The elusive three-peat. The championship match took place at Ezra Academy in Queens on April 23rd, and the other teams there were Frisch, Heichal, and HAFTR. Rambam was the best overall team in the league, with an impressive 43.5/56 points. The team had hopes of a three-peat, but unfortunately, it could not be done. After an amazing set of games and an amazing season, Rambam scored 3/7 in the championships, and Frisch took home the win. The future is bright for Rambam, with new and existing students becoming better and better. People overall are getting better at chess. The Rambam Chess team looks to come back next year better than ever, with hopes of bringing the championship trophy back to Rambam. Thank you to the entire team, especially captains Marcus Jedwab, Ezra Masri, and Avi Pearlman, for leading the pack. Thank you for an amazing season! Kavi Pearlman (Junior) Yom HaShoah Assembly: Rambam Remembers A panel of children of Holocaust Survivors spoke for those who can longer speak at Rambam Mesivta’s Annual Yom HaShoah Commemoration. The panel was led by Rosh HaYeshiva, Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, himself the son of Survivors, and featured Mrs. Renee Friedman, Mrs. Rebecca Isseroff, and Mr. Ben Landa. The panelists began by discussing how much or how little their parents spoke about the Shoah while they were growing up. Clearly what was unsaid spoke volumes and one panelist discussed growing up in an environment where it always felt like they were one step away from having to inevitably flee, “I grew up thinking I’d always needed to have a s u i t c a s e p a c k e d . ” A story was told by Mrs. Isseroff about the harrowing journey one Survivor endured on a sealed train; five days straight under extreme conditions; no getting on or off the train with almost no food available. Another story was told of Mrs. Friedman’s father who woke up an hour early in the camps to put on a pair of Tefillin he was able to smuggle into the camps. That same Tefillin is still used by Rambam students as an extra (special) pair made available to the students who occasionally need to borrow a set from the school. Mr. Blanda discussed the impact the Holocaust had on his life and how it drew him to a life of activism. He attended rallies in support of Soviet Jewry as a teenager, in large part due to his desire to make sure that the world would not be silent. Rabbi Friedman was visibly moved by the memories that he invoked and the students at Rambam listened as history came alive and the message was made clear: Never Again!