Another unique moment in the day school world. How many schools can say that they had a neitz hachama minyan with over 150 members of the WDS community—current students, siblings, alumni, parents, alumni parents, grandparents and educators—who came over an hour before the start of school, and began Shemoneh Esrei at the precise moment that the sun appeared on the horizon over the Long Island Sound? Answer? One school.

This year, the added bonus was that it was Rosh Chodesh Kislev so, as it turned out, participants were able to celebrate the sun and moon on the same day and were there at the moment when the ma’or hakatan (the moon) passed the baton to the ma’or hagadol (the sun) to protect us and illuminate the path to a relationship with Hashem. It was wonderful having the eighth graders lead the tefillah as they do every morning in their middle school minyan!

Another in a series of wow moments that WDS students experience on a daily basis. Thank you to WDS alumna (‘96) and parent Jill Ellman who conceived of the idea two years ago.