The Derech Etz Chaim News

Going to the Championship -- Again!!!!!!

2011-02-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

After winning the AFI Championships in 5769, this mighty "football" school of 35 students are back in the big game. Amazingly, this is a completely new team. Only one student who played in the 5769 Championship is back in 5771 (Pinchas Schwartzbaum) and there is no player on the team who is not a DEC student.

Yes, that is R' Sheftel in the picture. You know its a big game when R' Sheftel is in attendance. For more details check out the DEC Facebook page and the DEC Football Blog

And we didn't just beat top rated Lobos in the Semi-Finals - we whalloped them 101-6. Well we would have won 101-6 if we hadn't run out of time. Just take a look for yourself!!

Sadoff, we might have to make a"Championship Sweatshirt"

Yeah this 5771 team is awesome, but now is when all of the "what ifs" start to emerge.
Could this 5771 team beat the 5769 Championship team?
And let's not forget about the DEC team from 5766?

Photos courtesy of Anat Goldstein

Moshe Avigdor Horowitz's Bar Mitzvah Gift

2010-02-16T03:36:00.000-08:00

First I would like to apologize to the Derech Etz Chaim faithful for not keeping the blog current. However with DEC happenings being updated on Facebook, it didn't seem necessary to duplicate everything here.

However, we finally have something to post again

Nechemiah Kushner, shana bet at DEC is organizing for Moshe Avigdor Horowitz's Bar Mitzvah Gift and he would like to say the following:

"Hey guys its Nechemiah Kushner, shana bet at Derech Etz Chaim, and I'm trying to put together some money to buy a nice gift for Moshe Avigdor Horowitz. Instead of all sending him some small random things, lets all get together and get him something nice!! If your willing to help click the donate button! Any amount is accepted. With only a couple of bucks a guy, we can get him something he'd actually like."

If you would like to give simply click on the Paypal button below to securly give towards the gift

Also please check out the official Moshe Avigdor Horowitz Bar Mitzvah blog at:
http://moshe13.blogspot.com/

Mazel Tov!!!

DEC and Yad Eliezer

2009-11-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

Once in a while the students at Derech Etz Chaim need an opportunity to express their chessed outside of the yeshiva walls. Yad Eliezer, one of the most integral charitable organizations in Israel, relies almost completely on volunteers to help make their programs successful, enabling more than 95% of their contributions to go towards helping people.

DEC has been a proud partner of Yad Eliezer for the past few years. The students especially love visiting the warehouse to pack food boxes for needy families.

Every month, Yad Eliezer delivers food boxes to over 6,000 families, assisting 50,000 people. Each box contains the essentials for a hungry family: rice, beans, pasta, sugar, flour, oil, laundry detergent and more.

By supplying food to the home, rather than feeding people in soup kitchens, Yad Eliezer eases the plight of the needy, while maintaining family stability and dignity.

A Message of Chizuk for Winter Zman

2009-10-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan is upon us at Derech Etz Chaim in Har Nof. We have adjusted to life in yeshiva over Elul. We heard the wake up call of Rosh HaShana, endured through Yom Kippur and celebrated the joys of Succos. Now is the time to get our bearings again, and make the most of the z'man ahead of us. Sometimes it may seem like we are running on a treadmill.
Weeks and weeks of davening, learning and Chef Dani's menu from now until Pesach. Blatt after Blatt of bekiyus, marching through Mesechet Shabbos. But NO PAIN, NO GAIN. We have to push ourselves, we have to give it our best effort, because that's why we came to Derech Etz Chaim. There is someone looking down from up above
and he is rooting for us (on and off the field) and all he wants is for us to be the best we can be. Let's unite together, encourage each other and let's turn the corner on Purim and look back with no regrets. This is the first day of the rest of the z'man. Let's come out of the gate strong. Hatzlacha to all of us.

Simchas Torah at DEC 5770

2009-10-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

A lot of activity this year so far, but not too many pictures being posted up to show for it - let's work on that DEC

These are some pictures that Derech Etz Chaim News was able to get in an exclusive backstage look at Simchas Torah Round II. Unfortunately no photos could be taken of Round I. Thus, it will only continue to exist in the hearts and minds of those who were privileged to experience it in person.

After Hakafos #22 though #28 DEC was treated to Chinese Cuisine for Seudas Yom Tov. A D'var Torah from R' Gittleman reminding us all that true meaning Simcha can only be attained through spiritual pursuits and not through fleeting material means void of Avodas Hashem. Yakov Rose and Jeffrey Mally anchored the group with Z'miros

This brings to a close our Holy-day season and the start of the winter z'man. We want to thank the Rosh Yeshiva, R' Mendel and R' Sheftel for their chazanus, their hislavus and their Rebbetzins' cooking. Uncle Dave for Tikyat Shofar and B.J. for Koheles and Torah Reading. And of course 'Teleporter' for everything else.

Matzah Baking 2009

2009-06-03T04:54:00.000-07:00

Once a year the students of Derech Etz Chaim bake matzot for Pesach with the rebbeim and friends of the yeshiva. This year was an added challenge. After moving into the new building adjustments had to be made to accommodate the equipment. Fortunately, Rabbi Katz and R' Sheftel had already thought of this long before the move into the new building. Of course it is one thing to design the "matzah baking factory" in their minds and another to put it into practice.

Two big differences was the 90 degree angle from the rolling tables to the boring tables and the ovens. Also the ovens were inside the building this year instead of on their mirpeset.

As usual the boys worked hard (some harder than others). Special thanks to Uncle Josh who took on a lot of the pounding. Yaakov Hill who handled much of the kneading and R' Sheftel for working the oven and for setting up the equipment.

Purim Night - Costumes

2009-03-16T10:50:00.001-07:00

It wasn't the red carpet on Oscar night, but Derech Etz Chaim students made their fashion statements over Purim.

Let's get right to the awards for best costumes:

Most Original Costume goes to Rafi Abraham for a bottle of Shock Chocolate Milk
Best Celebrity Impersonation goes to Nechemia Kushner as Lt. Jim Dangle
Runner up goes to Yissie Kramer as Robert Wuhl

Best Impersonation of a DEC student goes to Meir Gersten for his Jack Golberg outfit (seen here with Jeff "Mendel" Small as Siggy Cleveland Smalls who should be credited for most of these pictures)
Most self effacing costume goes to Baby Pinchas Schwarzbaum
Best Overall Costume goes to Adam Siebzener for his dalmatian
Honorable mentions go to Yakov Hill is Abba Hill; Josh Corcos as King Achashverosh and horse;

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS !!!!!!!!!

2009-03-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, Derech Etz Chaim is the 2008-2009 AFI Flag Football Champions

Here is the edited video of the Holyland Bowl Championship Game with a game summary on the bottom. The guys were all chanting "Repeat! Repeat!" at the awards ceremony after the game. Most of the players are planning on coming back for shana bet / shana gimmel - maybe this is the start of a DEC dynasty...

QB/WR/CB – Yeruchum Pliner
QB/WR/CB/DE - Levi Naiditch
WR – Chaim Aaron Gross
WR – Kobi Schwarzbaum
TE – Pinchas Schwarzbaum
C – Mordechai Landesman
CB – Rafi Abraham
DE – Yaakov Hill
LB – Adam Siebzener
CB – Jeffrey Mally

DNP - Jack Goldberg, Yissie Kramer, Sam Ash

Things started going Derech Etz Chaim’s way early as they won the coin toss and elected to kick. R’ Katz in a jovial mood remarked, “We haven’t lost a coin toss all year” and then he suddenly got serious and added, “Don’t talk to me during the game”

Sam Ash was out of the lineup with an injured leg, which he suffered in a basketball league game two weeks before. After two weeks of playing hurt he was not in the lineup, but still dressed for the game and added a source of chizuk in the huddles and on the sidelines. He also sent in plays to the huddle from the sidelines for Coach R’ Katz. I asked Sam about what it was like to miss the Championship game and in Schwarzenegger-like tone he quipped, “I’ll be back”

DEC had quite a cheering section

You could see how intimidated and nervous Lobos was from the onset. On the first play from scrimmage they were called for a false start penalty pushing them back to their own 5-yard line. A third down pass should have been picked off by Levi Naditch, but it slipped through his hands.

