Bar Mitzvah Magazine 2013

Inspire 

your child 

To be himself 

To choose good friends 

To be careful of fake friends 

Relate to 

your child 

through stories 

written by 

kids and teens 

To work as a team 

The Effect of 

social media 

On your child’s 

Confidence 

Quality of 

friendship 

From pages 

30-105 

Read 

Kids & Teens 

ideas on how to 

b u i l d good 

character 

Connect 

with 

your child 

Stories, by kids 

& teens, help you 

to communicate 

with your child 

o n his level 

Great 

prizes 

Submit a lesson 

you learned 

from the 

stories inside 

see page 52

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

4 Bar/Bat Mitzvah Magazine 718-909-6060 

View magazine online at BMmagazine.com

Content: by kids and teens 

30 

Friendship: 

Signs of a bad friend & 

the qualities of a good friend 60 

If they don’t appreciate you, 

they don’t deserve you 

46 

How to be careful of 

fake friends who use you 62 

The problem with being 

too flattering to a friend 

Facebook: 

66 

70 

72 

Facebook 

pretend friends = Fakebook 

How social media 

affect self- esteem 

It’s hard to be yourself 

on social media 

Teamwork: 

80 

84 

92 

100 

101 

Teamwork is the best 

formula for success 

Give the spotlight to the one 

who is the most qualified 

Compliment talent that 

doesn’t draw attention 

Get to know your 

team members’ strengths 

Taking credit for 

someone else’s success 

76 

78 

9 

38 

52 

53 

53 

104 

Social media: keeping us 

connected or escaping reality 

Personal Connections 

in the digital age 

Features: 

Kids’ Authors by Shul 

Authors honored by 

Chief Rabbis of Israel 

Submit a lesson you 

learned from the stories 

and you will be entered in 

a raffle for great prizes 

Meaningful Bar Mitzvah 

Bar Mitzvah Project 

List of Names of 

Authors by Shul 

Winners’ Photos 

63,69,73,102 


Gindi Photography 

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


Kids’ authors by shul 

To read kids’ essays search your shul abbreviation below at ParentsRelate.org 

List of Shuls Keyword Page # Donate to your shul’s kids program 

Ahava Ve Ahva Cong. 

AVA 

30 

347-702-6207 

Ahi Ezer Cong. 

AHI 

62 

718-627-2500 

Beit Yosef Cong. 

BYS 

70 

718-645-0448 

Bet Yaacob Cong. 

BTY 

46 

718-336-3543 

Beth Shaul U Miriam Cong. 

BSM 

92 

718-382-0941 

Beth Torah Cong. 

BTC 

32, 42 

718-252-9840 

Bnei Binyamin Cong. 

BBC 

82 

718-376-3500 

Bnei Yitzchak Cong. 

BNY 

60 

718-382-6688 

Bnei Yosef Cong. 

BYC 

68 

718-627-9861 

Edmond Safra Cong. 

ESC 

80 

732-517-1155 

Har Halebanon Cong. 

HHC 

70 

718-339-0209 

Keter Zion Cong. 

KZC 

86 

718-645-8006 

Kol Isreal Cong. 

KIC 

72 

718-951-1417 

Magen Abraham Cong. 

MAC 

66 

732-870-2225 

Magen David of West Deal 

MDWD 

54, 84 

732-531-3220 

Magen David Cong. 

MDC 

44 

718-236-5905 

Mikdash Eliyahu Cong. 

MEC 

36 

718-996-0026 

Ohel David U Shlomo Cong. 

ODS 

74 

718-648-0100 

Ohel Simcha Cong. 

OSC 

98 

732-571-2711 

Ohel Yaakov Cong. 

OYC 

94 

732-531-2405 

Sephardic Community Center 

SCC 

78 

718-954-3159 

Sephardic Lebanese Cong. 

SLC 

76 

718-627-5300 

Sephardic Cong. 

SC 

34 

718-998-8171 

Shaare Shalom Cong. 

SSC 

56 

718-376-6756 

Shaare Tefilah of Eatontown 

STE 

90 

732-272-1143 

Shaare Zion Cong. 

SZC 

40, 58 

718-376-0009 

Yad Yosef Cong. 

YYC 

48 

718-677-3707 




World of Chantilly 

www.Chantilly.com 

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





Engagement, Wedding, Bar & Bat Mitzvah, Brit. 

820 Ave S Brooklyn, NY 718-339-0209 718-998-3538



Avi Ben-Dayan 




One source for all occasions! 




Specialist in 

Orthodontics for 

Children and Adults 

PREFERRED PROVIDER



977 East 12th Street (Between Ave I & Ave J) 

718-336-6112 

We treat children and adults; 

featuring invisalign and lingual braces (behind the teeth) 

New State of the art office with low-dose digital radiography 

Ask about speed braces (wilckodontics) to reduce your treatment time 

Free consultations 

Many insurances accepted 

Free parking 

Flexible payment arrangements 

Sunday and evening appointments available 

To learn more about our services visit www.MidwoodOrthodontics.com



Custom 

with 

Needlework 

Design 

Susan Sutton 

The original designer | Designing for over 20 years 

1816 East 9th St. Brooklyn, NY 11223 

718.339.8777


Needles & Knots 

www.NeedlesAndKnots.com 

Unique one of a kind needlepoint 

canvases for your Bar-Mitzvah needs, 

created by top designers. 

We offer step-by-step free 

instructions and personal attention 

to help you complete your creation. 

Trusted by customers for over 15 years 

718-265-9600 | 2942 Ave R Brooklyn, NY



Baaretz 

I s r a e l H o t e l s & C a r R e n t a l s 

C u s t o m e r S at i s fa c t i o n i s O u r G o a l 

Te l: 872-Baaretz | baaretz@ymail.com | 072.22.44356 

C a r Rentals 

S h o m e r Shabbat 

R a t e 

F R E E 

GPS 

To use for your rental 

H o t e l s 

R e s e r va t i o n s 

Fo r Israel 

Special Group Rates For: 

B a r Mitzvahs 

V a c a t i o n s 

P a r t i e s

Signs of a bad friend & the 

qualities of a good friend 

By: Edgar Chkalo 

Magen David Yeshivah 

Often a person takes advantage of his 

friend because he has the most advanced 

phone or he is the best in any 

type of sports. A friend must be fair. 

Don’t choose a friend who is selfish 

because he will 

always talk about 

himself. You 

should choose a 

friend who you 

could trust, who is 

going to be there 

for you, who likes 

you for who you 

are. A sign of a 

bad friend is if 

he likes only you 

but hates everyone 

else. That 

shows that he 

just wants to use 

you for what you 

have and, when 

he gets what he 

wants from you, 

he will be even meaner to you. Make 

sure you choose good, friendly friends. 

By: Miriam Shadrouz 

Masores Bais Yaakov 

You, your friend and another girl are 

going bike riding. The other girl is not 

allowed to go to the next block. You 

ask your friend, “Do you want to go the 

next block?” And you dump the other 

girl. You know you are a bad friend. 

By: Yosef Mizrahi 

By: Nissim Khafif 



A bad friend is someone who will invite A good friend is someone who cares 

you over and not do anything with you. about you. He wants you to come over. 

He would just play on his xBox the He is loyal and honest. A bad friend 

whole time. He would never let you talk is someone who hurts you; someone 

in conversation, will cut you off when 

who is a sketch friend. He only 

At TorahValues.com 

wants your answers 

search shul abbreviation AVA for the test but, right 

after the test, doesn’t 

even talk to you. 

AHAVA VE AHVA CONG. 

FRIENDSHIPS ARE LIKE BIRDS. 

IF YOU HOLD TIGHTLY THEY DIE. 

IF YOU HOLD LOOSELY THEY 

FLY. BUT IF YOU HOLD 

WITH CARE THEY REMAIN 

WITH YOU FOREVER. 

you are saying something. A good 

friend will try to make you have fun by 

playing with you when you come over 

and will actually listen when you talk. 

By: Fortune Saideh 


If you are studying and someone 

wants to study with you but she wants 

you to test her and doesn’t let you 

study, that’s a bad friend. 

By: Edgar Chkalo 

Magen David 

Yeshivah 

A bad friend is someone 

who is selfish, 

someone who 

talks about himself. 

Beware of a friend 

who likes only you 

because he just 

wants to use you 

for what you have. 

When he gets what 

he wants from you, 

he will start hating 

you. That’s what I think about 

how to choose a friendly friend. 

Submit on 

TorahContest.com a 

lesson you learned from 

the stories & you will be 

entered in a raffle for 

great prizes. See p. 52 


One Stop Wholesaler! 


Signs of a bad friend & the qualities of a good friend 

BETH TORAH CONG. 

BTC 


search shul abbreviation 

By: Tania Bukai 


Sally was the most popular girl in 

school. She was always in the center 

of attention and everyone looked up to 

her. One day, Mary, who was not very 

popular, came in with a beautiful golden 

set of jewelry. It included a bracelet, 

watch, ring and a necklace. When everyone 

saw it, they ran up to her and 

Don’t walk in front of 

asked her lots of questions about it. 

Everyone gave her so many compliments, 

including her best friend Celia. 

me, I may not follow. 

Don’t walk behind me, 

At recess, Celia made her way through 

the crowd that was around Mary and 

I may not lead. 

asked her if she wanted to play jump 

Walk beside me and 

rope like they always do. Everyone 

told her not to play because she might 

be my friend. 

dirty her jewelry. Celia walked away 

By: Victor Sardar 


By: Madalyn Zalta 


sadly and played by herself. The next 

day, Mary came to school without her 

A good friend and a bad friend are totally 

different. Good friends are people 

who are nice. One time, I went to 

my cousin. We went together to our 

friends. I am not as good of a sports 

player as other kids. They let only the 

best kids play. My cousin was part of 

A good friend is someone who you 

can trust, doesn’t use you. If your 

friend always asks you for homework 

every night and when you need homework 

she is not there, that’s a sign of 

a friend using you. You shouldn’t be 

friends with someone who does that. If 

jewelry. She thought that, since everyone 

was her friend, she wouldn’t 

need the jewelry anymore. Everyone 

asked her where her jewelry was. She 

told them she didn’t wear it today. Everyone 

just walked away. Everyone, 

except for Celia. Mary kept asking 

them and I wasn’t. He was so nice 

Celia why nobody was her friend anymore. 

Celia told her that they weren’t 

you take advantage of someone, you 

to me. He wasn’t playing because I 

will never get the opportunity to have 

wasn’t playing. A bad friend is a person 

her real friends. They were only being 

her friend because they liked her 

a good friend and experience what a 

who, when he sees people he knows, 

true friend is. If you don’t have a true 

he starts acting not like himself. One 

jewelry. Celia gave Mary a big hug. 

time, I was in the park with my friend. 

friend, you will never have someone 

He was acting all cool around the cool 

you can trust and you will never have See the names of authors 

kids and left me behind. That’s when I someone who is always there for you. from your shul on p.104 . 

By: Lilly Tawil 

knew he was a bad friend. People use 


On TorahContest.com, 

each other to fit in. People want to be 

A bad friend is a person that if you submit a lesson you 

like other people so much that they 

failed and she got 100, she pushes it 

end up being mean towards others. 

learned from their stories. 

into to you. 




SEPHARDIC CONG. 



SC 

By: Yael Abramowitz 


If you are feeling left out of a group, 

what do you do? Do you try to befriend 

somebody in the group? Which girl do 

you choose? The most friendly girl? 

Probably not. Most likely you will befriend 

the most popular, stylish girl. After 

all, she is the one who will help you 

By: Shirley Sardar 


One day, I was walking in the hallway 

when my friend came up to me 

and said, “Can you help me find my 

jacket?” I said, “Ok, I’ll help you.” 

We went into the last class she was 

in and it was locked. We had to go 

downstairs and get the key. When 

we opened the door, we saw it wasn’t 

there. We went to her math class. It 

wasn’t there. We looked in her science 

class. It wasn’t there. Then she 

said, “Let’s just give up.” I said, “No. 

We will find it. Let’s go look in Lost and 

Found.” We found her jacket there. 

She was so happy that she found it. 

She was thankful that I helped her. I 

told her, “Anything for a best friend.” 

True friends are the 

ones who have nice 

things to say about 

you behind your back. 

By: Elena Betesh 


If you are new in town and you are not 

comfortable, a good friend would walk 

up to you and say, “Hi” or, “Do you need 

help?” That’s a good friend. Sometimes, 

you think that you have a good 

friend but then you hear them talking 

about you behind your back and, even 

when she sees you, she keeps talking 

and laughing at you. That’s a bad 

friend. If you got into a fight with your 

friend and you fall and get hurt and no 

one helped you but your friend that you 

were fighting with, that shows that she 

is really a good friend who cared about 

you even in a fight. 

Submit on TorahContest.com a lesson you learned from the 

stories & you will be entered in a raffle for great prizes. See p. 52 

‘fit in’. At recess, you play the games 

that she plays. At home, you call her 

to chat. On your way to school, you go 

out of your way to pass by her house – 

just to say hello. Finally, to your delight 

you’re ‘in’. The next year, the classes 

are mixed. You’re in the opposite class 

of the popular girl. You’re the cool girl 

in this class. Suddenly the old popular 

girl is forgotten. She starts to wonder if 

you ever liked her. You’re not perfectly 

happy – why? Perhaps – no, definitely 

– it’s because you don’t have a 

real friend. No one understands you. 

By: Chaviva Martin 


You have a classmate who you get into 

a lot of fights with. One day, you hear 

that she is head of a play. You really 

want to be the main part. So, you start 

acting nice to her when you really don’t 

like her. You hear that you got the main 

part. After the play, you forget about her. 

By: Joseph Ades 

Hillel Yeshiva 

When you have a good friend, 

he will always be there for you. It 

doesn’t matter about the games, 

money, etc. It’s the best feeling in 

the world to have a friend who you 

know will always be there for you. 


Fantastic 

Amusements 

For Your 

Event! 

