The smell of sufganiyot wafted in the air as Ramaz students entered the building in early December: Chanukah had arrived.

This year, Ramaz students participated in the traditional Central Park trip, daily activities, and special treats for Chanukah, planned by student activities coordinators Rabbi Segal and Rabbi Dov.

Ramaz’s celebration of the holiday started with the annual Central Park trip, where students could choose to play sports, participate in chesed opportunities, visit the Central Park Zoo or ice skate at Wollman Rink. 

“I really enjoyed ice skating in Central Park and hanging out with my friends,” Roey Denti ’24 said. Overall, most of the student body enjoyed spending the day with friends and doing fun activities. Ramaz also did their best to ensure that the school was in Chanukah spirit with daily Krispy Kreme donuts, sufganiyot, a coffee station, and creating school ruach with music playing around the building. Many small details were also made to make Chanukah more special, like the dreidel hunt competition and a “gelt guess” in the lobby, with prizes like Nets tickets, Amazon gift cards, and a UE Boom Speaker. 

Ramaz’s Chesed Director, Ms. Deeni Hass, made sure to incorporate chesed into Chanukah, making a myriad of different chesed opportunities available to students. Many students felt the presence of Chanukah in the school building, and agreed that Ramaz made sure students were happy and felt the Chanukah spirit all eight days of Chanukah. 

There was also an assembly commemorating the Sephardic expulsion and programs led by Rabbi Albo, which allowed all students to learn about Sephardic culture and ancestry. Students were left with the message to always stand up for the Jewish religion and identity, which is the most fitting message during Chanukah, which celebrates this exact ideal.

“I really loved the Central Park trip and all the other activities Ramaz planned for Chanukah,” said Anna Braun ’22. “It [Chanukah] felt much different than my other years at Ramaz.”

Even though the majority of students enjoyed the activities planned during the holiday, some students felt that there could have been more. Mia Schreiber ’25 said, “I think what they [the Ramaz activities planners] did was very nice, but I felt like they could have done much more in increasing ruach and doing more activities for each grade.” Other students shared this concern, feeling that more should have been done for each grade, and there could have been more planned activities during the day. 

“The different programs that were put into place allowed everyone to have a fun, exciting, and an enjoyable Chanukah in school” said Rabbi Segal. The Chanukah festivities implemented this month implore many students to wonder what Purim, Lag B’Omer, and Yom HaAtzmaut activities will look like next semester.