Rambam Record Parshat Vayera

Transcription

1 Rambam Record Parshat Vayera Rambam Shabbaton: Emphasis on Leadership This past Shabbos, Parshas Lech Lecha, marked Rambam Mesivta's Annual Shabbaton at Camp Seneca Lake. As befits the Parsha that focuses on Avraham's emergence as the quintessential leader, the weekend's festivities focused on developing leadership skills. The freshmen class, represented by over a dozen elementary schools, went up a day early with Senior Advisors and had the whole camp to themselves. They busied themselves with swimming, softball, football, and a midnight game of Dodgeball: Freshmen vs. Seniors (and Mr. Goldman). They also had a two sessions, run by Mr. Hillel Goldman, Rambam's Associate Principal, that focused on perspective and leadership. On Friday, the rest of the school arrived and Rambam's 5th Annual Flagfootball Tournament, run by the seniors, was in full effect. The game rooms were also packed, as were the hockey rinks, basketball courts, soccer fields, and tennis courts. Following the first rounds of play, the school gathered for a picture before going to an inspiring Kabbalat Shabbat led by senior Effie Klein, and The Harmonides, featuring Captain Eli Deutsch and Associate Captain Noam Fruchter. Mr. Goldman then spoke about the Parsha and the subject of leadership. Dinner was a delicious affair and the seniors, led by Masmid/Varsity Captain of Basketball, Sam Sicklick, sang beautiful Zemirot. The singing didn't end until almost every student, Rebbe, and Administrator was on a chair singing! Rabbi Yaacov Weisenberg, Rambam Rebbe, also shared words of Torah. Following dinner, Rabbi Yossi Ziskind invited everyone to a Tisch and shared words of Torah along with more singing and late night cholent. Thee next day saw more singing and words of Torah. Rabbi Yotav Eliach, Rambam's Principal, discussed the concept of leadership trough the paradigm of people who have inspired him with their desire to lead but not look for the spotlight. After another delectable meal, Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, Rambam's Rosh Mesivta, learned with Rambam's Entrepreneur Academy about the nature of proof itself and the role it plays in areas of Emunah and Bitachon. Rabbi Eliach then gave an optional shiur about his mother, Dr. Yaffa Eliach Z"L, as it was her first Yahrzeit. He shared the leadership role she took in changing the world's perception of Judaism as she brought to the fore what Jews were like prior to the Holocaust. "The Nazis had a posthumous victory," Rabbi Eliach said, "as they killed the Jews a second time by forcing the world to only see them as skeletons." His mother, he explained, showed what a rich life they had before the advent of the War.

2 Rabbi riedmann also led a shiur for the whole school on the subject of Lashon Hara. He emphasized that Lashon Hara kills three people, "The person speaking. The person listening, and the person it is about." He said that real leadership is sticking up for those in need and stopping those who share words that will cause strife. As Shabbos ebbed away, Rabbi Avi Haar, Assistant Principal of Rambam, offered some thoughts on leadership and the dangers of connected too much with electronic devices to the detriment of connecting with meaningful relations. Rabbi Aryeh Young then shared an inspiring story about a young boy who became the leader of his own life and recommended that the audience follow suit. After a meaningful Havdalah, the Flagfootball Tournament continued with Team Korman winning it all. That tournament was followed by the 8th Annual JV Quest for the Cup with JV Hockey defeating JV Basketball in soccer. More sports and swimming took place before the whole school returned to the dining room for pizza and icecream and rocking music from Rambam Rebbe, Rabbi Ari Boiangiu. The night was capped off by a senior bonfire down by the lake and the school's 5th Annual Homerun Derby which ended at 4:00AM with sophomore Zeke Rothbort winning the Derby and senior Akiva Schuck winning the Gold Glove Award. It was truly a meaningful and rewarding weekend to a year that is already off to a great start!

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4 Internationally Acclaimed, Bestselling Author Comes to Rambam: Debunks Idea of Palestinian People Students from Rambam Mesivta's Writers' Guild and Meet The Author Book Club skipped their dinner and savored the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with bestselling writer, Edwin Black, author of IBM and the Holocaust. They asked him "What is the secret of writing?" and he answered "Rewriting," explaining that he writes and re-writes a sentence multiple times until he feels it expresses exactly what he wants to convey in the most succinct manner possible. He compared it to a sculptor who hews away at a rock, until the image emerges. At the conclusion of the meeting, Mr. Black headed downstairs to address the entire Mesivta. The topic of his talk was "The Balfour Declaration:100 Years Later." During his interactive presentation, he peppered the crowd with questions and was amazed by the knowledge the students had of Jewish history in general and Israel in particular. With a well prepared PowerPoint presentation he took the students back thousands of years to the inception of the land promised to our forefathers and later settled in the time of Joshua. He recounted the history of both Ottoman and British empires and the impact it had on land of Israel. The 1919 agreement between King Faisal and Chaim Weitzmen was discussed and analyzed. That agreement carved out two separate geographic areas, a swath of land in the area which is now Syria which would be controlled by King Faisal, and a Jewish State in the land of Israel. Although both parties signed the agreement and a picture of them standing together was shown, the agreement never took effect and was later denied and disavowed by Arab leadership. Mr. Black demonstrated that the Arab World never began referring to those living in Israel as Palestinians until the 1960s. "There never was a Palestinian people living in Israel," said Black, a noted historian. Among the proofs to this point, was a headline from the New York Times around the time Israel had declared itself a state. The

