KOL RAMBAM Spring 2010 • rŠyz oeiq-oqip ENTHUSIASM, ACCLAIM GREET NEW ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP TEAM Enthusiasm and applause from all cor- Altshuler will return to his home in Israel the values of our school, have the admin- ners of the Maimonides School commu- this summer after four years as principal. istrative and pedagogical skills we need, nity greeted the May 17 announcement Mrs. Boroschek, who brings more than 40 and want to write the next chapter of the that Rabbi Yaakov Jaffe and Mrs. Judith years of experience as a teacher, admin- Maimonides story with us,” said Jeffrey Boroschek will assume leadership of the istrator, educational trainer and consul- Swartz, chair of the school’s Board of Upper and Middle Schools on July 1. tant, will serve as general studies princi- Directors, in a May 17 letter to the school Rabbi Jaffe, a high school Judaic studies pal. She will succeed Ken Weinstein, who community. teacher and department chair who also has been named principal of Marblehead Rabbi Jaffe has taught Talmud, Tanach serves as mara d’atra of the Maimonides High School. and psychology during his two years at kehillah, will succeed Rabbi Yair Altshuler Rabbi Jaffe and Ms. Boroschek are “edu- Maimonides, and chairs the Upper School as principal of Judaic studies. Rabbi cational leaders who are committed to Continued on page 2 CHIDON HaTANAKH: ONE CHAMPION REJOICES, ANOTHER REFLECTS 2009 Champion Becomes 2010 2010 national Champion International Finalist Alexander Kahan ’13 didn’t seriously weigh Menachem Schindler ’11 has returned the possibility of winning the National Bible from Israel, where he had the expe- Contest until he discovered that his score rience of a lifetime. Not only did the in the regional competition was one of Maimonides School junior compete in the highest nationwide. Indeed, it wasn’t a the International Chidon HaTanakh, fin- consideration even while immersed in the ishing fifth overall and second among two-and-a-half hour national test on May Diaspora candidates, but he also spent 9 at the Ramaz School in Manhattan. two weeks with his fellow contestants “I didn’t realize I had a chance of winning meeting dignitaries, reuniting with family A beaming Alexander Kahan until all the entries were in and they were and exploring the country. with Menachem Schindler after counting up the scores,” he recalled, add- announcement of the results of Yet, back at Maimonides, he was still the national Chidon HaTanakh. ing, “I knew I had done well.” Menachem Schindler: soft-spoken, hum- That’s an understatement. The fresh- ble, discerning. the international Chidon. This is no easy man from Brookline, competing in his “I think it’s important that this shouldn’t feat. Competitors spend months in prep- third Chidon HaTanakh U.S. finals, was be just about me,” he said. “Everyone aration, immersing themselves in several the top scorer among high school com- should take inspiration from this. Other books of the Tanakh that are designated petitors, automatically qualifying for the people should find value in learning for the exam. Questions are challeng- 2011 international Chidon in Israel on Yom Torah and seek their own ways of incor- ing and sophisticated, requiring detailed HaAtzma’ut 2011. porating it into their lives.” knowledge and understanding. Can anybody say “dynasty?” This is the sec- Menachem’s great adventure began a For Menachem, the challenge included ond straight year a Maimonides student year ago when he won the National Bible lifelong benefits. “I view Tanakh as a has won the national contest. Last year’s Contest and automatically qualified for Continued on page 5 Continued on page 5 PROJECT SHALOM A SMORGASBORD OF CHESED OPPORTUNITIES Project Shalom has been a Maimonides Boxford, a non-profit working horse farm you pick up those heavy feet, you have to School trademark of chesed in the on the North Shore that helps children let it know, ‘I’m doing this for you.’ You Greater Boston community for more and adults with physical, emotional, and have to listen to each other.” than a generation. Each learning disabilities. “It was The Windrush assignment was “such a January, Maimonides such a cool opportunity to great experience for me,” said Avigayil. seniors begin a five-month go back to it,” Avigayil said. She said she learned not only from the weekly commitment to “I was a little apprehensive staff and the patients but also from many hospitals, homeless shel- because I hadn’t been on of the adult volunteers, and hopes to vol- ters, pre-schools, nursing horses for so many years. unteer again in the summer. She also is homes and social service But they completely train excited about her upcoming year learning agencies. you and help you out.” at Emunah v’Omanut in Israel. “I heard Among other