Parashas Chayei-Sarah recounts the story of the search for Yitzchak’s bride; a task that Avraham assigns to his faithful servant, Eliezer. The Rabbis teach that Eliezer had a daughter, whom he expected would marry Yitzchak. After all, who would be a more suitable candidate to become Avraham’s daughter-in-law? Eliezer was Avraham’s devoted disciple for seventy years, and an accomplished scholar and teacher. The Rabbis describe that he "drew water" from his teacher’s infinite wellsprings of wisdom and disseminated this wisdom to others. It was only natural for Eliezer to assume that he would earn the distinction of joining Avraham’s family, and his daughter would be chosen as a wife for Yitzchak.

However, Avraham informed Eliezer that his daughter could not marry Yitzchak because Eliezer descended from Canaan, who was cursed by Avraham’s grandfather, Noach. This curse remains with Canaan’s descendants for eternity, and a person of such lineage was not qualified to join the blessed family of Avraham.

We can only imagine Eliezer’s disappointment upon hearing Avraham’s response. But Avraham added insult to injury by assigning Eliezer the task of finding a bride for Yitzchak.

Avraham’s assignment to Eliezer is somewhat analogous to the following theoretical situation. Imagine a man who lives next to an attorney whom he consults with to receive legal advice. The attorney graciously spends time reviewing his documents and offering his professional advice, as a neighborly favor. But then, when the man needs to hire a lawyer to oversee a major transaction, not only does pass over his friendly neighbor for the job, he asks the neighbor to recommend another lawyer. After the lucrative deal is completed, he gives the neighborly lawyer a tremendous sum and asks him to give it to the other attorney! What insensitivity.

Eliezer, Avraham’s loyal servant and disciple for seventy years, clearly had sufficient reason to feel slighted. Nevertheless, he executed his mission faithfully and masterfully, praying to God to assist him and employing every technique he could to win a favorable response on the part of Rivka’s family. Avraham had told him that if the suitable girl refused to come to marry Yitzchak, then Eliezer was excused from his mission. He could have easily gone to Rivka’s family without making any effort to secure their consent, so that he would return to Canaan without a match, in which case Avraham might rethink his decision and allow Yitzchak to marry Eliezer’s daughter. Instead, Eliezer makes every effort to ensure the success of his mission, so that he would return to Canaan with the ideal match for Yitzchak.

Eliezer learned this trait from Avraham himself. As we read last week in Parashas Vayera, Avraham prayed on behalf of Avimelech, the king of Gerar, who was punished for abducting Sara. Despite the pain Avimelech inflicted on Avraham and his wife, Avraham nevertheless agreed to pray on Avimelech’s behalf, and felt concerned for his well-being. Eliezer observed this and followed Avraham’s example. Even though he felt slighted, even though he may have had a valid grievance, he nevertheless put his selfish interests aside and executed his mission in good faith.

Perhaps that is why the Torah devotes so much time to Eliezer’s story, when in general, it is so thrifty in its verbiage. Some of the most important Mitzvos of the Torah are covered in just several verses, but the stories of the patriarchs – and, in this case, even of their servant – are given dozens of verses. Each day we must ask, "When will my deeds reach the deeds of my forefathers?" We are to study and gain inspiration from the story of Eliezer, and work towards implementing these critical lessons in our own lives and following in the footsteps of our holy ancestors and those who cleaved to them.

Aaron Kattan, SGO President

On Shabbos Parshat Veyerah, the 3rd Annual Rambam Mesivta Ravens Varsity Basketball Team Shabbaton took place in West Hempstead at the home of Coach Judah Rhine and his wife, the spectacular chef, Carol. The members of the team were all housed by those players who live in West Hempstead. Prior to Shabbos, the team gathered for a team photo outside the Rhine home. Following Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv at the Young Israel of West Hempstead, the team headed over to the Rhine’s for an elegant Friday night dinner catered by Chef Carol. There were divrei Torah, lively discussions and concluded with a Viennese style dessert table. On Shabbos morning, the team attended the teen minyan and then headed back to the Rhine’s for Shabbat lunch where they were joined by Assistant Coach Eli Shulman. A lavish meal was served including Carol’s special Cholent. There was lively Zmirot as well as inspirational stories as told by Coach Rhine. Shabbat afternoon was devoted to menucha, free time and learning. After Shabbos, the team reconvened at the Rhine home once again, where they were treated with snacks, pizza, popcorn, etc. The highlight featured the entire team gathering in the “Ravens Den” to watch the classic movie HOOSIERS together. It was a great opportunity to share time away from the basketball court and spend a Shabbos together as a team. The team had a chance to bond and grow and will hopefully use the experience to carry them through to a successful season.