Birthdays, 

Corporate Parties 

& Bar/Bat 

Mitzvahs 

Quality amusement rentals featuring: 

~ fun inflatables ~ rides ~ carnival games ~ and much more 

AardvarkA musements.com 1.800.303.7433 

* Dance Dance Revolution * Ride A Bull * Arcade Games * 

* Wax Hands * Pin Ball * Photo Fantasy * Air- Brushing * 

Make Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah Memorable. 

Aardvark Amusements has taken the entire party scene by storm. With an enormous 

list of satisfied clients, Aardvark Amusements has earned the title “Industry Leader.” 



MIKDASH ELIYAHU CONG. 

A friend is someone 

who understands your 

past, believes in your 

future and accepts you 

today the way you are. 

By: Raymond Tawil 


One day when I was in recess, we 

were trying to make the teams. We had 

a really hard time trying to decide what 

the teams were going to be. Then we 

decided to make captains but I thought 

it wasn’t right because the last person 

who was left to pick would be the worst. 

It would really embarrass that person 

a lot. So, right when they decided to 

make captains, I said that I would like 

to be a captain. I first chose someone 

who everyone would’ve thought was 

the worst player. He really felt great! 

Submit on 

TorahContest.com a lesson 

you learned from the stories & 

you will be entered in a raffle 

for great prizes. See p. 52 


search shul abbreviation MEC 

By: Jack Jemal 


People choose friends who take advantage 

of them because they want 

attention. It makes them feel good. A 

popular kid goes to another kid and 

says: “If you give me your lunch money, 

I will let you hang out with me.” A 

sign of a good friend is someone who 

will always be there for you when you 

need him. Someone who won’t make 

fun of you, that’s what a true friend is. 

A bad friend is someone who will use 

you and would not keep secrets. Be 

wise! Choose carefully who you are 

friends with and always have a heart. 

By: Abie Chamah 


A good friend is someone who promises 

not to tell Loshon Hara and 

keeps it. If you do something embarrassing, 

he won’t tell anyone. 

By: Brenda Heffez 


Sarah and Michelle were best friends. 

Sarah was smart and kind. Michelle 

wasn’t so smart but she was still 

kind. It was Tuesday and an assignment 

was due in English class. Michelle 

didn’t complete the assignment 

and asked Sarah if she can borrow 

it. Sarah wasn’t so sure about giving 

Michelle the work because they would 

probably get caught. Michelle would 

also not learn anything by copying. 

Even though Michelle thought it was 

helping her, it was only making things 

worse. Sarah told Michelle that she 

couldn’t give her the work. Michelle 

got really angry at Sarah and she got 

a zero for that assignment. She didn’t 

talk to Sarah for 3 days. On the 3rd 

day, another assignment was due. 

Michelle apologized for being mad at 

her. She asked for that assignment 

that was due again. Sarah knew how 

much trouble she would get into but 

gave it to Michelle. The teacher caught 

Michelle for cheating. Sarah and Michelle 

were in detention together. They 

both apologized. Sarah was happy because 

she knew that Michelle learned 

her lesson. Michelle also apologized 

for taking advantage of Sarah. Michelle 

realized what a good friend 

Sarah was being by not giving her 

homework because, then, Michelle 

would learn to do her homework by 

herself. Sarah liked Michelle better 

when she wasn’t using her for work. 

It teaches us that cheating is not right 

and we should not rely on our friends 

for work, especially because the outcome 

would be bad for the both of you. 


Gindi Photography 


Winners were honored by Chief Rabbis of Israel 

~ Magen David Yeshivah ~ Yeshivah of Flatbush ~ Barkai Yeshiva ~ 

Moshe Benhamu, Moshe Chaya, Edgar Chkalo, Raymond Dusi, Michael Gammal, Ralph V. Kraiem, Isaac Shama, Rafi Srour, Victor Zalta, Mayer Zeitoune. 

Kal Abed, Simon Allhalabi, Joseph Cohen, Jack H. Dweck, Marc Hazan, Ezra Mamiye, Jo Jo Salem, Joseph Setton. 


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.


SHAARE ZION CONG. 

Only a 

good friend 

can see the 

pain behind 

a fake smile 

By: Evelyn Tebele 


A good friend is a friend who is always 

there for you. Someone I know was 

being teased by a group of mean girls. 

She needed someone to be there for 

her. Her friend stood up for her and 

told them to stop being mean to her. 

Even though the girl was very shy, 

she stood up for her friend because 

she loved her friend and couldn’t just 

sit there and watch her true friend be 

teased. That showed that she was 

there for her and she was willing to 

take the heat for her friend. That’s why 

they are really true friends because if 

she was just using her, she wouldn’t 

care about her as much as she does. 



SZC 

By: Matilda Kassab 


One day, I went to school and I told 

my friend Lina that I got a bad mark on 

my test. I told her not to tell anyone. 

In the lunchroom, everyone knew that 

I got a bad mark. I was really mad. I 

only told Lina. I went over to her and 

told her, “Why would you tell anyone? 

I thought you were my friend.” She 

said, “I am your friend.” “I thought I 

could trust you,” I said. “But everyone 

was asking me,” she said. “They 

said, if you tell us, we will tell you 

what’s on the test. “You would rather 

get to know what’s on a test then 

keep a secret?” I asked. She said, “I 

am really sorry. I won’t do it again.” 

Submit on TorahContest.com a lesson you learned 

from the stories & you will be entered in a raffle 


By: Esther Chabbott 


There was a girl named Sophia. She 

had 2 friends, Samantha and Victoria. 

Sophia’s dad got her real gold “best 

friends forever” necklaces. She walked 

into school wearing one of them. Renee 

and Molly came up to her and were 

trying on her other 2 necklaces that 

she had. So, they hung out with Sophia 

the whole day. By the end of the day, 

Sophia thought they really wanted to 

be her friend. One day, something sad 

happened to Sophia and she needed 

to talk to someone. She called Renee 

and Molly. They both said that they 

had to do homework. But, she really 

knew that they just didn’t want to talk 

to her. She called Victoria and Samantha. 

They rushed over even though 

they were in science club meeting. 

They hugged her and made her feel 

better. Sophia realized that Samantha 

and Victoria are true friends. 

By: Mark Barsano 


A sign of a good friend is a person who 

cares and motivates you. One time at 

the basketball game, there was one 

good player and one bad player. The 

good player said to the bad player, 

“Keep trying. I think you are a great 

player, even though people think you 

are not.” A different day, kids were 

picking on someone. Another boy 

joined in and started picking on him 

as well. The kid that was being picked 

on said, “Aren’t you my friend?” The 

other kid said, “No” and made him 

feel bad. That’s a sign of a bad friend. 


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 



BETH TORAH CONG. 



A friend is someone 

with whom you are 

comfortable to 

be yourself. 

By: Jack Guindi 


A good friend means someone who 

cares for you. An example is if you 

are down and your friend helps you 

back up. A bad friend will not help 

you back up. A good friend is unselfish. 

For example, he asks you, 

“What game do you want to play?” 

If he is a bad friend, he will probably 

say, “No, I don’t care what you want 

to play. I want to play my game.” A 

good friend will say ‘hello’ to you when 

he sees you and not just walk away. 

See the names of authors 

from your shul on p.104 . 


submit a lesson you 


By: Victor Fteha 


BTC 

One of my friends is Joshua. Joshua 

has all the qualities of a good friend, 

from sharing to honesty. When we play 

Xbox in his house, he lets me choose 

if we should play NHL or not. Another 

friend, Morris, teaches me how to play 

basketball. I’ve improved from his advice. 

Teddy lets me play football with 

him every day in recess. Even if I miss 

a couple of passes, he says, “Don’t 

worry!” He never lies to me about 

who is on the 3 way calling. That’s 

what makes someone a good friend. 

By: Sarine Zafrani 


Let’s say you like a different style 

of clothing than your friend. A good 

friend won’t push you to pick her style. 

By: Stephanie Franco 


It is important to know who is a true 

friend and who isn’t. The feeling of 

having a true friend is comforting. Your 

real friend should respect you and accept 

you for who you are, not what you 

have or wear. On the other hand, a 

fake friend would judge you for what 

you wear or buy. Having a true friend 

is good. If I like to bake and my friend 

makes fun of me that I bake instead of 

going shopping, she is a fake friend. 

By: Sophia Rofe 


A good friend is someone who appreciates 

you. I made my friend a bracelet 

and she didn’t like it. But she told me 

‘Thank you” and wore it anyway. A bad 

friend is someone who takes you for 

granted. One time, Lilly started a fight. 

She knew that Marcy would always 

make up anyway because Lilly was the 

only friend Marcy had. So, Lilly would 

always tell Marcy mean things and get 

away with it. That’s a bad friendship. 

By: Jack Shalom 


A good friend is someone who will stick 

up for you when you have a problem. If 

someone is embarrassed because he 

has a pimple on his face, a good friend 

won’t laugh and make fun of him. He 

will stick up for him and be on his side. 

A bad friend will laugh at him and make 

jokes about him. If you accomplished 

something like got on the basketball 

team, a good friend will congratulate 

you and be happy for you. A bad 

friend will be jealous and mean to you. 


STELLA LINIADO A”H 

“ a pure soul taken 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.


MAGEN DAVID CONG. 

I don’t have a problem 

with those who don’t 

like me, but I do have 

a problem with those 

who pretend to. 

By: Victor Faks 


A sign of a good friend is one who cares 

for you. If you get hurt, your friend runs 

to help you. That’s a good friend. Another 

sign of a good friend is an honest 

friend. An honest friend doesn’t 

talk bad about you behind your back 

and doesn’t lie to you. A good friend is 

someone who is coming to your house 

for you, not for your things, someone 

who likes to hang out with you. 

By: Michael Ancona 


Let’s say that there are 4 boys having 

a sleepover and there are only 3 

beds. So, one boy will have to sleep 

on the floor. A sign of a good friend 

is someone who cares about you, 

someone who will sleep on the floor 

and let his friends sleep on the bed. 



MDC 

By: Sam Dweck 


What is a sign of a good friend? 

They share with you, they are there 

when you need them, and they accept 

you for who you are. A sign of a 

bad friend is when they are mean to 

other people but nice to you. They 

don’t share with you. They use you 

by asking you to do things for them 

and then they stab you in the back. 

By: Joey Hamui 


A good friend wouldn’t use you for all 

the cool things you have in your house. 

They will come over because they like 

you. You could fight but you will always 

get back to being friends again 

By: Morris Esquenazi 


I have a friend who is everything I 

can ask for. He shares because he 

knows how it feels to want something 

and not get it. He is also a good influence. 

He is well behaved. My friend 

has a great quality of honesty. He is 

always nice even when we disagree. 

Today, most people don’t have friends 

as good as mine. Most people take 

advantage of different people for different 

things. They like their games 

or friends, but they don’t like him for 

who he truly is. That person doesn’t 

know what fun is because he is always 

taking advantage. Also, the 

person that is being taken advantage 

of is not happy because they both 

don’t like each other for who they are. 

By: Ezra Faks 


You know someone is a good friend 

if he takes time to help you. For example, 

if you are not so good in football 

and your friend takes time to help 

you. David and his best friend Yosef 

love football. David isn’t so good in 

it. Yosef comes to David’s house and 

they play basketball. Later, Yosef tells 

David to bring his football and they’ll 

play catch. When David plays catch 

with Yosef, Yosef says that he’ll go 

easy at first and then harder and harder. 

Yosef is taking his time to teach 

and help David with his football skills. 

Submit on TorahContest.com a lesson you learned 

from the stories & you will be entered in a raffle 



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.

How to be careful of 

fake friends who use you 

By: Michelle Kassab 


One day, my friend Emily and I were 

at school. Lisa, the popular girl, came 

up to me and invited me to her party. 

But my best friend, Emily, wasn’t invited. 

I told Emily that if she wasn’t 

invited I won’t go either. Emily said, 

By: Ikey Dayan 


Why do people choose a friend who 

may take advantage of them? People 

do that because they want to be popular 

and they want friends. They also 

do that because they think that person 

is cool. So, if they are friends with 

By: Chanie Klug 


“Sara, can I please have snack? I 

don’t have any,” said Leah. “Sure, 

Leah. Here, I have an extra snack 

bag.” “Sara, school is over, but I am 

so in the mood for pizza,” said Leah. 

“My father owns a pizza store. You 

“Go and have 


could come with me,” 

fun.” So, I went. BET YAACOB CONG. search shul abbreviation BTY answered Sara. “I’d 

At the party, Lisa 

love to, but I don’t 

was acting like 

have any money,” 

my best friend, 

but it felt strange. 

But, I still went 

with it. The next 

day, Lisa asked 

if I wanted to do 

Leah replied. “You 

could come and get 

it for free,” said Sara. 

We went to get pizza. 

“Yum, that pizza 

was great but I have 

homework together 

True friends are 

to go. So, bye,” said 

with her by 

Leah. “I could take 

her house. I said, 

always there when 

anything from that 

“Yes.” But, then, 

Sara,” Leah thought 

you need them. Fake 

Emily came up 

to herself. Today is 

to me and asked 

friends are only there 

Leah’s birthday. She 

if I want to go out 

said she would call 

tonight with her. when they need you. 

me at 3pm to come. 

I told her I had 

plans with Lisa. I said, “I won’t go.” 

But, Emily said, “Don’t worry, just go.” 

I went to Lisa’s house. When we were 

the cool kids they will be cool. What 

is a sign of a good friend? Someone 

who shares with you, fair, nice, there 

It’s 1pm, why didn’t 

she call me? It’s 2:30pm, come on 

Leah, call me. It’s 8pm. “Sara, it’s 

bed time,” my mom called. Leah 

doing homework, it looked like I was 

didn’t call me. I am so upset. Leah is 

for you when you need him. Someone 

who is a giver, not a taker. A bad 

missing out on having a true friend. 

doing all the work, but I just went with 

She just likes Sara for her pizza and 

it. The next day, Lisa asked me to do friend is someone who talks behind 

snack. She is taking advantage of 

her homework for her. I told her “No” your back, uses you and is selfish. Sara. That is not a true friendship. 

and went to my best friend, Emily. Emily 

was a real friend, she took me back. 

