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April 5, 2019
29th of Adar Bet, 5779
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Candle Lighting at 7:21 PM
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Building Character
This Shabbat we read from three Sifrei Torah (Parshat Tazria, Rosh Chodesh, and Parshat HaChodesh). In Parshat Tazria we are introduced to laws of
tumah
and
tahara
. In describing the process by which a new mother must wait until she is ritually pure in order to enter the Temple, the Torah says: בכל קודש לא תגע ואל המקדש לא תבוא עד מלאת ימי טהרה. Literally, that means that she may not touch any consecrated food or enter the Temple until the completion of her days of purity. The chassidic master, Rav Elimelech of Lizhensk, interpreted the pasuk homiletically:
One should not touch holiness or approach God until he has first spent considerable time purifying his own character.
Character is the foundation on which we build our spiritual lives.
This week, I was amazed by the extraordinary performance of our students in the Spring Comedy production of Clue-a comedy that presented the vast array of human personalities, from meek to pompous, from stern to friendly. That night, our talented theatrical students showed off their new, unique characters they had spent weeks developing. Character development can be found in all places, be it at school, at home, or on the stage. Any of us can build stronger characters; we just need to seize the opportunities given to us.
I hope that as teachers, students, and as a community we are able to use all of the opportunities afforded to us to strive toward that sense of character development and religious engagement.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jonathan Kroll
Head of School
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Upcoming Events
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Rosh Chodesh Nisan
April 9
April 14th
Sunday Mishmar
ACT Testing
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Good & Welfare
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Matthew Jacoby ('11) to Dakota Gotlib from Manhattan.
Rachel (Dolgow '04) and Joseph Belleli on the birth of their daughter, Lielle Avigael.
Yitty (Levine '04) and Brad Garden on the birth of their daughter, Savannah Rae.
Sasan ('08)
and Yael Peimani on the birth of their daughter, Eliana Esther.
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Star-Studded Cast Performs a Marvelous
And
Utterly Jaw-dropping
Play for the Spring Comedy
Graphic by Leora Cohn ('20)
Article by Ariella Greenberg ('22)
On Tuesday night, the KYHS Drama Department put on yet another fantastic production:
Clue
. The show is based on the board game, Clue, and it follows a murder mystery, with comedic relief mixed in. The cast had worked for only about two months before performing, but still managed to pull everything off. The show, directed by the incredible Jill Lustig, was amazing and left the audience cracking up.
Dedicated Senior Shirel Garzon played the role of Mrs. White. This was Shirel's seventh KYHS show and her eighth show overall. Playing Mrs. White was Shirel's favorite role so far. She says that since the comedy cast was smaller, it was so much fun to connect closely with everyone and make new best friends in the last two months. The cast prepared for the show by working together to develop their individual characters and motivations. Her advice to students who are interested in being part of the KYHS Drama Department is to go for it, make big choices, and be dedicated, because it has proved an incredible experience. As usual, the Spring Comedy exceeded expectations and we are looking forward to the next one!
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KYHS Students Join Thousands Of Israel Supporters At AIPAC
Graphic by Akiva Groman ('19)
Article by Sydney Freedman ('20)
KYHS students took to DC to learn and lobby on behalf of the America-Israel relationship at the annual AIPAC policy conference. Students had the opportunity to hear from high-profile speakers including former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, Vice President Mike Pence, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi about the current political climate and the strong relationship between the US and Israel. Perhaps even more significantly, students were able to lobby their members of congress and share why Israel must be a priority and what congress can do for Israel. "This is my fourth Policy Conference, and every year I am blown away by the unwavering support for Israel demonstrated by US leadership," said one student in attendance. "The opportunity to communicate directly with our members of congress is such a unique and important opportunity and it really helps me feel that I am doing my part on behalf of Israel," said another.
If you're interested in getting more involved in AIPAC or Israel activism, reach out to the KYHS Storm for Israel club to learn more!
