Graphic by Mikaela Gottheil ('26)

Upcoming Events:

Selichot Program

Motzei Shabbos Sep. 13

Club Fair

Sep. 17

Rosh Hashana

Sep. 22 - Sep. 24

Good & Welfare:

Births:

Ashley (‘16 Galitzer) and Noah Hiller on the birth of a baby boy, Zachary Mason

Esti (‘16 Simon)and Elad Jerusalem on the baby boy, Leo Ernest

Sarina (‘16 Solomon) and Elie Wiesel on the birth of a baby girl, Nili Yehudit

Sammy (’17) and Sylvie Baum on the birth of a baby boy, Levi Ezra

Shmuel (’17) and Atarah Kaskel on the birth of a baby boy, Shlomo Moshe

Tamar (‘17 Tangir) and Moshe Shimon Moskowitz on the birth of a baby boy, Chizkiyahu

Ariel (‘17) and Adina Schneider on the birth of a baby girl, Esther Ayelet

Henry (’19) and Abby (‘19 Nagler) Bensmihen on the birth of a baby girl, Aliza Yakira

Rina (’20 Ciment) and Aaron Ross on the birth of a baby boy, Liam Aryeh

Denise (‘22 Mann) and Saul Bendayan on the birth of a baby boy, Yosef Nissim

Gabi (‘18 Englander) and Ethan Aaron on the birth of a baby boy

Sydney ('20 Freedman) and Eli Burg on the birth of a baby girl

Marriages:

Tova Skoczylas ('15) to Heezkeyahoo Burstyn

Sara Nagler (‘22) to Yaakov Hartstein from Ramat Beit Shemesh

Sarit Scher (‘20) to Shua Blajchman from Boca Raton

Jeremy Jacob ('17) to Alison Kanefsky from Woodmere, NY

Sam Merkin (‘19) to Esti Weiss from Seattle, WA

Sarina Hilowitz (‘18) to Ryan Turell from Los Angeles, CA

Talia Shapiro (‘21) to Ryan Schwarz from Long Island, NY

Engagements:

Yonina Kaminetsky (‘21) to Zeke Zwelling from Chicago, IL

Raphael Andrusier (‘21) and Avigayil Frisch (‘22) - KYHS’s 29th couple!

Isabella Berkeley (‘18) to Noam Kuritzky from Teaneck, NJ

Jonah Rose (’17) to Noa Okner from Evanston, IL

Shalom Brauser ('19) to Miri Granik from West Hempstead, NY

Avigayil Levine ('22) to Yehuda Koslowe from Bergenfield, NJ

Condolences to:

Dr. Steven Borzak and Ilana ('05), Shira ('07), LeeLee ('10) and Maya ('16), on the loss of their wife and mother, Deena Borzak

Marci Pachter on the loss of her father, Albert Uvlin

Dror Ben-Aharon and Anat Goldstein on the loss of their father, Chaoul Ben-Aharon

Faculty mazel tovs:

Mr. Yoni Goldstein and his wife Miriam on the birth of their daughter, Leora Rivka

Rabbi Ben (and Rebecca) Sugerman on the engagement of their son, Eli Sugerman to Nechama Bart, on the marriage of their other son Avrumi Sugarman to Gellie Siegler and on the birth of a grandson, Chaim, born to Akiva and Leah Sugerman

Rabbi Chaim (and Rina) Lanner on the marriage of their son Yitzy ('19) to Tamar Mayer

Mr. Jeff Toms on the engagement of his daughter, Abigail to Hunter

Storm Surge

KYHS Celebrates First Day of School

Graphic by Serena Fialkoff ('27)

Our first day of school of 2025-2026 was incredible! The ruach was high, with students ready to kickoff their first year at Katz Yeshiva High School or returning for another amazing year. The day officially started with a meaningful and powerful school-wide davening along with Hallel for the month of Elul. The morning had the hallways filled with faces of excitement as everyone was reuniting with their friends and meeting their new teachers for the school year.

When the bell rang third period everyone quickly ran to the Beit Midrash for the year's first epic Rosh Chodesh Chagigah with DJ Shia. The energy was unlike anything ever before with staff members, seniors, juniors, sophomores, and freshman all coming together singing and dancing. As if it couldn’t get any better, following the chagigah, the one and only Rabbi Wolk launched into an awesome raffle, where multiple students won customized Katz Yeshivah High School JBL speakers and other prizes. After attending her first ever chagigah at KYHS, Danielle Bacher ('29) stated, “I never experienced anything like this before where the energy is this hype and fun!! Everyone was clearly so excited to be there and I can’t wait for the next one!!!”

Lunchtime provided a great opportunity when everyone lined up at the entrance of the building where there was a photo magnet booth set up. Students took pictures with their friends in front of the classic KYHS photo background and balloon art around it. This allowed for students to hold on to the memories made on that day forever, whether they decided to hang it up in their lockers or at home as a reminder!

The first day was truly an unforgettable and exciting day having students and even staff members ready for the year to come! No school does the first day of school the way Katz Yeshivah High School does. Now the question everyone’s already started asking is, “When will it be Stormania?!?!”

Article by Lauren Schebovitz ('26)

 New Faces, New Memories

Freshman and Transfer Student Orientation

Graphic by Netanel Asher ('28)

On the Friday before school started, KYHS welcomed its incoming freshmen and transfer students through its doors for the first time. The energy in the building was palpable and created an excitement that filled the halls. 10th, 11th, and 12th-grade mentors greeted the new students and helped them navigate through the new environment.