The punt return was bobbled by the usually sure handed Yeruchum Pliner leading to no return and DEC started their first drive from about the 9-yard line [Beginning of Video]. DEC got thing going in a hurry as a short pass from Pliner to Naditch turned into a 22-yard play and almost a touchdown, if not for a Lobos lineman trailing the play and pulling the flag. Pliner then ran for another 4 yards and then it was Naditch to Pliner for another 6. A third down blitz led to 4th and goal. Naditch fired complete into the end zone – but to Aryeh Rudman, star player of Lobos, who intercepted the pass and brought it back to the 25-yard line. [0:25 in Video]

Lobos’ second drive was met by tenacious defense including a 3rd down sack leading to a 4th and 15 from about midfield. [0:33 in Video] DEC was very deep in coverage and a misread by Levi Naditch led to a dump play to the Lobos tight end, which with a few blocks led to a touchdown. Lobos missed the extra point; and that would be the last point they would score.
Lobos 6 – DEC 0
On their next drive DEC managed a 3rd and 8, but a sack by Asher Ingber of Lobos forced DEC to punt. Lobos couldn’t get anything going either as a 2nd down sack by Yakov Hill. After a third down pass was overthrown Lobos was forced to punt – but this time it was Hill again who got a hand on the ball giving DEC great field position from the Lobos 26 – and the crowd was fired up.

The third drive from DEC produced two incomplete passes and a 2-yard pickup on a fake reverse setting up 4th and 18. Coach Katz decided that punting would not yield much and decided to take a shot for the first down or a TD. Pliner with good pass protection rolled to his left and fired right to Kobi Schwarzbaum on the right sideline just in front of the first down marker. [0:53 in Video] As you can see Kobi had the presence of mind to cut back against the grain to avoid a diving Rudman allowing him to pick up the crucial first down and a huge confidence builder for DEC which would change the momentum of the game.

On the next play, [1:01 in Video] Pliner finds Pinchas Schwartzbaum releasing from tight end on the rush to the left sideline, who twirls in for the TD. DEC misses their first of 4 extra points on the game.
DEC 6 – Lobos 6 – (with 5:58 remaining in the half)

Lobos knew they had plenty of time left for a score. They also knew DEC would be getting the ball back in the second half, which made scoring on this drive essential for Lobos. After a QB scramble that led to 12 yards it was 3rd and 8. Yakov Hill comes up again with a huge sack pushing Lobos back to their own 12 forcing them to punt. The secondary got an assist on that sack as the QB had time to throw but couldn’t find anyone open.

After the last punt was blocked, this punt was clearly hurried producing a high and shallow punt. Pliner was able to catch while running in, giving him the momentum for a nice return and great field position on the Lobos 18.

1st and goal was a perfectly thrown ball to Chaim Gross in the right corner of the end zone, but Gross spun inside instead of outside to his right while running his out pattern. He was off balance and dropped the ball when it arrived on the timing pattern. Gross blows a huge opportunity, but redeems himself in second half.

[1:12 in Video] On 3rd and goal Lobos made the mistake of only rushing one lineman. This gave Pliner plenty of time as Ingber was thrown around by Pinchas and Mordechai Landesman. Patiently, Pliner finds Naditch on the right sideline who catches it on the 3-yard line and rushes in for the TD.
DEC 12 – Lobos 6 (with 2:49 remaining in the half)

Lobos determined to score finds Rudman on 2nd down for a 15 pickup and a first down in DEC territory. After an incomplete pass, another enormous sack by Yaakov Hill, forcing 3rd and long. After another incomplete pass Lobos punts not wanting to risk another DEC score before the half. DEC leaves no one back to return the punt and it bounces into the endzone for a touchback.

With 47 seconds on the clock, two time outs and 50 yards to the end zone, Coach R’ Katz decided not to take his 6-point lead into the half, but looks for more. “We are going to play our game that we’ve been playing all year”, he said. Katz instructed DEC to stay aggressive and on the attack. 1st down was Naditch to Pliner for 12 yards on a slant to the right sideline. On 2nd down, Pliner was able to scramble for a first down on a broken play , but the a holding penalty called the play back. After another short play, Pliner is sacked on 3rd and long with under 10 seconds remaining and DEC and Lobos both let the clock run out.

The AFI League didn’t see the need to have any Halftime Show

The second half kick was a touchback and DEC started from their own 10 yard line. On 2nd down, [1:27 in Video] Naditch finds Kobi on a short button hook on the right sideline, but a missed flag by Rudman, leads to a 30-yard gain. 1st and goal DEC got 4 yards on a fake reverse, usually one of their big gainers, but it didn’t seem to work against Lobos all game. On 2nd down, Pliner found Naditch, who after the catch faked a lateral, paralyzing the defender and scampered into the end zone – but flag guarding was called on Naditch and brought the ball back out to the 11 yard line. 3rd down was incomplete, 4th down was intercepted by Lobos, but a offside penalty on Lobos kept the drive alive. The fourth down do-over was likewise intercepted in the end zone for a touchback.

Lobos needed to get things going before DEC puts the game out of reach. Rafi Abraham, with great coverage, knocked down the pass on first down. Yakov Hill nearly missed another sack on 2nd down. DEC gets a lucky break on 3rd down. The QB rolls right and finds his receiver on the right side at midfield, who avoids the tackle and sprints 30 more yards into the end zone. For some reason, the ref that DEC nicknamed “Ref Doni”, due to a striking resemblance to our Chef, Doni Richter, calls the play back to the DEC 25 yard line. The receiver had both flags in his belt; and after a long huddle of the refs on the field and no real explanation, play continued. Perhaps he stepped out of bounce, but it didn’t appear so.

1st down for Lobos was a short dump to the tight end, but add 5 yards at end of the play for roughing the passer on the defense. 3rd and about 12, with heavy contact in the end zone, a good no call, as Abraham knocks the ball away. 4th down was another break for DEC who line up with only one cornerback on two receivers, who split one short and one long. Abraham, makes a huge play, by leaving his man on the pass release and is able to pull the open man’s flag before he can cross the first down marker, forcing the turnover on downs.

You won’t see it in the box score or the video, but this was a huge play by Abraham, because Lobos would have had 1st and goal and might have tied the score with 13 minutes left in the game. The momentum would have shifted and who knows if the next play, which was the game changer would have ever taken place.

[1:41 in Video] On first down from their own 6-yard line, Pliner steps out of the end zone and fires a bomb to Chaim Gross to a sprinting Gross on the left sideline. With two steps on his man, the perfectly thrown ball catches Gross in stride for the 54-yard TD play. Gross redeeming himself for that dropped TD in the first half, waking up the crowd and bringing them to their feet
DEC 18 – Lobos 6 – [with 12:46 to play in the game]

Lobos starting to feel the pressure of the score and the clock must desparately get things going. They make two quick completions setting up a 4th and 4 from their own 26 yard line. The Lobos star player Aryeh Rudman makes a huge mental error leaving before the snap, costing his team 5 yards. They can only pick up 6 yards on the next play and turn it over on downs. Things starting to look bleak for Lobos.

DEC starts their next drive from a little past midfield. Again, a lucky break for DEC, on a play that could have turned around the game. [1:56 in Video] With the play clock winding down, DEC rushes to get the play off, (you can see Adam Siebzener calling for timeout) Pliner’s rolls right to avoid the blitz and throws a lazy pass over a blitzing defender. The pass is short to Naditch, but instead of an interception, the Lobos cornerback, lets the pass – and the Lobos’ chance of a comeback slip through his fingers to, tipped to the awaiting Naditch for a 18-yard gain to the Lobos 5 yard line.

With the crowd chanting DEC, DEC – second and 2 was some more sloppy play for DEC and more bad news for Lobos. [2:06 in Video] A team is not allowed to run inside the 10 yard line, so Naditch flips to Pliner behind the line of scrimmage trying to pick up the first down on a designed play. Pliner bobbles the pass, before managing to haul it in. Looking something like Barry Sanders, Pliner circles to the backfield trying to make something out of a broken play. He stumbles, (looks like he fakes a pass), spins to avoid one defender deep in the backfield, avoids a diving Rudman, pumps right as if he is going to throw a pass he can’t throw, runs left and then right, finally getting his flag pulled, but picking up the first down. Meanwhile the aforementioned ‘diving Rudman’ collided with his own player on the play, out for the rest of the game. Injury timeout with 8:29 to play in regulation.

