THE RAMBAM RECORD
The eNewsletter of Rambam Mesivta High School
February 24, 2006 / 26 Shevat

Color War

It was Black vs. Red - totchanim vs. tzanchanim - in Rambam's February Color War on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 21-22.

After morning shiur during this two-day event, Rambam was transformed into a stadium of excitement, as the talmidim competed against each other as members of the black or red team.

The spirit of friendly competition was everywhere - on the playgrounds, in the gym, down the hallways - even in the classroom!

"Traditionally, we have our February Madness basketball competition during President's Week (see article about last year's event)," said Rambam Principal Rabbi Yotav Eliach. "This year, at the students' request, we broadened the activities so that each student had a chance to really get into their favorite event. A particular student may not like basketball, for example, but really get into tug-o-war. We even had a College Bowl academic competition."
Activities included: touch football, ultimate frisbee, kickball, dodgeball, football throw, softball throw, tug-o-war, track, basketball, and College Bowl.

But the final event of the Rambam Color War competition was perhaps the most fun - the Apache Relay. Some of the skills in this event included: wheelbarrow-ing a teammate down the hall, eating a 1/2 bar of chocolate and singing the "Star Spangled Banner" while in a 10-person human pyramid. (Click here to read a full list of the events in the Apache Relay...)

At the closing ceremonies, everyone was entertained by two satiric skits written and performed by the black and red teams which poked fun at teachers and the administration. Both squads proudly displayed the banners they had worked so hard in preparing, and then, the big moment: the results were tallied, and the winning team was... the red team! Red team members now have bragging rights for one full year, i.e., until next February...

Rambam Hosts Debate

On Thursday, February 23rd, schools from all over the New York Metropolitan area convened at Rambam as the school hosted its Tenth Annual Rambam Mesivta Debate. Over 35 teams from ten schools went head-to-head for over four hours debating the issue put forth by the host school - Resolved: Insider Trading Should No Longer Be Illegal.

Congratulations to our debaters who won the award as the first place school! The team of Michael Pisem and Yaakov Miller were selected as the second best debating team and Miller won the award for second best individual debater.

Teams were selected to argue either the affirmative or the negative side of the issue. Schools participating included Flatbush Yeshiva, Ramaz, Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC), Ezra Academy, Davis Renov Stahler (DRS), Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR), Yeshiva University for Boys (MTA), Rambam, Central Yeshiva High School for Girls and Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls (SKA).

A hearty thank-you to the Rambam seniors who performed so well as hosts to the event.

Thirteenth Annual Scholarship Dinner - March 4th!

If you haven't already, please make your reservations for this year's Scholarship Dinner, which is taking place at The Sands of Atlantic Beach on Saturday evening, March 4th.

The reception begins at 8:15 pm with the dinner following at 9:15 pm.

This year the Mesivta will be honoring Yehuda and Beth Honig as Guests of Honor, Michael and Debbie Block as Parents of the Year, and Jonathan Dyckman as Alumnus of the Year. The Class of '96 will also be honored in recognition of the Tenth Anniversary of Rambam's first graduating class.

Our Guests of Honor, Yehuda and Beth Honig, join a distinguished group of past honorees who, at home and in the workplace, have exemplified a commitment to Torah values and dedicated service on behalf of the Jewish Community. Parents of the Year, Michael and Debbie Block, personify the values that the Rambam Mesivta seeks to impart to its students: a commitment to a Torah-true life, commitment to community and dedication to Klal Yisrael. Alumnus of the Year, Jonathan Dyckman, said: "My years at Rambam were special because of the close relationship that I developed with several faculty members. I learned as a high school student that one person can make a difference, and we cannot ignore what goes on in the outside world."

The Scholarship Dinner is a vitally important fundraising event for the Mesivta. Admission to the Mesivta is based upon outstanding midot, motivation to learn and a desire to achieve excellence, regardless of financial background. As such, substantial scholarship dollars have to be made available. Participation in making the Scholarship Dinner a great success enables the Mesivta to continue to accept only the finest talmidim without regard to financial considerations.

The monies raised contributes directly to the expansion of programs that have helped Rambam to earn a reputation as one of the premier boys' yeshiva high schools in the United States.

For more information call Renee at (516) 371-5824, ext. 102.

