MTA Celebrates 100 Years with Alumni; More to Come

The Yeshiva University High School For Boys (MTA) is celebrating its centennial anniversary by organizing a lineup of alumni events to take place over the course of the year both on and off the Wilf campus. The school kicked off the year by inviting all alumni to a special Kollel Yom Rishon, a sunday morning learning session, featuring Rav Moshe Tzvi Weinberg and Rabbi Dr. J.J Schachter on the topic of “Introspection and Repentance”. Another learning program – a larger scale celebratory Yom Iyun – is set take place on Sunday, December 18. It will feature keynote speaker Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks as well as other notable Modern Orthodox educators.

A wide range of accomplished alumni will be coming back to speak throughout the year as part of the “Centennial Lecture Series”. Notable upcoming speakers include Yossi Klein Halevi (class of ‘71), popular American-Israeli journalist and author of “Like Dreamers”, as well as Joseph Gitler (‘92) founder and CEO of Leket Israel – Israel’s largest charity food bank.

This coming spring, MTA will be hosting an athletics celebration featuring Hockey and Basketball “reunion” games in which former athletics teams will be able to turn back the clock and play alongside their former teammates.

Alumni are also front and center in MTA’s commemorative video “Building Foundations”– which in 3 minutes beautifully encapsulates the legacy of the institution by alternating clips of high school students in the classroom and Beit Midrash with clips of notable Alumni putting their knowledge and values to practice in their respective fields and personal lives. The school plans on putting out more celebratory videos throughout the year.

The school has also been reaching out to Alumni asking them to send in their fondest memories of their high school days to be shared on the MTA website.

As MTA was the first high school in America to include both Jewish and secular studies, and served as a model for our contemporary “yeshiva high schools”, its historical milestone is worthy of celebration beyond it’s own doors. In the words of MTA principal Rabbi Joshua Kahn: “As we celebrate the 100th year birthday of MTA, it is an opportunity  for the entire community, the entire large Yeshiva University and MTA community, to celebrate together.” All students are encouraged to take full advantage of this opportunity.