THE RAMBAM RECORD
The eNewsletter of Rambam Mesivta High School
May 19, 2006 / 21 Iyar

Bowling-A-Go-Go on Lag BaOmer

Students from all grades at Rambam packed into vans on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 16th to go bowling at Woodmere Lanes in Woodmere in celebration of Lag BaOmer. The day was permeated with achdus as all the talmidim came together to have some wholesome fun playing some ten-pin.

After an impromptu arm-wrestling competition at the snack tables to get things started, the boys broke out into teams, chose their favored bowling balls, and got right into the action. Even some of the faculty joined in and managed to knock a few pins down as well.

Special kudos goes to Gili Litwack (177) and Daniel Fishman (175), for recording the two highest scores of the day.

Nissan Holzer Makes a Siyum

"Just try it out for 22 days and see how it feels," encouraged Nissan Holzer to his fellow talmidim on the morning of Thursday, May 18th who had gathered to hear the young freshman make a siyum on the completion of pesachim in the dof yomi. He was referring of course to the next meschta, Shekalim, which has 22 blott.

After his encouraging words, Holzer then shared divrei torah and said the hadran and kaddish.

Students gathered around Holzer when he was done, spontaneously dancing and singing in celebration. "That was amazing," said junior Jonathan Lustbader whose comment represented the admiration of all the boys in attendance at the breadth of knowledge Holzer displayed. The siyum was then followed by an enhanced breakfast including donuts.

Holzer is a part of a group of Rambam talmidim who has taken on the dof yomi. This group includes sophomore Daniel Fishman, junior Avi Bernstein, freshman Yair Menchel, and senior Jonathan Ziring.

On Language

By sophomore Jeffrey B. (Rocky) Reichman

Ruth

At first glance, the only bell this rings is the name of the grandmother of King David who married Boaz, but it’s much more than that. True, in The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition, 2002, Ruth is defined as, “…The great-grandmother of King David, known for her kindness and faithfulness. Not an Israelite herself, she married an Israelite who had come to her country...” but the meaning of this word goes deeper.

Believe it or not, but ruth is an actual English term. In Webster’s Dictionary, unabridged, the word ruth (a noun) is defined as, “pity; tenderness; sorrow.” Not only this, but the word I is also a source of a couple of words more commonly used in the English language. As it says in Norman W. Schur’s 1000 Most Challenging Words, “the adjective ruthless comes from the noun ruth; from Middle English ruthe. Our verb and noun rue is also related to the Middle English verb ruen.”

Norman W. Schur goes on to say, “It often happens, as in the case of ruth and ruthless, that the negative is used far more commonly than the positive, and often has a positive effect.” While ruth is an uncommon word, there have been many who have used it, even William Shakespeare (1564–1616), who is considered “the father of the English language.” In Shakespeare’s 132nd sonnet, he writes:

Thine eyes I love, and they, as pitying me
Knowing thy heart torment me with disdain,
Have put on black and loving mourners be,
Looking with pretty ruth upon my pain.

Finally, we have discovered the root of this word-or ruth as the case may be!

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

The Rambam Softball team split their double header on Friday, May 12th against Davis Renov Stahler (DRS) putting their season record at 3-1.

In the first game, both pitchers were throwing gems as the game remained scoreless going into the top of the sixth inning. Then the Rambam offense exploded for 10 big runs to overwhelm the opposition. Rambam went on the win the contest 10-1.

The second game was a real classic. Rambam was leading 4-2 going into the top of the 7th inning - the last chance for DRS. DRS got two men on base, but there were two outs with a count of three balls and two strikes to the batter who represented the last hope for DRS. The gutty DRS hitter then crushed a line drive home run to center field scoring three runs and giving them the lead going into the bottom of the inning.

Unfortunately, Rambam was unable to score in their last half-inning, so DRS was able to snatch victory away from the Bombers, keeping them from sweeping the double-header.

Rambam coach Seth Ungar said: “The boys on this team have been amazing. They are playing as well as any team I have seen in my years coaching for Rambam."

The next double header for the Bombers is against the Hebrew Academy of Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) on Friday, May 19th at 2:00 pm at North Woodmere Park.

The boys are busy creating their masterful banner which will be proudly displayed as they march down 5th Avenue in Manhattan for the upcoming Israel Day Parade.

Click on the image to the left to see an enlarged view of the inspirational t-shirt design created by Shlomo Yosef Simpser for the custom-designed Rambam t-shirts which will be worn during the parade.

Special thanks to Chaim Stauber, Shlomo Yosef Simpser, Henry Bernstein, Yori Thau and other students for helping to create the banner.

Animal Dissection

The students in the classes of Ms. Jane Schiff and Mr. Joseph Malizia got hands-on learning about animal anatomy this past week with the dissection of cat cadavers and pig embryos.

The class utilized specially treated cat cadavers and pig embryos to learn about the way in which the bodies of these animals function.

Women's League Supperette
Honors Rambam Grandmothers

The Rambam Women's League held a wonderful Supperette on Wednesday night, May 17th to honor four very special Rambam grandmothers - Chavie Cohen, grandmother of freshman Sholom Hammer;Toby Zupnick, grandmother of sophomore Chanan Zupnick; Shelley Chesner, grandmother of junior Chaim Schiff; and Shani Nagler, grandmother of alumnus Alan Stein.

A special thank you to all the wonderful women who worked to make the evening a success: Mona Goldman, President; Cindy Weinberg and Shaindy Hammer, Co-Chairpeople; Robyn Saltzman, Debbie Block and Tova Plaut, Committee.

The crowd was entertained by the music of David Block and Zoli Honig.

Mazel Tov