What do we mean when we refer to the “I” when we make claims about ourselves? Not to sound cliche but the concept of personal identity has baffled philosophers for centuries. What is it about us that endures over time? Who are we as people?
Once we are able to figure out who we are and where we come from, really deep down, we can become happier, grateful, motivated and successful people.
This is the overall theme we are exploring this year for color war. It is easy to quantify ourselves physically, or connect ourselves to a greater cause, but in reality, we are a combination of these things. Our gratitude, confidence, heritage and motivation is what sits deep within us and drives us to be the best that we can in all that we can.
It is both the things that we recognize and the things that we take for granted that, when combined, make up the core of our identity.
We hope that you explore what makes you work, what makes you strive, what makes you succeed. But more importantly, we hope that in participating in this program you get a better sense of who you are, and why you are you.
This year's color war focuses on the theme of Personal Identity. Each team represents a different way of representing this:
Red: Motivation - מוטיבציה
Blue: Heritage - מסורת
Green: Gratitude - הכרת תודה
Yellow: Confidence - בטחון עצמי
We broke out Color War 2018 with this amazing video:
The 2017 Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School Color War was a huge success from start to finish. It began with a school-wide assembly where Rabbi Beyda spoke to the student body about the annual 'Study Survey.' He ended the assembly by telling the students to go back to class. Since there was major speculation that color war was to break out, the students were confused. In a staged argument between, senior, Albert Arazi and Rabbi Beyda, the two went back and forth over how the student don't even want a Color War. At that point Arazi turned to the crowd and riled them up chanting "Color War! Color War!" The lights shut off and intense music started to play! Through the back doors, the Generals stormed the aisles making their way to the stage. Colored lights flashed and students began to get pumped up and excited for these next few days of intense competition. We introduced the thoughtful and inspiring themes for this year. The intro videos describing each theme came on screen. This year's color war was all about inspiring the students to find the right path to take on their journey through life. Each of us have the ability to choose from right and wrong but we have to use specific lenses to view our situations to make sure we decide the correct path to take. Four of them being Integrity (yellow), Curiosity (green), Resilience (red) and Bravery (navy). It is our job to use these traits to change our lives and make the world a better place. This color war helped the students believe in their ability to do just that. No matter where we stand in life, each and every one of us will be instilled with the power to do the right thing.
After the intro videos, the teams went to their team time locations where they were handed their team's color hats (with the beautiful YOF logo). Their generals: Navy- Yair Aiash and Leah Katach, Green- Jonathan Kraidman and Barbara Haddad, Yellow- Daniel Sitt and Jeanne Rahmey and Red- Ikey Benzaken and Sarah Horowitz invited them all to a Saturday night meeting and to school on Sunday morning to help their teams decorate their school hallways in their colors. Saturday night was a blast, each team actively working on skits, videos, games, songs, banners, hallway decorations and so much more. On Sunday teams began decorating the school's hallways portraying their team's theme and color that told a story. Sunday afternoon, the teams put together sports squads to participate in the competitive sporting games that lasted into the night.
The next two days were jam-packed full of fun games and activities. On Monday, we began with musical chairs during breakfast. An epic finale in the boys game between Albert Arazi and Sam Beyda set the tone for the rest of the day. The same way the two boys battled it out for the last chair was the same way each team competed for every point. We then all moved to the auditorium to watch the four, theme-related, Dvar Torah videos. Then began the activities. Each grade participated in different events simultaneously. The freshmen played Fun Games, while the Sophomores engaged in Marathon. Juniors and Seniors stayed in the Auditorium for Trivia. Each event ran smoothly. After 45 minutes the grades switched activities. The teams worked together as best as they could, which showed their devotion and drive to win.
On Tuesday, during breakfast we played another huge game of musical chairs. There were regular classes in the morning but after lunch the greatness went down. First, the teams gathered for a final rehearsal of their songs and details before the final auditorium session. The students arrived into the assembly cheering their team's colors and themes! At the very beginning, the SGO collected over $1,000 to be distributed to four different charities, each charity connected to one of the teams. We then proceeded to watch the spectacular skits, beautiful songs, magnificent banners, and the beloved boys' dance from each team. Each year these four activities trump the year's before but, this year, the teams portrayed such amazing work it's going to be hard for 2018's Color War to beat them.
