Graduating Senior Farewell Lunch & Awards with Rebbeim & Friends 5786

It's very special to be with everyone who's here today, our seniors and our Rebbeim and our valedictorians. And to celebrate each of your accomplishments. When we started this program a few years ago, we thought it was really important to spend some time together in the middle of the day, not when typically the award ceremony used to be, which was at the end of the day, uh so that our Rebbeim and our administrators could be here to be with you, to be with each other, chaveirim. One of the Rebbeim from our Yeshiva, who was definitely a legend here, Rav Yosef Weiss, who taught in our Yeshiva for about 60 or more years. His family recently put out a sefer, Le Le Yosef Amar. It's on the parsha on the moadim, and in this week's parsha, M'chukosai, he makes the following observation. You know in M'chukosai se lechu, with the chukim you should go, you should walk. So he says these two things don't seem to go together. M'chukosai is about the shmiras hamitzvos, when we're learning Torah, when we're performing a mitzvah. Telechu is an indicates a hechsher mitzvah, preparing for the mitzvah, walking towards the mitzvah. What does it mean that we are in M'chukosai and Telechu? And he explains that a person has to have a point of destination. A person has to know where they are headed, where they are going. For example, if someone's trying to get home for Pesach, and all the airports are closed at Ben Gurion, and you don't know how you're going to get home, and it's going to be a difficult travel time and energy, but you have that point of destination. You know, I got to get home. You make your way there, even though it might be difficult. He said the same thing is true in terms of our lives. We need to always have that point of destination, that idea of where I am headed. What am I doing this for? What is the purpose of everything? And if you have that, if you have the journey, the Telechu which gives you that direction, then you're able to perform all of the chukim. Even when you're not performing the mitzvos, he says. Even when you're Telechu, even when you're doing other things, when you're at your jobs, and you're not sitting in front of a Gemara or shaking a lulav per se, if all of your actions are infused with the values of the Torah mitzvos, and you perform a kiddush Hashem in what you're doing, that's what the Torah is asking of you in M'chukosai Telechu, to take those values with you wherever you go. Your years here as undergrads have been permeated with countless hours of Torah and adrachah from your Rebbeim. Just want to take a second to applaud all the Rebbeim that are here right now. >> [applause] >> So much of that growth is owed to them, and may it Hashem the continued growth is owed to them. And I hope that you've started your journey here with goals in minds, to graduate. I hope that that goal is attainable and that you'll be reaching that goal. And to grow, to grow as an individuals, to grow as bnei Torah. As you leave this stage, please keep those goals in mind as well. Graduating additional fields and and aspirations, and to continue growing in your search and your journey as a ben Torah. But to raise the bar. It should not be sufficient to say I finished my years here and I'm done, but to continue looking for a different avenues and different goals and different ways of expressing your avodas Hashem with mentors in mind. And with that I will remind you as well that although it might sound ironic, the best way that you can say thank you to your Rebbeim is by continuing to stay in touch with them and by bugging them and texting them and calling them and reaching out to them and taking their time. That shows that the time that you spent here in Yeshiva learning with them wasn't just for those few years, but it's for that lifetime of a relationship. And as much as it might seem, "Oh, I don't want to bother my Rebbi, I don't want to burden my Rebbi, I don't want to tell him about this." They want to, as much as they're able to spend the time to do so. They want to find the time to stay in touch with you, to continue to guide you, and to continue to help you reach greater and greater goals. Today we have, in addition to all the graduates and you have on the piece of paper in front of you who are getting awards, we have four amazing valedictorians. In order to honor everyone as well, we're going to be calling out everyone's names. Please don't get up now at this part of the part of the of the program. At the end of the program, the awards are here in alphabetical order. For now, we're going to read Shh. We're going to read the names in four different sections. So I'm going to read one section now, and then other Rebbeim are going to read the other names of the section, and this way hopefully be a little bit more efficient. So I'm just going to read off the names. Please hold off your applause till the end because otherwise you won't be able to hear the next person's award. The Alshuler Persty Memorial Award for Excellence in Jewish Studies is being given to Ian Bromberg, Jacob Burstein, Lior Edri, Avraham Glatter, Zack Olberg, Alex Israel, Joseph Myers, Peter Osin, Nathan Panzer, Abraham Sada, Avraham that Zevy Samet, and Jonathan Werda. >> [applause] [cheering] [applause] >> The Benjamin Horowitz Award for Excellence in Talmud is being awarded to Jared Mark, Paul Metzger, and Manny Nagel. >> [applause and cheering] >> The Daniel Block Milton Cooper Award for Excellence