When play resumes, [2:19 in Video], 1st and goal on the 2, Naditch under pressure from two Lobos lineman rolls all the way across the field and throws left, lofting a floater to a soaring Kobi who outjumps everyone and hauls it in for the TD. The extra point was actually caught by Kobi, but ref Dovi Rabinowitz called it off on a terrible call of offensive pass interference – if anything Kobi was being held by the Lobos cornerback, but with game in hand DEC didn’t make too much of it.
DEC 24 – Lobos 6 [7:21 remaining]

With their star player out and down 3 scores, Lobos needed a miracle or two. With DEC in prevent defense, Lobos picks up 7 yards on 1st down and a 14-yard pass play on 3rd down to move the chains, with 5:44 to play and the clock running. On 1st down Lobos goes long and has a man open deep, but comes up empty. On 3rd and long the QB scrambles for a first down with the secondary deep, but blatant flag guarding moves the ball back for 4th and short. Adam Siebzener dives to knock the ball away and prevents the first down.

The crowd starts singing Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye, with 3:04 to play. Two more runs by Pliner and the game is called as the mercy rule is decreed at the 1 minute warning.
DEC are the AFI Flag Football Champions !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FINAL SCORE: Derech Etz Chaim 24 – Lobos 6
MVP: QB Yeruchum Pliner

The post party celebration was sponsored by R’ Moshe Eliyahu at his house in nearby Rechavia.

M'sh'nichnas Adar Marbim B'Simcha

2009-03-07T16:46:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year again. The REAL March Madness!!!! The buildup to Purim at Derech Etz Chaim. Yaakov Hill and Josh Gersten, who hope to pursue careers in interior design, led a group of students to decorate the beis midrash in the middle of the night on Erev Rosh Chodesh.

Aside from inundating the beis midrash with colorful balloons and paper chains, they came up with a few entertaining posters and signs

But of course, even with the beis midrash dressed for Purim, learning continues unabted. R' Gittleman giving his daily mishnayos shiur below during the afternoon break to Yoni Calabrese and Sean Littman

The Long Winter Zman

2009-03-02T13:40:00.000-08:00

It's cold and rainy outside, but the beis midrash is smoking along full steam ahead. From Chanukah until Purim, with the exception of a tiyul here and there is the long haul of winter zman where the DEC students pour in on. The students are fully acclimated to three sedarim per day and are producing quantity and quality in morning, afternoon and night sedarim

R' Aharon Katz's shiur has turned the corner on Kamza and Bar Kamza, with R' Moshe Eliyahu's shiur not far behind. R' Sheftel's group has just started the fourth perek. In the morning's both R' Gittleman's shiur and R' Wolff's shiur has covered the eighth perek and are halfway through the ninth. R' Mendel's shiur, as usual, is "somewhere over the rainbow"

Above we have Joe learning with Chaim and Kobi learning with Yissie, reviewing bekiyus from R' Sheftel's shiur

DEC With an Impressive Win over Neveh Zion

2009-01-17T09:51:00.000-08:00

Games against Neveh have always been tough, with R' Katz demanding from his players to "keep their cool". However in the first round of the playoffs DEC let their playing do the talking.

R' Sheftel couldn't make the game, but with help from Mrs. Katz and Uncle David, the usually boisterous Neveh crowd was stunned and silenced by an unrelenting DEC offense and defense that quickly put the game out of reach, with a 55-0 halftime score and 67-12 final score

Chesed at Yad Eliezer

2009-01-04T09:27:00.000-08:00

The main focus at Derech Etz Chaim is turning boys into b'nei Torah and transmitting the ability to learn Torah independently, by building their skills and love for learning. Of course, the year in Israel is filled with a myriad of experiences and activities that supplement and reinforce our main educational goals.

One of those components is chesed. Approximately once a month we take out time from afternoon seder to help the less fortunate. Our most recent visit was to Yad Eliezer to help pack weekly "food boxes" for needy families of Jerusalem and the surrounding region. Below is a photo of our students posing on one of the forklifts outside the main warehouse in Jerusalem after a couple of hours of work.

Yad Eliezer is a wonderful organization that we enjoy supporting where $0.97 of every dollar goes to needy individual and families in Israel. Compare that to the American Cancer Society where only $0.68 of every dollar goes to helping people or Amenesty International with under $0.76 per dollar.

Please visit Yad Eliezer's website and donate to one of their many worthwhile programs today.

The Rest of Chanukah at DEC

2008-12-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

Monday night (2nd night of Chanukah) both R' Sheftel and the Rosh Yeshiva had shiurim for their respective afternoon shiurim. On Tuesday night it was morning seder's turn with R' Gittleman and R' Mendel both entertaining.

Here is a photo of the yeshiva singing Ma'oz Tzur on the 3rd night of Chanukah in the DEC beis midrash. The boys lit their personal menorahs in the Richard Gersten Memorial Library.

From Wednesday until Sunday the yeshiva had a brief ben hazmanim. Some students took the opportunity to travel, others spent time with parents and friends that were visiting Israel over Chanukah, but others stayed in Yeshiva and continued learning -- albeit with a less intense schedule. R' Gittleman's shiur continued to meet in the morning and some students stayed in the shiur room and continued on, long after their rebbeim had gone home....

Monday we were back to normal. R' Wolff and his shiur made a siyum on the 8th perek of Gitten and started the 9th. We are looking forward to students to step up their learning and chazarah as we enter the main stretch of winter zman about 9 weeks until Purim.

1st Night of Chanukah at DEC

2008-12-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Chanukah is one of those turning points of the year. Since Sukkos the students have been gradually picking up the learning. It's time to celebrate our accomplishments during Chanukah, and the light of Torah She'Bal Peh.

Sunday night, the first night of Chanukah, the Derech Etz Chaim mesibah was at R' Binyamin Wolff's house at 6:30 PM.

We had some suprise guests, like alumni Ari Galster, whose new yeshiva apparantly doesn't throw an awesome Chanukah party like DEC.

We also had R' Schwartzman, grandson of R' Aharon Kotler, who happens to be R' Wolff's upstairs neighbor, give us a shiur on "Why do we celebrate Chanukah?"

There is nothing better to work up an appetite like a shiur from R' Schwartzman!

After some lasagna, quiche and latkes, R' Betzalel Gersten gave a d'var Torah about the need to "fill our flasks with more oil" than our ancestors may have in order to "last the long, cold, windy night". Madrich and alumni Yaakov Rose brought along his guitar and filled the night with Chanukah songs.

R' Wolff finished off with a d'var Torah and plea to the students to identify all the "bags of gold" around them and gather them up while they still can.

R' Moshe Eliyahu, who also lives in the neighborhood, stopped by to visit and to endulge his "sweet tooth" with a sufganiah.

The Land Down Under

2008-12-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about Australia -- I'm talking about the caves of Eretz Yisrael. Yair, or the Caveman, as we like to call him, takes the yeshiva students to explore the caves outside of Beit Shemesh. Below we have the Caveman posing with shana alef Jeffrey "Mendel" Small.

It is completely dark in the caves. Students bring flashlights or use their cellphones to maneuver around the caves. Often they will turn off the flashlights and have fun groping around in the dark trying to carefully make their way through the "obstacle course' like tunnels inside the caves.

Likewise, photos in the caves are complete guesswork as flashes go off hopefully capturing a good picture. Here is a random picture of Rafi and Joey in the caves. The snow-like effect is caused by dust that circulates through the poorly ventilated caves.

If you can make out the triangular indentations in the wall, we were taught that these are actually nests for birds that come in and out of the caves, made by those that once inhabited the caves. Throughout history in Eretz Yisrael, caves like these were where many Jews hid to escape religious persecution -- l'havdil, similar to what we hear about today in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Although the caves are cool, both literally and figuratively, it feels good to make your way to an exit and squint out at the large world out there after such a claustrophobic experience. Here shana bet Uri Henig squeezes out of one of the caves doorways. Come on guys...give a Uri a hand and help him out of there.

Someone's in the DEC Kitchen

2008-12-18T20:32:00.000-08:00

Another great perk of DEC is that Kitchen is open for the students to use. Budding B'nei Torah have a chance to work on their culinary skills and perfect their chulent recipes. Above we have Nechemia with the oven mitts on and wide-eyed Jack just can't wait to rip open that bag of potatoes and get that chulent cooking.

Now every so often, as boys will be boys, the students may lose their kitchen privlidges from time to time, usually for making a big mess and not cleaning up after themselves, or snacking on prepared food in the kitchen that was supposed to be for yeshiva meals. But usually the perpertrators have a sit down with Mrs. Katz and/or Chef Doni to go over proper kitchen procedures and pretty soon the Derech Etz Chaim kitchen is vibrant with our students homemade recipies once again, like Avraham Trieger's...uh....what is that...donuts?...fried bagels?...I'm sure whatever it is tastes deeeeeelicious!!!!!

