There is a famous joke about "The Jewish mother": She is pushing a stroller with a baby in it while her toddler walks by her side. A woman stops them and starts cooing away. She is so taken with the young family that she keeps the mother for a few minutes to chat and, after numerous pinching of cheeks, she finally asks the mother how old her children are. The young mother proudly proclaims, "The doctor is two years old and the lawyer is one." The joke is a distinctly "Jewish" one in that it reveals a fundamental respect and admiration for education and the doors it opens for white collar aspirations. Parshat Ki Sisa, on the other hand, is the Parsha that celebrates every Jew.

Parshat Ki Sisa describes the census of the Jewish people noting that it is forbidden to count Jews in the natural way, by head. Rather, Jews are counted by what they contribute to a charitable or sacred enterprise, thus "Ki sisa es rosh Bnei Yisrael -Raising their heads," and themselves to a loftier level. Moreover, there is equality in the way in which one is counted, in that all must give the same amount, thus demonstrating a unity of purpose and devotion.

The Parsha also observes that Betzsalel, the supervisor of the Mishkan's construction, was more than a mere artisan; that he was endowed with a G-dly spirit, "wisdom, insight, and knowledge."

My father relates a story about an experience he had with my grandfather in New York City. The two of them were in a cab and struck up a conversation with the taxi driver. After a little while, the driver informed them that he had a Ph.D. He went on to explain that he was a "Professional Hack Driver," (Hack being slang for taxi) and thus the iconic Goldman expression; "Everyone is a Ph.D in their own field" was born.

We stand in awe of knowledge and education. We live in a society that salivates over initials at the end of names and marvels at the esoteric. Ki Tisa is a reminder to us that as we sit in Shul we should be thankful to everyone who contributed to its conception. From the seats we sit in, to the stained-glass windows, to the Seforim themselves, there is so much chochma that comes with physical toil and the sweat of wisdom. We learn from this Parsha that as a nation and as individuals, it is not enough to be counted. Jews must be prepared to be counted upon to take on their roles as Jews. They should define themselves as being counted among their people in a display of achdus and count for something such as a life committed to Torah, Mitzvot and mankind..even if it means rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty. And remember, as it says in Bameh Madlikin "Do not read banayich..(your children)..but rather bonayich, (your builders)".

Good Shabbos

Hillel Goldman

This past Monday Rambam went to Mesivta Ateres Yaakov for Torah Bowl. Rambam played outstanding! They won an impressive 3 out of 4 games (which is the record they have attained every meet) and because of this they are in first place. The next math will be the playoffs and all the torah bowlers are anxious and already studying.

Mathletes Score Awards The Rambam Math Team went to SUNY for a huge Nassau County math competition on February 11th. Approximately 600 schools competed. The competition was comprised of three parts: a grade level section, an individual level section, and lastly a school and team section. We split into two teams, one for freshmen and sophomores, and one for juniors and seniors.

At the end of the day Rambam's freshmen and sophomore team ended up ranked number 19 out of nearly 1000 teams! Additionally, a special congratulations is in order to Rambam's Yair Lichtman as the number 12 sophomore in the county as well as Josh Moskovits as the number 7 junior in the county. As individuals and as individuals working as a team, the Rambam work ethic and tradition of excellence adds up to success.

- Zechariah Hartman (9th Garde)

This past Saturday night the Junior Varsity Ravens hockey team had their last regular season game against HANC. The final score was 7-2 Ravens, which enabled the team to achieve a perfect regular season. The scoring was led by Jeremy Bock with 3 goals, and outstanding goaltending by Chanani Levy and Shlomo Laufer. Looking forward to an undeafeated postseason as well!

- Eli Lava

On February 10th the Rambam Varsity and Junior Varsity College Bowl teams travelled to Beth Shalom for a meet hosted by HAFTR. The JV team not only won every game, they won by double digits (except against Shalhevet). The Varsity won two of their games with exceptional scores. The JV team is now tied for first with North Shore.

- Jake Plaut (9th Grade)

Earlier this month, the prestigious Rambam Mesivta Meet The Author Book Club headed out of Lawrence and to the 92nd Street Y, in New York City, to attend an interview given by esteemed author Michael Lewis. Mr. Lewis is highly regarded for his ability to think "outside the box" and analyze events and systems differently than other authors typically do. His famous works include a description of Mr. Lewis's experiences as a bond salesman on Wall Street in Liars Poker and an unorthodox view on the way to find successful baseball players based on the ideas of Billy Beane in Moneyball. Mr. Lewis spoke about these two books as well as his book The Blind Side which has recently been released as an Academy-Award winning movie. Everyone who attended enjoyed the interview immensely as well as the pizza and hot cocoa.

- Dov Herzberg (11th Grade)

Why America is Waging War Unsuccessfully

America is the strongest country in the world; its military is the envy of all nations and is actually considered to be the "arsenal" of democracy. Is it therefore fair to ask why America's wars over the last 70 years have been so unsuccessful, or at best inconclusive? To understand this, one must look at America's last military success, World War II. By analyzing what was done correctly in that war, perhaps we can hypothesize why America's subsequent wars have produced such different outcomes.

In World War II, America was attacked first. This is a key issue; as the victim, the U.S could martial the full support of its people. The level of sacrifice by the nation - such as gas and food rationing, national conscription, volunteerism - was unprecedented, and hard to imagine today. In contrast, in later wars, such as Vietnam, America's preemptive military efforts often produced massive popular opposition. Moreover, World War II actually helped lift the American economy out of a recession, with vast employment to support the war effort. The same is not true today, where wartime spending often redirects resources away from the domestic economy. Finally, World War II enabled people to believe in their government and the justice of their cause. In the age of cynicism that followed Vietnam and the social idealism of the 60's, every government action is questioned. In short, the home front was an important component in winning World War II and is the key missing component of America's subsequent wars.

Another factor was the global nature of World War II where a substantial portion of the world's notions were aligned along one of two sides. The U.S therefore had the support of many nations and did not fight alone. In its subsequent wars, the U.S often fought alone. In World War II, the battle lines tended to be clear: it was the armies of one side arrayed against the armies of the other. These military tactics, in which the advantage is given to the larger, stronger force, have today been abandoned by smaller, weaker enemies in favor of guerrilla tactics and terrorism. In this type of warfare, there are few military "targets"; the focus of modern guerrilla warfare is often no more than an idea, and an idea is a difficult military target. Moreover, it gives the advantage to the nimble, invisible force, not the larger, best equipped one.

World War II also identified a clear objective: the defeat of the Axis powers and the restoration of democratic governments in the conquered lands. America's later wars offered less defined objectives. For example, there was little government to "restore" in North Korea or Vietnam, and the same is essentially true in Afghanistan and Iraq where America is attempting to establish functioning governments where none previously existed. America's reconstruction efforts in post-World War II Europe, which were widely welcomed by the local population, were therefore very different, and produced very different results following its later wars. Not surprisingly, America's post-World War II efforts produced stability out of chaos; the same cannot be said for America's later wars. In its later wars, America may have been successful in initially destroying the enemy's government and systems, but it was almost entirely unsuccessful in establishing a replacement government of which it approved. Colin Powel warned President Bush about Iraq: "If you break it, you own it." America's recent wars have involved considerable breaking, but the subsequent ownership issues have proven to be much more complicated.

In short, America's later wars have not been as successful as World War II. The main problem has been the failure to appreciate why World War II was so effective. A "can-do spirit" is not enough to win a war; an appreciation of history's lessons is the critical component.

-Avi Gross