CYHSB Weekly 02/18/22

Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

February 18, 2022

CYHSB WEEKLY Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

Volume 16, Issue 10 Talented Teams: 2022 Super Bowl Recap Page 3 Crazy Crosswords Page 4 The Golden Calf: Who’s Really to Blame?

Page 5 The La Rouxs: Inspiring Educators and Mentors Page 7

This week’s CYHSB Weekly is sponsored by the Weekly Staff.

CYHSB Weekly

Head waiter, Benjamin Siegel, prepares the waiters for the Steak Dinner. Photo: Michael Baum

Savory Steaks: Behind the Steak Dinner Benjamin Siegel (’22) Waiters are sprinting, hot food is being held high, ovens are full, the kitchen is cramped, and delicious food is piling up. What seems to be a disaster waiting to happen is really 38 high schoolers cooperating together as we serve 300 community guests for dinner. The Steak Dinner is a perfect example of unnoticed chaos blending in with calm waiters happily serving their guests.

This past Monday, February 14th, the CYHSB hosted its annual Steak Dinner. Something about this year's dinner felt even more special to me than other years. For starters, my family and

I were coincidentally in St. Louis skiing the weekend the school was scheduled to pick up the steaks. So, Sunday morning, my family picked up 275 steaks, lunch, and dinner from Kohn's deli. Afterward, we enjoyed skiing for the next five hours in the Hidden Valley before returning to Memphis. It was a special moment for me knowing that all of the steaks ready to be served to our guests were in my possession.

Secondly, I was honored with the position of co-head waiter alongside my partner in crime, Nadav Goldkin. Two years ago, we were both inexperienced sophomores who followed our 1

Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

head waiters' lead. After missing the Steak Dinner junior year, we approached Rabbi Gersten and assured him that we would be able to make the 27th Steak Dinner the most memorable one yet. Together, we were able to serve all of our 300 plus guests with a record time of under seven minutes! Additionally, we were responsible for supervising all of the other 22 waiters who asked us questions and looked up to us as role models. Finally, as a senior head waiter, Nadav and I decided to dress slightly differently.

We wore black and white. From top to bottom, we dressed in black shoes, funky socks, a black dress shirt, a black velvet kippah, white suspenders, and a white bow tie. It was necessary to go all out for our last Steak Dinner ever.

Aside from my role in the event, there were so many behindthe-scenes preparations that went unnoticed and unappreciated. Every student was responsible for calling community members to invite them to our dinner. We enhanced our speaking and organization skills while communicating over the phone. Freshman Ethan Vanderwalde said, "Doing Steak Dinner calls really improved my 'speaking to strangers' skills, and I learned about people in the Memphis Jewish community that I had never heard of before."

Zev Bosin and Ezra Weiner were responsible for preparing 15 advertisements to promote their businesses and entertaining the audience on the night of the Steak Dinner. They gathered costumes, wrote scripts, hauled in students to

February 18, 2022

Community members had a great time at the Steak Dinner. Photo: Instragram/ @mhafyos

help act, drove to numerous different locations to film, and spent sleepless nights editing the video.

Their hard work and dedication are much appreciated after watching the final product. CYHSB Junior Ezra Wiener said, "Making the video was a great experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed the process."

Finally, our CYHSB trio band played an excellent rendition of "Czardas." Twin seniors Noam and Shachar Cahana and freshman Ethan Vanderwalde rehearsed day and night preparing this beautiful piece of music. They shocked the audience and received a 20-second standing ovation at the end.

On February 8th, Rabbi Gersten delivered his famous Steak Dinner preparation speech to the entire high school. He went over the schedule for the weekend and who would work each shift. The waiters arranged 25 tables down to the millimeter while 300 chairs were distributed evenly. Simultaneously, Zevi Kirshtein and Coby Goldblatt

were head chefs who were willing to burn their hands for the dinner.

They oversaw the other kitchen staff members while focusing on the steaks. During the dinner, I only heard compliments from my table and others.

It is abundantly clear to me that teamwork, cooperation, and communication are the three skills that were needed for this dinner to happen. On the night of the dinner, my favorite part was working through the organized chaos. The kitchen staff would take the food out of the warmers, and the waiters would pick up the plates. The behind-the-scenes and planning of the dinner were hectic, but the gymnasium was quiet and serene.

