Bar Mitzvah Magazine 2014

Teen stories on 

confidence 

Success after failure 

Pushing your limits 

More risk, more reward 

Overcoming fear 

Perseverance 

Being Brave 

Not following 

Resilience 

Courage 

Ambition 

Great 

prizes 

Submit lessons 

you learned 

from the 

stories inside 

see page 89 

Bar Mitzvah 

Kids choose 

favorite 

Trait for 

success 

From pages 

40-111 

Read 

Kids’ & Teens’ 

stories on 

how to build 

confidence 

NEW 

Mobile 

Site 

Barmitzvah 

magazine.com

~ Kids’ inspirational stories sponsored in memory of Diane Azrak Massry A”H ~ 

Content:by kids & teens 

42 

44 In other sports 

62 

Finding success after failure 

52 In friendship 

58 

56 In performance 

In basketball 

What you lose because of fear 

64 When playing too safe 92 By being shy 

In learning 

new skills 

96 When not being yourself 

74 More risk, more reward List of Authors 

80 in friendship 

from the following schools 

40 

68 

72 

82 

86 

88 

94 

98 

66 In friendship 

Commit to your goals & 

don’t give up 

Be open for change & 

try new experiences 

Getting out of your 

comfort zone 

Letting go of 

past experiences 

Don’t repeat the same mistake. 

Try a new approach. 

A healthy attitude 

towards failure 

Never be embarrassed 

to do a mitzvah 

How to believe in yourself 

when others don’t 

100 Never give up. Don’t quit. 

107 bARKAI YESHIVAH 

109 HILLEL YESHIVA 

103 mAGEN dAVID YESHIVAH 

111 YESHIVAH OF FLATBUSH 

Schools listed in alphabetical order 

The inspirational stories about 

Confidence & Perseverence 

were written in memory of 

Diane Azrak Massry A”H 

who exemplified those 

character traits. 

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Magazine 718-909-6060 View magazine online at BMmagazine.com 3 

33 

Authors honored by 

Chief Rabbis of Israel

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§ 

Confidence 

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4 Bar/Bat Mitzvah Magazine 718-909-6060 View magazine online at BMmagazine.com

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§ 

APPRECIATION 

§ 

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NOT BEING LAZY 

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Confidence 

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BEING HUMBLE 

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Winners were honored by Chief Rabbis of Israel 

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Confidence 

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Commit to your goals & don’t give up 

Comment on the lessons 

you learn from the stories at 

By: Evelyn Antebi 

Magen David Yeshivah 

I committed myself to save up my money 

to buy big things instead of little things. 

I wanted to buy a laptop. So, every day I 

tried to spend my money wisely. But, one 

day I walked into a store and bought something 

small. Then, I walked into another 

store and another and just kept buying. By 

the time I got home, I spent all my money. 

I thought that by now I should have given 

up. But, I really wanted that laptop. So, I 

kept on trying and trying. Later that week, 

I went back to the mall. I walked back into 

the stores and held myself back. I came 

home that day and only spent a few dollars 

on a drink. I was proud of myself, 

which built up confidence. By the end of 

that month, I had enough money to buy 

my laptop. 

TorahContest.com 

Self-discipline is 

the bridge between 

goals and 

accomplishment. 

By: Elliot Beyda 

Yeshivah of Flatbush 

My goal as a high school student is to 

reach my potential as a student. I know 

that I can do much better in school. But, 

one of the reasons I am not doing as well 

as I should is because I am lazy. One of the 

goals I set for myself is to do homework 

on time right when I get home. I usually 

get home, eat dinner, watch TV and avoid 

doing homework at all costs. The hardest 

part about doing homework is actually 

starting. Once you start the homework, 

you can get into a flow and finish your assignment 

with a smile on your face. The 

best feeling in the world is finishing something 

that you worked extremely hard on 

and getting a good grade on it. The key to 

doing well in school is to work hard which, 

even though seems like a challenge, once 

you start the rest is a breeze. 

Great prizes: submit lessons you 

learn from the stories see page 89 

By: Nelly Alfaks 


One day, I decided that I wouldn’t speak 

Lashon Hara anymore. I was in my friend’s 

house and we were talking about a girl in 

my grade. We kept on speaking about her 

until my friend realized we were speaking 

Lashon Hara. So, we felt very guilty 

and we tried to stop talking Lashon Hara. 

Every time we spoke Lashon Hara, we always 

reminded each other to stop. We 

kept on trying because we kept on failing. 

Since we started encouraging each other, 

we stopped speaking Lashon Hara. 

By: Cookie Cohen 


Cindy wanted to lose weight. Cindy made 

a commitment to herself that she would 

lose weight. Cindy tried and tried. One 

day during lunch time, there was her 

favorite lunch on the menu. Cindy told 

herself not to eat and she saw all of her 

friends eating her favorite lunch. She said 

to herself, “One little bite won’t kill anyone.” 

But, she told herself, “No, you have 

to stick to your diet. You will feel good 

about yourself.” Cindy did just that and 

she lost 5 pounds in 2 weeks. Even though 

she wanted her favorite food, she stuck to 

her diet and she is glad that she did. 

By: Frieda Haber 


One day, I decided to start losing weight. 

I told my mom I want to start eating 

healthy and exercising. She told me it’s 

not easy and that I will have to work hard. 

I thought about it and decided, no matter 

what, I am going to achieve my goal. I 

started researching about healthy eating. 

I got a lot of information and was excited 

to begin. The next day, I jogged for an 

hour. My mom made a healthy dinner. It 

went this way for two weeks. 

To read the rest of Frieda’s story, 

Log on to TorahContest.com 

Search: Frieda Haber 


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Finding success after failure - Basketball 



By: Jake Shalom 


My main goal right now is to be a good 

basketball player. I’m pretty good at basketball, 

but I can work at many things to 

make myself that much better. I was once 

in a basketball league and we went to the 

finals. We were down by 1 point and it was 

our ball. I took the ball and took the last 

shot. I wasn’t even close. My teammates 

were very angry at the shot I took and I 

got very embarrassed. When I got home, 

I thought I was the worst basketball player 

and I never wanted to play the game 

again. That is the wrong attitude in life. 

Just because you missed one shot does 

not mean you have to quit. Especially at 

something that you love and that you are 

very dedicated to. The correct attitude in 

this situation is to keep working hard and 

not to let that one shot bother you. In the 

future, you will be faced with many situations 

like that, but this time maybe you 

will actually hit that shot and be a hero. 


There is no elevator 

to success, you need 

to take the stairs 

By: Joe Zakaria 

Hillel Yeshiva 

Five seconds left in the basketball game, 

they’re down by one. And he got the ball. 

The pressure was all on him. But, he drove 

to the basket and he missed the easy lay 

up. He was devastated. His teammates 

were mad at him. He left the court with 

disappointment. His parents gave him 

a pat on the back and said, “You’ll get it 

next time.” But, he was very upset. He was 

thinking about quitting the team. The next 

game, his teammates passed him the ball 

and he shot it and scored. His teammates 

gave him a pat on the back. He started to 

feel confident again. Later, there was ten 

seconds left in the game and they were 

down by one. Again he got the ball. He 

was nervous at first but then he said, “I 

can do it.” After nine seconds, he scored. 

He was so happy. His teammates all said 

to him, “Good job! You did it!” After that 

moment, he never gave up again. 

By: Lizzy Nasar 


There was a girl named Esther. She loved 

to play basketball. In fact, after homework 

every day, she would play. One day 

in school, there was an announcement. 

“Girls, basketball tryouts are next week in 

the gym.” Esther thought that she should 

try out. She asked her friends Rachel and 

Laya if they were trying out. Rachel and 

Laya told Esther, “Yes, we’re so excited! 

Are you trying out?” Esther said, “Yes, 

I’m excited too!” Esther went home that 

day and told her mom, “I’m going to try 

out for the basketball team next week.” 

Esther’s mom said, “Wow that’s great. 

You should practice.” Esther went to practice. 

It was next week, and Esther went 

to try out with her friends. When they 

announced who was on the team, they 

didn’t say Esther’s name. She was so sad. 

Next year, Esther tried again and she got 

in. This shows that if you fail, practice and 

practice. You will definitely succeed. 

By: Aura Pinhas 

Barkai Yeshivah 

There is a boy named Abie. He wanted 

to be on the school’s football team. He 

was practicing with his friends and with 

a crowd watching. He missed a final 

goal by far. His friends told him, “You’ll 

never make the team. You can’t even 

do something as simple as kick a field 

goal.” After that, Abie walked home 

thinking to himself, “I can never make 

it. But, as much effort as it takes, I will 

never stop trying, no matter how many 

times I fail. I am not giving up.” The next 

day, he was even worse. He was playing 

with an even bigger crowd watching 

him. But, in the mid run, he dropped the 

ball right near the end zone. 

To read the rest of Aura’s story, 


Search: Aura Pinhas 


In Loving Memory of 

Harry J. Ashkenazie A”H 

Who led his life devoted to his family, Torah and Mitzvot. 

Our memory of his warm smile, generosity, honesty, 

compassion, and humility will always remain with us. 

From his wife Cheryl, Children Linda and Joey, 

Jack and Sylvia, Evelyn and Joey, Jennifer, Isaac, 

And all his grandchildren.

Finding success after failure - Sports 



By: Nechama Mandel 

Masores Bais Yaakov 

There was a girl named Malka. She was 

running in a marathon. In this marathon 

you had to run 5 miles in 2 hours. Last 

year, Malka tried to pass one girl. She 

was running so fast that Malka slipped 

and fell. Everyone was laughing at her. 

This year she was thinking about not running. 

But, then she realized that she can 

run. She decided that she would just pay 

attention this time and not focus on one 

girl. In the middle of the marathon, 

To read the rest of Nechama’s story, 


Search: Nechama Mandel 


It’s always seems 

impossible 

until it’s done. 

By: Joe Torkieh 


In a basketball game, my friend missed 

the game’s winning shot and got embarrassed 

by his team and the whole crowd. 

He went home that day and he felt miserable. 

He never wanted to play the game 

again. I went over to him and told him, 

“Don’t worry. Even the best basketball 

players miss shots. Don’t give up. If you 

try and try you can become the best basketball 

player. That’s how basketball players 

become basketball players.” He took 

my words and became the best basketball 

player. The lesson is to never give up. 

By: Nathan Botton 


It was a sunny Sunday morning and the 

crowd was cheering as I dribbled the basketball 

up the court. I juked out two defenders 

and jumped as I shot the ball in 

the air. The ball made a swooshing sound 

as it went straight into the net. The crowd 

went wild. The score was 15-14, in our 

favor, with less than a minute left. The 

star player of the other team made a fast 

break down the court and scored the ball. 

There were ten seconds left and it was our 

only chance to win. 

To read the rest of Nathan’s story, 


Search: Nathan Botton 

By: Yocheved Nussbaum 


Shevy was very excited. She was at the 

edge of the race track ready to start running. 

The moment the whistle blew, she 

was off running with all her might. She 

was in 3rd place; now she was in second, 

now she was in first. She could feel the 

wind rushing behind her as she thought 

to herself, “I must win.” She was almost at 

the finish line. She was going to win when, 

suddenly, she tripped and fell. She could 

feel the blood rushing up to her face. She 

saw all the other runners going ahead of 

her. She was last. She had lost. Everyone 

was laughing at her. She thought to herself, 

“I am never running a race again.” 

“But then,” she thought, “if I give up, I will 

never succeed.” She thought to herself, 

“Next summer, I’ll practice even harder.” 

Next summer she won. 

TORAH CONTEST WINNERS 

M. Sutton R. Chalme T. Elmann G. Herskovitz 


Eshet Chayil 

Ezra Ashkenazi in honor of his wife Sharyn 

In honor of my wife 

Rachelle 

by Dr. Charles Abady 


Miriam 

by Danny Sabzehroo 


Lucy 

by Joey Aini 


Jocelyn 

by Abraham Safdieh 


Amy 

by Joey R. Betesh 


Ami 

by Ralph Sasson 


Freda 

by Eddie Levy 


Rachel 

by Toby Yedid 


Amy 

by Isaac Marcus 


Paula 

by Albert Zayat




By: Eddie Catton 


During my first time ice skating, I fell tons 

of times. I really wanted to start playing 

ice hockey. After my first time ice skating, 

I felt very frustrated. But, I thought 

to myself every professional was once a 

beginner. All these famous players in the 

professional leagues all had a start. And, 

they kept on trying and never gave up. 

So, the next time I went skating, I tried 

my hardest not to stay frustrated. Then, 

I started to skate like a natural! I learned 

a great lesson that day. At first, things 

might be hard for you to do but never 

give up on them. 

Special thank you to 

Rabbi & Mrs. 

Yitzhak Yadid 

for all their help with 

Torah Contest 


A winner is just 

a loser who tried 

one more time. 

By: Arlette Cojab 


Caroline glided onto the ice at her rink. 

Her friend Madison was right behind 

her. Caroline invited Madison because 

today was an important day. Today 

was the day Caroline would try an Axel 

jump in front of her ice skating instructor. 

An Axel jump is a jump where you 

push yourself off the ice, spin one and a 

half times in the air and land gracefully 

on one foot. You’re supposed to push 

off with your left foot and land on your 

right. Caroline had trouble with that, 

but she practiced a lot. She skated over 

to her instructor who was waving her 

over. “Go on, show me,” she said smiling. 

Caroline took a deep breath, she 

gained speed and jumped. The push 

didn’t give her enough speed. She fell. 

To read the rest of Arlette’s story, 


Search: Arlette Cojab 

By: Mollie Grinberg 


Claire gulped in paralyzing fear. It was 

a cloudy Sunday morning. The day that 

her parents planned to go rock climbing 

in the southeast, far away from her 

hometown in Virginia. “Claire, are you 

ready?” Claire snapped out of her daze. 

“Yeah, I guess so…”Her mother bent 

down to comfort her child. “You don’t 

have to go, honey,” her mother said. 

Claire hesitated. She would climb that 

mountain, even if it was the last thing 

she did. “Er, mom, can I go first. To get 

it over with?” A smile formed on her 

mother’s face. “Okay, if you really want 

to.” Soon, Claire was strapped tight to 

her harness and was ready to go. She 

started climbing fast to the top of the 

mountain. Halfway up, she looked down 

and gulped. From 3 feet in the air, she 

looked back up confident and continued 

to climb. At one point past the three 

quarter mark, one of the rocks broke 

and she dangled from one hand, clutching 

on to the rock. She was terrified and 

wanted to give up. But she couldn’t and 

climbed up all the way to the top. She 

grinned over the peak. She did it. Keep 

trying, and don’t give up. Just keep 

climbing the ladder of success. 