Coach Rhine’s Shabbaton: A Point Guard’s Perspective

This past Shabbos the Varsity Basketball team had a Shabbaton hosted by Coach and Mrs. Rhine. The team was treated to two sumptuous meals, prepared solely by Mrs. Rhine. Over the course of these meals, Coach Rhine treated the team to some rousing and invigorating basketball stories, which included an excerpt from a Flatbush school newspaper (from 1983) about Coach Rhine's first year coaching Varsity. The team was also treated to a stirring Dvar Torah by Senior Center Azariah Hakohen. After Shabbos the team met back at coach Rhine's house where they watched the inspirational basketball movie "Hoosiers." The team was moved by how a small school (much like Rambam) was able to overtake their opponents with hard work and unity and go on to win the state championship. Hopefully the team takes this message to heart. We would like to thank Coach and Mrs. Rhine for hosting the team. We would also like to wish the Ravens much hatzlacha as they embark on their upcoming season which hopefully will be remembered as a great success.

GO RAVENS!!!

Jordan Kaufman

Congratulations to the Varsity Rambam Ravens Hockey Team on their 4-0 crushing victory over Westchester on the 20th. Even after the arduous and long bus ride, the Ravens shut out their opponents with great goals from Captain Nathan Akavan, Benny Hammer, Mickey Levinson, and Avi Goodstein. Goodstein, a fresh face in Rambam, scored after playing his first 20 seconds in a Yeshiva hockey game! This was thanks to a perfect one-timer pass from Josh Honig. Special kudos goes to the impenetrable wall that stands in our net, Josh (Alva) Freidman. (ALVA'S A WALL!) With our tight defense and unrelenting offense, Westchester never stood a chance! This impressive triumph will be the first of many. What a way to start the season!

GO RAVENS!!!!!!!

Dani Edelman

The Varsity Rambam Ravens Hockey team took the court on Sunday night against the Flatbush Falcons for an electrifying 36 minute performance of strength and skill. The game began with a preliminary huddle, led by Benny Hammer who passionately read the ceremonial poetic verse composed by Didi Levy in preparation before the battle that would soon to take place. Rambam was missing their star defensemen Yehoshua Sloan and Brian Cohen due to sickness and unrest. Nevertheless, the Rambam Ravens were not fazed by this loss nor did the morale of a single player become hurt. The starting line for the night would be composed of Nathan Akhavan, Mickey Levinson, Didi Levy and Dani Edelman. It did not take long before Flatbush came to the realization that they were playing against a force to be reckoned with. Nathan and Mickey were relentless and carried the ball with the grace of ballerinas and the strength of lions. Meanwhile on the defensive side of the court Didi, Dani and Josh Goaltender Freidman stood tall like brick walls absorbing the pressure and constant brutality that Flatbush inflicted. They defended the net with their bodies and their spirit. The score quickly leaped from 0-0 to 5-1 in favor of Rambam thanks to help from the ferocity and intensity brought on by the second and third lines. Sure enough the third period only brought Rambam much more success as we were able to witness the lightning quickness of Joe Marcus as he scored to extend Rambams lead that much further. The game ended in an 8-5 win by Rambam, congratulations to the warriors of the mesivta on the win of their home opener!

Yedidya (Didi) Levy

This past Wednesday was our first week of clubs. Some clubs are fun, others useful, and others help out the community. Rambam offers so many different clubs for our different curiosities: Green Team, Board Game Strategy, Drive Committee, Sofer Club, Chesed, Stock, Sushi Mochers, Mixed-Martial Arts, and so much more. Rambam also has a great new addition called Mini Golf Design which brought a lot of attention. Personally, I am on the stock club and honestly I went in knowing literally nothing about stocks and I walked out with a lot of knowledge.

