2017 is a year of significant Jewish anniversaries. Last year, SAR celebrated the 50th anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem school-wide. Over the past month, the school has marked two other important milestones in Israel’s history—the 100th anniversary of the issuance of the Balfour Declaration and the 70th anniversary of the UN vote to partition Palestine and create a Jewish state. On November 2, students in history classes in every grade, spent the period learning about the Balfour Declaration and how it was received by Jews around the world. Students examined a variety of documents including a photo of teacher Adina Shoulson’s grandmother, a young girl living in New York in 1917, letters from Hemda and Eliezer Ben Yehuda, a letter from members of a yishuv to King George of England and a New York Times article from 1919 expressing the views of many prominent U.S. Jews. Through their study, students learned about the excitement that greeted the declaration and were surprised to see the negative reaction from some Jews who feared its implications for American Jewry. Thanks to Keren Benillouche (HS ‘18) who created a beautiful display for the lobby.

On Thursday, November 29, the 70th anniversary of the UN vote to partition Palestine and give the Jews a state, the Hebrew department ran a multifaceted program that included different activities. One Hebrew class from each grade studied about the historic day a week before, and on Thursday they presented to the other classes in their grade. They highlighted the importance of the vote and its ongoing repercussions to the future of the Hebrew state. One senior class researched the event and created a beautiful bulletin board, posted eye-catching slogans around the school and wrote an informative newspaper announcing the UN vote and handed it out to students at the school’s door dressed as newsies. Odelia Fried and Joey Yudelson (HS ‘18) conducted a humorous and enlightening interview with David Ben Gurion over the loudspeaker in which the Prime Minister reacted to the vote.

SAR hopes the students came away with a new appreciation of the many steps that led to the creation of the State of Israel and looks forward to celebrating Israel’s 70th anniversary in May!