Kol Bogrei Rambam September 2009 ~ Elul 5769/Tishrei 5770 Page 1 of 4 CONNECTING ALUMNI WORLDWIDE

Kol Bogrei Rambam is the Alumni Council’s monthly e-newsletter for and about Maimonides School graduates. Each month we share information on individual graduates’ initiatives and accomplishments, as well as general news notes, all reflecting the school’s mission of preparing educated, obser- vant Jews to be contributing members of society. We invite your information, ideas and feedback—educational, professional or personal achieve- ments, new business ventures, interesting or unusual experiences, insights on Jewish living and learning, or just greetings. Please contact us at [email protected]. 1998 Graduate Experiencing Dual Curriculum Every Working Day

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt"l, life out of us. And beyond that, effectively in a more official rabbinic founded Mamonides School on the spending most of our waking hours at position,”he said.“I wanted to share this premise that “the Jewish child is able to work means we also have to deal with approach with others and I also wanted study and comprehend two systems of constant temptations—our hidden to talk to people, directly and openly, knowledge and to excel in both.” Rabbi struggles with our inner animal, the about their inner struggles. So I applied Elie Mischel ’98 is getting the chance yetzer hara.” to the Young of Staten Island." to live the renowned dual curriculum "For me, ’intellectual ’ was not Elie and his wife, Rebecca, who is a first-hand.The recently-appointed enough,”he continued.“The Talmud I psychologist, and their daughters Klilah, assistant rabbi at Young Israel of Staten was learning daily wasn't enough to 3, and Emunah, 1, moved from Fair Island continues to work for a New keep me inspired. Maybe it’s obvious, Lawn, NJ to Staten Island. Elie continues Jersey law office. but I realized that what I needed in life to work during the day in his office in Elie, a 2003 business was a more intimate and personal Morristown.“Balancing can be difficult, graduate, received his J.D. from YU’s relationship with God. So over the last but the jobs rarely, if ever, conflict,”he Cardozo School of Law in 2007—the few years I have focused increasingly on said. “My wife is amazing, which makes same year he was ordained by the Rabbi Chasidic teachings and personal prayer, all the difference. One major downside Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. which have been transformative.” is being forced to spend less time with Since then he has been working as a my kids.”The community, he added,“has For several years Elie has engaged in corporate associate with a Morristown, been very welcoming and supportive." communal work—as a rabbi at a NJ law firm. Hebrew school for unaffiliated Jewish Will he choose one path or the other? "I realized how difficult it is to be a children, a shul youth director, a “I'm not sure,”he acknowledges; it may working Jew, putting in long hours, and program director at a enrichment take a few years to measure happiness to also be simultaneously an inspired, center.“But only over the last few years, and success.There’s another option as passionate eved Hashem,”Elie observed. while working as an attorney out in the well:“Most of our siblings and my “At most jobs, the actual work is often secular world, did I discover that I had a parents have made aliyah. So the future dry and usually uninspiring, and message I wanted to share with other is wide open; we'll be looking for working indoors can drain the spiritual Jews, and that I could do that most heavenly signs to direct us."

Twenty-two 1999 graduates and family members pose in front of the school during their 10-year reunion. See Page 4 for other reunion coverage. Kol Bogrei Rambam September 2009 ~ Elul 5769/Tishrei 5770 Page 2 of 4 CONNECTING MAIMONIDES ALUMNI WORLDWIDE

Maimonides alumni who took part in an Aug. 2 exhibition game against the current student varsity team in Brighton: front, from left: Avi Klausner ’08, Noam Hassenfeld ’07, Ari Short ’07, Moshe Wallins ’05 and Casey Anis ’06; rear, from left: Ze’ev Gebler ’08, Sam Israel ’06, Adam Aroesty- Cohen ’05, Joe Wallins ’04, Avishai Gebler ’04, Rube Vogel ’05, Raphi Rosen ’06 and Joe Itkis ’06.

Maccabiah “Just Amazing”for Israel ’s Sam Goldberg ’88

Once in awhile, a Maimonides School headed by Howie Hirsch, husband of student-athlete uses interscholastic Renee (Blechner) Hirsch ’76 and the sports experience as a springboard to first baseman on the team. greater athletic accomplishment. The Israeli team played the U.S., Sam Goldberg ’88, former M-Cat Canada and Venezuela twice each in a point guard, was a member of the round-robin format, losing to the Israel softball team that competed in North American teams but defeating the 18th quadrennial Maccabiah in Venezuela, 3-0 and 9-6. (All the results, Petach Tikva last July.The games are including box scores and other among the world’s largest sporting statistics, are available at events, attracting outstanding Jewish http://www.israelsoftball.org/Eng/,on athletes from around the globe.This the 18th Maccabiah tab). Ranked third year more than 7,000 athletes from 51 going into the medal round, Israel countries were represented. then lost to Venezuela 8-4, and failed to qualify for the bronze. Sam plays outfield and occasionally second base for Penticon in the Israel "I ended up leading our team in Softball Association. For years he has batting (.500), and I was the only aspired to make the Maccabiah roster, player to play every inning of every and he realized that dream this game,” Sam noted, adding,“It sounds Sam Goldberg ’88 summer.“I attended the opening corny and clichéd, but I would've ceremonies, which were incredible,” gladly sacrificed some of my stats to feeling like a special Sam recounted. “Walking into the get a medal instead." athlete for a week and a half. And to stadium full of cheering people was represent Israel was just amazing.” "Overall, the feeling of playing every just amazing, especially since we were day was just great; coming to the field Sam and his wife Hadas and their representing Israel.”There’s another in my Israel uniform and playing three children live in the community Maimonides connection: the Penticon softball,” he said.“Having kids ask me of Shaarei Tikva. team is sponsored by the company to sign was really funny. Just Kol Bogrei Rambam September 2009 ~ Elul 5769/Tishrei 5770 Page 3 of 4 CONNECTING MAIMONIDES ALUMNI WORLDWIDE Sun Satisfies Graduate’s Science and Engineering Appetite

