4/5/2024

CYHSB WEEKLY

Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys

Volume 18, Issue 16

CYHSB March Madness

Bracket Challenge

Page 3

Cooper Clicks

Page 4

Breaking News: The House Passes a Bill That Could Ban TikTok, What is Next?

Page 5

Simplicity In Depth:

Unveiling the Essence of the Shema

Page 6

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Review

Page 7

CYFL WEEKLY UPDATE:

Gold Kids: 5-0

Somer's Marshmallows: 4-2

Vandy's Vikings: 3-3

Wanan's Goats: 2-4

Beck's Decks: 0-5

This

March

March Madness Breakdown

Benny Freiden ('26) and Jack Kampf ('26)

In the world of college basketball, there is one event that gets everyone excited, March Madness. The NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament is full of surprises, crazy games, and unforgettable moments. In this tournament, if you lose you go home, motivating the teams to play their hardest every single game, contributing to the most intense basketball of the year. As people fill out their brackets and get ready to watch some basketball, they know they're in for a wild one. March Madness is all about dreams coming true, teams making history, and every game being a new adventure. There are 64 teams but just one national champion. Let's

dive in and see what's happened in March Madness so far.

The first round of the tournament, the round of 64, was a wild one. There were many surprises and upsets taking place in all four quadrants of the bracket. Three out of the four #11 seeds ended up upsetting the #6 seeds, including #11 Oregon, who took down #6 South Carolina, partly due to senior guard Jermaine Cusinards 40 point game. In another quadrant of the bracket, #11 Duquesne defeated #6 BYU, which ended in a thriller. Similarly, #11 NC State took down #6 Texas Tech due to a strong second half. Despite the odds in their favor, the only #11 seed to lose their first game was New Mexico, who lost to #6 Clemson in

year's

Madness wil be one to remember. Source: The Sporting News

Cont. From Last Page: an unexpected bracket buster. The greatest upset of the first round was #14 Oakland taking down the starstudded #3 seed in Kentucky. The fan-favorite Kentucky hasn't had a good past few years in the tournament, and thanks to Jack Gohlkes 10 three-pointers for Oakland, Kentucky was eliminated early once again. Surprisingly, #13 Yale took down a stacked #4 seeded Auburn in another great finish. #10 Colorado also upset #7 Florida thanks to a KJ Simpson buzzer beater. #13 Samford almost pulled off a spectacular upset against #4 Kansas, but a bad foul call in the end helped Kansas prevail. This year, the last perfect bracket was eliminated in the final games of this first round, which is not surprising due to the amount of upsets this year.

In the round of 32, #13 Yale's dream run came to an end in a blowout loss to #5 San Diego State. In an exciting game, #9 Texas A&M outscored #1 Houston 17-5 to end the second half, and, thanks to a Andersson Garcia's buzzerbeater, they forced overtime. Despite their momentum, Houston was just too much to handle in overtime and eliminated Texas A&M from the tournament. Unsurprisingly, #1 Uconn had no trouble against #9 Northwestern. #3 Creighton held on against #11 Oregon in a double OT thriller. In a battle of low-seeded teams, NC State #11 ended Oakland's #14 miracle run and started one of their own.

The sweet 16, which took place just this past weekend, came upon us with some more instant classics. #6 Clemson continued their shocking run by taking down #2 Arizona. #1 Uconn dominated as they beat #5 San Diego State by 30 in what was a rematch from last year's Championship game. #4 Alabama shocked #1 North Carolina and prevailed by 2 in a back-and-forth nail-biter. #11 NC

The current NCAA Men's March Madness bracket beginning at the Sweet 16. Source NCAA.com

State, once again shocking the world, brought down highly ranked #2 Marquette. #4 Duke upset the #1 seed Houston Cougars who lost their best player, Jamal Shead early in the game. Some of these games were heartbreaking bracket-busters for many March Madness fans, as brackets saw their winners get upset by teams like Alabama, Duke, and NC State.

