YHT annual report_pages, crop, bleed_08312017

Year In Review
תשע״ז / 5777 • 2016–2017

Yeshiva Har Torah is a Centrist Orthodox yeshiv
and girls. Our mission is to educate children in a
caring environment that brings out the unique q
and maximum potential of each child. As a religi
Yeshiva Har Torah is dedicated to Torah values,
(Jewish law), and Medinat Yisrael (the State of Is
is to provide a challenging and innovative acade
and to foster a love of learning in each child, wh
Kavod HaBriot (respect for humanity) in all that

shiva for boys
in a warm,
ue qualities
religious school,
ues, Halacha
of Israel). Our goal
cademic program
d, while integrating
that we do.
Dear YHT Family,
I am delighted to share with you our 2016–17/5777
Year In Review which, I believe, presents a wonderful
snapshot of some of the very exciting successes and
accomplishments of the past school year. The notion
of reflecting on past accomplishments is something we
learn directly from Hashem. Throughout the Torah’s
account of Creation, at the conclusion of each day
(except the second day), the Torah states: “And G-d
saw that it was good.” Did Hashem really have to look
at what he had made to know that it was good? Horav
Zalman Sorotzkin, in his Oznaim LaTorah, explains that
the A-mighty was teaching us an important lesson.
We, too, must look carefully and critically in assessing
and reflecting upon our deeds and accomplishments.
Only through honest and sincere introspection can we
achieve our true potential as human beings and as Jews.
Surely, the all-knowledgeable G-d did not need to go
through this process, but He wanted to set an example
for us. I am so proud that, as a Yeshiva community, we
continue to build on our successes through honest
reflection and introspection, constantly trying to get
better, never satisfied with the status quo. Thank you for
your partnership in this incredibly important journey.
Rabbi Gary Menchel

Meeting the Needs of the Total Child
Three psychologists, two social workers,
and interns serving our students’ needs
Enrichment opportunities available in
Hebrew language, math, literacy, and
Judaic studies
Math
enrichment
garden planned,
budgeted, and
planted by
students
A student support services center with
more than a dozen therapy rooms
Yeshiva Har Torah is a licensed SETSS
agency, allowing us to hire and
supervise our own providers, and
align the work of students receiving
these services with our curriculum
3 Bar Mitzvahs /
3 nuschaot—
celebrated all in
the same day!
Speech and Language Therapy, OT,
PT, and Counseling services provided
in school, according to a student’s
Individualized Education Services Plan
Leeor’s Legacy Mentoring Program for
peer-to-peer student mentoring
All 4 submissions
to the Inter-
Yeshiva Science
Congress win
Jerusalem
50 distance
learning with
R’ Joel Cohen
of JETS Israel

The YHT–PTA is our parent–volunteer organization which
helps supplement YHT’s educational programming. This
year, the PTA started a number of new initiatives, including a
group hair donation for Zichron Menachem, Early Childhood
parsha pajama party, improved spiritwear, Jerusalem 50
e-learning, and so much more!
YHT–PTA:
Enhancing Our Children’s Experience

Learning Beyond Th
Commitment to Religious Zionism
Teaching the importance of Torah, Mitzvot,
Eretz Yisrael, and Medinat Yisrael
Guest presentations
•Pinchas Kutscher–Six Day War
•Lieutenant Colonel Bar–Yom Hazikaron
•Sonia Hochman–her family’s story of survival on Yom HaShoah
•Boaz Kramer–Israel Sport Center for the Disabled
“
Rabbi Menchel leapt into unchartered
territory when he adopted the “We
Remember You” candle pilot program
in 2013, the very first year, when all
we had to offer was an idea, with
labels perpetuating 12 different people
who perished. The school bought 550
standard yahrzeit candles locally, parents
& students volunteered to wrap the
(then difficult) labels on the candles &
distributed them to their students to light
at home. Today, over 15,000 personal
memorial candles have been lit in NY,
in memory of 2,000 different Jews who
perished, by thousands of families.
”
–Shem VeNer — Our 6 Million
Real-World Experience
Bringing in outside consultants
and speakers on critical topics
•Ramapo for Children parent workshop
•Janell Burley Hoffman student and parent workshop
about healthy use of technology
•Magen New York Safety Kid Program