See names of authors by shul page 104 


In Loving Memory of Albert “Shanty” Mishaan A”H 

A Man of Honesty and Integrity who always put the 

welfare of his Family and Community above all. 

Shanty Mishaan A”H taught us the Jewish values of truth, unity, dignity, humility and 

kindness. He will always be remembered for his outstanding commitment to follow the Laws of 

Torah and Mitsvot and for his unwavering faith in Hashem, his belief and the people he loved. 

We hope to follow in his footsteps and continue the family values He bestowed upon all of us. 

May his memory be a constant source of inspiration to all who knew him. 

We miss you and love you everyday that passes. 

From His Wife Rose, His Children, Grandchildren, Great grandchildren and Loved ones. 


How to be careful of fake friends who use you 

YAD YOSEF CONG. 

In friendship, 

expect less 

& appreciate 

more. 

By: Adina Feigelstein 


Shira burst into the classroom. Her 

eyes were sparkling with excitement. 

She announced to the whole class that 

she had gotten the newest game that 

was very expensive. All day, during 

recess and lunch, Shira talked about 

the game. A crowd of girls gathered 

around her to listen. Among those 

girls was Naomi who was extremely 

jealous of Shira. She had begged her 

parents to get that game but they said 

it was too expensive. Naomi longed 

to play the game at least once. “I 

must go over to Shira’s house,” she 

thought. Throughout the day, Naomi 

hung around with Shira walking with 

her. She invited Shira to play ball at 

recess and sat next to her at lunch. 

Shira took a liking to Naomi right 

away. But, Naomi didn’t really like 



YYC 

Shira so much. One day, Shira invited 

Naomi to her house to play. Naomi 

immediately accepted the invitation. 

At Shira’s house, they played the 

expensive game over and over and 

Naomi loved every minute of it. “Now, 

I could stop being her friend. Sure, I’ll 

be friendly. But, I’ll hang around with 

my friends.” A week later, Morah announced 

that there would be a big test 

the next day. Naomi was nervous for 

the rest of the day. How will I study? 

Shira called her after school and said, 

“I saw you were very nervous today 

when Morah announced the test. I’ll 

help you study.” Shira explained very 

patiently and clearly the material on 

the test. Naomi began to understand 

it. The next day, at recess, Shira was 

standing on the side of the yard while 

Naomi started a game of Machanayim. 

Naomi ignored Shira. “After all, I am 

not her friend anymore.” Shira asked 

Naomi if she could play. Naomi 

looked at her and said, “No. We are 

in the middle of the game. You can’t 

play.” Shira looked at Naomi with a 

shocked expression on her face. She 

turned her back and walked away. 

By: Jack Mosseri 


One day, Yitzchak had a huge party. 

Yosef didn’t get invited. Yosef asked 

Yitzchak, “Can I come to your birthday 

party?” Yitzchak said, “Yes.” The day of 

Yitzchak’s birthday everyone said, “Yosef, 

why are you here? You weren’t invited.” 

“No,” said Yosef. “Yitzchak invited 

me.” All of Yitzchak’s friends asked 

Yitzchak, “Why did you invite Yosef?” 

“What are you guys saying? I didn’t invite 

him,” Yitzchak answered. “Yosef is 

so bad at basketball and he never ever 

will be my friend.” Yosef heard this and 

said, “What are you saying? You invited 

me yesterday because I helped 

you with your homework.” If someone 

takes advantage of you, he thinks he 

is the winner. But, he is really the loser. 

By: Yaakov Elias 


Michael was at Robert’s house. Michael 

used his laptop, enjoyed comfortable 

couches ate good food. In 

school, when they were making basketball 

teams, the other captain didn’t 

pick Robert and Michael did the same. 

They didn’t pick him because Robert 

wasn’t a good player. Robert went 

to sit on a bench and started crying. 

Michael saw him and just ignored 

him. That is a sign of a bad friend. 


In memory of 

Ike Anteby A”H 

Beloved Husband, Devoted Father, 

Loving Grandfather, Great Grandfather and Friend. 

He greeted everyone with a smile. 

Loved by All. 

Forever in our hearts. 

With Love, Your Family.



Dedicated in Loving Memory of 

Max Maleh A”H 

Dear Dad, 

We want to congratulate you on the Bar Mitzvah of your one and only namesake. 

He truly is following in your footsteps and I’m sure he is making you 

proud everyday. He shares so much more then your name. He has 

your goodness, kindness integrity and compassion. Every time he 

meets someone who knew you they tell him, after hearing his name, 

“You have big shoes to fill”. 

I know you are watching him from heaven and protect him, always. 

Daddy, we miss you and love you so much. 

Alan

Vote at TorahContest.COM 

Great P rizes for t h e Au t hors 

Winning prizes is based on the most votes or comments the author gets on his story. 

A comment from your friends on the lesson they learned from the story = 5 votes. 

Log on to TorahContest.com, search kid’s name 

Write a lesson you learned from his story or vote. 

Kids’ authors list can be found on page 104. 

Raffle for t h e Readers 

Submit on TorahContest.com a lesson you learned from 

the story & you will be entered in a raffle for great prizes. 

and his story will come up. 

Only top essays out of 2,300 essays were published. 

Tehilat 

Yitzchak 

Judaica 

One Source For All Your Bar Mitzvah Needs 

551 Kings Highway Brooklyn, NY 11223 718-633-7000 www.iSefer.com 



Promote good character 

with Bar Mitzvah Favors 

What good character trait, for example 

No Bullying, Positive Attitude, Tolerance, etc. 

would you like to promote with party favors 

by writing your message on a 

bracelet, necklace, shirt, hat, t-shirt, etc.? 

Log on to BMmagazine.com 

search 


For many more ideas on how to keep your 

Bar Mitzvah fun and still 

promote inspirational messages. 

Share your ideas with us. 

Email to info@bmmagazine.com 

Bar Mitzvah Project 

What kids’ causes would you like 

to raise money for? 

Helping Your: Yeshivah, Camp, 

Shul’s Kids’ Program, Community Center. 

Helping: Hungry Children,Sick Children. 

To see more kids’ causes, Log on to 

BMmagazine.com 

search Mitzvah Project Ideas 

Share with us which cause you recommend 

kids to donate to. 

Email to info@bmmagazine.com 

New! 

Middah Column 

Log on to TorahValues.com 

Keyword Search 

Middah Column 

By: Rosie Bawabeh 

We will be introducing a new middah every few 

weeks. Post inspiring stories that will encourage 

others to develop this middah. The best ones will 

be published in the next issue and on the website. 



MAGEN DAVID WEST DEAL 

Fake friends: once 

they stop talking 

to you, they start 

talking about you. 

By: Sarah Cohen 


A good friend never tells you to 

change. If you are wearing something 

you really like and your friend tells you 

to change because she doesn’t like 

your outfit, that’s not a good friend. 

A good friend knows how you feel 

even if you don’t say anything. When 

you take advantage of someone, you 

yourself are suffering. Why? Because 

you never experience real friendship, 

you don’t have any good friends and 

they won’t be there for you when you 

need them the most. Sure, you got 

a lot of “friends” on Facebook. But 

think to yourself, “Are they really my 

friends? Are they going to be there 

for me when I really need them?” 


search shul abbreviation MDWD 

By: Yosef Ftiha 


There was once a boy named Michael 

who was the smartest boy in the 

grade. He got 100s on his test. One 

day, a boy in his class named Benny 

heard that Michael got 100s on his 

Mishna, Navi and Chumash tests. 

Benny had a Mishna test coming up. 

Everybody knew that Benny was not 

smart. Benny was the coolest guy in 

the grade. He went to Michael and 

told him, “Hey, friend, can I come over 

and study with you? I will put you up 

in the basketball team. Ok, friend?” 

They finished studying. Benny went 

home. The next day, Michael said 

to Benny, “So, what team am I on?” 

Benny answered, “Who are you?” 

By: Esti Samel 


“My birthday is in only three more 

weeks!” screamed Chavi. “And this 

year my birthday party is going to be 

the best!” she boasted. “We’re going 

to go bowling and get ice cream,” Chavi 

exclaimed in joy. Aliza, on the other 

hand, really wanted to be invited. So, 

she decided on a plan. The next morning, 

she came to school and went over 

to Chavi. “Oh, how pretty you look,” she 

said. Then, by recess, she came over 

to her and offered her snack. This went 

on for two weeks. Now, it was a week 

before Chavi’s birthday and she was 

giving out the invitations. Everyone 

was eyeing whoever got invited. Finally, 

she passed by Aliza and slipped 

an envelope on her desk. “Phew,” all 

of her hard work was for something. 

The day of the party came and Aliza 

was really excited. She went to the 

bowling ally. There were balloons and 

streamers all over the place. When 

the party was over, Aliza went home. 

A few months later, when Aliza made 

a party, she didn’t even invite Chavi. 

She wasn’t Chavi’s friend anymore. 

By: Esther Maleh 


Someone is showing off their stuff and 

she never liked you. Then, one day, you 

have something very cool. She comes 

up to you and wants to be your friend, 

all of a sudden. That means she is trying 

to use you so she could have the 

cool things. That’s called a bad friend. 


stories & you will be entered in a raffle for great prizes. See p. 52 


Congratulations to the Bar Mitzvah Boys! 

Teddy Shamma 

Abie Anteby 

Authors were honored by Rabbi Grossman 

Jack Bibi, David Harari, Joseph Hirsch, Raymond Jajati, Joseph Schrem, Joseph Waingort. 



SHAARE SHALOM CONG. 

Jewelry is like friends. 

Sometimes fake ones 

look better than 

the real ones. 

By: Hodaya Bentyaghoub 


One day, Dina came to school in her 

new school shoes. Everybody always 

wanted those shoes. So, everybody 

started being friends with Dina. She 

never used to be as popular as she 

was now. One day, everyone found 

out that Dina’s shoes were not really 

hers. They were her cousin’s. 

From then on, everybody stopped 

being friends with Dina. Everything 

changed. Dina wasn’t popular anymore. 

Everyone went back to the 

people they used to be friends with. 

Dina was all down. Everybody was 

nice to Dina, but not anymore. A good 

friend is not friends with you because 

of what you have. Everyone took advantage 

of Dina because of her shoes. 

Nobody took advantage of her heart. 



SSC 

By: Shira Frenkel 


“Hi, my parents are going away. Can 

I stay with you for today?” Atara just 

asked me if she could stay at my house. 

She is the most popular girl in school. 

“Yeah, but I’ll need to ask my mother,” 

I said in excitement. I watched Atara 

go back to her popular group. Knock, 

knock. “That must be Atara,” I thought. 

“I’ll get the door.” “Hi, Malky. I like your 

house.” I think she is trying to be my 

friend. I think tomorrow she will let me 

be in her group. “So, what do you want 

to do?” Atara said, interrupting my 

thoughts. The next day at school, Atara 

pretended like she never met me. After 

all I did for her, she betrayed me. “Atara 

don’t you remember you stayed by 

me? We had so much fun?” I wanted 

to scream, but walked away instead. 

By: Rachel Lati 


Carly knew Melissa from school. Carly 

asked Melissa, “Do you have any hair 

clips, pony tails and fun games?” Melissa 

replied, “Yes.” Carly asked, “Can 

I have them?” Melissa said, “Ok.” 

They played together the whole day. 

The next day, when Carly was walking 

back from school, Melissa said, 

“Hi, Carly.” Carly replied, “Oh, Melissa. 

I don’t like you because you are not 

really fun.” Melissa thought to herself, 

“I think she just used me to get 

my stuff.” If you have a girl who asks 

you to give her things and being too 

flattering to you, do not listen and do 

not talk to her. She is not a real friend. 

By: Faigy Eisen 


Huvy is not the best student in school. 

One night, our teacher gave way too 

much homework. Huvy sighed. When 

Huvy came home, she thought of only 

one thing. The homework. Huvy ran 

to the phone and called Dasie. “Hello,” 

said Huvy. “Hi,” responded Dasie, 

the smartest girl in class. “I need help 

with homework,” stated Huvy. “Sure,” 

exclaimed Dasie. Huvy was excited 

that she should get help with homework. 

After 3 hours, homework was 

done. “Bye, friend,” said Dasie hoping 

for a good response. Huvy was 

a little unsure but she managed to 

say, “Bye.” The next day, Huvy was 

in school having a blast with her new 

toy. Dasie asked, “Can I borrow it 

for a little?” “No way, smarty pants,” 

said Huvy. And, that was the last time 

Dasie ever helped Huvy. 


Congratulations to the Bat Mitzvah Girls! 

J. Benzaken E. Dweck 

M. Cohen 

L. Savdie 

I. Esses 

L. Jammal 

F. Sutton 

S. Cohen S. Cohen 



SHAARE ZION CONG. 



I don’t like 

people who only 

need friends when 

it’s convenient 

for them. 

SZC 

By: Jake Bivas 


My friend asked me for review sheets 

a day before an important test. But, 

I also needed it. He kept on complimenting 

me and saying that I am so 

nice. The next day, at recess, I asked 

him if I could play basketball with him. 

He didn’t let me. He didn’t pay back. 

And, I didn’t get my review sheets 

back from him. When I asked him to 

give back my sheets, he said he lost 

it. It’s priceless to have a really good 

friend because your friend will be there 

for you in time of need. Your friend will 

be nice to you. Even if you and your 

friend fight, it gets over with faster 

and you forget and forgive each other. 

By: Chavi Weill 


By: Ruthy Mineh 

to give them her homework. Sarah did, 

One of my “friends” is really popular. 

But, she always tells secrets that 


but she didn’t want to. Miriam and her 

The new school year started and Sarah 

was new at the yeshiva. She didn’t 

I asked her not to say. She always 

friends kept bossing Sarah around. 

Sarah heard them talking that they were 

know anybody in school. She was really 

shy and thought, “Who will ever be 

me. I don’t like it, but I didn’t leave her 

leaves me out and takes advantage of 

using her. The next day Sarah completely 

ignored them. She saw a different 

girl who she thought was loyal. Her 

friends with me.” She went to Hebrew 

out. I included her even though it was 

class and knew every question that the 

hard. Some people take advantage 

name was Marilyn. Marilyn introduced 

Hebrew teachers asked. In her school, 

of others to be cool and popular, but 

Sarah to all her friends. Sarah learned 

there was a popular girl named Miriam. 

they are making themselves miserable. 

