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From the desk of Rabbi Perry Tirschwell
As our seniors fill out applications and take interviews to
prepare for their post-WYHS years, a new resource has emerged to
help them and their parents make more informed decisions about
Israel programs. Click here to
browse the Orthodox Caucus' Guide to Israel Programs.
Don't know which nights your singing, dancing daughter has
play practice? Want to make reservations for your winter vacation?
Click on the Drama Schedule and/or Midterm Exam Schedule
available below Rabbi Brander's article.
Starting next week, the photos, flyers, schedules and
calendars available through links in the High-lites will be
easier to read and print! To do so, your computer must have
"Adobe Acrobat". To download this program for free, click
here.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Perry Tirschwell
| Introducing the Theme of the
Month |
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 The month of Cheshvan began this week with a special
Rosh Chodesh program on Monday. After a beautiful davening,
WYHS founder Rabbi Kenneth Brander addressed the students with
an inspirational message about establishing a real
connection to the State of Israel by visiting and spending
time there.
Rabbi Brander's speech introduced Israel as this
month's theme, providing a focus for this month's
programming. To kick off this theme, students watched an
astonishing video about the education of Palestinian children,
followed by Mr. Adam Dobrick's presentation of The David
Project, an innovative curriculum designed to educate students
about Israel and how to advocate on behalf of Israel. Of
course, it wouldn't have been Rosh Chodesh without music and
dancing, and the new WYHS school band, "Under
Construction", delivered a phenomenal debut performance!
On Wednesday, students had the privilege of meeting ten
disabled Israeli army veterans, who visited our school and
spoke with our students. Students were divided by grade, and
each grade spent 30 minutes with two or three of the veterans,
asking them questions about their experiences and discussing
the current situation in Israel.
On Wednesday evening, WYHS parents went "back to school"
for parent-teacher conferences. Because of the
continued growth of the student body and the need for a second
night of parent-teacher conferences, only half of the parents
were scheduled for conferences on Wednesday. Parents of
students whose last names begin with letters L-Z are invited
to schedule conferences for Monday evening, November 3rd.
Last week, several WYHS students attended a student
ambassador dinner meeting to discuss their
responsibilities as student ambassadors, how to make visiting
students feel comfortable, and how to respond to any questions
or issues that might arise. Ten students from across the
grades participated in the meeting.
Thursday afternoon was the Spanish class trip to the
Boca Raton Museum of Art to see an exhibit on the Language
of Sculpture by Jimenez Deredia. Deredia is an internationally
renowned Latin American sculptor of bronze and marble.
Yeshiva and seminary season has begun in Boca!
Orot and Michlelet Esther, two seminaries in Israel, visited
WYHS this week to meet with and interview students for next
year. Click on the quick link (at right) to see the updated
schedule for seminary and yeshiva visits.
Click here for Great Rosh Chodesh dancing
pictures »
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| The
Coming Four Day Week |
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 Today, WYHS students will hear from BU Hillel
Director Rabbi Joseph Polak, who has served in this
position for over 25 years, as well as being an adjunct
professor at BU's law school. Rabbi Polak literally wrote the
book (published by NCSY) on Choosing a College- A Guide for
Observant Students.
WYHS girls are spending shabbat in Boca to take
part in a girls' tisch tonight at the home of
Mrs. Esther Grossman and Shabbos lunch at the homes of their
teachers.
There will be no school on Monday, as the WYHS
faculty will be joined by teachers from a number of middle
schools at a Faculty Inservice Program on the topic of
Transitioning from Middle School to High School, coordinated
by the Jewish Education Commission of the Jewish Federation of
South Palm Beach County. It will be followed by a
JCRC-sponsored session on how to respond to Jews for Jesus,
who are planning a major missionary intiative in Palm Beach
County this month.
On Monday evening, parents of students whose last names
begin with letters L-Z will attend parent teacher
conferences from 5-9 p.m. at WYHS. Please make sure you
have submitted your form requesting conferences with specific
teachers.
Also this Monday night, there will be a College
Finance Seminar, open to parents of all grades (and
letters of the alphabet).
On Tuesday, November 4, students will have the privilege of
hearing Dr. David Luchins speak about the Middle East
peace process, "From Oslo to the Road Map". Dr. Luchins is the
Chairman of Political Science at Touro College in New York and
was the Senior Advisor to former U.S. Senator Pat Moynihan for
20 years.
Next week, representatives from Derech, Eretz HaTzvi,
Shaalvim for Women, and Gush, four yeshivot in Israel,
will visit WYHS to meet with students and present information
on their programs for high school graduates. Please click on
the quick link at right for the updated schedule of yeshiva
and seminary visits.