Informal Learning
Seizing every opportunity to learn!
•Names, Not Numbers
•iHonor—middot curriculum
•Shem VeNer candles
•Tess Kaylie Yom Iyun
•Harry Friedman Memorial Day of Learning
•Snow Day learning
•Rabbi Shai Schachter and Mrs. Michal Horowitz inspired our students
d The Classroom
Hands-On Learning
Our students benefit from class trips,
experential education and team building
Chesed
Part of our DNA
Every grade goes on special class trips
such as: Caps for Sale show, Super Hero
Math show, Worlds Fair, WaterFront
Center, Adventure Park, Greenkill Outdoor
Education Center, Green Meadows Farm.
•Annual alumni event in memory of Leeor Perl, a”h
•Dollar campaigns to support local and Israeli tzedakot
•Chanukah campaign and Mishloach Manot for IDF soldiers
•Swish for Sderot basketball tournament
•Zichron Menachem group hair donation event
•Jerusalem 50 chesed Torah project
•Yachad shabbaton
•Mishmar with alumni in memory of Michal Babaev, a”h
•Tomchei Shabbos
•Chai Lifeline walkathon

Focus On Alumni
Hannah Hoffman ‘03 remembers her time at YHT fondly.
“Yeshiva Har Torah really prepared me well... I remember
thinking I was ahead of the curve in a lot of subjects when I
started high school.” She has since gone on to NYU, Hofstra/
LIJ for medical school, and is now a surgery resident. One
highlight of her YHT days was playing basketball for Coach
Gurwitz. “He is a great person and a great coach. We
were really good too. The grade above me had a bunch of
great ball players as well and we won the championship
when I was in seventh grade. I don’t think we even had
a team name then; we were just ‘Yeshiva Har Torah.’”
Sarah Aharon ‘99 notes with pride that when she published
“From Kabul to Queens: The Jews of Afghanistan and Their
Move to the United States,” Sara’s 5th grade English teacher,
Mrs. Greenberg, came to the book launch. What started as a
Brandeis senior thesis became a personal passion project to
discover more about the Jewish community of Afghanistan
and eventually the book. Sara now works for the ADL,
focusing on building relationships between New York’s
different faith communities. Sara notes that she and her
four siblings are all YHT alums. “They went on to YU, Stern,
Columbia, and Mt. Sinai Medical School. They still have their
YHT basketball jerseys.”
Jesse Gordon ‘08 came to YHT in 4th grade and acclimated
quickly. He went on to star for the Hat Trix and later for
DRS, where he won their scholar-athlete award and played
on teams that went a combined 57-3. Eager to continue
playing hockey after his yeshiva career was over, he and
some friends at Yeshiva University joined the NCAA club
team roller hockey league, making accommodations to avoid
games on Shabbat. They won the Division IV championship
in their first year and were promoted to Division II, where
they made it the Elite Eight. Last year, Jesse graduated
from YU, won the Yeshiva College Mathematics Award, and
won the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association’s
Scholar Athlete of the Year award. He is now an actuary and
consults for PwC.

Sara Duani, YHT’s Jewish Studies Curriculum
Coordinator and a Jewish Studies teacher,
was named a Jewish Education Project Young
Pioneer. In awarding her the honor, the Jewish
Education Project noted Morah Sara’s ability
to employ a unique, multi-modal approach,
based on Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple
intelligence, in order to reach and inspire diverse
groups of learners, all entirely in Hebrew.
Faculty Spotlight
Honoring Three Retiring Faculty
Three retiring, longtime YHT faculty
members were honored at this year’s
PTA Superette: learning specialist
Debbie King, clinical social worker
Chani Nadboy, and physical education
teacher Lorraine Stein.
When Rabbi Dov Fried told his 8th grade Gemara class his idea of building up to learning 30 minutes beretzifut (straight,
without any talking about other things or interruptions), they doubted it could be done. What started with 1 minute
gathered steam throughout the year until April 6 when the class made it to 32 minutes. Rabbi Fried recounts “I was
debating in my mind if we should sing and dance, but decided they might not be into it. Right then a few boys got up and
started dancing in the middle of the class. We all joined in the dancing and sang, with much feeling and emotion, the song
Torat Hashem Temima.”

