The JCDS “Yoms”

The JCDS “Yoms” JCDS “Yoms-ה”

Each Spring, our school community is quickly thrust into “the Yoms,” as we, at JCDS, affectionately refer to the three days known as: Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Rememberance Day); Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day); and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day). This year’s commemorations were poignant and personal. The morning of Yom HaShoah, our 3rd through 8th graders solemnly gathered together as we contextualized the day and paused to remember those lost in the Shoah. Our 8th graders, who this year studied the Holocaust at length, helped to lead the ceremony along with the recitation of prayer and beautiful music. One student, who in his coursework delved into his own family’s connection to the Holocaust, shared his discovery of a relative who had escaped the war and went on to become an important figure in the establishment of the State of Israel.

Natty Hoffman, a JCDS parent, made two extraordinary presentations to our Lower School students using three newly bound machzorim (High Holy Day prayer books). Natty shared that her grandparents buried and hid these machzorim for safekeeping during the Holocaust and extracted them decades later in Slovakia. With the older students, Natty presented more detailed stories of her relatives’ experiences during the Shoah, and her own personal experience as a third generation survivor. This remarkable tale of hope and survival resonated deeply with everyone. All the while, in the center of our school, where all who passed would hear, our 8th Graders took turns solemnly reciting the names of children who perished in the Holocaust. One week later, on Yom HaZikaron, we remembered and memorialized those who died in combat or in terrorist attacks in the State of Israel. Our Middle School students prepare for this through their study in Hebrew classes, where songs associated with the day bring them closer to individual stories of pain and loss. Our JCDS Hebrew teaching team beautifully prepares students to create an authentic tekes (ceremony) similar to that which is done in Israel every year on this day. Our 8th graders used their learning to lead and teach younger students, following which, a siren loudly rang out as we all stood in silence. Our school becomes one in our love and support of our Israeli students and teachers for whom the weight of the day is especially difficult. This somber day is followed the next day by Yom HaAtzmaut, the State of Israel’s birthday, when an exuberant celebration ensues at JCDS, just as it does in Israel! On this day, a wild and wonderful all-school festival of Israeli culture, song, and art is unleashed. Classes are suspended as the entire school meets together for our annual “trip” to Israel. At the well established “JCDS Airport,” replete with customs, ticket counters, and security checkpoints, passengers board the “plane” which then takes off with our entire school aboard, our oldest students acting as flight crew and supplying ample entertainment to the community of passengers! Once we “arrive” in the Holy Land, students spend the entire day moving through a variety of activities, including creating beautiful art, making and baking fresh pita bread, participating in wild rounds of chidon Tanakh (Bible trivia), to sweating through calisthenics and army exercises with teachers who served in the Israeli army! This year, we also invited Israeli parents from the JCDS community to run a station that connected their own personal stories to places and locations in Israel, centered around a huge map made by our 3rd graders. The day culminated in a giant school-wide rikudei am (Israeli Dance Party) with the entire community dancing together on the blacktop. Donning the colors of Israel, hearing the music, and imbibing its flavors and ruach (spirit), Yom HaAtzmaut has become one of the favorite days of the school year! The Yoms are an intense and powerful time of commemoration that brings us together with the people of Israel as we experience genuine, authentic connections to one another and to these modern holidays in a way that is uniquely and beautifully JCDS.