The entire Ramaz Upper School gathered today to share first-hand accounts of the recent Ramaz Mission to Israel. Students who represented the school in traveling to Israel shared what they saw with all of the teachers and students. They described what they witnessed and shared their reflections. Students celebrated a siyum on the completion of the study of Mishna Seder Moed in memory of the martyrs of Oct 7 and the soldiers who have given their lives to restore safety to the Jewish people. Rav Dani Ritholz, who made the siyum along with the student mission representatives, spoke about their choice to learn Seder Moed on the mission bus: “We were told by a chayal on the trip that when he walked into shul on Simchat Torah morning, when everything was chaotic and no one knew what was happening, people were repeating the phrase אין חג הים, we cannot celebrate today. It is not a חג. They took our lives and our safety. And they also claimed our holiday. They chose a day that they knew we’d be joyous and celebrating and turned it into mourning. We will reclaim our holidays, even though we know that they will always be marked by this. They will still be our days, and not theirs. In order to reclaim our chagim, we chose to learn Seder Moed on the bus on the trip.” The entire school emotionally joined in the singing of songs of unity and hope.