Dodgeball and poetry make Rambam news

Dodgeball and poetry top recent news from the Rambam Mesivta in Lawrence.

For the seventh year, Rambam’s 4-Corner Dodgeball Tournament brought together all grades (left) for a worthy cause: helping to refurbish a Sefer Torah for an IDF unit.

Another seven-year-old event, the Yeshiva Poetry Society League’s annual Poetry Slam, featured 60 poets from eight schools who each presented two poems on the topic, “The Poetry of Prayer.” Rambam junior Mordechai Gerstley made it to the final round and was awarded Best Free Verse Poem. 

The dodgeball tournament was run by seniors Gabe Greenbaum and Noah Schwartz, with the help of 4-Corner Dodgeball Commissioner and Rambam Assistant Principal Hillel Goldman.

Going into the 18th and final round of play, the red, white, and blue teams were all in contention, with the green team hoping to play spoiler. After a few minutes of tension-filled calculations, the white team emerged victorious, led by veteran Benny Csillag (designated an All-Star), and sophomore Aaron Azose (named the Al Hecht Memorial MVP). Yoni Auerbach of blue, Gabe Kessler of green, and Michael Akhavan of red were also awarded All-Star trophies.

The tournament was live-streamed by Rambam’s “Stream Team” led by Yair Oppenheim and Raphi Lowe.

In the poetry slam, competitors recited a free verse on how their prayers would be different 20 years from now; their second entry was a form poem (sonnet, villanelle, haiku, etc.) on the subject of davening. Poets from Central, Frisch, HANC, Ma’aynot, SAR, Shalhevet, SKA and Rambam presented diverse perspectives on these topics. 

The judges were Aaron Roller, who helped establish the poetry league with Rambam Assistant Principal Hillel Goldman and SAR English teacher Hillel Broder, and Laura Dail Literary Agency Vice-President Tamar Rydzinski. Rydzinski represents such bestselling authors as Danielle L. Jensen and Sarah J. Maas and award-winners Laura Andersen and Bryan Denson.

The next slam is scheduled for Dec. 22 at Kushner.