CYHSB Weekly 3/11/22

Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

March 11, 2022

CYHSB WEEKLY Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

Volume 16, Issue 12 Purim Videos: Yeshiva Meets Hollywood Page 3 The Shepherds: Great Leaders of Klal Yisrael Page 4 Cooper Clicks Page 5

Michael Baum and Shahar Cahana toil over a di cult piece of gemara. Photo: Ezra Wiener

YUNMUN: A Challenging Yet Rewarding Experience Page 7

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

CYHSB: The Fire of Torah Shahar Cahana (’22) In the CYHSB, we have many things that happen throughout the school. Many different extracurriculars occur throughout the school year. Sports such as basketball and cross country are very prevalent. Recently, the Model UN team has been putting in a serious last-minute push in preparation for their big event.

However, one thing that usually flies over most people’s heads when considering the extracurricular opportunities at the school is the immense learning that happens within the CYHSB; the shteiging, the utter concentration and willpower to progress in limud HaTorah is

incredible. Students voluntarily choose to learn, and the things they learn are within a wide spectrum. Rabbi Dovid Safier, one of the rebbeim here in the school, has been a major driver and inspiration for the learning that has been taking place, spending time outside of school with students and learning with them.

One amazing chabura that has been happening here in school is the lashon hara chabura. After school, every day, they sit and learn the halachos of lashon hara written by the saintly Chofetz Chaim zt’’ l. Learning these laws is many times overlooked, yet it may be one of the most relevant 1

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Learning Initiatives the

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laws for the daily lives of a Jew. There are many times when it may seem tempting to speak behind someone’s back; sometimes, one may not even know that they are violating the laws. It is for this reason and, of course, to learn Torah lishmah, that individuals gather after Mincha every day to learn these halachas. Rabbi Safier leads the chaburah, and Baruch Hashem continues to delve into the halachos.

Another chaburah that happens occurs motzei shabbos. Rabbi Safier, Ezra Davidovics, Michael Baum, and I learn R’ Shimon Shkop, in regards to the laws of hilchos kiddushin and geirushin.

Baruch Hashem, we’ve made our way along at a nice pace. While it’s not something that we normally learn, and for the guys in the chabura, including myself, it is our first time looking at the work of R’ Shimon Shkop, it is enjoyable to see his logic and his cross-examination of mefarshim play out. To see such mastery of Kol Torah kula, play out, putting together gemaros and Rishonim, like putting forth chess pieces, trying to work toward the end goal, is something that only comes from learning Torah and working to try to find pshat.

Besides chaburos, there are also chavrusos, that occur here in the school. After shacharis every day, Michael Baum and Rabbi Safier learn the Gemara Kiddushin, the same tractate we are learning in shiur this year. Instead of going to breakfast immediately with the rest of the school, they sit down and learn, pushing off the desire for food for a few minutes to learn a little Torah, to delve into a Gemara, hammer it out, discuss it, then go to breakfast with the rest of the school.

CYHSB Weekly

March 11, 2022

Rabbi Males learns with Aiden Bieber and Baruch Finkelman. Photo: Michael Baum

However, there is also some incredible learning going on with some of the younger guys. Just this past week, I was doing homework in the yeshiva library and in came Yonah Lynn, Nathan Greenbaum, and Rabbi Safier to learn. This was already several hours after school had ended, and these guys came to delve into a bit of Gemara. Once again, one can see the incredible limud Torah lishmah here in the CYHSB. Yonah Lynn himself also has a chavrusa over the phone with his older brother once a week to learn Makos. This is no easy tractate in and of itself, and to do it every week with a sibling while keeping it up on a consistent basis, is an incredible thing to see.

I am sure there are many other chaburos and chavrusa learning that I missed out on in this article simply because I was unaware. However, this is the Derech HaTorah; many accomplishments are not out there for the world to see. They are accomplishments that are more private, that may simply only occur within your house, or only with yourself and a few other guys.

However, there is no greater accomplishment than limud

HaTorah lishmah - learning only for the sake of Torah.

A lot of people talk about things that they do and accomplishments that they have to put on their college resume, and other things that they have done to project to the world. While there is nothing wrong with that, it cannot be stressed enough how those accomplishments don’t stand in the same league as the learning of Torah. Many times, people think that learning Torah is nice, but there are sometimes more productive uses of your time. While there are indeed times when you have personal responsibilities, learning Torah is perhaps one of the greatescst uses of one’s time.

If a person has nothing to do, put away the smartphone for a few minutes, take out a sefer and learn something new. We are not perfect; there have been times in each and every one of our lives where perhaps we could have done better with respect to learning, but it is always a good thing to try to improve bit by bit, to become better.

The importance of Torah cannot be underscored; it is a fire that has kept the Jewish people alive throughout the generations.