They are not being true friends. 

to really think before choosing friends. 

When she saw Sarah was so smart, 

By: Vico Mizrahi 

she said to her other popular friends, 

“Hey, why don’t we tell Sarah to be 

friends with us and everyday we’ll just 

copy over her homework?” After class, 

Miriam and her friends came to Sarah 


I like a friend who accepts me for 

who I am. I don’t want a friend who 

wants me to be someone I am not. 

A real friend is someone who likes 

One day, she will give you something; 

next day she will act like she doesn’t 

know you. A true friend means someone 

who can be happy for you, believe 

in you. That’s a true friendship. 

and they were all nice to her. Miriam you for who you are. When someone 


told her to join their group of friends. takes advantage of people, in the end 


Sarah joined in and everything was of the day he feels bad. He doesn’t 


normal for the rest of the day. But, the have any friends. He doesn’t experience 

a good friendship. Every person 

submit a lesson you learned 

next day, Miriam and her friends were 

from their stories. 

bossing Sarah around and forcing her needs a friend who can respect them. 


In Memory of 

I n memory of J o s e p h & Esther Bailey A”H 

In loving memory of 

Odette and Ralph Ades A”H 

By Brenda & Morris Massry and children 

I n memory of 

Albert Manopla A”H 

I n memory of 

Harry & Viola Bailey A”H 

I n memory of 

Yitzchak ben Mazal A”H 

I n memory of 

Maurice Elbaz A”H 

I n memory of 

Albert Moghrabi A”H 

B y his children 

I n loving memory of 

Albert Hazan A”H 

& Peggy Hazan A”H 

I n memory of 

Morris Saffati A”H 

I n memory of 

Jane Levy A”H 

I n memory of 

Eli Zeitouni 

ben Helen A”H

If they don’t appreciate 

you, they don’t deserve you 

By: Yvonne Mizrahi 


Shelly is a very quiet girl. She is very 

good at sports. One day, loud and 

popular girl Lauren was in a tennis 

tournament and needed a partner. 

Lauren decided to ask Shelly because 

she is good at 

sports. Shelly 

agreed and practiced 

with Lauren 

every day. She 

also taught her 

how to do a volley, 

and helped 

her with her backhand. 

Finally, the 

day of the tournament 

was here 

and Shelly and 

Lauren won the 

whole tournament. 

The next 

day at school, 

Lauren decided 

to make 

a club. When 

Shelly asked to be in it, Lauren denied. 

Shelly felt terrible. The problem 

is that Shelly had just helped Lauren 

with her tennis and helped her win 

the tournament. Lauren had not acted 

very generously back to Shelly. The 

least she could have done was let 

her in the club. A bad friend uses others. 

A good friend cares for others. 

By: Clarisse Cohen 


“Help me,” Alison said acting all nervous. 

“Alexis, I didn’t do my homework,” 

Alison said. Alison rushed to 

Alexis and said, “Please help me.” 

Alexis knew it was Alison’s first time not 

BNEI YITZCAH CONG. 



Trust is like a 

paper. Once it’s 

crumpled it can’t 

be perfect again. 

doing homework so she gave her the 

worksheet. One week later, Alexis forgot 

to write down her homework. The 

next day, she asked Alison if she can 

copy the questions on the worksheet 

she forgot to do. Alison said, “No.” Alexis 

said, “It’s only one time,” while her 

face turned red as a watermelon. “No,” 

Alison said repeating it over and over. 

By: Paulina Cohen 


Adrienne was at school one day when 

her friend Grace was walking down the 

hall and slipped and dropped all of the 

books all over the floor. Adrienne ran 

to Grace and asked if she was okay. 

Then, she helped 

BNY pick up all of the 

books. The next day, 

Adrienne was walking 

in the baseball field 

when she stepped in 

a puddle. The mud 

splashed all over 

her. Grace and three 

other friends walked 

over and started to 

laugh at Adrienne. 

Adrienne realized 

that Grace was not 

her friend. Why is it 

important to have a 

friend? When you 

have a good friend, 

you will have someone 

who will always be by your side. 

Special thank you to 

Mr. & Mrs. Jack Avital 

for all their help with 

Torah Contest 


Lynda Russo 

Congratulations 

on your 

Graduation!

The problem with being 

too flattering to a friend 

By: Steven Gammal 


Picture this, one day, you and your 

friend are playing basketball. Your 

friend asks you, “Are you excited for 

the trip tomorrow?” You say, “Yeah, 

I have been looking forward to this 

trip for months.” 

Then your 

friends ask you, 

“Are we sitting 

together in the 

bus?” And you 

say, “Definitely.” 

The next day, 

you go on the 

bus and you get 

a seat. A popular 

kid comes to you. 

He asks if he can 

sit with you. You 

say, “Of course.” 

You forgot about 

your friend who 

you promised the 

seat next to you. A 

few minutes later 

your friend comes and asks, “I thought 

you said yesterday we were sitting together 

on the bus?” You say, “Sorry. 

He was here first.” Your friend walks 

away and sits the whole ride alone. 

You have just lost your good friend. 

AHI EZER CONG. 

By: Sara Silber 


Leah’s party is tomorrow. Chanie 

needed a present. “Mommy, Leah’s 

birthday is tomorrow and she is so 

popular. Get her the fanciest present.” 

At the party, they played a game. 



Don’t change so people 

will like you. Be yourself 

and the right people will 

like the real you. 

“Leah, you go fist or tell someone to go 

first,” we all said . Leah opened all the 

presents and Chanie’s was the best. 

“Chanie should go first,” Leah thought. 

“Fraidy, go first,” said Leah. “Why 

didn’t I go first,” thought Chani. 

By: Sara Tawil 


This past year, there was a new girl 

in our school. Her name is Jill. Every 

day, she would walk to school alone. 

One day, her parents won the lottery 

and the news spread all over the 

AHI 

school. All of a sudden, 

everyone ran 

to her and wanted to 

be her friend. After a 

few days, she realized 

that everyone 

was using her. But, 

there was one girl 

who liked Jill even 

before she won the 

lottery, but was too 

shy to talk to her. The 

next day, Jill told everyone 

that her parents 

lost the money. 

She wanted to see 

if people would still 

talk to her. But, not 

one person talked to 

her, just that shy girl. After that, Jill 

became friends with the shy girl. She 

saw clearly who was a good friend 

and who was a fake friend. Some people 

only like you for what you have, 

some people like you for who you are. 

Students from the following schools submitted inspirational stories. The best ones made it into the magazine. 

Bais Yaakov Academy | Barkai Yeshiva | Bet Yaakov Orot Sara | Bnos Yisroel | Hillel Yeshiva | Lev Bais Yaakov | Magen David Yeshivah | 

Masores Bais Yaakov | Meorot Bet Yaakov | Prospect Park Yeshivah | Yeshivah Chaim Berlin | Yeshivah Lev Torah | Yeshivah of Flatbush | 

Submit on TorahContest.com a lesson you learned from the stories & you will be entered in a raffle for great prizes. See p.52 


Winners of the TorahValues.com 

Evelyn Antebi Magen David Yeshivah 

Terry Rose Sitt Barkai Yeshiva 

Mary Salem Magen David Yeshivah 

Rochella Sherman Masores 

Tamar Medina Masores Bais Yaakov 

Rosie Edelman Masores Bais Yaakov 

Gitty Zilberberg Masores 

Chavi Lopin Masores Bais Yaakov 

Esther Abramczyk Masores 



Carvel 

It’s What Happy Tastes like! 

718.934.8173 

W i d e S e l e c t i o n o f 

Ice Cream Cakes 

f o r all yo u r 

s p e c i a l o c c a s i o n s : 

Bar Mitzvah 

~ 

Bat Mitzvah 

~ 

Birthday 

~ 

Bris 

2744 Coney Island Ave 

(Corner of Coney Island Ave & Ave Y)

Facebook 

pretend friends = Fakebook 

By: Emily Pinhas 

Barkai Yeshiva 

Many people have Facebook, Twitter, 

Instagram and other social media. 

When someone posts a picture and 

gets many likes on it, then other, less 

popular, people try to do something like 

the popular people. 

When they 

copy the popular 

girls and don’t get 

the same amount 

of likes or comments, 

they start 

to think they are 

not as good as 

the rest of the 

world. It changes 

the real person to 

be a person who 

they want to be 

not to be who they 

really are. They 

act like someone 

they are not 

just to get ahead 

in competition and be popular. It also 

causes people to be jealous of their 

friends. They feel that they have to do 

better than all the other girls. It creates 

a fake person who just wants to be like 

all the other girls and not feel left out. 

See names of authors 

by shul page 104 

By: Nina D. 

By: Diana Hoffstein 



Social media can be harmful to friendship, 

to the way you see and feel most everyone has one. It changes 

Facebook, Instagram and Twitter al- 

about yourself and gain respect for your life and your friendships. You 

yourself. The second you log onto social 

media, you can gain 500 followers. or Twitter but you get it so that, maybe, 

probably don’t even want a Facebook 

you could be just like 


search shul abbreviation MAC the other people who 

seem “popular,” but 

really they are just 

like you. All you do is 

compare yourself to 

your other “friends.” 

Some might be real. 

Others are just people 

who followed you to 

gain followers. They 

don’t care about you 

or your personality. 

They just want to be 

more popular. You try 

to get a lot of friends 

and likes. Why? So 

you would feel better 

about yourself? It 

But, the second you log off, they disappear. 

They are not there to support what happens if these social media 

doesn’t make you feel better because 

and care about you. All you have to do sites get “unpopular” or “overrated?” 

is press one button to gain a friend. 

Special thank you to 

But, you are not making a real effort 

to make a friend, to know how much Terri and Jo Jo Chehebar 

they care about you. The real things 

who were the first ones to 

that will help you in life are the friends 

that are real and supportive. 

launch the Torah Contest 

MAGEN ABRAHAM CONG. 

Don’t count the number 

of friends you have, but 

the number of friends 

you can count on 


Eshet Chayil 

Jeff Sutton in honor of his wife Rachel 

In honor of my wife 

Susan 

by Reuben Bibi 


Celia 

by Jason Hoffman 


Jennifer 

by Leon Azar Cohen 


Joyce 

by Abraham Kassin 


Vivian 

by Abie Dushey 


Esther 

by Joey Mizrahi 


Sophia 

by Morris A. Dweck 


Lina 

by Edmound Nahum 


Cynthia 

by Victor Halabi 


Joyce 

by Abe Shalom

Facebook pretend friends = Fakebook 

BNEI YOSEF CONG. 

BYC 


By: Samantha Chabot 



True friendship is one of the most important 

things in your life and it’s being 

ruined by social media. Social media 

allows friendship to be a click of a 

button. Someone could have a million 

‘friends’ on Facebook, but, out of 

those, how many are genuine friends? 

From the 300 friends 

Almost every kid and adult has either 

a Facebook, Instagram or Twitter account. 

that you have on 

You might ask what is wrong, 

why is it bad? On someone’s birthday 

Facebook, how many 

a person might get a text or tweet 

of “Happy Birthday” but what does it 

of them are real? 

mean? You don’t put any effort in saying 

it. The person gets so happy that 

she got a million texts that say “Happy 

By: Gabriel Bildirici 


By: Rachel Gammal 


Birthday” but, in the real world, did 

any one of them make an effort to 

When you log on to any social media, 

you waste time on trying to keep up 

with the whole world rather than building 

Social media can ruin a friendship. A 

girl has an Instagram and took a picture 

with her friend. Her friend looked 

say it in person? Social media takes 

away reality and people along with it. 

By: Bobby Matalon 

and growing relationships. Real 


gorgeous and wanted to post it but 

friends will be there for you if you need 

Did you ever have a real friend? Well, 

the girl looked not as pretty in it. So, 

help. No one posts on Facebook what’s 

Facebook tricks your mind. Facebook 

the friend posted the picture but she 

real. As a result, everyone thinks you 

makes you believe that, if you get 

are someone who you aren’t. It doesn’t 

matter if you don’t have a lot of followers 

as long as you have your friends. 

By: Susan Esses 


You can’t find real friends because 

cropped the girl out. To the girl, she 

looked pretty. So, the friend posted 

the picture and the girl looked on Instagram 

and saw her picture and she 

wasn’t in it. So, the girl asked her 

“Friended,” it means you got a friend. 

But, while you think you have friends, 

you don’t know them in real life. Maybe 

the reason you got friended is because 

the person who friended is saying, 

you are too busy chas- 

friend, “Why did you take me out of 

“Oh look. If I friend this popular 

ing everyone else. It makes you 

feel as if you have a lot of friends 

when, meanwhile, you really don’t. 

the picture?” The friend answered, 

“Because you didn’t look pretty.” The 

girl got so mad. She went home and 

guy, then he’ll friend me and because 

he friended me everyone will friend 

me. That’s how people think on Facebook. 

Most of the time people who 

unfollowed her on Instagram, Facebook, 

Twitter. She never talked to her friend you on Facebook are fake. They 



again on social media and in real life. are just using you to get followers. 



Sarah Lozieh Barkai Yeshiva 

Sonia Dweck Barkai Yeshiva 

Talya Grego Magen David Yeshivah 

Sara Milstein Masores Bais Yaakov 

Chaya Sultan Bnei Yosef Cong. 

Rimi Deutsch Masores Bais Yaakov 

Blimi Frenkel Masores Bais Yaakov 

Zahava Zutler Masores 

Chaya Sara Spira 

Masores 


H ow social media 

a f f e c t self- esteem 

HAR HALEBANON CONG. 

Social media 

encourages to 

impress, 

not to connect. 

By: Raquel Botton 


Social media affects quality of true 

friendship. But how? One time, I decided 

to go on Instagram. I saw one of my 

friends posted a picture with a few of 

my other friends. When I saw that picture, 

it made me jealous. I decided not 

to go on Instagram anymore because 

I realized that, every time I went on it, 

I always wanted what everyone else 

had. Social media makes a person addicted 

to likes and followers and many 

more unproductive things. On social 

media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, 

you’re gaining “friends”. 