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| WYHS Sports- Winding Down and Gearing
Up |
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 A huge crowd turned out last Saturday night to
cheer on the boys varsity soccer team in their game against
the Donna Klein Jewish Academy. At the end of an intense
game, the Yeshiva Storm were defeated 2-1. The boys soccer
team also suffered a loss to the David Posnack Hebrew Day
School on Tuesday.
In their most successful season yet, the girls varsity
volleyball team made it all the way to the district
game on Monday. Unfortunately, they were unable to advance
to the next round, but they deserve congratulations on an
exciting season!
All boys and girls interested in JV or varsity
basketball tryouts should report to "training camp" at the
following locations:
Boys basketball tryouts begin on Sunday,
November 2 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Chaminade Madonna High
School in Hollywood. Tryouts will also be held on Monday,
November 3 from 4-6 p.m. at Loggers Run Park in Boca and on
Tuesday, November 4 from 6-8 p.m., also at Loggers Run Park.
Girls basketball tryouts are being held at
Chaminade Madonna High School on Sunday, November 2 from
9:30-11 a.m. and again on Wednesday, November 5 from 3:45-5
p.m. at Sports Mall.
Please click
here for directions to tryouts for all basketball
teams.
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| Great Things To Come |
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 Members of the WYHS student council will be
participating in the Eimatai Leadership Conference, to
be held in the Pocono Mountains from Wednesday, November 12
through Sunday, November 16. In addition to meeting and
sharing ideas with other student leaders from high schools
across the country, students will have the opportunity to
participate in leadership exercises and hear from leading
educators and Jewish communal leaders.
After meeting with students in school on November 17th,
there will be Meetings for Parents of Prospective YU and
Stern Students on Monday, November 17 at the home of Rabbi
Warren and Gail Kastzl in North Miami Beach, and on Tuesday,
November 18th at the home of Ted and Linda Struhl in Boca
Raton.
Save the date! On Tuesday, December 16th at 3 p.m., WYHS
will take on RASG Hebrew Academy of Greater Miami at two
simultaneous basketball games. In order to allow student
fans to cheer on their team, that Tuesday will follow a Friday
schedule.
The boys teams will face off at the Sportsmall
in Deerfield Beach, and the girls teams will compete at
the American Airlines Arena. Boys tickets are $5 and include a
post game pizza party. Girls tickets are $15 and $25, and
entitle Lady Storm fans to stay for the Miami Heat game
afterwards. Tickets must be bought through the school and will
go on sale in the coming weeks.
All WYHS seniors and freshmen and their parents are
invited to Dinner Theatre WYHS style! Reserve your tickets to
see The Chosen performed at the Coconut Grove Playhouse
on Sunday, February 1st at 2 p.m., followed by dinner at a
local restaurant. Tickets are $10 for students and $26 for
parents and must be purchased by Monday, November 17th.
Seniors should request tickets and submit payment to Mr. Chaim
Rosov.
WYHS also presents an amazing opportunity to take
advantage of Broadway in South Florida. All WYHS girls and
their mothers are invited to a performance of Les
Miserables at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach on
Wednesday, May 12 at 8 p.m.
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| A
Message from Rabbi Brander |
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| In his introduction to Sefer
Bereshit, the Netziv (R. Naftali Zvi Yehudah Berlin)
writes that this book of the Bible is named by our Rabbis
"Sefer Yesharim" (The Book of Moral Principles).
While Bereshit teaches us no formal Jewish laws, it
teaches us through the relationships of its personalities how
we are supposed to interact with each other.
The Netziv goes on to say that the tragedy of the Jewish
people during the Second Temple Period was not their lack of
service to G-d - rather their intolerance of each other.
Tolerance between Jews was so lacking, continues the
Netziv, that even the observant Jews felt that it was their
"divine mandate" to act in such a fashion towards someone with
a different posture on a religious issue.
The wisdom of Bereshit is to be found in learning
from the vices and virtues of its personalities. Whether
it is learning from Avraham's heroic petition on behalf of the
citizens of Sodom or the lack of unity between the children of
Yaakov and the tragic consequences, Sefer Bereshit is
the Book of Moral Direction.
Among the many important lessons that our children will
experience during their school year is a commitment to
building each student's character. Both in the
classroom and in informal dialogues with teachers and staff,
we will passionately communicate the need to embrace others
with Ahavat Chinam - unconditional love.
I know that together we will be able to integrate the
ideals of Bereshit into the Gestalt of our
children.
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