Dear Parents,
What an exciting week it has been at MDYHS! It is a pleasure for me to share a glimpse of some of the wonderful programs and events of the past few days with you.
On Monday, our students, under the direction of Mrs. Esther Tokayer - ably assisted by Ms. Audrey Nasar and Ms. Sally Mishanieh - commemorated Yom HaShoah in a most meaningful and moving way. The 9th and 10th graders visited three "stations" throughout the school. In the first station, students received "pages of testimony" which described the experiences of various individuals during the Holocaust. The students used this information to fill out "labor cards" and then attended an interactive lesson about the selection process used at the concentration camps. After the lesson, students made oral presentations to their peers about the life of their assigned Holocaust victim, using the "labor card" as a guide. At the second station, students saw a brief film about a Jewish man's narrow escape during the Shoah - this served as a trigger to discuss the kindness of Jews and non-Jews during this tragic period. And in the third station, students saw a short film about Ilan Ramon, the Israeli astronaut who perished in the space shuttle Challenger - Ilan was a child of Holocaust survivors, who often spoke of the impact that the Shoah had on him in forming his life's dreams. Each student had a chance to experience all three "stations." The program was concluded with a presentation by Mrs. Dori Katz who told the riveted audience of students about her harrowing story - one which will be recounted in her forthcoming book Looking for Strangers: The True Story of my Hidden Wartime Childhood, to be published this fall by the University of Chicago Press. Mrs. Katz then participated with MDYHS faculty in a candle lighting ceremony in memory of the Six Million, followed by a haunting prayer sung so beautifully by our own Rabbi Nir Shalom. (Please see the attached photos from this powerful program).
While the 9th and 10 graders were here at school, the 11th graders, under the supervision of Mrs. Shara Netkin, visited the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. The MDYHS delegation went in small groups - each with its own guide - to see the exhibits, and to hear from actual survivors who shared their experiences with our rapt students. When these special tours were concluded many students commented about how they felt the deep responsibility to perpetuate the heroic and tragic stories that they heard so that we - and the world - will never forget. The students also commented about how quite a few of the survivors carried with them a feeling of hope and optimism - and that those feelings were so inspirational to hear. What a valuable lesson to draw from this moving trip!
This week saw the beginning of our wonderful Senior Internship Program, under the caring and creative direction ofMrs. Sabrina Maleh and the entire Internship Team. Each week I hope to share one or two stories from the seniors' invaluable experiences as they go out to conquer the world. This week's story focuses on two students - Michael Mamiye and Gloria Safdieh. Michael is working for an equities company, and on the very first day, he was asked to accompany his supervisor on a trip to Maryland to view several properties. All along the way, Michale absorbed the lessons of the financial world... so much so that upon his return to NY, Michael was asked to work on a property project which involves researching locations in a 6 block radius in Manhattan, taking pictures, noting details, inputting the data into a spreadsheet, and then reporting on his findings. In his daily internship journal Michael related that within his first week at work he has learned that in order to really succeed, one needs to put in every ounce of effort and to persevere toward success. Well said Michael!
While Michael was researching properties, Gloria was being trained at a New York publishing house on how to discern between quality manuscript submissions versus submissions that are below par. She made such an impression on her supervisors, that within days they asked Gloria to read manuscripts and to be the first line at the company as to whether to accept the submissions that were sent in or not! The next novel you read may well be a "Gloria Safdieh-approved" submission! These, and other similar stories, prompted one parent to write to Mrs. Maleh about what the internship program has done for her daughter in just one day - "she has become independent...careful and responsible...she gives 110% to her job, and has gained tons of confidence...she is conscientious, and received a glowing report...I LOVE the internship program..." What a great testimonial!
As our seniors begin to make an impact in their various career pathways, they continue to hear about college admissions and merit-based scholarship awards. It is a joy to extend warm wishes of Mabrouk to the following students for their great new this week:
Joseph Abitbol - Baruch College, Brooklyn College, Hunter College
Linda Dayan - NY State Education Department Scholarship for Academic Excellence ($500)
Alicen Franco - LIM College
Esther Hanon - NY State Education Department Scholarship for Academic Excellence ($500)
Jen Jemal - Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Marymount College
Lisa Jrada - NY State Education Department Scholarship for Academic Excellence ($500)
Joseph Kassin - NY State Education Department Scholarship for Academic Excellence ($500)
David Sabbagh - Baruch College
Gloria Safdieh - NY State Education Department Scholarship for Academic Excellence ($1,500)
Achieving success and excellence finds meaning only when combined with beautiful middot - including a deep sense of appreciation for what one has been privileged to receive, and giving back to the community. Toward that end, on Wednesday our students, under the guidance of Rabbi Joey Haber walked a couple of blocks from school to see a blossoming fruit tree, where they recited the special Birkat Ha-Ilanot - a blessing that expresses our appreciation toHaShem for the beauty and bounty found in nature. (Please see the attached photos from this wonderful "excursion"). And on Wednesday as well, our students, under the direction of Ms. Elyse Nadjar, hosted a group of developmentally disabled youth from YACHAD for a Lunch & Learn program. The group composed skits about Israel, using Hebrew idioms. It was such a joy to see the shining smiles of all the students - the MDYHS students and the YACHAD students. (Please see the attached photo from this special presentation).
Last week I wrote about Rabbi Michael Bitton's Young Pioneer Award given by the greater NY Jewish Education Project. I invite you to see their announcement about the award (click here), which contains a wonderful paragraph about our illustrious Director of Educational Technology. And in a related note, I am pleased to announce that our own librarian, Mrs. Bruchie Weinstein, ran a workshop yesterday entitled What Do Real Librarians Do in a Virtual World? for the Association of Jewish Libraries, held at the Ramaz School. Once again, MDYHS faculty members are beacons for the larger educational world!
As we look to the week ahead, please note that this coming Tuesday's MDYHS SAT Workshop, under the direction of expert SAT coach Mrs. Sara Haleva will focus on Writing: Correlative Conjunctions, Parallel Structure, Illogical Comparisons, Noun Agreement, Modifying Phrases, and Diction, as well as on Math: Graphs, Charts, and Number Lines. In addition, I was so happy to hear that our own Rabbi Elinatan Bitton conducts a weekly Torah class on Thursdays at 7:30 pm, at the MDY elementary school, where current MDYHS girls along with young women alumni learn and are inspired. Women of all ages are invited to attend!
Finally, in the area of league competitions, I am happy to report that our Chess Team, under the leadership of Mr. Daniel Kamelhar, was victorious at their meet on Tuesday at North Shore Hebrew Academy. Leo Esses, Yoni Hadar, and Ralph Shamah played exceptionally strong games. Way to go MDYHS grandmasters! (Please see the attached photo from this exciting tournament). And congratulations to our Boys Varsity Soccer Team, under the supervision of coach Eddie Elbaz, on their recent overtime 2-1 win against the team of Ezra Academy. Teddy Kassab and Liron Cohen led the Warriors to victory.
As always, please accept my warmest wishes for a Shabbat Shalom and for a great week ahead!
Sincerely yours,
Rabbi Saul Zucker