But, in real life how many of those 

people are really your friends? It’s better 

to invest in 1 friendship than 100 

people and end up with zero friends. 



search shul abbreviation HHC 

BETH YOSEF CONG. 

By: Sari Cattan 


In my opinion social media can affect 

friendships and relationships in 

both good and bad ways. In a negative 

way, social media gives you the 

wrong judgment of others and gives 

others the wrong judgment of you. 

If one of your friends doesn’t post a 

picture for your birthday, apparently it 

means that you are not close friends. 

It definitely lowers your confidence, 

especially when you see a popular 

person who has tons of followers and 

getting lots of likes and you are not 

getting as many as them. Everything 

with these social media causes people 

to make judgments about each other. 



Social media 

encourages you to 

do what’s cool and 

not what you enjoy 

BYS 


Eshet Chayil 

Marc Sutton in honor of his wife Robin 


Fannie 

By Eli Bouganim 


Amy 

By Isaac Marcus 


Bella 

By Nouri Chalouh 


Joyce 

By Mousa Saad 


Gloria 

By Jamie Dweck 


Sarah 

By Judah M. Schemo 


Monica 

By David Hadef 


Joyce 

By Eddie E. Serure 


Gladys 

By Ezra Hedaya 


Kimberly 

By Jimmy Tawil

It’s hard to be yourself 

on social media 

By: Yaakov Shmuel J. Grunsfeld 


Social media kids all over the world 

are using Instagram, Facebook and 

Twitter. Kids are following and friending 

random people to look popular. It 

might look cool to pull a prank or act 

m i s c h i e v o u s l y 

to fit it. When 

a kid feels he 

ranks low, he 

would want to do 

something silly 

and funny to fit 

in. Peer pressure 

comes out 

of all of this. Often, 

fake friends 

online make you 

act a certain way. 

This pushes you 

to be someone 

else. On social 

media, you try 

to please people 

who aren’t you. 

These aren’t your real friends who 

you could share problems with and 

feelings. Social media isn’t really 

friendship. In life, you need a real 

friend, someone who will care for 

you, help you, give an advice and 

will lead you through the maze of life. 



KOL ISRAEL CONG. 

By: Coral Cohen – Saban 


Be yourself! You could change 

your whole personality based on 

what people like and don’t like. 

Maybe in school you don’t have so 

many friends, so you would think 



You were born 

an original. 

Don’t end up 

a copy. 

that on Instagram or Facebook and 

Twitter you could change your whole 

personality based on what people 

like and don’t like. The difference 

between real friendship and fake 

friendship is that real friendship is to 

have a real connection with someone 

who you could really talk to. 

By: Danielle Tuachi 


When you see that someone popular 

has something that you want, just 

because they have it will you get it? 

Put yourself in their shoes. When the 

most popular person in your class gets 

that popular item and 

KIC you don’t even like 

it, you will go home 

and beg your parents 

for it. Then they will 

get it for you and you 

won’t even appreciate 

it. By the time 

you got this item, everyone 

is moved into 

the next big thing that 

they love and no one 

will like you like you 

thought they would. 

So, your plan starts 

over and over and 

never works. Find 

good friends who love 

you for who you are. 

By: Raymond Dusi 


Social media strips your identity from 

you. You will post things that aren’t you. 

The second you post a bad picture or 

write something uncool on social media, 

your friends will leave you while 

your true friends will stay by your side. 

That’s why social media is bad for you. 



Gabrielle Sued Magen David Yeshivah 

Raquel Mizrahi Barkai Yeshiva 

Tehilla Nisanov Meorot Bet Yaakov 

Esti Feldman Masores Bais Yaakov 

Tzivia Gugenheim Masores 

Noa Hacker Masores Bais Yaakov 

Nechama Zelmanovitz 

Masores 

Shaindy Kress Masores 

Malkie Treitel 



It’s hard to be yourself on social media 

OHEL DAVID & SHLOMO 

By being yourself, 

you put something 

in the world that was 

not there before. 

By: Moshe Chaya 


You should use social media the right 

way. The right way is that you should 

follow your own goals. Do not follow 

other people’s goals. Be individual! 

Be who you are! Don’t follow other 

people just to be cool. An example 

of the down side of social media is 

that if you see a picture of Instagram 

that has a lot of likes, you try posting 

that same picture to get more likes. 

Use social media the right way. Real 

friends are friends who care about 

you and let you be yourself. Those 

are your real friends and those are the 

people you should be with. Use social 

media the right way and be yourself. 





ODS 

By: Moshe Benhamu 


When I got home one day, I went on 

Facebook. I saw that people began 

to follow people who surfed. I went 

on line to get a picture of a kid surfing. 

I posted it in Facebook and I got 

more followers. Social media strips 

our individual qualities. If you like music 

and people don’t, you’ll get a different 

hobby you don’t like. On Facebook, 

you can’t express your feelings 

because your friends aren’t really your 

friends. It locks you away from being 

yourself and having true friends. 

By: Yisrael Meir Ovadia 


If a cool person likes one type of 

music, then everyone follows him. 

They don’t search for the music they 

actually like but the one he likes. 

By: Eddie Tawil 


When Michael got a new skateboard, 

he took a picture of it and he got a 

lot of likes. Michael really hates to 

skateboard but he only bought it to 

be popular. Michael was only acting 

to like it. Also, his friend told him 

that it was so cool. His friend also 

told him that if he didn’t get one, he 

wouldn’t be popular. Michael couldn’t 

just do what he wanted to do or else 

he wouldn’t be popular. Michael is 

always afraid to be himself. He does 

not post real comments on Facebook. 

It’s just what other people like. 

By: Renee Hadef 


Do you have true friends or fake 

friends? Your followers aren’t your 

friends. Some are but some aren’t. You 

shouldn’t be jealous of someone who 

has more followers than you. Don’t 

change your identity because you want 

to be “cool”. Do what you feel comfortable. 

A friend is someone who will be 

there all the time. They will lend you a 

helping hand and a shoulder to cry on. 

By: Miriam Turkieh 


Instagram, Facebook. All social media 

distracts you from being you! When 

do you ever stop and think, “What 

do I want to do?” When you are in 

your teenage years, all your friends 

spend and spend and you don’t think 

you need all the things your friends 

buy. But, you are under pressure to 

buy things that you don’t really want. 


Eshet Chayil 

Ezra Ashkenazi in honor of his wife Sharyn 


Barbara 

by Zeke Abraham 


Arlene 

by Ralph Sassoon 


Arlene 

by Stephen Beda 


Audrey 

by Steven Shalom 


Marlene 

by Joseph Bibi 


Adele 

by Joseph Sharaby 


Ninette 

by Raymond Cohen 


Morgan 

by Abe Sultan 


Jennifer 

by Shawn Safdie 


Amanda 

by David S. Tawil

Social media: keeping us 

connected or escaping reality 

By: Evelyn Turkieh 


Friendship is the key to happiness. 

Over time, the meaning of friendship 

has changed. People care more about 

popularity and avoid reality. A real 

friend is someone who you’re able to 

is when fear of truth is sucked back in 

and everyone will face reality. At the 

end, the amount of friends and “Likes” 

people get on a picture is just a number. 

Whether it’s 1or 101 friends, very 

few people will care about the real and 

true friends they really need in life. 

By: M.S. 


Social media has many pros and cons 

just like most things in life. Social media 

has corrupted many minds. For 

example, it can boost our morale and 

self confidence but not in a real and 

trust. Someone 


true way. Yet, it manipulates 

our brains 

you can count SEPHARDIC LEBANESE CONG. search shul abbreviation SLC 

on. Someone 

into thinking we’re 

who will always 

be there for you, 

through the good 

all that. But, in reality, 

we are not. Social 

media allows us 

and the bad. 

to conceal our true 

Real friends accept 

each other 

selves and become 

someone we’re really 

for who they 

not. We con- 

truly are and not 

trol what we put out 

something they 

Don’t ignore the 

there. Why should we 

pretend to be. 

live in a world of an 

Today, in the social 

people that care about 

imaginary and fake 

media world, 

life? Yes, we get a 

reality doesn’t exist. 

you for someone 

few friends or likes on 

People focus 

social media. Be hon- 

on the amount of 

you hardly know. 

est! It feels good. But, 

friends they have 

instead of the actual amount of friends 

they are able to count on. Social media 

is a black hole. People show certain 

By: Shirley S. 


Whether people like it or not one 

it’s not anything we 

invest in so we can lose it all in a 

minute. We are blinding ourselves 

to see true connections and effort. 

qualities that will gain popularity 

thing is for sure, social media affects 

friendship. For example, if a 

Submit on 

for themselves. Instead of revealing 

girl has a big party and posts it on TorahContest.com a lesson 

the truth and the real personality, they 

Instagram and another girl looks you learned from the stories & 

avoid it and give people what they want 

at the picture, she will feel bad because 

she wants to have a big par- 

you will be entered in a raffle 

to see. All this is considered a lie. The 

only way this black hole will open up 


ty but her parents can’t afford it. 


Honoring Parents 

In honor of Trina & Joe Cayre by their children 

In honor of my parents 

Albert & Rochelle Ades 

By Jimmy Ades 

In honor of our parents 

Albert & Cheri Falack 

By their children 


Bobby & Rosie Antar 



Eliot & Doreen Harary 

By their children Morris, Claire, Sherry & Freddy 

In honor of my parents 

Shelly & Albert Antebi 

By their son, Philip Antebi 


Isaac & Brenda Saada 



Nathan & Estelle Botton 



Allan & Bella Savdie 



Galit & Sammy Esses 



David and Alicia Tobal 

By their children

Personal Connections 

in the digital age 

By: Olga Tawil 


Friendship through social media has 

changed over the years. Social media 

can lower your self esteem. When you 

see profiles with more followers than 

you, you feel less important. You feel 

bad that you aren’t as popular or don’t 

have as many 

friends. But, 

that’s not true. 

Most friends on 

social media are 

fake and many 

of them you don’t 

even know at all. 

So, when you 

see someone 

with many followers, 

most of 

them aren’t their 

true friends. True 

friends are friends 

who are kind and 

care about you 

and not people 

who push the ‘follow’ 

button. People with fake friends 

will never know how it feels to have 

By: Sara Sultan 


I think when people get into a fight with 

their close friends and text them while 

they are in a fight can often be meaner 

than how you would talk to them in 

person. Sometimes, if they text you 

about how they feel, they would also 

SEPHARDIC COMMUNITY CENTER 


search abbreviation 

Spend time with 

friends who make 

you happy, not who 

you have to impress 

jump to conclusions and say hurtful 

words that they don’t really mean. 

By: Tali Zabari 


Social media affects your identity and 

who you are. It affects the way you interact 

with your friends. Let’s say you 

have a Facebook and you get upset 

at your friend. You want to talk it out 

with her so you send her a message 

saying, “Why are 

SCC you being so mean 

to me?” Your friend 

gets very offended 

because she saw 

what you sent from 

a different perspective. 

So, it’s different 

talking to someone 

on the internet than 

talking it out with 

your friend right in 

front of you with your 

actual words and 

meaning them from 

your heart. If you do 

have social media, 

be careful what you 

post and what you 

say because everyone always sees 

and interprets words differently. 

Students from the following schools submitted inspirational stories. 

The best ones made it into the magazine. 

real friends. If you don’t put in your effort 

to make friends, then you never 

Bais Yaakov Academy | Barkai Yeshiva | Bet Yaakov Orot Sara 

really know who they are and how it | Bnos Yisroel | Hillel Yeshiva | Lev Bais Yaakov | Magen David Yeshivah 

| Masores Bais Yaakov | Meorot Bet Yaakov | Prospect Park Yeshivah | 

feels to have true friends. On social 

Yeshivah Chaim Berlin | Yeshivah Lev Torah | Yeshivah of Flatbush | 

media, you see only what’s on the outside 

and not the person’s personality. 

& you will be entered in a raffle for great prizes. See p.52 

Submit on TorahContest.com a lesson you learned from the stories 


Eshet Chayil 

In honor of our mother Sally Ashkenazi 


Lauren 

by Joey Abadi 


Lisa 

by Morris Shasho 


Fern 

by Eddie A. Ash 


Sari 

by Jack Sasson 


Margie 

by Albert Bijou 


Sarah 

by Albert Savdie 


Miriam 

by Danny Sabzehroo 


Audrey 

by Victor Setton 


Claire 

by Ikie Shabtai 


Grace 

by Joey A. Tawil

Teamwork is the best 

formula for success 

By: Melanie Baum 


Vivian was having color war in her 

camp. She was captain to team one. 

She chose all her friends for the committee. 

They sat down and started to 

work. Vivian and her best friends would 

get all the good 

jobs. They would 

dance and sing. 

She gave her 

other friends the 

jobs of acting and 

art. Vivian was so 

excited to start. 

Alison, a shy girl 

asked, “Can I be 

in art? I am a really 

good artist.” 

Vivian didn’t even 

look up. “No,” she 

said and just left. 

When color war 

was over, Vivian 

looked at Alison’s 

work of art. “I 

should have picked her,” she thought. 

That year Vivian didn’t win color war 

but she learned an important lesson. 

By: Freddy Bijou 


If you have teamwork and you are 

working together, then you have a better 

chance of winning. If you try to be 

the star, you are not going to win because 

everyone is trying to be the star. 

By: Malky Fogel 

Prospect Park Yeshivah 

One time, when we had color war, 

the girl who was chosen to be a captain 

didn’t let anyone do anything. 

She wrote the song and sang it. She 

drew the poster and presented it. Of 

EDMOND SAFRA CONG. 

Alone we can do 

so little, 



together we 

can do so much. 

course, we lost and the other team 

who worked together won. Another 

year, a girl got chosen as a captain 

and she really knew how to be a captain. 

She put people who were good 

at things in charge of what they were 

good at. All she did was present the 

poster and make sure everything runs 

smoothly. Obviously, we won that year. 

By: Leah Faena 

Bet Yaakov Orot Sara 

Everyone would want to be the captain 

so they could get a lot of credit. 