By: Sondra Bukobza 


There once was a basketball player who 

always played offense because that’s 

what he played since he was little. One 

day, the coach asked him to play defense 

because the starting defense was 

injured. He took the risk and played defense 

instead of the usual offense. He 

continued playing defense and, three 

years down the line, he got offered a 

college basketball scholarship playing 

defense. Even if you’re scared, take the 

opportunity. It might come only once. 


Dedicated in Loving Memory of 

Amin E. Adjmi A”H 

June 1, 1907 - April 12, 2002 

A man of Kindness & Humility 

A Passion for Living 

By his Children and Grandchildren 



§ 

NOT FOLLOWING 

§ 

Search: Isaac S Alfaks at BarMitzvahMagazine.com. See details on p.71 



Edmond Elo A”H 

A man of peace, humility and 

dedication to his family. 

“Ohev Shalom Verodef Shalom” 

Dedicated by his Wife, Children and Grandchildren





Life is not about how 

fast you run or how 

high you climb but 

how well you bounce 

back from failure. 

By: Adina Jaffa 


There was a girl, Tamar. Every Motzei 

Shabbos, she went to play basketball. 

While playing, someone threw a ball at 

her. She didn’t know what to do! Oh, no! 

So, she tried shooting it into the hoop 

and missed. After that, the game ended. 

Everyone was shouting, screaming and 

embarrassing her. They said, “Why are 

you so bad at basketball. We don’t want 

you on our team.” She went home and 

cried to her mother. The whole week she 

practiced. She actually thought she has a 

chance at winning. The next week came 

and she said, “I am going to win this for my 

team.” Right when the game started, she 

stole the ball from the other team. She 

dribbled towards the hoop. She heard her 

teammates shouting over and over, “Go 

Tamar!” She was very happy. All of a sudden 

without her noticing, the other team 

By: Teera Ades 

By: Joe Ades 

got the ball. Oh, no. So, she went and got 



it back. She made the winning shot. Yay! 

One day, Adina was in gymnastics class. 

She was with all of her friends. She was always 

There was once a person who loved to 

run in races. His dream was always to be 

Her team won all because of her last shot 

that broke the tied score. 

behind on what they were learning. in the Olympics and to come in 1st place. 

By: Melanie Ades 

Her goal was to do a cart wheel on the He never ran a race but he told all of his 


balance beam. While she was trying to 

do a cart wheel on the balance beam, she 

fell. All of her friends laughed at her and 

told her she wasn’t good enough for their 

gymnastics class. She went home and told 

her mom, “Everybody laughed at me and 

said I shouldn’t be in their gymnastics 

class.” Her mom said, “Keep on trying.” 

Adina told herself, “I will do a cartwheel 

on the balance beam.” She practiced and 

practiced at her house until she knew how 

to do it best. The next week, she went to 

gymnastics. She showed all of her friends 

how she cart wheels on the balance beam. 

friends that he is going to win and that 

he is the best runner. The next day, there 

was a race. He was ready and confident 

that he was going to win. He raced with all 

of the kids and he came in last place. He 

was heartbroken and very embarrassed 

because he told everyone that he would 

win but he didn’t. The next race he didn’t 

show off and he got new running shoes. 

He practiced for 3 weeks until the next 

race. Before the race, he saw the best 

racer in the world lose. He got motivated 

from that because he thought to himself, 

“If that person can lose, then, obviously, 

All her life, Melanie wanted to be on 

the gymnastics team. That was her main 

life’s goal. She went to Aerial’s gymnastics 

every Friday to practice. She asked 

her coach if she can be on the team one 

day. Her coach replied, “You can be on 

the team if you practice more.” Every day, 

Melanie practiced a little bit more. The 

next week, she went to gymnastics. She 

told her coach that she’s been practicing 

more. “Now let’s see if you can do a back 

flip off the balance beam,” said coach. She 

did. Melanie was very excited. She got on 

the team. The team was having a rivalry 

against ACC gymnastics. She was nervous. 

Her friends were impressed and took back I can too.” He raced in the next race and 

It was her turn to perform. Melanie failed. 

what they had said about her. 

he won! 

To read the rest of Melanie’s story, 


NEW MOBILE SITE: TorahContest.com 

Search: Melanie Ades 



Gloria Erani A”H 

A Beautiful Woman Who Devoted Her Life To Her Children. 

She Taught Us All To “Let It Be That And Nothing Else.” 

We Miss Her 

Her Children, Grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.

Finding success after failure - Friendship 



By: Ruthie Gindi 


There was once a girl who left all of her 

friends for the summer to go to a sleep 

away camp. She risked losing all her 

friends to try to make new friends in sleep 

away camp. At first, she had a hard time 

fitting in. She felt uncomfortable around 

those girls. She thought she probably 

made one of the biggest mistakes choosing 

to leave her friends. As the weeks 

went by, she started getting more comfortable 

around these girls and eventually 

became best friends with all of them. If 

she didn’t take the risk of leaving her old 

friends behind, then she wouldn’t have 

met her new friends that she has today. 



Some people come 

into your life as 

blessings some 

come as lessons. 

By: Sarah Louziah 


A few months ago, I lost my best friend 

that I’ve known since I was born. She was 

my cousin, too. We were so close and a 

couple of months ago things started to 

change. I couldn’t imagine losing her. 

I was so scared of letting her go. I know 

everything about her and she knew everything 

about me. Now, you might wonder, 

what’s the problem? Why were you 

scared of losing her? And the answer is a 

new girl came along and I felt like she was 

stealing her from me. I was scared. 

To read the rest of Sarah’s story, 


Search: Sarah Louziah 

S. Sardar Y. Katri S. M. Kolodny 

By: Linda Gammal 


Lauren, a new girl, moved from Brooklyn 

to Deal. She didn’t know anyone and 

she also had speech problems. When 

she came to school, she forgot about 

the dress code and everyone laughed. 

When she was walking down the long 

hallway, she went to say “Hi” to some 

girls, but it didn’t come out as expected. 

She was nervous so her speech problem 

became bigger. Lauren tried so hard. 

She even practiced saying the simplest 

things. She tried again to say easy words 

so when they come out of her mouth it 

wouldn’t be weird. But it didn’t work. 

She cried every night because of this. An 

idea came to her as her phone beeped. 

She got everyone’s numbers in the 

grade and told them her story. When 

the next day came, everyone said sorry 

for laughing and offered to show her 

around the school. She also met a girl 

just like her. They became best friends. 

She learned not to give up and the girls 

in the grade also learned not to judge 

people unless you know their real story. 

By: Andrew Stein 


On my first day at my new school, I tried 

to make friends by being nice and playing 

well. In our first recess, I went to play basketball 

with the kids in my class but they 

didn’t include me. So, I decided to shoot 

on another hoop to show them how good 

I was so they would include me. When 

they finally did let me play, I air balled my 

first two shots. I was so embarrassed by 

the looks everyone was giving me. So, I 

decided to start passing instead. They saw 

that I was good and not selfish. I learned 

from that experience that it might take 

time to get what you want but, if you are 

persistent, you will eventually get it. 


STELLA LINIADO A”H 

“ a pure soul ta k e n too soon” 

Our beautiful stella, 

You have left us way too soon for words. 

In your short time here you have shown us strength when we were weak. 

And you gave us happiness to keep us afloat. 

Although there are no footprints for us to follow, we know you will 

carry us on this journey and guide us through our lives. 

Your full of life spirit and angelic beauty is our inspiration to keep 

moving forward and make you proud. 

You are an example of what a daughter is. 

One of a kind! 

Our hearts beat differently now. 

You, our beautiful Stella are missed every day! 

With all our love, 

Mommy, Daddy, Marc, Justin, Michael, and Sitto.

Get Great Prizes by commenting on Jason’s favorite trait 4 success 

§ 

Confidence 

§ 

Search: Jason Massry at BarMitzvahMagazine.com. See details on p.71 



Ike Massry A”H 

He led his life devoted to his family and will 

always be remembered for his humbleness, 

generosity, and values of truth. 

He taught us so much. 

We will miss him every day. 

By his wife Evelyn, Children, Grandchildren, 

and Great Grandchildren.

Finding success after failure - Performance 



By: Naomi Haser 


There was a competition of who can write 

the best song for the play. Rebecca had a 

great song but you had to perform it. She 

was too shy and asked her friend if she 

wanted to sing it for her. Her friend said, 

“Why should I sing it? You should sing 

it and get the credit.” On the day of the 

competition, Rebecca won. But, she only 

had to perform in front of three judges. 

On the day of the play, Rebecca was too 

scared to perform. She asked her friend to 

please perform instead of her. Her friend 

said, “No! You perform. You are a great 

singer.” Rebecca performed and it went 

very well. She said thank you to her friend 

for helping her to get over her fears and 

perform. 


Life isn’t about waiting 

for the storm to pass; 

it’s about learning to 

dance in the rain. 

NEW MOBILE SITE: 

Barmitzvah 

magazine.com 

By: Denise Bildirici 


Everyone knows you have a really good 

voice. The popular girl in the class announces 

there is a singing contest and 

she is going to win. Your best friend 

begs you to enter but you don’t listen. 

At the contest, the popular girl wins and 

rubs it in your face. The next time there 

was a singing contest you entered. A few 

hours before the contest, you back out. 

Now you feel bad because you think you 

never had a chance to win. The popular 

girl wins again and rubs it in your face 

even more. There was one final contest 

that year and you signed up. You get on 

stage and hear a voice inside you saying, 

“You’ll fail.” You push that voice away, 

sing and win. A few years later, you are 

a well-known singer. That would have 

never happened had you listened to the 

Yetzer Hara and stopped trying. 

By: Adele Saka 


Miriam was on stage overcoming her 

stage fright. There were about 100 

people watching her as she just stood 

there. She tried letting her voice out but 

nothing came out. She stood there until 

the backstage crew had to come out to 

get her and apologize to the audience. 

Months later, after Miriam had taken 

more lessons and performed in front 

of her family and a small audience, she 

went back up on the same stage. Except 

this time she was stronger. As she sang 

the last word, there was not one person 

sitting and not clapping. 

By: Lauren Araman 


Mary was nervous. She walked on stage 

in her purple dress. It was happening. She 

was singing perfectly and hitting every 

small note. When it was time for her to 

really stretch a note, she choked. Everyone 

stared in shock. She just went along 

and forgot that it happened. When it 

came time for the second high note, she 

hit it. It was perfect. This is just to show 

that you should never give up. She could 

have stopped and cried, but she didn’t. 

She continued on and didn’t quit. 

By: Claudine Hadef 


I want to accomplish getting better 

grades. I’m always on the iPad or computer. 

It distracts me. I get good grades but 

I want better. I want an honor roll, but I 

keep getting distracted whenever I study. 

Sometimes, I just zone out during the test 

and forget what I studied. I am going to 

stop using the computer for as long as I 

could every night that I have a test. Every 

time I don’t use it, I’ll write it down so I 

could see how much I accomplished. 


Get Great Prizes by commenting on Esther’s favorite trait 4 success 

§ 

Courage 

§ 

Search: Esther Hidary at BarMitzvahMagazine.com. See details on p.71 


Success after failure - Learning new skills 



By: Violet Cohen 


Something that happened to me when I 

didn’t give up was when I kept trying and 

trying to make a roller coaster with my 

brother. We tried 17 times and it never 

worked. Finally, on the 18th time, I put 

the last piece on and it finally worked. It 

took us 2 hours but we finally succeeded. 

I was so happy. Then we put a marble on 

it and it went through the whole roller 

coaster. That is a time when I tried and 

failed but I never gave up. 

By: Shelly Greenstein 


One time, I said that I would not drink any 

soda until the summer. I tried and I did it 

for 2 weeks. Then I couldn’t help it and 

I drank some. Once I drank it, I decided 

to try again next time. So, I tried it again 

and I got it for 3 weeks. Then I couldn’t 

stop myself from not drinking it. The soda 

looked so good. So, I said I will try again 

next time. 


If you want to 

increase your success 

rate, double your 

failure rate. 

By: Shoshana Dweck 


Everyone has a goal that they want to 

achieve. Ruth has always dreamed of being 

a ballerina. She asked her mother if 

she can take ballet classes. Her mother 

signed her up. The day after her first ballet 

class, Ruth had bruises all over her 

body and skin tears on her feet. When 

she went to school, all of her friends 

made fun of the way she looked. They 

made fun of the fact that she took a ballet 

class. The next week, she forgot about 

her friends’ comments and the bruises 

that hurt. She danced her heart out. At 

the end of the course, when the ballet 

show took place, she was the star of 

show. At the end of the show, everyone 

complimented her about how wonderful 

she danced, including her friends. Never 

give up on your dreams. If you work hard 

enough, they will come true. 

By: Jacqueline Salman 


Sarah thought she was an amazing artist. 

So, she entered the art contest. It happens 

5 times a year in her school. When 

she got it back, she had so many mistakes. 

“This girl you drew was too fat,” “She 

didn’t have enough hair in the drawing,” 

and so on. The next competitions came 

and went and, every time they came, she 

entered and kept telling herself, “I can do 

it.” Finally, she won and got awards because 

she kept trying. 

By: Maya Zabari 


Once, my friend had to memorize a monologue 

for a school play. She worked really 

hard but, when the time came, she forgot 

the words. She stumbled over her lines 

and finally everyone laughed her off the 

stage. The next time she was in a play, she 

didn’t want to do it because last time she 

got embarrassed. I told her that she can’t 

give up. If it doesn’t work the next time, 

keep trying. Be true to yourself. If you really 

enjoy acting or singing or dancing or 

anything else, don’t give up on it. 

By: Orly Alchkifati 


One time, when I was little, I was shy 

and scared to sing in front of people. 

Everyone wanted to hear my voice and 

how I sing. I was scared they wouldn’t 

like my voice and would laugh at me. 

When I sing, I express myself and who 

I am. But, because of fear, I wasn’t able 

to do that. People thought I was a little 

shy girl with no talent. But, later on in 

life, I learned that when you think too 

much or overthink it you start to get 

scared. So, the message I’m trying to say 

is don’t get scared or you’ll regret it for 

life. Never overthink, just do what you 

truly believe. 

NEW MOBILE SITE: TorahContest.com 


Dedicated In Loving Memory of 

ABE E. ASH A”H 

Who led his life devoted to his family and Torah values. 

A man who exemplified Humility, Kindness and Care. 

His warm loving smile will surely be missed. 

His memory will forever be in our hearts and a constant 

source of inspiration to all of us. 

With Much Love and Respect Always! 

