by Chava Rubin ('07)

As the students walked into the building Tuesday morning, through the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” archway, and into the hallway covered with black papers, barbed wire, and mock graffiti, the serious tone for the day was already set. No one could close their eyes to fact that it was Yom Hashoah ; it surrounded us everywhere.

This year’s commemoration of Yom Hashoah was themed around children of the Holocaust. The program began in a darkened room with the moving reading of names of individual children who perished in the Holocaust. Once everyone was seated, students and faculty viewed an emotionally powerful slideshow depicting the lives of those who suffered during the Holocaust while listening to diary entries left behind by children as read by students. Many were moved to tears by the haunting photos and emotionally charged readings.

The school was honored to have survivor Norman Frajman come and speak about his experiences as a child from the Warsaw Ghetto, the Death March, and concentration camps Majdanek, Skarzysko, Buchenwald and Schlieben. Mr. Frajman brought to life the horrors of what he and so many others went through during the war. It was very special for students to be given the opportunity of hearing about the Holocaust from someone who experienced it personally, an opportunity that will unfortunately not last much longer.

by Mordechai Siev ('06)

Sunday, April 9th, the kick-off of Pesach vacation, was a day full of fun activities for students. First was the annual pre-Pesach car wash, whose funds will go to the senior class trip scholarship fund to enable all seniors to go on the exciting class trip.

In addition, students also had an unusual Chesed opportunity to benefit the entire South Florida community on Sunday. The Palm Beach Blood Bank had a Blood Van stationed nearby and almost every eligible student gave blood.