As the Jewish community prepares for Pesach, a holiday symbolizing freedom and redemption, students at Ben Porat Yosef (BPY) in Paramus took part in a powerful act of solidarity to honor the 59 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.

This week marks 546 days since these men and women—mothers, fathers, sons and daughters—were taken captive. To mark this heartbreaking milestone, BPY fifth grade students packed 546 challot, one for each day in captivity. These challot are being distributed throughout the community as a heartfelt reminder: while we gather with our families around the Shabbat table, 59 families remain incomplete.

The initiative deeply moved the students, who approached the project with emotion, purpose and a profound sense of connection to Am Yisrael. For them, packing the challot was not just an activity—it was a spiritual act of unity and love.

When parents received the challot in the carpool lane, many were visibly emotional. Some were in tears, expressing their deep appreciation for the school’s commitment to instilling such powerful Zionist values. They shared how honored and privileged they feel to be part of a school that lives and breathes a love for Israel and a daily connection to the Jewish people.

“As a school rooted in love for Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael, we feel a responsibility to remind our community that we are Am Echad—one nation with one heart,” the school shared. This message resonates strongly for Jews living in the diaspora. Stressing that we cannot sit idly by while our brothers and sisters suffer. Their pain is our pain. Their longing for redemption is our shared mission.

BPY’s initiative urges the entire community to keep the hostages in their thoughts and prayers this Shabbat and to stand together in unity as Pesach approaches, praying for freedom, healing and peace in Eretz Yisrael.