This past Friday morning, Westchester Day School students, parents, alumni, and grandparents gathered together to daven at Neitz Hachama (commonly referred to as Neitz), when the sun becomes visible over the horizon.

While the Long Island Sound is an exquisite backdrop for experiential learning daily at WDS, the chance to gather for this particular moment of prayer and reflection—arriving at Shemoneh Esrei at that exact moment of sunrise—is a unique opportunity that presents for students around the time we change the clocks, Friday being the last weekday before the end of Daylight Savings Time and the latest sunrise until we change the clock back in spring. The sunrise was as clear and breathtaking as ever and it was truly magical to watch as the sun crept over the horizon. Rabbi Klinger noted that the mitzvah of Neitz Hachama requires us to meet the moment of the sunrise at the exact right moment. This is a time when we are all rising up to help however we can and meet the needs of our brothers and sisters in Israel. May Am Yisrael continue to have the strength to come together in achdut during these trying times.