Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School paid tribute to veterans last Tuesday with a beautiful ceremony created by the student-run holiday enhancement committee. The program included a slideshow featuring 40 American veterans who are friends or family of the Ma’ayanot community, a tefillah for the safety of our soldiers and a presentation by two servicemen from the U.S. Army Recruitment Center in Hackensack—Staff Sergeant Noe Tapia, who served in Afghanistan and Staff Sergeant Mohammed Lakhouili, who served in Iraq.

“The program showed me the humanity of the soldiers who we usually dissociate from and who fight bravely for our country,” said Miriam Fisch, a junior.

Perry Fogel, a junior, added, “It’s so hard to be a soldier. They showed me that you can reach your goals and make a difference.”

The program concluded with the Ma’ayanotes choir singing a beautiful rendition of “Soldier.”