SAR •
High
School
Yeshiva •
University
High School
for Boys (MTA)
Not Your Typical Yeshiva:
From YHT to Anywhere
Great Neck
•
Roslyn
•
The Ramaz
School:
Upper School
•
• North Shore
Hebrew Academy
High School
Kew Gardens Hills •
Forest Hills •
Jamaica Estates •
•
Yeshiva
University
High
School
for Girls
(Central)
•
Hollis
•
West Hempstead
•
Hebrew Academy
of Nassau County
High School
(HANC)
Yeshiva Har Torah is a regional school not located in a
specific Jewish community. Every YHT family makes
the choice to join us. The result is wonderful student
diversity and parent commitment with students
drawing from communities throughout Queens and
Long Island, and then attending Yeshiva high schools
throughout NYC and Long Island.
•
Davis Renov
Stahler
High School
for Boys
•
Rambam
Mesivta
•
Hebrew
Academy
of the Five
Towns and
Rockaway
High School
•
Midreshet
Shalhevet
•
Stella K. Abraham High
School for Girls
•Woodmere

Finance and Giving
The Tess Kaylie Memorial Endowment
Fund was established by the Kaylie family
on the occasion of Mrs. Kaylie’s, a”h, first
yahrzeit, to generate scholarship funds.
This fund memorializes and eternalizes
the values that Mrs. Kaylie exemplified
during her lifetime and transmitted to
her family.
17th Annual Golf Classic honored Alan
Steinberg, a founder of the Golf Classic.
This year's Golf Classic will be held on
June 18, 2018.
MiDor L’Dor Program
Grandparents supporting YHT
Dor Zahav:
Mr. and Mrs. Bernard and Fran Mermelstein
Dor Kesef:
Dr. & Mrs. Michael and Joyce Frank
Drs. Jerry and Penny Koss
Mr. & Mrs. Lanny and Judy Oppenheim
Mr. & Mrs. Bob and Hillary Zitter
Dor Nechoshet:
Mr. & Mrs. Edward and Helen Atlas
Mr. & Mrs. Michael and Chani Barenholtz
Mr. & Mrs. BenZion and Judith Elias
Mr. & Mrs. Lou and Edie Goldberg
Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey and Ilene Greenbaum
Mr. & Mrs. Aaron and Lydia Kandchorov
Rabbi & Mrs. Louis and Saretta Lazovsky
Mr. Arie & Mrs. Chani Nadboy
Mr. & Mrs. Bernard and Sandra Newman
Mr. & Mrs. Michael and Barbara Rubin
Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth and Marleen Wolf
Mr. & Mrs. Raphael and Sylvia Zeevi
28th Annual Dinner
Guests of Honor: Ilana and Dr. Dror Rosenfeld.
Faculty Award for Distinguished Educational Leadership: Karen Simon
Salute to the Class of 1997: on the 20th anniversary of their YHT graduation
Memorial Tribute: Robert Materman, Stanley Silverstein, Gilbert Louzoun
This year's Annual Dinner will be held on January 13, 2018.
Operating Budget
Other Supporters:
Mrs. Susan Alter
Drs. Robert and Sara Barris
Mrs. Sharon Engel
Mrs. Anne Hausman
Rabbi & Mrs. Michael and Rebecca Kletenik
Mr. & Mrs. Moish and Toby Lehon
Mr. & Mrs. Isaac and Beverly Lermer
Mr. & Mrs. Irving and Eileen Leshkowitz
Mr. & Mrs. Solomon and Sara Lustbader
Dr. & Mrs. Keramat and Nasrin Mehrnia
Mr. & Mrs. Josef and Nana Moshevili
Mr. Abe Rieder
Mr. & Mrs. Howard and Pamela Spilke
Dr. & Mrs. Ronnie and Andrea Sultan
For the 2016–2017 academic year, Yeshiva Har Torah
operated a balanced budget of approximately $7.45 MM
Revenue
Tuition: 88% Compensation: 80%
Fundraising: 7%
Operating: 12%
Government Funding: 4%
Other Expenses: 8%
Other Income: 1%
Expense

Yeshiva Har Torah
250–10 Grand Central Parkway
Little Neck, NY 11426
Office (718) 343–2533
Check out our new website!
www.hartorah.org
App for Android and iPhone
@YeshivaHarTorah
@hartorah
@YHarTorah