Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Memphis #1 in Affordable Housing

Anyone living in our community knows that one of its many attractions is the value of its real estate market. Despite the burst of the mortgage bubble, the cost of a decent house in the major Orthodox communities of the New York / New Jersey area remains well out of reach for many young families. New York transplant communities in South Florida are not far behind. In LA and other big cities on the West Coast, things are even worse. Even in the growing Orthodox communities of the South and Midwest, housing prices don't compare to those of Memphis. We all know it - but now we have the data to prove it. According to Money Magazine and CNN.com, a study conducted by an organization called OnBoard asked real estate buyers in major metro areas across the country to determine how far their income gets them in their local real estate market. The city which they determined gets the most house for their money was none other than our own Memphis, TN. Have a look at the list and then pass it on to everyone you know who doesn't yet live in the most affordable housing market in America.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A Family Simchah

The traditional MHA / FYOS Adar festivities kick off with the High School Boys dancing from their wing down to the elementary school wing and into each and every lower school classroom. There they gather up their younger schoolmates to repetitious renditions of "mi-she-nichnas adar" and march with them over to the gym where a band and a mechitza await. It struck me though, as I watched 12th graders walk hand in hand with 2nd graders, and as I saw 16 year olds dance with 3 year olds on their shoulders, that this was not a school celebration. It was a family simchah.







Stunning

When I was first introduced to our school at about this time last year, the Boys and Girls High School plays were repeatedly mentioned as one of the highlights of the school year. While I was taken by the notion that with only35 students in each high school, just about everyone plays an integral part in such productions, I admit that I also figured the quality one could expect from such theatrical productions would similarly reflect the fact that these were schools of only 35 kids. Under the masterful direction of Dr. Jerry Kutliroff, however, the recent production of Antigone by our Girls High School proved me utterly wrong. It was nothing short of stunning.