This past Sunday, the gym was converted into a movie theater, and while no popcorn was served, an exciting time was had by all. The greater DRS family, including students, faculty, and parents, was treated to a very special exclusive showing of "Paper Clips." The award-winning documentary tells the inspirational story of a middle school in Whitewell, TN, whose students embarked on an ambitious project to collect six million paper clips to commemorate the Jews who died in the Holocaust. It is currently showing in several theaters in the New York area, and is slated for national release in 25 cities in several weeks.

What made the morning so special was that, in addition to the showing of the movie, we also had the pleasure of hosting Executive Producer Yeeshai Gross, who presented some fascinating background information to the entire Paper Clips story, and answered students and parents questions. This past week, the Student Activities office, in conjunction with student leaders, has been working on several ways to respond to the message of the movie and build on the success of the students featured in it. Stay tuned to future issues of the DRS Address for more information on these programs.

DRS thanks the anonymous families who graciously sponsored this unforgettable event.

This past Tuesday was no ordinary day in the DRS lunchroom. Students from SKA, HAFTR, and Rambam came to take part in a math competition. This month's math competition was unique in that it was a team competition. Each Yeshiva was divided into 2 groups of 10, who worked together on a series of 6 advanced level math problems. The top scoring schools in this competition were DRS and HAFTR, each answering 5 of 6 correctly. DRS is currently in first place among Nassau county Yeshivot, and sixth place among all schools in Nassau County.

One of the highlights of the Senior year experience at DRS is the Machshava curriculum. As the students prepare to move on towards the next step in their academic careers, this class, under the direction of Rabbi Storch, ensures that they gain an in depth understanding and appreciation for the most fundamental tenets of Jewish philosophy. During the first semester, in addition to the daily class, the boys select one particular area of Jewish thought to focus on. For over four months, the students research their topic, and, at the end of the semester, submit their findings in the form of a ten page article. To guide the students in their research, Rabbi Storch asked each Senior to begin their investigation by developing a question that could be potentially asked to a person involved in the area of kiruv. They wrote papers on topics such as "why do bad things happen to good people?", "How do we understand creation in light of the theory of evolution?" and "understanding individualism and conformity in light of mitzvot."

To gain information the boys were looking through sefarim they had never seen before from the areas of machshava. Some used the internet and others relied on shiurim they have heard in the past from their Rabbeim. Overall, the seniors felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment at the end of the project and they were eager to share their project and read the projects of others. We look forward to the possibility of some of these papers being made available in our Yeshiva's Torah journal which is in the process of being put together.

It was another perfect week in all sports for the DRS Wildcats! This Sunday was a first in DRS history as we won three sports events on the same day. It began with a Junior Varsity win against Ohr Chadash. The team, led by Yehoshua Joseph and Josh Maslow, improved to 5-2 and is looking ahead to the second half. Meanwhile in Teaneck, our hockey teams were playing a doubleheader against TABC. The junior varsity got things started with a 4-0 win. Yehuda Newman was stellar in net once again not allowing any goals. The varsity then won their game 6-3. The team was led by the line of Dovid Shulman and Avner Skoczylas who combined for 3 out of 6 goals. The varsity completed the week with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win against Solomon Shechter. Michael Shertz scored the first ever DRS overtime goal to clinch the win for the 'cats. With the Yeshiva's first ever overtime win the 9-1 wildcats clinched a playoff birth. They are eagerly awaiting the second half with a game against HANC and two crucial games against HAFTR.

In non-varsity news, Thursday's intramural championship game capped off the most exciting season yet, as Team #4 met Team #6 in the gym. In a game that went down to the wire, Team #4, led by Junior sensation Judd Lindenfeld, beat fellow Junior Shimmy Pianko and his Team #6 squad, 31-29. No team ever led by more than four points, and the game ended in exciting fashion, with Team #6 calling for a time- out "Chris Webber Style" with no time outs left, giving them a technical foul. Team 4 did not capitalize on the single foul shot, and Team 6 had one more chance to tie it up. With less than 5 seconds to go, Senior David Kesselman launched a last chance field goal attempt, which missed. Senior Moshe Alony ripped down the rebound, giving Team 6 yet another lease on life, but his turn around jumper with under 1 second to go rimmed out.

Congratulations go to Judd Lindelfeld on his MVP honors, and to the entire Team #4 for winning the first semester championship. Mazal tov to Jeffrey Koppel and Moshe Alony for capturing season MVP honors. We look forward to an exciting second semester season to begin after the vacation!

We congratulate this month's DRS Students of the Month!

Ninth Grade: Josh Gormley, David Werthheimer, Yoni Speiser, Asher Abittan, Daniel Tuchman (2), Yosef Krausz, Yair Saperstein (2), David Barkhordar, Shua Drang, and Evan Seltzer.

Tenth Grade: Max Gottfried (2), Yechiel Eisenberg (2), Joel Hubert, Yoni Orlofsky, Ariel Auman, Avi Bursky- Tammam, Tuli Kagan, David Sharifian, Mordechai Holchendler, Mark Rocklin, Meir Cohen, Eli Neuman, Judah Schiff, Jeremy Bari, David Rubinoff, Michael Billet, Elliot Schrier, David Ishail, and Ephraim Leiderman.

Eleventh Grade: Yona Saperstein (2), Chaim Gross, Andy Stahler, Michael Zarifpoor, Reuven Cohen, Ari Feldstein, Ezri Hamlet (2), Avi Stahler, Baruch S. Abittan, Michael Aisenbaum, Ariel Baraff, Tzvi Cederbaum, Dov Klein, Shmuel Leibtag (2), Rick Shindelheim, Rafi Blumenthal, Steven Hagler, Steven Feldman, Aaron Weiss, and Yossi Berger.

Twelfth Grade: Binyamin Weinstein, Jeremy Weg, Jonathan Mann, Zachary Klein (2), Meir Shubowitz, David Frankel, Tzvi Shapiro, and David Leichtung.

The 50th Annual HALB Dinner will take place, IY"H, on Motzai Shabbat, March 12th at the Sands at Atlantic Beach at 8:45pm, where we will pay tribute to "50 Years of Our History". HALB will honor its past presidents who have worked tirelessly to make HALB what it is today. Rabbi Dr. Armin H Friedman will be the recipient of a Distinguished Educator Award and HALB will also present a special Community Service Award to Mr. John Adam Kanas, President, Chairman and CEO of North Fork Bank.

To place an add in our souvenir journal or to make dinner reservations, please call 516-791-8200 x107, fax 516-791-6261, e-mail dinner@halb.org or visit our website through the link below.

Thursday evening marked a special night on this year's Yeshiva calendar, as the last Night Seder of the first semester took place. In looking back at the few short months since this program has developed, one can only marvel at the sight of over 100 of our boys, plus a significant number of members of the community, learning two nights a week in our Bet Medrash Eliyahu Zvi. We offer our highest praise and words of encouragement for our Night Seder participants, and we look forward to watching their continued development next semester and beyond.