A 1989 Maimonides graduate is on the tional power plant. BrightSource “development and introduction of new cutting edge of one of Israel’s leading replaces the fossil-fueled boiler with a technologies, an R&D technical industries—solar energy. Ophir Chernin solar boiler.” management position which exposes is director of new technologies for me to the breadth of technologies and "Our product is large-scale power BrightSource Industries Israel, part of challenges faced by our company.” stations,”Ophir continued. Concentrated BrightSource Energy (www.bright solar power requires lots of direct After two years learning at Yeshivat sourceenergy.com), a leading company sunlight, so “the best place to build a Kerem B'Yavneh, Ophir earned a BA in in the field of concentrated solar power. power station is in the desert.”The physics from Yeshiva University and a BS "Our field is solar thermal power,”Ophir company has signed power purchase and MS in mechanical engineering from said. He explained how BrightSource’s agreements totaling more than 2.6 Columbia University’s School of solar tower technology utilizes a solar gigawatts with two electric companies Engineering and Applied Sciences. He field—a field of mirrors that can be in California and is building their and his wife Tami made aliyah in 1999, controlled to keep the sun’s energy projects in the Southwest . after which Ophir worked for Motorola pointed at a given location—to concen- BrightSource has offices in the Har Israel for about seven years as a trate the sun’s energy on a boiler at the Hotzvim industrial area of Jerusalem mechanical engineer designing top of a solar tower. This generates and a working pilot solar tower facility consumer communications devices. high-temperature and high-pressure outside of Dimona. “My goal for many years was to find an steam.“The steam is used to run an R&D related position which requires Ophir, who grew up in Sharon and lives electrical turbine,”he continued. both a scientific and engineering in Ramat Bet Shemesh, is responsible for “Essentially, it’s the same as a conven- background,”he said.

Alumni Here and There…

Amy Sisel ’03, program coordinator including her years as an undergraduate anti-Semitism in the 19th and 20th for New England region NCSY for the at Touro College. centuries, ideology of religious Zionism, past three years, will lead a team of Biur HaTfilah, and a course that Earlier this month, Marilyn (Zicher) madrichim at the new Israel Experience addresses responsa and issues of Kramer ’72 visited the Brookline program at Bar Ilan University, which emunah associated with the events of campus for what she thinks may be the begins next month.“The Israel 1933-1945. first time since graduation. Marilyn lives Experience is designed to give gradu- in the small community of Beit Horon, Debra Weiner ’74 notes that her son ating high school students an oppor- located between Modi'in and Ezra Solomont recently graduated from tunity to continue their Jewish studies, Yerushalayim. She and classmates have the yeshiva high school in Mitzpe take college courses while discovering been discussing the possibility of a 40- Ramon, where his madrich was Nachum the beauty and history of the Land of year class reunion in Israel in 2012. Tabasky, son of Chaim (Billy) Tabasky Israel,”explained Rabbi Shmuel Miller, ’67, the sofer who also wrote the tefillin regional director. He said NCSY recently Rabbi Yitzhack Rubin ’56 reports that the family sent last month for his began managing the program in an that “this past year I taught two bar mitzvah to cousin Joseph effort to increase its enrollment and Maimonides graduates”(Michael Mintz Solomont ’14 in Brookline. improve its overall educational ’08 and Yosef Schaffel ’08) at the program.The curriculum includes four Yeshiva Shvilei HaTorah one-year study Gabriel Yarmush ’02 has embarked hours of Judaic studies with an oppor- program in Jerusalem.“It was a special on a Ph.D. program in biomedical tunity to take a full load of accredited feeling to teach Maimonides fellows,”he engineering at Rutgers University. He secular courses. Amy has been working said. Rabbi Rubin has been a member of and his wife Talia (Liben) Yarmush ’02 for NCSY since her days at Maimonides, the yeshiva’s faculty for the past three now reside in Linden, NJ. years, teaching modern Jewish history, Kol Bogrei Rambam September 2009 ~ Elul 5769/Tishrei 5770 Page 4 of 4 CONNECTING MAIMONIDES ALUMNI WORLDWIDE Reunion Spotlight: Summer 2009

Three 1994 graduates in Israel—from left, Medinah (Katchen) Korn, Bracha (Shapiro) Krohn and Bracha (Ginis) Strauss—smile as they prepare to connect with Gathering during a summer reunion in New York their classmates at a reunion of the Class of 2001 are, front, from left, Aviva in Brookline via skype.com. Cheses, Tova Katz, Jessica Salzberg, Elana (Stramer) Steltzer, and Moses Sternstein; rear, from left, Dani Leeds and JJ Weinstein.

Eighteen members of the Class of 1994 pose with their children in Saval Auditorium during a 15-year reunion on Aug. 23.

Ten members of the Class of 1999 in Israel, and spouses, who held a simultaneous reunion with their classmates at Maimonides and made video and audio connection on skype.com. Meira Weinstein (front, center) hosted the event, greeting classmates Emily (Cohen) Jaffe, Sandra (Frankel) Bloch, Esti Polen, Eliyahu Gusovsky, Yaakov Ellis, Hillel Katchen, Anna (Levin) Serels, Dee (Lockerman) Mack and Ben Shimshak.