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| News
from The Premier Religious Zionist Educational
Movement in Israel SPRING 2005 : אדר ב' תשס"ה |
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On
Wednesday evening, November 17th 2004 AFYBA
held its 26th Annual Tribute Event at the
Roosevelt Hotel in New York City to demonstrate
support for Yeshivot Bnei Akiva and Medinat
Yisrae.
l.
to r. Eric Goldstein, Rabbi
Dr. Yehuda Felix, Rabbi Dr. Neriah Gutel
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The guests of honor were Ronn Torossian of
5 W Public Relations;Brett Goldberg, past
CEO of Ahava America and author of "A
Psalm in Jenin"; and Rabbi Dr. Yehuda
Felix, Dean Emeritus of YBA's Orot Israel
College. In addition,tribute was paid to YBA
Tikvat Yaakov on its Jubilee Year. |
The evening featured
a special video greeting from the new Consul
General of Israel in New York, the Honorable
Ambassador Arye Mekel, as well as an inspiring
inspiring video presentation describing
the YBA network.
The presentations were made by: Rabbi Avi
Weiss to Ronn Torossian; Andrew Bein to
Brett Goldberg; Rabbi Neriah Gutel and Eric
Goldstein to Rabbi Yehuda Felix; and Manfred
Meyer and Fred Ehrman to Rabbi Yaakov Ackerman
and Avi Schachar on behalf YBA Tikvat Yaakov.
The event was well attended, giving recognition
to the honorees by their family, friends
and associates, and showing support for
Yeshivot Bnei Akiva and Medinat Yisrael.
This event enables us to fulfill our core
mission to provide funds for YBA to continue
our crucial work of educating the next generation
of Israeli youth.
Today YBA is proud of its 57 schools, 20,000
students and over 56,000 alumni throughout
the world. |
Ronn Torossian (right)
receives his award from Rabbi Avi Weiss
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l.to r.Manfred Meyer,Brad Siegel,
Avi Shachar, Rabbi Yaakov Ackerman and Fred
Ehrman |
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Brett Goldberg (right)
receives his award from Andrew Bein |
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JOTKOWITZ
LIBRARY DEDICATED AT YBA NETANYA
Tuesday, October 5th (Chol Hamoed
Sukkot) - The Michael Jotkowitz Memorial
Library was formally dedicated at YBA Yad
Avraham in Netanya. Elchanan
Glatt, Director General of Merkaz YBA, addressed
the crowd of about 100 people, including the parents
of Michael z"l, Dr.and Mrs. Seymour Jotkowitz
of Teaneck, NJ and AFYBA Board Member Tani
Benovitz and their families. The principal,
Rabbi Avraham Bar-David, was the
MC, and past and present Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbi
Menachem Mendelson and Rabbi Yosef Sofer
delivered Divrei Torah, as did Dr. Alan
Jotkowitz of Bet Shemesh, brother of Michael
z"l. Dr.and Mrs. Jotkowitz unveiled the commemorative
plaque at the library's entrance. YBA supporter,
Mr. Jaime Hartman of New Rochelle,
NY was among those honored with affixing a mezuzah
on the new structure. The ceremony oncluded with
a festive meal in the Sukkah during which Rabbi
Macy Gordon of Jerusalem delivered a Dvar Torah
to celebrate the occasion. A special thanks to AFYBA
Board Members Meir Nordlicht, Daniel Saks, Tani
Benovitz and President Alan Wildes for spearheading
this project and seeing it through to completion. |
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Dr. Benny Mazouz, a graduate of YBA OHEL SHLOMO
in Beer Sheva, has headed the Exercise Test Laboratory
at Bikkur Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem for the past
20 years. At age 52, he is the proud father of eight
and resides in the town of Psagot, just north of
Jerusalem. Dr. Mazouz recalls with great fondness
his late Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Silbert zt"l , who had
such a deep impact on his life "I'll never forget
the infinite love which Rav Silbert exuded towards
all his students. He had a direct effect on how
we behaved, what path we would choose. It was of
utmost importance to me that he influenced my decisions.
Without the YBA education I received, it is doubtful
that I would have continued
in the way of Torah." During his third year in the
Hesder program, the Yom Kippur war broke out. Mazouz
was sent to Mount Hermon in the north with his unit.
To his misfortune, he was taken by the Syrians as
a prisoner of war. He was held in captivity for
eight months, until June of 1974. The inhuman conditions
were physically, emotionally and spiritually grueling.