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Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

March 11, 2022

AP Students Cont. Cooper Yeshiva Meets Hollywood Purim Videos:

Yonah Lynn (’25) With time flying and Purim zooming around the corner, each grade is tasked with a huge test of creative and leadership skills in the form of making a video. Each grade will have to make a short video skit written, acted, and directed by the students in that grade. Video topics in the past have included reaction videos, re-enactments of funny incidents, and impersonations of iconic figures in school history.

Each year, the videos get funnier, more creative, and even more exciting. Will we be able to keep the streak alive?

With the recent rush of the Steak Dinner and school trip, the students have been pressured to make each video with limited amounts of time.

For many people, the NCSY Shabbaton is coming up, leaving them with limited to no time left to film their video. It is a challenge that each grade will have to work hard to overcome.

The addition of having the whole school watching and reacting to these videos at the same time will put tremendous amounts of pressure on each grade to make something the audience will enjoy. There is no doubt that the audience will not hold back from loudly expressing how they feel about the video while watching. A good goal for each writer when making a video is to hope they get the most laughs possible.

Another challenge when making the videos is finding the right actors.

Some people have a natural ability to act and perform, while for others, it may be smart to keep some money in the savings account in case Hollywood doesn’t exactly work out. Usually, tasteful jokes about students, teachers, or events in the

Nadav Weiss, Noam Cahana, and Benjamin Siegel act for their grade’s purim video.

Photo: Ezra Wiener school are what get the audience ideas about how to make the laughing. funniest video, but only some can be While making jokes and accepted. Generally, it is clear who comments about teachers and has the best, most creative, and students, the one thing each person funniest idea, but not always. It wants to make sure they don’t do is often turns into a vote, argument, or cross the line. In the past, principals compromise, doing nothing short of have shown no reluctance to turn off ensuring that only the best, purest, inappropriate or rude videos. To and most genius ideas go into each avoid this happening, all that each video. person has to do is two things. First, All guidelines aside, the viewing don’t make fun of anyone who may of the MHA grade-wide Purim get offended, and second, don’t videos is where everyone wants to make fun of the one person who has be. There will be moments of cheer, the power to turn off the screen. As joy, and happiness throughout the long as each person is careful and whole event and no one will regret within the right limits, it is attending. People can only imagine encouraged for each video to encase what this year’s videos will entail. the funniest content possible, which Will they have jokes about Steak they will absolutely be doing.

Dinner? CYFL football players? Or The best part of each video is something completely different? No seeing how each grade comes way to tell until the time comes. So together to create a masterpiece. It is see you there, in the MHA Beit quite a difficult job to agree with Midrash, on the evening of everyone in each grade on what Thursday, March 17th! video to film. Each person throws in

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The Shepherds: Great Leaders of Klal Yisrael Nadav Lowell (’25) One of the main focal points of the fun holiday of Purim is the reading of the Megillah. The Megillah was written by the Purim heroes Esther and Mordechai after the conclusion of the exciting tale that makes up the renowned Purim story. In the Megillah there are many things that seem like themes. One theme in particular calls out to me and this is the theme of leadership.

The first time we see this theme portrayed in the Megillah is in perek ‫ ב‬pasuk ‫יא‬. It says the following: “‫ ִל ְפנֵי ֲחצַר‬,‫וּ ְבכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם מ ְָרדֳּ כַי מִתְ ַהלְֵּך‬ ‫ וּמַה‬,‫בֵּית ַהנָּשִׁים; לָדַ עַת אֶת שְׁלוֹם ֶאסְתֵּ ר‬ ‫יּ ֵ ָעשֶׂה בָּהּ‬.” This means: And every day Mordechai would walk in front of the courtyard of the women’s residence to find out how Esther was faring and what was happening to her. The midrash points out that he was specifically going just to check on Esther, saying “You sought the welfare of one person; as reward, I will make you the leader and you will seek the welfare of the entire nation.”

Now this isn't the first time Hashem made someone in the Torah a leader just because he saw them taking care of something else. Many of the great leaders of the Tanach were in fact shepherds before they went on to lead the nation. Moshe, David, Yakov, to name a few. They were all chosen by G-d because they were shepherds and devoted their life caring for things other than themselves. This is a very important trait and shows true leadership in a person. But back to purim.

Rashi provides an alternative explanation for Mordechai's seemingly strange activity. He says that Mordechai likely anticipated a miracle through Esther and he

Some of Klal Yisrael’s greatest leaders were shepherds. Source: pinterest.com wanted to be there to see it. But how did he know this? It is simple, Mordechai knows that there are no coincidences in the Tanach, therefore Hashem must have a reason for Esther to be in the palace with the evil King Achachverosh.

