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Myrtle Beach, SC - Chabad 5th Grader Heading to National Spelling Bee

Published on:   March 10, 2010 01:13 PM
News Source:  The Sun News
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David HabibiDavid Habibi

Myrtle Beach, SC - A 5th grader from Chabad Academy in Myrtle Beach won the regional spelling bee Tuesday night and has earned a spot in the national competition this summer.

David Habibi beat out nearly 50 of his peers from Horry and Georgetown schools.

Habibi knocked out his competitors during 12 rounds of competition. His winning word was ephemeral, which he spelled with no problem.

In addition to a trophy, dictionary, gift cards and other prizes, Habibi won an all expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C., where he will compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee from May 31- June 5.

The Sun News co-sponsored the 22nd annual event.


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Read Comments (43)  —  Post Yours »

1

 Mar 10, 2010 at 12:17 PM Miss Williamsburg Says:

Good Luck David!!!!!!

2

 Mar 10, 2010 at 12:28 PM Anonymous Says:

This is for all the people that think life begins and ends at the borders of NY and NJ.

3

 Mar 10, 2010 at 12:37 PM Anonymous Says:

This is the second time that school , Chabad Academy of Myrtle Beach, has won the regional and heads to Washington. Chabad schools must be doing something right!

4

 Mar 10, 2010 at 12:56 PM Anonymous Says:

Congratulation we are so proud of you!

5

 Mar 10, 2010 at 01:00 PM Anonymous Says:

Again chabad leads the way and shows that our frum yinglach can learn secular matters and excel while the other chassidus and litvashe chareidi schools produce functinal illiterates.

6

 Mar 10, 2010 at 01:02 PM Anonymous Says:

Nice job Habibi, may you have much success in everything you do.

7

 Mar 10, 2010 at 01:14 PM Anonymous Says:

I wish him all the best!!! The Indians usually dominate national spelling B, but this year David Habibi should be the first frum kid to win it!!!
Yeshivas outside NYC region are not like the zoos that we have here. The systems there focus on quality secular education and the parents instill that in their children.

8

 Mar 10, 2010 at 01:29 PM Anonymous Says:

I'm sure he spells better than most of the commentators on this site! Hatzlacha Rabba, David!

9

 Mar 10, 2010 at 01:30 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #5  
Anonymous Says:

Again chabad leads the way and shows that our frum yinglach can learn secular matters and excel while the other chassidus and litvashe chareidi schools produce functinal illiterates.

Boy oh boy does my husband regret throwing orange peels at his teacher. Somehow I think the parents need to put stress on the School that they need to enforce learning English.

10

 Mar 10, 2010 at 01:32 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #5

I have worked with Lubavitch people educated in local Chabad schools that do not know how to write english properly. The local schools do not give them a good secular education. Maybe the schools out of town do.

11

 Mar 10, 2010 at 01:41 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #5  
Anonymous Says:

Again chabad leads the way and shows that our frum yinglach can learn secular matters and excel while the other chassidus and litvashe chareidi schools produce functinal illiterates.

my misspelling of "functional illiterates" clearly demonstrates that I would not make it beyond the first round qualifications for the spelling be. I should hire Dovidl to proof my postings.

12

 Mar 10, 2010 at 01:48 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #5  
Anonymous Says:

Again chabad leads the way and shows that our frum yinglach can learn secular matters and excel while the other chassidus and litvashe chareidi schools produce functinal illiterates.

Such nachas.

14

 Mar 10, 2010 at 02:07 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #10  
Anonymous Says:

Reply to #5

I have worked with Lubavitch people educated in local Chabad schools that do not know how to write english properly. The local schools do not give them a good secular education. Maybe the schools out of town do.

The schools out of town probably are better. This is probably not in the least because very few out-of-town kids grow up speaking Yiddish. Certainly, it is highly, highly unlikely that David Habibi grew up speaking Yiddish, since Habibi is not an Ashkenazi name.

15

 Mar 10, 2010 at 02:13 PM mythoughts Says:

Reply to #5  
Anonymous Says:

Again chabad leads the way and shows that our frum yinglach can learn secular matters and excel while the other chassidus and litvashe chareidi schools produce functinal illiterates.

"Again?" When did the first occurrence happen? BTW functional is spelled with an "o".

16

 Mar 10, 2010 at 02:24 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #5  
Anonymous Says:

Again chabad leads the way and shows that our frum yinglach can learn secular matters and excel while the other chassidus and litvashe chareidi schools produce functinal illiterates.

Oy, does it show!

17

 Mar 10, 2010 at 02:27 PM eli b Says:

This is not a 'chabad' school, but a 'chabad' run school. This is a school for the local community not 'anash' kids. It does seem that those chabad school geared for local non-frum communities aim for higher academic achievement ( in any field, including kodesh) than 'unzere' schools. A broch.

