The November Lion of the Month is Josh Benezra, a junior. Benezra is in his second year as a member of the NYHS student council.

“Student Council is something I’ve always been interested in, I believe that it’s an essential part of keeping the school in a place where it can create a helpful environment for its students to thrive,” he says. In his sophomore year, he was treasurer, and now he is chairman of the agenda committee in his junior year. Benezra believes that town halls and the snack shack are important because there are many behind-the-scenes tasks that must be done that few people are aware of in order to maintain NYHS, such as fixing objects or bringing in speakers.

Another aspect of NYHS Benezra enjoys is the weightlifting elective. “It’s a lot of fun and not a lot of homework,” he said. His favorite class at NYHS is tied between US history with Mr. Kaufman and modern Middle East with Mr. Scheindlin. “I like history, it’s all fascinating to me. I enjoy watching how political entities interact over time, and I watch shows that include this too like the Game of Thrones.” This school year, Benerza was most excited about becoming an upperclassman. “Being an upperclassman is definitely a different experience than being a freshman or sophomore, so I was definitely more excited for it,” he said.

Benezra plans to attend the flag football tournament for Jewish high school boys in Atlanta this year. “It’s going to be a lot of fun, seeing Jewish teens from all over the country,” he said. Over the summer, Benezra attended a Bnei Akiva program called Mach Hach Ba’Aretz. Mach Hach is a program for traveling around Israel with teenagers coming from all over the world. Benezra is planning on going back to Israel this summer or working as a staff member for Sephardic Adventure Camp in Cle Elum, Washington.