People don’t want to make banners 

because they don’t get so much attention 

for it after only 2 minutes of showing 

the banner. One 

ESC time, a girl wanted to 

help with the banners 

and other girls didn’t 

let her. At the end, we 

lost points for it. When 

everyone helped 

each other do the 

banners and badges, 

it came out very good 

because everyone 

had her own idea 

and putting all these 

different ideas together 

made us win. 

By: Miriam Hunger 

Bnos Yisroel 

When you are working 

on color war, if 

you are in charge of badges, people 

might say that what you made up is 

weird and then you’ll feel like you did it 

all for nothing. When everyone fights 

and wants to do everything by themselves, 

then you are guaranteed to lose 

points and lose the whole color war. 




The Administration, Faculty, 

Parents and students of 

Masores Bais Yaakov acknowledge 

the generosity of the 

Gruss Life 

Monument Fund 

Mr. Jason Cury 

President 

Mr. Joel S. Beritz 

Vice President 

Their vision of excellence 

in Jewish education 

continues to 

enhance the chinuch 

of our students. 


Teamwork is the best formula for success 

BNEI BINYAMIN CONG. 

Teamwork 

divides the task 

and multiplies 

the success 



BBC 

By: Morris Lati 


When you are playing basketball, 

there are different positions. You always 

work as a team. There is a 

shooter, a rebounder and a defender. 

When you work as a team, you have 

a bigger chance of winning. The defender 

blocks the ball; the rebounder 

could get the rebound and pass it to 

the shooter. The shooter could score. 

If everyone wants to be the shooter, 

then there will be no defender that can 

block the shooter. And, the rebounder 

can’t rebound and pass it to the shooter. 

That is why teamwork is important. 

By: Yossi Ostrovitsky 

Yeshivah Chaim Berlin 

Dovid, Chaim and Mordechai were 

playing basketball. Mordechai has 

By: Yehoshua Leib 

By: Moshe Strauss 

the ball but he is not very good. Dovid 



I was playing hockey with my friends An example of teamwork is writing a 

is behind him, who is good. Dovid 

and I was skating down the rink. I had 

a shot but, instead of shooting myself, 

I passed it to a kid who no one would 

pass to otherwise. No one knew how 

good he was. He shot from half of the 

book. There is an author and an illustrator. 

The author might know how to 

write well, but when he tries to draw a 

picture, it comes out terrible. The illustrator 

might know how to draw well, but 

is open. So, Mordechai, instead of 

shooting and missing, passes to Dovid 

who shoots and scores. If Mordechai 

would’ve shot, he would have missed. 

So, he used team work passed to Dovid 

who was good. He shot and scored. 

rink and he scored. Everyone started to he does not know how to write a story. 

By: Binyamin Zev Schwartz 

pass to him. He was the best player of So, they work as a team and it comes 


our team. If Chaim didn’t pass to Moshe out very good. But, if they do each other’s 

Working as a team is very important 

and Moshe didn’t pass to me and I 

didn’t pass to Chezkel, we wouldn’t job it will come out terrible and no- 

body will want to read their book. This 

and things get done a lot quicker. 

When doing a choir, one person can’t 

have won. What a game it was. We shows that teamwork is very important. 

do it all. There needs to be a drummer, 

started winning with him on our team. 

By: Dovid Brodt 

a pianists, a guitarist, a lot of things are 


Submit on TorahContest.com One time, we had a word search race. 

involved. Focus on what you are best 

a lesson you learned from the We were split into teams. Some kids 

at. Even if you might have more than 

one talent, but it’s still good to work as 

were good at translating the word 

stories & you will be entered 

a team and do what you are best at. 

into English. Some kids found words, 

in a raffle for great prizes. 

some kids remembered words, but 


See p. 52 

when we worked together, we won! 



Eshet Chayil 

David Shalom in honor of his wife Nadine 


Honey 

by Moshe Assis 


Elyse 

by Abie Tebele 


Vivian 

by Raymond Dayan 


Cleme 

by Joe V. Saideh 


Lisa 

by Arthur Djmal 


Tania 

by David Salem 


Shani 

by Mordy Faks 


Margrette 

by Jack Shammah 


Sara 

by Stephen Mamiye 


Adele 

by Abe Sorcher

Give the spotlight to the one 

who is the most qualified 

By: Sara Halwani 


One day, a girl named Gabrielle came 

home from school and told her mother 

that she was chosen to be the director 

of the school play. Her mother spoke 

to her about choosing the right actors 

By: Chayala Danziger 

Bais Yaakov Academy 

When you are a team captain, you are 

the star of the team. You are in charge 

of your team. You feel very important. 

Most people wouldn’t want to be in 

charge of making the costumes of the 

By: Talya Grego 


A few weeks ago, my English teacher 

told the whole class to make a play for 

the whole school to see. My teacher 

said, “We are gong to be divided 

into groups.” She picked me, Emily, 

to star in the 

Suzy and Alison. My 


play. Gabrielle MAGEN DAVID WEST DEAL search shul abbreviation MDWD teacher said, “One 

thought about it 

before she had 

the talk with her 

mother and said 

person is in charge.” 

So, I said, “Ok guys, 

I am in charge. I am 

getting the main part 

to herself that 

of the play.” Emily, 

she would pick 

her best friend 

Shelly for the star 

Alison and Suzy 

said, “Why are you in 

charge? Why not one 

of the show. But, 

of us?” I said, “Because 

I am in charge 

A good team is when 

her mother said, 

“It wouldn’t be 

of what we should 

each member is happy 

nice to do that because 

do.” We were all prac- 

there are 

ticing our play. In one 

with his part & praises 

other girls who 

part of the play, I had 

have great hidden 

talents and 

the skills of others 

balls. But, I didn’t 

to juggle 3 or more 

would want to be 

the star of the play.” Gabrielle said, “Ok,” 

and went to school. She was planning 

to pick her best friend Shelly automatically 

for the part but she listened to her 

mother’s advice and had an audition 

for the play. One of the shyest girls 

in the school was very talented. She 

color war skit because no one knows 

who did it and they do not care. The 

team has a higher chance of losing 

color war when the team is fighting and 

starting to divide up. What will make 

you win is when you give up what 

you want for what’s best for the team. 

know how. They kept 

on falling. However, Emily knew how 

to. Emily said, “Do you know how to 

juggle?” I said, “No, but I’ll practice.” I 

got very frustrated. Emily said to me, 

“Can I just do that part?” I said, “No, 

this is the main part and I will be the 

star in it.” I kept practicing and practicing 

and I didn’t get it. So, I said to 

was picked to be the star of the show 


and became very popular girl because 

myself, “You know what? I will give this 


Gabrielle picked her for the lead role. 

part to Emily. I am horrible in juggling.” 


Eshet Chayil 

Elliot Sabbagh in honor of his wife Sarina 


Fatima 

by Jack Abady 


Ruthy 

by Nathan Mann 


Lulu 

by Jack Cohen 


Stephanie 

by Jack Mosseri 


Monique 

by Raymond Esses 


Lynn 

by Charles SUED 


Sandy 

by Eli Haddad 


Sally 

by David Wahba 


Margalit 

by Shlomo Laniado 


Virna 

by Morris Zeitoune

Give the spotlight to the one who is the most qualified 

KETER ZION CONG. 

I can do things you 

cannot. You can 

do things I can’t. 

Together we can do 

great things. 

By: Shirley Massre 


We had a science project to do. My 

group was Jacqueline, Emily and 

Raquel. First, we argued on what 

project we should so. Then, Raquel 

thought of doing something with magnets. 

Jacqueline, Emily and I thought 

that was a great idea and would get us 

a lot of points. We figured out that Emily 

is a good writer and she could write 

the paragraphs. With Jacqueline’s 

artistic skills, she could design the tri 

board. With Raquel’s intelligence, she 

could think of the hypothesis, conclusion 

methods, and the questions. With 

my speaking skills, I could explain to 

all the guests who came. Since we got 

it all worked out, we could now focus 

on the project. We got an A+ and came 

in third place (which is really good!) 



KZC 

By: Alison Salman 


Once, there was a girl named Melanie 

who wanted to do a science project. 

She had a friend, named Fortune, who 

wasn’t so smart. And a friend, named 

Raquel, who was extremely smart but 

was less friends with her. She decided 

to do it with Raquel. Melanie was 

a smart girl but she wanted to see 

Raquel’s thought before she said hers. 

After Raquel said her thought, Melanie 

liked them. So, she thought that 

she doesn’t need to say hers. Raquel 

wanted to hear Melanie’s thought but, 

after Melanie said it, Raquel liked 

her thoughts. They took a little bit 

of Melanie’s ideas and a little bit of 

Raquel’s ideas and made it into one 

idea. This is using your talents wisely. 

By: Gabrielle Harari 


There was a girl named Sara who was 

the head of the play. Sara needed to 

find three more people to be in her 

play. Sara didn’t want to pick the popular 

girl as the lead role just because 

she is pretty. Sara needed to see how 

she acts and sings. It turned out that 

the popular girl wasn’t a good singer 

or actress. When Sara told the popular 

girl that she didn’t get the lead, she 

was so angry that she said, “If it’s not 

me, then who is it? “Miss shy” or “miss 

ugly”? Sara gave the shy girl a chance 

and she was a fabulous singer. She 

just needed to believe in herself. Then, 

Sara gave the “miss ugly” a chance and 

she was an amazing actress. When 

she gave ‘miss popular’ a chance, she 

wasn’t good at all at either singing or 

acting. So, that shows that Sara didn’t 

judge by the looks. She dug deep and 

found the inner soul of those 2 girls. 

By: Jaqueline Sasson 


Teamwork: when everyone works together 

you can achieve more. Let’s say 

you are making your friend a surprise 

party. You want to be in charge, take 

all responsibility. Only one problem. 

You are not an artist. Don’t let your ego 

take over. You don’t want to be and do 

something you aren’t good at. Let the 

master be the pro. You buy the decorations 

and let the friend who is responsible 

in all ways take charge. Teamwork: 

Let it be less of me and more we. 


In Memory of 

I n memory of Violet & Harold Sutton A”H 

I n memory of 

Nelly Ades A”H 

I n memory of 

Joseph (Yosef) Hamaoui A”H 

By Albert and Sally Mosseri 

I n memory of 

Gabriel Ben Lea Bildirici A”H 

10 Year anniversary 

I n memory of 

Joseph S. Jemal A”H 

I n memory of our father 

Joseph Cohen A”H 

I n memory of 

Ralphael Sarway A”H 

I n memory of 

Isaac Dana A”H 

By his children & grandchildren 

I n memory of 

Cheryl Shalom A”H 

I n memory of 

Norman Esses A”H 

I n memory of 

Sol N. Tawil A”H 

By his wife, children and grandchildren


PROSPECT PARK YESHIVA 

Wearing the 

same t-shirts 

doesn’t make 

you a team 

By: Sharon Roubin 


If you are part of a dance and you 

are in the back, but your friend is in 

the front, you’ll most likely try to move 

up. But, then, everyone will get confused 

with their spots and the dance 

becomes a mess. So, now you don’t 

get the spotlight and neither does your 

friend. If you and your friend are trying 

to make a fruit basket for sick children, 

the designer gets the credit. But, she 

couldn’t have made it without someone 

buying those ripe, fresh looking fruits 

and someone picking that right basket 

to match the fruits. Maybe the designer 

knows how to do these things, but, 

thanks for all those people involved, 

By: Viviane Farca 

is best for the job. Before Fortune they made the idea happen. 


was about to say how unfair it was, 

By: Tehilla Nisanev 

One day, a 5th grade class was starting 

to prepare for the Bridge competi- 

When you make a play, each individ- 

Meorot Beit Yaakov 

she thought about how she was always 

the leader of everything and 

tion where they would have to build a 

ual should use her own talents. Smart 

all she does is demand things. She 

bridge and see which one can hold the 

girls do the research, artistic girls draw 

thought about what Allison said and 

most weight. The teacher was making 

banners, loud ones present the banners 

and cheer. When one works on 

then said, “You know what? I nominate 

Alison to be director because she 

groups and one of them was Fortune, 

Sarah, Allison and Lauren. Each person 

had a job in the group. The jobs 

has fair ideas.” Everyone else agreed 

a science project, it will not succeed 

and they won the project excellence if no one does the research on the 

were the director, the tri board designer, 

the bridge designer and the journal- 

award because they worked together. topic and no one likes to do it since 

By: Chaim Janani 

it won’t put you in the spotlight. But, 

ist. Right when they sat down to start 

Yeshivah Lev Torah 

too little research and too many eager 

presenters is a sure way to fail. 

discussing, Fortune said, “I am being In a sports game, by passing the 

the director.” Fortune is used to the ball you allow other people to play 

spotlight because she is always the and make it fun for them. The other 


boy gets a chance to shoot and, 

head of everything. Then Allison said, 


“I think we should go around and see if he is a good shooter, you might 

which girl wants which job.” Fortune even score. But, if someone is a On TorahContest.com, 

thought it wasn’t fair because what if 

two people want the same job? Allison 

said that they should see who 

ball hugger and he shoots even 

though it’s a very far shot, he would 

probably miss and you would lose. 

submit a lesson you 



Eshet Chayil 

Nissim Kafif in honor of his wife Vicky 


Gladys 

By Richard Adjmi 


Kim 

By Ralph Haber 


Frances 

By Hymie Betesh 


Lisa 

By Joey Jemal 


Yvette 

By Alie Cohen 


Freda 

By Eddie Levy 


Lori 

By Harold Dweck 


Lynn 

By Marc Moghrabi 


Linda 

By Harold Ebani 


Joyce 

By Nathan Shamosh


SHAARE TEFILAH OF EATONTOWN 

Successful 

teamwork starts 

with a good 



communications 

STE 

other about everything that they do. 

Some kids get upset that the better 

kids do everything and they don’t 

want to play anymore. I really think 

that every single person should 

be treated the same way no matter 

how good they are at sports. 

