Yeshiva University High School For Boys - Elchanite Yearbook (New York, NY)

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ilillllii i lil ,i 1 : E 1 teaswf w a 3 ' asain l l Z 1 T' VT ,F f l . ., I ff E K l l 4 i l i ily -X4 t 5 K il i 1 V' ' DI E ! E ffl f il l '- 1 ' if -fr V I if tylvi K 1 f an r -aa a -' 'f-7 U' l I 5 u gg 'TK S 74 1i ': fer-H Pl' rf? :f M, :Ln .- -' -. X 'LTR'--Y - :T ','...-V-F'-.i if-y H N -Ili'-gi ' -4 . 'A J e -- ' MTA was a supply of white and pink admits with dubonnet for special cases. In the Yeshiva classes, Rabbis Tendler and Katz began the process which would change innocents into sages and g'dolei hador. Rabbi Katz immediately started on a choice perek in Kiddushin, his fa- vorite mesichta. He proceeded to amaze his students with the brilliance he attrib- uted to his brothers, Ichel, Pichel, Kichel, and Leker. In the midst of his brothers' discourses on Kiddushin, Rabbi Katz found himself at a loss for Pkloaz. His good eye lighted on a freshman. He whispered something in his ear and gave him a posterial pat as he left the room. In five minutes a strange apparition en- tered the room. It appeared to be a stack of books with two legs attached, moving crabwise toward Rabbi Katz's desk. The faint-hearted looked at this Ztak with dismay and began planning their transfer to the lighter atmosphere of the third floor. The first day of High School classes, during the first period, the T.I. boys re- laxed in the study hall. Yeshivah students met Mr. Sklar, or, if they were lucky, their brudder, Doc Brayer. One inno- cent freshman brought a shovel for ar- chaeological studiesf' By the end of the period, he had learned of other and more practical uses for a shovel. They sweated out a period while Mr. Horn Hled his nails. Mr. Lichtenberg promised that he would be teaching Ad- vanced Algebra by the end of the term. The class laughed, but not for long. Some went to Mr. Spivack for Art. The boys in the back row took odds that he wouldn't last the term. He just about made it. Some went to Gym. Their exercise consisted of dodging the basket- balls which Red Sarachek threw at them. One of them claimed that Sarachek threw lumps of coal, gathered when he coached the Scranton Miners. We went home that day with briefcases bulging from the books which had been issued. On the busses to the Bronx, and on the subways to Manhattan we each said, This year I'm going to learn. The year got under way swiftly, and although most of us never did study enough, we managed to learn. This is an art the T.A. boy soon masters. We were quick to adapt ourselves to certain things like the crowds at Moish and Harry's and the dirt cheap, cheap dirt at Stern's. We learned to get up early on Sunday, how to make a crib, what T.L. meant, how to drive a dining- room supervisor to enlistment, and which teachers were boss and which weren't. A il W ' at O l ' it '

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.- mat - new ii?-' 1 ..5:l's'. I L I 1 Our first collective experience was the Freshman Assembly. We filed into Lam- port Auditorium and sat down, taking up only the first six rows. We wondered if we were an exceptionally small class. But no, there was Mr. Abrams assuring us that we were the largest Freshman class ever to enter this institution. While explaining the difference between T.A., T.I., and Yeshiva, he mentioned that T.I. students would carry one less major. A groan arose from those boys whose Rebbis had persuaded them to go to Yeshiva. But, said Mr. Abrams, we have engaged a very line Hebrew teacher, recently graduated from the Sorbonne, Dr. Menachem Brayer. He will teach you 'Prophets' in connection with recent ar- chaeological discoveriesf' The boys from Yeshiva smiled in eager anticipation. The first half-day of classes came. On the third floor in the T.I. office, Dr. Grin- stein hopefully approached a group of freshmen. Ha-im atem m'dabrim Ivrit? Nobody answered. As Dr. Grinstein closed one eye and opened the other, a huge tear rolled down his left cheek. Freshman Year Then a freshman raised his hand and said, in English, l read your book on the history of the jews in New York. Dr. Grinstein smiled, and a rainbow ap- peared in the tear. The boy had passed his bechinot hagemerf' The hapless Yeshiva candidates strag- glcd into their Gemorah classes sulfused with a mixture of feelings. They were sorry that they must take an extra course, even if given by such an expert on archaeology as Dr. Brayer, afraid of see- ing their respective Roshei Hayeshiva, and imbued with a pioneering spirit to dedicate themselves to a dauntless attack on the fortress of the Talmud. They were informed that they were under the benevolent despotism of Mister Abrams, to whom they would have to come for admits, and who would see them on all matters of misconduct. The freshman, hearing the word admit cheered up. The word itself was a re- freshing one: ta admit, to let in. They assumed that admits were a right, not a privilege. Disillusionment came swiftly. The first tardy ones sent down to the oflice emerged white and shaking, clutching the blue passports of freedom as drowning men clutch at straws. There

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We won't easily forget the day that Mr. Breinan cracked a smile, or the day Mr. Gendell looked up at the biggest freshman and asked. Does your mother love you? Or the time Mr. Wettstein inadvertently mispronounced Sol Lippi- nus' name. It appeared that there were interesting specimens in T.I. also. The smart boys Aleph m'hirah received warning from the Gootch to stay away from the temptations of the zonah and eassy money. The boys in Aleph itit were graced with the presence of Doc Brayer, who, it turned out, taught mornings also. He was rumored to be a triple threat, for he thought up new Hebrew words on the side. They convinced him that crib sheets were cram sheets. While studying mythology, some boys brought books which had pictures of nude gods and goddesses in them. The other boys yelled, Hot book, Moreh! , and More-h answered, I'll gettimf' We pleaded with Windy not to throw us out for doing Avo-:lah Zorah and practiced a maneu- ver known as the oncoming chairs . We pitched pennies in room 307. The Stern brothers pitched quarters. We first became involved in politics during a victorious fight for exemptions. It was then that the future politicans circulated their first petitions. Three freshmen made the basketball team where they rendered invaluable service as anchor men. They made sure the bench stayed put at all the games. The swains trooped en masse to the Ramaz game and dance, where. it must be ad- mitted, they didn't accomplish much. We took what end terms we had to, Everybody took any exemption he could l W. if UJH01 T 0 X Mustek? .. as v P Z 5' arf ' 'Weep 1 'Q 'Tai'-1 --i 1 L P g ,J A. ml Af get, even if it meant a lower markg ex- emptions would soon be a thing of the past, We migrated to the dorm and forgot about sleep. Some of us made cribs. Somehow we got through. The Spring term came next and the thoughts of T.A. students turned in the usual directions. And so it was, along the same general line, that a red-haired freshman asked Mr. Schain how a rooster fertilized an egg. Mr. Schain blushed and fidgeted and finally advised the red- head to go to the zoo and observe. The Reign of Terror drove us closer together. One day, there was a special freshman assembly called by Mr. Abrams. He called our attention to zz very reriom matter, that of laxity of discipline. The crackdown of which he warned came quickly. The study hall teacher Mr. Schnipper, feared his job was in danger. The next day over ten freshmen found out what it meant to be suspended. They learned that Mr. Abrams didn't give 4 conrinental for excuses, that they were .furpefzded indefirzifely for three dayr. and that they had to bring their mothers. their fathers, or one of Ibeir pvrcrzli on the morrow for an admit. This was followed in quick succession bv the suspension of two whole classes. One was an Art class which was unlucky