in Jewish Studies is being given to Trevor Hanukkah and Yosef Siegel. >> [applause and cheering] >> The Dean Pericles Horton Memorial Award for Excellence in Jewish Studies is being awarded to Yosef Benjamin, Jacob Berry, Gavin Ismael, Avraham Halberstam, Michael Cooperstein, Gabriel Lampert, Israel Langer, Natan Levy, Noah Motetchin, Matias Salem, Salvador Serfaty, and Zeke Zwelling. >> [applause] >> The Dean Rabbi Doctor Rabbi Doctor Michael Schimmel Award, who was a Dean here for many years and established an award in his memory for academic excellence and outstanding character, are being awarded to Noah Beckoff, Lev Ershler, Aiden Harrow, and Jayden Jubas. >> [applause] >> And finally for this first go through of the awardees, the Doctor Hyman Grustein Memorial Award for Service and Dedication to Dan Honig and Eliel Zilberberg. >> [applause] >> It's now my honor to call up Rabbi Eli Belizon who will be introducing the BMP valedictorian. Has anyone here ever heard of something called a thunderclap headache? I didn't. I wasn't aware what this was. This takes us back about a year and a half ago, right around midterms, and I was introduced to this headache. And I want to tell you the story. One of my talmidim was working out in the gym right here, and he was doing some pull-ups. You're welcome. And he fell off the bar, and he totally blacked out. His father happens to be an ER doctor. He called his father and told him the details of what just happened. His father told him, "Stay calm, but I need you to quickly get in an Uber and go to the ER." He says, "You might have had an aneurysm right now. You need to go quickly." He grabbed one of his friends. They grabbed an Uber, and they were on their way to the ER. Baruch Hashem, the whole night they ran tests, and it turned out that it wasn't what we thought. It was a major headache, and I looked it up afterwards. You can Google it. It's a headache that no one ever wants to experience, and it's scary, and it's frightening, and time is of the essence. But baruch Hashem, it turned out to be not the scare that we thought. >> [clears throat] >> But when I learned about this thunderclap headache, the talmid that this happened to expressed to me that on the way to the ER, he had a conversation with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He had a conversation with God. And I want to tell you about this conversation. He said to God at that point in time, that if now is my time and I'm quoting I am so proud of where I am and thank you for helping me God to get to where I need to be. Now that's a conversation that I could tell you I don't think I've ever had. And I hope to have one day. But I think Aidan that encapsulates exactly why you deserve this award. You started off your trajectory your your journey in Emory University you know on a totally different journey and if we go back where that episode happened and when it happened after midterms of that year you were a little disappointed in yourself. You thought you could have did better. You thought you could shoot higher. You thought you could do get to yourself into a place where you're teaching the class where you're inspiring others and where you're doing incredible on the beginners and proving yourself that you're a real evident sham. I think of the possible that we just learned in this week's partial akbar who asked from us not just to count 50 days on this journey towards mountain Torah towards receiving the Torah but akbar who says make them authentic make them real have a conversation with me. To me most the you know make them wholesome. And Aidan that's a conversation that I'll never forget. When you taught me about your episode about your thunderclap headache which led to the most incredible conversation that you had with akbar who it demonstrated to me and it demonstrates to all of us that you were on a journey this whole time. That you were looking for something authentic for something real for searching for the MS and that's why I believe above and beyond all the other accolades and all the other things you've done for all of us and for so and for everything is why you're unique and the mitsvah sham is your journey continues may those conversations with akbar sham continue and may you rise up to the occasion and get to the places that you want to get to to say that I really I did I did what I needed to do and barak akbar sham I achieved it in that authentic way. And I'm so proud of you. And with that covid I want to call upon Aidan Harrow to share some words. >> [applause] >> Bishas the rabayim rosh yeshiva um >> [clears throat] >> It is an incredible honor to be standing in front of all of you today. Words really can't express everything that I'm feeling at this moment um but I'm going to do my best. Before I even try to say over divrei chizuk or Torah which I have somehow tricked you into thinking I'm worthy of doing um there are some people I need to thank without whom I would not be the person I am today. Um first my parents thank you for loving me supporting me and trusting me to make decisions for myself even when they aren't what you would have chosen for me. I know that me coming to YU was not part of the plan but you stuck by me. Everything I have and everything I am is because of your love and generosity and I hope that I'm making you proud. Next my rabayim for mesorah Rav Chaim Yagod and Rav Yosef Hershman to call what I feel towards my rabayim from aish hakaras hatov would be a massive understatement and a grave