The fifth annual Rikudiah, the inter-yeshiva high school girls’ dance competition and tzedakah fundraiser, took place this past Motzei Shabbat, December 13th. The Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School was thrilled to host the competition which gives those students interested in dance the opportunity to become leaders in their area of interest by producing something of their own while also developing their talents in a meaningful setting.

This was the largest competition yet, with dance teams from Kushner, Hillel, Flatbush, YUHSG, Shulamith, HANC, Ma’ayanot, Ramaz, Magen David, Ilan, SAR, and Frisch participating. At the beginning of the school year, the participating teams were offered the option to be paired with one of the Rikudiah mentors, a religious Jewish woman with extensive background in dance. The mentors ran a dance workshop at Kushner for all team captains and provided individual guidance to the teams over the past few months of practices.

While all the teams performed fantastically well, four professional Jewish dancers judged the competition to determine the winners. Hillel came in first place, Yeshiva of Flatbush in second, Magen David in third and Ramaz received an honorable mention. As first place winner, Hillel will be choosing the tzedakah the proceeds of the event will go to. They will also be invited to perform their dance at the annual Stern College dance show in the spring.

This year we also had the opportunity to watch a group from the Brooklyn Jewish Dance Institute perform a dance based on the Biblical story of Rut. This performance was intended to encourage all the girls to think about new ways in which they might be able to merge their interest in dance with their Jewish identity.

One of the highlights of the event is the conclusion of the program, where the girls from all the dance teams, as well as the spectators, dance together. It is a beautiful scene to watch over 200 yeshiva high school girls from different schools dance and sing together to contemporary Jewish music.

We invite women and girls to be a part of the excitement next year at the sixth annual Rikudiah! For more information, contact Sharon Weinstein, the Rikudiah coordinator, at [email protected].