By his wife Sylvia, Children, Grand Children and Great Grandchildren 


Success after failure - Learning new skills 



By: Rochelle Menahem 


One day, Rachel went to her mom and said 

excitedly, “Mommy, I want to be an author 

when I get older.” Her mom said, “That’s a 

great job. What made you decide on that?” 

Rachel explained to her mother that an author 

came to school that day and explained 

her job and what she does. Rachel’s mom 

asked if she wants to write a story and read 

it at the library on Sunday. Rachel was so 

happy. She ran to her room and started 

writing. She wrote day and night, hours and 

hours. When Sunday came, her story was 

done. She was very proud of it. She dressed 

up in her nicest dress & went to the library. 

To read the rest of Rochelle’s story, 


Search: Rochelle Menahem 

In honor of 

my wife Shanie 

by Sami Souid 


Success is the ability 

to go from one failure 

to another with no 

loss of enthusiasm. 

By: Ahuva Lefkowitz 


I’ve always wanted to play guitar. 

Throughout 5th, 6th and 7th grade, I enviously 

watched my 5 other siblings pluck 

at the strings as though they were born to 

be guitar professionals. In 9th grade, my 

mother finally agreed to give me guitar 

lessons. In a whirl of excitement and giddiness, 

I flew through 1,2,3,4 lessons. Then, 

I decided that I was finally ready to enter 

into the talent show that would be held 

at my school in a week. I practiced guitar 

fiercely, my fingertips turning purple 

from pressing the strings so hard. Finally, 

I was ready. I stepped onto the brightly lit 

stage on the Thursday night of the show. I 

started playing beautifully, one chord following 

the next. I drowned myself in the 

stunning medleys until…I struck G instead 

of C minor and the entire song flopped. 

To read the rest of Ahuva’s story, 


Search: Ahuva Lefkowitz 

By: Michael Gammal 


One day, I walked up to my dad and asked 

him if I can read from the Torah. He replied 

to me, “Yes.” The next day, I got my 

part to read. I practiced it. On Saturday, 

it was my turn to read. I went up to the 

Torah and read it very badly. I felt so embarrassed 

that I ran out of the room and 

started crying. The next week, I wanted 

to read from the Torah again. I practiced 

and, when it was my turn to read, I was 

perfect. I felt so happy. Now, I want to do 

it every week. 

By: Joe Betesh 


I have experienced many embarrassing 

moments in my life. One that really sticks 

out has to be when I started to make videos. 

Starting out, I made videos that were 

horrible. Kids made fun of me and told me 

that I should give up. Instead of listening 

to them, I worked even harder and tried 

new techniques. After months of hard 

work, I finally created a video that everyone 

loved and cherished. The moral of 

this story is to never give up and to always 

work harder than the last time. 

Winner honored by 

Chief Rabbi of Israel 


R.C. 

Raymond Chera A”H 

A Man of Faith and Vision 

R.C. 

Raymond was a successful businessman with an honorable name. 

His greatest satisfaction came from Torah. He personally was instrumental 

for the openings of the Lawrence Avenue Synagogue, the Park Avenue 

Synagogue and The Cedar Avenue Synagogue along with contributing 

Sifrey Torah to all of the mentioned synagogues also 

the Kollel and other institutions throughout the community. 

Forever in our hearts. 

From his wife Claudia and sons Steven, Charles, Victor & Michael 

and their families.



What you lose because of fear 

By: Amanda Heskiel 


Sarah is 12 years old. She knows how to 

swim but she is afraid to dive. One day, 

she had a pool party with all her friends. 

They were all diving and doing all tricks 

and she was in the shallow. She was waiting 

for them to finish because she didn’t 

want to try it. She was missing out on 

having fun with her friends. Her close 

friend came to her and asked her why she 

isn’t diving and she told her she was too 

scared. She told her that she will stay with 

her so she won’t be alone. 

Special thank you to 

Shifra & Ezra Hanon 

for all their help with 

Torah Contest 


A smart person 

without courage 

is like a bird 

without a wing. 

By: Margo Chabot 


Allison’s goal is to be an artist. Allison 

and her friend take an art class. They 

were painting a sunset. Allison’s sunset 

came out horrible. Everyone’s art work 

was so much better. The art teacher said, 

“You have to practice at home.” The next 

art class they were still working on sunsets. 

She practiced at home many times. 

Allison’s art was even worse. She said, 

“Next time, I’m not going to fail.” Every 

day after school, she practiced for one 

hour. She didn’t have a doubt that she 

isn’t going to fail. The next art class, the 

teacher said her sunset was much better. 

When they started a new drawing, 

it was a fruit. Allison did the fruit excellently, 

not one mistake. Her friend was 

so proud of her and so were her parents 

and teacher. Allison realized she was putting 

so much pressure on herself. That’s 

why it was not coming out nice before. 

By: Chen Menashe 


Chances! If we don’t take them where 

would we be? Sarah studied all night until 

midnight for a history test. In the morning, 

her mother asked her the questions 

again. Sarah knew everything. She went 

to school to take the test. Sarah was shaking 

and sweating. The teacher gave her 

the test and Sarah’s mind went blank. She 

didn’t know any of the answers. By the 

end of the test, Sarah skipped the rest 

of the questions which made her fail. If 

Sarah had the confidence that she would 

get 100, if she took a chance and wasn’t 

afraid, she would get 100. 

By: David Assoulin 


There are a lot of things that you can lose 

from fear. Let’s say you have an idea but 

you’re too afraid to say it. One example, if 

a teacher is teaching a math class on how 

to multiply, but the class doesn’t understand 

it. If you have an idea on how to do 

it, but you’re too scared that everyone in 

your class will call you a ‘nerd’, you may 

cause the whole class to suffer through a 

test which no one but you knows the answers 

to. Let’s say, you’re in business and 

sales are dropping but you have an idea 

how to bring back the business. If you’re 

too afraid that the business owner will 

disapprove it, you may leave yourself with 

no job. 

By: Marcelle Sasson 


I was at the doctor’s office and the nurse 

told me, “It’s time for the flu shot.” I am 

not really scared of anything, so, I said, 

“Ok.” When the nurse came in with the 

needle, I got so scared. I didn’t want to 

get the shot. I chickened. The nurse said, 

“I can’t make you take the shot.” I do regret 

not getting the shot because now everybody 

has the flu and I don’t want to 

get sick. 


Eshet Chayil 

David Shalom in honor of his wife Nadine 


Gladys 

By Richard Adjmi 


Joyce 

By Abraham Kassin 


Shirley 

By Abe Feldman 


Claudette 

By Nathan Matthews 


Sallie 

By Victor Green 


Shirley 

By Max Shalom 


Monica 

By David Hadef 


Alice 

By Billy Shalom 


Julie 

By Jack Jarada 


Virna 

By Morris Zeitoune

What you lose by playing it too safe 



By: Layala Rudy 


Fear can really hold you back from succeeding 

in life. So many things and opportunities 

come up every now and then 

and you just can’t accept them because 

of your fear of being judged by everyone 

else. When it comes to choosing a high 

school or a college, someone might be so 

scared of making new friends and starting 

off in a new environment that they’ll hold 

themselves back from amazing opportunities. 

This is because of fear. You are 

scared of doing something different from 

everyone else. You don’t want to benefit 

yourself so you do what everyone else 

is doing. That’s what fear does to you. It 

may hold you back from the most amazing 

achievements and changes of your 

entire life. 

In honor of 

m y wi fe Sara h 

by Hen ry Hef e tz 


Don’t miss the 

sun today worrying 

about the rain 

coming tomorrow. 

By: Vivian Elias 


A girl was very scared of many things. 

The one fear that held her back was her 

fear of making new friends. When she 

moved to a new school, she lost her 

old friends and was too scared to make 

new ones. She was scared to be rejected. 

They wanted to be her friends, but 

she was scared that soon they would 

reject her. She lost out on making new 

friends and she graduated school without 

friends and became anti social. If she 

didn’t have the fear in the first place, she 

could’ve had friends. 

By: Joseph Sultan 


You’re playing a sport and your friends 

are counting on you because you’re the 

best on the team. Never feel pressured 

because when you’re pressured it is 

more likely to fail. So, just be yourself, 

take a deep breath and go play. 

By: Danielle Ammar 


Fear. What is it? It’s that voice in your 

head that doesn’t want you to challenge 

yourself or doesn’t want you to be yourself. 

For example, anorexic people just get 

skinnier and skinnier. Why? Some people 

might ask how they can starve themselves 

when they were beautiful already 

and how can they keep getting skinnier. 

They’re skinny enough. These people are 

anorexic because of fear. Fear that they 

won’t be accepted by other people and 

the fear of being fat. After a while, that 

voice of fear will become their ‘friend’ 

and they won’t stop. Another example is 

when someone doesn’t like to tell “no” to 

others. After a while, people will use that 

person. She needs to learn to be able to 

say “no” and still be good friends. Fear is 

a lack of confidence. Everyone is insecure 

in some way but you need to find a way to 

grasp even a glimpse of confidence. Confidence 

means overcoming fear and that’s 

what you have to do. 

By: Alan Dweck 


George really loves basketball, but there 

is one thing about it. He doesn’t let anyone 

watch him. He is afraid that if he 

misses a shot they will make fun of him. 

So, every day he hides to play after school 

in a gym that’s 25 minutes away and pays 

$30 to rent the gym just so nobody would 

watch him. And, the worst part is that he 

is amazing at it. 

By: Linda Jinani 

Ahi Ezer Yeshiva 

One time, I needed a shot. My mother 

took me to the doctor. I was very scared. 

The doctor told me not to move. I was so 

nervous that I moved. The shot blew up 

and was burning. Had I not moved, all of 

this wouldn’t have happened. 



Confidence 

Patience 

Raymond Betesh 

Ike Dayan 

Not Being Jealous 

responsibility 

David Avidan 

Moises Zetune 


What you lose because of fear: Friendship 



By: Jill Gindi 


Mary and Nancy went to the ice skating 

rink. Mary’s mom got them ice skates. 

Mary had been taking lessons and Nancy 

didn’t have a clue how to ice skate. Mary 

didn’t know that. So Mary said, “Let go of 

the wall” and SPLAT, she landed right on 

the floor. Mary raced over and said, “Are 

you ok?” Nancy replied, “Um, I guess I’m 

a little rusty.” Mary said, “Ok, skate with 

me.” Nancy replied, “Ok,” and she fell 

again. “You don’t have any experience,” 

Mary told Nancy. “I know,” Nancy replied. 

“Why did you lie?” “Because I was scared 

that you would laugh at me”, continued 

Nancy. “I would never,” Mary reassured 

her. 


Fear is a 

prison of 

your dreams. 

In memory of 

Norman Esses A”H 

by Joey Esses 

By: Pearly Hanono 


Two twins walk in one with head up and 

confident and another with her head 

down and hiding. It was the first day of 

school and it was already a bad experience 

for twin number two. The girls immediately 

realized she had no confidence 

and knew she could be a good one to 

pick on. This had nothing to do with her 

looks, only with her lack of confidence. 

We should learn from here that we need 

to have confidence in order to get somewhere 

in life. We shouldn’t be fearful to 

go out there and make friends to apply for 

a job. We need to take risks. 

By: Yael Szanzen 


When someone gets bullied, she doesn’t 

want to tell her parents because of fear 

that the bully would find out that she 

told and will get back at her. You will miss 

out on saving yourself from getting bullied. 

But, you can overcome your fear by 

realizing it will help you to speak up. 

By: Terri Elmann 


From your first step inside your new 

summer camp, you know your doubtful 

feelings that finding friends will be hard. 

From your high ponytail to your twitching 

feet, everything about your appearance 

is unwelcomed. At your assigned 

group, kids are wearing crop top shirts, 

their hair down and flowing, laughing 

and gossiping happily with friends. You 

blush and stutter nervously, “H-h-hi.” 

Girls glare at your splash of freckles and 

light skin. They laugh and giggle and 

point at you. One girl takes your seat 

grinning maliciously. Your eyes tear up 

but you don’t want to start bawling in 

front of these girls. Your knees buckle 

weakly and you hurry outside for some 

fresh air. Tears flow down your face and 

you wish you could have been put in 

a different camp. Summer comes and 

goes quickly with not a word from either 

of the girls. Only splattered eggs 

on your window. Overcome your fears. 

Stand up for yourself. Don’t live with the 

fear of being bullied by girls who make 

it clear that you’re unwanted. Success 

comes in a can, not a can’t. Inspire people 

to follow your brave path and hope 

bullying will decrease in a large amount. 

By: Adina Charnas 


Let’s say you and your friend got into a 

fight. Your friend wants to talk it over. 

But, you decide to close yourself off from 

your best friend because you’re afraid of 

being wrong. So, because you’re afraid 

of being wrong in a fight, you lost your 

friend. Even if you are wrong, it’s more 

worth it to have a friend than having a 

fear of being wrong. 


Honoring Parents 

In honor of Joe & Trina Cayre by their children 

In honor of my parents 

Rae & Izzy Abade 

By Douglas Abade 

In honor of our parents 

Galit & Sammy Esses 

By their children 


Albert & Rochelle Ades 

By Jimmy Ades 


Gary & Mary Feldman 



Sarah & Ezra Ashkenazi 



Rima & Eli Kassab 



Raymond & Shelly Betesh 



Allan & Bella Savdie 



Charles & Mira Elmann 



David & Rosy Zeitoune 

By their children

Be open for change & try new experiences 



By: Esther Sutton 


What would life be without a challenge, 

without a risk? A successful person only 

gets to where he is from challenges. Life 

is only what it is with challenges and risk 

and trying new things. And, you never 

know, you might like it. You won’t know 

unless you try. How will you know if the 

new girl will like you if you don’t speak 

to her? Maybe you‘ll have something in 

common with her and your friendship 

will go far. Standing out is leaving your 

comfort zone. It’s being uncertain of 

how it will turn out. Be open to new experiences 

because you only learn from 

experiences and, if it doesn’t work out, 

get back up again. It’s okay to be different. 

And, most importantly, trust Hashem. 

He’ll help you through it-even the 

hardest of challenges. Bitachon is the 

most important thing in life. You will get 

far in life if you take chances. 


Courage is taking the 

first step even when 

you can’t see the 

whole staircase. 

By: Adina Charnas 


Let’s say, it’s the first day of school and 

you’re new to a school. This year is a good 

way to make friends. So, you start off looking 

around seeing who you can introduce 

yourself to. Then you see in the middle of 

the class a group of girls laughing. So, you 

go over. You start to tap the shoulder of 

a girl and she turns around. But, before 

any words can come out of your mouth, 

she rejects you and turns around. In your 

mind, you want to try again but your confidence 

is crushed. A week later, you realize 

to yourself that those girls are not the 

kind of girls you should be with. So, the 

next day, you come into school ready for a 

new start. In the corner of the room, you 

see two girls talking. Before you go over 

to them, your heart stops a second. You 

think of that rejection last week. 

