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JANUARY 5, 2017 | The Jewish Home
Around the Community
A Chanukah Event: Color War at Shulamith Middle Division By: Aliza Friedman, Eighth Grade
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RRIINNGG! Fire drill! On Thursday afternoon, the fifth day of Chanukah, the students of Shulamith streamed out of the building and saw a big red fire truck parked in the yard. G.O Presidents Shaked Harari and Rachel Schwartz and Vice Presidents Lili Paritzky and Shayna Wasser jumped out of the truck and announced, “It’s Color War!” Drenched from the rain, everyone reentered the building excited and ready for an epic color war battle. In honor of Chanukah, the theme of color war was nissim, and each of the three teams was assigned a team name and a middah to work with. The red team, nissim shebechol yom imanu (Daily Miracles), was led by Malkie Derdik and Adina Adelman, the green team, nes galui (Open Miracles), was led by Sarah Leiderman and Elisha Schecter, and the blue team, nes nistar (Hidden Miracles), was led by Aliza Fruchter and Mimi Altmark. Everyone could feel the achdut in the
air as the captains and generals managed their teams beautifully, giving each team member a chance to participate and contribute her talents. The teams did a superb job of preparing dances, cheers, theme songs, banners, and PowerPoint presentations. They also competed in sporting events, a chidon about Chanukah, and they even brought in toiletries to donate to the Rena Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry, a Division of the JCC of the Greater Five Towns. Many performances in this year’s color war were dedicated to Hallel Yaffa Ariel, H”yd, a thirteen-year-old girl who was murdered in Israel this past summer. On the night before the terror attack that took her life, Hallel had performed at a dance recital. Traditionally, the students of Shulamith daven together during color war, and this year, in addition to the special tefillot for Chanukah and Rosh Chodesh Tevet, we dedicated our davening to the memory of Hallel so that her neshama would have an aliyah. There is no way this event could
have happened without a few dedicated staff members at Shulamith. We thank our principal, Mrs. Billet, associate principal, Dr. Gross, Morah Chana, Mrs. Steiner, and all of the other teachers who helped bring this color war to fruition. We also thank Woodmere Fire Marshall Chevy Kail, mother of Shulamith sixth grader Mindy Kail, for bringing the fire engine for our breakout. Sometimes we don’t express enough hakarat hatov to parents and teachers, but we really do appreciate all the effort they invest in us! As we waited for the results to be tallied and the winning team to be
announced, Mrs. Billet said, “I have been working in the education business for a while, and this is one of the most beautiful color wars I have ever seen.” Congratulations to the red team upon their victory and to all of the team captains and generals for leading their respective teams so masterfully! Everyone had a good time dressing up in their team colors, and, of course, having no classes for one day. Even though Mrs. Billet only announced one winner, all of the students at Shulamith felt like winners because we all had so much fun!