By Yona Saperstein (’06)

The DRS G.O. is known for their wonderful programs, activities, and events. However, the outstanding DRS Purim Extravaganza easily surpasses all others. The program started Monday night with Ma’ariv and Megilla reading, read beautifully by our Menahel, Rabbi Kaminetsky. Following Megilla reading was a lavish post-fast day dinner. We thank the many sponsors from the DRS family for this special meal. After breaking their fasts, the students, faculty and parents headed to the dance floor for incredible ruach-filled dancing, with music led by Ari Boiangu, Avi Feinberg, and Eli Zomick. The dancing was enhanced by the elaborate costumes worn by the participants as part of the DRS costume contest.

After an outstanding dance, the crowd headed to the gym to watch the DRS Senior Video II, the hilarious sequel to the Senior Video. (It will be available to watch on Google Video shortly.) After watching stunts and daring acts performed by the seniors, the students and faculty had the privilege of watching the acclaimed comedian and DRS alum, Natan Farber (’04) return to DRS to put on hilarious skits about the DRS faculty. After a one year hiatus, it was great to see Natan on stage once again.

After the skits, Rabbi Kaminetsky announced the winners of the DRS costume contest. First place winner was Elliot Schrier (’07), and second place winner was Yosef Ginsberg (’09). Elliot and Yosef received gift certificates to Dougie’s. But the night proved to be still young, as several groups of Rabbeim and students made their way to Yeshiva University’s Purim chagiga, where the DRS circle had the privilege of dancing around Rabbi Kaminetsky and his rebbe, Rabbi Mordechai Willig. The students agree that nothing can compare to DRS Purim 2006 except maybe, DRS Purim 2007. We’ll just have to wait and see!

By Aryeh Sklar (’08)

The chessed at DRS never stops, as was evident with our annual bake sale in school that raised money for the Od Yosef Chai charity fund. Headed by Yonatan Sklar ('08) and Ari Weiss ('08), the bake sale raised over $500 in 45 minutes. Many of the rabbeim and teachers donated cakes, cookies, pastries, snacks, pies, muffins, rolls, cupcakes, rice crispie treats, and so much more. Some people chipped in to buy Dunkin Doughnuts and hot cocoa, which sold very well. Ari and Yonatan were very pleased with the turnout.

"We worked hard as a team, with excellent results", said Yonatan Sklar. "By feeding a few DRS students, we can now feed plenty of poor people in Israel through the Od Yosef Chai fund. This is a great mitzvah for everyone involved, from the contributors of the food to the buyers of it." Others also collected for the Od Yosef Chai fund, including some students who carried around pushkas, and some who collected on Purim day. May all of our students continue to work hard on behalf of others!

By Sammy Salamon (’08)

While Purim at DRS is a time for celebrating with family, both in Yeshiva and at home, several talmidim spent part of the day outside on the streets of the Five Towns, with the aim of helping others. Several ‘caravans’ of tzedaka collecting DRS students raised over $10,000 dollars for Otsar and Od Yosef Chai, two wonderful charities.

Otsar is a charity that helps developmentally disabled children, and Od Yosef Chai distributes Tzedaka money in Israel. Rafi Goodman (’08), one of the students involved in this tremendous mitzvah said, "I can not wait until next Purim to do this again. I had a great time; I was with my friends and collected a lot of money for tzedakah at the same time". This is yet another extension of DRS’s commitment to give back to its community both here in the United States and in Israel.

By Jason Strauss ('07)

In New York and especially in New York Yeshivot, hockey is what everyone is talking about. Cross-town rivals faced off this week, and one came out way ahead. (No, not the Rangers over the Islanders) Both DRS hockey teams played the HAFTR Flames in the Yeshiva League Semi-finals, with exhilarating results in both games. First, the JV. Last week on Tuesday, the Greenhouse was crammed with fans as the defending champs and undefeated JV hockey Wildcats took on HAFTR. It looked like a certain win when the wildcats basically dominated the first two periods, leading the Flames 2-0. Suddenly, though, HAFTR fought back and tied up the game, bringing the game to overtime with a score of 2-2. In overtime, as a Greenhouse full of hockey puck streimels cheered, Josh Weinstock scored the winning goal, bringing the final score to 3-2, a 12-0 total record, and the JV’s second consecutive championship game. Get your tickets now, because the championship is this Tuesday.

The Varsity game was just as exciting. There were so many motives to win this game. Last year’s JV champs wanted another shot at the trophy, it was a game against HAFTR, and it was time for payback. Two years ago, the same rosters played each other in the JV semi-finals, with HAFTR winning in overtime. Now, DRS would redeem itself, in HAFTR. Parents, teachers, Rebbes, and students crowded around the HAFTR elementary school gym to watch these two elite teams battle. HAFTR scored first, but Adam Frohlinger tied up the game at 1-1 in the first period. The “Greenhouse on the Road” stayed loud but held its breath during the next period and a half, as the score remained tied. Yehuda Newman played solidly in front of the net, making some great saves. In the third period, Yoni Fein fired the winning goal into the HAFTR net, and with hustle and fundamental defense, the DRS Wildcats completed the sweep of HAFTR. DRS put out the Flames, and turned on the heat, because the Varsity faces off against the RAMAZ Rams on Sunday at 7:00 PM at Lawrence Middle School.