After a closing speech from Ms. Marcus about the past few days with an emphasis on the handwork that all the generals, Black Team, and the SGO put into this legendary event; we closed everything with a cute and warming slideshow that compiled pictures from the very start to the very end. SGO President Elliot Shamah then got up and announced Red Resilience as the victors!!!
Congratulations to all of the teams for their outstanding hard work, to the teacher generals for all of their dedication and devotion and to all of the students for their active participation, enthusiasm and involvement. Special thanks to the SGO, Ms. Marcus, and our black team generals Marcelle Cohen, Sarali Cohen, and Morris Matalon who helped this color war run so smoothly and prepare each event to make this the best color war yet! We hope you loved it and truly learned something meaningful from this experience! We saw true leadership abilities in each and every one of you and we were so proud to see the Flatbush family so united and happy together! We hope you had a blast and enjoyed every minute of it, we know we did! Hold on to this experience of a lifetime and never forget it!
With great pleasure,
Your SGO 2017
Elliot Shamah, Albert Dweck, Morris Mamiye, and Ralph Chattah.
Decisions define us. The
choices we make in life pave our future, for better or for worse. Throughout
the journey of our lives we encounter many opportunities. On this road, at
almost every point, there will be an intersection with different paths to take.
Sometimes you’ll see the correct path shining before you. That may be a clear
inclination of good vs. bad, but more often than not, the options in front of
you will vary within the ‘grey area.’
How do we know which path to take?
The answer lies in the process. We must use our inner strengths to guide us to
the “right” path. We rely on our Resilience, bravery, curiosity,and
integrity to choose correctly. We internalize these qualities and
direct ourselves to success.
Each trait has its own lesson to be
learned. Curiosity teaches us that nothing starts unless we search.
Opportunities don’t just arise before us, we need to go out and get it. Once we
get that far it takes guts and Braveryto take the first step. Integrityprovides moral and ethical boundaries. Success gained through
lies and corruption is a hollow and false victory. Resilience motivates
us to never back down if we fail the first time.
Unfortunately, on the pathway to
success will always be times when you couldn't dodge the bullet or break the
wall. If every person gave up at that small failure, or refused to persist when
things got difficult, we would never be able to enjoy the successes of others.
We are not judged by our failures. We are judged by how we bounce back from
those failures. Thomas Edison is famously known for inventing the light bulb.
He’s not remembered for the countless times he failed at it.
You’ll notice that the praised
leaders and successful people in our history encapsulate all these traits. From
Moshe Rabenu to Benjamin Netanyahu, we see resilience, bravery, integrity, and
curiosity drive them to success.
It is important that all four are
cohesively worked into our everyday lives. There’s no question that the big
decisions we make should be held on these principles, but even the little
decisions should be held on these principles as well. With resilience,
curiosity, bravery, and integrity you’ll have clarity on where to go.
The pathway to success is paved with
obstacles and struggles. We rely on our faith and the guidance of Hashem to
clarify our mission and our pathways to being trueבני ישראל.
This year's color war focuses on the theme of Pathways to Success. Each team represents a different way of representing this:
Red: Resilience - נחישות
Navy: Bravery - אומץ
Green: Curiosity - סקרנות
Yellow: Integrity - אמינות
We broke out Color War 2017 with this amazing video:
We can't believe that Color War 2016 is over, the event that occupied our lives for months is over. It feels like just yesterday that we started planning, and it all flew by so quickly. No matter what event we were planning during the year, we were always thinking about color war and how to make this one the best one yet. We worked on a schedule, created new games, chose our leaders and everything in between.
Then it came down to the big decision - our theme. What message did we want to deliver? What did we want people to work on? What did we want the school to learn? We chose שלמות האדם, becoming a whole person so that we could fix the world around us. The world we live can be seen as a terrifying place, and it is our job to make this world a better place. But we can't fix the world until we fix ourselves. Rumi said, "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." We wanted the students to be wise, not only clever. We wanted them to realize that they must change themselves in order to change the world. Our themes were Green Humility, Red Strength, Blue Justice, and Yellow Kindness - character traits that we should focus on and perfect in order to become more whole people.
