Yom Hazikaron is marked every year at RKYHS, but commemorating the day today at school brought with it intense emotions and a renewed sense of the importance of remembering and honoring those that have fallen for Israel. Programs allowed students to feel the gravity of the lives that have been lost and feel the heaviness that everyone has been carrying since October 7.

A moving assembly in RKYHS focused on soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending the Land of Israel, with a particular focus on the lives lost on October 7 and the months that have followed. Students who attended the RKYHS Solidarity Mission in March shared with their fellow classmates about soldiers who were killed, having met with their family members while in Israel and learning about their lives. Emotional videos throughout the program personalized the lives of the many soldiers that were profiled. Students learned Mishnayot to elevate the souls of all those that were lost. Each RKYHS student received a rock as they entered the assembly with the name of a fallen soldier, as they left the program they collectively placed the rocks into a memorial in the Seryl and Charles Kushner Holocaust Memorial Garden, and held the name of their assigned soldier with them all day. The 11th grade traveled to Lower Manhattan afterwards to bear witness at the Nova Festival Exhibit. After viewing the visceral exhibit they had the opportunity to meet with a survivor of the Nova Festival.