By Yona Saperstein (’06)

On Sunday, April 2nd, the students and Rabbeim at DRS were privileged to take part in a very special event, a Hachnasat Sefer Torah. This Sefer Torah, which is currently DRS’s 5th Sefer Torah, was commissioned by Mr. Marc Gleitman in honor of his wife Nicole, and the Gleitman family has donated the Torah for DRS to use.

The program started with davening at the DRS Beit Medrash Eliyahu Tzvi and was followed by a d’var Torah given by DRS Menahel Rabbi Kaminetsky. After the d’var Torah, the students and Rabbeim headed to the gym where the sofer, Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz was writing the final letters. When the Sefer Torah was finished, dancing broke out with music by keyboardist, Junior Yoni Mandelstam. The students and Rabbeim accompanied the new Sefer Torah into its new home, the DRS Aron Kodesh, with music and dancing.

After the Sefer Torah was joyously placed in the Aron Kodesh, the students and Rabbeim were treated to a lavish breakfast, sponsored by the Gleitman family. May the faculty and students at DRS merit the privilege to use this Sefer Torah for many years to come.

By Aryeh Sklar (’08)

By Jason Strauss (’07)

Few teams ever make it to the championship. Even fewer get there twice. It was therefore very special that many of the members of the Varsity hockey team got their second shot in two years to win it all. Last year, the JV won in dramatic style against the SAR Sting. This year, a team that was thought to be champions two years ago finally came together and formed what could be the greatest Yeshiva league team in years. Hundreds of fans wearing green packed into the Lawrence Middle School gym to cheer on the Wildcats as they took on the RAMAZ Rams. The teams were introduced with big cheers, but the biggest reaction from the crowd came as a visibly moved Dani Ross (’06) was called to the court as a member of the starting lineup. As members of each team sang along as the American and Israeli national anthems were played, one could sense the palpable tension in the air.

The game began with DRS immediately taking control,taking several shots on goal, though the RAMAZ goalie held on. Suddenly, two penalties were called against DRS and the Wildcats faced a 4 on 2. However, superb penalty killing by Yoni Fein, Eitan Schreier, and captain Steven Genachowski prevented the Rams from capitalizing. The rest of the first period was deadlocked, as both teams took shot after shot without success. Going into the second period tied 0-0, DRS took it up a notch. The fans got louder and the ‘Cats got more aggressive until Yoni Fein scored the first goal of the night a few minutes into the period. With just seconds left of this twelve minute stanza in DRS history, Max Ganz delivered a great pass to Yoni Orlofsky, who then scored the second DRS goal, ending the period at 2-0, Wildcats.

The next period began the same way the last ended, with a goal by Elie Margulies, last year’s MVP. Exactly half way through the last period of regulation, Daniel Litton scored a goal by slapshooting a bullet into the upper-right corner of the RAMAZ net. Not long after, Elie Margulies came through again with his second goal of the night. Giving up only one very controversial goal, Yehudah “Newman is a Wall!” Newman made 21 saves on Sunday night, nearly every one an incredible block. With the score 5-1 in favor of DRS, fans counted down to the end and rushed onto the court for the pile-on and celebration. Players, parents, fans, and teachers congratulated each other on the victory and a great championship season. DRS students from the “Greenhouse on the Road” lifted up Newman, chanting “MVP, MVP” knowing that no goalie or player deserved the award more. Not surprisingly, Newman was named the 2006 Yeshiva League Playoff MVP, and coach Larry Gross and his deserving team were presented with the trophy of champions.

By Yair Saperstein (’08)

Champions! The JV Hockey team shut out TABC in the “clash of the undefeated.” The crowd was pumped, cheering wildly. The DRS team ran out to the court as the crowd went crazy.

Sruli Beitler scored the first goal 26 seconds into the game. He had two goals and one assist. Sam Schertz had a shutout as goalie, and Rafi Goodman and Zack Englander each scored a goal. Burry Klein was hailed for his amazing instinctive defense.

Post game, there was a “pile on” where the enthralled members of the hockey team all jumped on top of each other. They were thoroughly elated, as Sruli Beitler was announced as MVP.

This is the second year in a row that the JV are celebrating as champions. We wish them a Mazel Tov on an unbelievable perfect 13-0 season!

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

DRS hosted its annual Blood Drive in the gym this past Monday. In total the school donated over 95 pints of blood, a phenomenal amount. All students who were over 16 years old were eligible to donate and most students did. The gym was packed throughout the day with students excitedly and at times nervously waiting to donate. Students braved their fears of needles and blood in order to partake in this amazing mitzvah. Thank you to Rabbi Brazil for coordinating the drive as well as Shlomo Hagler (’06) and the rest of the Blood Drive Committee for making this year’s drive such an amazing success.

By Yair Saperstein (‘08)

With spring in the air and Pesach looming, it can only mean one thing: The DRS alumni are back from Israel! There are reunions between old friends, coupled with reunions between Rabbeim and their former students. Starting this past week, DRS held its annual alumni learning program to bring back the spirit of the student-rebbe relationship. The shiurim about Inyanei Pesach were given by: Rabbi Kaminetsky, Rabbi Storch, Rabbi Friedman, Rabbi Willig, Rabbi Gralla, Rabbi Lebowitz, Rabbi Klapholtz, and Rabbi Cohen. We wish our alumni a warm welcome back, and hope that they enjoy their short stay in America back at DRS before returning to finish their meaningful years of learning in Eretz Yisrael.

By Yona Saperstein (’06)

On Wednesday, March 5th, under the guidance of Mr. Howard Abramowitz, DRS students participated in the annual Yeshiva League Model Congress. The program was run by HAFTR, and took place in the Young Israel of Woodmere. Students from many Yeshiva high schools in the tri-state area participated in this event. The students heard from Charlie Harary, a lawyer and young Jewish leader who often speaks at DRS events. The students then proceeded into their respective committees, which are modeled after actual committees in the United States Congress. They then proposed bills, discussed and amended them, and decided to either pass or veto the bills, using the same methods that are used in the United States Congress. The students came out of model congress with a deeper understanding of how the United States government works. Congratulations to junior Elliot Schrier (’07) upon receiving honorable mention in the intelligence committee.

By Yitzi Diskind (’08)

This past week has been an exciting week for many of the teams at DRS, and for the debate team it was no different. On Tuesday night DRS hosted its fourth annual debate. The resolved for this debate was that “The United States federal government should set the criteria defining the circumstances under which one may legally have an abortion. If a potential mother does not meet these criteria, then she must carry the fetus to term.”

The debaters from DRS were Yisroel Kalker (’08), Dani Schoenfeld (’08), Mordy Fenster (’07) and Chaim Frankel (’07), for the negative teams. The affirmative teams were comprised of Yair Saperstein (’08), Adam Hersch (’08), Eli Wolff (’09) and Michael Feldman (’06). Nine different schools participated in the debate. While DRS did not win any trophies, it was a very closely contested debate, with DRS poised to get a trophy going into the second round.

This debate ran like a well oiled machine, thanks largely to the incredible amount of work that the captains Zeke Miller (’07), Elliot Schrier (‘07) and Sammy Steiner (’06), along with coach Mr. Schmugar put into making sure that the DRS debate was a success. In addition to the parents who volunteered to serve as judges, DRS was also privileged to host a special judge, Yoni Weinberg (’05), last year’s debate team captain. The debate was also a success due to the overwhelming support of students who volunteered to be moderators, and we thank them for their help.