Looking back on my last Steak Dinner, I would like to thank Rabbi Gersten for all of his efforts in planning and supervising this event.

It is truly one of my favorite moments of the year.

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Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

February 18, 2022

AP Students Cont.

Talented Teams: 2022 Super Bowl Recap

Avi Klein (’22) Who would have thought that in 2022, Tom Brady would be retired, and the Super Bowl would consist of the Cincinnati Bengals, led by a sophomore quarterback, playing against the LA Rams, led by Matthew Stafford, a 12 year veteran playing for the Rams for the first year. Despite such a surprise, the Super Bowl this year reported having an average of 112.3 million viewerships, the most of any TV stream in the past five years.

Leading up to the Super Bowl, three of the four divisional-round games were decided by an endgame field goal, along with both Conference Championship games ending with a three-point win and the AFC Championship ending in overtime. The majority of the games in the NFL Playoffs this year were exciting games for fans to watch, and the Super Bowl was expected to be the same with new quarterbacks and record-young head coaches.

Towards the end of the game, the Rams were able to pull off the late win with Matthew Stafford finding star receiver Cooper Kupp for the go-ahead, back shoulder, 1-yard touchdown with 1:25 to play. But would the Bengals answer? Threetime Defensive Player of the Year, Aaron Donald, ensured Cincinnati wouldn’t get the win when he wrapped up Burrow on 4th-and-1 to seal the win with 39 seconds to play.

Despite the game being so close down the stretch, the Rams were one of the most stacked teams on both sides of the ball after switching to an “All-in” mindset last offseason. On the offensive end, Mathew Stafford was able to use his weapons in Cam Akers (RB), Cooper Kupp (WR), Odell Beckham Jr. (WR), who left the game with a non-contact ACL tear, and Tyler Higbee (TE). This season, Cooper Kupp was simply sensational by winning the receiving triple crown (most receptions, receiving yards, CYHSB Weekly

Cooper Kupp celebrates his Super Bowl victory. Source: yahoo.com and receiving touchdowns), winning offensive player of the year, and winning Super Bowl MVP thanks to that late game-winning drive. Only one player has ever achieved these three things before, and that is Jerry Rice. However, while Rice received all these achievements as well, they were throughout his entire career, while Kupp did it all in one season.

On the Defensive end, 284 lb defensive lineman Aaron Donald was working alongside Leanord Floyd and Von Miller on the line, with Jalen Ramsey in the secondary.

Despite Aaron Donald being double and sometimes triple-teamed in the game, his impact was still felt throughout the game by his ability to free other teammates to make a play and his game-ending plays to cause a turnover on downs by the Bengals. In the Secondary, Jalen Ramsey was able to keep Bengals rookie star wide receiver Ja’marr Chase go just 89 yards, most of which came on an amazing extended over-the-shoulder catch by Chase. However, Ramsey did give up the longest receiving touchdown of his career with a 75-yard touchdown by the Bengals. While

there was no flag on the play, it was clear that the touchdown only occurred due to a face-mask grab by receiver Tee Higgins which dragged Ramsey to the ground and left him wide open.

The Super Bowl this year was one that might not have been so exciting, but it was one full of fresh and new talent which hasn’t been in the Super Bowl many times.

Furthermore, the referees in the game truly let the players fight it out with limited flags thrown, which is what many fans like when watching a game. To top it all off, the entire Super Bowl came down to a gamewinning drive, consisting of a nolook pass by the Rams and a oneon-one touchdown to win the game with less than two minutes to go.

With all that said, the football included in the Super Bowl this year was refreshing to see, but the Jacksonville Jaguars are on the clock for the 2022 draft, the offseason has begun, and we will see who will make it to the big game next year.

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Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

February 18, 2022

Crazy Crosswords

Last Week’s Solution

Can you gure out the names?

The rst one to send in a completed puzzle to nadav.weiss@mhafyos.org will receive a shoutout!

Note: All answers can be found in the articles

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Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

February 18, 2022

The Golden Calf: Who’s Really to Blame?