By Jason Strauss (’07)

It's trip time at DRS! Kicking off the grade trip schedule was the Freshman Road trip to Boston. Director of Student Programs Rabbi Emerson is always ready to cram in more events into the already jam packed schedule, and this year was no exception, as the students stopped in Connecticut for an all out Whirly Ball tournament (if you don’t know what that is, ask your nearest Freshman!). The students also enjoyed their time at the NBA Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, where they were greeted not only by the all time basketball greats but also by the gastronomical delights of a new Coldstone Creamery ice cream shop.

From there it was on to Boston, where the Freshmen davened mincha and ate supper at the Bostoner Rebbe’s shul, where they also learned about some of the amazing chessed projects that he and his Chasidim are involved in. At the “Garden,” the boys were treated to an exciting game as the Celtics defeated the Toronto Raptors. The students finished off the night with some exciting “Rock and Bowl.” And what kind of DRS event would it be without Dougie’s, which was supplied even on the road in a surprise midnight snack at the hotel.

The next day was packed, as the students got up early to daven Shacharit at the Brandeis Hillel. The freshmen then went to visit the Kever of Rav Soloveichik Z”TL, where they said Tehilim and remembered his contributions to Orthodoxy and Torah. The day continued with a trip to the Prudential Center, a tour of the famous Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, and some free time at the Good Times Emporium arcade. As the students relaxed on the bus home, they all agreed that this was an amazing experience, and it served to strengthen the already strong relationships in the class of 2009.

By Josh Maslow (‘07)

March 19th was a monumental day in DRS athletics history, as both DRS basketball teams were in the semi-finals. This was the first time any DRS basketball team, let alone two of them were in the semi-finals. The fans showed their gratitude, bringing the now famous “Greenhouse” on the road to Brooklyn, for a doubleheader at the Magen David Yeshiva. The Varsity team played first against top seeded Frisch, while the JV team played against top seeded Magen David. In the varsity game, the team struggled but kept up with Frisch throughout the first three quarters. However, with their leading scorer Evan Cohen feeling a little under the weather DRS could not keep up for long. Late into the third quarter Frisch pulled away for good and won the game. It was a tough loss for both the team and for the countless fans who came to bring the Greenhouse on the road.

Right after the Varsity game the JV played its game. The JV went 5-5 in the regular the season, but had still managed to make it to the semifinals with some real clutch basketball. Magen David was considered the best team in the league as they went 10-0 in the regular season. Nevertheless, DRS was able to keep up with them throughout the entire game. With a few minutes left to go the game was tied, but Magen David was able to pull away with the win. Both teams put in a lot of hard work and played extremely well and we hope to see continued success from the Wildcats next year.

By Yair Sapperstein (’08)

This past Monday, the lucky seven winners of The DRS Chanukah Auction’s most-entered prize, a “Gala Lunch,” Eli Rosenberg, Daniel Hefter, Steven Feldman, Sammy Steiner, Tzvi Cedarbaum, Aryeh Schlusselberg, and Noam Skolnick, were privileged to enjoy a spectacular lunch prepared by our very own cooking club teacher, Mrs. Sue Weinberg.

The lunch was served by Mr. Feldman and Mrs. Hefter,and the lucky students were entertained by Rabbi Kaminetsky on the piano. The students were treated to a delicious dairy lunch consisting of warm garlic bread, amazing salad and wonderful pastas, which they ate in the dining room on a beautifully prepared candlelit table, as fellow students passed by wistfully wishing they had won!

By Yitzi Diskind (’08)

This past Tuesday night, the DRS Debate Team, in what is becoming a more common occurrence, walked away from the SKA debate with 3 trophies. The topic of the debate was whether or not criminals should be allowed to vote.

The affirmative team captured the trophy of second best team, which was fitting because the team was made up of DRS Debate Team captain, Sammy Steiner (’08), who might have debated for his last time, and Elliot Schrier (’07). Elliot, an extremely strong debater who has helped bring home many trophies this year, also garnered the trophy for second best debater. The negative team was made up of Yair Saperstein (’08) and Daniel Muchnik (’06).

Both teams combined for a 3-1 record, doing extremely well in all 4 of the debates, which led to our final trophy, for second best school. Extremely proud of the debate team, Coach Schmugar stated “The DRS Debate Team has made tremendous progress this year, which bodes well for the future of the team.” Let’s hope Mr. Schmugar’s prediction turns out to be true for the upcoming DRS Debate, taking place here on April 4th.

By Zeke Miller (’07), Student Editor In Chief

Another DRS team has made it to the championship! This past week, the DRS Torah Bowl Team clinched the top spot in their division to propel itself into the Championship match. The Division Finals held this past Tuesday at North Shore pitted DRS against HANC twice. The first game was a tie breaker to determine who would be ranked first in the division. The team then had a long break while the other schools in the division battled for a spot in the semi-finals. Eventually HANC came out on top of the other schools and played DRS in a best out of three semi-final match. DRS came out strong and won the first two games.

HANC and DRS have been battling it out in Torah Bowl for the past several years. Last year in the semi-final match, HANC came out on top by an extremely small margin, while the year before that, DRS beat HANC in that years semi-final game to eventually lose in a close Championship game.

This year, the team is much stronger than years past led by 2nd year captain Yosef Miller. He and the team, coached by Rabbi Willig, have been more prepared for each and every match. The upperclassmen on the team include stars Yona Saperstein and Barry Eichenbaum. They are supplemented by several budding stars from the Freshman and Sophomore grades. We look forward to the continued success of the team in championship game on Monday.