News

MTA talmidim, rebbeim, and faculty enjoyed a fun-filled week of Purim celebrations! Organized by Dean of Student Life Rabbi Danny Konigsberg and Assistant Director of Student Activities Rabbi Sam Dratch, each day brought exciting events, including a candy cart that distributed sweet treats, Jersey Day, where talmidim showed off their favorite sports teams by dressing in team gear, and had fun playing grade-wide line-up, Anything But A Backpack Day, where talmidim came up with creative ways to carry around their things in anything but a backpack, Shiur Theme Dress-Up Day, where each shiur dressed up in a common theme, and a Purim Raffle benefiting Od Yosef Chai and the Meir Mishkoff z”l Mishloach Manos Campaign, started by MTA alumnus Eytan Mishkoff (’06) in memory of his father Meir a”h (’75), who ran a 20-year Purim campaign supplying mishloach manos to IDF soldiers and those living in Israel.

HALB’s 67^th Annual Dinner was a night to remember! Hundreds of parents, teachers, and friends from all four divisions of HALB (DRS, SKA, HALB Elementary, and Lev Chana) came out to “Celebrate the Legacy” of the HALB family. Mazal tov to Guest of Honor and longtime Executive Director, Richie Hagler, Rabbi Dr. Armin H. Friedman Educator of the Year, Rabbi Elly Storch, and Parents of the Year Tanya & Amitai Dagan.

Bnos Malka Academy has recently been host to some very important guests. Our eighth graders have been meeting with and interviewing survivors of the Holocaust. Set up in the multi-purpose room, using state-of-the-art video equipment, the girls have been videoing and recording our grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ important stories so that they are not forgotten.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine nears its fourth week, Yeshiva University (YU) sent undergraduate students to Vienna to participate in a Ukrainian refugee relief mission. The trip, March 13-20, was led by Vice Provost of Values and Leadership and Sacks-Herenstein Center Director Erica Brown and Mashgiach Ruchani Rabbi Josh Blass. The 27 New York-based undergraduate students are supporting the hundreds of Ukrainian refugees relocated there, with educational activities for children, donations, supplies, and the coordination of housing. Yeshiva of Central Queens students made personalized Purim cards for the Jewish Ukrainian children, and the YCQ Board of Trustees (BOT) and Parent Teachers Organization (PTO) worked overnight to secure $4,000 worth of Purim crafts for the YU mission. Zerach.com partnered with YCQ, discounted the cost, and donating several hundred dollars’ worth of supplies to the worthy cause.

To get everyone in the Purim spirit, the students and staff of IVDU LI were treated to a special Pre-Purim Chagigah, with amazing music and dancing! Special thank you to DJ Ezra Eliyahu and singers David and Yisrael for providing the best entertainment.