Yom Ha’atzmaut at RPRY was incredibly exciting! After assembling in front of the school, with pinwheel decorations as a backdrop, students and faculty were led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Highland Park Mayor Brill Mittler, the prayer for the State of Israel by Rabbi Miodownik, and then sang Hatikvah. The entire school paraded through the streets, which were cordoned off by the police. Joining the students in their march to North 8th, to Edgemount, and back to RPRY were parents, grandparents and neighbors, as well as Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak. The eighth grade girls performed a daglanut presentation, a choreographed flag dance. The students continued to dance and sing on the blacktop in celebration of Medinat Yisrael! What a sight it was!

Later in the day, early childhood students got their passports ready and “traveled” to all different parts of Israel. They went to yam hamelach, floating objects in salty water, IDF bootcamp on the playground, a kibbutz to plant crops and more! Middle school students dressed as famous Israeli figures, such as Golda Meir and Rav Aryeh Levin, and completed a fact finding activity. Lower school students heard miraculous stories from the War of Independence, dashed through a basic training obstacle course and learned Israeli trivia.

The two days were incredibly powerful. Having all of the students dressed in blue and white, the entire school decorated with Israeli flags, pinwheels and posters, and experiencing the incredible ruach really made Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut very meaningful.