The Official Newspaper of the Cooper Yeshiva High School for Boys
Volume 19, Issue 2
Trivia Corner
Page 2
Student Council and Presidential Elections
Page 3
Parshas Ki Savo: The Confession
Page 4
Cooper Clicks
Page 5
CYHSB Canoe Trip: The Tradition Lives On
Page 6
Important Notice
Page 7
To sponsor an issue and lend support to the next installment of the CYHSB Weekly, please reach out to Nadav.Lowell@mhafyos.org
on Wednesday, August 7th, when our phones buzzed with exciting news. Our new golf coach, Zak Shayne, had finally confirmed that the golf season would begin in just one week. After a disappointing season last year, we were all fired up and ready to make a comeback. Star sophomore Eli Weisfogel captured our collective excitement perfectly: “I can’t wait to get to the golf course and play some competition. I’ve been practicing all summer and feel ready for any challenge
course and prove ourselves. Matchday arrived, and the sun shone brilliantly over the manicured greens at Overton Park. The Cooper Macs were prepared to face off against the Lausanne Lynx, both teams determined to win. Led by team captain JJ Stein, we stepped up to the first tee with confidence, even though we hadn’t had much practice. But the Macs were ready for the challenge. JJ and Eli delivered an incredible performance, Cont’d on next page.
The golf team afer an amazing victory. Source: J.J. Stein
Cont’d fom previous page. playing solid, consistent golf. Hole after hole, par after par, they were putting on a masterclass. By the end of the match, the Cooper Macs secured a commanding victory, 123 to 156. The thrill of this victory was immense, especially after a winless season last year. At that moment, it felt like we were destined for an undefeated run.
Since that first match, we’ve had a few more outings. While
we didn’t go undefeated, our team’s confidence has never been higher. We’re playing with pride, enjoying every moment on the course. The addition of sophomore Daniel Kahane has added a new dynamic to the team, creating a chemistry that I believe will lead to more victories before the season ends.
Over our next four matches, we went 1-3 against Westminster, Harding, FACS, and Fayette Academy. Senior Raanan VanderWalde has been a key player, delivering an outstanding performance during our match against Harding, despite the loss. Back at Overton Park, Westminster played remarkable golf while the Cooper Macs faced some struggles. The match against Harding was held at the newly renovated Audubon course, where JJ, Eli, and Raanan played brilliantly, although we lost by just six strokes a frustratingly close margin. Our final match was a doubleheader against Fayette and FACS at
the beautiful Links at Fox Meadows. We beat Fayette but narrowly lost to FACS by two strokes. Despite the mixed results, it felt great to get back into the win column. We celebrated the victory with some ice cream at TCBY, lifting our spirits.
The golf team is always a highlight of our year. As our captain, JJ Stein, said, “In my opinion, this year’s golf team is the best of my high school career. We compete to see who can shoot the best score, which helps us create lasting memories.” Golfing with my team is awesome. We spend quality time together and push each other to play our best.
A big thank you to Coach Shayne for stepping up to lead us. We know coaching takes time away from your busy schedule, and we are truly grateful. With three matches left in the season, we’re confident we can finish strong. We hope to make you proud with some more wins!
Raanan Vanderwalde, JJ Stein, and Eli Weisfogel afer a win.
Source: J.J. Stein
Student Council and Presidential Elections
Ilan Lennon (’27)
On November 5, 2024, the 60th quadrennial presidential elections will be held between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Election season is fully underway, especially with the Presidential Debate being held last week. Similarly, our high school has just had its own elections, those for student council. With many new students joining our school, it was interesting to see both the new and old faces on the balot.
walls, and met with students to assess the general political consensus, and gave speeches to persuade their fellow peers to vote for them. The final step in the campaigning process was
social and practical level with peers is truly important for growing students as we can learn from politicians and public leaders.”
“Student council elections are a great opportunity for students to learn necessary logistical and leadership skills”
Both of these elections are set to bring forth a new stage in their respective areas. School leadership opportunities have been grabbed and many new exciting events and fundraisers are already being planned. Conversely, the Presidential elections will continue to usher in the already quickly changing political world. The debate covered a variety of controversial topics on which the candidates offered their policies about the economy, foreign affairs, immigration, abortion, and environmental plans. In the student council elections, candidates for the various positions were tasked with first submitting their applications via email, to be assessed by the school administration. Next, each student running for a position had the chance to campaign for a week, they hung signs on the
to script, act, and/or animate a video in which they provided the audience of students with what they hope to accomplish in their time in office and the policies they plan to implement. After everyone had presented, the ballot vote took place. Our process is actually oddly similar to the process used to elect the President of the United States.
