chessed Archives - The 91Ӱ�� School

Lag Ba’Omer Kindness Campaign: Do It For Donny

Yaelle — Thu, 18 May 2023 13:50:15 +0000

Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� celebrated Lag B’Omer with a meaningful kindness campaign in memory of Donny Morris z”l, and grade-wide trips.

Last Monday morning, students and faculty were moved and inspired by the words of Mirlana Morris, the mother of Donny Morris z”l (and sister of 91Ӱ�� faculty member Shira Kronenberg). Morris spoke to the entire yeshiva ahead of Donny’s second yahrzeit, about holding on to emunah following her son’s loss, and about the power of small acts of kindness—a huge part of Donny’s legacy that continues to shine so brightly for all who knew him and learn about his life.

Throughout the week, 91Ӱ�� students engaged in different activities that enhanced the community of kindness in Donny’s memory. Students made brachot l’ilui nishmato; wrote thank you cards to teachers and staff throughout the week (perfect timing for Teacher Appreciation Week); collected many bags of clothing for Yad Leah; wrote cards for children with cancer, through Zichron Menachem and more.

On Lag B’Omer night, over 70 91Ӱ�� talmidim and talmidot went with faculty members Rabbi Michael Bashist and Racheli Israeli on a special Lag B’Omer trip to the Hilula of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. They started at the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, where they composed handwritten notes and shared personal tefillot. They then went to a celebration at Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, given by Rav Moshe Weinberger, where they sang and heard words of inspiration. The following morning, each grade got to take trips to different fun places in the New York-New Jersey area. Sophomores biked, flew kites and played ball on Governors Island, while freshmen, juniors and seniors enjoyed the attractions at American Dream Mall.

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Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� Blood Drives Will Save Over 600 Lives

Yaelle — Thu, 11 May 2023 15:59:10 +0000

This year, Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� held two in-school blood drives, collecting a total 172 units of blood from over 200 students and faculty members. Each person who donated blood will save three lives.

The student organizers—Rikki Ashman, Rebecca Kieffer, Ayelet Motechin, Daniel Sarasohn, Jeanie Moses and Yakira Weinberg—along with 91Ӱ�� Nurse Leah Shteingart partnered with the New York Blood Center to collect the donations. Eighty one units were collected during the fall semester, 91 in the spring.

Students were driven to get involved in order to do chesed and help boost the region’s blood stores; after all, every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood. “You can’t get blood when you need it without donors,” said Rebecca Kieffer, one of the student organizers. “It was really special to see our 91Ӱ�� community come together and help those in need. I was really amazed by the whole planning process from start to finish and I am so proud that we were able to collect 91 units of blood this semester!”

The drive also offered a long-lasting lesson. “I found it amazing how as young students we were able to help people and make a difference,” said 91Ӱ�� senior Ayelet Motechin. “The blood drive gives us an opportunity to help and have an impact—it doesn’t matter who you are, where you live or your age. It inspired me to do more in life.”

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91Ӱ�� Students Enjoy Great Big Apple Pie Bake

Yaelle — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 13:44:55 +0000

Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� students went apple picking this week, followed by a Great Big Apple Pie Bake in the school cafeteria. The pie baking demo was led by Toby Moses, 91Ӱ�� office whiz and culinary arts teacher.

The mouth-watering, finished pies were donated to Jewish Family and Child Services.

“Cougars love uniting,” said Moses. “And what better way to unite than pick apples in the field, and give back to the community.”

The program emphasized the importance of giving before the Yamim Noraim. Students were asked to imagine someone not as privileged as them, alone on Rosh Hashanah. When they receive an apple pie from the yeshiva, it says everyone at 91Ӱ�� cares about them and is thinking of them.

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Do It For Donny: Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� Remembers Donny Morris, z”l

Yaelle — Thu, 19 May 2022 18:47:40 +0000

In the leadup to Lag B’Omer, Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� has been remembering Donny Morris z”l, one of 45 people lost in the Meron tragedy one year ago.