injustice. They took a cynical jaded teenager planning to leave from K behind and gave him endless unconditional love. They showed me what it means to live a life of meaning purpose and dveykus and the example they set is one I strive to meet every day. I also need to thank the people who have elevated my learning in YU beyond what I ever thought possible. To my chavrusa Tony Leitner thanks for taking a chance on the guy who couldn't keep a chavrusa for more than his month. Uh you're going to do amazing things as shior assistant next year. To our current shior assistant Noam Beckoff even though we've never been chavrusas in learning three years as shior together has made us chavrusas for life. Your mesiras nefesh for this year is inspiring and you deserve an award of your own. To my mashgichim Rav Yisrael Rav Blast and Rav Fagan I could give a whole speech about each one of you but I'm on the clock so let's make a meeting instead. Um to my rebbe Rav Bellazon thank you for never giving up on me. I know I didn't always make it easy but your dedication to helping me recognize my strengths and overcome my flaws is the reason I'm up here today. There really is no way to summarize three years of Torah mussar chizuk hadracha and everything in between. I'm incredibly grateful for the relationship we've built and I hope it continues for many years to come. And finally thank you to YU for for rolling the dice on me. In my senior year of high school I forced Katz Yeshiva High School to take me off the YU interview list because I never thought that I'd want to learn Gemara in college. After spending some time in Yeshiva I realized that YU offered a tremendous opportunity to keep learning while also getting an education but I needed help convincing my parents and to some degree myself that I would be wholly satisfied. The only reason I was able to accomplish what I have is because of YU's generosity in letting me switch into the honors program in Yeshiva. Without that I don't know where I would be. Because I was never supposed to be here. Out of high school I was enrolled in Emory University's satellite campus on full scholarship. I was going to be the only Orthodox Jew in a 40-mile radius. I felt nervous about leaving behind the only community I'd ever known. But I had worked so hard been rejected from many top schools Jewish communities and achieved something that seemed really impossible something I never would have imagined. I truly felt that Hashem had decided that the best place for me was away from him and that he had pushed me away. I was angry and confused and I decided that if he didn't want me I didn't want him either. In parshas trumah Hashem issues a puzzling directive to moshe rabaynu v'asisa menoras zahav tahor miksha taseh menorah You shall make the menorah out of pure gold and fashioned it from hammered work. The Maharal asks a fascinating question on this instruction. Why should it be that Hashem asked moshe to strike the menorah with hammers? The midrash tanhuma famously brought down in rashi clearly states that due to moshe's difficulty understanding the menorah's true form Hashem told moshe to throw it into the fire and allow him to form it miraculously. Why bother with the unnecessary labor of beating it with hammers? The Maharal answers something beautiful that has gotten me personally through some very tough times after I heard it from my rebbe Rav Bellazon. He says that Hashem is telling us that although we may sometimes put immense effort towards a certain goal that goal may not be what Hashem wants from us. However that does not mean that the effort wasn't vain. Rather Hashem redirects it repurposes it towards his ultimate plan and gives it back to you infinitely more beautiful than you could ever make it yourself. That is why only after the menorah is struck by hammers does Hashem miraculously form it into the beautiful clee that still today serves as a symbol of our people. If my YU if my YU journey has taught me anything it is that hard work always bears fruit just not necessarily always the kind I was expecting. I spent years planting the seeds of a different life one without yiddishkeit and one without a relationship with Hashem. Hashem redirected those efforts in ways I could not understand at the time and caused those seeds to bloom into a satisfying and fulfilling life marked by constant striving for growth. I see clearly now that although I felt hurt and abandoned Hashem was with me all along his hand on my shoulder guiding me towards where I needed to be. Hashem should give us all the strength to stick with him even when things are difficult to trust that he has a plan and have the strength to keep pushing even in our darkest moments. Thank you. >> [applause] >> We'd like to wish mazel tov >> [clears throat] >> the recipients of the Dr. Isadore Margulies Memorial Award for Excellence in Jewish Studies mazel tov to Max Franklin and Joey Weiner. >> [clears throat] [applause] >> The Mayor Schatz Memorial Award mazel tov to Yair Ashendorf and to Noam Backrack. >> [applause] [cheering] >> The Professor Pinchas Wohlman Summer Award for Excellence in Hebrew Studies mazel tov to Aidan Lyons and Ari Lotman. >> [applause] >> The Professor Solomon Winds Memorial Award for Excellence in Jewish Studies mazel tov to Tom Beza and Roy Itzkovitz. Did I get that right? >> [applause] >> The Rabbi Dr. Chaim Danishefsky Torah Mod Award for Excellence in Gemara goes to Yona Fenster. >> [applause] >> The Siegbert Manfred and Mignon Fischel