Blue Justice Banner
Yellow Kindness Banner
On Friday, March 25th we had our breakout. We started with late Minyan and a short play, then went into out breakout. Our breakout started with a video where Rabbi Levy announced color war. After he said those words, everyone went crazy. The Generals ran down the aisles to the stage, and their intro videos for their themes came on. After that we distributed the teams and sent everyone to their team times where the Generals introduced themselves and encouraged their teams to get involved and participate and help their team win.
Saturday night were the team meetings, every team had a meeting by someone's house. That's where the brainstorming and the planning got started. Hundreds of students went and devoted their free time to making this color war incredible by contributing to artwork, dance, or music. The meeting went on until the wee hours of the morning.
Green Humility Banner
Red Strength Banner
Then Sunday Morning everyone woke up bright and early for Sunday Morning Learning! Rabbi Kramer gave an incredible shiur about chesed and really inspired the students. After that the teams broke up and started working on the artwork for their hallways. I couldn't believe my eyes - students gave up their Sundays to be in school and help their teams. They worked on artwork, dances and skits, and then we had some sports competitions in the afternoon. The day was jam packed and we had to force people to leave the building at 11pm. It was a successful day and each hallway was more beautiful than the last. You could tell that the students put their heart and souls into it.
Boy Generals
Girl Generals
Monday morning started with musical chairs at breakfast - it was intense. Then we sent everyone to class and showed two teams' Dvar Torah videos. For Monday we had Brain Games and Trivia planned for all the grades. Third period we played Brain Games with the juniors - games that challenged them mentally and demanded thinking. Then fourth period we had trivia and minute to win it with the seniors. After that we broke into team time for lunch. During lunch, we gave students the opportunity to get points for their team by reciting Boreh Nefashot, Al Hamichya, or Asher Yatzar by heart. It was incredible to how many students memorized these berachot for their team. Then during tenth and eleventh period we had trivia and brain games going on simultaneously for freshmen and sophomores. Everyone had a blast.
After school we had a scavenger hunt around school and on Avenue J. Each team wrote questions for each other, it was challenging and fun. Then some people stayed in school to work on their artwork. Again we had to encourage people to leave at 11pm.
Then it was Tuesday - our last day of color war. We started the day with blind folded musical chairs during breakfast. It was very funny to watch, but I don't know how much fun the players had. We sent everyone to class and showed the other two Dvar Torah videos. After that the day was pretty relaxed. We had team time during lunch, and again the opportunity to get points for memorizing berachot. Then the excitement came. We had fun games and marathon simultaneously during 7th period for seniors and juniors and 8th period for sophomores and freshmen. It was intense and so much fun. Then everyone made their way down to the auditorium for the closing ceremonies. We heard cheers and songs, watched skits, saw cakes and banners, and laughed at the boys trying to dance. The Generals then sang a nice tribute to Rabbi Levy while the SGO tallied up the points. There were closing speeches and everyone got emotional (or at least I did). We were saying goodbye not only to color war, but to our high school careers really. The work and the effort and the time we devoted since September. It all paid off. Color war was a giant success. So many people came over to me after and said that they were inspired. That the school was filled with these traits, and it was touching to know that all of the students and teachers really took this year's theme to heart. That people really want to take these traits and work on making themselves whole. I would say the winners, but it doesn't really matter does it? Alright fine, it was Blue Strength in first, Green Humility in second, Yellow Kindness in third, and Red Strength in last. But the winners aren't determined by their scores. The winners are those who gain from this experience and get inspired from what we worked so hard on.
SGO 2016
A special thanks to everyone who helped to make this color war so incredible. Rabbi Levy, Ms. Marcus, the Generals, the Lieutenants, the teacher Generals, the administration and everyone in between. Your devotion and your hard work made this color war one for the books. We couldn't have done it without you. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did, and we hope that you all gained something from it. You all showed us your leadership qualities and you really inspired us! We are so proud of you and all of your hard work and are happy to see everyone united and working to become אנשים שלמים.
~SGO 2016~
Danielle Ashkenazie, Joseph Balassiano, Esther Cohen, and Abraham Kassin
“Yesterday I was
clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing
myself.” -Rumi
Every morning we say לתקן עולם במלכות שקי. What does it mean to “fix” the world? How do we do that?