Golan Shabbaton

2008-12-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

One of the Shabbatons that we look forward to every year at Derech Etz Chaim is the Golan Shabbaton. The yeshiva spends the Shabbos in the town of Nov and trades the urban Har Nof for a peaceful weekend in the rural Golan. It is so beautiful up in the Golan, sometimes it's hard to find our way back to Jerusalem

We don't have too many pictures from Shabbos, but we have a few from the Thursday and Friday that we spent up at the Golan. Although it is breathtaking to hike around the Golan terrain, and visit interesting historical battle sites, the students always find the Golan Winery to be the most enjoyable of all. Nechemia please give someone else a turn.

Students get to taste test different Golan wines and act as wine connisores whafting in the fruity wine aroma and swirling it around in their wine glasses. Below we have from left to right: Jeffrey Small, Alex Bistritz and Yitzy Fox learning about some of the finer points on Kosher wines.

And here is a final picture of a beautiful Golan sunset
Photo Credits: Avraham Trieger

The Derech Etz Chaim Connection

2008-12-12T04:23:00.000-08:00

One of the most wonderful things about being a student at Derech Etz Chaim is that relationships with rebbeim and talmidim last a lifetime. A talmid at Derech Etz Chaim becomes an exclusive member of an extended family with R' Aharon Katz as our rosh yeshiva and patriarch.

When R' Katz comes to the United States to meet with potential DEC students around the country, he makes time to visit with Alumni. These days there is a giant cluster of alumni in Kew Gardens Hills, both at Lander College as well as THE HOUSE on 147-09 75th Avenue, which is home to DEC alumni working or going to graduate school in the area and basically functions as the non-official DEC Frat House.
View Larger Map

We are used to seeing R' Katz give his shiurim around the table, but this past Thursday night THE HOUSE living room became the setting for the alumni shiur. There were over 25 students in attendance and another 10 other alumni were live online sending in questions and comments. Morris Isaacson, one of the alumni arrange for the shiur to be live webcast, but if you missed it you can still catch it online at the following link

Another example of the connection of DEC alumni is when our talmidim get married. The custom has developed to not just invite individual friends from your year in yeshiva, but all DEC talmidim from all years of the yeshiva's existence

Two recent examples come from Josh Musicante Year 5 whose wedding is coming up IY"H in Baltimore on January 18th, as well as Ben May Years 5 and 9 (as madrich) whose wedding is scheduled IY"H for March 1st in London. These events become mini DEC reunions as rebbeim and talmidim get together and simcha dance for the chassan and kallah.

Mazel Tov to Josh, Ben and all of us. We look forward to seeing ourselves at these simchas and many more...

Are You Ready For Some Football...

2008-11-29T15:27:00.000-08:00

Here we go again. Another great start to another great season of DEC Football. Our record of 6-1-1 puts us in the top tier and after tonight's results are re-tabulated perhaps into the top 10. You can always check on the AFI website which seems to have more up to date results than the DEC Football Group on Facebook.

The photo above is Derech Etz Chaim's tribute to the Purple People Eaters. From left to right we have Jack Goldberg on defensive line, Adam Siebzener at middle linebacker and Yakov Hill as outside linebacker.

(Although though I admit its a little bit backwards as we are eating the purple people and we are not people eaters that are purple - although come to think of it we have enough Pittsburgh guys in our yeshiva who wear Steelers jerseys that I could have said the Steel Curtain) - sorry about all these references to 1970 football, but I assume you guys know your football history)

You know people get this wrong impression about our yeshiva DEC is only a football powerhouse, but that's nonsense. We are a powerhouse at basketball and softball also and we challenge anyone, anytime, anywhere as long as it doesn't conflict with morning, afternoon or night seder!!!!

And one thing is for sure. DEC knows how to celebrate after a big victory...

Trip to Mitzpeh Rimon -- Day II

2008-11-10T00:57:00.001-08:00

Hooray for Derech Etz Chaim!!! When you have lots of time in a machtesh in the middle of the Negev desert there is plenty of time to gather large stones and spell out the letters DEC for future generations.

Day 2 of our Tiyul to the South featured jeeping and rappelling. During the jeeping Itamar and Alon took us to different parts of the Machtesh and explained how it was formed.

We took the jeep up the rocky part of V'ridim summit that overlooks the entire machtesh. We also learned about the different stones, limestone, clay, sandstone, flint, volcanic rock, etc. how they got there and how they are used

Rappelling (or in Israeli slang snappeling ) featured Assi (short for Asaf) the enormours Israeli Commando who demanded our respect, (especially Pinchas Schwarzbaum). He was our anchor that made sure we didn't fall off the side of the mountatin as shown below by Jack Goldberg

Not everyone was up to rappelling as some had a fear of heights or one of many lame excuses. Kobi Schwartzbaum volunteered to go first and after a crash course from Asi learned how to disconnect everyone from the rope when they got to the bottom. Everyone else from Group II of rappelling are pictured below from left to right: Yaakov Hill, Josh Corcos, Chaim Margolese, Jack Goldberg, R' Betzalel Gersten, Avraham Treiger and Yoni Calabrese
The long and the short of it: 6' 6" Josh Corcos and 5' 7" Chaim Margolese each showing us that when it comes to rappelling, you only have to be tall enough for your legs not to touch the ground.

Photo Credits once again to Avraham Treiger and joint praise for the winners of the daily trivia question: Yaakov Rose and Uri Henig

Trip to Mitzpeh Rimon -- Day I

2008-11-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

At the end of bein hazmanim, right before Derech Etz Chaim begins its intense winter z'man, the yeshiva travels to Mitzpah Rimon for the first of our four overnight tiyulim. We left yeshiva about 9:30 and got to the Machtesh by 12:15 and immediately davened Mincha.

The Machtesh is a natural wonder that is similar to a crater, but was formed completely through erosion instead of any other cause like a meteorite. Only five are known to exist on Earth and are only found in Eretz Yisrael (Although is a matter of dispute)

Fearless tour guide Danny Sokol, our chovesh Gershon, and R' Betzalel accompanied the yeshiva students though the heart of Machtesh Rimon. We marveled at the different landforms that are carved out throughout the Machtesh, the dry river beds and the panoramic views. Pictured above from left to right we have Josh Gersten, Rafi Abraham, Adam Tepler, Yissie Kramer and Uri Henig.

Shana alef Alex Bistritz (pictured above with Joey Hamaoui) entertained us with some amazing free climbing on the giant rocks. Someone (we won't say who) illuminated a bonfire in the highly regulated and ordinanced National Park and we all enjoyed the warmth and camaraderie as we sat around the fire in the late afternoon. After the hike we headed to our hotel accomodations at Ohr HaDarom for dinner, Maariv and downtime in Mitzpeh Rimon

Photo credits go to shana alef's Avraham Treiger, pictured here with his cousin Jack Goldberg with a nice view of the Machtesh below. Also credit to Kobi Schwarzbaum for correctly answering the daily trivia question.

Simchas Torah at DEC

2008-11-08T10:28:00.000-08:00

After a month at Derech Etz Chaim our students have already covered the first perek of Gitten in bekiyus seder. After an uplifiting Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur and V'Samachta B'Chagecha Succos, it was time to sing, dance and celebrate with the Torah.

At Derech Etz Chaim, the students observer 2 days of Yom Tov which means 4 sets of 7 hakafot. Although sometimes it gets exhausting the Rosh Yeshiva remarked how this year was the most energetic and leibadig Simchas Torah in recent memory.

To keep the excitement going, on the second night we encourgaed the guys to take to the streets. Even though the festival was over for the DEC staff, the rebbeim joined the yeshiva boys for hakafot shniyot. The boys also "crashed" a hakafa with our next door neighbor Machon Yaakov

Shana Bet on the Beach

2008-11-02T04:05:00.000-08:00

After spending a year of learning in Israel, one of the most monumental decisions a student can make is to stay Shana Bet. After a year of breaking bad habits, fine tuning life goals and developing learning skills, Shana Bet is about blasting off in the rockship that you have built Shana Alef shooting for the stars.

Shana Bet brings with it a lot of responsibility. It is important to be role models for the Shana Alef students, to bring the ruach on Shabbos meals and Onegs and to set the tone in the Beis Midrash. At Derech Etz Chaim, Shana Bet is synonomous with R' Zalman Gittleman and R' Moshe Eliyahu Rosenbaum, the morning Iyun shiur and the afternoon Bekiut shiur, respectively.

