Rambam’s mock trial team goes Beis Din

It started as a schmooze. Mr. Hillel Goldman, Rambam’s assistant principal, was discussing the many programs and activities at Rambam with his father. After mentioning the Mock Trial team, that finished in the final four last year in the Nassau County Tournament, his father asked, “Why not have a model Beis Din? That would teach the boys how to analyze a contemporary, real life issue from a halachic perspective.”

This had long been the dream of Mr. Goldman’s father, Judge Ronald Goldman, who spent years as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn’s Special Victims Unit. The idea was brought to life approximately one month later during a meeting held at Rambam between the administrative team of Landers College for Men, that included Landers’ President Dr. Alan Kadish, Dean Dr. Moshe Sokol, and the Rosh Mesivta of Rambam, Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, Principal Rabbi Yotav Eliach, and Mr. Goldman.

In the course of talking about various cooperative programs that could be run, Mr. Goldman mentioned his father’s idea as something Landers could take ownership of and present to the Tri-State Area Yeshiva world. The concept of the Model Beis Din was met with enthusiasm and alacrity and a few weeks later, Rambam, MAY, JEC, and TABC were competing in a Landers College Model Beis Din Tournament.

The teams were presented with a case of an individual who was robbed of his sandwich and the halachic measures he was allowed to take concerning addressing his grievances. The rosh yeshiva of Landers, Rabbi Yonason Sacks, headed the dayanim.

Rabbi Yaacov Weisenberg, Rambam rebbe, spent a great deal of time with the members of Rambam’s team, Ben Silverstein, Ariel Blumstein, Avi Brandel, Cameron Broder, Evan Edelstein, and Jacob Roffe delving into the various sources, culminating last weekend at a Rambam Model Beis Din Shabbaton, hosted by the Edelsteins, the Broders, and the Blumsteins, where the team met to learn, sing, and continue building a kesher over a love of learning.

Special thank you to Rabbi Josh Sturm of Landers for coordinating the logistics of the program. Rambam placed second, with TABC on top.