To read the rest of Adina’s story, 


Search: Adina Charnas 

By: Helaine Jemal 


Be open to change. You don’t need to be 

like everybody else. You just need to be 

yourself. For Purim, everybody has a partner 

they are dressing up with, but you 

don’t want to do it with a partner. You 

want to do it alone. So, you get a little nervous 

to be the one who stands out and 

doesn’t have a partner. You end up having 

a really nice time. Everybody thought 

it was cool because you stood out and you 

were yourself. You didn’t need to do a little 

bit of what your partner wants. It was 

all by you. This was an example of someone 

who is not afraid to stand out and be 

herself. You never know; you might end 

up loving it. 

By: Allan Bailey 


I am in a candy shop. There are hundreds 

of candies to choose from. If I buy the 

same candy every time, I won’t be able 

to experience a new flavor combination. 

That would be the safe way. However, if 

I have a mindset to take a risk and buy a 

new candy, I will enjoy it more because 

the suspense leading up to it will be great. 

Therefore, if you like the new candy, it will 

encourage you in the future to take more 

risks. 

By: Ezra Dweck 


When I was in the Dominican Republic, 

my dad was playing volleyball. After one 

guy left, they needed one more person to 

play. I was sitting on the side watching the 

game and, all of a sudden, my dad asked 

me if I wanted to play. At first I said no, but 

then my dad convinced me to play. So, I 

played. I was nervous because I never really 

played this sport before. My dad told 

me to keep on trying and then I will get 

it. I was finally playing very well. I loved 

playing, I wish I can play this sport every 

day of my life. 


In Memory of 

In memory of Joseph & Esther Bailey A”H 

I n memory of 

Nelly Ades A”H 

I n memory of 

Joseph V. Harary A”H 

I n memory of 

Gabriel Ben Lea Bildirici A”H 

I n memory of 

Leah bat Marta Levy A”H 

I n memory of 

Joseph (Yosef) Hamaoui A”H 

By Albert and Sally Mosseri 

I n memory of 

Jane Levy A”H 

I n memory of 

Eli Zeitouni 

ben Helen A”H 

I n memory of 

Morris Saffati A”H 

I n loving memory of 

Albert Hazan A”H 

& Peggy Hazan A”H 

I n memory of 

Cheryl Shalom A”H


Not following 

The essays were carefully selected. 

the ones that are the most interesting 

and inspiring were posted 

online. 

Perseverance 

Hymie Sasson 

Raymond Jajati 

FOCUS 

CONFIDENCE 

Joseph J. Barnathan 

Jack Halabieh 

70 Comment on the Bar Mitzvah Boys’ favorite traits at BarMitzvahMagazine.com for great prizes. See p.71

§ 

§ 

Great Prizes for readers 

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(Posting more than one comment on the same Bar Mitzvah Boy’s writing does not count.) 

Great Prizes for BAR MITZVAH BOYs 

§ 

The Bar Mitzvah Boy with the most comments on his writing will receive a prize without a raffle. 

Comments that count: A lesson you learned from the Bar Mitzvah Boy’s writing. 

Comments that don’t count: Compliments like: “It’s interesting,” “Inspiring,” etc. 

Vote: The Bar Mitzvah Boy who gets over 300 votes on his writing will get a prize without a raffle. 

How to find Bar Mitzvah Boy’s writing: 

Log on to BarMitzvahMagazine.com, 

search Bar Mitzvah Boy’s name 

and his writing will come up 

with the option to comment or vote on it. 

Bar Mitzvah Lessons 

with Nissim Alouf 

Learn for 

Torah reading ~ Speech 

- Help prepare your son for his big day - 

for additional info please call 

nissim alouf 917-743-0636 

Meaningful Bar Mitzvah 

What’s the Bar Mitzvah 

Boy’s favorite cause 

Helping Our Community Causes 

Tuition Assistance, Shuls, Aram Soba Foundation, 

DSN, Gesher Yehuda, Hatzalah, Imagine Academy, 

SAFE, SEAD, Sephardic Angel Fund, 

Sephardic Bikur Holim, 

Sephardic Community Center, 

Sephardic Food Fund, Sephardic National Alliance, 

Sephardic Rabbinical College, 

Stella Liniado Rainbow Foundation. 

Organizations listed in alphabetical order 

See full list of causes, Log on to 

BMmagazine.com 

search Meaningful Bar Mitzvah 


Getting out of your Comfort Zone 



By: Marcelle Setton 


Soccer tryouts are tomorrow. Gloria didn’t 

want to try out because she knew she 

wasn’t going to get on the team. Gloria’s 

friend Patricia asked Gloria if she was trying 

out for soccer. Gloria said no because 

she wasn’t very good. Patricia told Gloria 

to try something new and get out of her 

comfort zone. Gloria decided to try out 

because she had nothing to lose. Gloria 

tried out and played surprisingly well. She 

made the team and was happy she tried 

something new. You never know what can 

happen when you step out of your comfort 

zone. 


Your life does 

not get better by 

chance, it gets 

better by change 

I n memory of 

Rabbi Ezra Labaton A”H 

by his niece and nephews: 

Betty, Ezra, Alfred 

& Jackie Hedaya 

By: Sabrina Abrahim 


Have you ever known an answer to a 

questions in class but was too afraid to 

raise your hand? This is a common fear 

among students around the world. And 

it’s affecting different aspects of life 

along the way. A shy girl, let’s call her 

Samantha, wouldn’t dare to raise her 

hand in class unless she was 120% sure 

she has an answer. Basically, she almost 

never raised her hand. There were times 

when a teacher would ask a question for 

extra credit to bump up a student’s grade 

and she still wouldn’t answer out of fear 

of being wrong. Letting go of some extra 

credit points to bump up her grade 

seems okay as long as she could stay in 

her comfort zone and never be wrong. 

However, she didn’t realize that she can 

never always be right, either. 

To read the rest of Sabrina’s story, 


Search: Sabrina Abrahim 

By: Devorah Band 


Sarala was an average 8 year old. She 

played with her friends’ games, jump 

rope and so on. But, as summer came, 

all her friends were riding their bikes and 

she was left out. Her parents bought her 

a beautiful pink bike for her birthday. 

But, Sarala never used it because she was 

embarrassed that she still needed training 

wheels. Her family tried very hard 

to teach her how to ride without training 

wheels. In the middle of July, she felt 

like she was ready to bike along with her 

friends. In the beginning, she was having a 

blast with her hair flying in the wind. Suddenly, 

she lost her balance and fell off her 

bike. Her friends, Leah and Penina, started 

laughing at her. She turned red and 

ran home with tears dripping down her 

cheeks. Sarala kept on trying for weeks. A 

month later, she felt confident and went 

outside. This time, she had a better time 

and didn’t fall off. Thanks to her family, 

she accomplished riding her bike and felt 

good about herself. 

By: Regina Saada 


Getting out of your comfort zone is a fear 

most human beings face. I used to be 

afraid to attempt to shoot a shot in basketball. 

I was afraid that I would miss and 

be humiliated. No matter how many times 

my coach would encourage me to shoot, I 

was too afraid because I was too nervous 

to break out of my comfort zone. I missed 

out on the thrill of actually playing the 

game the best that I could do. The next 

year, I realized I missed out on a lot of fun 

and I was determined to break out of my 

shell. I missed, sometimes, but I scored a 

lot, too. From my basketball experience, 

I learned that even if you are afraid you 

must be brave and face your fears. Start 

moving out of your comfort zone now and 

face your fears like I did. 



Focus 

Patience 

Haim Mosseri 

David Cohen 

Confidence 

Honesty 

Sam Dweck 

Oved Katash 


Take more risks, get more rewards 

By: Jonny Sultan 


you learn from the stories at TorahContest.com 


Lebron James entered the NBA at age 19. 

Coming right out of college, he was ready 

to play versus NBA stars like Shaquille 

O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan. 

At 6”8, Lebron played his first game with 

only 5 points. He got so much criticism for 

coming right after high school. The media 

kept asking him, “Do you think you’ll be 

good?” And he kept on answering, “Do 

I look like a quitter or a loser?” The next 

Taking risks: 

game, he played the Lakers, Kobe Bryant’s 

team. He had 32 points, one of the best 

scores. He never quit. 

If you win, you will 

By: Rachel Nussbaum 


be happy. If you lose, 

Without risks, life would be boring. In order 

you will be wise. 

to make your life more exciting, you 

need to be daring and take risks. If you are 

constantly scared to take risks, you will 

By: Sharon Betesh 


Everybody in this world is afraid of something. 

But, that doesn’t mean to be afraid 

of everything. It’s not bad to take risks. 

But, when you don’t take risks, you are 

missing out on an opportunity. All your 

friends are at an amusement park and 

you don’t go on any rides. They all run 

on to the biggest ride in the park and you 

just stand there. You don’t want to go because 

you’re scared. Scared of what? Your 

friends come off the ride and had the best 

time. You just missed out on a memory 

that your friends could look back on. But, 

you can’t because you were scared. When 

you take risks, you thank yourself after 

because being scared in life causes you to 

miss out on great opportunities. 

By: Eddie Catton 


In school, Jake wasn’t in the honors class. 

He was in the regular class. He worked 

very hard and became smarter. So, he was 

offered to move up to the honor class. 

Jake turned the offer down because he 

was too familiar with the regular class. 

He knew that he was smart enough to 

move up to the honors class. He knew everything 

that he was taught in the regular 

class and got bored but still wanted 

to stay there. If Jake took the offer, he 

would have been able to become an even 

smarter boy. Jake has to accept that life 

is about taking risks and stepping out of 

your comfort zone. There is no guarantee 

that honors class would have been better 

for him but he should’ve given it a try. 

never be accustomed to new things. If you 

constantly eat the same food, wear the 

same clothes and have the same friends, 

then you will just live a simple, boring 

life. Some people might fear taking risks 

because of the consequences or because 

they don’t like to try new things. We need 

to overcome this fear and train our minds 

to let us take those risks. So, what do you 

have to lose by taking risks? 

To read the rest of Rachel’s story, 


search: Rachel Nussbaum 

By: Dina Huppert 


Because of fear in class, I am unable to answer 

any questions. My hand slowly goes 

up, but the fear pulls it down. My mouth 

opens wide, but the fear shuts it closed. 

Don’t let fear control you or you won’t 

get anywhere. Because of my fear of getting 

laughed at, I wasn’t sure what I know 

Great prizes: Students who write the 

most comments on the stories get 

and I don’t know which made it hard to 

study. Don’t let fear conquer you like it 

prizes without a raffle. see page 89 

conquered me. 


Eshet Chayil 

Moses Tawil in honor of his wife Marlene 


Lauren 

by Joey Abadi 


Marci 

by Bobby Schweky 


Meirav 

by Ezra Abadi 


Audrey 

by Steven Shalom 


Barbara 

by Zeke Abraham 


Joyce 

by Nathan Shamosh 


Raquel 

by Jacob Aini 


Lisa 

by Morris Shasho 


Adele 

by Steven Bissu 


Judy 

by Albert Sutton




By: Joel Paley 


Mike always wanted to learn how to ski. He 

went to many mountains during the winter 

to ski. He practiced for almost a year. He 

decided to join a skiing contest. The object 

of this contest was to see who got to the 

bottom of the mountain first going around 

obstacles. When the race started, Mike was 

extremely nervous. He fell off his skis and 

fell down the mountains. He came in last. 

Everyone else made it to the bottom without 

falling and everyone laughed at him. To 

improve, he practiced for 2 hours 4 times a 

week instead of 2 days a week. Mike learned 

that practicing more often is the right way to 

go and never giving up will take you to your 

biggest dream. 


Courage is making 

moves that no one 

else will make. 

By: Esti Schorr 


Naomi got picked from the whole school to 

speak at her school assembly. She worked 

really hard by making the speech and practicing. 

The night of the assembly came. She 

was so excited. She was in the middle of 

the speech and, all of a sudden, her mind 

went blank. Everyone started to giggle and 

laugh. Naomi felt like sinking in to the floor. 

But, she thought how hard she worked and 

practiced day and night. She was not going 

to give up now. She tried to remember 

the speech and it came back to her head. 

All of a sudden, she remembered it. She 

finished her speech and everyone cheered 

and clapped. She was picked again for the 

assembly the following year. 

By: Natalie Mizrahi 


Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by 

the belief that someone or something is 

dangerous, likely to cause pain or threat. 

Fear is responsible for holding people back. 

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself 

(Franklin D. Roosevelt.) With this attitude, 

we can accomplish anything we put our 

minds to. Being kids, there are many people 

who degrade and belittle us and damage our 

confidence making us feel like such a small 

voice in this big world. As we get older, we 

will continue to encounter people like this. 

We cannot allow the fear to get to us. Fear 

stunts our growth causing us to not reach 

our fullest potential. 

To read the rest of Natalie’s story, 


Search: Natalie Mizrahi 

By: Terry Jemal 


If someone goes to Six Flags with their 

friends and a girl is scared to go on the scary 

ride, they shouldn’t be scared because they 

are ruining it for themselves. They should go 

on that ride. If someone believes in Hashem 

that he will protect you, it’s all in his hands. 

We shouldn’t make ourselves all nervous 

and work ourselves up. Once they go on the 

ride, they will say, “That was fun” and she 

will be happy once she conquers her fears. 

If we get scared about something, we think 

of all nonsense in our heads because we are 

making ourselves crazy. We shouldn’t do 

that. It won’t do anything in life. We can’t 

get anywhere if we have fear about every 

little thing. You can’t think right if you have 

fear about something. 

See authors & stories by shul at TorahContest.com 

SHAARE ZION | BETH TORAH | AHABA VE AHVA | MIKDASH ELIYAHU | BNAI YOSEF | EDMOND J SAFRA | SHAARE SHALOM 

BNEI YITZCHAK | YAD YOSEF | KOL ISRAEL | AHI EZER | SEPHARDIC | MDY CONG | SLC | HAR HALEBANON 

BETH SHAUL U MIRIAM | TEFERET TORAH | KETER TORAH | BETH YOSEF | KETER ZION | AVE O | BNEI BINYAMIN | SHEVET ACHIM 

MAGEN DAVID WEST DEAL | OHEL SIMCHA | HATHAWAY | SHAARE TEFILLAH | OHEL YAAKOB | MAGEN ABRAHAM 



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Middah Column 

By: Rosie Bawabeh 

Every two weeks we’ll be updating the website with different middah. Each middah 

can take a big toll in our lives and we want to hear what toll it took on yours. 

