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In 2009, when Reb Ezra Klein founded a learning program for baalei batim in his Flatbush community, l’ilui neshmas his mother, Pesi Rochel Klein, a”h (whose initials spell out “Pirka”), on her first yahrtzeit, little did he realize that it would blossom into a nationwide program. In celebration of its first ten years of tremendous growth, the Agra D’Pirka Decade Dinner will take place on Sunday evening, November 24, at the Tiferes Rivka Hall, in Brooklyn, at 6 p.m.

Congratulations to Priva Halpert, a Junior at the Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls, whose science research work has been published in the American Chemical Society Omega Journal. This is an extremely unusual accomplishment for a high school student!

The MTA library reverberated with the sweet sounds of Torah learning on Monday, November 4, as talmidim in Rabbi Danto’s Freshman shiur completed their final stretch of intense chazarah, followed by a celebratory s’udah and a b’chinah with Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Taubes. In shiur, talmidim focus on learning b’kius bir’tzifus – learning straight for as long as they can. In the beginning of the year, talmidim learn for 1-1.5 hours straight and build up to three hours of uninterrupted learning by the end of the year.

What a fabulous first official YCQ Alumni Association event was held on Sunday, November 3, in the Yeshiva of Central Queens gym. Alumni gathered to play in our first Alumni basketball game. There were activities, including halftime competitions and a bounce house for the younger spectators, and current YCQ families came to cheer on the players.

As part of their preparation for their filmed interviews with Holocaust survivors, seniors participating in Names, Not Numbers© were treated to an interviewing workshop. Mrs. Tova Rosenberg, Names, Not Numbers© creator, invited Ms. Shira Hanou, staff writer for The Jewish Week, to work with the students.

This past Tuesday, Rambam Mesivta’s Room 206 was given the honor of hosting the inaugural Classic Film Club screening of the 2019-2020 school year. The club generally meets several times a year to watch a classic film, oftentimes ones on the American Film Institute’s “Top 100 Films” list. The movie screened on Tuesday was Tim Burton’s modern classic film, Edward Scissorhands, starring Johnny Depp in the title role. While the film wasn’t on the AFI list, many consider it a classic, and one of Depp’s best acting performances, and one of Burton’s best directing efforts, as well.