THE RAMBAM RECORD
The eNewsletter of Rambam Mesivta High School
March 3, 2006 / 3 Adar

Rambam Rallies Against Russia - Hamas Meeting

Congressmen Jerome Nadler, Elliot Engel, and a representative for Congressman Anthony Weiner joined the students and faculty of Rambam as they braved the cold to protest against Russia’s pending meeting with Hamas in front of the Russian Mission to the United Nations on Tuesday, February 28th.

Mr. Nadler spoke passionately about the issue, and compared Hamas to Nazis. He said “The world should have learned from previous experience that one cannot negotiate with a terrorist regime. The only response is to hit them hard and defeat them," Nadler emphasized. "Unless and until Hamas changes its charter, agrees to disarm, and accept the state of Israel, no meeting with them should take place.”

His message was enhanced by chants from the students of “Don’t give in to Terror” and “Stop the talks.”

Congressman Engel expressed his moral outrage to reporters by branding Hamas a terrorist group which should not be dignified with negotiations. “I’m here to express my support and solidarity with today’s protest” said Congressman Engel as he called on Russia to cancel the meeting. He too expressed the theme that Hamas must change its posture before any talks can take place.

Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman spoke of the slippery slope danger of talking to Hamas. “It confers legitimacy upon them” he said. He pointed out that the Chechen separatist group that murdered hundreds of innocent children in the September 2004 massacre enjoys the support of Hamas.

The student-protestors responded by chanting “Stop the double standard.”

Rabbi Yotav Eliach, principal, recounted the bloody history of the Palestinian movement in general and Hamas in particular. “What the world does not realize is that this is not a Jewish problem, it is a problem in the global fight against terrorism” he said. “Giving a terrorist group diplomatic recognition only serves to strengthen the hand of terrorism.”

Students then chanted “Don’t hold talks with terror” as they boarded busses to head back to school having made their voices heard.

Rosh Chodesh Adar Chagigah

An eight-year old on stilts!? Dovid Tauber flying through the air into the arms of his friends! Was that a unicycle going by? Teachers and administrators with funny hats and red-faces from too much dancing! The Rambam Band cranking out the tunes!

All this and more could only mean one thing: it was time again for the Rosh Chodesh Adar Chagigah at Rambam.

MiShenichnas Adar, Marbim Besimcha was taken literally at our Rosh Chodesh Adar Chagigah on Tuesday morning, February 28th.

The ruach resounded through the halls, the shul and the cafeteria as rebbeim and talmidim danced together in joyous celebration of the occasion.

After the dancing and singing, everyone headed for the cafeteria for some Snapple and donuts.

On Language

By sophomore Jeffrey B. (Rocky) Reichman

Begging the Question: Do I know what it is, what about you, do you know what it is?

When you Google begging the question, you get 10,100,000 results; beg the question only brings half that many. After checking Webster’s New World Dictionary, I discovered that begging the question means either “to use an argument that assumes as proved the very thing one is trying to prove, or, loosely, to evade the issue.” In short, begging the question is when someone tries to avoid, or get out of, the question.

The origin of the phrase begging the question is for certain, but we know its been around quite a while. In 1908, a New York Times’ reporter's headline brusquely read, “Begging the Question.”

In the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898, in an entry for begging the questions, it is written, “...Assuming a proposition which, in reality, involves the conclusion. Thus, to say that parallel lines will never meet because they are parallel is simply to assume…”

Not to avoid the issue any further, let’s get to our next article.

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

Adult Education Series

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

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."

The lectures are from 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm in Room 104.

Members of the Rambam Band helped residents of the Hebrew Living Center in Far Rockaway celebrate Rosh Chodesh Adar. on Wednesday, March 1st. The boys sang and danced, and created a special ruach among the residents. It was a mini-chagiga from the Rambam boys and the residents were clearly cheered by all the music, dancing and good fun, as they clapped and sang along.

After another big victory on Tuesday, February 28th, the Rambam Math Team has now racked up two consecutive wins.

How does Rambam’s team do so well? Perhaps it is Professor Sinclair’s math club where many of the team members further their knowledge and practice of math. Most likely, the main reason for Rambam’s success is the people who make up its team.

Foremost is Rambam’s team captain, Jonathan Ziring, who has produced a reliable perfect score of four points per meet, which has greatly boosted Rambam’s score and spirit. Our senior team members Joshua Bloom, Avishai Fuss, Steven Goldman, Yehuda Isseroff, Naftali Lubin, and Avrumi Perl have also contributed greatly to the team's success.

Freshman Sender Klein has been a big contributor by scoring two points during each of the past two meets. Junior Ariel Habshush has also helped boost the team's performance.

In the last two matches, Rambam’s team has had great success; scoring twenty points at a recent meet hosted by Davis Renov Stahler (DRS), and winning by five points over the second best team at the meet on Tuesday, February 28th.

A special thank you goes out to all those students and teachers at Rambam who have made math a living subject.

Think you know math? Click here to see sample questions and answers from last Tuesday's meet.

Article written by freshman Sender Klein

Looking for their second consecutive first round playoff victory, the varsity Ravens fell short at Magen David by a final score of 52-36 on Thursday, March 2.

The first half of this contest went rather well for Rambam. Senior Daniel Weisblum hit numerous first quarter shots that excited the Raven fans in attendance. Eli Shulman played well early in the low post, and the team as a whole rebounded nicely on defense.

Both teams traded baskets throughout the first quarter, as the Warriors proved to be a lethal jump-shooting team. Rambam trailed by one after the first quarter, and by three at halftime.

But, at halftime, Magen David’s coach made superb adjustments to his team, which ultimately sparked the MDY victory. They began the third quarter playing a fast-moving motion offense, and Rambam’s defenders had difficulties catching up with the quick passing. This led to passes inside for the Warriors, which either ended in easy layins or second chance points via offensive rebounds. MDY also employed a full court press after they would score baskets, which slowed the Raven attack and took them out of their offensive rhythm.

Rambam found themselves down by 12 after the third quarter, and ended up losing by the 52-36 count.

Junior David Zafarani was cheered by the large Rambam crowd after fouling out midway through the fourth quarter. When Coach Stein took out Menachem Levitz and Daniel Weisblum, the team’s leading seniors, the Raven crowd erupted in appreciation for all of their work and effort put in throughout their high school years.

Written by senior Shlomo Sprung

The Varsity Hockey team continued their drive into the playoffs with an 11-3 victory over Solomon Schechter, a game in which each of the graduating seniors scored at least one goal each. This puts the final Varsity hockey regular season record for 2005-06 at 7-7 and qualifies them for the playoffs which will begin next week.