On Tuesday, January 12, 2016 my partner, Josh Brafman, and I went to a tournament, held here at HANC, with Willets Road School, Roslyn Middle School, and Southside Middle School. The other teams from HANC included Doni Horowitz and Zeke Rothbort, Ariel Schwartzman and Moshe Wieder, and Rena Max and Shayna Greenstein. 

The morning started off with the leader of the tournament, world renowned, formally ranked. scrabble champion David Gould telling us the rules.We enjoyed a wonderful bagel breakfast and then began play in the library. Two of our four teams won the first (of five) round. 

In the last round, Josh and I found ourselves in the championship game playing an undefeated team. We ended up winning the game 367-225, fueled by getting four of our words on triple word score boxes. We came in first with a record of 4-1 and a spread of over 630! This was our third time in four tournaments.

We all had a great time and it was an enjoyable experience for everyone who participated.

By: Josh Goldenberg

On December 30 HANC Middle School held its annual Spelling Bee with two winners from each class competing. Each of the contestants had already moved to this level after the first round; not an easy feat.    After many rounds, we were left with two competitors; Shayna Greenstein and Rena Max. These two girls kept spelling all of their words correctly, and finally the rest of the school audience was dismissed to go to the buses. The following day Shayna and Rena continued in front of only Rabbi Hecht and me.   Again, they just kept spelling the words correctly - some of which we had never even heard of!   On day three Rena finally emerged as the winner.  She will compete in the LI finals, at Hofstra, in March. Congratulations to all the finalists and especially to Shayna and Rena for their amazing talent.

            On Tuesday, January 5th HANC Middle School had a Social Studies Fair of the Decades.  Students chose groups and a decade in Mrs. Seeno's social studies class.  They prepared both in class and out of school for nearly two months.  Students then presented their decades at the fair through the use of poster boards, power points, props, and music.  Costumes of the decade were a requirement as well. Everyone worked very hard preparing and presenting their projects.  Family and friends were able to view the different projects and learn about the decades ranging from 1760-2000.  A good time was had by all! 

On Sunday morning, January 10, HANC Middle School had their Bar Mitzvah program.  Grandfathers, fathers, and sons came together for a most enjoyable program.  The morning began with a beautiful tefilah.  The kavannah in the room was palpable.  Special thanks to Mordechai Strauss who served as chazzan for pesukei d'zimra and Dr. Jonah Wieder (father of seventh grader, Moshe) who led for shacharit.  After davening everyone heard from Mr. Scott M. Feltman, executive vice president of One Israel Fund.  One Israel Fund is an organization which has dedicated its efforts to providing humanitarian aid and assistance to the communities of Yehuda and Shomron. This year, the seventh grade boys are participating in a unique activity for their Bar Mitzvahs.  In the past, money has been collected from each student and then the Bar Mitzvah boy received a gift card from a choice of stores.  This year, Mrs. Bat-Sheva Kutner (mother of seventh grader, Baruch), decided to do something different.  She called each family and explained that if they each donated the money they would get from their friends  to One Israel Fund, the grade could make a very generous donation which would really make a difference.  When Mr. Feltman spoke he explained to the boys how special what they were doing was and that he had spoken to a number of schools around the country about doing something similar and HANC Middle School was the first to "step up to the plate."  The families had a great sense of pride as Mr. Feltman explained that their money would be going to fund a protective armored vest for a Ravshatz who is a civilian security chief in one of the Yehuda and Shomron communities.  The rest of the money would go to Pina Chama which is a soldier respite in Gush Etzion.