So go on the website read about the middah and comment or add 

a personal story on how it affected you! 

Log on: www.TorahContest.com 

Keyword Search 

Middah Column 





By: Stephanie Dweck 


When one doesn’t take risks, one loses 

out on so many different aspects of life. 

They become so afraid and paranoid that 

they forget to live life. They miss out on 

everything that life has to offer. Fear created 

followers instead of leaders. We pass 

through life without becoming our own 

person. We nod when we’re supposed to, 

laugh when others are and try to talk as 

little as possible. We become someone 

else and miss out on finding out who we 

are. Instead, we must realize that it is okay 

to be different. Everyone was created for 

a reason and we all have something to offer 

to the world. We must step out of our 

comfort zone and find ourselves. We must 

realize we are unique and amazing. Even 

if we may get knocked down along the 

way, we will end up victorious. 


When you’re scared 

but you still do it 

anyway, that’s brave. 

By: Batya Kairey 


I was in Great Adventure in the summer. 

My friends all wanted to go on a Kingda 

Ka, but I was scared. I was not scared 

that I would die, but that I was afraid of 

the heights. My friends tried to convince 

me to go on a Kingda Ka, but I was trembling 

with fear. My friends went on line 

without me and tried to convince me to 

come on with them. They were almost 

at the top and I still didn’t go. When 

they came down, they were all talking 

and laughing. They were screaming how 

good it was. I felt so left out because I 

didn’t go on. On the next ride they went 

on, I went, too, and had the time of my 

life. I will never be afraid to go on any 

ride again because, if the other people 

can do it, I can do it too. 

By: Jack Mizrahi 


A couple of years ago, a plane landed 

in the Hudson River. The pilot and the 

crew didn’t know what to do. Then, one 

crew member thought they should try to 

evacuate the plane before they were all 

under the Hudson. The plane staff took a 

giant leap of faith and risked their lives to 

save the passengers. Taking risks can be a 

huge accomplishment, even if you think 

you may fail. 

By: Mimi Levy 


It is extremely important to take chances. 

You have one life to live and it’s extremely 

important to live it to its fullest 

potential. Sometimes, it might be scary. 

But, if you don’t step out of your comfort 

zone, you can regret it for the rest 

of your life. For example, you can lose 

a great job experience because you are 

too nervous to show the boss what you 

are made of. However, it might be too 

dangerous to take certain chances. You 

should definitely step out of your comfort 

zone but don’t be too risky so that it 

ends up badly. 

By: Joey Alhadef 


When you have an idea that you want to 

share, you should share it or your chance 

will pass. Your friends will move on to 

something else. If you think your idea is 

good, then share it even if you think your 

friends won’t like it. A lot of successful 

people have been told that their ideas 

were weird or their friends didn’t like 

it but, in the end, they were successful. 

You are supposed to take risks and face 

problems. 

BARKAI P. 107| HILLEL P. 109 | MDY P. 103 | YOF P. 111 


Eshet Chayil 

Joey Sitt in honor of his wife Betty 


Valerie 

by Jack Cheika 


Marcy 

by Charles Sued 


Fortune 

by David Edelstein 


Kimberly 

by Jimmy Tawil 


Karen 

by David Moreno 


Grace 

by Joey A. Tawil 


Victoria 

by Steven Salem 


Rose 

by Elliot Zeitoune 


Joyce 

by Abe Shalom 


Jeanne 

by Ralph Zirdok

More Risk = More Reward: Friendship 



By: Barbara Schwartzbard 


It was the summer going into 10th grade 

and I couldn’t decide what I wanted to 

do for the summer. Most of my friends 

were going to the same camp that I have 

been going to for many years. However, 

one of my friends was going to Israel 

for the summer to a sleep away camp. 

She asked me if I wanted to join her 

and I said no. I wanted to be in a camp 

that I was comfortable in, that I knew. 

When we all came back to school this 

fall, she told me all about her summer. 

This is when I realized I should’ve gone 

with her to Israel this summer. Because 

I didn’t take a risk, I missed out on an 

amazing summer and a chance to see 

new things and meet new people. This 

experience shows me to take risks and 

be courageous. The comfortable choice 

isn’t always the best choice. 


One man with 

courage makes 

a majority. 

By: Evelyn Tawil 


Everyone wants acceptance. When you 

are afraid, you lose opportunities you 

would be able to take if you weren’t 

afraid. When you take a look at teens, 

you can pinpoint at least one fear - fear 

of not being accepted. Nobody wants to 

be rejected, alone, or not included. You 

could be very talkative to one of your 

close friends but, when presented in 

front of someone foreign, you sometimes 

get shy. Why does this happen? Why do 

you suddenly bottle up and close the 

doors to people you haven’t even met? 

The reason for this is uncertainty. That 

feeling of not knowing how you should 

act. You have to face your fears head 

on so you don’t lose the opportunity to 

make new friends while simultaneously 

remaining true to yourself. Only then will 

you be truly happy with yourself and remove 

yourself from the burden of fear. 

By: Florence D. 


In life, there will be many challenges 

thrown at us. But, it is our job to overcome 

them. Last year, a friend of mine 

hurt my feelings and did something unforgivable. 

This was a very hard obstacle for 

me to overcome. I am sure that most girls 

fight with their friends and then bounce 

back days later. But, this was different. 

We didn’t speak for weeks and acted like 

strangers. We both acted like we never 

even knew each other. Finally, I decided 

I had enough. I confronted my friend and 

showed her my perspective. She understood 

why I was upset and apologized. I 

know this doesn’t seem like such a large 

obstacle, but at the time it was my only 

obstacle. My friend and I are now closer 

than ever. It is very important to bounce 

back. Even if we fail or are faced with a 

challenge, we should try our hardest to 

succeed and overcome it. 

By: Sara Shtaynberger 


The trick in life is to be confident and not 

scared of taking risks. If you see a new student 

in your class, don’t just ignore her. 

Walk up to her and introduce yourself. 

You never know; that new student might 

just be your new best friend. 

By: Vicky Levy 


This past summer, I went to a new camp 

and I didn’t know anyone there except 

for one friend. We wanted to meet people 

and develop new friendships but I 

was afraid to approach people. When I 

finally did, I made one of my best friends 

today. If I wouldn’t have built up the 

courage to talk to new people, I wouldn’t 

have the friends I made. It’s very important 

to overcome your fear and to take 

risks because you might miss out on future 

experiences. 


Eshet Chayil 

Dr. Isaac Mohadeb in honor of his wife Lily 


Frances 

by Hymie Betesh 


Linda 

by Henry V. Guindi 


Eileen 

by Alan Cabasso 


Linda 

by Eli Khafif 


Linda 

by Ralph Cohen 


Randi 

by Joey Levy 


Monique 

by Raymond Esses 


Renee 

by Nathan Matut 


Chaya 

by Victor Falah 


Morgan 

by Abe Sultan



Letting go of past experiences 

By: Sophia Rofe 


Rachel’s goal was to become a great actress. 

One day, Rachel was invited to do 

the play “Romeo and Juliet”. Rachel practiced 

for months for this play and now it 

was finally here. She went on stage and 

started to say her lines. Right before intermission, 

everyone applauded. During 

intermission, Rachel decided that, since 

she did so well, she didn’t really need to 

practice her lines anymore. When the 

play was back on, it was Rachel’s lines. 

She said a few lines, but then she messed 

up. After Rachel messed up her lines, she 

tried again but failed. Then, Rachel ran 

off the stage. A few months later, she 

was asked to perform in the play “Shakespeare.” 

When she received this message, 

at first, she didn’t want to enter. But, then 

Rachel realized, in life you only fail so that 

you can try again. The lesson here is that 

you should never give up. Even if you fail 

terribly, you should always try again. 


Sometimes you 

have to let things 

go for better 

things to arrive. 

By: Miriam Zenilman 


When I was in third grade, I was diagnosed 

with a severe nut allergy. A month 

later, I had an allergic reaction and was 

sent to the nearest hospital. A couple 

of hours later, I was once again healthy. 

But, this traumatic experience had a 

huge impact on me. I carried the fear of 

having another allergic reaction with me 

for years. However, this past summer I 

was able to overcome this irrational fear. 

I went on a community service trip to 

Croatia and had to trust that the guide 

accompanying my group would read the 

ingredients on food packages correctly 

as I cannot understand Croatian. At first, 

I was very anxious about eating. However, 

my friends encouraged me to take 

risks and assured me that everything 

would be fine. I took their advice and 

found that they were right. As a result, I 

learned that taking a chance is definitely 

worth the risk. 



In order to live a happy life, you need to 

be successful. Successful is when someone 

had an embarrassing moment or 

experience in their life but is still trying. 

Someone who is not giving up, who forgets 

about the past and starts fresh; a 

person who learns from his mistakes and 

tries again the second time with confidence. 

For example, Sara has a goal to be 

a singer. She believed that she will be a 

good singer. But, when she was performing, 

she saw so many people staring at her. 

She forgot the song. But did she give up? 

No! Later on, there was another performance. 

She learned the song and learned 

from her mistakes. She started fresh, new 

and was confident in herself. That’s what 

I call a winner - a person who keeps on 

pushing and pushing until they get it right. 

A person who gets up when she falls. 

By: Bert Dweck 


One day, I decided to run a marathon and 

tried to be the winner. I never ran more 

than 2 miles in my life. I started training 

every day for 45 minutes and it was going 

fine. Then I ran a 10 mile marathon after 

training 45 minutes a day for 3 months and 

collapsed right before I reached 6 miles. I 

was really upset and ashamed of myself. I 

felt like I was a fool and couldn’t succeed. 

I just decided to think positive and forget 

about all of the stumbling blocks and mistakes 

that ever happened to me. I started 

my training all over again. I increased my 

training to 1 hour and 30 minutes a day 

and I ran the same marathon 1 year later. 

I was very nervous before the marathon 

that something might happen. I ended up 

succeeding and winning the marathon. 

I won a first place medal. The lesson I 

learned was to never give up and you will 

succeed. 


In Memory of 

I n m e m o r y o f R a l p h S . G i n d i A ” H 

I n memory of 

Ezra and Samira ben 

Rachel Abed A”H 

I n memory of 

Albert Manopla A”H 

I n memory of 

Maurice Elbaz A”H 

I n memory of 

Yitzchak ben Mazal A”H 

I n memory of 

Eliyahu 

ben Rachel A”H 

I n memory of 

Joseph M. Missry 

ben Arline A”H 

I n memory of 

Yoseph ben Latife Guindi 

I n memory of 

Ralphael Sarway A”H 

I n loving memory of 

Joseph S. Jemal A”H 

by his wife Ruth and children 

I n memory of 

Hy Serure A”H 

by his family



Letting go of past experiences 

By: Esther Sutton 


Two girls stood behind the curtain at 

their ballet recital. “I’m next. I can’t do 

it. I just can’t,” one girl said to another. 

Her friend responded, “Of course you 

can. What is stopping you?” “Don’t you 

remember last year’s show? I tripped 

and fell and what if it happens again? 

I ruined it for everyone last time and I 

don’t want that to happen again,” she 

explained. Her friend responded, “I 

think what you lacked was confidence. 

You’re just afraid of messing up again. 

But, the most amazing people faced 

challenges. You’ll never improve if you 

don’t face challenges. The girl responded 

with a smile and said, “You’re right. 

I won’t make the same mistake again. I 

just need confidence.” There was an announcement 

for the next contestant. 

To read the rest of Esther’s story, 


Search: Esther Sutton 


Hashem wouldn’t 

give you a 

challenge you 

cannot handle. 

By: Moshe Lati 


Who knows that moment when there are 

3 seconds left in the game and your team 

is counting on you to take the game’s 

winning shot? Well, I do. I had the ball 

in my hands and I was so nervous. The 

one thing I was thinking was let’s say I 

made the shot, the whole crowd would 

be going nuts! But, I also thought lets say 

I missed that shot, my whole team would 

be screaming at me or they will never 

trust me to take the last shot. I had the 

ball with 3 seconds. I shot...and I missed. 

My team didn’t scream at me. They 

told me, “Its ok. We all make mistakes. 

People learn from their mistakes.” I felt 

good, really good. But now, the second 

time, are my teammates going to trust 

me to take the game’s winning shot? I 

am not going to be scared or nervous. 

To read the rest of Moshe’s story, 


Search: Moshe Lati 

By: Cerise Rishty 


There was a girl, named Julie, who loved 

to dance. She went to a dance class every 

day. One day, her teacher said, “We are 

going to have a dance recital next week.” 

Julie was jumping with joy. She invited 

her whole family and all her friends. Every 

second she had, she practiced. It was 

finally the day of the recital and she was 

so excited. She walked on stage. The music 

started and she forgot the dance. All of 

her friends and family saw her frozen on 

stage. She ran off and cried. When it came 

to the next recital, she was hesitant to 

do it. She worked even harder. She never 

gave up. It turned out great. 

By: Tamar Schneider 


If you want to overcome fear, this is what 

you should do. Whatever the fear is, do 

it over and over again; so, the next time 

it comes up you won’t be scared because 

you will be so used to it. I read a story 

once about a boy who was afraid of elevators 

because he got stuck in one. His mom 

told him to go on it again and again and he 

did. So, that’s why he overcame his fear. 

This really works. Try it! 

By: Linda Benun 


Someone was getting married to a very 

nice and sweet lady. After all the parties 

and everything, two days before the wedding 

the bride called off the wedding. It 

broke her fiancé’s heart. His family had to 

calm him down. After that happened, he 

was always afraid to get into another relationship 

with someone else because he 

was afraid he was going to get hurt again. 

It took him a few years to actually say, “I 

feel confident that I will find someone.” 

And he did. He is married now to a lovely 

lady and they are actually expecting a 

baby soon. So, now you see what happens 

when you overcome your fears. 


In Memory of 

In memory of Gabriel Chehebar A”H 

I n memory of my father 

Jack S. Anteby A”H 

By David Anteby 

I n memory of 

Norma Haddad A”H 

By her family 

I n memory of 

Abraham D. Cohen A”H 

I n memory of 

Elliot Serure A”H 

I n memory of 

Shaya Chabot 

ben Simbol A”H 

I n memory of 

Shira bat Simcha A”H 

By his family 

I n memory of 

Eddie Haber A”H 

I n memory of 

Gitta bat Nizha 

Sultan A”H 

I n memory of 

Alice Haddad A”H 

By her family 

I n memory of 

Sol N. Tawil A”H 

By his wife, children and grandchildren

Don’t repeat the same mistake. Try a new approach. 