In the elite eight, #1 UConn stayed hot as they went on a 30-0 run in the game and ended up beating #3 Illinois 77-52. After beating UNC, #4 Alabama continued their run and ended a miraculous performance from the #6 Clemson Tigers, who were originally projected to lose to New

Mexico in the first round. Alabama took that game 89-82 giving them a spot in the final four. In a close game till the end, #1 Purdue came out on top over #2 Tennessee, which was probably the best game of the elite eight. Zach Edey - a 7”4 center for the Purdue Boilermakers - led the way with 40 points and 16 rebounds as Purdue won 77-62. The last game of the elite eight was a wild one where the #11 seed NC State kept their run alive, beating Duke 76-64. DJ Burns Jr. (6”9, 275 Ibs) led the way for the wolfpack with 29 points. Now there just remains four teams.

With the Final Four upon us, we have our own predictions for thesegames. The first matchup is

#11 NC State vs #1 Purdue. In this matchup we will see the legendary meetup between Zach Edey and DJ Burns Jr.. Despite the hype around NC State, I just don't see Zach Edey losing this one as Purdue will win by 10+ points. The next matchup is #4 Alabama vs #1 UConn. In this one I believe that UConn will stay hot and win by 15+ points even though Alabama is having a great tournament led by Guard Mark Sears. It’s just hard to see UConn ever losing. The National Championship will be #1 Purdue vs #1 UConn. This will be the closest someone will get to beating UConn as UConn has won every game by 20+ points so far in the tournament.

UConn will win this one by 10 despite a strong game from Zach Edey.

In our school, March Madness is a big event that students love to follow. Sometimes, you can see CYHSBers watching March Madness games between classes, rooting for their team to win. Raanan Vanderwalde, a junior, took it upon himself to make a bracket challenge for CYHSBers and anyone else who might want to join. When asked why he likes March Madness, Raanan said: “ I like watching March Madness because it's really easy to get involved in the action. Every game means something to your bracket and it’s

fun watching basketball when all the teams are trying their hardest.” There are 15 brackets in the competition, and everyone gets invested in their picks. Contestant Avi Becker, a senior, said: “I like watching March Madness even more than the NBA because the tournament’s single round elimination nature makes the games very competitive, making every game entertaining.” I couldn’t have said it any better myself. The Final Four will take place this weekend, and the whole CYHSB is excited to watch how it plays out.

CYHSB March Madness Bracket Chalenge

This year students have organized a March Madness Bracket challenge for any students that are interested in joining. It was also open to former high schoolers and Junior high boys. The price to join was ten dollars a person, and 15 brackets were entered into the competition. The bracket competition got many people invested in this year's tournament, and everyone has had a lot of fun following the tournament. Here is a breakdown of the top brackets:

1st place - Raanan Vanderwalde. Points: 86. Points remaining: 64. Bracket Winner: UConn. Chances of winning the challenge: 87.5%. Although Raanan had a bad first round, he correctly predicted 3 of the 4 final four teams, more than anyone else in the challenge.

2nd place - Yosef Vanderwalde. Points: 85. Points remaining: 48. Bracket Winner: Uconn. Chances of winning: 0%. Yosef has a great bracket, but not predicting Alabama in the final four, put him just shy of Raanan's bracket.

3rd place - Nathan Greenbaum. Points: 79. Points remaining: 16. Bracket Winner: Duke. Chances of wining: 0%. Although his bracket is good, his winner, Duke, already got eliminated, so his bracket will likely fall behind in the final four.

12th place - Dotan Weiss. Points: 59. Points remaining: 48. Bracket Winner: Purdue. Chances of winning: 12.5%. There is a slight chance Dotan could win the challenge because he is the only one with Purdue winning the championship.

The

Standings of our bracket challenge as of Mar 5, 2024.

Cooper Clicks

Top Right: CYHSB take over: JCC Purim carnvial edition. Middle left: CYHSB students head out for their restaurant tour. Middle right: CYHSB students dress as desks for purim. Bottom Right: The self proclaimed “Coolest Man In America.” Bottom Left: Cooper Macs get attacked but the Refs don’t call a foul.

Photos provided by JJ Stein

Breaking News: The House Passes a Bill That Could Ban

TikTok, What is Next?

Yitzy Ryp (’25)

TikTok, a short-form video social media platform, was released in China in September of 2016, and a year later was launched internationally. Four months later, it was already downloaded over 130 Million times in the U.S. alone, and about 2 Billion worldwide. Suddenly, celebrities started joining the app, such as Jimmy Fallon and Tony Hawk, and in January of the following year, even more celebrities created accounts. TikTok was growing fast.TikTok’s developers and parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing. This means that ByteDance, and consequently TikTok, have to follow China's strict laws about data usage, which is a big concern in the U.S. as Chinese data and security laws clash with American privacy restrictions.