The world is a frightening place. Terror attacks, wars, scandals. Bad news all around. Do you ever look around and think that this needs to change? If you do, you’re right. Making the world a better place is a fundamental belief in Judaism, but it is vague and hard to achieve. To make the world a better place, first we must make ourselves better, more complete people.
Throughout our history we see people improving on their own middot in order to make the world a better place. We can start with the obvious, Avraham avinu. He made himself into a righteous person with integrity and faithfulness. He inspired so many people around him to follow a righteous path, and it is quite evident that he changed the world. He is the father of monotheism! How did he get that title? By first working on himself.
Dona Gracia Mendes was a Sephardic Morano. During the Spanish inquisition she fled to Portugal and was forced to convert to Christianity. She managed to escape oppression, and she fled to Europe. Dona Gracia was extremely wealthy, and with her money she helped Jews escape Portugal and countries that oppressed their Jews, and she built Yeshivot and Shuls. Dona Gracia single handedly changed the fate of hundreds of Sephardic Jews - it is obvious that she made the world a better place. But she was only able to make the world a better place after she escaped from Portugal and worked on freeing herself. She was only able to better the world after she made herself a more complete person with complete freedom.
The reason why we need to start with ourselves when looking to change the world is because the world is arduous and exhausting. Changing ourselves is also arduous and exhausting, but a little more manageable. Working on bettering ourselves changes the world because we all have an effect on everyone around us.
While self reflection isn’t a new concept, it is important to take the qualities we hope to perfect in ourselves and exemplify them in order to improve the world and the communities we live in. As the Jewish people, it is our responsibility to make the world a better place, to improve upon ourselves - spiritually, physically, and emotionally - and it is quite a daunting task. However a small gesture, of kindness, faith, justice, integrity, love, or respect can set off a chain reaction. We are faced with a choice each moment of our lives. Hashem gave man free will, בחירה חופשית, so we may use it to better serve Him. As we reflect upon ourselves, we can see ways and places to improve.
With kindness, justice, strength, and humility, we must take on the role of לתקן עולם במלכות שקי. We must glorify and honor the ultimate gift of life and this world that was given to us by Hashem, and hopefully we will merit a place in Olam Habah.
In Parashat Bereshit, we see the first mention of צלם אלוקים. Chazal frequently cite the concept of צלם אלוקים in order to emphasize man’s uniqueness. But is comparing man to Hashem a slippery slope? How can we possibly imagine or even pretend that we are remotely like Hashem?
The Rambam explains that by depicting man as having צלם אלוקים, the Torah highlights man’s intellectual and spiritual potential. He continues to explain that this combination of spirituality, intellect, and physical capacity is what inherently makes us capable of sin. It is exactly our physical and intellectual limitations that provide temptation and opportunity for us to sin. We see this in אדם הראשון. This person, created in the “image of Hashem” who has the strongest and most obvious connection to him was tempted and sinned- submitting to his physical and intellectual weaknesses instead of using them to nurture his נשמה. We learn from this that it is our responsibility to overcome our physical limitations and temptations, to use the physical and intellectual capacities that we have to develop and strengthen our middot, to become more שלם and exemplify these middot. In doing so, we become closer to Hashem and closer to the ultimate goal of completing the world. This job will never be full complete, and we cannot always expect perfection, but it is the journey that unites us, and the work that is our responsibility. As it is written in Pirkei Avot ב:ט"ז.
“לא עליך המלאכה לגמור, ולא אתה בן חורין להבטל ממנה.” We are not responsible to complete it, but we must always continue to work upon ourselves and the world around us.
So when faced with struggle, when we search for meaning in a world that is often bleak and full of violence and flaws, seek to improve, to better yourself into an אדם שלם - a full and complete person, a person created in the image of Hashem. By internalizing the middot of Humility ענוה, Justice צדק, Kindness אדיבות and Strength עצמה, we can continue the work and merit the משיח and עולם הבא, בעזרת הקדוש ברוך הוא.