Award for Excellence in Jewish Studies and Character mazel tov to Sam Agronin Dotan Bardichev Steven Gallitzer Ariel Gordon and Daniel Golsen. Sorry there's more to Jordan Nazar Yisrael Neumark Elon Raffi Jacob Shakin and Ari Schlyer. Sorry if I messed up some pronunciations. The Frank Schavitz Memorial Award mazel tov to Noam Ben Simon Max Blumenthal Jonathan Boxer Harris Cohen Benjamin Coplin and Moshe Crane. Mazel tov. We'd like to call Rabbi Kalman Laufer to introduce the IBC valedictorian. Good afternoon, everybody. So, when I was asked to speak, they told me I had 30 seconds. Rabbi Laufer, you set a great precedent. I have 30 minutes, apparently. Um So, I I I did not prepare a dvar Torah for him, but I really just want to take 1 minute to talk about my talmid, Jaden Jubas. Jaden Jubas is an exceptional person, but not for the reasons that you think. You see, I've been at YU for not as long as other people, only 15 years or so. Um and one of the things that I think we all talk about when we come to talk about Yeshiva is the experiences that we've had. But, there's something more important than the experiences that we've had here at YU, which is the values and the middos that we learn to live by. And Jaden Jubas is an exceptional talmid in this respect. You see, I've been teaching in IBC for about 8 years now. And when I first came to IBC as a former YP talmid, uh that was an experience for me. I learned a lot of new things that I'd never known before. But, what Jaden taught me, and I think it's something that we can all learn from, is that the middah of tmidus, of hasmadah, of consistency and constancy, of always being showing up in the most full way that you can accomplish whatever it is that you set your mind to, is a middah that we should all try to embody to the best of our ability. I have never had a talmid who has more per- has more perfect attendance, more perfect commitment, and more perfect drive to always show up in exactly the same way, no excuses, no reasons, no explanations. He's there, ready and waiting to learn Torah and to do mitzvos. Jaden Jubas is someone who exemplifies this for all of us. So, I'd like to now take the opportunity to ask Jaden to come up and share a few words. And unfortunately, Jaden, I planned I planned to share with you my personal valedictory award, which is the consistency of bringing ice cream to every single shear, sun or or snow, it does not matter, but unfortunately, we're eating fleishigs, so I couldn't provide you with this. Now, I introduce Jaden Jubas. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Rabbi Laufer, for the kind introduction. Good afternoon, rabbaim, distinguished faculty, family, and my fellow students. As we stand at the finish line of our undergraduate journey, we find ourselves in the double parsha of Behar Bechukotai. While these parshas deal with the complex laws of land and labor, they offer a profound lesson on how we define success as we move into the next stage of our lives. In the beginning of parshas Behar, the Torah introduces the laws of shmita, the sabbatical year, with the words, "Ki savo el ha'aretz asher ani noten lachem, v'shavtah ha'aretz shabbat la'Hashem." When you come into the land that I will give you, the land shall observe a shabbat to Hashem. The Sfas Emes, the the Chizkuni, and others ask the question of why the Torah uses this word "la'Hashem". Usually, we think of this rest as something for us, which allows us to recharge our batteries so that we could work hard later. But, the Torah suggests that the highest form of rest is willingly and intellectually recognizing that the land, our talents, and our successes don't actually belong to us. They are tools given by Hashem to maximize our avodas Hashem. For the past few years in our UTS studies, we have been working the land of our minds. We have stayed up late, studied hard, and pushed our intellectual limits. But, as we receive these awards today today and eventually our diplomas, Behar reminds us to take a shmita moment. It reminds us that our intelligence and our leadership roles are not just personal trophies, they are tools which were given to us to serve a higher purpose. The goal of our education wasn't just to become smarter, but to become holy, and to take these skills that we've acquired and dedicate them la'Hashem. To our rabbanim, thank you for being so much more than teachers. You didn't just walk us through the complexities of Tanach, Halacha, Gemara, you really showed us how to carry these values into the real world. Speaking on behalf of all of the students in the room, we are especially grateful for the time which you spent and dedicated to us outside of the classroom as well. This includes individual meetings, advice, and even the way that you just modeled what it actually looks like to live a life of integrity and middos. For example, Rabbi Rothwachs, who hosts many many events in his apartments, and Rabbi Schwartz, who hosted many of us in the Upper West Side for shabbatonim, and to many many other rabbanim, as well as their wives, who generously opened their homes for students. You taught us that while our professional titles will change, the commitment to being a mensch should be the one constant. Thank you for caring about the people we are becoming, not just about what we are grades-wise. I would like to specifically thank Rabbi Becher, Rabbi Blech, Rabbi Fink, Rabbi Laufer, Rabbi Rothwachs, Rabbi Romm, Rabbi Schwartz, and Rabbi Willig, who personally taught me and