Donny was kind, thoughtful and considerate in his everyday life to those around him—qualities that make a big impact on one’s friends, family and community, yet that everyone can emulate.

To commemorate Donny’s yahrzeit, 91Ӱ�� faculty member and Judaic Studies Learning Center Director Shira Kronenberg (Donny’s aunt) addressed each grade and introduced a series of activities all about further enhancing the yeshiva’s community of kindness in tangible ways. Kronenberg emphasized to the students that what came forth in all the stories from friends and family about Donny was the way he would genuinely ask people how they were doing, the little gifts he would bring to iShine friends, how he made a point of phoning his grandmother every Thursday because she liked to get calls in advance of the Erev Shabbat rush—and so many other seemingly small moments that were actually of special significance to people’s lives.

“The goal is to focus on bringing simcha to others in memory of Donny and his upcoming first yahrzeit,” explained Kronenberg. “The one thing that became clear to my family was that without even realizing it Donny made a huge impact on others by doing simple acts of kindness to and for others. When we bring simcha to others we also bring simcha to ourselves. Sometimes we think we need to make huge commitments; The goal of this week was to focus on just trying to find little ways to make someone’s day. I always looked forward to my Erev Shabbos calls from Donny, that one little phone call would always make my week. I may have been Donny’s aunt, but he taught me so much and continues to make a huge impact on my life now.”

Throughout the week, the 91Ӱ�� community has been partaking in various acts of kindness in Donny’s memory—accepting toys and games to be donated to I-Shine, selling Shabbat O’Grams, having thank you cards students can send to their teachers and more. Quotes reminding everyone to do acts of kindness have been made into stickers and posters, along with the message of “Do It for Donny,” to remind students how small acts can make someone’s day. May Donny’s neshama have an aliyah, and may all klal Yisrael be zoche to fulfill acts of kindness and chesed.

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Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� Packs 250 Art Supply Bags for OHEL

Yaelle — Thu, 29 Apr 2021 18:02:34 +0000

On Thursday, over 60 91Ӱ�� students from ninth through 12th grade volunteered for OHEL Children’s 91Ӱ�� and Family Services, packing 250 bags of art supplies! They had a blast and, as a bonus, also got to enjoy pizza, T-shirts and swag.

The packing event was preceded by a school-wide art supplies drive, after 91Ӱ�� junior Richie Nadritch made a call to OHEL, a large social service agency serving thousands of people across New York and New Jersey. “I contacted OHEL because I wanted to help children,” he said. “I thought specifically during the pandemic, kids who come to OHEL might need more support now. OHEL mentioned that there is always a significant need for art supplies for their children. Children always need and really love their own supplies and use them as a way to express themselves.”

Nadritch said that the 91Ӱ�� volunteers succeeded in packing all 250 bags in 20 minutes. He credited his peers who served on the 91Ӱ�� committee—Jack Fischer, Noah Greenbaum, Harrison Tassler, Caleb Breda, Maayan Keigher—for all their work promoting the effort and thanked Kaila Lasky, OHEL’s coordinator of Volunteer Engagement, and Rabbi Joshua Schulman, 91Ӱ��’s director of Chessed Programming, for their help.

“91Ӱ�� is such an exciting, happy place to be—the energy was incredible,” stated Lasky, who said she loved working with the students.

91Ӱ�� students have run a number of chesed drives during the COVID-19 pandemic, for food, coats, books, toys and more. “We have tried to address various needs that students have identified within the community,” said Rabbi Schulman. “OHEL told us we could help, and we were thrilled to do so.”