Shana Bet has its priviliges as well. Above Shana Bet students Yeruchum Pliner and Adam Siebzener join R' Moshe Eliyahu for Shabbos in Netanya. Here they are returning from the private beach on Friday, after an opportunity to say Tashlich and relax by shore.

Working Up An Appetite

2008-10-22T01:15:00.000-07:00

At Derech Etz Chaim, our students develop a strong hunger for Gemara and a thirst for Torah knowledge. Naturally, this spiritual appetite of the soul manifests itself in the physical appetite of their digestive systems.

Here we have shana bet students (left to right) Yeruchum Pliner, Adam Siebzener, Sam Ash and Meir Gersten loading up on refreshments before sitting down to review the first perek of mesechet Gittin in R' Moshe Eliyahu's shiur

Tiyul to Ein Gedi and the Dead Sea

2008-10-13T03:42:00.000-07:00

Our first full-day tiyul started off in Ein Gedi. Our fearless tour guide and DEC alumni Danny Sokol took us through lots of water on a very hot day in Ein Gedi. The views were stunning, but more importantly, the guys got to see first hand where all of their Ein Gedi water bottles come from.
We all got back in the bus and headed a little further south to the Dead Sea. We round a pretty deserted spot on the beach and we all went in for a float. Below we have Adam Siebzener, Avraham Trieger and Joshua Gersten showing off the Dead Sea's buoyancy powers.

We finished off the evening with a barbeque on the beach. The guys had an awesome time. Yeruchum Pliner, a shana bet student said that the tiyul was probably the best tiyul he had ever been on since coming to Derech Etz Chaim, then he paused, thought for a minute and said, "Well, maybe tied with the Golan tiyul at the end of last year."

On the Derech - Off to a Great Start

2008-09-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

The students trickled in on Monday and got settled in. By Tuesday we had our first morning seder. Below is R' Mendel holding court in his newly renovated shiur room, with from (left to right) Rafi Abraham, Sean Littman, Jeffrey Small, Jeffrey Mally, Jack Goldberg
Next we have R' Gittleman learning with Adam Siebzener the first blatt of mesechet Gitten, waiting for the other shana betters to arrive. Look at R' Gittleman's face shine with joy over another zman of learning at DEC

What do Michael Deutch, Akiva Keningsberg and Meir Gersten all have in common? They all have had R' Sheftel as a morning seder chavrusa in DEC over the past three years - a very prestigious honor. Here is Meir in full gesticulation causing R' Sheftel to ponder his explanation.

The New Home of DEC

2008-09-02T03:54:00.001-07:00

We are excited to start our 11th year of DEC in a new home. We (mostly Shmulik) have been renovating over the summer and we hope the new group of shana alef boys enjoy and appreciate the new building (we know the shana bet students will). Alumni will appreciate the larger beis midrash and cheder ochel when they come visit. Much thanks to Rabbi Katz, Zack Eisner, Raimy Rubin, R' Sheftel, Betzalel, Yaakov Rose, B.J. and everyone else who helped with the move.

Most of our address is the same. 12 Ibn Danan instead of 4. Part of the Ma'alin B'Kodesh approach we profess. We appreciate the shana alef guys "roughing it" a little bit while we complete all the final little details over the next week or so.

The Golan Excursion

2008-06-25T01:52:00.000-07:00

On June 18th and 19th Derech Etz Chaim headed up to the Golan to finish the zman. The students were accompanied by rebbaim R' Aharon Katz, R' Sheftel Weinberg and Betzalel Gersten.

On Wednesday we headed to Nachal El Al, a leisurely hike with a waterfall at the center. Here we have Eli Mirlis at the edge of the waterfall looking for a barrel to take the fast way down the gorge.

Below we have Dani Meisels who was snapped posing with some bovines who seem to have no problem handling the terrain on hikes like these.

You really feel in touch with the land, walking the paths of the ancients -- that is until you arrive at the makolet conveniently placed at the end of the long, hot, exhausting hike, stocked with Dora the Explorer ice cream, Fruitie ices and a variety of soft drinks

Following that we had rafting and kayaking at Kfar Blum. For some reason the yeshiva boys were not content with staying in their rafts for to long.

Thanks to Mordechai Birnbaum, Zac Eisner, Daniel Sokol, Sam Ash and Daniel Robbins for making sure that everyone, including R' Sheftel and Betzalel were tossed out of their boats and into the water.

We slept over at a campground for a barbeque. Thanks to Danny Aronovski, Josh Gersten and Akiva Keningsberg for setting up the barbeque and cooking all the food. The were properly rewarded by R' Sheftel for preparing his steaks with steaks of their own.

Thursday was Nachel Yehudiah. A scary moment in the beginning when as we were coming in a rescue team was carrying out a man who had fallen. The rescue team formed a human chain to carry the stretcher out of the steep canyon.

After applauding the rescue workers, we descended to the first water spot and enjoyed jumping from the cliff into the deep water below. Betzalel demonstrated a textbook dive off the cliff for the yeshiva boys in preparation for the Beijing Summer Olympics.

The second cliff jump was closed so we all had to take the ladder down. R' Sheftel and his "magical powers" allowed him and his children to float over the deep water on an inflatable raft.

Our final stop was some swimming in the Kineret beachside on our own private beach. One could see how far the water was from the beach, indicating the massive beach erosion and low level of the Kinneret over the years.

The Trees and The Forest: Lag B'Omer

2008-06-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

At Derech Etz Chaim, we constantly instill in our students the need to find a proper balance in their life between Torah and Derech Eretz; between Mitzvos Bein Adam L'Makom and Bein Adam L'Chaveiru; between "Im Ain Ani Lee -- Me Lee" and "K'sheani L'Atzmi -- Mah Ani" (Avos 1:14)

As you can see, sometimes the boys take us a little too literally.

Usually the boys gaze into the Jerusalem forest from their dorm rooms and balconies. Once a year we take them into the forest on Lag B'Omer to our special secret spot in the woods. Thanks to alum Zac Eisner (Year 6) who led the brigade into the forest to search for firewood and erect the bonfire. Thanks to Eli Mirlis, Daniel Aronovski and Mordechai Birnbaum for manning the barbecues. Thanks to Shifra and Yoni Katz for bringing enough marshmallows for everyone.

After Maariv and the Rosh Yeshiva counting the 33rd day of the Omer we lit up the night. Within minutes, the intense heat pushed the boys back to gaze at the flames from afar. Alum Yaakov Rose (Year 8 & 9) serenaded us with tunes on his guitar (obviously, he has been practicing since he left yeshiva) and the voices of the yeshiva boys carried through the night.

Here is a shot of the bonfire. The boys found some sort of chair-bed nearby and tossed it into the fire. As shana alef student Ari Leskowitz quipped, "It looks like a roller coaster ride gone haywire"

Hola from Mexico

2008-05-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful picture of Brian and his bride dressed in white...wait a minute, that's Jonah Zisquit, his chavruta from Derech Etz Chaim and three year all-pro receiver on the DEC Football Team.

Mazel Tov a Brian Tolstano y toda su familia a su boda que tuvo lugar en Mexico. Rav Mendel Horowitz y un puñado de ex alumnos en voló para la boda. Esperamos obtener más detalles sobre la boda de Ben Tabaria, Gary Steinberg, Michael Deutsch y Peter Tepler que fueron todos los presentes. Ni siquiera sabemos el nombre de la novia. Todo lo que sabemos es que la niña es de Mexico es la razón por la que la boda estaba allí en primer lugar, y que todo este mensaje está escrito en español. Esperamos ver a Brian y su esposa a Israel pronto; rumor lo tiene que venir a vivir en Israel el próximo año.

Here is a picture of the cab driver who picked up Rav Mendel and all of "Brayan's Friends" at the airport.

Dani and Zack -- Are Back

2008-05-18T16:33:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to Dani Meisels and Zack Eisner who have joined Derech Etz Chaim until the end of the z'man

Dani, has finished his first year at animation school in Toronto, his hometown. Dani was with us for three years (Year 7-9) and its great to have him back. He helps R' Moshe Eliyahu Rosenbaum prepare shiur each morning and has reclaimed his old room in th basement. Strangely enough, ever since Dani's return, a family of crickets seem to have made their way back into the beis midrash, after most of year 10 has passed without incident

Zack is back for his annual pilgrimage. He has just finished his first year of law school at St. Johns in Queens, NY. He has been learning mesechet Megillah with Dovi Zwebner each morning. It is great to have someone like Zack around as a role model for the shana alef kids to look up to -- although practically everyone looks up to Zack Eisner (except for maybe David Robbins -- we will have to measure and get back to you)

Happy 60th Birthday to the State of Israel

2008-05-11T19:35:00.000-07:00

For the second year in a row, the Yeshiva followed up a full morning seder by heading to Chasmonaim on Yom HaAtzmaut. Above you can see Akiva Keningsberg, Reuben Morrow and Binyamin Jacobovitz on the basketball court and below is Adam Siebzener swinging the bat below.
Mr. and Mrs. Victor Stiebel hosted Derech Etz Chaim to a barbecue as we all reflected on 60 years of Modern Israel Statehood. Even the Rosh Yeshiva dusted off his sneakers and took a try at quarterback with members of the Derech Etz Chaim Football Team.