 

Next, the families enjoyed a delicious breakfast.  After breakfast, Rabbi Elliot Hecht, the Middle School principal, spent a few minutes discussing expected behaviors at a Bar Mitzvah.  Each student received a contract which they will be signing which goes through step by step how each of the talmidim should act.  Baruch Hashem, HANC has a wonderful reputation for their behavior at s'machot and we look forward to continuing to have that reputation.  The program continued with a fascinating presentation by Rabbi Heshy Pincus of Tiferes Stam.  He wowed the crowd with his explanations of how tefillin are made from the leather hides all the way to the straps and the klaf inside.  One participant said, "I learned things today that I never knew as I put my tefillin on all of these years." The final part of the program was learning some of the dances that are part of every simcha.  Gary Wallin and "The Schnitzel Guys" (aka Rabbi Yitzy Haber and Avromy Rothman) led everyone in this part of the program.  Everyone really got involved and even learned some new moves. The program was incredible and we look forward to celebrating with all of the boys at their s'machot.

 

We thank the following sponsors of the program:

Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Kutner in honor of Baruch Kutner's Bar Mitzvah

Dr. and Dr. Avi Schneider in honor of all of the boys' Bar Mitzvah celebrations

Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Strauss

 

On Monday, January 11th, H.A.N.C had the opportunity of hosting 5 school for a Torah Bowl competition. Student are given a Parsha to study independently with Rashi. Rabbi Harris then coaches the boys and Morah Klein coaches the girls for a few weeks to prepare them. The questions are challenging, the competition is intense, but the reward for Torah Lishma (and playing with buzzers!) makes it all worth it. We are proud of all the team members. A special Yasher Koach to the girls for winning their games against HAFTR and YCQ.

Proud Coach

David Tannenbaum

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     The Hanc Hurricanes middle school hockey team is once again having a great season.  Currently, they are 5-2-1, and are on pace to make the playoffs for a fourth season in a row.  They have had impressive victories over Haftr, Westchester, and Flatbush.  The most impressive victory however, was against YCQ as the Hurricanes beat them 2-0, and also ended their quest for a perfect season. 

     Hanc Hurricanes hockey is lead by an extremely talented group of 8th graders who put teamwork and effort above all else.  The leading scorer is Jonathan Yizhaky, and Eitan Auerbach has been a brick wall between the pipes.

     At this point, the hockey team has their sights set on one goal, which is to win the middle school hockey championships.  This team has the drive, ability, and depth to go deep into the playoffs, which will hopefully result in HANC's first ever hockey championship.

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Shabbat in West Hempstead

 

For Shabbat Parshat Bo, January 15 and 16, Rabbi Hecht and his family spent Shabbat in West Hempstead.  Fridaynight he spoke in Eitz Chaim of Dogwood Park.  The shul was packed with people.  In fact, almost all of the seventh grade girls came and then went back to Nili Kushner's house for dinner.  Friday night there was an amazing oneg at the Young Israel of West Hempstead.  There was great food (thank you I and D, Mr. Yizhaky, Mr. Lieberman and Master Lieberman). Rabbi Harris told a very powerful story.  Rabbi Kelemer spoke as well.  Kudos to Ezra Klein, Zeke Rothbort and Yoni Schneider for giving divrei Torah.  After the divrei Torah we had a great game of HANC taboo.   This was a lot of fun. Shabbat day, Rabbi Hecht spoke at the Young Israel of West Hempstead in the morning and at Anshei in the afternoon.  As this was the transition Shabbat for Rabbi Pearl, Rabbi Hecht opened his remarks with kind words highlighting Rabbi Pearl's incredible qualities.  Rabbi Hecht also mentioned that he looked forward to continuing to work with Rabbi Soniker.  By all accounts, the Shabbat was wonderful and enjoyed by all!!!

 

We thank the following families who sponsored the oneg:

 

Fred and Huvi Cohen

Beryl and Doreen Eckstein

Gadi and Shira Goldress

Natan and  Laurie Hecht

Tsvi and Ruchi Kushner

Ronald and Caryn Lenefsky

Joshua and Kari Levine

William and Sharon Lovy

Jeff and Tali Moskowitz

Moshe and Yael Oppenheim

Abe and Sara Peller

Yitzy and Deena Ritter

Louis and Lisa Saffran

Avi and Rochelle Schneider

David and Ivy Yizhaky