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Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� Walks the Runway for Sharsheret

Yaelle — Sat, 30 Mar 2019 01:45:39 +0000

The third annual 91Ӱ��-Sharsheret fashion show at Lord and Taylor took place on Thursday, March 28. Seventeen Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� students modeled Pesach-appropriate dresses from Lord and Taylor’s collection. Along with the fashion aspect, founder Na’ama Kaye, a senior at 91Ӱ��, introduced a speaker from Sharsheret who spoke both to the audience and the high school girls about what she learned having survived breast cancer. All proceeds from the night went to Sharsheret, raising tzedaka for this worthy organization.

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91Ӱ��/NCSY Chessed Mission Heads to Houston

Yaelle — Tue, 27 Nov 2018 19:00:06 +0000

Fifteen Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� juniors headed to Houston from Tuesday November 13, to Sunday November 18, on a chessed mission organized through New Jersey NCSY. The mission included Rabbi Ethan Katz, regional director of NJ NCSY, Rabbi Zev Kahane, a Teaneck NCSY adviser who will be overseeing this year’s NCSY-91Ӱ�� chessed missions, Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� Director of Chessed Programming Rabbi Joshua Schulman, as well as two NCSY advisers who happen to be 91Ӱ�� graduates of the class of 2016, Nicole Aranoff and Dalia Cohen.

In Houston, the students worked with Repair the World and the disaster recovery organization SBP. They learned about how houses in Houston were destroyed by Hurricane Harvey, and worked on interior wall demolition and insulation installation. The students worked so diligently that they impressed the representatives from SBP, who told them that they had accomplished twice as much as expected. On Friday, the students volunteered with the Houston Food Bank, encountering various volunteer groups from local schools. “They said to us, ‘You’re from New York and New Jersey and you came all this way? That’s awesome,’” recounted Baila Shatzkes ’20. “That made us feel really proud.”

The students spent Shabbat with the Meyerland community, bringing ruach to the shul and Shabbat meals.

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91Ӱ�� Students Join Chessed Mission to Puerto Rico

Yaelle — Mon, 14 May 2018 19:19:07 +0000

Fifteen students from Yeshivat 91Ӱ�� went on a chessed mission to Puerto Rico last week, accompanied by 91Ӱ�� faculty member Rabbi Neil Fleischmann and facilitated by PR4PR, an organization involved in hurricane relief and whose mission is to engage low-income and high-risk children and youth in positive, empowering and productive activities. Rabbi Ethan Katz and Ari Zucker of New Jersey NCSY helped coordinate the details of the trip and accompanied the mission, with NCSY Senior Educator Rabbi Israel Lashak joining for part of the trip.

The 91Ӱ�� delegation left New Jersey at the crack of dawn on Wednesday May 2, flew for seven hours to the island territory and “hit the ground running,” said Fleischmann. Upon arrival, the students began to build a greenhouse, paint a building and clear weeds for a site that will serve as a space for Puerto Rican youth.

The trip also served as a bonding experience for the students, and at the end of a long workday they had the opportunity to see old San Juan and celebrate Lag B’Omer (and Shabbat) at the local Chabad House. Rabbis Lashak and Fleischmann both spoke and gave presentations over Shabbat. Additionally, “Every single kid on the trip gave a Dvar Torah at some point, some in front of the larger community, and some in front of our group,” recounted Fleischmann.

The students who participated in the trip described the mission as inspiring, rewarding and fun. For Emily Gul ’20, the most rewarding part of the trip was when they completed building the greenhouse and the police officers came to see the students’ work. “The looks of gratitude on their faces were so rewarding and incredible to see,” said Gul.

“For us, building a greenhouse didn’t seem like it was such a big deal, but for the Puerto Rican kids it was a big deal, and something important for them to do,” added Andy Elbaum ’20.

Evan Haimm ’20 also noted how much the chessed delegation’s work meant to the couple whose house they painted. “The couple who owned the home…were so appreciative when we showed up and the look on their faces as we painted their homes was unforgettable. For us to know that a small group of teenagers from New Jersey could do such a minimal act of kindness and change someone’s whole life for the better inspired me to try to do more acts of chessed in the future.”

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