The Rambam Gallery - December 2003

THE RAMBAM RECORD
The eNewsletter of Rambam Mesivta High School
January 2004

Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, our Rosh HaMesivta, recently returned from a lightening visit to Israel where he organized the annual Shabbaton for our alumni studying in the Yeshivot Eretz Yisroel. Almost 40 alumni, including many of our Shana Bet students, enjoyed the camaraderie, good food, zmirot and divrei Torah at the home of Steve and Mychal Brown in the beautiful Shaarei Hessed section of Yerushalayim. These annual occasions are a way for our alumni and us to stay in close touch, and also a way for us to see first hand the latest developments at the various yeshivot. (More...)

Spotlight On:
Accounting

This year, we introduced a college-level course for seniors on the Principles of Accounting. The course, which is being taught by Prof. Shelby Goldgrab, earns students six college credits at Yeshiva University. (More...)

Thanks to The Women's League, the chagiga spirit was readily apparent at Rambam during the week of Chanukah. After a well-deserved 5 day weekend, our boys returned to a breakfast program of singing and dancing led by the Rambam Band followed by a “Dougie’s” lunch thanks to all those students who helped serve lunch. Following the program, our boys and the Band jumped over to the Hebrew Living Center in Far Rockaway to share some of the day’s atmosphere with the residents. The day ended with a visit to the home of Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, for latkes, dreidel-spinning, learning and sufganiyot.

Some of the other festivities of the week included Rebbeim taking their students out for Bowling and Pizza, while the Seniors were treated to Lunch by Rabbi Haar.

Rambam
Torah Bowl

Our Torah Bowl team, under the guidance of Rabbi Farkas, has broken out of the pack and assumed first place in its division by achieving a perfect 4-0 record (7-1 for the season) as they hosted the last meet. The Torah Bowl competition focuses on b’kiyut in Humash, Navi, and Rashi . The other teams in our division are the Davis Renov Stahler School (DRS), Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR), Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC), and North Shore Hebrew Academy.

THOUGHTS
From Principal Rabbi Yotav Eliach

One of the challenges in focusing on the overt miracles (nissim gluyim)
in our storied past is that they not preclude us from seeing the mundane miracles involved in everyday life. The fact that one days' worth of oil burns for eight days is unquestionably a miracle, but we should also appreciate the fact that Hashem has created a world with fuel and methods for heating ourselves. Another challenge is not to allow the nissum gluyim of the past to preclude us from seeing the overt miracles that occur in our own lives. This is one of the notions of "baYamim haHem baZman haZeh". And, of course, one of the great nissum gluyim of our own time is the reestablishment of the Jewish State after nearly two thousand years. (More...)

Hockey –
Our Varsity Hockey team has roared back from a dismal 0-3 opening to win 3 of its last 4 matches, including a thrilling 3-2 come-from-behind overtime victory against Solomon Schechter, led by the deft playmaking and scoring of Simcha Gross and Leon Mayer and the solid work in goal by Yehudah Hershman. But a number of tough matches lay ahead.

This past week , Rambam JV Hockey team faced tough division rivals HAFTR and DRS. Rambam lost both games but the team is looking forward to competing strongly in upcoming games.

Varsity Coach Firester commented,"It's a long season with many ups and downs. The team is still positive and we'll be ready to face our next opponent."

Goaltender Benjy Mayer still feels the team can succeed, "We need to buckle down, work harder and stay focused." (More...)

Basketball –
Our Junior Varsity Basketball team was invited to participate in the Hausdorff Tournament at the Yeshivah of Flatbush, which is part of a Shabbat and weekend program attended by out-of-town yeshivot. Our boys took the lead in Shabbat zmirot and divrei Torah, and also did very well on the basketball court, going 2-0 before losing to Flatbush in the championship game. Kudos to Captains Daniel Weisblum and Menachem Levitz for being Tournament All-Stars, and to the entire team for for winning the award for the skills part (free throw shooting, hot spot, 2 ball, 3 point shooting, and relay race).

Our Varsity Basketball team has, after a tough beginning to the season, returned to its winning ways with a recent victory over the Davis Renov Stahler School (DRS) and a thrilling double-overtime victory over the North Shore Hebrew Academy. The team suffered a recent set-back when, after closing a 25-point deficit, it was defeated by the Hillel High School in the game’s final seconds to a score of 67-64.

Our traditional January 1st Father-Son Learnathon was held again this year in our gym. Our maggid shiur was the noted Rabbi Abba Bronspigel, shlita, the Rosh Beis Medrash of Lander College for Men and a talmid muvhak of the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt”l. The shiur focused on Halachik Issues in Kibbud Av v’Em. Prior years’ programs included presentations by Rabbi Yehuda Kelemer, Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, Rabbi Tuvia Singer, Rabbi Mordechai Tendler, and Dr. Shneur Leiman, and have included a diverse range of contemporary topics such as "Electricity on Shabbos", "Dah Mah liHashiv - Refuting Missionaries", "Is there a Halachik prohibition on Smoking?", "Bugs and Lettuce - How Many is Too Many" and "The Myth of the Golem."(More...)

Rambam's Project Mitnadvim, through which Rambam students have dedicated their winter vacations to serving on Israeli military bases and receiving a "crash course" on the basic training given to soldiers, has been enthusiastically supported by the Israel Defense Forces (Tzahal) and widely reported in the press. This year, the program's third, the students will be volunteering at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem in a program dedicated to the memory of Rabbi Dr. David Applebaum and his daughter, Nava, who were murdered by Palestinian terrorists. In previous years, the boys served in an air force and tank base. (More...)