THE RAMBAM RECORD
The eNewsletter of Rambam Mesivta High School
October 11, 2005 / 8 Tishrei

Rambam Hosts Annual T'Shuvathon

On Sunday morning, October 9, approximately 250 fathers and sons gathered at Rambam for a thought-provoking t'shuvathon on the topic of repentance in preparation for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The t'shuvathon was led by Rabbi Tzvi (Hershel) Reichman Shlita, Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS.

The t'shuvathon began with chavrusa-style learning preparing three perakim from the Rambam related to the halachot of repentance. Rabbi Reichman then emphasized the two aspects of repentance in halacha: acknowledging your sins and then vowing not to do them again.

Rabbi Reichman then probed deeper into the meaning of Yom Kippur. Yes, you must repent and pray for forgiveness but you must go further and purify yourself, he explained. When you sin, you've diminished yourself, become impaired, he said. You must now sanctify yourself so that you may resist the temptation to sin again in the future.

Despite the complexity of the subject, Rabbi Reichman imparted to the parents and talmidim a deeper yet practical understanding of the process of teshuvah.

Daniel Fishman Makes a Siyum

"It's not easy but if you do it, you'll feel a great sense of accomplishment," said Rambam sophomore Daniel Fishman about his pursuit of dof yomi. Fishman made a siyum on meseches shabbos after after davening in the morning.

As Daniel shared divrei torah and said the hadran and kaddish, his father Rabbi Yale Fishman was clearly beaming in the audience.

Introducing Daniel, Rabbi Friedman lauded the commitment to limud HaTorah and the breadth of knowledge gained through the process of dof yomi.

Fishman is a part of a Rambam study group which is pursuing the seven-year dof yomi cycle. This group includes sophomore Reuven Bankoff, junior Avi Bernstein, freshman Yair Menchel, and senior Jonathan Ziring.

"Yom Kippur:Our Obligation of Teshuvah”
By Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, Rosh HaMesivta

As we approach Yom Kippur, our year-long responsibility of doing teshuvah comes into focus. There are multiple aspects to what needs to be addressed in doing teshuvah and perhaps three that are often overlooked.

1. Teshuvah on personality flaws - The Rambam in perek 7 of hilchos teshuvah states that just as a person is obligated to do teshuvah on acts of aveirah, so too, is it incumbent upon all of us to do teshuvah on certain personality trends which may not express themselves in particular transgressions.

For example, a person "should examine his thoughts and repent from anger, from hatred, from jealousy, from folly, from running after money, honor and the pleasures of the palate."

2. There is a mitzvah to appease one’s friend on Erev Yom Kippur. Rav Soleveitchik z’tl explains that the word appease is chosen carefully and is very significant. He explains that our obligation of piyus on Erev Yom Kippur exceeds the year-round responsibility of asking for mechilah when we wrong someone. Classical mechilah is simply to ask forgiveness and fulfill our legal obligation without bringing about a complete reconciliation between the parties. The mitzvah of Erev Yom Kipper is to go out of our way and bring about a complete reconciliation between ourselves and the party that we injured re-establishing the relationship as if nothing had happened.

Consequently, the common practice of calling everybody up on your “buddy list” and asking superficially “Are you mochel me?” does not meet the standard. Our job is not to engage in superficialities but rather in heartfelt attempts to restore relationships.

Furthermore, one should examine who he approaches on Erev Yom Kippur asking for mechilah. It is easy to ask our good friends for mechilah but the responsibility is specifically to do that which is uncomfortable, namely to approach people that we may not feel comfortable talking to in the interest of piyus.

As we say our tefilos on Yom Kippur, we must be aware of the following principles:

1. Hashem is not physical and has no physical characterisitics.
2. Hashem as the all perfect being is not subject to change. The posuk in Malachai states “Ani Hashem lo shanisi – I Hashem do not change.”
3. The system of reward and punishment is based solely on our adherence to the Torah way of life. It is wrong for a person to introduce or believe in practices that have no foundation in halacha as being efficacious in bringing about cures, financial success, redemption, etc. As the Am Hashem we are promised ultimate sechar reward for following the Torah.

Even the notion of teshuvah, tefila, tzedukah should not be understood superficially. It does not mean that we engage in a charade to “butter up” Hashem but rather means that if we understand the message of and improve our ways through these mechanisms, we raise our level as we approach Hashem and can be zocheh birchas Hashem.

G’mar Tov to all.

The winners have been announced for the Super Sukkos raffle!

$50.00 Gift Certificate to Paper Place - Zvi Lefkowitz

Complete Set of Leather Machzorim from Judaica Plus - Leonard Hirsh

Pop-Up Sukkah and Decorations from Esrogim.com - Avi Levy

Sukkot Dinner for Ten - The Horowitz Family

Lulav and Esrog Set from Esrog Warehouse - The Bernstein Family - Guy Tsadik - Leonard Hirsh- A & R Abramouitz & Family - The Novick Family

Coca Cola Nostalgia Ice Chest - Alan Shulman & Family

Grand Prize...One Round Trip Ticket to Israel on Israir by Tal Tours - Reva and Rich Miller

Student Winner of 2 Ranger Tickets from Kosher Sports Inc. - Shuki Rosenblum

Congratulations to all of our winners. Thank you for participating in this fun raffle contest.

Rambam sophomore Gabi Weinberg has produced and distributed the premier issue of a Rambam student publication called "The Scoop."

"I did a lot of work on it over the summer," Weinberg said, "And I got a lot of help on it this semester from my classmates."

The Scoop is an opinion journal that covers a wide range of issues, inside and outside of the classroom.

Click here to read the premier issue of "The Scoop."

This year, for the first time, Rambam is offering a Video Production Course to its students - an elective course that is available only to seniors.

"Offering video production to seniors is the the last step in their preparation in digital communications," said John Stevens, teacher of the course. "As freshmen they learn the basic Office Suite of software programs; as sophomores they step up to digital imaging and website design. Now, as seniors, they learn how to communicate via digital video technology. It's a progression that really equips students with the modern tools of communication technology."

Students are learning pre-production planning, proper camera and image composition techniques, and the "grammar" of video editing.

Look for samples of the students' work in future issues!

Mazel Tov to the winners of the recent elections for Rambam student government.

President - Michael Pisem
Vice-President - Avishai Fuss
Treasurer - Jay Kislak
Secretary - Daniel Himber

Class Representatives

9A - Michael Saltzman
9B - Avi Markowitz
10A - Andrew Reichman
10B - Daniel Friedman
11A - Dovid Tauber
11B - David Zafarani

Senior Council

President - Yaakov Miller
Vice-President - Westleigh Nirenberg
Secretary - Tani Guterman
Treasurer - Aaron Friedman