MAGEN DAVID YESHIVAH 
JOE AND CELIA ESSES HIGH SCHOOL WEEKLY NEWSLETTER


HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEK OF: 
March 27th, 2017


Parashat Vayikra
Candle lighting 7:02
 
In This Issue
Empowering the Women of MDYHS
March is Women's History Month, and this year at Magen David Yeshivah High School, we've decided to commemorate it with a special morning for all our young women. Starting with a Women's Empowerment Breakfast p ut forth by our Business Department Chair, Mrs. Amanda Cohen, the girls were treated to a powerful panel of women including  Elizabeth Sutton- Pop Artist and Creator of the Elizabeth Sutton Collection, Rachelle Tawil- MDYHS Alumnus and current Torah Department Chair, Rosie Assoulin- MDYHS Alumnus and acclaimed Fashion Designer, Sophia Franco- Author and Songwriter, Regina Randusky- Founder and Creator of Fresh From The Heart, Sophia Chabbott- Alumnus, Writer, Editor, and Digital Director of WWD, Florence Arking Labaton- Director of Marketing and Recruitment for Propel Network, and Adele Shamie- Labor and Delivery Nurse at NYU Hospital. They spoke about balancing work, home, personal time, as well as being a Modern Orthodox woman. Their invaluable advice and life experiences had us all agreeing with Junior Fortune Cohen, who said, "This is the most worthwhile program!".  


The event was followed by the  Wear Your Values Fashion Show, put together by Mrs. Ariella Falack in memory of Lidya Chami, a"h, and featuring her 9th, 11th, and 12th grade girls. The show was kicked off by a moving speech from  Glossip Girl, Judi Gabbay. As Mrs. Falack explains:  Fashion plays an important part in our lives. It's a way for us to express ourselves on a daily basis, a mini-art exhibit we put on for the world. As Jewish women, we have a unique opportunity to turn what we wear into a statement about our Jewish values. In the Wear Your Values fashion show, our students have done just that: they've spent the year studying Torah and Jewish law and translating the pesukim and commentaries they've learned into a myriad of outfits. Our tradition tells us that as Jews, we can enjoy the pleasures of the world, but in an appropriate manner. By connecting our love of Torah and its values with our love of fashion, we aim to do just that, and to show that clothing doesn't define the man -- or woman -- but we define our clothing, using it to make a statement about how to live a life of mitzvot.





Topping off such an inspirational morning, our Senior GEMS and Roses teachers, in honor of Mrs. Rose Cohen, said a special goodbye to their students, reading them poems before passing out notes to all the girls there for them to wish their senior sisters farewell and good wishes! 
Blood Drive
Great job on a successful Blood Drive, our second of the year!
Experiencing AIPAC
This week, three of our upperclassmen, traveled to Washington, DC, for the annual AIPAC Policy Conference. Ezra Mann, Ronnie Kassin, and Albert Hadef, along with Ms. Lisa Dadush, heard from impressive and powerful political players in regards to the importance of maintaining the US-Israel relationship including the US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Hayley, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Leader of the House Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Leader of the Senate Charles Schumer, Robert Menendez (a member of the Senate's Foreign Rations Committee), Vice President Mike Pence, and a skype call from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  They also learned about different people, businesses, and organizations that support Israel or the Jewish people. The most moving one was "Violins of Hope", whose goal is to bring back the passion of the violin to many Jews who gave up on the instrument during and after the Holocaust. The father and son team who make new violins adorned with Jewish stars, showed off the process followed by one of the leading Israeli violinists playing one of their violins on stage. Halfway through his musical piece, he began playing "Ha'tikvah" and all 18,000 attendees stood to sing the anthem. Additionally, the students learned about new technology that is being implemented to protect Israel, got to "fly" an Israeli fighter jet in a simulator, and experience what it would be like to go into space in an Israeli rocket through virtual reality. We even ran into Israeli Judo Olympian Or Sasson, and Tomer Fulman who is one of the heads of the Israeli security firm ISDS, the company hired to protect to 2016 summer Olympic games. He spoke about how important it was to have an Israeli security firm in charge of the Olympics the same year that the IOC finally agreed to hold a ceremony for the 11 Israeli Olympians killed in the 1972 Munich Olympics! 
Senior Mother/Daughter Day!
The senior girls had their Mother/Daughter Program this week, where, after taking an informative trip to the Sephardic Mikvah of Avenue S with Mrs. Aura Sutton, and learning how to bake Challah with Mrs. Sylvia Escava, they were met by their mothers and some grandmothers to enjoy some delicious lunch, quality time, and entertainment! There were appreciative speeches, a communications seminar with Mrs. Linda Benun, and fun roll playing games! 
                      

Boys Senior Day

While the senior girls were enjoying their special day, Rabbi Isaac Escava and Rabbi Elinatan Bitton took the senior boys to visit the Rosh Yeshivah of Mesivta Tiferet Jerusalem in Staten Island, Rabbi Reuven Feinstein, son of great  Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ZTL.   He spoke with boys about Torah and it's importance and how we need to be focused on it in our lives. He tied in many modern day examples and truly made the lesson relevant to our boys. After their visit, the boys had a great time paint balling!

Senior Mentors Say Goodbye

Since this is the last week of regular classes for our graduating seniors, they had their last mentoring session on Monday. To commemorate four years with their mentor, they played a fun game, how well do you know your mentor, and vice versa?  
When Class Becomes a Courtroom 
The 12th grade classes of Ms. Lisa Dadush and Ms. Shara Netkin prepared and conducted a murder trial in conjunction with the 9th grade Forensics project under the direction of Ms. Brocha Friedman. Students played the roles of defendants and prosecutors jurors, paralegals, and court reporters. Suspects in the case were Rabbi Hagler, Ms. Tokayer, Chris, our security guard, and Corey Schneer.
A special thank you to Ms. Nicole Ausubel for teaching our students about criminal law and acting as the judge of the case. 

Honorable Mention

Shout out to Senior Sarah Harary for receiving two honorable mentions for poems she submitted to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards
WARRIOR UPDATE!

-- Congratulations to the JV Yeshiva League 2017 Boys Basketball Champions-- Magen David Yeshivah High School Warriors!  Coach Sol Dweck kept this team running on all cylinders the entire season as his boys made the school proud.  Michael Natkin won the MVP with 16 points.  Edmund Antebi scored 14 points.  Ray Betesh scored 12 points and played great defense.  Albert Nsiri contributed 11 points and hit some clutch foul shots.  Teddy Cohen scored 7 points and dished out 7 assists in running the offense as the point guard. What a performance.  Fantastic Season.  A banner will be hanging from the rafters.  Go Warriors !!!!!!!!


--Big game for our JV Soccer Team, as they came out to play the team that stopped them from getting to last years finals! Coach Liran Cohen writes: Magen David started off the wrong foot as DRS capitalized on a silly mistake and  go up 1-0.  With one minute left in the first quarter Michael Natkin scored back to back goals within 30 seconds to put Magen David  on top 2-1.  Magen David continued their intense D, Ray Betesh was on a goal spree and put 6 in the back of the net!  Final score was 10-5,  Ray Betesh 6 goals! Michael Natkin 3 and Marc Hazan with 1, Ikey Dweck anchored the team once again, HANDS DOWN the best defense back in the league, Allan Sakkal with great defense and Izzy Sakkal with great goal keeping. MDY ends DRS's undefeated record and continues their own. 4-0 to start the season & stand at #1 team in the league!