Tennessee's high support for the legislation.

according to an official bill summary on the Capitol's website. It is against any application that is “a social media company controlled by a foreign adversary and has been determined by the President to present a significant threat to national security”. The bill then specifically says that its law will affect TikTok, saying that, should it be passed into law, any application falling under this bill has 180 days to no longer qualify as foreign adversary controlled.

On Wednesday, March 13th, the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act”, well known by the public as the “TikTok Ban Bill,” passed the House, in a 352-65 vote. 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voted “Nay,” with representatives of Tennessee voting in a nonpartisan fashion, seven in favor of passing the bill, while the remaining two abstained. This shows

The TikTok app as seen in the app store on a phone Source: CNN.com

In response to the threatening, imminent American legislation, TikTok attempted to sway the vote, utilizing their platform push notifications to urge users to call and harass their congressional representatives against passing the bill. Spurred by this, Congress held a (unanimously resulting) vote to expedite the bill. Voting was moved up to Wednesday as lawmakers saw firsthand the dangers of foreign influence.

The bill “prohibits distributing, maintaining, or providing internet hosting services for a foreign adversary controlled application”

In conclusion, we recognize that many of our students use TikTok or other applications that may be affected by the passing of the said bill. Numerous CYHSB students have strong opinions about this legislation. Some students are extremely supportive, such as JoJo Ardestani ('25) who said: “I think it’s time the government acted in response to all of the online propaganda and rhetoric we have been experiencing over social media.” Others are against the bill for recreational reasons, many claiming to use TikTok as a “welcome break from their busy lives.” With the bill's potential impact on popular applications like TikTok, its fate now rests with President Biden, who has signaled his intent to sign it into law if it reaches his desk.

© CALVIN AND HOBBES Watterson. Reprinted with permission of ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION. All rights reserved.

Simplicity In Depth: Unveiling the Essence of the Shema

Avi Becker ('24)

There’s a certain appeal to simplicity in the intellectual world. Sure, it’s often lovely to delve into the complex and theoretical, but in other situations, it’s enjoyable to appreciate the simple. Take, for instance, the Shema. With countless commentaries, expositions, theories, and the like, attempting to espouse the hidden secrets of the sacred verse, it frequently causes one to glance over the simple meaning. Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is one. This brings us to realize the importance not merely of appreciating, but also of understanding the simple things in life. Not necessarily simple as in little, but simple as in a lack of complexity, or a lack of mental awareness or cognition to understand.

So, here we will delve into the most simple meaning of Shema. Something for everyone to understand on the most basic level as they recite it every day. Complex understandings must be built on a foundation.

The first line is the deceleration of our acceptance of Hashem as G-d. It

does not mean merely to let the sound enter your ears, but truly accepting the notion of Hashem being allpowerful and in control. The following instruction is to love. This love is not the same love that we feel for our dogs, or even for our parents. This love is a love of action and sacrifice. It is a commandment to actively love Hashem. The next part explains how to accomplish this daring feat. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” In other words, the people are to love G-d with everything. Their knowledge, their existence, and everything that they are is to love G-d with action, obedience, and covenant faithfulness. There is no section desiring an entirely emotional aspect, but rather to take action to show your love.

The simplicity of this text is its beauty. It is not to preclude one from learning the deeper meanings, rather, it is to help one develop a basis for further exploration into the infinitely dense with information verse.

MHA Comes together to say the Shema with their brothers around the world through Aish Torah. Source: JJ Stein

Radical Riddles

Question (posed by the Ibn Ezra: a rabbi of the Middle Ages ) : I am a place without a land, my people and dignitaries are lifeless. If my king is annihilated, no one will live. Please email yitzy.ryp@mhafyos.org the answer to win a shoutout next week.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Review

Jojo Ardestani ('25) Chat

Rating: ★★★★★

Monty Python and the Holy Grail, directed by Terry Jones, is an iconic movie masterpiece that still resonates with its audience. Released in 1975, its take on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table stays relevant even today due to its sharpwitted absurdist humor, and its insightful commentary on human nature and society.

