This year, a big question on many of our minds is how we can continue to support Israel from the United States a year after October 7. On Thursday, September 5, the entire Ramaz Upper School gathered for an assembly called “hineni l’yisrael,” “Here I am for Israel.” During this assembly, Ramaz students heard about four new, different initiatives to support Israel.
The first one, presented by Rabbi Schiowitz, is about how during the month of Elul, every Judaic studies class will have an opportunity to dedicate their learning in honor of different groups of people affected by the war. The 9th and 10th grade are focusing on communities that were attacked on October 7, the 11th grade on soldiers, and the 12th grade on other relief workers. Hannah Katz ’27 stated, “Acknowledging the different kibbutzim that have been affected due to October 7 helps us get into a good frame of mind before we start learning, and helps us remember that even though we are far away we are still connected to our brothers and sisters in Israel.” Some students, however, have found that this initiative was harder to keep up with because of the chaos of the rest of the day. When asked about this initiative, Eleanor Goldfarb ’27 said, “I completely forgot about it.” This was mainly because, although it was a good idea, it was hard to remember each JLT class to think about that specific kibbutz in the chaos of the day.
The second initiative is about continuing to daven for the hostages and soldiers, as well as the people of Israel. Every day, we have been saying Mi Sheberach for the hostages during davening, and have been reminded to pray for Israel by teachers praying in our minyanim.
The third initiative, presented by Ms. Krupka, is about the new Understanding Israel class which all ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade students will take. The Understanding Israel class is a new version of the Israel class that we had last year, designed by Dr. Lekht, Dr. Hertzog, and Mr. Adelman. Ms. Krupka showed a Venn Diagram with three different areas of what it means to be a Ramaz zionist graduate: knowledge of Israel, love of Israel, and the skills to advocate for Israel. This course is designed to teach students facts of Israel and skills to advocate for Israel, which both relate to our love for Israel.
The fourth initiative, presented by G.O President Stella Hiltzik ’25, was to wear blue and white on the following day, Friday, September 6th, so that we can keep Israel at the front of our minds.
Thea Katz ’25 said, “I think it’s nice that they started talking about Israel early on the first days of school. They are making it clear that it is a priority early in the year.” The fact that Ramaz started out the year shows that Israel will continue to be at the front of our minds a year after October 7.
Ramaz has shown a clear dedication to continue supporting Israel in every way possible through these initiatives. Katz said, “It’s hard to tell how these initiatives will play out, but it’s definitely good that Ramaz started discussing Israel early in the year.”
