrei torah about the importance of lev and the significance of rosh from Ariella Davis ('09) and Ben Scheiner ('09) before partaking in the more unusual, but very entertaining, color war activities.

    For the "Text Twist" competition, six letters for each team were displayed on a screen. Four members from each team were selected to not only type in as many words as possible using those letters, but also to come up with the one word which incorporated all six letters in order to proceed to the next round. Both teams showed great teamwork as everyone had the opportunity to shout the words to the typing team member.

    Color war also featured Junkyard Wars, a competition in its fourth year at WYHS that challenges each team's ingenuity and design ability. This year, each team was given a budget in order to acquire the materials needed in order to build a kite. Their challenge was to design a functional kite whose effectiveness would be tested by its height and duration of flight. It was incredible to see what students were able to create in only a short period of time.

    One part of color war that brought the whole team together was the cheers. Both teams had a few minutes each to cheer their hearts out with original and classic cheers designed for their team and the respective themes. Culminating in a screaming blitz from each of the four captains, the cheers section had every single team member red in the face and hoarse form their effort and enthusiasm.


    Shiurim, Simon, and a
    Whole Lot of Sportsmanship

    by LeeLee Borzak ('10)

    The first morning activity of color war was team learning. What made it extraordinary was that each team learned about the opposing team-the Rosh team learned about the concept of Lev (heart) and the Lev team learned about the concept of Rosh (head). These shiurim truly taught everyone the deeper messages behind color war.

    A crazy "Simon Says" competition got everyone up and active before they began sports. From jazz hands to jogging in place, the atmosphere was filled with laughter as each teammate carefully followed the instructions given by "Simon." Both Ms. Sardano and Rabbi Houben were very imaginative as they gave unique directions as the role of "Simon." After there was only one person standing and one team was declared victorious, both teams boarded a bus to play the traditional color war sports.

    Track and field, soccer, basketball, volleyball, football, and a new addition-wiffle ball- were only some of the activities at Logger's Run park. Everyone was involved, whether it was participating in the intense sports or cheering on teammates from the sidelines. The powerful ruach could be felt at each game and there was a friendly competitiveness throughout the sporting events. It was a great opportunity for both individuals and teams to show their athletic abilities and team spirit.

    Each team member learned, cheered, and played hard and the day was a huge success!


    Pyramids, Pushing Carts,
    Pudding, Puzzles, and Pep:
    The Amazing Race

    by LeeLee Borzak ('10)

    One of the most anticipated events in all of color war is the "Amazing Race" - an activity that combines intellect, athletics, and chocolate pudding. With over twenty two different events, team members were assigned various tasks, such as hula hooping, toilet paper wrapping, shooting basketballs, and completing a surprisingly challenging children's puzzle.

    New this year were "road blocks" in which teachers would at random halt the race until team members completed a specific task. Some memorable ones included "Paddle or Waddle" in which two members from each team had the choice to either kayak across a small lake or carry the boat on their shoulders and "Hydrate Yourself" which called for one member from each team to run around the lake with a shopping cart and pick up five gallon-sized jugs of water on the way. These road blocks added to the suspense and excitement of the Amazing Race.

    Some of the race's highlights were watching blindfolded senior girls feed freshmen girls pudding and watching the boys form human pyramids. One of the greatest parts of the race was the final competition with a very close race around the lake.

    The race was extremely close throughout, and the teams were kept in suspense until the very last moment.


    The Creative, Artistic & the Musical
    The Finale of
    Color War 5768 is a Ball!

    by LeeLee Borzak ('10)

    Color war is an opportunity for students' artistic and musical talents to shine. This year's color war banners were especially stunning. Rosh and Lev displayed their respective team's theme through Torah by using the prism of art. Teams combined their artistic abilities with their knowledge of verses or sayings in the Torah to create beautiful pieces of art that will hang proudly in our halls for years to come.

    New this year was the stomp. Teams were given ordinary items, such as brooms, pots, and empty water jugs to create a harmonious beat. Despite some extremely complicated beats, participants proved to have impressive senses of rhythm. The stomp was a major success!

    Theme songs are a major part of color war. Requiring team unity and creativity, the theme songs are sung by every member of each team and feature original and poignant lyrics sung to popular songs. Lev's chorus "always use your heart, no matter what you think, from this day now and forever more; Natati lahem lev lada'at oti ninsor et libeinu tamid " and Rosh's refrain of "Use your rosh and everything is alright. It will guide you when it seems there's no light. Moach shalet al halev; use your heart but more importantly your brain" resonated the true meanings of each team's name.

    It was a beautiful moment watching each team singing their hearts out for their team.

    A unique segment of color war, the photo competitions, featured the photographic skills of students. They presented the best moments of the day captured in beautiful photographs. Visually stunning, touching, and sometimes hilarious, these pictures summed up the entire day in a visual medium through an entertaining competition.

    After pizza and drinks, there was yet another activity which was new this year. "American Gladiator"-in which two opponents step into their own inflatable spheres and race around a track. This was an amusing, creative and exciting final competition of color war. Some intense rounds included brothers Zack Baratz ('10) vs. Elie Baratz ('08) and the team captains racing against each other.

    Students then gathered together as teams for the last time to watch the final color war slideshow. Produced by Technical Director Claudia Cohen, these pictures chronicled the events of Color War, from the first moments of breakout to moments just before the finale. All watching were able to relive the intense and packed events of Color War.

    After much anticipation, the color war winner was announced-Team Rosh! However, each student's ruach and hard work made each and every one of them winners.

    Thank you to Rabbi Spodek, Rabbi Houben, Mrs. Horowitz, Claudia Cohen and the team captains for all of the time and energy they put into making this the best color war ever!



    Yeshiva Highlites Staff

    Danielle Wolkowicz (’09)

    Editor-in-Chief

    LeeLee Borzak (’08)

    Assistant Editor

    Mrs. Claudia Cohen

    Director of Technology
    Alana Dweck ('09) Photo Editor

    Daniella Greer (’09)

    Features Editor

    Josh Kaminetsky(’09)

    Layout Editor

    David Petrover (’10) Assistant Photo Editor

    Aleeza Rubin(’09)

    Chief of Correspondents

    David Spektor(’10)

    Assistant Photo Editor
    Rabbi Josh Spodek Staff Advisor
    email: rpt@wyhs.net
    voice: 561-417-7422

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