At its core, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a comedy satire that pokes fun at traditional hero narratives, chivalry, and “epic” quests. Particularly noteworthy is its scathing critique of leadership and governance, epitomized by the bumbling ineptitude of the Knights of the Round Table. Each knight, in their own unique way, embodies a comical portrayal of incompetence for example, look at Sir Bedevere the Wise. His parodied use of abducted reasoning is displayed when he logically reasoned that ducks float

Source: IMDb

just as wood floats, and wood burns just as witches burn, so then a person who weighs the same as a duck must

be a witch. The Knights who say "Ni!" provide yet another hilarious commentary, demanding the preposterous payment of a mere shrubbery, highlighting the absurd lengths to which blind faith can lead.

Characters such as the French knight and the castle guards represent elitism and arrogance, showcasing the absurdity of inherited privilege and social hierarchy. This commentary on entrenched power structures resonates with audiences across generations, highlighting the enduring relevance of the film's political themes.

While modern audiences may perceive the film's production quality as somewhat dated, its modest budget exudes a charming authenticity that sets it apart from today's extravagantly funded productions. In a landscape saturated with multimillion-dollar blockbusters, Monty Python and the Holy Grail's unassuming allure serves as a refreshing reminder of the power of creativity and wit.

Our high school newspaper program is one of a kind. It is a rare sight to find a Jewish Student publication, let alone one that prints on our weekly basis. Our students work around the clock to make deadlines and provide quality content. However, we are not without costs and we are on a mission to raise funds to ensure we can continue this unique program. You needn’t a message to share, or have an add to put in. You need the will to help. Over the next few months anything you can contribute helps. Please share this message and together we will step into Pesach with a renewed spirit. Thank you for your consideration,

-Nadav

Lowell, C0-Editor-in-Chief

CYHSB Weekly Staff: Co-Editors in Chief

Raanan Vanderwalde | raanan.vanderwalde@mhafyos.org

Nadav Lowell | nadav.lowell@mhafyos.org

Head of Torah Affairs

Rafi Goldkin | rafael.goldkin@mhafyos.org

Chief Layout Editor

Rafi Davidovics | rafael.davidovics@mhafyos.org

Layout Editors

Amit Zalman | amit.zalman@mhafyos.org

Yitzy Ryp | yitzy.ryp@mhafyos.org

News Editors

Jojo Ardestani | jonathan.ardestani@mhafyos.org

Akiva Levine | akiva.levine@mhafyos.org

Ilan Lowell | ilan.lowell@mhafyos.org

Photography and Social Media Directors

Jack Kampf | jack.kampf@mhafyos.org

J.J. Stein | jacob.stein@mhafyos.org

CYHSB Weekly Staff

Davi Baum | david.baum@mhafyos.org

Benny Freiden | benjamin.freiden@mhafyos.org

Ilan Lennon | ilan.lennon@mhafyos.org

Jonah Siegel | jonah.siegel@mhafyos.org

Omer Zalman | omer.zalman@mhafyos.org

Avigdor Zweihorn | avigdor.zweihorn@mhafyos.org

Editor-in-Chief-Emeritus

Ezra Davidovics | ezra.davidovics@mhafyos.org

Head of Torah Affairs Emeritus

Avi Becker | avi.becker@mhafyos.org

Administrative Advisors

Mrs. Ashley Brown

Rabbi Dov Rossman

Message from the Co-Editors:

Our Weekly journey has spanned three volumes, encompassed dozens of meticulously crafted issues, and involved the collaborative efforts of Michael Baum ('22), Ezra Weiner ('23), and Ezra Davidovics ('24), and now, the torch has been passed to us. As we step into our roles as CoEditors -in-Chief, we are filled with excitement and determination to lead with innovation and foster growth in our newspaper. You can expect a new wave of political analysis, artistic commentary, student updates/opinions, and more. We welcome audience interaction, and if you would ever like to make a comment to us or the staff, feel free to reach out via email. We hope you enjoy all of the work our staff puts in, and we would like extend our greatest gratitude to Mrs. Brown and Rabbi Rossman for all their time, guidance, and effort in ensuring we have a quality newspaper for you each week.

Thank you,

-Nadav Lowell, Raanan Vanderwalde