popular des- Windrush offers not only they do some kind of chesed with horses.” tinations for members of physical therapy but also Sarah Diamond and Adina Blaszkowsky the Class of 2010 were the psychological counseling, were Project Shalom volunteers at the Tenacity center in Brighton, Avigayil Kelman ’10 as “riders get so much out Boston Higashi School in Randolph, which focuses on life skills of it in self-confidence,” which employs a unique methodology to and tennis instruction for inner-city Avigayil pointed out. “Watching people address the needs of autistic children. youths; Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ work through their fears and try new “They get the kids running at the begin- literacy project; and the Massachusetts things they didn’t think they’d be able to ning of the day. That uses extra energy Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to achieve is really awesome.” and makes them more focused,” Sarah Animals. Two Mock Trial team veterans Patients at Windrush ride with a partner; explained. “So at the beginning of the served in the Middlesex County district volunteers like Avigayil walk alongside day we jogged with the kids.” Sarah attorney’s office, where their coach is a or lead them. “The goal is that they can said they began prosecutor. learn to steer themselves. You talk with as observers, then Avigayil Kelman blazed a different them in ordinary conversations and give worked one-to-one trail. Avigayil says she always has loved them information they might need.” She with children in areas horses. As a child, she learned to ride and also was called upon to groom horses, such as computer attended horsemanship camps. As the bring them to and from destinations, time. “They try to do demands of her Maimonides schedule saddle the animals, clean and polish tack everything together, intensified, there was little time left for and leather, and other odd jobs. which means that this pursuit. “It’s such a partnership to be with a horse,” they need a lot of Then Project Shalom reopened this won- Avigayil explained. “You have to each aides helping,” she derful window in her life. She learned know your space and your boundaries in said. “We had to gain from a neighbor in Lynn about Windrush order for it to be a successful relationship. some confidence in Sarah Diamond ’10 Farm Therapeutic Equitation in bucolic There’s also the caretaking aspect. When ourselves, so the teachers trust you more. Once they do, you really get to help.” New Leadership Team Ms. Boroschek has served as a class- “The best part of my day was chorus Continued from page 1 room teacher, academic department practice, and they were singing ‘We Are Tanach Department. He has published chair, and high-level administrator in the World.’ I have a connection with a wide range of scholarly articles and some of the area’s top public school music, and to see how much work these served as director of the Jewish Agency’s districts. Currently she is one of the lead- kids put into this was amazing,” related National Bible Contest (which he won ing instructors in a licensure program for Sarah, who added, “I always connect as a high school student). He gradu- school supervisors and directors. She is a with kids.” ated magna cum laude from Columbia, graduate of Washington University in St. She is planning to return to the Higashi majoring in English, and earned mas- Louis and the Harvard Graduate School campus for an upcoming celebration ter’s degrees in Bible and Jewish history of Education. that will culminate months of work. “I’ve and an M.S. in Jewish secondary educa- Also joining the administrative team will seen the process,” she said. “Now I want tion from Yeshiva University. He was be Rabbi Dov Huff ‘00, as assistant prin- to see the end.” ordained in 2006 by YU’s Rabbi Isaac cipal of the Upper and Middle School. Project Shalom, Sarah observed, pro- Elchanan Theological Seminary and is Rabbi Huff is currently Grade 8 dean and vided her with a sense of responsibility working on his Ph.D. in curriculum and a Judaic studies teacher in the Middle and empathy. “It was a glimpse into teaching of Halachah. School. what the future’s going to be like.” GRADUATE’S LOVE OF TEACHING BENEFITS BROOKLYN TODDLERS Debbie Levine was enrolled in Brighton High dent at Maimonides School, she remembers the friendship and School when she spent a summer at Camp support of her classmates and their parents, who showed her Yavneh more than 40 years ago. She returned constant hachnasat orchim throughout her high school years. The to Boston with a new level of religious obser- particular encouragement of two of her limudei kodesh teachers, vance—and a personal mission to enroll in Rabbi Abraham Goldreich and Rabbi Isaiah Wohlgemuth, stands Maimonides School as a sophomore.