(Photo Credits to Meir Dovid Hauser)

How is This Night Different.......Again!

2008-04-27T13:27:00.000-07:00

Over Pesach, Derech Etz Chaim doesn't shut down the way other yeshivot may, but rather we encourage students to stay for the bein hazmanim period. About half of our students stuck around for the month of Nissan and -- as usual -- we had many homeless guests from other yeshivot looking for a warm home.
One special and generous gesture, by the Rosh Yeshiva and Mrs. Katz, is hosting the second seder for our students (along with all the other yom tov sheini meals) and any of their guests. After many shiurim on the Haggadah in the past month at yeshiva, the boys can fire away with their questions as well as be marveled by thought provoking commentary on the Haggadah by the Rosh Yeshiva.
This year was especially exciting as our students have been learning Mesechet Pesachim this year. The boys saw how much they were able to participate and understand due to their studies throughout the year, enhancing their seder experience.

Matzah Baking 2008

2008-04-27T13:01:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately until we get pictures from the Matzah Baking this year you will have to settle for pictures from last year's Matzah Baking.

Aside from our students Derech Etz Chaim received some extra help from alumnus Chanan Baer, Michael Deutch, and extended family Shifra Katz, Uncle Josh, Grandmom. And the hard work paid off as most of the rebbanim agreed that this year's batch of Hand Made Shmurah Matzah was the best ever.

Tzfat Shabbaton

2008-04-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

On Shabbas Parshat HaChodesh, Derech Etz Chaim took their yearly pilgramage to Tzfat; our last yeshiva Shabbaton on the road. After many consecutive years at the Hadar Hotel, we spent this year at the Carmel Hotel around the corner. As usual we took over the entire Hotel. Here we have Uri Henig showing us the main lobby area.

Most of the shana bet and gimmel students remarked on how the rooms, the views and the general atmosphere of the Carmel was much more comfortable and heimish. R' Sheftel Weinberg remarked on the complete haphazard decor of the hotel and how not one thing on the wall remotely matched the other. Below is Ian King who we caught helping set the dining room late Friday afternoon

The yeshiva davened Kabbalat Shabbat at the lively Breslov minyan. However, one of the highlights of the Shabbos was the Shalom Zachor of the Gersten Family after dinner. R' Betzalel, with his children Elisheva and Ezra, came to Tzfat for the shabbaton with the yeshiva while his wife and newborn son rested comfortably over Shabbos in Sharei Tzedek hospital back in Yerushalayim.

Rebbanim who spoke at the meals were R' Binyamin Wolff, R' Moshe Eliyahu Rosenbaum and the Rosh Yeshiva spoke to us at Seudah Shlishit -- his final address to the yeshiva at the end of a successful zman and to prepare them for the challenges of bein hazmanim. Our alumni Danny Sobel, who joined us for Shabbos gave a beautiful walking tour of Tzfat on Shabbos afternoon. After a lovely Shabbos in beautiful Tzfat we headed back to yeshiva

The Third day of Purim

2008-04-11T06:31:00.001-07:00

This year in Yerushalayim we had Purim Meshulash which means:

Megillah and Matanot L'Evyonim on Friday
Al Hanissim and Purim Torah Reading Maftir on Shabbos
Mishloach Manot and Seudah on Sunday

On Sunday the yeshiva starts at Rav Gittleman's house on Rechov Shaulzonfor for lots of Purim Torah, breakfast and some of Rav Gittlemans special wine. It is not like R' Gittleman's shiur are the only ones invited to his house, but they are usually the only ones who can get up that early as they are rigorously trained to be on time for morning seder.

After a while we all head to R' Mendel's on Rechov Mishkelov for a nice spread for brunch, more alcohol of assorted variety and a lot of interesting characters (friends of R' Mendel) who show up. This year there were no wine slushes available. Also, the dining room table didn't collapse like last year, but it was still a lot of fun.

Next we head back to Shaulzon Street to Rabbi Katz's house for Mincha and join the Rosh Yeshiva for his seudah. Mrs. Katz always makes great food and Rabbi Katz sings his favorite tune of Shoshanat Yaakov.

Finally around 2:30 or so we all end up in Beit Vegan at R' Sheftel for the official Yeshiva Seudah. Lots of singing, more food, more wine and this is where the guys from yeshiva pour out their hearts to their rebbeim and their friends. נכנס יין יצא סוד. This is where our guys talk about who and what they are and who they want to striving to become.

Some reflections: Steibel and Schaffer; Akiva letting Meir Gersten hear it; R' Mendel lets Sam Ash have it; Yeruchum begging R' Sheftel; Josh, Simmy and Rabbi Katz; Uri sleepover; Birnbaum decides to sit down for Maariv; Calling on DEC guys to post your own comments..........

Purim Shpeils

2008-04-05T15:21:00.000-07:00

Motzai Shabbos March 22nd the Yeshiva got together in the cheder ochel for our annual Purim Shpeils. Pictured above is R' Sheftel Weinberg with two of his talmidum from his bekius shiur Bert (Binyamin Jacobovitz) and Ernie (Gil Broochian)

The night featured some form of standup comedy from R' Mendel Horowitz. Purim Grammen from shana alef students Moshe Kaplan, Mordechai Landesman and Ari Leskowitz; as well as stand up from Lesko. Josh Gersten and Meir Gersten (no relation) put on a variety of skits about life at DEC. The show stopper was a music video and a documentary about the yeshiva put together by Ari Galster, Ari Manheim and Danny Aronovski.

But by far the most unbelievable, extraordinary and shocking moment of the night came when R' Zalman Gittleman was caught on camera in a Purim costume.

Derech Etz Chaim capped off the night with a beautiful Melave Malka of singing and deli. It was a very sweet touch to a ruach filled Shabbat Purim at the yeshiva. A lively Kabbalas Shabbos led by R' Sheftel and Shabbos Meals with all of the DEC rebbeim in attendance was part of a three day Purim weekend that won't come along for more than a DECade -- 2021

The Music Video from this year's Shpiel

A DECade at DEC

2008-03-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

So about 11 years ago Rabbi Katz met with R' Aharon Leibowitz and shared with him the desire to open up a new yeshiva; a better yeshiva than what was available for high school students coming for a year or two to Eretz Yisrael. A tight knit yeshiva community that could motivate talmidim to achieve beyond mediocrity. A warm environment to create Bnei Torah that can synthesize the Torah with the realities of our world. The result was Derech Etz Chaim

After 10 years of Derech Etz Chaim we have much to celebrate -- and we did. On March 9th, at Ohel Simcha in Queens, New York, the alumni of the past 10 years got together with the Rosh Yeshiva, R' Leibowitz, R' Sheftel Weinberg and R' Mendel Horowitz

Thanks to all the alumni that came and made the afternoon really special. A special thank you to those alumni who helped organize it and were instrumental to putting everything together: Eric Adelman, Chuck Boyars, Morris Isaacson, Zack Eisner, Sam Henteleff and Noah Lang. Last but not least a groissa Yasher Koach to Yoli Margolese for his endless dedication and to Mrs. Miriam Weisel for her special efforts.

Tribute to the DEC Football Team

2008-03-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

DEC What....DEC Yeah....DEC OK............

The Year 10 Derech Etz Chaim Football Team made us very proud

A lot of exciting plays and games

After having an excellent regular season the young team fizzled out in the first round of the Tier I playoffs. Well, there is always next year.