Rafi Goldkin (’25) When we read the parsha this week, many of us don’t even realize the obvious question staring us in the face. The Israelites count 40 days for Moshe to come down, and when he doesn’t, what do they do? They call out to Aaron and say, “Come, make us a god who shall go before us because we don’t know what has happened to Moshe.” How could the tribe that witnessed the ten plagues and the splitting of the sea even consider worshiping another god for a second?

There are many opinions that answer this question. Rashi blames it on the Erev Rav (the mixed multitude). Rashi blames many of Bnei Yisrael’s problems on the Erev Rav throughout the book of Bamidbar. The Erev Rav was the group of Egyptian converts that followed Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt.

Rashi proves this through what Hashem says to Moshe, “‫ְֶך־רד ֚ ִכּי‬ ֵ֕ ‫ל‬ ‫ֲשׁר ֶהע ֱֵל֖יתָ מֵאֶ ֶ֥רץ ִמצ ָ ְֽרי ִם‬ ֥ ֶ ‫שׁ ֵ ִ֣חת ַעמּ ְָ֔ך א‬.” In english, this means “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely.” Hashem says hurry for your people whom you have brought out of Egypt have sinned.

Why doesn’t He say my people whom I brought out of the land?

Rashi explains that Hashem is talking about the Erev Rav, who were permitted to join Bnei Yisrael

by Moshe. Moshe reasoned that it would be beneficial for the converts to join them on the journey without first consulting with Hashem.

Obviously, that didn’t turn out very well. But this leaves us with a very fundamental question: if the Erev Rav were responsible for the sin of the golden calf, then why are we

Bnei Yisrael were severely punished for the sin of the golden calf. Source: reparashathashavuah.org still paying for these sins today?

There is a lingering question, why are we held accountable for something that the Erev Rav did?

The Ramban also defends Bnei Yisrael and says that they didn’t create the golden calf to serve it.

Instead, they created it as a middle man between them and Hashem to replace Moshe. Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky tells us to put ourselves in their shoes. They were in the middle of the desert, lacking a leader, water, and any path to Israel. This must have been a terrifying moment for them, and they panicked. Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetzky doesn’t believe that creating the calf was their sin.

Instead, their sin was not having faith that Hashem would take care of them. After experiencing all the miracles Hashem performed, where

was their faith? According to the Beit Halevi, our last source, Bnei Yisrael had amazing intentions.

What they desired was a connection to Hashem. However, they made one fatal error: they tried to perform a mitzvah without a command from Hashem.

One can have the greatest of intentions, but if they don’t go through the means that Hashem instructed, it can result in a sin. We, as Jews, are not permitted to create our own means to become closer to Hashem. It doesn’t matter if we feel spiritual doing it, we must perform mitzvot the way Hashem instructs.

Doing what you feel is about yourself. If you truly want to become closer to Hashem, you have to follow his instructions for each and every mitzvah to the fullest.

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AP Students Cont.

February 18, 2022

Steak Dinner Photos Cooper Clicks

Top: Heads of kitchen Zevi Kirshtein and Coby Goldblatt prepare delicious steaks for the Steak Dinner. Photo: Michael Baum. Middle: Noam Cahana, Shahar Cahana, and Ethan VanderWalde masterfu y play instruments for the Steak Dinner.

Photo: Michael Baum. Bottom Le : Yidy Horowitz, Ra Goldkin, Zev Bosin, Na ali Shochet, and Yosef VanderWalde were great waiters at the Steak Dinner. Photo: Instagram/@mhafyos.

Bottom Right: Benjamin Siegel, Zev Bosin, and Nadav Goldkin pose in their slick waiter out ts.

Photo: Michael Baum.

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CYHSB Weekly

Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

February 18, 2022

Students Cont. Inspiring Educators and Mentors TheAPLa Rouxs:

Ezra Davidovics (’24) We, as students, have the opportunity at the annual Steak Dinner to choose faculty that we feel have changed our lives in some way and honor them in front of the entire community. This year, we had the privilege of honoring two extraordinary individuals that have transformed our STEM department.

