MTA’s Model UN team had an incredible experience at the Yeshiva University National Model United Nations (YUNMUN), held on March 13-15. The team joined high schools from across the world, representing various countries on 16 UN committees, in debating, caucusing and eventually passing resolutions addressing the world’s problems. Global issues from disarmament to climate change, free speech and space junk were addressed and thought through by students from all over the United States, Canada and Brazil.
MTA team members were proud participants and forceful leaders in this event, contributing the efforts of some of its finest student representatives. Team Captain Raffi Weil was named Best Delegate for the second consecutive year for the Mideast Summit; Yisrael Skuratovsky was named Best Delegate for the UN Environmental Programme; and Chaim Hecht was named Best Delegate for the International Criminal Court. These delegates were praised not only for their preparation and mastery of their issues and parliamentary procedure, but also their ability to cooperate productively with delegates from other countries for common good. The long days of committee work ended at around midnight, but MTA’s exhausted delegates did not consider the day done without Torah learning. They coordinated night seder each night and gathered with some of their friends from other schools to learn together and participate in chaburahs led by Aryeh Klein and Faculty Advisor Murray Sragow.
The MTA team prepared intensely for this event, with weekly meetings to learn about India, the country they represented. During these sessions they explored parliamentary procedure as well as the issues each committee would be addressing. The team is grateful to those who helped with their preparations, including Sneha Dubey, first secretary of the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, who graciously met with the team to educate them about India’s role at the UN; Marc Zharnest, director of Admissions at YU and a former secretary general of YUNMUN, who worked with the team on public speaking and decorum; and Ben Tzion Zuckier, a current YU student and committee chair, whose rules of parliamentary procedure were assiduously studied by the team throughout their preparations. The team looks forward to following the lead of Zuckier and other MTA alumni who have gone on to continue their involvement in YUNMUN as committee chairs, secretariat and other roles. Team members also look forward to utilizing the various skills they honed during the conference, including public speaking, advocacy and diplomacy, in pursuing other efforts.
