The Rambam Mesivta Writers’ Guild began in 2013 and was formed by Zechariah Rosenthal when he was entering his junior year. It began with six members and quickly grew to a dozen. Now, close to 30 students are part of the Guild and meet to discuss creative writing and storytelling.
The first prompt, created by Guild editor-in-chief Eli Boord, was titled, “The Discovery,” and required the story to have a “character come across a secret he/she was clearly not meant to see.” The stories spanned numerous genres including crime, fantasy, science-fiction, historical, poetry, and realistic fiction.
The feedback provided to the almost 50 pages of content was informative, respectful, and insightful. Dovid Edelkopf, also an editor-in-chief, kept the night moving along as the main moderator, along with Boord. The Carlos and Gabby’s food that was served also added to the flavor of the night, as did constructive feedback from Guild Co-Director and Rambam alumnus, Zachary Schechter.
The Guild will meet again in December with the prompt, “Passover Inspiration.” Having been inspired by “The Passover Guest,” a classic Sholem Aleichem story given out along with the prompt, the students are required to write their own holiday-centric story. The goal is to stress how the holiday takes on more personal significance than one can imagine – especially in unexpected ways. The writers are already reading and writing to prepare for another Guild session of fun and community.