18

 Mar 10, 2010 at 02:41 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #14  
Anonymous Says:

The schools out of town probably are better. This is probably not in the least because very few out-of-town kids grow up speaking Yiddish. Certainly, it is highly, highly unlikely that David Habibi grew up speaking Yiddish, since Habibi is not an Ashkenazi name.

I'm from out of town (I guess by "town" you mean Brooklyn) but I assume that even in chassideshe schools and beis yaakovs, the kids are REQUIRED by state law to learn English language and basic secular subjects. I doubt any kids in Brooklyn speak Yiddish only.

19

 Mar 10, 2010 at 02:55 PM Chaya Says:

Reply to #5  
Anonymous Says:

Again chabad leads the way and shows that our frum yinglach can learn secular matters and excel while the other chassidus and litvashe chareidi schools produce functinal illiterates.

With all due respect, I have attended a "real" Chabad school and received a secular education. The Rebbe encouraged the girls to learn secular subjects.
Please don't write comments b/4 you know the facts.

20

 Mar 10, 2010 at 03:30 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #17  
eli b Says:

This is not a 'chabad' school, but a 'chabad' run school. This is a school for the local community not 'anash' kids. It does seem that those chabad school geared for local non-frum communities aim for higher academic achievement ( in any field, including kodesh) than 'unzere' schools. A broch.

Why would chabad provide a higher quality education to kids from non-chassidish families then they would provide to their own yinglach. You make no sense. Are you saying they don't care about their own??

21

 Mar 10, 2010 at 03:44 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #19  
Chaya Says:

With all due respect, I have attended a "real" Chabad school and received a secular education. The Rebbe encouraged the girls to learn secular subjects.
Please don't write comments b/4 you know the facts.

The girls, yes, but the boys?

22

 Mar 10, 2010 at 04:38 PM Shalom Says:

It is the third time already:

In 2003 Chaya Aizenman (daughter of Chabad Rabbi there) went to the national spelling bee.
In 2006 Hindy Naparstek (daughter of Chabad Rabbi there) went to the national spelling bee.
This is the third time.

23

 Mar 10, 2010 at 04:40 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #15  
mythoughts Says:

"Again?" When did the first occurrence happen? BTW functional is spelled with an "o".

in 2006 a Chabad Academy student won and went to Washington.

24

 Mar 10, 2010 at 04:45 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #17  
eli b Says:

This is not a 'chabad' school, but a 'chabad' run school. This is a school for the local community not 'anash' kids. It does seem that those chabad school geared for local non-frum communities aim for higher academic achievement ( in any field, including kodesh) than 'unzere' schools. A broch.

I live in Myrtle Beach and it is a school for ALL Jewish Children. Chabad does not believe in labels. A Jew is a Jew no matter who he is, where he came from,what he looks like or whatever.There are "anash" children there (which by the way in 2006 the winner that went to Washington was the Shliachs child) as well as any child that wants a Jewish Education.

25

 Mar 10, 2010 at 04:48 PM mommy Says:

Isn't the Scripps-Howard national spelling bee held on shabbos?

26

 Mar 10, 2010 at 04:50 PM Anonymous Says:

What is this obsession with secular studies. Boys should grow up Talmidei chachamim to do themselves and klall yisroel a favor, and girls should grow up to be nshei chayil to further instill Torah values in their children.

27

 Mar 10, 2010 at 04:52 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #19  
Chaya Says:

With all due respect, I have attended a "real" Chabad school and received a secular education. The Rebbe encouraged the girls to learn secular subjects.
Please don't write comments b/4 you know the facts.

please quote ONE source where the Rebbe encouraged girls to learn secukar subjects.let's see if u can rise up to the challenge and quote

28

 Mar 10, 2010 at 05:12 PM chief doofis Says:

I recall (in the '60's) kids from Orthodox (mainstream) yeshivas, winning Westinghouse scholarships, National Merit Scholarships, spelling bees, geography bees, etc. Nowadays, with the possible exception of a few M.O. institutions, frum kids receive about the same sort of education you would get in Uganda. If some school in Florida is providing a good secular education (side by side I hope, with a Torah one), KOL HAKAVOD!!

29

 Mar 10, 2010 at 05:17 PM Anonymous Says:

What Does Ephemoral mean

30

 Mar 10, 2010 at 06:25 PM Anonymous Says:

good for him, we will show the world that there is a g-d in this world

31

 Mar 10, 2010 at 06:33 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #29  
Anonymous Says:

What Does Ephemoral mean

look it up.

32

 Mar 10, 2010 at 07:12 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #20  
Anonymous Says:

Why would chabad provide a higher quality education to kids from non-chassidish families then they would provide to their own yinglach. You make no sense. Are you saying they don't care about their own??

He makes perfect sense. He's saying that a school out of town that caters to both frum and non-frum parents has to have a robust secular academics program to attract families.

The trade off is they probably don't learn things to the same extent/depth as those in anash schools in Crown Heights when it comes to Yiddishkeit. They aren't providing a better/worse education, but are just using a different model.