On Language

By sophomore Jeffrey B. (Rocky) Reichman

Anaphora: What did you say? What did you say? What did you say?

Anaphora has several definitions, meaning different things in Linguistics, Rhetoric and even the Christian Church.

According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, in Linguistics, anaphora is the use of a word referring back to a word used earlier in a text or conversation, to avoid repetition, for example the pronouns he, she, it, they and the verb do - as in I like it and so do they.

In Rhetoric, anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses.

Lastly, the Concise Oxford English Dictionary lists anaphora for also being part of the Eucharist in the Christian Church.

Same word - three different definitions depending upon the context used.

Epistrophe and epanaphora are both related to anaphora. According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, anaphora comes (via Latin) from Greek, “repetition, carrying back,” based on the prefix ana- back + the verb pherein “to bear.”

I hope you all read this well; otherwise, I might have to repeat it.

For more etymology articles from Rocky, visit his website http://literarymagic.com.

Adult Education Series

Mark you calendar for the next lecture in the Adult Ed Spring Series here at Rambam -

Wednesday, March 1 - Rabbi Yotav Eliach, Principal of Rambam: "Religious Zionism at a Crossroads Post Amona." The lecture will take place at Rambam, from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm in Room 104.

The series will continue for the next two Wednesdays in March:

Wednesday, March 8 - Rabbi Tzvi Hershel Reichman, Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University: "Mitzvat Mishloach Manot: A Halachic Analysis."

Wednesday, March 15 - Mr. Joel Berkowitz, Renowned Photographer & Historian:"Henry Ford and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

All lectures are from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm on Wednesdays in Room 104.

While everyone else was having fun during Color War, Professor Peter Sinclair and the students of his AP-Calculus class were hitting the books.

But that comes as no surprise in that Sinclair often jokingly refers to his Calculus class like shiur.

"The students came to me, actually," said Sinclair. "Rather than participate in Color War, they wanted to study Calculus. Rabbi Eliach approved the idea so we spent several hours over two days going over the material."

It wasn't all work, however - Professor Sinclair treated these seven enterprising students to a pizza break midway through each session.

On Wednesday night, February 22nd, the varsity Ravens basketball team clinched a playoff spot with a 44-24 victory over the team from the Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) before a large home crowd who gathered on Senior Night, the last home game for this year's graduating seniors.

From the opening tip-off, Rambam dominated the game with solid rebounding, good defense and pure hustle. Forward Eli Shulman lead the way early by scoring eight of Rambam's first 10 points as Rambam led 10-0 after the first quarter.

"We started off strong, played solid defense, and never let up," said Shulman. "We showed a strong effort out there, and we clinched ourselves a playoff spot."

Senior Menachem Levitz led the way in the second quarter for the Ravens, as he scored eight points, and Rambam extended its lead at halftime to 20-6.

The 3rd quarter was a carbon copy of the first, and that did not bode well for HAFTR as they were held scoreless until the 2:15 mark of the quarter. With a playoff spot on the line, Rambam roared into the 4th quarter with a 31-12 lead.

HAFTR managed a mild comeback in the 4th quarter as they matched their point total from the previous three quarters combined. But the Ravens pulled away as they defeated HAFTR by 20 points.

The beat goes on now for the 6-7 Ravens, as they look forward to this year's playoffs.

Seniors Menachem Levitz, Daniel Weisblum, and Benjamin Schwartz got large cheers from the crowd in their final home appearences.

Written by senior Shlomo Sprung

JV Hockey upped their record to 5-4-1 after a strong 6-2 win over Flatbush in their last game of the regular season on Wednesday night, February 22nd. The team is now preparing for the playoffs.

Yaakov Gross, who co-coaches the team with Meir Wadler, said:

"It was nice to end the regular season with a winning record. That result is pretty remarkable when you consider that we began with a very young team, where even the older players had very limited team experience. The game itself was important because, in addition to receiving strong contributions from our "regulars," we saw important contributions from Avi Hershman in goal and from Jarrod Gordon and Danny Walz who showed their scoring potential. A number of our subs also had strong showings. It means that we have a really strong arsenal for the upcoming playoffs and are well-positioned for next year."

Mazel Tov to Avi Golombeck ('00) on his marriage to Caryn Friedman.