Community Magazine May 2019

88 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE Maskeel El Dal, the Hacham Baruch Kollel and Hesed Fund, will be proudly having their seventh Chinese Auction. As the excitement grows, this year’s auction will be hosted by Ceryse and Eddie Mizrachi on Tuesday, May 14 th . Both the full-day Kollel and the Hesed Fund have expanded in recent years. The Kollel presently has 22 young rabbis learning all day long. This is a large jump from the original group of ten rabbis, which began some 13 years ago. The Hesed Fund was started by Hacham Baruch almost 50 years ago. While the rabbi began the fund to assist our brethren in Israel, his two sons, Hacham Yaacov and David, have expanded the program to assist widows, families facing dire financial straits, burials, and other unexpected hardships in our New York Community. Thanks to Hashem and the generous support of donors, the Hesed Fund has made a real difference – offering assistance to our fellow Jews in their time of need. May Hashem bless us all with the ability to continue giving to and assisting our fellow Jews, and may the zechut of all our hesed bring great blessing and redemption to the Jewish people, amen. Please read the 4-page article in this month’s issue for further information on both the Kollel and Hesed Fund, and a short biography on Hacham Baruch, zt”l . The Auction will feature three speakers on Tuesday – Rabbi Shlomo Diamond, Rabbi Joey Haber, and Rabbi David Ashear. Everyone is encouraged to pass by 2014 West Street to hear some great classes, enjoy lunch, and gain the mitzvot of supporting Torah and hesed all in one. For further information, or for ticket pages, please contact Frieda Harary at 917.704.4315, Charlotte Sutton at 917.806.7241, Sophia Sasson at 908.415.7953, Aviva Ben-Haim at 347.931.0585, or e-mail hachambaruch@hotmail.com . Under the leadership of Rabbi Joey Haber and Ms. Frieda Cattan, Magen David Yeshivah High School welcomed Rabbi Raymond Sultan of the Sephardic Heritage Museum. Rabbi Sultan presented artifacts from synagogues of our ancestors. Items included a washing cup that the Kohanim used and an ostrich egg that hung in the synagogue in Damascus. Afterwards, the students watched a video produced by their peers about the history of our community synagogues. The video showed students visiting and learning about five of our community shuls – Beth Torah, Shaare Zion, Ahi Ezer, Ahaba Ve Ahava, and the Magen David 67th Street Synagogue. YDE Thunder prevailed as this year’s champion of the Yeshiva League Basketball Championship. YDE Thunder defeated the Magen David Warriors, bringing the school, and the first graduating class, their first basketball championship. The 8 th Grade YDE Thunder basketball season had a difficult start, with two heartbreaking losses. The Thunder was able to regroup after those two losses by winning their next five games and finished the regular season with a 7-3 record. Their opponent in the first round of the playoffs was Flatbush (8-2). It was an exciting back and forth game that went into overtime. In overtime, the Thunder was down 50-48 with 1:11 left to the game when Sammy Cohen went to the foul line and hit both free throws to tie the game. With a few more clutch baskets and defensive stops, YDE held on for a 54-52 win. The victory led Thunder into the semi-finals against undefeated HALB (11-0). The excellent play of Freddy Souid (20 pts.) and Eli Jajati (9 pts.) gave YDE a 26-22 lead at the half. The shooting of Jacky Yedid (8 pts.) gave YDE a lead that they would relinquish once again. Down 49-48 with 1.4 seconds left, Freddy Souid hit one out of two free throws to send the game into overtime. In overtime, Ikey Greenstein (8 pts.) led the charge as the Thunder pulled away with a 62-55 victory, sending them to their very first championship game. In the championship game, the YDE Thunder's outstanding defensive effort and the play of Finals MVP Jack Levy (19 pts.) gave them a 26-13 lead at the half. Magen David was too good of a team to not put up a fight, and was able to cut the lead to 34-32. The Thunder kept their composure and fought back. The inside play of Steven Sayegh (13 pts.) and the outside shooting of Freddy Souid (12 pts.) gave the YDE Thunder their first basketball championship in the school’s history. co mm unity HIGHL IGHTS The Hacham Baruch Kollel and Hesed Fund to Hold Their 7 th Annual Chinese Auction Magen David Yeshivah HS Welcomes Rabbi Raymond Sultan of the Sephardic Heritage Museum YDE Thunder Wins Basketball Yeshiva League Championship