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An Interview With Yossi Klein Halevi
Students Enjoy Stimulating Conversation Between Mrs. Seidenfeld And Yossi Klein Halevi About the Situation in Israel.
Graphic by Sivan Mussaffi ('20) and Josh Bernten ('20)
Article by Adina Hirsch ('19)
Katz Yeshiva High School of South Florida was honored to have world-renowned author Yossi Klein Halevi speak to its junior and senior classes. Halevi is the author of
Memoirs of a Jewish Extremist
,
At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden
,
Like Dreamers
,
and
Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor
. Yossi Klein Halevi has also written op-eds about Israeli issues in the
Wall Street Journal, New York Times,
and
Los Angeles Times
.
In preparation for Halevi's speech, juniors and seniors read a compelling excerpt from his acclaimed book
Letter to my Palestinian Neighbor
. Leora Keehn ('19) remarked, "reading Yossi Klein Halevi's book added a whole new dimension to the Arab-Israeli conflict." While addressing students, Halevi revealed his purpose behind writing this book, explaining that he wanted to give Jews a 21st-century defense of Israel as well as, most importantly, teaching Zionists how to give empathy to Palestinians while remaining firm in their narrative. Halevi wanted to show two accounts of the Arab-Israeli conflict and foster mutual respect from both sides. He has been successful in accomplishing this: Halevi has received numerous letters from Palestinians, has an ongoing pen-pal from these letters, and has been on numerous campus tours sharing his important message.
While KYHS seniors had prior exposure to the complexities of the Middle East Crisis through attending their informative senior Israel History class, Yossi Klein Halevi synthesized topics students had learned into a multifaceted perspective on the crisis. Halevi explained to students that they must balance the fact that the Jews are the occupiers of the Palestinian people, while still remembering that the Palestinians deny the Jewish people's legitimacy to Israel. The left wing parties are focused on ending the Israeli occupation while the right wing parties are focused on maintaining all the land of Israel. Halevi expressed the importance of having a centrist perspective--gradually paving the way to peace through compromises from both sides.
Halevi concluded his talk, addressing how to deal with anti-Israel encounters on college campuses. Advising students to educate themselves about different perspectives, to become nuanced on issues, and to actively spread their narrative, Halevi reinforced that students must be strong in their argument but never dismiss the other side. This advice will greatly benefit KYHS students as they venture off onto college campuses and interact with the larger global community. Thank you to Yossi Klein Halevi for coming to speak to KYHS students!
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Russians Hack Purim Meme Contest; Security Officials Baffled
Worst Meme Of All Time Wins Highlites Purim Meme Madness Contest
Graphic by Justin Isaacs ('19)
Article by Al Dimont ('20)
Congratulations to Rabbi Kroll/Bee Meme for winning this year's Meme Madness! After a lot of back and forth between the Rabbi Kroll Meme and the Dovid Grajower Meme in the finals, Rabbi Kroll's meme pulled through with the win, getting 3240 votes over Dovid's meme with 2226 votes. What a tight race it was! All the memes were from pictures taken at the Purim Chagigah that represented "shtick" about our school. The madness included a lot of upsets and underdog wins. What started with 16 brilliant memes quickly narrowed to two over the course of the day. Each round lasted about an hour and whichever meme had more points by the end of the hour moved on to the next round. Students spent last Friday clicking memes as fast as they could to rack up points for their favorites. One student even created a special code to automatically rack up votes for their pick. All the memes were smart, but there were a few shockers in both the memes themselves and in their wins and losses worth noting. Time for a Meme Review!
The Upset: "Officer Seidenfeld." Out of all the memes, many people were shocked about this loss. This meme had everything, from a perfect picture (including costumes and emotions) to the caption that related very well to both the picture and the "shtick" of our school. Many people were rooting for this one but it just didn't get enough votes to get past the final four. Next time we need faster clickers with better internet speeds!
