Last week Yeshiva University held its annual YUNMUN—Yeshiva University National Model United Nations—at which high school students from all over the United States and Canada and even some from overseas gathered to discuss the world’s problems and propose solutions. Each school was assigned one or two countries to represent, and each “delegate” was assigned to a particular UN committee. The students were thus required to learn about their countries, about their committees and the issues those committees address, and about parliamentary procedure (which is how committees debate and discuss their issues).

MTA students demonstrated leadership in all aspects of the conference, earning an award for its Captain, Amir Gross, for his excellent performance at UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), and for Gavriel Pinsky, for his performance at SPECPOL (Special Political and Decolonization Committee).

Those two awards only begin to testify to MTA’s leadership at the event, however. In a conference where the high school students could easily lapse into misbehavior, the MTA students consistently impressed their committee chairs with their seriousness of purpose. At tefillot, MTA students arrived on time and lent decorum to the davening. And although the program was packed with committee sessions from morning to late at night, MTA offered a shiur after hours, examining whether the rules of Kiddush Hashem might obligate Israel to resign from the United Nations altogether.

MTA students came home exhausted but fulfilled, having enjoyed the experience and feeling proud of their accomplishments.