5 headline referred to the fact that the Arab world was boycotting Palestinians...with "Palestinians" being a reference to the Jewish population in Israel. He also drew attention to the fact that over 900,000 Jews were evicted from Arab lands in 1948."Most left everything behind and were only permitted to take out a minimum amount of money," said Black who wrote another book titled the Farhud, detailing the events of the time. Students listened enthusiastically to everything that Mr. Black had to teach them. Mr. Black lauded the students for their interest and their knowledge saying that, "Of all the high schools I visit, the Rambam students are tops." The lecture was made possible by coordination with the Stand With Us, an on college campus Israel advocacy group. Not surprisingly, the Northeast Regional Coordinator of that organization is a Rambam alumnus, Avi Posnick. When the lecture was over Mr. Black and his entourage departed for Manhattan to prepare for his next series of lectures. He will be testifying before Congress shortly thereafter. Rambam was privileged indeed to have such a knowledgeable, dynamic historian share important information about Israel which is rarely highlighted in the media. His special presentation was greeted with a rousing ovation both at the inception and later at the conclusion of his speech. The lecture was sponsored by Mr. Shalom and Iris Maidenbaum and Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan and Marcy Farrell.

6 Rambam Wins Poetry Award at 8th Annual Slam! This past Tuesday, Rambam held its 8th Annual Poetry Slam! continuing their tradition of inaugurating the season for the Yeshiva Poetry Society that now includes over a dozen schools. Yeshivot from all over the tristate area came to compete for glory and plaques, including Frisch, Shalhevet, Central, SAR, and more. In addition to the individual awards, a new award was piloted; "Best School." Based on Mr. Goldman's complex algorithm, and with the input of the judges, Commissioner Aaron Roller, Sarah Jane Giddings, and Yeshiva Poetry Society Alumnus Tova Goldberg, Central received the prize. It was also a home victory for Rambam, as Zev Granik took home the "Best Free-Verse Award." This year the team expanded, and the freshmen learned much from the experience. Everyone had tons of fun and is excited for the coming year of further glory! By: Zev Granik

7 Rambam Entrepreneurial Academy attends Fast Company Innovation Festival After an amazing first trip in September to the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce Small Business Expo, the members of the Entrepreneurial Academy were all excited for what would be next. It's safe to say that our expectations were met! Recently, we attended the "Fast Company Innovation Festival" at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, where we listened to a discussion with none other than Mr. November himself: Yankee great, Derek Jeter. Aside from his success as a professional baseball player, Jeter has also extended that success to the sports media world. The website he founded, The Players' Tribune, is a groundbreaking media platform allowing athletes to connect directly with the fans via essays, video series, and podcasts. Also interviewed with Jeter was the CEO of The Players' Tribune and former Chief Revenue Officer of Spotify, Jeff Levick. He and Jeter spoke about how important it is that athletes can have their own voice and show fans a side of themselves that they don't see on the field. Levick noted that sometimes players who are not even connected to The Players' Tribune will walk in to the office if they have a game in New York and use their creativity to think of an essay

8 to write. They want fans to hear what they have to say, often information that a publication such as Sports Illustrated would not normally report on. Jeter mentioned that the strongest parallel between his playing career and his business career is that failure is very common in both, pointing out that a.300 hitter is considered very good but that means they are still failing 70% of the time. "The ability to focus on success instead of dwelling on the failures is imperative to anyone looking to achieve success, be it in the sports world or the business world," he shared. After the interview, we planned to head out of the Y back to our van, but as we walked past the door where the speakers were leaving, we decided to wait on the street in case Jeter or Levick walked out. Our wait still paid off, as we saw Jeff Levick leaving the building and he warmly agreed to take a photo with us. The trip was an incredible and memorable experience, and we are grateful that Rambam gave us the opportunity to attend this event. By: Nachum Liebman, 12th grade

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