By: Leah Hatanian 


“Girls, listen up! We are going to make 

a play, ‘The Wizard of Us.’ I am going 

to split you up to practice with your 

group lines from the play. On Monday, 

will be the auditions. Good luck! So 

the groups are: Sarah, Miri and Chana 

in the 1st group.” The second Sarah 

heard her group she grabbed Miri and 

Chana and said, “I’m Dorothy! I am 

clearly made for the part.” “Woah-ohoh, 

oh no!” Miri cried. “Sarah, the last 

By: Malky Ettlinger 

By: Eli Nahamias 

time we had a play you were the one 

Lev Bais Yaakov 


When we had color war, our counselor When we play football, all of the good 

who got the main part by nagging the 

picked out a girl to be the head. No one 

wanted to listen to her because they 

wanted a popular girl to be the captain 

instead. So, instead of listening, the 

players get the ball. All the kids that 

are not so good don’t get the ball a lot. 

They always get upset because they 

don’t get the ball. Except, sometimes, 

teacher. On the day of the play, you 

were so nervous that you stuttered 

through the whole beginning and then 

I had to take over.” Chana continued, 

‘Yeah, Sarah, you should be the dog 

girls didn’t do anything she said and we let all the kids get the ball. We let 

because your animal impersonations 

the team lost. It’s hard for people to them do what they want. We compliment 

them about the way they play. 

are excellent.” When Sarah heard 

work as a team because everyone has 

those words, she ran out of the class 

their own opinion and doesn’t always When we give all of them credit, it 

and began to cry because she wanted 

like to listen what someone else has to makes them feel very good. There are 

to be in the spotlight. The day of the 

say. To fix it is to compromise and it will some kids who are very good at sports, 

play: “Ruf, Ruf, Ruf,” Sarah barked dramatically. 

After Sarah stopped barking, 

all turn out fine and, actually, probably who don’t care about other people’s 

be the best project yet. When everyone 

takes each other’s ideas and listens 

to them and asks even the shy kid’s 

opinion, everyone will click and the 

puzzle will come together. After all, in 

order for a puzzle to be complete, you 

need all the pieces in their own place. 

feelings. They yell at kids for doing 

something wrong. I always tell them to 

stop. I think that everyone should be 

treated the same way. I want to make a 

change so nobody puts anyone down. 

All the good players and the not so 

good players should compliment each 

she heard laughter from the audience. 

She realized that Hashem made you 

with ups and downs and sometimes 

you can’t be in the spotlight. But, if 

you work with what you’re good at and 

together as a team, you will succeed. 

And, in fact, the play was a success. 


Eshet Chayil 

James Haddad in honor of his wife Ricci 


Sara 

By Adam A. Ash 


Raquel 

By Joseph A. Franco 


Rose 

By Ike Betesh 


Nancy 

By Charles Grazi 


Lisa 

By Jackie Cohen – Arazi 


Leah 

By Joey Habert 


Simone 

By Matthew E. Dweck 


Sofia 

By Alan Jemal 


Joy 

By Martin Erani 


Randi 

By Joey Levy

Compliment talent that 

doesn’t draw attention 

(Hidden Talent) 

By: Lauren Savdie 


By: Gail Hafif 

Yeshivah Of Flatbush 

By: Judy Shalam 


One sunny day in camp, there was a 

group named 5G. They loved to play 

dodge ball. There were two captains. 

One was Patricia and the other captain 

was Sandy. Patricia grabbed 

In a play, the actors would have a better 

chance of having an amazing play 

if all the characters focused even if 

they had one line, but said it with confidence, 

belief, voice, feeling and hope. 

There was one girl, named Rebecca, 

who wasn’t as popular as Elaine. She 

had to work with Elaine and the other 2 

girls on a project. Rebecca is, secretly, 

the best drawer you would ever see. 

the ball first and 

She went to Elaine 


tried to throw it BETH SHAUL U MIRIAM search shul abbreviation BSM and said that she 

but was having 

has an idea to draw 

a little trouble. 

on Tri board. Elaine 

She threw it but 

missed everyone 

told her, “No, I am 

going to draw it, but 

on the other team. 

thanks.” Rebecca 

Then Sandy got 

the ball, but felt 

was so sad from what 

she was told so she 

bad that other 

hasn’t said a word to 

girls never got to 

anyone in her group. 

It is amazing how much 

throw. So, she 

Elaine was stuck on 

gave the ball to a 

how to make a 3D 

you can accomplish 

different girl and 

bridge. One of the 

she got 2 people 

other girls suggested 

when it doesn’t matter 

out. Sandy said, 

that Rebecca should 

“Great job,” and 

try. So, she tried. 

cheered her on. 

who gets the credit. 

Once she was done, 

Then Patricia 

all the girls loved it. At 

got the ball again but kept it to herself 

and she missed again. Sandy still 

cheered her on and said, “It doesn’t 

matter. You’ll get them next time.” Another 

girl said, “At least we are working 

as a team.” So, Patricia realized 

that she should work as a team just 

like Sandy. So, she did and cheered 

her friends on just like Sandy. She 

said, “You learn new things every day.” 

That would make the play wonderful 

even if you didn’t have the spotlight. 

The main actor should make it a point 

to recognize all the people who work 

behind the scenes and make the play 

possible. One person can’t make a play 

a success. He should say, “Sorry you 

didn’t get so many parts but, if it weren’t 

for you, I wouldn’t have known when to 

start and what to say. So, thank you.” 

the science fair everyone was saying, 

“Wow, what a great drawing.” Elaine 

then realized that she didn’t have to 

be great at everything. She told Rebecca, 

publicly, “You were right. Your 

drawing is wonderful.” Rebecca was 

so happy because she never imagined 

a shy girl like her would be recognized 

for her ability to draw. Now she 

felt more confident to show her talent. 


Honoring Parents 

In honor of Terri & Jojo Chehebar by their children 

In honor of 

Rae & Izzy Abade 

By Douglas Abade 

In honor of 

Dr. & Mrs. Shaya Khabyeh 



Joe & Lilly Arazi 


In honor of 

Margo Savdie 

By her children 

In honor of 

Sonnie Cabasso 

By her children 


Joyce & Morris Srour 



Freda and Jack M. Dweck 

By their Children, Grandchildren 

and Great Grandchildren 

In honor of 

Joseph & Frieda Sutton 



Shirley & Morris Farca 


In honor of 

Linda & Eddie Zonana 

By their children

Compliment talent that doesn’t draw attention 

OHEL YAAKOV CONG. 

OYC 



By: Evelyn Antebi 


Hanukkah was coming. My classmates 

and I decided to make a play 

about Hanukkah to perform to the 

whole 7th grade. We were picking 

jobs to do for the play. I decided that 

I wanted to design all the costumes. 

When I got home, I noticed that I 

didn’t know what I was doing. I tried 

Leaders become great, 

not because of their 

to think of who would be a good person 

to help me. I thought and thought 

until I remembered how good Susan 

dresses. Maybe, if I call her she’ll 

power, but because 

come to my house and help me. So, 

I called her up and explained to her 

of their ability to 

what happened. First, she wasn’t sure 

empower others 

if she wanted to come. Then I complimented 

By: Charles Seruya 


One day, my 3 friends and I were walking 

to a pizza shop. About half a mile 

away, we came to a street that we didn’t 

recognize. We were lost for about half 

an hour. One of my friends said, “Hey, 

the pizza shop is that way.” We didn’t 

believe him but we were lost anyway. 

So, how much worse would it get? We 

began walking in that direction and 

sure enough we got there in 20 minutes. 

Because of his hidden talent of 

sense of direction, we got pizza and 

he led us home. It’s important to compliment 

hidden talent since, then, he 

will use this talent more often because 

he will think it is special and important. 

To see sources for the 

quotes in the magazine 

By: Amanda Heskiel 


Last time we had color war, Sarah was 

the general. We split up the team. Esther 

was chosen to write the songs. 

She thought that Rachel was much 

better in writing songs. Esther gave 

that job to Rachel. When Rachel finished 

writing it, she gave it to Sarah. 

Sarah photocopied it and gave it out 

to the whole team. We practiced the 

songs when we sang it against the 

blue team. Every one complimented 

Sarah on the great song. Sarah 

said, “Thank you.” and then she said, 

“But, Rachel was the one to write it. 

She should be the one being complimented, 

not me.” We learn from Sarah 

that, even though she was the main 

person, she didn’t want all the credit. 

her on how much I liked her 

style in clothes and she came right 

over. She helped me with all the styles 

and the costumes looked better than 

ever. When the day of the play came, 

everyone kept telling me how much 

they liked the costumes. I said thank 

you but I told them that Susan did 

most of the work and they should go 

to her and compliment her. They did. 

Susan felt very happy that she helped 

me and she got the credit for doing it. 

By: Shelley Sitt 


In my gymnastics class, I was lead 

and my friend felt bad. So, I told everyone 

that my best friend helped 

me on this part. She felt very good. 

My friend said, “Thank you so much” 

to me. I told everyone that my friend 

will show her moves as well. I de- 

She was nice enough to give the cided that I wanted to share my spot- 

Log on TorahValues.com 

search kids’ quotes sources 

credit to the person who deserved it. light. We both ended up enjoying it. 


Eshet Chayil 

Joey Sitt in honor of his wife Betty 


Raquel 

by Jacob Aini 


Violet 

by Eddie Salem 


Bella 

by Haskel Cohen 


Victoria 

by Steven Salem 


Rebecca 

by Alan Maleh 


Ami 

by Ralph Sasson 


Heidi 

by Eli Mizrahi 


Alice 

by Billy Shalom 


Shella 

by Jack Saideh 


Marcy 

by Charles Sued


Finding good 

players is easy. 

Getting them to 

play as a team is 

another story 

By: Esther Dweck 


My friend was the writer of the play 

that our school was producing. The 

writing was wonderful and everybody 

who heard them loved it and was 

excited to come see the play on the 

opening night. The people in the play 

rehearsed and loved doing it. On the 

opening night before they started the 

play, the lead actress said she needed 

everyone’s attention. When the 

room got quiet she started to speak. 

She said, “Can I have a round of applause 

for my friend who wrote the 

play?” Everyone was clapping. My 

friend was so happy. When the play 

was over, my friend continued to write 

very good plays that everyone loved. 



LEV BAIS YAAKOV 

By: Eddie Halwani 


We were playing a game and there 

was a boy who was dribbling. He was 

confusing everyone. Then he ran and 

scored. This is a good talent because 

he can confuse anyone and get past 

everyone easily. If you are not a good 

dribbler, don’t try to do a great dribbling 

move because it’s not your talent. 

Tell the person with the dribbling 

talent that his part in the game is very 

important and you rely on him. He’ll 

feel like part of the team and try harder. 

By: Eddie Kababieh 

Yeshivah Lev Torah 

Everyone performs better when 

they get compliments for what they 

do. In basketball, you could tell the 

passer, “Nice pass!” the rebounder, 

“That was a great rebound,” the dribbler, 

“Wow, you dribble really fast.” 

By: Mary Salem 


The teacher asked Rachel to organize 

the play and to give everyone a part 

in the play. Rachel had the chance to 

take the main part for herself. But, she 

knew she was not very good at singing. 

Also, she knew her best friend 

Sandy was very good at singing and 

acting. So, she decided to give the 

main part to her. Rachel was done giving 

the main parts and responsibility. 

The whole crew was working hard. 

But, Rachel saw one girl, Lisa, working 

very very hard. Lisa was the costume 

designer. She would work day 

and night making the costumes. On 

the day of the play, when Rachel made 

her speech, she told everyone about 

Lisa’s designs and how she worked so 

hard. Rachel saw the smile on Lisa’s 

face. She knew that Lisa would always 

work on her talent. Now, she knows 

that she has a gift talent from Hashem. 

By: Lisa Jammal 


One day, there was a play going on. 

The hidden talent was the maid and the 

spotlight was the queen. The maid was 

jealous and wanted the spotlight. The 

queen was very good at her part. The 

maid made the queen get hurt so she 

could take the part. The maid was horrible 

as the queen. The queen had to 

be the new maid. When the show was 

going to start, the new queen got nervous 

and messed up the whole show. 

But, the new maid saved the show 

even though she was the hidden talent. 



OHEL SIMCHA CONG. 

Teamwork: 

Simply stated, 

it is less me 

and more we. 



OSC 

By: Teddy Laniado 


I was playing a basketball game in 

camp and we were losing. The time 

was almost up. We were down by two. 

My friend stole the ball and hit a three 

pointer. Even though he wasn’t a very 

good player, we won the game at the 

end. I told him his stealing helped us win 

the game and that was important. It’s 

important to give recognition to people 

because the next time he will do even 

better and will be inspired to play more. 

By: Marielle Marcos 


There is a girl who has a hidden talent 

of writing. I know that she spent so 

much time writing the play and making 

it the best. At the end of the play, 

when we introduced to the audience 

By: Fraidy Emanuel 

By: Rebecca Sardar 

the people in the play, I took the writer 

Bnos Yisroel 


of the play and introduced her. I announced 

that she wrote the whole play. 

Most of the girls would want the main It was the summer of 2012. We had 

part in acting because then they would color war in camp. I was chosen to 

be the center of attention. A solution for 

this would be for the girl who acts the 

best, she should get the main part and 

for the girl who sings well, she should 

get a solo. The girl who dances nicely 

should be in dance. This way each girl 

gets to shine in her own way. Also, the 

be the captain of my team. I was so 

happy and I, maybe, was too excited. I 

put myself in the color war dance, play, 

games and everything else. I was so 

carried away that I was selfish and forgot 

everyone else’s feelings. It was the 

day before color war and I was walking 

Everyone was clapping for her. That 

day, she was asked to write every play 

of the year. You should always compliment 

people with hidden talent because 

if you don’t they are never going 

to do what they are truly good at again. 