This year's color war focuses on the theme of Being a Whole Person. Each team represents a different way of representing this:
It feels like it was just yesterday that the SGO sat down to start planning Color War. We left that fist meeting with so many brilliant ideas on how to revolutionize the event. From changing the colors, marathon during school, scavenger hunt, a game show, and much more. We were determined to make Color War 2015 one for the books. In the upcoming months we came up with our themes, chose generals, created a schedule, and made all of the necessary preparations. The overarching message and theme was, "When times are tough, what motivates you to stand up?" After all, we live in a world where people are afraid to seem Jewish, to look Jewish and to be Jewish. Instead of hiding your identity and remaining silent, the SGO 2015 wanted to inspire the students at Yeshivah of Flatbush to stand tall for what they believe in; to not only be proud Jews in private, but to show the world who we are and what we are made of. The themes were Orange Confidence, Green Knowledge, Red Heritage and Purple Persistence. Through acquiring each of these character traits, a person can find a way to stand up and to stand tall.
Green Team Banner
Red Team Banner
We began on March 6 with breakout! After an amazing teacher Shushan Purim production, the Color War Generals and SGO unexpectedly broke into the final pose of the teachers' Synchronized Swimming Dance. The song uptown funk came on with the lyrics saying, "Flatbush Color War, Flatbush Color War." This was followed by the team intro videos and the very first team time. Here, our Generals introduced themselves and encouraged students to get involved, participate in the events, and help out in any way possible. Saturday night were the team meetings where hundreds of students and many faculty members went to the homes of the Generals and Lt. Generals and as they worked on videos, dances, art-work and more. I personally got home at 4:30 AM but some of the meetings continued on even later.
Purple Team Banner
Orange Team Banner
Sunday Morning Learning came next with phenomenal Dvrei Torah presentations on the themes provided by our very own students and teachers. The day was filled with preparations as the teams decorated hundreds of square feet of hallways, learned dances, played sports and had a blast. We even had to push students out of the building at 11PM. Monday morning flew by as well. We started the day with musical chairs during breakfast. Just a few periods later Team Dvar Torah/Mascot videos were presented to the school, relaying messages about the themes through creativity and acting. Later in the day, we put on a game show for each grade too. From our trivia questions on Teacher Social Media, Around Ave J and others, to our Minute to Win It challenges, the students were occupied in a fun and competitive atmosphere. That night was followed by our Scavenger Hunt around school and Ave J, where each team wrote questions for the other teams.
Finally, we started Tuesday with musical chairs and more Team Dvar Torah/Mascot videos. We made our way into Fun games and Marathon, both during school around the building. These periods were filled with excitement, competition, chaos (in a good way) and tons of running. The entire school then made their way into the auditorium for the final presentations. These included team cheers, skits, commercials, dances, banners, and much more. I can proudly say this was one of the greatest Color Wars Flatbush has ever seen. Saying goodbye was very tough but the fact that we were able to inspire so many students made it just a little bit easier. Orange Confidence came in first place, followed by Green Knowledge, Red Heritage and Purple Persistence. But to us, all the teams won given their outstanding work and dedication.
Color War 2015 Black team and SGO 2015
A special thanks to all those involved for making Color War 2015 all that it was. From the students, to the teachers, Rabbi Levy, Mrs. Marcus, the administration and more, we could not have done this alone and we are proud you stepped up, became leaders, and took the messages to heart. We hope you loved it and truly learned something meaningful from this experience! We saw true leadership abilities in each and every one of you and we were so proud to see the Flatbush family so united and happy together standing tall for what we believe in!
~SGO 2015~
Victor Zeitoune, Robyn Dweck, Junie Maleh, Sophia Chabot, Michael Zalta
Mrs. Sarah Marcus, Faculty Advisor
History is filled with instances where one, in response to challenges, must stand up for what is right or to simply survive. Hope, passion and will are of course the key driving forces that fuel one’s efforts for survival and fortitude, but what motivates one to stand up in the first place? What actualizes their hopes and passions? What paves the way for their will to achieve?
To answer these, one must look introspectively, at their own experiences and the history of the Jewish people. Mark Twain famously declared the miraculous enigma, “What is the secret of his [Jewish] immortality?” How can a nation that faced such oppression, inquisition, expulsion, holocaust, and identity crisis continue to stand and thrive with such prominent existence in the world today? The secret lies within their motivation to stand tall. Through the use of their knowledge דעת, confidence בטחון עצמי, persistence גבורה , and heritage אמונה בדרך the Jewish people continue to prove that they have what it truly takes to constitute immortality.