As an aside, the Jews in this community are largely Sephardim from Israel or have Israeli parents and have built a beautiful community. I believe their rate of day school attendance is one of the highest in the country.

33

 Mar 10, 2010 at 07:30 PM Shlomo Says:

Reply to #31  
Anonymous Says:

look it up.

You can't look it up if you can't spell it - ephemeral

34

 Mar 10, 2010 at 08:11 PM SuperSpell Says:

He spelled "Thirsty" with a U. !!!

And what kind of spelling bee asks you to spell bird??

35

 Mar 10, 2010 at 08:19 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #26  
Anonymous Says:

What is this obsession with secular studies. Boys should grow up Talmidei chachamim to do themselves and klall yisroel a favor, and girls should grow up to be nshei chayil to further instill Torah values in their children.

And you have obviously grown up to be the am'haoretz that your posting shows yourself to be. Only one percent or fewer of the boys in kollel will grow up to be "Tameidi Chachamim" and desparately need secular knowledge to earn a parnassah. The girls need the identical quality of education to help raise their children in today's world.

36

 Mar 10, 2010 at 08:36 PM Anonymous Says:

The main thing is that by Dovid going to National spelling bee with a yalmulka, he will be a magnet for the news media. Which will cause a big kiddush Hashem as the non jews will say that this verifies what the Bible says that the Jewish people are a Wise and Understanding nation (am hachom venovan)

37

 Mar 10, 2010 at 08:55 PM Anonymous Says:

to number 25. You write that the spelling bee is on Shabbos. please read the article. it says it starts on may 25th to June 1st

38

 Mar 10, 2010 at 09:11 PM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #34  
SuperSpell Says:

He spelled "Thirsty" with a U. !!!

And what kind of spelling bee asks you to spell bird??

Look at the video again! It was a trial run to make the spellers comfortable with the stage.

39

 Mar 10, 2010 at 10:32 PM SimchaB Says:

(C)habibi Ka (C)habibi Hakel Hamelech Av Harachaman, Yishlach Meshicho Hane'eman, Hane'eman!...

40

 Mar 11, 2010 at 02:13 AM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #34  
SuperSpell Says:

He spelled "Thirsty" with a U. !!!

And what kind of spelling bee asks you to spell bird??

Nope. He spelled Thursday with the letter u, rightly so.

41

 Mar 11, 2010 at 09:10 AM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #5  
Anonymous Says:

Again chabad leads the way and shows that our frum yinglach can learn secular matters and excel while the other chassidus and litvashe chareidi schools produce functinal illiterates.

Excuse me Mr. Chabad there are no English subjects taught in the boys school in Crown Heights past 2nd grade as per the Rebbe's dictum. Parents in Crown Heights who want their boys to learn to read and write English must hire a private tutor. As for the other Chabad schools accross the US...Chabad understands that if they do not provide a secular education then they will have ANY students. I know somebody who works with Lubabvich chasiddishe men and these men are illiterate.

42

 Mar 11, 2010 at 09:47 AM Chabadnik Says:

In Gemara Kidushin 82a Rabbi Meir says in the Mishna "LeOlam Yelamed Odom es Bno Umnus Nekiya" (a person should teach his son a clean upright trade/vocation so he can support himself). Further down the same Mishna Rabbi Nehorai says "Ani Eini Melamed Es Bni Ela Torah" (I only teach my son Torah).

It's interesting to note that Rabbi Nehorai is Rabbi Meir (Nehorai is the aramaic translation of Meir), so seemingly there is a contradiction between Rabbi Meir's own words. The explanation given by Meforshim (and applied and expounded by the Rebbe) is:

When you are teaching your own son "Es Bni" then if you are a real Yere Shomayim you will teach him only Torah "Ela Torah". But when you are teaching sons of parents who aren't in the level of Rabbi Meir and don't understand the importance of "Ela Torah" then there is a Chiyuv to teach them "Umnus". But "Umnus" doesn't mean learning Chochmos Chitzonios and Limmudei Chol, it means teaching them a proper trade and vocation.

Therefore, it is quite understood why Chabad Shluchim in the local Anash institutions strive to teach only Limmudei Kodesh "Al Taharas HaKodesh", but in "Arei HaSadeh" you have to teach also Limmudei Chol.

43

 Mar 11, 2010 at 10:47 AM Anonymous Says:

Reply to #34  
SuperSpell Says:

He spelled "Thirsty" with a U. !!!

And what kind of spelling bee asks you to spell bird??

“ He spelled "Thirsty" with a U. !!!

And what kind of spelling bee asks you to spell bird?? ”

No, he spelled Thursday with a U. And if you listened to the video they gave easy words because this was the PRACTICE round, where the children practice the spelling bee format of saying the word, spelling the word, saying the word.

44

 Mar 14, 2010 at 12:36 AM practice Says:

Reply to #34  
SuperSpell Says:

He spelled "Thirsty" with a U. !!!

And what kind of spelling bee asks you to spell bird??

that was in the practice round

45

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