Since Mr. and Mrs. La Roux came to the CYHSB, AP test scores and excitement surrounding math have increased. The La Rouxs are not only both amazing educators, but they are also two outstanding role models and mentors for us. In our eyes, there was no one more deserving of this prestigious award than Mr. and Mrs. La Roux, who have helped each and every one of us grow immensely. Both Mr. and Mrs. La Roux are extremely talented, motivated, and humble individuals, and we are lucky to have them in our lives.

Many students have praised the La Rouxs for their unique and engaging teaching styles. CYHSB senior and co-president Nadav Weiss said, “Mr. and Mrs. La Roux are fantastic teachers. I’ve had the pleasure to learn from them both for a year each and they have greatly impacted me.”

The La Rouxs have positively influenced every student they teach, including Nadav Weiss. Weiss added, “They have stayed after school to help me understand the material, and I wouldn’t be here without the two of them. I’m really going to miss having them teach me.”

Nadav Weiss delivers a speech honoring the La Rouxs. Photo: Michael Baum

The La Rouxs are extremely skilled at getting students engaged in the subjects that they teach. They have caused students who might otherwise not be captivated by STEM to be engrossed in the material and its applications. Senior Gavi Lowell said, “Mr. and Mrs. La Roux are inspirational to the CYHSB student body. They inspire kids to learn math and teach them to not hate but really enjoy math. They are the best math teachers I’ve ever had, and I hope they never change.”

The La Rouxs are also adept at connecting with students inside and outside of school. Nadav Goldkin described how influential the La Rouxs have been to him, saying, “There are no teachers in our school who deserve the award as much as them. They are legitimately the most

helpful people, and Mr. La Roux especially is much more than a teacher to a few of the other boys in our class and me.”

We are all so grateful to the La Rouxs for everything they have done for the school. There are not enough words to describe the impact they have made on every one of us.

They are extremely dedicated and devote countless hours to ensuring that every student can soar to great heights. We cannot thank them enough for what they have done and continue to do for us. Our school would not be the same without them, and we are delighted that they decided to become a part of the CYHSB family.

Keep your eyes open for more CYFL stats!

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Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

February 18, 2022

Sponsor an Issue A sponsorship is a great way to honor the memory of a loved one, celebrate an accomplishment, or just show appreciation to the CYHSB Weekly. We reach hundreds of people each week, helping to get your announcement out for just $20.

CYHSB Weekly Staff Editor-in-Chief Michael Baum | michael.baum@mhafyos.org

Assistant Editor Zev Bosin | zev.bosin@mhafyos.org

Layout Editor Ezra Wiener | ezra.wiener@mhafyos.org

Editors Benjamin Siegel | benjamin.siegel@mhafyos.org Shahar Cahana | shahar.cahana@mhafyos.org Avi Klein| avi.klein@mhafyos.org Ethan Vanderwalde | ethan.vanderwalde@mhafyos.org Nathan Greenbaum | nathan.greenbaum@mhafyos.org Raanan Vanderwalde | raanan.vanderwalde@mhafyos.org

Complaint Manager Zevi Kirshtein| zevi.kirshtein@mhafyos.org

CYHSB Weekly Staff Coby Goldblatt | coby.goldblatt@mhafyos.org Ra Goldkin | ra .goldkin@mhafyos.org Noam Cahana | noam.cahana@mhafyos.org Aidan Kahane | aidan.kahane@mhafyos.org Gavi Peiser | gavi.peiser@mhafyos.org Ezra Davidovics | ezra.davidovics@mhafyos.org Yosef Vanderwalde | yosef.vanderwalde@mhafyos.org Ra Somer | ra .somer@mhafyos.org Nadav Lowell | nadav.lowell@mhafyos.org Jojo Ardestani | jonathan.ardestani@mhafyos.org Nadav Weiss | nadav.weiss@mhafyos.org

Administrative Advisors

From the Editor: Recently, Steak Dinner preparations and the Super Bowl have kept the students engaged and busy. At the Steak Dinner, we had the privilege of honoring the La Rouxs, two incredible teachers and mentors. At the CYHSB, we are blessed to have such great teachers who help us reach our goals.

-Michael Baum

Rabbi Baruch Harris & Mrs. Ashley Brown

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