By: Rena Chaiklen 


You have an assignment in one of your 

classes to write a story. You have a really 

great idea and work very hard to write it. 

When you get to school the day that it’s 

due, you are very confident and happy 

with your story. You go around showing 

it to everyone and telling them to read it. 

When you hand it in, you tell the teacher, 

“I think I did well.” When you get it back, 

you get a very bad grade. Everyone is very 

happy with their grades and is asking you 

what you got. You tell them, sadly, that 

you did badly and you’re very embarrassed. 

The next time you get assigned 

to write a story, at first you’re upset because 

last time you did badly. When you 

get home, instead of just writing anything 

because you think you’re a bad writer, you 

put your all into the story. You do things 

differently than you did before and you 

come up with a better story. This time you 

get the highest grade. 


Failure is the 

opportunity to 

begin again, only 

more intelligently. 

By: Rachelli Hoffman 


A girl named Chana always wanted to try 

to dive. One day, she went to the pool. She 

ran to the front of the pool. She held her 

hands out towards the water and jumped 

off the edge of the pool. She felt her body 

fly through the air as she touched the surface 

of the water and smack. She landed 

in a belly flop. She was very embarrassed. 

She went home devastated. The next day 

she went back to the pool to try again. She 

went to the edge and wondered; maybe, 

if she held her hands up a different way, 

she might do it the right way. This time, 

she held her hands above her head and 

jumped. This time, instead of touching 

the surface of the water, she did a neat 

plunge through the water. All her friends 

clapped for her as she exited the water. 

By: Daniel Braha 


One day, I was with my friends. They 

all had penny boards. I said to myself, 

“That looks cool.” So, I asked my dad if 

I can have one and he said, “Yes.” I was 

so excited. All of my friends were outside 

my house with their skateboards. I 

rushed out the door to show my skateboard 

to them. We went riding. We 

started to ride and right away I fell off. 

From then on I knew, I wasn’t that good 

because they were laughing at me. I 

thought about that and said to myself 

that if I tried I would be a great rider. 

So, I was practicing but I couldn’t seem 

to get the hang of it. One time, I tried to 

put my feet in a different direction and, 

the first thing I knew, I was riding. The 

next day, I was riding with my friends. 

I was doing great. After a few months 

went by, I was the best rider. 

By: Raymond Arking 


People always try to do amazing things 

but, sometimes, it just backfires. I think 

people should start out small and then try 

bigger. For example, I tried to get a touchdown 

in football. But, the ball bounced 

off my hands and someone on the other 

team caught it. (It was an interception). 

So, I tried to start small. I got a touchdown 

by running with the ball (getting a handoff). 

I felt good that I helped my team instead 

of doing a back flip and missing a 

throw, which I could have easily caught. I 

know that many people have done similar 

mistakes. So, remember to start small and 

you’ll end up doing big things one day. 

Great prizes for the authors 

Authors who get the most comments will get a prize. SEE P. 89 


Eshet Chayil 

Jack A. Kassin in honor of his wife Joyce 


Aliza 

by Albert Allaham 


Betty 

by Albert Marcus 


Etty 

by Jack Benzaken 


Stephanie 

by Jack Mosseri 


Lisa 

by Jackie Cohen – Arazi 


Arlene 

by Ralph Sassoon 


Stefanie 

by Ikey Douek 


Ellen 

by Morris Shalom 


Jane 

by Steve Gammal 


Sally 

by David Wahba

A healthy attitude towards failure 



By: Vivian Gindi 


When I was learning to ride a bicycle, I 

kept on falling and I couldn’t stay on the 

bike. I got a scrape on my knee and cut on 

my ankle. But, I decided to be determined 

and I jumped right back on the bicycle. After 

so many times, I actually rode a little. 

I continued and I did it. I learned how to 

ride a bicycle. Even though I was little 

and that was a small accomplishment, it 

taught me a lesson. I learned that from 

failures I can learn to do things better. 

By: Joyce Kassin 


Everyone at some point fails. Most people 

look at a failure as a very bad thing. But, 

you don’t have to. When someone fails, 

that could be your motivation to reach 

your goal and do better even if you don’t 

get it the first time or even the fifth time. 

Never give up. Always look ahead. 


I was born to 

make mistakes, 

not to fake 

perfection. 

By: Lauren Shamah 


There was once a girl who loved to dance. 

She took many classes and spent hours 

improving. It was the big day. She got to 

dance by herself in front of 500 people. 

There were very important people from 

the dance world to watch her. Bam! She 

fell on her face. Everyone started to laugh 

and she dashed out in embarrassment. 

She felt discouraged, but knew that she 

had another chance to prove herself next 

week and giving up would be a bad idea. 

She restlessly worked and tried to improve. 

Her next chance came and she felt 

motivated. She believed in herself and did 

amazing. She was requested for the biggest 

school of dance. We learn from her 

that failure leads to success. 

By: Joelle Cohen 


Once upon a time, I was on the debate 

team. It was fun and everyone thought 

I would win. Above all, I was passionate 

about the debate’s subject being it was 

animal testing. When the debate started, 

I was surprised at the intelligence of the 

kids on the other team. They showed me 

much stronger points of the argument. I 

wasn’t surprised when I lost. But, I was 

resentful. I blamed it on so many things. 

I blamed it on my partner who admittedly 

stuttered and did get a lower score than 

me. I blamed it on my lack of preparation 

time, but it may have been my overzealous 

confidence. This taught me to prepare 

and not be so conceited. I was so upset 

at not winning anything but, in reality, 

I was disappointed in myself. I still had fun 

at the competition which encouraged me 

to sign up for the 8th grade debate team 

again and try better this time. 

By: Laurie Haber 


Sarah wanted to be an interior designer. 

She worked so hard to prepare for her 

first client. All through her first appointment, 

Sarah was so excited she didn’t let 

her client say what he wanted. Sarah kept 

on rambling on and on about how she 

wanted the house and what she imagined 

the house to become. After the first appointment, 

Sarah’s client called and kindly 

said that they did not need her services 

anymore. Sarah wondered what she did 

wrong. She realized that she did not let 

her client talk. Sarah fixed her mistakes 

and became a very successful interior designer. 

GREAT PRIZE for the readers: 

submit lessons you learn from the stories 

on torahcontest.com see details on page 89 


§ 

§ 

Great Prizes for readers 

Great Prizes for authors 

§ 

Students who comment on the most stories will receive prizes without a raffle. 

(Posting more than one comment for the same story doesn’t count.) 

§ 

Authors who get the most comments on their story will receive prizes without a raffle. 

Comments that count: Comments with a lesson you learned from the story. 

Comments that don’t count: Compliments like: “It’s interesting,” “Inspiring,” etc. 

Vote: Authors who get the most votes on their story will receive prizes without a raffle. 

How to find the storY 

Log on to TorahContest.com, 

search Student’s name and his story will come 

up with the option to comment or vote on it. 

Video Montages and Slideshows for all occasions. We work with all budgets. 

MK Productions 

Michael Kraiem | mmkraiem@aol.com | 917-968-7210 


A healthy attitude towards failure 



By: Elliot Levy 


Many times in life, you may come to an opportunity 

where you can choose to either 

take a risk or be conservative. Numerous 

people may decide to be conservative and 

miss out on what they could have gotten. 

Whenever people do something and fail, 

they can learn from their mistakes. They 

can derive what they did wrong and how 

to fix it. Without taking risks, there are 

no mistakes that we can learn from. In 

business, a company must choose to be 

innovative and create something new by 

taking a risk. If they do not take any risks, 

other companies will prosper while they 

will fail. There are many benefits to taking 

risks. You can discover opportunities that 

you would not have faced. 

In honor of my 

wife Violet 

by Judah Uziel 


You can learn a lot 

from your mistakes 

when you aren’t 

busy denying them. 

By: Steven Hafif 


When I first started my sophomore year 

in high school, I made the decision to try 

out for the hockey team. I was excited. I 

bought the equipment and started practicing 

weeks before the first game. By the 

time my first game came up, I was bursting 

with excitement. Arriving early, I immediately 

ran downstairs and started to 

plan how I will celebrate my goals. The 

game started and I was frozen up. I missed 

every pass, shot and goal. And I was eventually 

benched for the second half of the 

game. I went into the locker room upset 

and mostly angry. But, then, I took a step 

back. I thought about what I was doing 

wrong and how to correct it. Instead of 

giving up, I went to the coach and told 

him to give me another chance. The very 

next shift, I scored the game winning goal. 

By: Jacob Tawil 


Slip! Pete fell again. He lost the ice hockey 

game for his team. After the game, the 

whole team wanted Pete off the team. 

Pete was so sad. So, he quit because he 

did not want to be on a team when he 

was not welcomed. The next day, a kid 

from the team came to Pete to tell him to 

come back on the team. He told Pete that 

he should not quit just because he made 

a mistake. He should learn from his mistakes 

instead. Pete decided to come back 

on the team. At the end of the game, Pete 

got the game’s winning goal. His whole 

team congratulated Pete. He learned a 

valuable lesson: Never give up. 

By: Juliet Nasar 


Abigail’s dream was to get into Harvard 

Law School. She was very smart. When it 

came time to take the SATs, she was very 

nervous. She was so nervous that she 

couldn’t think straight and got a very bad 

mark. She was very depressed. Some time 

later she took the SATs again. This time, 

she learned that she shouldn’t be too 

nervous. So, she took a deep breath and 

began the test. This time, she got a very 

good grade and is now in her third year of 

Harvard Law School. This story shows that 

you should never give up and learn from 

your mistakes. 

By: Sophia Hindy 

Ahi Ezer Yeshiva 

In order to succeed, there is going to be 

failure in the process. But, if you don’t fail, 

you won’t learn. The hard part is deciding 

to keep going once you fail, instead of 

letting that mistake stop you from moving 

forward. What some people don’t understand 

is that mistakes or failing brought 

something good to it, too; It taught more 

experience to face the next challenges. 

And the next challenge, you most likely 

will succeed. 


Eshet Chayil 

Eddie Salem in honor of his wife Violet 


Rina 

by Joey Allaham 


Claire 

by Ikie Shabtai 


Bella 

by Haskel Cohen 


Dolly 

by Gabi Shammah 


Jennifer 

by Saul Cohen 


Adele 

by Joseph Sharaby 


Michele 

by Allan Levy 


Jacquelyn 

by Sammy Tawil 


Sarah 

by Albert Savdie 


Jacqueline 

by Ralph Terzi



By: Tehila Bitton 


One time, when Bella was starting a new 

school, she was too shy and insecure that 

no one would like her. Sarah didn’t talk to 

anyone and when they tried to talk to her 

she would just brush them off. Because of 

her fear, she ended up alone without any 

friends. Later, she learned her lesson and 

asked her mother to switch schools. She 

put aside her fears, stepped up and said 

“Hello” first. Now, she has a ton of friends. 

She learned that fear doesn’t help you be 

safer. It just held her back from experiencing 

new things. She learned a priceless 

lesson. 

In memory of 

Morris & Margaret 

Didia A”H 

by their children 

& grandchildren 

What you lose by being shy 


The limit is not in 

the sky. The limit 

is in the mind. 

By: Rachel Isayev 


One time in chemistry class, the teacher 

asked a question. It was an advanced 

question that was very difficult to answer. 

Therefore, very few raised hands to answer 

the question and those who did got 

it wrong. I was pretty sure I knew that answer, 

but my fear took control and I was 

too nervous to raise my hand. As I was 

debating with myself whether I should 

raise my hand or not, someone else 

raised their hand. That student got the 

answer right and was rewarded with extra 

points on her average. The disappointing 

part was that I was going to say the exact 

same answer and, if I wasn’t so afraid to 

say it, then I would’ve gotten the points. 

Ever since this incident, I don’t shy away 

from answering questions. Occasionally, I 

get the bonus questions and I am the one 

who receives the points. Don’t let fear 

control actions because you can be much 

more successful if you conquer it. 

By: Sonny Setton 


This past summer, I went to work at a 

camp. However, I am naturally a quiet and 

shy person. I normally have a hard time 

meeting new people. This past summer 

was actually very fun because of all the 

people I met. I became close with my cocounselor 

who happened to be very popular 

in the camp. Once I saw how social he 

was, I said to myself, “You can do this.” We 

immediately became very good friends. 

Over the course of the summer, I met so 

many new and wonderful people. Before 

I knew it, I became popular in camp too. 

I came out of the summer with at least 

20 new great friends. It just goes to show 

you. If you just step out of your comfort 

zone, great things will happen. 



One time, when I was little, I was shy and 

scared to sing in front of people. Everyone 

wanted to hear my voice and how I sing. 

I was scared they wouldn’t like my voice 

and would laugh at me. When I sing, I express 

myself and who I am. But, because 

of fear, I wasn’t able to do that. People 

thought I was a little shy girl with no talent. 

But, later on in life, I learned that 

when you think too much or overthink it 

you start to get scared. So, the message 

I’m trying to say is don’t get scared or 

you’ll regret it for life. Never overthink, 

just do what you truly believe. 

By: Bobby Matalon 


When I play basketball by myself, I play 

great. But, when I play with my friends, I 

don’t seem to be as good. That happens 

because I’m scared. As soon as I realized 

it, I worked to overcome my fear and shyness. 

My game improved and my friends 

were impressed with the way I played. 


Eshet Chayil 

Morris A. Dweck in honor of his wife Sophia 


Yvette 

by Alie Cohen 


Paula 

by Mrad Nuseri 


Yvette 

by Raymond Kassin 


Alicia 

by Stephen Rahmey 


Margalit 

by Shlomo Laniado 


Fortune 

by Isaac Saideh 


Rebecca 

by Alan Maleh 


Joyce 

by Eddie E. Serure 


Jennifer 

by David Mizrahi 


Orit 

by Isaac Srugo

Never be embarrassed to do a mitzvah 



By: Abraham Kassin 


There was a boy who didn’t have a place 

to go to for lunch. I already made plans 

with my friends. I kept thinking to myself: 

the right thing to do would be to bring 

him with my friends. Although this was 

obvious, there was still a chance that my 

friends wouldn’t approve and leave me 

alone. I took that risk. I invited him to 

come along. I will never forget the smile 

I put on that kid’s face. It was definitely 

worth risk taking. The best part was that 

my friends, after some awkward glances, 

came along. We had a great time. 



Confidence is doing 

what’s right even if 

it’s not popular. 

By: Sion Dweck 


One day, Ikey went to his friend. His friend 

was popular and everybody was kind of 

forced to follow him. Ikey was different 

from everybody. Every morning, he would 

wake up very early and pray, put money 

in sedaka. When he went to his friend’s 

house, he was told he had to sleep there 

because it was snowing. He couldn’t do 

what he did every morning. Ikey was 

forced to leave his comfort zone because 

of society. He can overcome it by being 

himself. He could have been brave and do 

what he does every morning. 