individually helped me get to where I am today. To my friends, it is hard to put into words what these years have meant, but I know I wouldn't be standing here without you. From the long nights in the library and the deep conversations in the lounge to the ice cream runs during the breaks and the constant laughs that kept us sane, you guys have been my family away from home. Thank you for the way you pushed me, called me out when I needed it, and definitely many other times when I didn't need it. Uh and you supported me through every exam and every challenge. These friendships are one of the most valuable things I'm taking away from YU, and I'm so proud to have spent my time here alongside all of you. To my parents, in the laws of Yovel that the Torah describes, "U'kidhashtem es shnas hachamishim shanah, ukrasem dror ba'aretz l'chol yoshveha, yovel hi tihiyeh lachem, v'shavtem ish el achuzato v'ish el mishpachto tashuvu." And you shall sanctify the 50th year. You shall proclaim release throughout the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a Yovel for you. Each of you shall return to your holding, and each of you shall return to your family. You are my point of return. No matter how much I achieve or where my career takes me, the values of chesed and hard work which you model at home have truly been instilled in me. Thank you for everything. I would not be here today without your continued support. As we conclude sefer Vayikra this week, >> [snorts] >> we shout "Chazak chazak v'nischazek", which translates to be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened. This phrase encourages strength, resilience, and communal support as we transition from one sefer into the next. Similarly, as we graduate, we don't just move on individually, but we move forward, strengthened by the shared journey of these past few years. My bracha to all of us is that we take the harvest of our time at Yeshiva University and use it to strengthen the world in the next step of our lives. May we always remember that our strengths are a gift from Hashem and have the merit to recognize that through our avodas Hashem. Mazel tov to the class of 2026. >> [applause] [applause] >> For our next group, for our next group of awardees, the Joseph and Lena Honig Memorial Award goes to Adam Dennis, Jonah Eisenberg, Tani Engel, Yosef Ferdig, Eli Eli Fishbein, Sruly Friedman, Aussie Frohlich, Moshe Galler, Joseph Gettenberg, and Josh Landau. >> [cheering and applause] >> For the Lewis and Lena Land Kisch Memorial Award, Benji Green, David Hahn, Sam Hilbert, Pinchas Hirschprung, and Aryeh Hart. >> [applause] >> The Max and Sophie Manekofsky Memorial Award goes to Binyamin Katzman, David Kleiman, Aryeh Koenig, Azriel Kopsic, Ari Krakauer, Noah Krantz, Akiva Crow, Daniel Krupnick, Gabe Kurlander, Jesse Langer, Levi Langer, Zechariah Leibowitz, Noah Lerman, Donny Lerman, Dovid Lubitz, Adam Levy, and Rafi Litwin. For the Meyer and Bella Rhyme Memorial Award, we have Asher Rosman, Eli Rockoff, Akiva Rosenthal, Jacob Rothman, Ephraim Schreck, Dovi Schwartz, Yamin Seemer, Ari Siegel, Daniel Simon, Ari Smith, Ariel Strick, Yona Tarzik, and Avishai Tabika. I'd like to call upon Rabbi Schippel, who will introduce the JSS valedictorian. Mazel tov to all the awardees. Rabbi Laufer, like you, I was also told 1 minute. When I think of Jordan Nazar, our JSS valedictorian, I think about two principles. The first is lo baisha and lemed. Our rabbis tell us that if you're embarrassed, if you're afraid, if you're apprehensive to ask a question, or to move beyond that which you know, you'll never learn. Jordan came to us from Great Neck North High School. He'd never been a chazan. He'd never learned Gemara. But he was willing to move out of his comfort zone. And it seems just like yesterday that Jordan I first convinced him to do the birchos hashachar, the big brochos in the morning. And then eventually we pushed him to pesukei dezimra. And then to shmoneh esrei. And then he told me, "Rabbi, someone else should take over from ashrei. The words of uva letzion are just too difficult." And I said, "Jordan, you got to be able to do it." And it's incredible credit to everyone else at JSS that sometimes it took Jordan longer to say uva letzion than it did all of pesukei dezimra. But we stood by him. And we listened. And today Jordan's graduating as not only a young budding talmid chacham, but also someone who can lead all of davening. On a personal level, the rabbis tell us shmo yagurim that the name your parents give you when you're born impacts who in fact you become. Jordan's Hebrew name is Aharon. Like Aharon HaKohen, he's ohev shalom, rodeph shalom, ohev es habriyos, umekarev es habriyos laTorah. He's a lover of peace, a pursuer of peace, a lover of other people, and he Therefore, he serves as this incredible role model as he's brought many of his other friends and colleagues closer to the Torah. But on a personal level, I just want to say thank you for something else. Many of you know that I wasn't here for most of this semester in person. The end of last semester and the beginning of this semester, I was for 17 weeks with my son at Hadassah Hospital when he went through a bone marrow transplant. And I want to thank Rabbi Green and Rabbi Kalinsky and all my colleagues who gave me the opportunity to teach on Zoom while my son was in hospital. But there's one person that kept my shiur together. And that's Jordan, our valedictorian. He was there every single morning. The first person on