November 9, 2003 – Approximately two hundred Rambam students, teachers, parents, and others rallied outside the house of Jakiw Palij today. Palij is a self admitted camp guard in the Trawniki death camp who assisted the Nazis in the Holocaust.

“The fact that Palij has lived as a free man as the United States for 50 years is an outrage”, said rally organizer Rabbi Zev Friedman, Dean of Rambam Mesivta. “We have a moral responsibility to remember the events of the recent past and speak out vociferously against the perpetrators. Imagine in 50 years from now we found one of Osama’s henchmen living freely in Queens, would we forgive and forget – should we?!”

With the commemoration of Kristalnacht (The Night of Broken Glass), and Veteran’s Day in two days, those gathered to rally expressed their outrage that a former Nazi guard has been living freely in the United States while many U.S. soldiers have died fighting the Nazi’s during World War Two. With Palij’s citizenship now stripped, they also called on the US Department of Justice to go forward with deportation hearings. Speeches were punctuated with chants of “God Bless America”, “Just Get Out”, “No S.S. in the U.S.”

The Rambam Open House 2003 was a huge success, our best ever, with over 300 propsective Rambam parents in attendance. These parents were given a snapshot of who we are, what we do and what we stand for. Rosh Mesivta Rabbi Friedman presented the goals of a Rambam education - to produce responsible graduates who are well versed in Torah, equipped with outstanding academic credentials, committed to Klal Yisrael, and whose midos and leadership qualities will evoke a Kiddush Hashem in college, graduate school and in the workplace. In short, he presented the Rambam philosophy: to impart values and not just teach curriculum. Rambam is truly 'more than just a school.'

Later, at the Mini-Open House, over 60 parents who were unable to attend the first event, were also treated to the Rambam experience.

The next step are the informal get-togethers with interested parents in order to discuss in greater detail everthing that is offered at this very dynamic school.

In the meantime, applications are coming in and interviews are being scheduled. Interviews will be set up on a rolling basis as applications are processed. Please call us at 516-371-5824 ext. 101, to get answeres to any questions about the application or interview process.

Hockey –
Rambam Hockey had an amazing turn around with back to back wins for both J.V. and Varsity.

On Sunday November 23rd, the J.V. team, under the leadership of coaches Tzvi Hershenov and Josh Heller, defeated Flatbush 5-1. The Varsity squad, coached by Scott Firester, defeated Kushner 6-1.

Only a few short days later on Tuesday November 25th, both the JV and Varsity Rambam hockey teams were triumphant over North Shore. The J.V. team waon 5-0; the Varsity squad won 7-2.

"It was a great weekend for Rambam Hockey," said Coach Firester, " Thanks to superb team play all around. We got great goaltending from Benjy Mayer on J.V. and Yaacov Block, the Varsity backup goalie, really came up big. We're starting to put some wins on the board and hopefully the trend will continue.”

Basketball –
J.V. Basketball is on a roll winning their last two games against HANC and EZRA making their record 2-1.

Varsity played their annual exhibition game against Solomon Shechter - winning. After the game, both team members enjoyed Snapple and home cooked "blondies" while bonding and talking about the game. A great game was played by all.

The students were also treated to a sparkling presentation by Lt. Yoni Zagdanski, an Orthodox Jew from Far Rockaway, who is now a member of America’s fighting forces in Iraq. He showed pictures from the fighting in Iraq and the capture of Baghdad, and peppered his comments with references to Iraq as Biblical “Bavel”. He spoke about the unique experience being back in Bavel and how he was conscious of the strange turn of history that had brought him back as a soldier to a place that his forefathers had likely seen as captives. The students roared at his jokes about Saddam Hussein and the opulence of his palaces while showing pictures of him and his comrades lounging on Saddam’s palatial sofas.

“It was really awe-inspiring to see these great people,” says Yitzie Klein, a senior. “They risked their lives so we can live peacefully. We owe them much gratitude.” Referring to the presentation by Sgt. Whiteway, Josh Faizzadeh, a freshman, noted, that “the events of the Holocaust should make every Jewish-American appreciate living in America. Six million Jews were persecuted under Nazi rule; in America, we are living a life of freedom, free to practice our religion.”

My School Wizard is the new online program that enables students, parents and teachers to all "be on the same page" as their academic career progresses at Rambam.

Students can access their class accounts from any computer with an Internet connection, and benefit from the following features:

• Integrated Calendar
• Homework Assignment
• Bulletins
• School-wide Announcements
• Class Information
• Class Handouts

Parents appreciate the fact that they can keep in touch with their son's schedule, assignments and workload. Teachers find that it has become an essential tool in managing course curriculum.