The day started with a meaningful davening in the Beit Midrash and was followed by a special donut breakfast and raffle, led by our very own Rabbi Wolk. For the first period of activities and orientations, the freshman girls were directed to the Beit Midrash to set up their computers, while the boys were taken on a tour of the building after they had incredibly entertaining icebreakers in the cafeteria. The transfer students went to the Small Beit Midrash to learn about the school’s academics and code of conduct. For the second session of activities, the 9th-grade girls were given a tour of the building and then met each other during icebreakers, while the boys and transfer students signed into their school-issued emails. The final event was a Meet & Greet where they were introduced to administrators, Guidance staff, and programming/extracurricular staff.

Students got to experience what it’s like to go to KYHS; the environment is always filled with laughter, joy, and enthusiasm. After all the necessary technicalities, everyone reunited in the cafeteria and ate delicious pizza before heading home and preparing for the amazing school year ahead.

Article by Gabriella Aghion ('25)

Welcome Home Week

Hypnotist, Raffles, and More!

Graphic by Adira Baitner ('26)

As the remaining summer days trickled away and many students scrambled to submit their summer homework on time, I am certain that every returning KYHS student had only one question on his or her mind: what does Rabbi Wolk have planned for us upon our return to school? And, on Friday, August 22nd, arguably the last day of summer vacation, only sixty-six hours and seventeen minutes before the ring of this school year’s first bell, we found out. The long-awaited first week of school definitely did not disappoint.

Kicking the year off with a bang, or rather a (shofar) blow, Monday morning’s spirited school-wide Rosh Chodesh Shacharit was an indicator of what was to come, because after a brief two periods, some school pictures, and a breakfast full of catching up with friends, came both this year’s very first raffle and very first Chagigah, as well as an exhilarating welcome-back-to-school video. However, lunch had even more excitement to offer—stationed by the front of the school was a photographer, giving recently reunited students the chance to take a picture together before receiving a magnetic printout of that very photograph. Unfortunately, though, both the day would have to come to an end with a slightly earlier dismissal and the picture magnets would not stick to the KYHS elevator.

As the sun began to rise on the second day of school though, and as the Sephardic minyan of KYHS began saying its Selichot, the enthusiasm of this new year did not in the slightest slow down. In addition to the highlight of my week in Tuesday’s enlightening presentation about school rules and procedures, KYHS students and staff reveled in a sumptuous breakfast of bagels and cream cheese. Before long, another transcendent school day had ended and Wednesday was within reach.

Waking up on Wednesday morning, I’D never have predicted what was going to happen. (The “D” is incorrectly capitalized on purpose!) While most of Wednesday went by in a haze, possibly due to that afternoon’s escapade into hypnosis, the proliferation of student ID badges throughout the school was a sight to behold! Furthermore, as already referenced, Wednesday featured an incredible and eye-opening (or perhaps, eye-closing) plunge into hypnosis, when the Kardashian’s personal hypnotist lulled dozens to sleep before convincing several students of the presence of various famous or historical figures, like Donald Trump, Charles Darwin, Rashi, Saquon Barkley, and more.

Finally, on Thursday, as Welcome Home Week was coming to a close, Rabbi Wolk had one final surprise for us: a KYHS Swag Giveaway with blue KYHS sunglasses. Everyone at school could be seen sporting these awesome shades. Fittingly, as the transformation from summer vacation into school culminated, and the regular exciting bustle of school life started to outshine the exhilaration of Welcome Home Week, the week ended as all weeks should: with a Kugel-themed raffle and Kugel in the cafeteria—which was extra-appreciated by me, as I forgot my lunch—and with singing in the downstairs rotunda, officially welcoming in Shabbos, celebrating a fun and rewarding week of school, and setting the tone for an amazing year ahead of us.

Article by Netanel Fridman-Rubin ('26)

Old Faces, New Memories

KYHS Alumni Event

Graphic by Blimi Farkas ('26)

I was delighted when Mr. Cohen asked if I’d write up a little summary of the “First Five Years” reunion, held on the (“new”) KYHS campus on Sunday, August 31. The high schooler in me is genuinely thrilled to make the Highlites—even twenty years later.

It was a lovely event. Teachers, administrators, classmates, and friends came together to celebrate a place that means something to all of us. We chatted and caught up, and then the program began: A welcome from Head of School Dr. Raab; a dvar Torah from Rabbi Tirschwell (head of school in our day); a video message from Rabbi Brander (founder); game of KYHS memory bingo presided over by my former classmate (and perfect KYHS bingo presider) Danny Krasna. Shimmy Kaminetsky led a tour of the building.

Truth is, for the most part, all you really get to do during something like this is scratch the surface: “How’s the family? What’s new with the job?” But even these opportunities are worth seizing. If you’re at KYHS now and reading this, try—impossible, as it is—to appreciate this special thing while you have it. The staff looking out for you. The friends you see every day. It’s over before you know it, and then it’s decades flown by.

During Rabbi Tirschwell’s speech, he referenced an idea borrowed from his own Navi classes, back when: That Eliyahu HaNavi is maybe tasked with the things he’s tasked with—chair at a bris, cup at a seder—because he’s the best suited to see continuity, even in difference. The lesson here being something like, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”

That really felt true at the reunion. The building is bigger. The student population is bigger. Technology has reshaped learning and teaching. But the heart of the thing is still there. Eliyahu would still recognize the warmth, the Torah, the striving for something better (and maybe also the “Big Texas” cinnamon buns that somehow still stock the vending machine, plus the forty-ish year old grown adults who still need to be cajoled to move along, stop talking already, take your seats, sheesh!).

So thanks, KYHS. Privileged and grateful to be among the alumni of the school. Thanks, friends. Great to see you. Thanks teachers and administrators. You gave us a lot. And thanks for another lesson, Rabbi Tirschwell. I’ll have that Navi homework on your desk in the morning.

Article by Josh Levy ('04)

Highlites Staff