As we continue to live and function in an already rocky world, we need to look to our history in order to maintain and strengthen our Jewish Identity. We look to our ancestors such as אברהם אבינו- who had the courage to stand up for what be believed in even when the entire world told him that we was wrong. We look to נח, who relentlessly built his ark despite ridicule and derision. We tell the story of יצחק , who went along with the עקדה, having faith in Hashem and the word of his father even though it meant sacrificing his own life. We look to the mothers, לאה ,רחל ,רבקה ,שרה who despite their hardships, constantly turned to their knowledge, persistence, Jewish heritage and confidence in Hashem to help them survive and continue to GROW the Jewish nation despite all odds.
So as we continue to coexist, and respond to the world plagued by terror. When in university and in the streets of New York our identity and faith is challenged at every angle, we ask you:
What motivates you to continue to stand tall? What helps you fight for what you believe in? How can we maintain and strengthen our Jewish Identity and our values and morals when it all seems so difficult. We hope you will explore and discover the answers and strategies are ones throughout this year’s color war.
So SGO 2015 would like to ask you- When times are tough, what motivates you to stand up?
This year's color war focuses on the theme of Standing UP. Each team represents a different way of representing this: Orange: Confidence - בטחון עצמי Red: Heritage - אמונה בדרך Green: Knowledge - דעת Purple: Persistence - גבורה
We broke out Color War 2015 with this amazing video:
This year's color war was a huge success from start to finish. It began with a secret breakout in a form of a school-wide prank on Friday, March 21st where all the students switched classrooms and floors at the 8th period bell. Seniors, Ethan Isayev and Ovadia Fteiha were kind enough in calling down the class presidents to explain to them where there classes were going and what to do. The students were told this was a fun prank to do for the spirit of Adar and it would lighten the mood on a Friday. It worked perfectly because even the teachers had no idea what was going on! After these few minutes of chaos, Rabbi Levy called the students down for an assembly to rebuke their wild behavior and "cancel" color war. When he said he had no choice but to declare the start of color war, the SGO stormed the stage while the generals and black team ran up the aisles. The SGO and black team took the stage and jumped up and down to the blasting music and flashing colored lights to get the students pumped up and excited for these next few days of intense competition. We introduced the thoughtful and inspiring themes for this year by changing things up a bit. We created a fun video to show what color war is all about. It was so thrilling to watch the students full of laughter and big smiles on their faces. Then the next videos describing each theme came on screen. This year's color war was all about inspiring the students to leave a legacy and make their mark on the world. Each of us have a talent that Hashem gave us that we have to search for and be proud of. Four of them being fortitude (yellow), persuasion (green), creativity (red) and logic (blue). It is our job to use these talents to change the world and this color war helped the students believe in their ability to do just that. No matter where we go, be it North, South, East or West, each and every one of us have the ability to leave a legacy behind us and be remembered for something good.
Blue Logic Banner
After that, the teams went to their team time locations where they were handed their team's color t-shirts (with the beautiful color war logo we created to represent the themes) and a bandana to match. Their generals: Blue- Abie Tawil and Rita Sharaby, Green- Morris Bijou and Lital Ben-Zikry, Yellow- Joshua Sitt and Lauren Levi and Red- Victor Dweck and Alison Kassin taught them their team's cheer and invited them all to a Saturday night meeting and to Sunday Morning Learning on Sunday to help their teams decorate their school hallways in their colors. Saturday night was a blast, each team actively working on skits, videos, games, songs, banners, hallway decorations and so much more. On Sunday they heard a beautiful shiur by Rabbi Prag and began decorating the school's hallways portraying their team's theme and color that told a story.