By: Patty Shrem 

to the gym. On my way, I heard 


teacher should say you are really good 

There was a girl who was the director 

and the head of the play. But, she 

at dancing so why don’t you be in the people. I looked and I saw two girls, 

dance? Then, together, it will be a great from my color war group acting. They 

didn’t know how to act so good. So, 

play. If the girl is good at the part, then were background dancers from the 

she gave the acting part to someone 

maybe you could add on a few lines 

for her or you can give her another little 

part in addition to the other part. So, 

this way, if everyone’s happy with her 

part, the play would come out great. 

play I was the star of. I said, “Wow you 

guys are good actresses.” They said, 

“Thanks.” That night, I was thinking that, 

if they have talents, other girls might 

have so many more talents as well. 

else who wasn’t popular. The 

unpopular girl was really good. After 

the play was over, the popular girl 

told the unpopular girl, “You were really 

good. You should be in a lot of 

Submit on TorahContest .com a lesson you learned from the 

other plays.” The girl felt good and 

stories & you will be entered in a ra fle for great prizes. See p. 52 comfortable with herself ever since. 


Rozie Tawil 

2011 East 13th Street | Brooklyn, NY 11229 

L i c eOut@gmail.com 

(888) LICE -OUT | (888) 542 - 3688 | (718) 451 - 6855 

Head Lice removal (All Natural) 

Affordable FLAT FEE 

Conveniently Located Office 

House Calls Serving Entire Tri-State Area 

W W W. N Y L I C E O U T. C O M 

Mitzvah Vendors 

Bar Mitzvah Decorations 

Bar Mitzvah Florist 

Bar Mitzvah Party Planners 

Bar Mitzvah Photographers 

Bar Mitzvah Venues 

Kosher Catering 

Party Entertainers 

Airbrush 

Bar Mitzvah DJ’s 

Clowns 

Party planning guide 

Plan your Bar/Bat Mitzvah with 

BMmagazine.com 

Easy to use guide 

For planning a successful party. 

Venues, caterers, florists, 

party planners, party favors, 

invitations, photographers, DJs, etc. 

The latest trends 

in the 

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Industry 

Mitzvah Store 

Bar Mitzvah Gifts 

Bar Mitzvah Attire 

Bar Mitzvah Cake 

Bar Mitzvah Favors 

Party Extra 

Mitzvah in Israel 

B a t M i t z v a h 

M i t z v a h I d e a s 


Get to know your 

team members’ strengths 

By: Jacob Rishty 


Imagine yourself being the leader of a 

group to work on a bridge for a class. 

Your team is: you, your best friend, another 

friend, and two other boys from 

your class. You want to be appreciated 

but not to be selfish. You try to include 

By: Rachel Russo 


This past year, when we were assigned 

a science project, I was given 

a group of girls that had all different 

talents. One person knew how to 

draw, one person knew how to type, 

one person knew how to sculpt, and 

By: Vivian Elias 


My friends and I were working on our 

science project on the solar system. 

I was in charge even though I didn’t 

want to. I just wanted to get the credit. 

But, my friend was a better leader 

and she was better at making every- 

everyone’s 

thing work out fine 

talents. But, you 

BAIS YAAKOV D’RAV MEIR 

but I wouldn’t let her 

only know your 

best friend’s talent. 

You need to 

find out everyone 

be the leader. After a 

while, I told her that 

she could have been 

a better leader than 

else’s talents. 

me and I made her 

You try to hang 

the leader. She gave 

out with everyone 

everyone the right 

else and you find 

jobs for their talents. 

their hidden talents. 

Together 

I was the researcher 

When the 

teacher says everyone 

Everyone 

because I was able 

to find very important 

get in your 

details and informa- 

groups, you and 

tion. Sara was the 

Achieves 

your group do 

writer because she 

just that. Everyone 

is waiting for 

the writing flow so it 

knew how to make 

More 

you to tell them 

sounds interesting 

what they are doing. You tell them 

what you have decided. None of them 

are unhappy with his part. They are all 

happy that they have the part that they 

wanted. In the end, the teacher smiles 

at your group knowing that we all got 

along. Your group got an A+. Without 

my team, I would’ve gotten an “F”. 

But, thanks to my team, we got an A+. 

one person was very organized. Since 

everyone knew how to do something 

different, we were very organized. 

We combined our talents and made 

it a success. Since I just knew a lot 

about our topic so I helped write and 

plan the project and our project ended 

up getting an “A” since we all worked 

together with our different talents. 

when we read it to the class. Rachel 

was in charge of decoration since she 

had a great taste for decorating the tri 

pod and making the solar system. On 

the bottom of our essay, we wrote who 

did what. We said that without each 

other doing what we are best at, we 

wouldn’t have finished it. , which is true. 

I am glad that we worked as a team. 


By: Esther Kishk 

By: Lauren Sardar 



“I want the lead role,” I shouted. “I really 

want to be the lead in our school start the play you should give credit to 

If you are the lead in a play, before you 

play. I will be amazing in the spotlight.” the people who wrote and directed the 

“I think that Leah will be amazing in the play. It is important to give a compliment 

because if you have a friend who 

spotlight,” Barbara stated. “No, I want 

to be the lead. I am a really good sing- 

is good at poetry and you don’t thank 

er,” I moaned. 

“Even though 

Leah is a better 

singer, I still 

want to be in the 

spotlight.” “Come 

on, you always 

get to be the lead 

role,” Barbara 

told me. I guess 

she was right. “I’ll 

give Leah a shot.” 

“Leah, do you 

want the spotlight?” 

We asked 

her. “No, I am 

okay. I don’t like 

the spotlight,” she 

told us. “Should 

Taking credit for 

someone else’s success 

we convince her into doing it?” Barbara 

asked. “No. If she doesn’t want, 

we shouldn’t force her.” “I’ll just write 

the songs,” Leah said as she left. The 

night of the play, “We would like to give 

credit to Leah for writing the amazing 

songs of the play,” I shouted. I could 

see Leah. A small smile appeared on 

her face. She was happy and so was I. 

BAIS YAAKOV ACADEMY 

They’re smart and 

quiet. Listen to their 

ideas and don’t 

steal their credit. 

her, she will stop writing poems and do 

something she hates instead. Esther 

was the writer of a play and, on the 

night of the play, I announced loudly 

that all of this happened because of 

Esther, because she wrote this play. 

By: Joyce Cohen 


There was a group of kids who had to 

make 600 cookies for the event. The 

leader’s name was Frieda. Frieda was 

a bad leader. They only made 300 

cookies and they needed to bake 300 

more cookies in one hour. They decided 

to switch leaders. 

The new leader 

was Joy. Joy gave 

everyone a job that 

they were good at. 

Frieda wasn’t paying 

attention. So, she 

messed up. When 

she finally starting 

paying attention, 

she realized that the 

cookies were burned. 

The event organizer 

came and saw only 

500 cookies. He said 

it was a good job. 

Frieda tried to take 

the credit. But, Joy’s 

friends stuck up for 

her and said that Joy was the leader 

and helped to make all of the 500 

cookies by working as a team. The 

event organizer offered Joy to be 

in charge of the next event as well. 


stories & you will be entered in a ra fle for great prizes. See p. 52 



Abie Shamah Magen David Yeshivah Jack Ashkenazi Magen David Yeshivah 

Raymond Tawil Magen David Yeshivah 

Eddie Sorscher Barkai Yeshiva 

David Bassoul Magen David Yeshivah 

Ikey Dweck Barkai Yeshiva 

Moshe Lati Barkai Yeshiva 

Michael Levy Barkai Yeshiva 

Teddy Mishanie Barkai Yeshiva 


Internal Medicine 

Cosmetic Laser Services 

Laser Ser vices for men and women 

Laser Hair Removal 

For All Skin Types: 

~Facial Hair 

~Spider Vein Removal 

~Age Spots 

~Photo Rejuvenation 

~Skin Tightening 

~Wrinkle Reduction 

Call for your 

Free 

Consultation 

Today! 

Internal Medicine: 

~Women’s & Men’s Health 

~Primary Care 

~Walks-in Welcome 

We Now Provide Weight 

Management & 

Control Counseling 

624 Kingshighway Phone: 718-336-1109 Fax: 718-336-1183 

Experts in surgical placement & 

restoration in dental implants 

On staff we have doctors who 

specialize in cosmetic and root canal. 

~Veneers 

~Invisalign 

~Dental Makeover 

Over 20 years of experience. 

624 Kingshighway 

Phone: 718-336-1109 

Fax: 718-336-1183 

161 Madison Avenue 

Phone: 866-224-1277 

Fax: 212-252-8895 


List of Names of Authors by Shul 

Search names below at TorahContest.com & submit a lesson you learned from their stories. See p.52 

Shaare Zion Cong. 

Antebi, Evelyn 

Betesh, Lois 

Bildirici, Gabriel 

Chabbott, Esther 

Chakalo, Norean 

Chera, Charlie 

Chkalo, Edgar 

Cohen – Saban, Coral 

Cohen, Nancy 

Dweck, Ikey 

Esquenazi, Morris 

Esses, Susan 

Farca, Viviane 

Gindi, Isaac 

Grego, Talya 

Guindi, Jack 

Guindi, Morris 

Guindi, Paula 

Haber, Frieda 

Haber, Molly 

Haber, Shirley 

Halwani, Eddie 

Jacobowitz, Paulette 

Kassab, Matilda 

Khafif, Nissim 

Laniado, Lauren 

Laniado, Teddy 

Lati, Rachel 

Levy, Jenny 

Maleh, Esther 

Massre, Shirley 

Safdieh, Lori 

Saideh, Fortune 

Sardar, Rebecca 

Sardar, Victor 

Sasson, Jacqueline 

Sasson, Mimi 

Tawil, Henry 

Tawil, Raymond 

Tawil, Sarah 

Tebele, Evelyn 

Beth Torah 

Chabot, Samantha 

Chera, Claudia 

Cohen, Violet 

Dweck, Sam 

Dweck, Shoshana 

Franco, Pamela 

Gammal, Sarah 

Haddad, Charles 

Rahmey, Jeanne 

Rishty, Jacob 

Sassoon, Alan 

Seruya, Charles 

Sutton, Morris 

Sutton, Steven 

Tawil, Eddie 

Tawil, Olga 

Zalta, Madalyn 

Ahava Ve Ahva 

Benzaken, Jennifer 

Chehebar, Joyce 

Douek, Bella 

Kishk, Sammy 

Mamiye, Ezra 

Mizrahi, Vico 

Mosseri, Jack 

Savdie, Lauren 

Sorscher, Eddie 

Tawil, David 

Sephardic 

Franco, Eileen 

Hazan, Marc 

Ahi Ezer cong. 

Althkefati, Shlomo 

Bukai, Tanya 

Faks, Victor 

Ftiha, Yosef 

Kameo, Michael 

Katach, Jack 

Kbabia, Alyn 

Khallouf, Priel 

Mineh, Ruthie 

Yad Yosef 

Jemal, Jack 

Magen Abraham 

Botton, Nathan 

Greenberg, Jack 

Jemal, Terry 

Lati, Jack 

Mizrahi, Yvonne 

Rishty, Cerise 

Serouya, Elliot 

Tammam, Isaac 

Bnei Yosef 

Dusi, Raymond 


Vote = Great Prizes at TorahContest.com 

Search names below at TorahContest.com & submit a lesson you learned from their stories. See p.52 

Shaare Shalom 

Antar, Leslie 

Barsano, Mark 

Benhamu, Moshe 

Benmashiah, Rosie 

Grunsfeld, Yaakov 

Heskiel, Amanda 

Hirsch, Joseph 

Marcos, Marielle 

Shlomo, Eric 

Shrem, Patty 

Tebele, Jeanette 

Tuachi, Danielle 

Magen David 

West Deal 

Ancona, Michael 

Saka, David 

Saka, Michelle 

Steinberg, Eleanor 

Tawil, Daniel 

Zagha, Gayle 

SLC 

Alfaks, Isaac 

Alfaks, Nelly 

Alfaks, Sari 

Nahamias, Abie 

Nahamias, Eli 

Zeitoune, Mayer 

Bet Yaacob 

Cohen, Cookie 

Fteha, Victor 

Greenstein, Rebecca 

Salem, Jo Jo 

MDY Cong. 

Bijou, Freddy 

Cohen, Raquel 

Dayan, Ikey 

Dweck, David 

Erani, Danny 

Falack, Susan 

Gindi, Sari 

Gindi, Vivian 

Sorcher, Jacob 

Zeitoune, Sarah 

Mikdash Eliyahu 

Dweck, Jack R. 

Haber, Eric 

Harari, Gabrielle 

Ovadia, Yisrael Meir 

Sued, Gaby 

Sutton, Eddie 

Shaare Tefillah 

Cohen, Paulina 

Gammal, Linda 

Greenberg, Sophie 

Sasson, Frieda 

Sitt, Albert 

Ohel Yaacob 

Gindi, Alana 

Obnona, Estelle 

Tawil, Ruth 

Tawil, Sharon 

Bnei Yitzchak 

Ashkenazi, Jack 

Betesh, Joyce 

Catton, Eddie 

Dweck, Jack H. 

Ezon, Joseph 

Halwani, Sara 

Hedaya, Jacob 

Ohel Simcha 

Ades, Morris 

Cohen, Celia 

Cohen, Clarisse 

Menahem, Rochelle 

Rofe, Sophia 

Swed, Vicki 

Har Halebanon 

Elias, Yakov 

Lati, Moshe 

Quibrisi, Isaac 

Salamon, Morris 

Zeitoune, Eddie 

Kol Israel 

Cohen. Adina 

Esses, Sandy 

Shuster, Victoria 





Lisa & Boby Dana 18 Stryker St (off Ave W & McDonald) 718-336-0336 917-656-8480 

Celebrating our 13th Anniversary 

Thanks for your support! 

Dressing the men and boys of our community 


Kol Yaakov Cong. 

Hayat Catering 

by 

718-336-1433 

1703 McDonald Ave (Bet. Ave O & Ave P) 

| Glatt Kosher | Chalak Beit Yosef | Bishul Yisroel according to Maran |


S. Benzaken D. Bildirici A. Shalam 

D. Nigri 

L. Yedid 

D. Maslaton 

D. Bassoul 

R. Tawil R. Esses 




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 



Isaac Chalouh 

Entertainment 

917.371.9324 

~ Event Production ~ Lighting Design ~ Talented Performers ~ 

Please visit us at Music World: 2085 East 8th Street 

www.DjIsaacChalouh.com

Bar Mitzvah Magazine 2013

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?