Catch the recap of the season and all the highlights at the Derech Etz Chaim Football Blog

Back Row (r-l) Simcha Feldman, Justin Kohn, Eli Mirlis, Yitzy Adelman, Mordechai Landesman
Front Row (r-l) Jacob Kon, David Robbins, Sam Ash, Yeruchim Pliner, Joshua Gersten, Mordechai Birnbaum, Moshe Steibel
Not Shown: Team Owner, Rabbi Katz; Coach Emeritus, Mayer Weisel; Eli Tabaria,

Putting It All Together

2008-03-03T09:30:00.001-08:00

Presenting Year 10 of Derech Etz Chaim:

Pictured Above (Back Row l-r) Joshua Gersten, Danny Aronovski, Meir Gersten, Reuben Morrow, Mordechai Birnbaum, Ian King, Ari Leskowitz, David Kohn; (Standing l-r) Uri Henig, Dov Zwebner, David Robbins, Justin Kohn, Meir Hauser, Ephraim Perro, Yeruchum Pliner, Jacob Kon, Sam Ash, Moshe Stiebel, Akiva Kenigsberg, Binyamin Jacobovitz, Gil Broochian; (Seated l-r) Eli Mirlis, R' Sheftel Weinberg, R' Moshe Eliyahu Rosenbaum, R' Aharon Katz, R' Zalman Gittelman, Betzalel Gersten, Adam Szipsiner, Mordechai Landesman; (Kneeling l-r) Moshe Caplan, Moshe Schaffer, Yitzy Adelman, Ari Galster, Ari Manheim; (not pictured) R' Mendel Horowitz, R' Binyamin Wolff, Eli Kenigsberg, Dan Levine, Simcha Feldman, Yehudah Apter, Yaacov Rose, Yisrael Ackerman and Eli Tabaria

All Hands ON DEC

2008-02-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Derech Etz Chaim took their annual Superbowl Sunday trip to Eilat. Pictured above is Rav Mendel and his son Alter taking on Dovy Zwebner in a friendly game of shesh-besh (or backgammon for you English speakers) with Mordechai Birnbaum "waiting on deck" for winners.

Aside from some beautiful hikes in and around Eilat the group watched the New York Giants upset the heavily favored New England Patriots. Naturally, at Derech Etz Chaim, we always root for the underdog -- and as usual we came out on top.

You too can join our students next year ON DEC. Limited seating available. Check out our website and download your application today.

Sefer Yehoshua Trip

2008-01-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

Braving the cold January weather, with Tanach in hand, the students of Derech Etz Chaim headed up North to visit many of the cities found in Sefer Yehoshua. Here is a nice shot from Shilo with shana Alef, Reuben Morrow and Rabbi Binyamin Wolff with a beautiful backdrop.

Mazel Tov to Mr. Eli and Shira Mirlis

2007-12-30T18:36:00.000-08:00

For the past two and a half years Eli Mirlis has been an integral part of Derech Etz Chaim. After two years as a student, he came back this Elul to DEC for a third year taking on many of the day-to-day organizational responsibilities for the yeshiva. The wedding turned into a mini DEC reunion as many Alumni from all over the country came in for the wedding, as well as a few rebbanim from Eretz Yisrael, including the Rosh Yeshiva and R' Sheftel.

We wish Eli and Shira all of the joy and happiness in the world. We look forward to having them back in Har Nof and celebrating with them all over again upon their return.

Haircuts

2007-12-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Derech Etz Chaim would like to wish a Mazel Tov to the entire Horowitz family on the occassion of Shmuel Chaim's upshearin. Above you can see the Rosh Yeshiva 'get his snipets' while Rav Mendel looks on in amusement.

On a more humorous note we would also like to extend a Mazel Tov to our shana alef student, Meir "Memphis" Gersten, on his haircut as well. You can see the before and after pictures below

Oh Chanukah...Oh Chanukah

2007-12-13T10:54:00.001-08:00

On the 3rd night of Chanukah, Derech Etz Chaim had their annual Chanukah Mesibah. We lit the oil menorah in the beis midrash. The menorah was kind enough to pose with shana bet student Moshe Steibel

Next we were treated with potato latkes (apple sauce and sour cream), lasagna, salatim and vegetable quiche, while we waited for the rebbanim to show up with their families. R' Gittleman gives pointers to Moshe Schaffer and Mordechai Birnbaum on how to pick the perfect latkah. (Look how carefully Rav Gittleman is m'ayain the latkes -- like he would a Tosfot -- to select the right one.) Meir Hauser takes a break from waiting on line to pose for the picture

Next, Rav Horowitz inspired us with some words about Chanukah. He pointed out that the root of Chanukah is Chinuch. Just as the re-dedication of the Beis HaMikdash on Chanukah was done in the most mehadrin min ha'mihadrin way, without cutting corners with thinner wicks or tumah hutra b'tzibur; so too, our dedication towards Torah learning in our Beis Midrash must also be in a pristine environment and with a pure attitude.

Then came the entertainment portion of the night's events with Yehudah Katz making his second appearance at a Derech Etz Chaim event (See previous blog entry for Zman Simchateinu). After we danced, sang, rocked and rolled for a little while, we turned the lights low and were treated to a kumzitz of stories, d'vrei torah and soft music.

Of course there were sufganiot -- like you had to ask!

Do you live in a cave or something?

2007-12-02T04:10:00.001-08:00

Every once in a while, the boys at Derech Etz Chaim need a change of pace from their intensive learning schedule. So the Rosh Yeshiva decides that everyone should pack out of the beis midrash and go on a tiyul. Our most recent day of adventure was spelunking outside of Beit Shemesh -- or as our students commonly referred to it as "caving".

Above we have shana bet, Justin Kohn, showing shana alef, Joshua Gersten, the meaning of what it is like to live in "a hole in the wall". Below, although you may not be able to make it out, is a picture of shana bet, Moshe Steibel, enjoying the view of the sunset, while impersonating a statue.

So Let's Hear What You Have To Say

2007-11-24T14:02:00.001-08:00

As per a Derech Etz Chaim student's suggestion I have enabled comments for the blog. So let's hear what you all have to say!!!

Tiyul Down South

2007-11-24T13:18:00.001-08:00

Hang on David!!! Whatever you do -- don't look down!!! Wow look at that view. Shana Alef, David Robbins, making it look easy from a couple thousand feet up. The truth is that we generally get on David's case for "hanging around".

This is actually a picture of the walk from the dormitories to the beis midrash at Derech Etz Chaim

Yeah, it's definitely more fun once you get to the top. Smiling from right to left are Meir Gersten, Justin Kohn, Ari Galster and Mordechai Birnbaum

Zman Simchateinu - Derech Etz Chaim style

2007-10-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

Pictured above is Ari Manheim, shana gimmel, who focuses intently on his siddur and the hoshanot prayers. The yeshiva kicked off Hoshana Rabbah with divrei chizuck from R' Yosef Brown, who happens to also be Mrs. Katz's uncle. After the guest lecture the bekius shiurim got together for a mishmar style, tikun le'il Hoshana Rabbah. After a few hours of sleep in the sukkah the talmidim were aroused to a marathon Hoshana Rabbah shacharis led by R' Sheftel.

Finally, the program concluded with a special yeshiva Hoshana Rabbah seudah

Over succos, Derech Etz Chaim, likes for the yeshiva to stay together. The yeshiva was open the entire chag and as usual we had many "guests" from other yeshivot looking for a sukkah to sleep in.

Another highlight over succos was our Simchat Beit HaShoava. For the second year in a row, back by popular demand, we had renown musician Yehuda Katz come on Motzai Yom Tov and lead a kumsitz style concert in the Rosh Yeshiva's sukkah.

Succos is also a time where we get to see our alumni. Some are visiting from chutz l'aretz for the chagim, but some are in Eretz Yirael. Pictured below is Michael Deutch who took a break from R' Yaakov Friedman's Yeshiva in Beitar and spent bein ha'zmanim with us.

Up goes the Sukkah

2007-10-21T11:17:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the sukkah........

Derech Etz Chaim is all about teamwork and that's what it takes to put up the DEC Sukkah. Pictured from left to right is shana gimmel Ari Manheim, shana bet Ian King (with drill in hand), shana alef Mordechai Landesman and shana alef Moshe Kaplan. Until the wee hours of the morning they hammer, drill and build.

And when the night shift is over the morning shift begins. Pictured below is shana alef Mordechai Birnbaum assisting shana gimmel Eli Mirlis with the essential central column of the sukkah on which all the schach will be supported

Lending a Hand

2007-10-06T12:00:00.001-07:00

Pictured above is shana alef student Moshe Caplan, flexing his muscles to help in the furniture warehouse of Koach Latet, and organization that refurbishes old "just about anything" and gives them to needy families.

On the day after Yom Kippur, the yeshiva students started their "clean slates" with morning seder until 11:30. Next, we charted a bus to Meir Panim in Romayma and spent a few hours dedicated to gimilut chasadim before the beginning of Bein HaZmanim. The students were split up between the Meir Panim "food kitchen" that feeds hundreds of people a day. The other students went to the Koach Latet warehouse.