The Underdog: "Laughing Grajower." Although this meme was popular, no one expected it to go as far as it did. Don't get me wrong, it was funny and relevant, but it seemed to lack the necessary "school shtick" to make it go far. This meme had a small but strong following of "clickers" who pushed it far, all the way into the championship. Thanks to your grassroots campaign, we were able to stick up for the small guys.
The Hilarious Clapback: "Freshman Airpods." Nothing against freshman, but if I had to rate which meme was the "funniest" I would have to say the Freshman/Airpod meme. When someone puts airpods into their ears they act as if they own the world. This perfectly matches the picture of the girls dressed as rappers with gold chains. AirPods scream "don't mess with me cause I want it, I got it." I can just imagine a scene in the Purim Video next year of students walking down the hallways in slow-motion with AirPods in their ears!
Most Creative: "Maleficent's New Squad." What makes this meme so creative is not only the perfect caption for the picture but the actual costume itself. The Maleficent costume was spectacular and unexpected. While all the other teachers dressed to the bee-keeper theme, Mrs. Kanner wasn't going to be boxed in by "societal beekeeping veils" and she did her own thing that stood out from everyone. This is reflected in the meme since everyone else is dressed as a firefighter but there was one metamorphosing witch. I guess that's what you gotta do when you get left out of staff arrangements. I see a trend going and cannot wait for next year's costume!
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Mrs. Leba Schneider Speaks To 11th And 12th Grade Girls About Torah And Science
Graphic by Chana Schandelson ('22) and Aerin Tripp ('22)
Article by Sara Deichman ('19)
Mrs. Leba Schneider, esteemed friend of and previous teacher at KYHS, returned for a visit a few weeks ago. During her time spent at the school, she spoke to 11th and 12th grade girls on a Friday afternoon. Even though students were on the brink of weekend excitement, she managed to keep the girls engaged with audience involvement and an exciting tone. Mrs. Schneider connected three separate stories in the Torah, beginning with Adam and Eve, and went on to share an anecdote about her own experience at the Natural History Museum in New York City with her young children. It was refreshing for teachers to hear from an old friend and for students to hear from such a distinguished Torah scholar. Mrs. Schneider now spends her time working at the Tiferet seminary in Israel.
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Scholastic Awards
Students Achieve High Honors In Scholastic Awards
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Ask Adina
Hear Sage Advice From An Experienced Senior
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Hi Adina! I get really #HANGRY throughout the day and get in bad moods in class. Some teachers don't let me eat, and even when other teachers do let me eat during class, I never remember to bring enough snacks. Do you have any advice?
-Hangry Hangry Hippo
Hi! Wow, that is such a great question. I definitely feel your pain; being hangry is so annoying, and it feels impossible to focus on school work when you feel this way!
As for teachers not letting you eat in class, you have to respect their decisions. Ms. Segal notes, "Food in the classroom is a distraction to other students as well as the teacher, who is trying to create an environment of learning. Additionally, I feel the student who brings the food is also distracted and not focused on learning." My advice if this is the case for you would be to eat your snacks quickly in between classes, just to give your brain a quick burst of energy to last you until your next break.
I'm constantly hungry, so I make sure to keep a stash of extra snacks and food in the trunk of my car or in my locker. Things that don't expire quickly such as granola bars, chips, pretzels and popcorn (that you can pop at school) make great additions to your new food collection! Shoutout to Nina Mamrout ('19), who says, "I started looking through my lunchbox at the end of each day, and if I find that I have any extra snacks that won't go bad, instead of taking them home, I put some back into my locker. Slowly, I accumulate a pile of snacks that I can turn to when I am hungry or if I forgot to pack snacks! That's my little life hack."
Plus, now that the Grove has finally opened up, whenever you get hungry, you can always buy some food!
Oh, and just make sure if you are bringing food into the classroom (with the teacher's permission, hopefully) you don't make too much noise and clean up after yourself (#NotTerry'sJob).
I hope you can stop being hangry. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Adina
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The Yeshiva Highlites Staff
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