time. He was the one who contacted every student if they weren't there to make sure that they would come back to shiur. He was the one who arranged and made sure that in the camera I would be able to see everyone. And every single day he checked in to see how my wife and I were doing. At the end of the day, the Von der Gaon writes in the Even Shleimah that the purpose of Torah is to help us refine our character. Over these 3 years, I've had the zchus the merit to have Jordan in our shiur. I've watched how Torah has not just made him grow, but how Torah has enabled him to become an ubermensch. Mazel tov. >> [applause] [clears throat] >> It's hard to speak on getting an honor like this amongst over 100 students in JSS being thought about, being considered, and being chosen for this for this great honor. It really is. And this isn't something that I'm accepting just on myself. It's something I accept upon my shiur, and something I accept on my friends, my rebbeim, and my family. Because I'm not the only person that worked to get this. I'm not the only person that put in the work to get this. A lot of people put in work to get for me to get this. They My parents raised me in a way that I can't even say anything bad on. No nothing to question. My friends who stood by me at all times and pushed me to get better. My rebbeim who had no doubt that I can grow more than I have. That have made me that have pushed me to limits I didn't know existed. So first I want to thank my rebbe, Rabbi Schippel, whose shiur I've had the privilege of being in for the past 3 years, who's helped me not grow who's helped me grow not only in my in my learning, but in my in my in my general life also. When it came to and how I approach my responsibilities. And when it came to speaking to people, how to approach, how to respect, and and how to go about life. So all the rebbeim that in JSS and throughout UTS who I've connected with, who I've grown with, who I've learned with, who I've gone to for advice, I want to thank you also for being there when I needed you, when I had the questions to ask, and you gave me answers, or you found the answers for me. And to my family, thank you for your constant support, your encouragement, your belief in every step of in me of every step of the way. Thank you for raising me in a Jewish home with strong Jewish values and observances that laid the the foundation of who I am today, of how I was able to grow, and who I've been able to become, and how I'm able to continue growing. As Rabbi Schippel mentioned, I came from a public school my entire life. I took a pit stop in Israel and Bar-Ilan, and then I ended up here. Going to Bar-Ilan, I was able to come shomer shabbat. And after that, I didn't know if YU was really an option for me. Then I Thank God I was able to make it an option, and I was able to come here and continue my growing, continue my growth, and continue what I've been able to do and and hold up what I had. But thanking everyone and all these people brings in a uh a nice dvar Torah that I I'd like to share. Looking back, it's clear that both the Torah we learn and the people we learn it with will always have a lasting impact on our lives. And that the and the idea that who we surround ourselves with shape who we become, and it's not just an experience of that moment. It's something that's deeply rooted in Torah and and in our daily lives. Every single day we say Every year on the 2nd of Sivan, some communities observe one of the lesser known holiday one of the lesser known Jewish days on the calendar. Yom uh Hamyuchas. The day of yuchas. Yuchas is hard is is hard to translate, but it refers to a person's background, their environment, and their influences. But how how can a day have yuchas? And many meforshim explain that the 2nd of Sivan is considered special not because of anything intrinsic to the day itself, but where it sits on the calendar. On one side, you have Rosh Chodesh Sivan. On the other side, you have the shlosha yemei um hagbalah, the days of preparation for kabbalat Torah. Because it's surrounded by greatness, it itself becomes elevated in its greatness in its own. The The Torah describes how Bnei Yisrael traveled through the midbar. At the center of the camp was the Aron the Aron Habrit surrounded by Leviim. And beyond them, the shivtei the shvatim. Chazal point out that Yehudah uh that Yehudah and Yissachar and Zevulun and Zevulun were positioned together near the uh near the Bnei uh Aharon. It's no coincidence that Yehudah came from kings, Yissachar and from Yissachar came Torah scholars, and from Zevulun came those who supported Torah. Because they were they were near each each other, and they influenced each other in all aspects. On the other hand, shivtei uh shevet Reuven camped near the family of Korach. And it's no coincidence that On ben Peleth joined Korach's rebellion against Moshe. Because proximity creates influence, and from here Hazal teach Oy l'rasha oy l'shacheno. Woe to the wicked, and woe to his neighbors. This idea is so central that Hazal built it into our daily tefillah. Tatzileinu yom yom mechaverah umishchenah. That Hashem should protect us from negative influences, from bad friends, and bad environments. Hazal are teaching us something fundamental. The people we surround ourselves with shape the people we become, the person we become. During my time during our time at JSS and at YU, uh we've had the incredible opportunity to live uh hamyus uh hamyuchas yom yom yuchas every single day. We