But Mazouz, drawing on his Torah background, did
not lose faith; on the contrary, it was strengthened.
Inexplicably, two weeks into his captivity a kippa
somehow reached his hands. He saw this as a sign
of divine providence. With no siddur, he prayed
from memory. As the only religious soldier in his
group, the challenge was only enhanced. Mazouz returned
to the yeshiva, completed his five year hesder stint,
and even stayed an additional year to learn Torah.
Dr. Mazouz then went on to study medicine at Hadassah
Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem. He has spent his
entire career at Bikkur Cholim Hospital, where he
is known to be one of the top physicians in his
field of of of cardiology. Through it all Dr. Mazouz
has not lost sight of his origins and his YBA education,
calling Yeshivot Bnei Akiva "one of the most important
achievements of Am Yisrael." |
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 ULPANA
ARAD ADOPTS HUNGARIAN COMMUNITY FROM HOLOCAUST
Educators at Ulpana Bnei Akiva Neot Avraham in Arad have
initiated a unique educational program within the framework
of its History & Heritage Studies. The program involves
the "adoption" of a Jewish community from the
period of the Holocaust. Students and staff at the Ulpana
decided to adopt the Hungarian Jewish community as the
focus of this project.
The primary goals of the project, defined as the acquisition
of in-depth knowledge and the internalization of Jewish
heritage and history, will be achieved through a dual
approach, combining formal studies with personalized,
experiential learning methods. Project activities include:
dedication of Holocaust Remembrance Day and the "General
Kaddish Day" (10 th of Tevet)ceremonies for the community,
lectures and seminars focusing on the community, special
incentives to students who prepare research papers on
the subject, collection of photos and artifacts in a special
"Yizkor" display, invitation of survivors from
the community to describe Jewish life there before and
during the Holocaust, the construction of models of the
ghetto, city maps and much more.
Amazingly, one research paper highlights the story of
Ulpana Arad ’s own school nurse, Louisa Abutbul.
Louisa ’s odyssey is truly heartbreaking and unbelievable.
Herded like cattle with her girlfriends at age 10 from
her orphanage in Hungary by the Nazis, Louisa survived
the horrors of "medical" experimentation only
to later experience the horrendous conditions aboard the
Exodus, and eventually becoming a field nurse in the I.D.F.and
suffering a serious injury in the Six Day War. Louisa's
message to the Ulpana girls: "Love your land and
your heritage. Pass the torch to the next generation.
It gives me comfort to know you are the future mothers
of the Jewish People. "Knowing the quality of Ulpana
Arad's girls, as well as other YBA students throughout
the country, the Jewish People can be confident of a brighter
future. |
Open Doors, Open
Arms
YBA
reaches out with open arms, while opening its
doors for all who wish
to reach in. |
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YBA
ADERET: BRIDGES
OVER THE SEA |
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REALITY
TV
COMES TO YBA |
The
beautiful resort city of Nice, on the French Riviera,
does not seem a likely venue for Yeshivot Bnei Akiva
activity. Out of 35,000 Jews, only a few thousand
are affiliated. With a large Arab population, the
Jews of Nice try to marginalize their Jewish identity.
The quality of Jewish education leaves much to be
desired.
Into
the
picture comes Rabbi Amir Vered,
the
Rosh Yeshiva of YBA Aderet in Bat Yam.
Rabbi Vered is on sabbatical, but for him this means
teaching almost full time in his yeshiva, taking
time out only for special missions. In conjunction
with the Jewish Agency, the Rosh Yeshiva left his
family for a month in order to make a significant
educational contribution. The Rabbi's efforts were
centered on the Alliance School, with 105 students
from grades 6 through 12. In addition to frontal
teaching in the classrooms, he acted as pedagogical
consultant to the teaching staff in the full range
of subjects taught in Jewish studies. Amazingly,the
teachers there are not properly trained and rarely
have degrees. They were taught modern teaching methodology
for Jewish studies that have been developed in Israel,
and they welcomed this learning experience with
open arms. Later this year, Rabbi Vered will be
off again, building bridges that will deliver Jewish
educational content to our fellow Jews across the
sea. His next stop: Brussels. In fact, Rabbi Vered
sees his experience as one to be emulated by other
roshei yeshivot, and, perhaps, adopted by YBA schools
in general. |
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Israel
TV's Channel 10 recently began to air a docu-drama
called “Hayeshiva.” This ten chapter
series was filmed at the “mother of Yeshivot
Bnei Akiva, ”YBA Kfar Haroeh, over a period
of nearly a year and a half, by movie director
Noam Damsky, a graduate of YBA Netiv Meir.
