HAFTR Highlights

HAFTR High School hosted the 23rd annual Yeshiva League Model Congress on Wednesday, March 14. Over 300 students attended from yeshivas in New York and New Jersey to participate in the day’s events. Presiding were co-Presidents Hillel Friedman and Gabrielle Lovett. We were fortunate enough to have AIPAC’s Northeast Regional Political Director, Dr. Sharon Goldman, speak to the students about the need for politicians who can fight on behalf of Israel and who can also use debate as a tool for compromise. Model Congress is a simulation of a Congressional conference where students are placed in various Congressional committees, which allowed the students to experience American government firsthand. Students prepared and debated bills pertaining to important issues facing our nation today. Students debated bills in the following committees: Appropriations, Armed Services, Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Education and Labor, Energy and Commerce, Environment and Public Works, Ethics, Foreign Relations, Homeland Security, Intelligence, Judiciary, Science and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Ways and Means.  There was even a Crisis Committee that dealt with newly emerging crises. HAFTR students took on the role of chair people of these committees, while the students of a dozen schools involved themselves in heated debates over the important issues, thus enabling them to gain knowledge of our political process.