HAFTR Joins Team Shalva at the 2023 Jerusalem Marathon

By Adam Schorr

Team Shalva, an organization that supports children with special needs, once again participated in the 2023 Jerusalem Marathon on Friday, March 17, in Jerusalem, the heart of the Holy Land. Many students from destinations such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States all arrived in Israel in anticipation of this meaningful opportunity. They sought to give back to the community of Shalva by running various distances in the marathon itself. Whether runners navigated a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon or, more remarkably, a full marathon, each distance was worth the cause. The primary goal of the organization is to give individuals with special needs the opportunity to challenge themselves and show the world their inner strength. The team comprises children and young adults with physical and mental disabilities, and the team has a unique approach to running. They focus not on time or distance but on the personal journey and development of each person.

In support of Team Shalva, HAFTR High School sent a team of enthusiastic students, consisting of 11th and 12th graders, to represent the yeshiva. Upon arriving on Thursday morning, the team headed straight to Shalva’s headquarters, receiving a tour of the beautiful campus and various facilities available to members of the organization. Later that evening, with other schools and seminaries attending, Shalva held an opening ceremony, including with its esteemed founder, Rabbi Kalman Samuels. Rabbi Samuels delivered powerful remarks about the significance of Shalva and its evolution throughout the years.

On Friday, the big day came, and all runners set off in the streets of Jerusalem on their runs, exploring the true beauty of the city while facing challenging terrain and exerting strenuous effort. It was all worth it in the end, especially at the finish line in Sacher Park, where celebratory spirit spread throughout the park and racers received shiny silver medals for their accomplishment. But the joy

SKA Places at Science Olympiad

This year’s Science Olympiad was held at Lander College for Men on Sunday, March 12, with eleven yeshivot attending. Run by the Jewish Education Project, Science Olympiad offers talented science students the chance to participate in high level science activities not offered within a traditional classroom setting. SKA students had the opportunity to compete in 12 different competitions across all STEM subjects with building events, lab events and testing events.

Congratulations to the Science Olympiad Team of the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls on winning fourth place overall team!

The following SKA groups received medals in individual events:

Chemistry Lab - 4th place - Chani Heimowitz and Aliza Tokayer

Code Busters - 3rd place - Ariella Fagin and Chaya Sarah Lelonek

Dynamic Planet - 3rd place - Annabelle Engel and Dara Ordentlicht

Forestry - 1st place - Dara Ordentlicht and Avital Sojcher

Green Generation - 3rd place - Maya Hiller and Chani Heimowitz

Scrambler - 3rd place - Adina Baumj and Eliana Zachter

Write It Do It - 1st place - Sari Roman and Avital Sojcher

The SKA participants were ecstatic over their wins!

“For the Scrambler,” says SKA Junior Adina Baum, “we had to build a contraption to bring an egg as close to a wall as possible without cracking it. For weeks before the event, Eliana Zachter and I worked with Dr. Parrino to build the device. All the SKA participants spent the full day of Science Olympiad competing, watching the other groups, and meeting with advisors of the event. The hard did not conclude there. With a fun-filled Shabbat planned, students from many participating schools congregated once more, taking part in delicious meals, developing new friendships, and even having the special chance to hear again from Rabbi Samuels. Tamir Goodman, a former American-Israel basketball player, also shared inspiring words about his career in professional basketball and some unfortunate challenges he faced from antisemitism, which hurt but did not dominate his motivation for the sport.

Did you know?

Soon after, students joined together and filled up the dance floor while celebrating Shalva and closing out Shabbat, a true icing on the cake. It was a perfect ending to a remarkable experience. Participants began their journey home over the next two days, already looking forward to the 2024 Jerusalem Marathon.

HAFTR’s involvement in this year’s marathon enabled students to come together and show their strength, determination, and courage with members of Shalva. It also allowed Team Shalva and HAFTR to show the world that amazing feats are possible when people try their absolute hardest. A special thank you to HAFTR’s chaperones, Mrs. Alyssa Schechter and Mr. Joey Hoenig, for leading Team HAFTR, as well as our esteemed runners: Juniors Joseph Cohen and Isaac Herskovich, and seniors Abie Baruch, Joey Cohen, Amanda Ehrenhaus, Max Glaubach, Eric Herman, Molly Klein, AJ Mandel, Sophia Mastey, Alexis Pollack, Madison Pollack, Adam Schorr, Haylee Soshtain, Corey Spitzer, Effie Willner, and Ryan Zuckerman.

Many frogs can leap more than 20 times their body length.

work we all put in really paid off in the end when we won fourth place as a school team and our individual awards.”

SKA Sophomore Avital Sojcher also found Science Olympiad to be very gratifying.

“The work was hard,” she says, “and required a lot of time, but in the end, was very rewarding. The Olympiad gave me an important goal to work towards. Going to the competition was stressful but was so much fun! I was able to meet and speak with people my age with interests similar to mine. Despite all my preparation, I was still surprised when both of my wins were announced. I’m grateful to my partners, Dara Ordentlich and Sari Roman, and the teachers who helped me achieve this.”

Mazal tov to the SKA captains Maya Hiller and Atara Razi and the coaches, Dr. Chana Glatt and Dr. Sal Parrino, as well as the SKA science and math faculty members who helped prepare the students.