In a form of reality TV, cameras were allowed
free reign in the heart of this bastion of religious
Zionist education, focusing on students ,teachers,
rabbis, parents and family. The series follows
the lives of four students in particular, in real
time, through a variety of situations and conflicts,
which are sometimes part and parcel of a religious
teenager ’s life. These include incisive
discussions between sons and parents, students
and rabbis, and a young man with his prospective
bride.
Educators and supervisors who have previewed the
series expressed their admiration for the openness
of the Yeshiva's administration and educational
staff, who agreed to allow the cameras and crew
unlimited access. At a teachers conference held
at the pre-screening event, one of YBA Kfar Haroeh's
ramim was asked: “How could you permit free
access to the cameras in your dormitories? Weren't
you apprehensive? ”The Rabbi answered: “At
YBA Kfar Haroeh we don't merely talk about trust
in our students. Here, we really count on them
completely, and we have total confidence and knowledge
that their lives at the Yeshiva are truly wonderful,
something which is worthy of showing openly to
the Israeli public.”
Rav Avraham Zuckerman, the aged Rosh Yeshiva,
who is also head of all the Yeshivot and Ulpanot
Bnei Akiva, was highly praised by the director
of the documentary as one of the most  impressive
figures of our generation, who has never before
been made known to the general public.
seated
left:Rabbi
Avraham Zuckerman and Rabbi Meir Zuckerman.
Standing: protagonists in the TV series |
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we are told that Rabbi
Akiva was 40 before he started learning
Torah. He once told his students that, when
he was an Am HaAretz, he chased talmidei
chachamim and was even prepared to bite
them like a donkey. When his students asked
him him why like a donkey and not like a
dog, he replied that a donkey, unlike a
dog, when it bites breaks bones!(Talmud
Babli, Pesachim 46A) However, there was
someone who saw the inner strength of this
man and his tremendous potential. That person,
his wife Rachel, was not afraid to approach
him and to show him what tremendous potential
he had. She did this at great personal sacrifice.
She had to give up the comfort and security
of her wealthy father's home and live in
a hovel.
We are fast approaching the Jewish holidays
of Purim and Pesach. We can see in these
holidays the two extremes of Jewish life.
Imagine a Jew in Egypt a year before the
geula. A Jew so poor and so overworked that
he cannot even think of redemption. Even
as they leave Egypt he is constantly looking
over his shoulder to see whether the Egyptians
are chasing after him! Can you relate to
a Jew of such a poor economic status?
Imagine a Jew from Shushan Habira.He lives
in the best suburbs of the city. He wears
the best clothes and attends feasts given
by the king. When it is necessary (maybe
for business reasons), he bows down to the
king's prime minister, inister, Haman. Can
you relate to that kind of Jew?
Putting people on the track to a Torah life
and trying to help them get that spark well
defines what we are trying to achieve.
Many of our students are new immigrants.
Some of the Ethiopian boys resemble the
Jew coming out of Egypt but they have the
potential of a Rabbi Akiva. Others come
from semi-assimilated homes and resemble
the Jews of Shushan but amongst them are
the Mordechais and Esthers of tomorrow.
Perhaps this is the deeper meaning of: בכל
דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא
יצא ממצאים Each of us needs to leave his
personal galut and reach his own potential
and then, with Hashem's help, we can reach
the level of קיימו וקיבלו היהודים as we
were at the time of Mordechai and Esther.
Best wishes for a
joyous Purim
and a Kosher Passover. |
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DON
KATES NAMED DIRECTOR, PUBLIC RELATIONS AND
DEVELOPMENT, MERKAZ YESHIVOT BNEI AKIVA
Don Kates came full circle when he was named
Director of Public Relations and Development
for Merkaz Yeshivot Bnei Akiva. Don served
as AFYBA Director nearly twenty years ago,
(1985-87) and is very familiar with our
organization and its goals. Don has a rich
Jewish organizational background both before
his aliya in 1987, and since his arrival
in Israel.
Don’s responsibilities will include
public relations, liaison to AFYBA, fundraising
in Israel, and advice to our mosdot in these
areas.
“We have a wonderful organization
of educational institutions and I look forward,
at this critical time for Medinat Yisrael,
to develop friendships with more and more
people who want to help us with the work
of educating our youth toward a love of
Torat Yisrael, Am Yisrael, and Eretz Yisrael.” |
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