Red Creativity Banner
The next two days were jam-packed full of fun games and activities. On Monday, we began with "SGO says" during breakfast, played red and blue team's dvar torah and mascot videos in class, played minute to win it (unwind the streamers around both arms, stack 5 dice on a tongue depressor in your mouth...) and had creative games for each grade incorporating the themes (superhero making, cake decorating, body language, poetry creation, bananagrams...) We then had an intense marathon at the end of the day where the teams had to do challenges such as build a gingerbread house, shave a balloon with shaving cream, eat 3 slices of pizza at Pizza Time, eat a watermelon, eat a pie and so much more! The teams worked together so well and did these tasks as fast as they possibly could which showed their devotion and drive to win.
Yellow Fortitude Banner
On Tuesday during breakfast we played a huge game of musical chairs and watched green and yellow's dvar torah and mascot videos in class. We then had our first ever food games where the students had to guess the soda, guess the amount of chocolate chips in fluff, eat the bubble gum in the whipped cream and blow a bubble, eat saltines, get a cookie from their eye into their mouth and eat it, eat a smores blindfolded and so much more! Then we played a game of limbo where the freshmen girls showed us how talented they were at it! It was still anyone's game at the end of the day because it was now, unfortunately, time for our closing program. The students arrived into the assembly cheering their team's cheer and were so excited! We then proceeded to watch the spectacular skits, commercials, songs, banners, and the beloved boys' dance from each team. They were so superb, it is hard to imagine how they perfected them in just three days time!
Green Persuasion Banner
After closing speeches from Rabbi Levy, Mrs. Zerykier and SGO President, Lauren Berkovits, and a slideshow full of pictures recapping the events over the past few days and interviewing team members of what legacy they want to leave behind, it was time to announce the winner, team Blue Logic!
Congratulations to all of the teams for their outstanding hard work, to the teacher generals for all of their dedication and devotion and to all of the students for their active participation, enthusiasm and involvement. Special thanks to the SGO, Mrs. Zerykier, and our black team generals Daniel Hoffstein and Sylvia Dweck who helped this color war run so smoothly and prepare each event to make this the best color war yet! We hope you loved it and truly learned something meaningful from this experience! We saw true leadership abilities in each and every one of you and we were so proud to see the Flatbush family so united and happy together! We hope you had a blast and enjoyed every minute of it, we know we did! Hold on to this experience of a lifetime and never forget it!
With great pleasure,
Your SGO 2014
Lauren Berkovits, Jeffrey Nussbaum, Charles Chakkalo and Rachel Linfield
In the Mishna Bavli, Sanhedrin 37B, it says: “כל אחד ואחד חייב לומר בשבילי נברא העולם’’
Why did Hashem create his world starting from only one man? Because every person was placed in this world to complete Hashem’s creation with the talents that He has given them. We each have a task here to complete, and using your talents to make your mark and leave a legacy can help us do so.
Sometimes we feel like we cannot make an impact on the world. We tell ourselves we are too weak, too small, and too insignificant to change this world. But that’s not true.
Pop culture and media tell us that to change the world you need to be physically strong, classically beautiful, and nothing short of perfect. But Judaism teaches us otherwise. The Torah teaches us that we all have the power to change this world, inch by inch. God gives each of us talents, be they Logic, Creativity, Persuasion or Fortitude. It is our duty, as Jews, to use each of the talents God gave us to its fullest potential by using them to leave a legacy.
What is a legacy? It’s more than just leaving your mark. It’s using your talents to serve your family, your community, your humanity and your God. We don’t have to be presidents or kings to leave a legacy; God gave each of us unique talents and there is something each and every one of us can do to leave behind our legacy. It is up to us to decide how we will be remembered when we are gone.
The President of Yeshiva University, Richard Joel, tells the story of a man walking along the sand. He sees a young boy picking up the starfish that were washed up on shore and throwing them back into the water. The man asks the boy, “What are you doing?” The boy explained, “If the starfish stay on the sand, they will dry out and die. I’m saving them.” The man was shocked. “But there’s hundreds of starfish washed up on this beach. Your work won’t make a difference,” the man protested. The boy scooped up a starfish and threw it back in the ocean before turning back to the man and saying, “I made a difference to that one.”
Here at Yeshivah of Flatbush, you are given four years to figure out what your talents are to help develop them. Between our extra-curriculars, our chesed programs, and your daily classes, there are so many chances for self-expression. Use your talents to help your fellow students, your teachers and your school. No matter how small you think your talent might be, you never know what will make a difference to someone else. If something as small as a smile can change someone’s day, imagine what you can do with all your effort.