are placed in an environment carefully built to by extraordinary rabbanim, surrounded by people striving for growth, for Torah, and for meaning. That environment leaves a permanent impact on our lives. Something that we won't just leave here, something we won't leave YU saying, "That was an experience. I went to YU and that's it." It's an experience where you keep in touch with the people you've learned with, your chavruses, your rabbanim, the friends you met outside of your chavruses. And I personally feel incredibly fortunate to have had rabbanim throughout YU and experienced the experience I've had where I didn't just where they didn't just teach me Torah and teach us Torah, but showed us what it means to live it. To be true avdei Hashem. They're role models in the fullest sense. And there aren't there aren't enough words to express the impact they've had on our lives. I daven that they see the fruits of everything they've invested in us. Friends, as we move forward, we carry this lesson with us. May we choose to surround ourselves with people who uplift us, who challenge us, who reflect the values we want to be live by. May the tefillah we say every day become a reality in our lives, that Hashem protect us from negativity negative influences, and help us become positive influences in ourselves. And may we be zocheh to be to continue building lives surrounded by the same kind of growth, Torah, and kedusha that we privileged to experience at at YU. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Got a picture here? Okay, we got one more. Beautiful. Okay. Last list. President Bernard Revel Memorial Award, Moshe Davidowitz. The Rabbi Oscar and Shirley Fleischaeker Award, Joseph Cohen, Chaim Davidowitz, Chasan, Rabbi Rabbi Gertler, Yakir Lefkowitz, Matthew Lauren, Akiva Magder, Zach Magerman, Zecharia Meinzer, Sammy Mendel, David Reese, also mazel tov Binyamin Ratblatt, Jacob Rothstein, Yaakov Saks, mazel tov Yaakov, Akiva Teichman, Aaron Teitelbaum, Avi Tepler, Avi Weitz, and Moshe Wieder. The Rabbi Solomon Polacheck Memorial Award, Zvi Abrams, mazel tov also Dovi Gekovich, Yonatan Ginsberg, Gabriel Gross, Josh Kreinik, Zach Mankowitz, Ethan Murmelstein, Matthew Minsk, Yonatan Weinberg, Boaz Simantov, and Ezra Stern. The Rose Rachel Siegel and David Award, Daniel Dresner, also mazel tov Yaakov Neuwirth, Ellie Novick, Ethan Penstein, and Josh Posner, the Yeshivat Chaverim Leipziger Memorial Award, Ethan Davidson, Koby Carben, and Zach Schwartz, mazel tov to all the recipients. >> [applause] [cheering] >> Last one. Okay. Thank you. We're going to now call Rabbi Blau to introduce the YP valedictorian, Moshe Davidowitz. I don't see any clocks here. Just have one brief story about Moshe that I think expresses many of his sterling character traits that make him very special. I think it was about 2 years ago, I believe it was a Sunday in June. Moshe comes over to me and says, "The end of second seder, if you're still around, I'm making a siyum." Okay. That's nice. I was like, "Okay, may I stay around?" One of the other fellows told me, "Do you know what he's making a siyum on?" I said, "No." "He's making a siyum on Shas." Moshe comes, makes the siyum, and he spends the siyum going over every mesechta he he learned and which chavrusah he learned with and thanking his chavruses and when he learned them and which setting. And to give inspiration to everyone else that, you know, I realized that I can do this. You know, it's not such a big deal. This incident expressed so many things about Moshe. First of all, the obvious one, you know, Moshe Davidowitz knows knows his stuff. Moshe has gone through Shas. He has If anyone sees his table, you'll notice quite a few mesechtas that he's I'm not sure how many he's in the middle of chazering this time. His attainment in learning, his goals in learning, his goals to learn to to to go through Torah. And his hasmadah is incredible. I mean, Moshe is, from what I understand, is relaying the nights, you know, Moshe makes a chiyuv the pre-med students. All those who have difficult college schedules, you know, the Hazal say that that he'll have a chiyuv anyam, etc. So, these people Moshe Moshe Davidowitz is mechayev the people who have, you know, taken a lot on college and somehow managed to learn by hasmadah deep into the night, as the president would say. It also expresses his humility, his anivus. For Moshe, none of this is a big deal. No fanfare, not not no arrogance. He's I'm making a siyum, okay. He comes with the best for you with everything. You know, he's he's extremely talented and accomplished, and you know, he's you you wouldn't know it by speaking to him. It also expresses his excitement about learning, his simchah. He's always excited. He's always upbeat. He's especially excited about learning. It's not about learning everything in general, it's just he's always in excitement about about knowledge, and especially excited about learning Torah. You remember every mesechta and who you when you learned, who you learned with, because it was exciting. It was new. It was fresh. And there's the simchah, "Ah, I learned this. I learned that." That's Moshe. And also, he's a he's in this quiet, unassuming, you know, soft um humble way, I would say, is is a leader. You know, he's pushes his colleagues, he pushes his friends, he pushes people around him, you know, to be better, to climb mountains, whether they be figurative or literal, as some friends know. And he serves as a role model for his friends, for his