Every Friday during homeroom, Schoology becomes flooded with announcements regarding the various Tisches being thrown around the building. While some choose to go to the lunchroom for pizza during this period, others choose to attend a tisch.  A tisch is a gathering with song, dance, food, and shared anecdotes on the parsha. These tisches help welcome Shabbat and end the week on a positive note. 

Every week there are three main tisches open to anyone interested in some pre-Shabbat ruach. Rabbi Weiser leads a lively tisch with lots of dancing. Students who go are treated to kugel, which is followed by singing, specifically a passionate rendition of shalom aleichem. Rabbi Weiser’s tisches are known for including a loud mosh pit.  

“I look forward to going to Rabbi Weiser’s tisches all week. I enjoy dancing with Rabbi Weiser and getting to know guys from different grades. Not to mention the kugel is amazing,” Fisher Angrist ‘24, a regular attendee said.  

In the beit knesset on two, the Sephardic Culture club meets every week led by Rabbi Albo. Their meetings every week are  in the form of a tisch where those who choose to go take part in discussions on the Parsha and learn about Sephardic cultures. Each week students sponsor food from different Sephardic cultures. 

On three, there is a women’s tisch run by the female Judaic teachers. Female students in attendance enjoy ice cream and cookies. The women of Ramaz are able to usher in Shabbos together with song and dance in a calmer setting. 

Sarah Silverman ‘24 who has gone to a woman’s Tisch appreciates learning about the week’s Torah portion through a female lens and hearing more diverse interpretations than would normally be heard in her classes. “It’s nice to get together with the other girls of Ramaz and enjoy a special twenty minutes together before Shabbat. I love hearing the insights on the Parsha while enjoying ice cream.”

For some, the tisches extend past homeroom. Rabbi Albo’s sophomore honors Talmud class enjoys a weekly tisch fourth period every Friday. The class convenes in the lunchroom where they eat pizza and cookies while discussing the parsha. Their tisches end off with meaningful singing. World-renowned Jewish singer Avraham Fried even made a surprise appearance at one of their tisches. 

Aviva Weinstock ‘24, a member of the class, brought the idea of a weekly tisch to Rabbi Albo who enthusiastically agreed. “My idea to have a tisch every Friday in Talmud class really just came from the fact that Fridays, to me, should be filled with all of us having some fun instead of just sitting in a classroom all day. I like that our class has a period every Friday to look forward to that just consists of food, singing, and creative questions. I think it brings our class together and that everyone should have some sort of oneg filled with singing and eating on Friday. It’s nice to have some pre-Shabbos ruach!”

While there may not be schoolwide onegs just yet, tisches fill those gaps. Ramaz students like to eat and hang out together, especially after a long week of classes. Tisches facilitate bonding and fun while bringing in Shabbat.