M. Elmann C. Bunker T. Assouline 

By: Frieda Sasson 


Sometimes when people have friends 

over for a sleepover, the next morning you 

might want to do netilat yadayim and pray 

but you are worried about what people 

will think. You think that they might make 

fun of you if you pray. But, you shouldn’t 

think about what other people think 

when you are doing a mitzvah and doing 

the right things. But, when you are doing 

a wrong thing, you should care about 

what other people think. Don’t fear to do 

the right thing. Be yourself and that’s all 

that matters. 

By: Maurice Djmal 


A few boys were going out to eat at a nonkosher 

restaurant. One boy was scared 

to ask them to eat at a kosher restaurant 

instead. So, he went along with them 

and didn’t say anything. A month later, 

he was with the same friends again and 

they were going to a non-kosher restaurant 

again. This time he didn’t want to sin 

and said that he didn’t want to eat there. 

His friends said they didn’t care and were 

going there anyway. But, then, one of his 

friends said he also doesn’t like to eat 

there and he was afraid to speak up till 

now. Both of the boys went to a kosher 

restaurant together. 

By: Jacqueline Franco 


Someone wanted to wear a skirt everyday. 

She wanted to become more tzniut. 

She didn’t want because her friends 

might make fun of her. They might think 

she is weird or they might try to stop talking 

to her. Later on, the girl wears a skirt 

every Friday and Saturday. She sees that 

her friends don’t say anything. At the end, 

she wears skirts every day. Her friends 

don’t say anything and she has faced her 

fears and succeeded. 


Eshet Chayil 

Nissim Kafif in honor of his wife Vicky 


Margie 

By Albert Bijou 


Leah 

By Joey Habert 


Simi 

By Ezra Debbah 


Danielle 

By Nathan Hoffman 


Vivian 

By Abie Dushey 


Sofia 

By Alan Jemal 


Joy 

By Martin Erani 


Esther 

By Joey Mizrahi 


Raquel 

By Joseph A. Franco 


Joyce 

By Mousa Saad

Fear makes it hard to be yourself 



By: Fatima Sharaby 


Sarah was so excited to go on a shopping 

spree with her mom. Her friends were 

telling her where to go and what to buy. 

When she came to school the next week 

with a turtleneck sweater, her friends 

were making fun of her and told her to 

take it off. Sara came home that day giving 

all her clothes away to charity. Her 

mom spent all this money for no reason. 

Her mom told her, “You can be different. 

You can have your own style.” Sarah came 

to school the next day with another shirt 

that she just bought. Her friends rolled 

their eyes and made nasty comments. 

Sarah said, “I am not you. I can wear what 

I want.” Her friends realized they were 

wrong and apologized. Sarah finally felt 

comfortable. 


It’s easy to stand 

with the crowd. 

It takes courage 

to stand alone. 

By: Sarah Benun 


You’re with your friends at a restaurant. 

All of them order French fries and unhealthy 

food. You always ate healthy 

your whole life. You really want to order 

salad or soup but you order what 

all your friends have because you are 

afraid to be different. Order what you 

want and enjoy it! 

By: Gayle Zagha 


When there is a group of people who 

are all basically the same, the fear stops 

you from being yourself. If you are not 

acting like yourself, then how are people 

supposed to like you for who you are? 

Just act like yourself and be loved by 

them and let them accept you for you. 

Great prizes: submit lessons you 

learn from the stories see page 89 

By: Ruth Tawil 


You are going to buy shoes and you chose 

a pair that you love. You’re ready to buy 

them until you hesitate because you think 

that your friends might not like them or 

they will make fun of you. Then, you put 

the shoes back and you leave the store 

empty handed. Why should you care what 

your friends think about those shoes? 

They are not the ones who are wearing 

them; you are. What’s the big deal if 

you buy them and your friends don’t like 

them? You’re dressing for yourself not for 

your friends. 

By: Rebecca Sutton 


Fear is something that always stays unless 

you’re able to overcome. For example, 

doing something different than your 

friends may sound scary but, once you do 

it, if they’re true friends, they will support 

you and accept you. Not doing it, letting 

fear take over, will make you be always 

scared and worried about what everyone 

will think. It will stay with you until you 

get older unless you face it. So, why not 

take a chance and live a life? 

By: Celia Cohen 


There are many different situations in 

which people are too fearful. One example 

is a person wants to grow up to 

become a scientist or have an academic 

career but they won’t follow their dreams 

because they are afraid that someone will 

make fun of them and call them a nerd 

or a genius. They are afraid that they will 

lose their friends. They will choose to not 

go to college just so that they can fit in. 

It’s not good to be fearful of the person 

you really want to be. You end up becoming 

a person your friends want you to be. 


Eshet Chayil 

James Haddad in honor of his wife Ricci 


Lisa 

By David Aizer 


Raquel 

By Sammy Fallas 


Marlene 

By Joseph Bibi 


Nancy 

By Charles Grazi 


Ninette 

By Raymond Cohen 


Cynthia 

By Victor Halabi 


Gloria 

By Jamie Dweck 


Lisa 

By Joey Jemal 


Linda 

By Harold Ebani 


Margrette 

By Jack Shammah

How to believe in yourself when others don’t 



By: Gayle Zagha 


An 8th grade boy is in a lower math track. 

But, he is really trying to do better. He 

practices and practices during all of his 

free time and ,yet, he still fails his quizzes. 

Everyone keeps telling him to stop 

trying, “You’re never going to get any better. 

You’re not smart.” He started to believe 

it. So, he stopped trying and kept on 

failing. After a while, he thought to himself, 

“Wait! I shouldn’t listen to this. I can 

pass.” The night before his next quiz, he 

studied for hours. During the quiz, he kept 

thinking to himself, “I can do this, I can do 

this. I will do this.” When he got his quiz 

back, he was scared to look. He covered 

the grades and closed his eyes. Finally, he 

opened his eyes and uncovered the grade. 

He got a 95%. He was so proud and so was 

his teacher. From then on, he wouldn’t listen 

to what others would say about him. 

Only what he thought of himself. 


Millions of people can 

believe in you, and yet 

none of it matters if you 

don’t believe in yourself. 

By: Linda Sasson 


One day, I wanted to try to play baseball 

with my friend. I started to throw the 

ball up in the air and I tried to hit it but 

I missed. I kept trying to hit the ball but 

it was no use because I kept missing. My 

friend said, “Give it up. You’ll never be 

as good as me.” After she said that, I felt 

really bad. And, I believed that I wasn’t 

going to be as good as her. Then, every 

day after school, I went outside and my 

dad pitched to me. I did a little better 

because I got one hit, but it didn’t go so 

far. The next day, I went outside again to 

practice. I hit the ball up into the trees. 

I was jumping up and down because I 

got such a good hit. I ran and gave my 

dad the biggest hug and thanked him 

for making me so good at baseball. I 

learned from that to never give up because 

everything is possible. 

By: Sari Alfaks 


Fear can prevent you from reaching your 

life goals and dreams. If it’s your dream to 

be a lawyer, you should push yourself to 

get there and enjoy doing it. If you have 

a job interview and you get very nervous 

about it, you won’t succeed. An opportunity 

like this comes once in a lifetime. You 

must be relaxed and calm and believe that 

you could succeed. Fear is all imagination 

and the only person causing fear is you. 

By: Estelle Saad 


There once was a girl who never tried anything 

new. She would never talk to anyone 

else other than the girls she knew all 

her life. When she went to a new school, 

she was forced to make new friends and 

try new things. She joined many teams 

and made so many friends. She was glad 

that she stepped out of her comfort zone 

and wished she had tried it before. Don’t 

wait for an opportunity to knock on your 

door. You should knock on its doors. 

By: Laurie Rae Haber 


Sarah went to a store to buy new clothes. 

She saw an exotic dress that she liked a 

lot. She saw a price tag. It was only $20. 

She was afraid that her friend wouldn’t 

like the dress. She was debating if she 

should buy it or not. She liked the dress 

and it was cheap, but her friends might 

not like it. In the end, Sarah didn’t buy 

the dress. She came to the store the next 

day and the dress was $50. Sarah lost out 

on the dress because of fear. She learned 

that day not to think about what anybody 

thinks. 

To see sources for the 

quotes in the magazine 

Log on TorahValues.com 

search kids’ quotes sources 


Eshet Chayil 

Raymond Dayan in honor of his wife Vivian 


Honey 

by Moshe Assis 


Lina 

by Edmound Nahum 


Rose 

by Ike Betesh 


Cleme 

by Joe V. Saideh 


Shani 

by Mordy Faks 


Tania 

by David Salem 


Betti 

by Alex Missry 


Sari 

by Jack Sasson 


Lynn 

by Marc Moghrabi 


Sarah 

by Judah M. Schemo

Never give up. Don’t quit. 



By: Victor Fteha 


Perseverance can prove useful during 

childhood in several ways. For example, 

I once received an unusual grade in Jewish 

History. It was the lowest mark I got 

my whole life. Instead of pondering about 

it uselessly, I pledged upon myself that I 

would study hard for my upcoming tests, 

particularly Jewish History, my weakness. 

To my disbelief, my countless efforts 

earned me a 112. That was actually the 

highest mark I got this year. 

To read the rest of Victor’s story, 


Search: Victor Fteha 


It’s hard to beat 

a person who 

never gives up. 

By: Abie Nahamias 


When someone’s business goes down, he 

shouldn’t just say he failed and go into a 

new business. He should never give up 

and keep trying. Also, learn from the failure. 

The way the business failed he should 

never let that happen again to his business. 

Recently, when I was playing a basketball 

game and I lost, I didn’t just give 

up and say. I failed. The next game I tried 

not to fail and not let that failure make me 

do badly from last game. So, the game I 

was playing now I tried as hard as I could 

and recovered from the other games failure 

and played amazing the next game. 

By: Yvonne Mizrahi 


One day, Jessica was walking down the 

street when she saw a flyer hanging on 

a pole. Jessica went closer to see what it 

was for. It was for an art contest. Jessica 

got excited because she was great at art. 

She took the flyer home and showed it to 

her mom. Her mom said, “That sounds 

fun. We have lots of art supplies in the 

garage.” So, Jessica worked very hard day 

and night. Finally, the day of the contest 

was here. The judges came to look at all 

the projects while the contestants waited 

aside to present their projects. When it 

was Jessica’s turn, she did a nice presentation, 

but she heard people mumbling bad 

comments. She was discouraged. She decided 

to go home and practice her techniques 

and take more art lessons. 

By: Terri Elmann 


In school, I wrote a story. I gave it to some 

people to read and they loved it. I read it 

and decided it needed a little fixing. I fixed 

it up a little but now my story didn’t make 

any sense. I ended up writing an entirely 

new story but it was also very short and 

bad. I started to give up. I wanted to write 

stories like Harry Potter but it was no use. 

I wasn’t good enough. I took Harry Potter 

and read it. I decided I shouldn’t give up. 

I could write an interesting story, the best 

that I can. I started to write another story 

but, by page 14, I decided it needed more 

details. I started again, this time from 

when the character was being born. I am 

currently on page 7 and hope to write up 

to 200 pages. 


S. Ohayon R. Mezrahi M. Simon M. Davidoff 


Eshet Chayil 

Stanley Chera in honor of his wife Cookie 


Shawna 

By Edward E. Azar 


Stephanie 

By Joey Gabbay 


Paula 

By Jack Benzaken 


Chanie 

By Aboud Hamra 


Lisa 

By Ezra Cattan 


Vicky 

By Edmond Sardar 


Lisa 

By Arthur Djmal 


Adele 

By Abe Sorcher 


Rachelle 

By Joey Esses 


Rachel 

By Alan Srour

Eshet Chayil 

Jeff Sutton in honor of his wife Rachel 


Fatima 

by Jack Abady 


Esther 

by Harry Mizrahi 

In honor of our daughter 

Ronette Mansour 

by Mr. & Mrs. Albert Chattah 


Brooke 

by Lenny Salama 


Leah 

by Ralph Dichy 


Shella 

by Jack Saideh 


Lori 

by Harold Dweck 


Joyce 

by Morris Srour 


Lauren 

by Freddy Hamra 


Elyse 

by Abie Tebele

MAgen David Yeshivah 

The following authors made it to the magazine and website 

Alfaks, Nelly 

Alfaks, Sari 

Antebi, Evelyn 

Cohen, Cookie 

Cohen, Violet 

Elias, Vivian 

Fteha, Victor 

Gindi, Vivian 

Greenstein, Shelly 

Haber, Frieda 

Hadef, Claudine 

Haser, Naomi 

Heskiel, Amanda 

Kassin, Joyce 

Nahamias, Abie 

Salman, Jacqueline 

The following authors made it to the website TorahContest.com 

Althkefati, Shlomo 

Cohen, Joyce 

Franco, Pamela 

Hedaya, Jacob 

Massre, Shirley 

Sasson, Jacqueline 

Antar, Leslie 

Cohen, Nancy 

Franco, Stephanie 

Hirsch, Joseph 

Mineh, Ruthie 

Sasson, Mimi 

Ashkenazi, Jack 

Cohen, Raquel 

Ftiha, Yosef 

Hoffstein, Diana 

Mizrahi, Vico 

Savdie, Lauren 

Baum, Melanie 

Cohen, Sarah 

Gammal, Sarah 

Jacobowitz, Paulette 

Mizrahi, Yosef 

Shalam, Judy 

Benmashiah, Rosie 

Dayan, Ikey 

Gindi, Sari 

Jammal, Lisa 

Mosseri, Jack 

Shalom, Jack 

Benzaken, Jennifer 

Betesh, Elena 

Betesh, Joyce 

Betesh, Lois 

Bijou, Freddy 

Botton, Raquel 

Bukai, Tanya 

Chabbott, Esther 

Dweck, David 

Dweck, Esther 

Dweck, Jack H. 