Many students within our school have provided input on the effects of student council within the school environment. Jonah Siegel, a well-informed sophomore, mentioned he “loves being able to impact the school while working on public speaking and persuasive skills.” Other students, such as senior Nadav Lowell, who is highly knowledgeable in the matter, took a different approach. Lowell used this opportunity to better himself in several aspects, saying that he “thinks the student council positions are a great opportunity for students to learn necessary logistical and leadership skills. Learning how to interact on a
The importance of these debates and campaigns both at a national level and in our own student council elections lies in their ability to provide their constituents with policy plans and display communication skills, problemsolving, and leadership qualities. Whether for the position of President of the United States or President of Student Council, the voters base their votes on the candidate's ability to remain confident and sharp when facing adversities while following a realistic plan for the future. Both votes demonstrate Democratic qualities, whether that’s submitting a ballot for National leaders, who will create policies for the welfare of their citizens, or student council leaders who will assist in planning school events, trips, and fundraisers. In any case it’s clear that suff rage and informed voters are an essential part of choosing a leader that will represent your ideas and can carry out their policies swiftly. Election season is an exciting part of the year for both the country and our school, and I can't wait to see what the election results will yield.
Parshas Ki Savo: The Confession
Rafi Goldkin (’25)
The Parsha of Ki Savo begins with a fascinating mitzvah. It details that according to halacha, in the third year of the tithing cycle (Shmitah), a Jew living in Israel has to tithe his produce. Once he does, he goes up to Jerusalem and makes a lengthy declaration before the Kohen that he has performed all the correct tithes in compliance with halacha within the last few years.
Rashi comments that the man recites a vidui, or “confesses” that he has given his tithes. However, the wording of what we say before the Kohen seems to contradict Rashi. We say before the Kohen that we have completed the mitzvah of tithes correctly. Usually, a confession implies that you did something wrong. It evokes Yom Kippur, where we confess our wrongdoings. That’s a real confession!
The Seforno explains that the whole mitzvah of tithing is based on the sin of the golden calf, but the end of the confession in Ki Savo, “I have neither transgressed nor neglected any of Your commandments,” seems to contradict that. It seems from Chazal that there are two different ways to improve yourself.
One way is the Yom Kippur path. One has to contemplate all he has done wrong, be regretful about it, and acknowledge that he can do
better. This is similar to what Rabbeinu Yonah writes: everyone should have a list of the sins he has committed so he knows not to do them again. However, Rav Shmuel Reichman tells us that although rebuke is extremely helpful when trying to actualize their potential, it is challenging. It is tough to hear that you have been doing something wrong, especially if you believe so much in it. So Rav Chaim Mordechai Katz provides another way for a person to get better the Bikkurim.
A person must stand before G-d and list all the great things that he has done and all the mitzvot he has fulfilled. In this way, people can build themselves up and be confident in themselves and their Judaism. Rav Kook writes that we strengthen our spirits by mentioning our good deeds out
loud. Rabbi Yosef Samberg wrote that there's a reason this parsha is always read before Rosh Hashanah. He writes that we can focus on our sins and rectify our mistakes or consider all the good. Or, we can consider all the good we have done in the past year and continue on that path only, performing mitzvot and serving Hashem. Perhaps this is the contrast between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, we focus on all the bad things we have done in the past year and ask Hashem for forgiveness. Maybe Rosh Hashanah is about focusing on the good things, the honey of our actions. Perhaps if we take this lesson into Rosh Hashanah, we will be able to have a much more successful Day of Judgement and a better year.
A depiction of first f uits offered to the Kohen. Source: Chat GPT
Cooper Clicks
TOP RIGHT: Tzvi Bleir and Eli Weisfogal get ready for the overnight by building their tents.
MIDDLE: Ethan VanderWalde leads morning tefilah at the CYHSB campsite.
BOTTOM LEFT: CYHSB students build there team work skills through fun canoe challenges.
