The eighth-grade boys of Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey were very busy during the past several weeks: studying for finals, traveling on their graduation trip, attending their senior breakfast, enjoying their yearbooks, and practicing their graduation cantata. In spite of this whirlwind of activity, they managed to devote a great deal of time, energy, and creativity to their Yom Yerushalayim performance, which took place on May 28. Their play, The Six Days and the Seven Gates, was a two-part, multimedia presentation.
The first act was a dramatization of Israeli President Yitzchak Navon’s famous narrative poem. In this work, he envisioned the gates of Yerushalayim arguing before the heavenly tribune as to which gate should be privileged to have the soldiers of Israel enter through it as they captured the Old City and the Kotel during the Six- Day War. The second act of the play reenacted the actual capture of the Yerushalayim Ha’atikah by General Mutta Gur and the paratroopers of the IDF.
The talented eighth graders designed, painted, and collaged their own imaginative interpretations of the gates. They created Power Point presentations and video to complement the acting on the stage. They formed a band and a choir and performed songs of Jerusalem.
The eighth graders presented The Six Days and the Seven Gates for their fellow students during the day, and that evening, they welcomed family and friends to a benefit performance. The students decided that all proceeds from the play would be donated to FDIF, an organization dedicated to the well-being of the soldiers of the Israeli army and the families of fallen soldiers.
The boys are grateful to local vendors who generously donated gift cards for the raffle: Cedar Market, Gotham Burger, Chopstix, Best Glatt, Maadan, and World of Goodies. The tzedakah committee is proud to have raised almost $500 through ticket and raffle sales for a most worthy cause.