Eli Lava

This year Rambam has added a brand new exciting club called mini golf design! Students actually get to design and build their very own mini golf course. We have only had one session and we made a ton of progress. First, we split into groups and chose our themes. In the coming weeks the actual construction will occur. Each hole will be graded on creativity, uniqueness, and design. The best part is that the courses will be used for fund raisers to collect money for charity, and we have had fun creating these fun works of art!

Sam Cohen

Last Wednesday we had our first Mixed-Martial Arts club hour. We began with simple exercises to loosen our muscles to prevent injuries. These exercises included laps, pushups and various stretches. Once we were prepared, we divided into pairs and learnt our first moves. The first was a basic block, to stop a straight punch. This involved taking the hand opposite your opponent’s fist and hitting their fist inwards. The next block we learned was how to block a hook. Our sensei showed us that by closing your inner elbow and holding on to the back of your head, the hook would just bounce off your arm. He also explained that you could perform a simple counterstrike by smashing your elbow into your opponents face. Finally, our opponent had a fake knife and the object was to block it and break the attacker’s wrist. This was done the same as a basic block for a straight punch, except with an extra step, in which you sharply twisted your opponent’s hand backwards and to the side. Self-defense is a great skill to have. Overall, in just one club hour, we learned a lot, and had a terrific experience. We also learned that confidence, respect, and discipline, the philosophy of Sensei Warren Levi’s dojo are the key to true success, in battle and in life.

Hillel Lerner

Last week during club hour, the Sushi Mochers club had 2 big platters of sushi delivered. As a side point almost every piece was eaten. This was just the introductory week of this club in future weeks we will be discussing the culture of it as well as learning how to make different types of sushi.

Tani Martin

The Drive Committee Club is not just a club. Rather, it is a project attempting to donate new toys and things of that nature to ill children in hospitals as well as children in Chai Lifeline. We will collect money through fund raisers and post flyers throughout the town and various schools in order to spread awareness of our campaigns. It will take a lot of time and effort but it is so worth it.

Aaron Koppel

In the Chesed Club we try to come up with ideas to raise money for special events and causes. We are looking forward to having a silent auction, video game tournaments, and many more fun activities to ultimately raise money for worth charities. Hopefully, we will have a very successful year and have fun along the way.

Yarden Sokol

Rambam is having their annual Mock Trial tryouts. Mock Trial is a real live court case where we are the lawyers. We do the research on the case at home or in school and we either represent the plaintiff or the defendant. These cases take place in an actual Nassau County Court House in front of an actual judge. We will be competing against many other yeshivas. Ultimately, the judge decides the verdict and which school wins the case. It is done very professionally and is very exciting.

Eli Lava

To many students, history is a dull subject, all about distant wars and long-dead emperors. When pressed about why they do not enjoy history, most students will reply “it’s not relevant to my world.” To me this is a sign that history is perhaps not being taught properly or that the students are not making an honest effort to understand it. If they did, its relevance would be unquestioned.

History’s great advantage and problem is that it is always viewed in hindsight. It is advantageous when it is used to understand consequences, to see things through a sequence that has a clear beginning, middle and end. Unfortunately, while memorizing historical information can be easy, assimilating this information into our modern lives is usually much harder. We wonder why people in the past did certain things and we can’t fathom how they could have failed to foresee seemingly inevitable outcomes. But that is precisely the lesson that history has to offer us, to force us to recognize that decisions may produce different outcomes, and the time to consider these is before the decision is made. By studying the past and revisiting old decisions, we can better understand why one path was chosen and another not taken. Armed with this discipline, we can rethink our own decisions, and perhaps, upon reflection, learn from the past and choose a different road for ourselves.

So why don’t students have a greater appreciation for history? Maybe it is because when we are young we put a premium on action rather than on contemplation. Maybe we like to let our dreams soar rather than be anchored by the realities of the past. But ultimately, we do recognize that a historical perspective does not allow for indulgence in delusion. And that using the past as a guide, we will be able to do extraordinary things in the future.

Avi Gross