BOTTOM RIGHT: CYHSB students listen to words of
CYHSB Canoe Trip: The Tradition Lives On
Avigdor Zweihorn (’27)
From the first day of school, the CYHSB was filled with anticipation, as it had been announced that the canoe trip would be taking place once again. This experience is an exciting trip that the CYHSB has been taking for decades, where the students spend two days camping on the Spring River. The first day is spent doing river-related competitions, the night is spent with a barbeque and singing around a campfire, and the second day is spent canoeing. During the trip, the CYHSBers exercise their achdus as well as test their physical endurance on the river.
After a two and a half hour drive from Memphis to Spring River, Arkansas, the doors to the bus finally opened. After we davened Mincha, we grabbed our tents and spent a while setting them up. Once all the tents had been built everyone gathered by the river for River Wars. “The River Wars gave students a glimpse of the activities the next day, allowing them to be properly prepared,” says Raanan Vanderwalde (‘25) who ran the competition this year. River Wars is a riverthemed relay race that is always the first activity of the trip. We were broken up into teams of eight or nine and were to compete for points on the river. The race is broken up into four sections. First came a
swimming race, after which each team had to capsize their boat and then empty it of water, a difficult task. Next, the teams carried their boats upriver to a nearby waterfall where team members would row down. Finally, once we had canoed back to the campsite we had to complete laps in the canoes, switching rowers each time we reached the shore. This year JoJo Ardestanis' team won the games.
After the relay races, we had a delicious dinner. Consisting of grilled hotdogs, hamburgers, watermelon (some grilled), and grilled pickles. A campfire was built and some of us roasted hotdogs. Following dinner, we gathered at the campfire to roast marshmallows and sing zemirot. We had a kumzits accompanying Rabbi Grunwald’s flute. Rabbi Rossman and Rabbi Gersten both spoke. “I found the
Boys sing around the campfire. Source: Avigdor Zweihorn
singing at the bonfire very meaningful,” said Tzvi Steiner (‘26). After the kumzits, we headed to our tents to sleep.
The next morning the halfasleep student body gathered for a chilling Shacharis. After Shacharis we had a quick breakfast of cereal and milk, which returned the muchawaited honey buns. When the bus arrived, we made our lunches and climbed on, ready for a day of excitement. Before we departed, Rabbi Gersten gave his famous "Canoe Trip Speech" or as the students know it: "Rabbi Gersten’s canoeing crash course.” Yakir Rovner (‘28) remarked, “I couldn’t wait to arrive and start canoeing for the first time." The bus took us about 5 miles upriver to our starting point.
We got into our respective canoes with each of our predetermined partners. After canoeing for about half an hour we reached our first stop. This was a collection of rocks jutting out from the shore (when I say shore I mean trees that are probably on land). We brought our canoes against the landmass and ate our lunch. The next stop was a rope swing over the river. Our last stop before we finished was the first big rapid slide. When everyone got there we started going down the rapid without our canoes, just floating on our backs. Finally, it was time for the lost stretch.
The last bit of the trip started out fine but quickly turned bad as we got to a
particularly bad rapid. My partner and I managed to hit the rapid so that we hit two rocks consecutively, with the second being slightly taller and more toward the center of the boat, causing us to capsize. (It was not our fault, trust me). When the canoe flipped, my shoes and our oar fell out and they started floating away. Also the bag holding our food ripped and our food was swept upstream. I managed to grab one of my shoes but the other one floated away. With help we managed to empty our canoe of water and climb back on and we also retrieved one of our oars. We were almost done but still worried because it was gonna be tough to make it
down with only one oar. But then we heard someone about 15 yards ahead of us yell "Did anyone lose a shoe!". Someone had picked up my other shoe and our oar! It was smooth canoeing from then on.
That was my experience this year on the canoe trip. It was lots of fun and full of excitement. It was a great way to transfer from summer into the school year and also a nice out-of- school environment to hang out with my friends. But it is also a very important part of CYHSB tradition. It is amazing to think that I was part of one of the school's best traditions.
Thank
you
so much to Rabbi Males and all the faculty who helped to prepare our amazing canoe trip! A warm welcome back to Yididyah Ariel, we look forward to another great year. Good Shabbos!
We are a month into classes, and students have officially settled in to their schedules.
With school officially underway, trips and extracurriculars are back on track. From memorable school trips to student council elections, and from countless golf matches to the Weekly you are reading now, high school activities are running better than ever. We hope that our students will not only be productive when it comes to their schoolwork, but also make the most of their high school experiences by taking advantage of the many amazing opportunities presented to us.
