On Yom Ha’atzmaut, RKYHS students participated in an enriching day that kicked off with a beautiful musical Hallel and continued with SEED speaker with professional comedian, actor and IDF veteran Joel Chasnoff, who entertained students with his one-man show. The students also gathered to celebrate and watch the video of their RKYHS classmate Jacob Colchamiro’s successful finish at the International Chidon HaTanach competition in Israel.

Ivrit and Judaic Studies departments develop an interdisciplinary Yom Ha’atzmaut program for 10th grade entitled Cities of Israel. Students researched a variety of cities in Israel, including religious, historical and modern-day dimensions. Students produced a trifold highlighting salient details regarding the city of their choice; a model of a key aspect of the city and, utilizing technology, a 360 degree visual of the city. The students drew on sources from Tanach, Jewish history, archaeology, maps and modern technology presenting their creations to the other grades on Yom Ha’atzmaut in an “Israeli City Fair” in the Naomi Rosenfeld Kehilla Center.

Additional programming included Israel-focused activities including Dead Sea facials, Israeli dance lessons, gaga, kadur regel (soccer), Israeli taste test challenge, shesh besh (backgammon) and more.