September 2007 at DEC

2007-09-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Above you can see Rabbi Katz shmoozing with students about their weekend before delving into Mesechet Pesachim

As Derech Etz Chaim pulled into the station for bein hazmanim, they stood at daf17a in Pesachim, covering topics such as z'rizim makdim lmitzvot, bracha ovair l'asiyasan and kol haporesh m'drubah parish.

If you were with us the past couple weeks you would have enjoyed: A pre-Rosh HaShana shiur from Rav Stav, a game of Settlers, Wilshinsky Honey Cake, The Rosh Yeshiva's Mussaf Tunes on Rosh HaShana, Rent-O-Machzor, 7:00 Slichot, football practice, two new bookcases in the Library, the appointment of Mordechai Birnbaum as Gabbi, the return of the Keningsberg Slushy machine, Yitzy and Akiva's birthday party, the Simcha Feldman recording studio in the attic, the Gan Efrat Internet Cafe and a rocking day-after-Yom-Kippur morning seder.

DEC Alumni that have joined us for Yom Kippur and the end of Elul zman inlcude: Moshe Franklin, Chanan Baer, Leib Zeilish, Michael Deutch, Danny Sokol

Elul Zman at DEC

2007-09-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Rav Sheftel and all of his tzitzit clad students are shown here, contemplating an exceptional question posed by shana alef student Jacob Kon.

We are two weeks into yeshiva and have accomplished a lot in the short zman before the Yamim Noraim. Aside from the seven blatt we have covered in Pesachim, we have done a lot outside of seder two

Our first week featured our annual staff barbque in the backyard, ice skating/basketball in our gym across the street, a walking tour of Har Nof with Betzalel, Tuesday "Pizza Day", a tiyul with Barnea in old city, 5:30 - 6:30 chavrutas, the Rosenbaum engagement party, our first mishmar (with chocolate cake from Zahava), Football Practice #1 and our first In Shabbos of the year.

Our second week included the reopening of the late night Candy Store, the removal of that loud construction equipment (finally!), swimming, waffles from Grandma, night seder chugim, Potato Bar, the return of the Keningsberg slushy machine, Football Practice #2 and a Shabbaton in the Old City (with another tour from Barnea around the Muslem Quarter)

And we're just getting warmed up......

What's been happening over the summer

2007-08-14T16:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a rundown of all the noteworthy things that have happened this summer at Derech Etz Chaim while you were bein hazmanaiming......

Rav Gittleman and Rabbi Wolf started preparing mesechet Pesachim in the mornings until the girls camp showed up and chased us all out.
Some electricians came and started drilling holes all over the place.
We had a Maariv minyan Tisha B'Av night and B.J. read Eicha (Yasher Koach)
Rabbi Katz bought a few things from IKEA
There is a new beautiful fence in the front of the building
The computers are no longer downstairs (see if you can find them)
The attic had a little remodeling job
Eli Mirlis showed up and started painting the town - I mean the building

Only a week or so left...See you all on Monday August 20th

Rabbi Mendel Horowitz, M.Sc.

2007-06-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our very own R' Mendel Horowitz, who aced his final semester with straight A's in graduate school and is only two weeks away from adding the precious letters M.S.C. to his title. R' Mendel always gives his students a high standard to live up to. Derech Etz Chaim is very proud to have a such a scholar and a gentleman in our midst.

HaDran Alach Mesechet Kiddushin and Makkos

2007-06-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

Derech Etz Chaim was misayem both mesechet Kiddushin and Mesechet Maakos this year

Amitai Scott was given the honor to misayem mesechet Kiddushin at the closing Melaveh Malka on June 16th.

The Maakos Siyum was held at the Rosh Yeshiva's house BBQ style. Below is part of the outgoing shana gimmel crew saying the hadrans in the Rosh Yeshiva's living room. Jonah Zisquit (heading IY"H to Lander College), Isaac Manaster (IY"H to Sha'ar Yashuv) and Brian Tolstano (IY"H - TBA)

Jon Degani's Wedding

2007-06-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

What a way for Derech Etz Chaim to end the z'man. At the beautiful Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Tel Aviv the entire yeshiva celebrated with the chassan on June 12th. The Rosh Yeshiva was the mesader kiddushin. Brachot under the chuppah were made by R' Moshe Eliyahu , R' Mendel Horowitz and R' Leibowitz. R' Sheftel read the ketubah. Alumni BJ Mermelstein and Aaron Paine were also given kibbudim.

We were glad that the yeshiva could make the wedding leibadik for Jon and that the yeshiva could get together and celebrate in such a fashion before having to say goodbye for the year.

Mazal Tov to the Recent Graduates

2007-05-27T02:53:00.000-07:00

Mazel Tov upon your recent graduation..........

Elchanan Abrams (Lander College)
Eli Aroesty-Cohen (Yeshiva University)
Sam Calabrese (Ohio State University - Phi Beta Kappa)
Aryeh Citron (Manchester University)
Seth Faigen (Lander College)
Uri Herzberg (University of Pennsylvania Law School)
David Manheim (Lander College)
Aaron Paine (Yeshiva University)
Benjy Sassoon (Yeshiva University)
Richard Silverman (Georgetown Law School)
Mayer Weisel (Hebrew Theological College - Skokie)

Those of you who know of any other graduates that are not on the list should contact the Rosh Yeshiva at rak@ondec.net - or leave a comment

Welcome Back Peter

2007-05-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

It's an honor to have Peter Tepler back with us in the Beis Midrash after a couple of semesters at NYU. He hopes to chazar sections of sukkah and beitzah that he learned while at NYU. We hope to see more of him next year when we take on Pesachim (IY"H)

Other Derech Etz Chaim alumni who have spent extended time with us recently are Zack Eisner who was here for a few weeks before Lag B'Omer, Sam Calebrese who joined us for the entire spring/summer zman and Benjy Sassoon who also just arrived and will be with us until the end of zman.

Ari Kellerman's Engagement

2007-05-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

Mazal Tov to Ari Kellerman and his kallah Bashie Melman on their engagement from all of us at Derech Etz Chaim. Last year Ari was everyone's favorite Madrich at Derech Etz Chaim. Ari, we missed you in the dorms, in the beis midrash, in the softball lineup, Monday nights in the gym, on tiyulim, at breakfast and of course for morning shacharis wakeup. Most of all we missed your "shana billions" Purim skit and your "have you ever been to the water spout - the very end of the water system".

We hope your learning has been productive in YU Smicha and we are thrilled to see you acclimate beyond the dating world into the realm of engagement. Wishing we could all be there with you at this special moment - but this virtual tribute will have to do for now. Mazel Tov wishes can be sent to Kellerman via his OnlySimchas page or directly at Micro274@aol.com

Yom HaAtzmaut

2007-04-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

Batter Up !!!!!!

Derech Etz Chaim spent Yom HaAtzmaut in Chasmonaim. A little football, a little basketball and the much anticipated softball team. Players from the 2006 AFI Softball Champion Derech Etz Chaim team were on hand to split up with the other shana alef students for a game of softball. (Here is that recognition Dani - finally!!!!!)

Top picture is shana bet bachrum Yaakov Rose (who thinks he is playing cricket) giving it a go and the bottom picture is Ari Manheim (RF, DH) showing us his power stance (Ari, keep that bat back!!!)

After a fun filled day of sun and sports, the boys enjoyed a barbeque dinner with Moshe's parents, Mr and Mrs. Steibel, at their lovely home in Chasmonaim. We wanted to personally thank the Steibel family for opening up their homes to all of us.

Thanks also to Ian King for the photo credits.

Matzah Baking at DEC

2007-04-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

L'SHEM MATZOS MITZVAH !!!!!!!!!!!!

Once again the boys at Derech Etz Chaim baked matza with their rebbeim in the comfort of their very own cheder ochel. They kneeded, pounded, rolled, holed and baked (and quickly cleaned up again) their way to hand-made shmurah matzah. Watching the well-oiled, finely tuned "DEC machine" team churning out matzahs every nine minutes is a sight to behold.

Pictured is shana gimel, Jonah Zisquit, waiting for Rachamim to pass him a perfectly rounded matzah to perforate with holes. Afterwhich, he will yell "MAAATTTTZZZZAAAAHH !!!!!!", causing a pole laden R' Sheftel to surface through the window and bring the beautiful flat dough to its purpose and destiny - the burning oven.