Another leader in this story is Esther herself. Esther, along with Mordechai, foiled Haman's plan and saved the nation. Surely this alone merits her leadership role in the Jewish nation. But Rashi takes it even further than that. He relates to another famous leader, David Hamelech (King David). Believe it or not, David and Esther had similar life situations. Let's start with David. He grew up poor in Israel and was rejected by his family. He became a shepherd but then was attacked by wild beasts and chased around the country by Shaul, the king before him. He could have gotten angry and given up on Hashem, but he didn't. This caused

him to later accede to the title of king over the Jewish nation. Next is Esther. She grew up orphaned in the house of Mordechai. He raised her until she was taken by Achashverosh. She was almost like a prisoner in the palace. But she too believed in Hashem and everything worked out for her. So we see that in the stories of both David and Esther, bad things happened to them, but they were not swayed and they stuck to their ideals and Hashem the whole way through.

So now we only have one type of leader, but two. One leader is picked by Hashem based on if they are a good person who looks after their fellows and those weaker than them. And we see the leaders who refuse to give up their ideals and thoughts no matter how hard things seem to be going for them.

I think we should all strive to be like these great leaders of klal Yisrael.

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Cooper Clicks Top: The CYFL is getting more and more intense as the season goes on. Photo: Michael Baum. Middle: Students work hard to make their own pairs of tzitzis. Photo: Zev Bosin. Bottom Le : Rabbi Wende helps Yonah Lynn and Jojo Ardestani make their own tztitzis. Photo: Zev Bosin. Bottom Right: Zevi Kirshtein and Zev Bosin dress up as old people for Spirit Week. Photo: Michael Baum.

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Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

March 11, 2022

Crazy Crosswords

Last Week’s Solution Can you figure out the names?

The first person to send in a completed puzzle to nadav.Weiss@gmail.com wins a prize!

Note: All answers can be found in the articles themselves

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Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

March 11, 2022

AP Students Cont.

YUNMUN: A Challenging Yet Rewarding Experience

Ethan VanderWalde (’25) Yeshiva University National Model United Nations, otherwise known as YUNMUN, will take place this Sunday, March 13, and end Tuesday, March 15. The convention will be held in a hotel in Connecticut, where Jewish high school students from across the country will meet in committees and discuss topics ranging from Satellite Traffic to Gender Pay Gaps. The goal of these committees is to come up with resolutions, or solutions, to these problems. Each delegate going to the conference represents a country and has to argue for what their country believes in. For example, several delegates from the CYHSB are representatives of the United Arab Emirates. While the conference itself lasts only three days, it takes months of research and preparation to be able to accurately represent your country.

CYHSB students started preparing for Model UN in midOctober when try-outs for the team were held. As part of the process, potential delegates had to research and write about the United Arab Emirates’ stance on child labor.

They then gave a presentation in front of three judges and the cocaptains of the Model UN team. The try-out was a good practice and gave new delegates experience researching and speaking in public.

The Model UN team practices began about a month later, in midNovember. Each delegate got their topics, countries, and committees.

The first few meetings were spent researching countries and topics and compiling the information so it could be used later. This included finding background information on the topic, what the country’s opinion on the topic is, and credible sources to back up the information. After the

YUNMUN preparation is a cha enging yet rewarding experience. Source: yu.edu

team finished gathering the information, they moved on to the next step: writing position papers.

Position papers are supposed to explain what the country’s position on the topic is. These papers are published on the Model UN website before the conference so that delegates can get an idea of who they want to ally with. Position papers include three things: An overview of the topic, what has been done before to help solve the issue, and how the country feels about the issue. The position papers require a lot of information about the topic and the country’s stance on the issue; that is why the first few meetings were spent researching and compiling information.

In late January, the delegates began writing their opening statements. Opening statements are similar to position papers, but while position papers are published on the Model UN website, opening statements are delivered at the Model UN conference. Opening

statements are also more specific than position papers; instead of just stating the country’s position, opening statements call the committee to action and ask them to support the country’s solution.

All of this research and writing was not easy. Freshman delegate Raanan VanderWalde said: “Writing position papers and opening statements was definitely not an easy task, but I am sure that it will be worth the time to be able to go to the conference and have a great time.”

With the Model UN conference coming up this weekend, delegates are working harder than ever to prepare. Opening statements are being practiced, Model UN rules are being read over, and suits are being tried on. All of the hard work and long hours that delegates have put in over the past six months will finally come to fruition this weekend at the conference, and hopefully, it will be a remarkable experience.

Look out for the Purim Edition next week!!!!

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Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

March 11, 2022

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CYHSB Weekly Staff

From the Editor:

Michael Baum | michael.baum@mhafyos.org

As Purim approaches, the

Editor-in-Chief

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 Yonah Lynn| yonah.lynn@mhafyos.org

school is especially joyous as programming like Adar Dancing and Purim video viewing takes place. Other activities that have brought the students joy include the plethora of extracurricular learning opportunities and preparing for the YUNMUN conference. On the note of learning opportunities, those offered at the CYHSB are truly special and inspiring.

Purim Sameach!

-Michael Baum

Administrative Advisors

Rabbi Baruch Harris & Mrs. Ashley Brown

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