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MARCH 9, 2017 | The Jewish Home
Around the Community
Third Annual Bowl-A-Thon Raises over $15K for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem
Podiatry Goes Kosher
From L to R: Eli Halpert, MD, Yan Katsnelson, MD and owner of USA Vein Clinics, Jeffrey Kass, DPM, and Afshin Ganjian, DPM
T By Moshe Weiner, Grade 12
O
ver 100 students from HAFTR High School participated in the third annual Bowl-AThon, raising over $15,159 for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on Thursday night, February 23. Shaare Zedek is currently working to complete a new neurological center that will encompass a stroke unit, neuroradiology, and neurosurgery units. This important neurological area will save the lives of stroke victims, treat all brain/head traumas and disorders as well as post-traumatic stress disorder patients. The Bowl-A-Thon is a wonderful event, as each student raised at least $100; this money will go to benefit the new neurological center. Shaare Zedek is a very worthwhile cause that treats more than 850,000 patients each year, including more than 65,000 children, and delivers more than 22,000 babies each year.
Many HAFTR students related that they felt that they were doing something special by helping to provide aid to these patients. Even though Israel may seem faraway, HAFTR students feel a true connection to our homeland, especially in times of distress. The team that had the honor of raising the most money was “Rolling Thunder,” whose captains were David and Jonathan Lederer. Placing second for most money raised was Captain Shelly Koppel’s team, “Team Nadelbach.” By emailing family and friends to ask them to contribute to a worthwhile cause, HAFTR students managed to accomplish something truly amazing. The Bowl-A-Thon was held at Woodmere Lanes and was organized by Rabbi Nadelbach. Hopefully next year’s Bowl-A-Thon will be as successful as this year’s event, allowing students to have fun while contributing to a great cause.
hursday night, March 2, marked the first time ever the Nassau County Podiatric Medical Association held an all-kosher divisional meeting. Local Cedarhurst resident, and President of the Nassau Division, Dr. Jeffrey Kass kept a promise he made to himself to have at least one all kosher event. This was done with the help of his colleague, Afshin “Josh” Ganjian, DPM who practices in the Five Towns. The event was held at
Colbeh Restaurant in Great Neck and had the largest turnout for a divisional meeting in years. “The venue was perfect, the food was delicious, it was great seeing Jewish colleagues not having to eat out of tinfoil using plastic ware. This was my podiatric Sandy Koufax moment, if you will.” The Dinner was sponsored by USA Vein Clinics and a lecture was given by their Clinical Director, Eli Halpert, MD.
Tefillah Week at Yeshiva University High School for Girls
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dar is a time of tefillah: just as the Jews in Shushan prayed and saw great miracles, our actions and words can inspire personal miracles each and every day. As Chodesh Adar began, so did Central’s Tefillah Week, an opportunity to reflect, reconnect, and restructure tefillah at Central. Each morning opened with a themed tefillah to inspire us to daven a little bit better and gain an extra boost of concentration. Introducing the program last week were members of the JUMP club: Esty Awendstern (‘17), Sharoni Borenstein (‘17), Shternie Fredlender (‘18), Racheli Maidi (‘17), Bru Rabin (‘17), Sarala Robinzon (‘18), Yael Yehoshua (‘18), and Sophie Zwiebel (‘17). Using complex poetry as an analogy, the students drew parallels to the discomfort that often accompanies davening when we don’t understand the words and consequently cannot sincerely express our emotions. Using a live online survey, everyone submitted their feedback about their personal connections to davening. The results, conveyed with raw honesty, revealed that everyone needs to work on tefillah. The student representa-
tives explained that this year’s Tefillah Week was crafted for the students, by the students, and with information from the students. Monday morning featured a silent tefillah, for which students davened at their own paces before coming together in a communal, musical Hallel. Tuesday offered students a choice of davening silently in the cafe or attending a tefillah workshop led by a member of the JUMP team. As part of a rearranged schedule on Wednesday, special guest speaker Amit Yaghoubi addressed the student body before tefillah to inspire them as they prayed Shacharit afterward. On Thursday morning, everyone moved upstairs to the gym for a “Tefillah Shuffle.” At each chair was a card, drawn from responses generated by students, detailing what a member of our student body davens for. Students internalized these messages as they davened together. The closing “Tefillah Remix” on Friday was led by our visiting Ulpana exchange students as they spent their final day in Central. As everyone wore blue and white, our guests took us on a virtual tour of the holiest places in Israel.