chavruses, for the people in the shiur. And he will gently prod, you know, sometimes verbally, sometimes just by his example, prod people to to reach to aim for for greater heights, aim for higher goals, and to and he's and he tries to spread Torah to people around him. His excitement with Torah, his desire to help others grow caused him to spread Torah to his friends, caused him to spread Torah to youngsters who don't know much about Torah. And b'ezrat Hashem, Moshe Moshe in the next few years will stay in limud Torah before eventually, as his plans are going back to school, and I'm with the chaniyot that one day he'll be mechayev Shamayim and have a tremendous influence on Klal Yisrael. I'd like to call on Moshe Davidowitz. >> [applause] [cheering] >> Precious are our bonim. Before I say anything else, I haven't accomplished anything here or in my life on my own. There are so many people to thank who guided me along the way, whether it be in in Memphis or Kiryat Bialik or here at YU. But I would especially like to thank my family, especially my parents, who I think are watching now. Um and also my rabbanim, particularly Rabbi Dovid Safier from Memphis and and Rabbi Rabbi Blau, with whom I've enjoyed shiur for almost 10 years now. And uh hanhalah at large, in particular Rabbi Klinsky and the mashgichim who have shaped my Yeshiva experience here at YU. Finally, I'd like to take a moment to appreciate the element most crucial to my growth here at Yeshiva University, our incredible chevreh here. You guys inspire me every day with incredible dedication and consistency, whether it be in limudei kodesh or limudei chol. As this is the senior lunch and and all of us here are graduating, I figured that it would be important to analyze different forms of graduation and completion in Tanakh. In Hebrew, there are six shorashim that means complete or to finish. Shalem, kalah, gamar, sayem, afes, and tamam. Let's focus in on those most prominently present in Tanakh, namely kalah, shalem, afes, and tamam. I think that each one speaks to a different type of finishing and represents a particular attitude toward completion. The shoresh shalem first appears outside of Ir Shalem, which I'm not going to count. But, in Bereishit, during the birth of Adam and Eve, when Hashem tells Avram, "Kee lo shalem avon ha'Emori ad hena." That his descendants won't be able to return until the point when the sins of the Emori are complete. The shoresh is related to a pir'on, to paying back a debt. Meaning that the completion is one which is owed. A slightly different A slightly different usage can be found when studying the shoresh tamam. Examples such as "Ad tom kol ha'aretz" and "Vayehi kasher tam u vayikas et ha'sef" show that it too can be used to mean to complete or finish. The Malbim explains in Yair Or, a posthumously published book of the Malbim's definitions distinguishing similar words, that tamam refers to when something is uneven or unequal. And is smoothed out, similar to how tamim refers to something simple and smooth. The shoresh afes comes up in Bereishit, "Vayehi ki afes kasaf." And the Malbim explains that it means that it is no longer existent in reality and has been totally finished off and destroyed. The shoresh kalah is the first one of the terms to appear, coming in Bereishit perek bet, "Vayechulu vayehal." "Biyom kalot Moshe et ha'Mishkan" is another example of the cessation of work and the creation of a product. The Radak even says that a kli, a utensil which is a created work, comes from the same shoresh. The Malbim, when explaining kalah, says that the shoresh means going from ayin to yesh, the completion of a product to be used later. To go over the options, shalem refers to needing to complete something because of something missing. Tamam refers to smoothing out the uneven through completion. Afes refers to the utter removal and destruction. And kalah refers to the completion of a product. I think these fit four different ways that we can graduate from this institution. We could choose the shalem route. Only have gone through this time at YU because we have to for some other reason, whether it be to check off a box of having gone to college, to please our parents, or to make our future in-laws happy that we were in Yeshiva. We could choose to view our YU experience as having been smoothed over, complete in its own right, but never to be added to or worked on again. We could view our finishing here as an utter destruction of what was. Let's Let's put away the Gemaras, throw out the textbooks, never chazer the notes, and move on. Alternatively, we could choose to view our time here as a product that we've worked on. We've studied for tests and bechinas, worked tirelessly on reviews and chazarahs. We have cultivated our study habits, our derech halimud, and our general perception of the world. I think that we should choose to view our graduation as a kalah, a completion of a product, but not one to be left on the shelf and never be used again. It is on us to continue to develop the depth and breadth of our Torah knowledge while continuing to push forward to never stop learning in whatever subject we might find ourselves studying. Don't let your time at YU be something that you leave behind. Let's take it with us, using the skills that we developed here and continuing to develop them for the rest of our lives. Mazel tov everyone, and thank you. >> [applause] >> OKAY. ALL RIGHT. ALL RIGHT. WE'RE WE'RE DONE? WHAT DO I SAY NOW? HEY, we finished. Kalah.