On October 22nd, 2023, Ramaz Upper School hosted the Yom Kippur’s 50th Anniversary special assembly for all students to listen to the critical moments in our Israeli history. This commemorative assembly was in honor of those we lost in the war and to provide all students with an empathetic mindset. 

During this event, Morah Sole, a teacher in the Hebrew Department, talked about her sister’s husband, who served as an expert fighter pilot during the war. Morah Sole spoke about how she and her sister went “to the porch every time we heard a car stopping by our house, to check if it was a military car, fearing they might deliver the worst possible news.” Confronted by pain and fear, she believed “that it is valuable for our students to hear first-hand stories about wars in Israel, so they don’t take the existence of the state of Israel for granted and hopefully appreciate how important it is to always seek peace.” 

Afterward, Mr. Adelman, Head of the Hebrew Department, spoke about another solidier named Danny Arbusman and his experience fighting in the war. Mr Adelman said of the overall outcome of Yom Kippur programing,”Students found it to be meaningful and impactful, and with all these assemblies, this must be meaningful for Israel and therefore meaningful to us.” It challenges students to think about how this relates to our society today rather than just how it was in the past. 

A more valuable lesson and development to understand was to think about “the empathy aspect and understanding the trauma people went through”. Even though there were horrible fights in the war, we should continue to think positively “as all things get better eventually”. This moment during the war was mostly negative “which was horrible and even at the moment when people experience something so horrible and pose as a threat”, but together, our community can shape a future that is less defined by fear and more empathetic and understanding.