Dweck, Sam 

Erani, Danny 

Esquenazi, Morris 

Esses, Sandy 

Ezon, Joseph 

Greenstein, Rebecca 

Grego, Talya 

Grossman, Charles 

Guindi, Jack 

Guindi, Morris 

Guindi, Paula 

Haber, Eric 

Haber, Molly 

Haber, Shirley 

Jemal, Jack 

Kameo, Michael 

Kassab, Michelle 

Katach, Jack 

Kbabia, Alyn 

Khafif, Nissim 

Kishk, Esther 

Kishk, Sammy 

Nahamias, Eli 

Quibrisi, Isaac 

Rishty, Jacob 

Roubin, Sharon 

Safdieh, Lori 

Saideh, Fortune 

Salamon, Morris 

Salem, Mary 

Shlomo, Eric 

Shuster, Victoria 

Sitt, Shelley 

Sorcher, Jacob 

Sued, Gaby 

Tawil, David 

Tawil, Henry 

Tawil, Lilly 

Tawil, Raymond 

Chakalo, Norean 

Faks, Ezra 

Haddad, Charles 

Lati, Morris 

Salman, Alison 

Tawil, Sarah 

Chera, Charlie 

Faks, Victor 

Halwani, Sara 

Lati, Rachel 

Sardar, Lauren 

Tebele, Evelyn 

Chera, Claudia 

Falack, Susan 

Hamui, Joey 

Levy, Jenny 

Sardar, Rebecca 

Zafrani, Sarine 

Chkalo, Edgar 

Farca, Viviane 

Harari, Gabrielle 

Maleh, Esther 

Sardar, Shirley 

Zeitoune, Eddie 

Cohen, Adina 

Franco, Eileen 

Hazan, Marc 

Mamiye, Ezra 

Sardar, Victor 

Zeitoune, Mayer 

§ 

Great Prizes for the readers 

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§ 

Authors who get the most comments on their story get a prize without a raffle. 

§ 

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and his story will 

come up with the option to comment or vote on it. 

see more details on page 89 


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Eshet Chayil 

Richard Sutton in honor of his wife Alison 


Susan 

By Reuben Bibi 


Nicole 

By Chaby Orfali 


Frieda 

By Jack Farca 


Vivian 

By Jack Shamosh 


Grace 

By Ralph M. Gindi 


Denise 

By Joey Sutton 


Rina 

By Eli Grego 


Shannon 

By Joseph Wahba 


Ruthy 

By Nathan Mann 


Karen 

By Mrad Zayat


In honor of Shifra & Ezra Hanon by their children 


Shelly & Albert Antebi 

By their son, Philip Antebi 


Shelly & Jacob Orfali 

By their son, Sammy Orfali 

In honor of our father 

Elie Esses 

By his children 


Isaac & Brenda Saada 


Jane & Steve Gammal 

Albert Ezra and the girls 

In honor of 

Margo Savdie 

By her children 


Ronnie & Rochelle Kassin 



Joseph & Frieda Sutton 


Zaki & Esther Metta 

By Eli Metta 


Mr. & Mrs. Edward Zonana 

& Mrs. Janet Dayan

! 


! 


Alhadef, Joey 

Bitton, Tehila 

Elmann, Terri 

Jajati, Esther 

Louziah, Sarah 

Sutton, Rebecca 

Ammar, Danielle 

Arking, Raymond 

Benun, Linda 

Bildirici, Denise 

Catton, Eddie 

Dweck, Ezra 

Dweck, Shoshana 

Dweck, Sion 

Gammal, Michael 

Grinberg, Mollie 

Haber, Laurie 

Kairey, Batya 

Lati, Moshe 

Levy, Mimi 

Menashe, Chen 

Pinhas, Aura 

Sultan, Joseph 

Tawil, Jacob 

Yedid, Jenny 

Zabari, Maya 


Ades, Bobby 

Akibeh, Ely 

Alchkifati, Orly 

Ammar, Raphael 

Cohen, Jacob 

Cohen, Sam 

Cohen, Sarina 

Didia, Marilyn 

Habert, Esther 

Halabi, Maggie 

Hamaoui, Cynthia 

Hanono, Raquel 

Mizrachi, Jacqueline 

Mizrahi, Raquel 

Mizrahi, Sylvia 

Novick, Ronny 

Shabot, Baruch 

Shaoul, Celia 

Shasho, Freda 

Shemtob, Flora 

Sutton, Steven 

Tawil, Jakey 

Timsit, Allegra 

Timsit, Yola 

Benun, Sarah 

Dusi, Grace Hidary, Aimee 

Richter, Sarah Sitt, Terry 

Tuachi, Abigail 

Bildirici, Nina 

Dweck, Ikey Hidary, David 

Saada, Regina Skaba, Rachel Turkieh, Mary M. 

Cattan, David 

Dweck, Mark Lozieh, Teddy 

Safdian, Joyce Srouko, Rafi Turkieh, Sarah 

Cattan, Joy 

Dweck, Rochelle Mann, Jacquelyn 

Chabot, Isaac 

Chalme, Robyn 

Cohen – Saban, Coral 

Eliyahu, Ariel 

Escava, Michael 

Gammal, Sarah 

Matalon, Bobby 

Mishan, Joyce 

Mishanie, Joey 

Sassoon, Alan 

Schrem, Jeanne 

Setton, Rebecca 

Sultan, Marcy 

Sultan, Lawrence D. 

Sutton, Joy 

Weingarten, Katriella 

Zabari, Tali 

Zemmol, Alex 

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Comments with a lesson you learned from the story. 

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Compliments like: “It’s interesting,” “Inspiring,” etc. 

Vote: 

Authors who get the most votes on their story will get a prize without a raffle. 

How to find the story: 

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In honor of Charles & Brenda Saka by their children 


Bobby & Rosie Antar 


In honor of 

Dr. & Mrs. Shaya Khabyeh 


In honor of our mother 

Nina Bildirici 

By her children 


Elliot & Sarina Sabbagh 



Nathan & Estelle Botton 



Joyce & Morris Srour 



Freda & Jack M. Dweck 

by their Children, Grandchildren 

and Great Grandchildren 


David & Alicia Tobal 



Joyce & Ezra Erani 



Joseph & Sharon Wahba 

By their children

! 

hillel Yeshiva 

! 


Ades, Melanie 

Botton, Nathan 

Franco, Jacqueline 

Menahem, Rochelle 

Sasson, Marcelle 

Steinberg, Eleanor 

Ades, Teera 

Araman, Lauren 

Assoulin, David 

Betesh, Joe 

Betesh, Sharon 

Braha, Daniel 

Chabot, Margo 

Chaiklen, Rena 

Cohen, Celia 

Cojab, Arlette 

Dweck, Alan 

Gammal, Linda 

Gindi, Jill 

Hanono, Pearly 

Jemal, Helaine 

Jemal, Terry 

Mizrahi, Yvonne 

Nasar, Lizzy 

Rishty, Cerise 

Rofe, Sophia 

Saka, Adele 

Sasson, Frieda 

Sasson, Linda 

Shaab, Irwin 

Stein, Andrew 

Shamah, Lauren 

Sultan, Jonny 

Sutton, Esther 

Tawil, Ruth 

Torkieh, Joe 

Zagha, Gayle 

Zakaria, Joe 


Aboyev, Eliot 

Chaiklin, Eli 

Edery, Danielle 

Kanik, Kinneret H. 

Panetz, Michael 

Setton, Joey 

Ades, Joe 

Chemtob, Ninette 

Elbaum, Karen 

Kassin, Ronni 

Parker, Jonathan 

Shabot, Erica 

Ades, Reaine 

Chomali, Hersel 

Elbaum, Sam 

Kassin, Sari 

Plaut, Jordan 

Shamie, Sarah 

Allahabi, Jacob 

Cohen, Arleen 

Franco, Danielle 

Levy, Sarah 

Rudy, Layala 

Shrem, Jimmie 

Antar, Jill 

Cohen, Charles 

Franco, Gabrielle 

Mamiye, Alex 

Saada, Ziva 

Sitt, Judy 

Antebi, Joseph 

Cohen, Clarisse 

Gadeloff, Solomon 

Mamiye, Joe 

Saban, Joey 

Sultan, Alexis 

Ashkenazi, Sari 

Cohen, David 

Galapo, Joey 

Mark, Madison 

Sabbagh, Marlenn 

Sutton, Cookie 

Assoulin, Charlize 

Cohen, Marisa 

Galapo, Lillie 

Massry, Danny M. 

Saka, David 

Sutton, Irwin 

Averbach, Marielle 

Cohen, Martin 

Gammal, Steven 

Matut, Nathan 

Saka, Michelle 

Sutton, Jack 

Betesh, Ikey 

Cohen, Samantha 

Gindi, Alana 

Mavorah, Abe 

Saka, Terri 

Sutton, Louie 

Betesh, Lorraine 

Cohen, Victoria 

Greenberg, Jack 

Maze, Noah 

Salama, Claire 

Swed, Vicki 

Beyda, Rachel 

Cytryn, Isaac 

Greenberg, Sophie 

Meghnagi, Vito 

Salem, Cheryl 

Tawil, Daniel 

Bivas, Jake 

Daner, Danny 

Greenstein, Claudette 

Menaged, Morris 

Salem, Claire 

Tawil, Sharon 

Botton, Estelle 

Deneff, Michael 

Greenstein, Esther 

Menahem, Alexis 

Sarway, Ralph 

Tebele, Marcy 

Bouganim, Eric 

Dimitro, Jake 

Hakim, Ellen 

Menahem, Rochelle 

Serouya, Elaine 

Tobias, Morris 

Braha, Morris 

Dweck, Alex 

Hakim, Saulie 

Mizrachi, Eli 

Serouya, Jacob 

Torajman, Juliette 

Braverman, Rebecca 

Dweck, Gabrielle 

Harary, Carolyn 

Nasar, Juliet 

Serouya, Rachel 

Tordjman, Renee 

Braverman, Shuki 

Dweck, Jennifer 

Huppert, Dina 

Obnona, Estelle 

Seruya, Isaac 

Torkieh, Joseph 

Cain, Bridget 

Dweck, Sara 

Huppert, Sam 

Paley, Joel 

Seruya, Mitchell 

Wolf, Nikki 



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Moshe Benhamu - BE POSITIVE Jacob Shamah: Not Being Jealous 

Abie Tawil - TEAMWORK 

Jacob Kassin:Overcoming fear 

Gabriel Kraiem - Confidence 

Morris Esquenazi - Patience 

Eli Levy - CONFIDENCE 

Joseph Levy - Hard Work 

Jake Bivas - CONFIDENCE 

110 Comment on the Bar Mitzvah Boys’ favorite traits at BarMitzvahMagazine.com for great prizes. See p.71



Abrahim, Sabrina 

Bailey, Allan 

Beyda, Elliot 

Cohen, Joelle 

Djmal, Maurice 

Dweck, Bert 

Gindi, Ruthie 

Hafif, Steven 

Isayev, Rachel 

Levy, Elliot 

Levy, Vicky 

Mizrahi, Natalie 

Schwartzbard, Barbara 

Setton, Sonny 

Shalom, Jake 

Shtaynberger, Sara 

Tawil, Evelyn 

Bukobza, Sondra 

Dweck, Stephanie 

Kassin, Abraham 

Nussbaum, Rachel 

Sharaby, Fatima 

Zenilman, Miriam 


Abadie, Oriel 

Berman, Natalie 

Dweck, Marilyn 

Harari, Michelle 

Mosseri, Suzy 

Silverman, Samuel 

Abed, Suzy 

Betesh, Colette 

Dweck, Merle 

Hefez, David 

Mugrabi, Ness 

Srour, Rafi 

Aboutboul, Ricky 

Betesh, Lily 

Dweck, Shirley 

Hoffstein, Diana 

Oved, Joseph 

Sutton, Dylan 

Aini, Albert 

Beyda, Barbara 

Elkharrat, Michael 

Horowitz, Sarah 

Rahmey, Albert 

Sutton, Esther 

Amar, Danielle 

C., Theela 

Esses, Daniel 

Illouz, Moshe 

Richter, Albert 

Tawil, Bobby 

Aosi, Adina 

Chabot, Samantha 

Esses, Sari 

Kafif, Korina 

Ringer, Laura 

Tawil, Elizabeth 

Arazi, Isaac 

Chahova, Claudine 

Farhi, Isaac 

Kameo, Joy 

Robinson, Claudette 

Tawil, Flora 

Arazi, Michael 

Chehova, Rachel 

Franco, Danielle 

Kamkhehi, Yafit 

Rose, Adeline 

Tawil, Leonore 

Ashkenazie, Danielle 

Cohen, Raizy 

Franco, Sylvia 

Khalili, Lior 

Rosilio, Michael 

Tawil, Marielle 

Azar, Sylvia 

Cohen, Bettie 

Frastai, Adolfo 

Levy, Mimi 

Saad, Estelle 

Tawil, Maurice 

Azrak, David 

Cohen, David 

Fromer, Esty 

Levy, Moey 

Sabbagh, Sabrina 

Terzi, Joe 

Azrak, Denise 

Cohen, Elie P. 

Gindi, Joseph 

Linfeild, Leah 

Saff, Gabe 

Terzi, Joyce 

B., Sol 

Cohen, Esther 

Gindi, Victoria 

Madeb, Lily 

Sahalon, Fortune 

Terzi, Naomi 

Babaee, Daniella 

Cohen, Gabrielle 

Goldman, Abraham 

Maimon, David 

Salzman, Daniel 

Tobias, Nancy 

Balassiano, Joseph 

Cohen, Pam 

Greenstien, Alan 

Mann, Raquel 

Sasson, Solomon 

Torgueman, Sarah 

Banbahji, Linda 

Cohen, Ralph 

Grossman, Ariel 

Massre, Joey 

Setton, Marcelle 

Uzan, Jonathan 

Benamo, Chen 

Cohen, Raymond 

Guindi, Linda 

Maya, Sammy 

Setton, Max 

Vizgan, Gabriel 

Bendayan, David 

Darmani, Caryn 

Haber, Yola 

Missry, Ralph 

Shalam, Esther 

Waingort, Emily 

Ben-Shlomo, Molly 

Dayan, David 

Hadar, Phyllis 

Mizrahi, Jack 

Shalom, Isaac 

Zalta, Michelle 

Benun, Cynthia 

Dayan, Emma 

Haddad, Esther 

Mograbi, Alan 

Shalom, Morris 

Zar, Orel 

Benzaken, Joey 

Dweck, Albert 

Hadef, Renee 

Mosseri, Jeanette 

Shamah, Rena 

Zeitoune, Freida 

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ziani 

Wishing Mazal Tov to the 

Bar & Bat Mitzvah Kids! 

1400 Broadway, New York (between 38th & 39th St.) 

212-302-3661 212-840-1440 

zianinyc@gmail.com

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www.Chantilly.com 

4302 Farragut Road Brooklyn, NY 11203 | Tel: 718-859-1110 


Focus 

Loyalty 

Patience 

Courage 

Honesty 

Creativity 

Tolerance 

Reliability 

Flexibility 

Teamwork 

Confidence 

Appreciation 

Organization 

Self Discipline 

Positive Attitude 

Eli’s favorite character trait is Flexibility

Bar Mitzvah Magazine 2014

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