Leaving a legacy does not mean saving the world in one big, dramatic gesture. It means using our talents to help those around us. Wherever we go, be it North, South, East or West, we will leave a legacy behind. What do you want to be remembered for? What will your legacy be?
This year's color war focuses on the theme of Leaving Your Mark: Legacy. Each team represents a different way of leaving one's mark:
Green - Persuasion שכנוע Red - Creativity יצרתיות Yellow - Fortitude אמיצות Blue - Logic הגיון
We broke out Color War 2014 with this amazing video:
The Friday before Pesach the students were called down to the gym for a special assembly about Pesach and making Aliyah to Israel. A few of our teachers after the school year are making Aliyah. Little did the students know that this video presentation was actually Color War 2013 breakout. In the middle of the video Generals Norma Sutton, Edan Darmoni, Hannah Horowitz, Hymie Anteby, Jacob Lazorous, Adele Greenberg, Jacob Nawlo, and Sally Saban ran out screaming Color war breakout! The students cheered as SGO President Michelle Sabbagh explained the themes of this years color war. As the students found out what team they were on they proceeded to their team times where their generals introduced themselves and began the excitement of SGO Color War 2013/5773.
This years themes were represented by the seasons of the year. The main theme was Progress and each season showed 4 steps of progress: Improvement, Independence, Resilience and Determination. As our world constantly advances there is one advancement that is often overlooked, which is the progress of our own selves. As they grow, trees use their seasons as their milestones of time and of progress, and as human beings so do we. Our jewish tradition provides us with improvement guideposts: the holidays. these markings of time lead us on our path of improvement and guide our development through every step.
On Saturday night students involved themselves in the color war by going to designated houses for each team to help out with skits, videos, games, songs and more. On Sunday students packed the Beit Midrash to hear Rabbi Besser speak during Sunday Morning Learning. Afterwards students helped decorate the hallways with their teams theme which was spearheaded by the art generals. Students also took part with pesach packaging ran by Rabbi Besser. Every morning during breakfast students played musical chairs before they went to class. During the day on Monday students participated in Fun Games - for example college bowl and monopoly deal. On Tuesday students played Creative games - games having to do with the themes of color war. On Tuesday night about 60+ students stayed after school for the marathon which included balancing an egg on a spoon, solving a calculus problem and the final watermelon eating contest. On Wednesday the teams performed their boys dance and their songs and showed their commercials, skits, and banners that they have been working on since the breakout the past Friday.
Congratulations to the Yellow Team and generals Hymie Anteby and Hannah Horowitz for coming in 1st place! Thanks to all the teachers who were involved in this year's color war and thanks to all who participated to make it the best one the school has ever seen! Special thanks to Mrs. Zerykier, the SGO: Michelle Sabbagh, Shelly Hafif, Norman Greenberg, and Louis Ades, Black team generals Emily Shrem and Ovadia Mosseri and the Black Team who helped run and prepare every event to make this an amazing color war. ~Emily Shrem, Senior, Black Team General
Our world is constantly advancing. And yet, the most important advancement of all is one that is often overlooked: the progress of our own selves.
We are not simply bystanders in a world of growth and change; we have a responsibility to be a part of this progress. It is our obligation and our privilege to improve ourselves, to constantly strive to be just a little bit better than we were yesterday.
After all, how can we know what our best is if we stop trying? If we give up on ourselves, how will we ever know how much we can truly accomplish?
Focusing on improving ourselves is the only way to maximize our own potential and our own impact. Therefore, Judaism not only places great importance on this concept, but it also provides a framework through which we should attempt to achieve our own self-growth. This framework is based upon an important concept that is established by the pasuk, "כי האדם עץ השדה.” Man grows through the same process as the tree, starting out as a small, almost inconsequential seed and growing gradually into an incredible force of nature.
Growth does not happen in an instant. As they grow, trees use the seasons as their landmarks of time and of progress, and as human beings, so do we. Our Jewish tradition provides us with important guideposts: the holidays. These markings of time lead us on our path of improvement and guide our development through every step.
We broke out Color War 2013 with a special "Aliyah Assembly" and this video:
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