The Rampage
Volume XXXXVI Number 1
The Ramaz Upper School
September 2012/Tishrei 5773
Subdued Commemoration of 9/11 Sydney Sarachek ’14 As students arrived at school on Tuesday, September 11, a table was set up out front, honoring the nine men who lost their lives on 9/11 from the firehouse which serves our neighborhood, company twenty-two, ladder thirteen. Ramaz feels a great connection to company twenty-two, ladder thirteen, as these firemen responded to the fire at KJ last summer. The firehouse is situated just a block away from both the Lower School and the Middle School. Usually, on the anniversaries of the September 11 attacks, Ramaz brings in a speaker who was at the World Trade Center and was a first hand witness. These speakers relay their stories to the students in order to help the students connect more to the tragic events of 9/11. However, this year, due to the extended davening for Slichot, and the recent start of the school year, the administration decided not to have an assembly and bring in speakers to talk to students. On the first day of school, Rabbi Lookstein addressed the entire school, but on 9/11, the students did not gather in the auditorium like they had done the previous week. Some students, such as Sara Amsalem ’14, found this surprising. “I was surprised that the school didn’t have
an assembly for 9/11,” she said. However, Ms. Benel, in charge of student activities, explained the lack of an assembly, saying that the school had put together other events dedicated to the memory of the attacks. In lieu of an assembly, every minyan leader addressed his or her minyan after shacharit. Students were also given profile cards of a person who was murdered on the tragic day. The idea behind these cards was that at the beginning of each period, a student would read his or hers out loud to the class. Ms. Benel walked around school on Tuesday reminding teachers to allow time in their classes for students to read their cards. Some, such as Jonathan Karten ’14, said that they thought that the administration should have made sure that the cards were read in every class during the day. Another way in which the school honored the memory
of people who died was through chessed. A group of students and Ms. Benel had been working on different chessed projects since August. These service projects, which took place Sunday, September
the school’s commeoration for 9/11, the events turned out to be very successful; over 55 students gave up their Sundays to volunteer. There were also chessed projects organized in school,
9, were done in honor of 9/11, with the idea that “if people fell in service to our country, we should also do service” shared Ms. Benel. Visiting a cemetery, delivering packages to Dorot, participating in a walk for breast cancer in memory of Esther Trencher z”l and taking part in Friendship Circle were the chessed projects in which students took part in on Sunday. Despite the fact that students were not aware that these chessed activites were part of
which took place on Monday, September 10, where students packed backpacks with school supplies and food bags for the homeless. Considerable effort went into planning the commemoration of 9/11. Some students did feel that an anchoring assembly would have focused the day more, but others felt that the quiet acknowledgement of the day was appropriate.
So Fresh Class of 2016 Begins Its Journey at Ramaz Jonathan Kopytev ’13 On September 5 at promptly 7:30 am, the Ramaz freshmen entered the lobby. Unease filled the air as the incoming upper schoolers awaited their orientation. The day was essentially geared toward creating a socially friendly environment, one in which the new underclassmen could acquaint themselves with their fellow peers through icebreaker activities and team building games. The program began with davening followed by a story; Thalia Sharon ’13 read a children’s book called Butterflies in my Stomach and Other School Hazards. The book was about a child’s tough first day of school, and was meant to ease the freshmen’s nerves. Following story time, the Ramaz Chamber Choir performed “Mah Yonah”, an upbeat Hebrew song meant to raise the spirits of the freshmen. For a first performance the Chamber Choir really seemed to give its all, and it really gave the freshmen a good impression. “I thought we sounded awesome,” said Aaron Kohl ’13. “It was just a great first performance, and a Continued on page 3
Reborn From the Ashes: KJ One Year Later
Esti Flamenbaum ’14
A year ago this summer, on July 11, 2011, a terrible fire broke out in KJ, greatly damaging the Synagogue and the lower floors of the Ramaz Lower School building. This past summer, the Ramaz/KJ community came together to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the fire. Rabbi Lookstein, Ms. Fagin, Mr. Shaviv, Mr. Rochlin and other community leaders attended the gathering. Following tefillah and tehillim, Rabbi Lookstein spoke about the fire and the rebuilding efforts. In his speech, Rabbi
Lookstein commended the resilience of the Ramaz/KJ community. He also spoke about the kindness and help extended to our institution by the New York community, from the firefighters who extinguished the fire and contained the damage and the policemen who protected us, to the New York City building department which rendered its assistance, and the multiple city officials and religious leaders that offered their support. Rabbi Lookstein also gave thanks to the institutions
which let KJ and Ramaz use their premises: the Met, which hosted KJ’s main high holiday services last year and this year, and has offered to host next year’s services as well, the 92nd Street Y, where the congregation spent several shabbatot and holidays, Temple Emmanuel, which accommodated the Lower School for two weeks of classes and hosted both the Ramaz 75th anniversary celebration and last year’s Upper School graduation, and, lastly, Park Avenue Synagogue, where Early Childhood Cen-
ter classes were at the start of last year and the location of the Zimriah and the eighth grade graduation. The catastrophic fire, which ravaged KJ’s Sanctuary and several floors of the Ramaz Lower School last summer, shocked the community. However, instead of being discouraged by the tragedy, the KJ community
became motivated to improve. The morning after the fire, the building committee and other building professionals met. Together with the community lay leadership, they planned the restoration effort and have been working hard all year. The afternoon after the fire, Rabbi Lookstein said to the congregation: “We had two choices: we could be Continued on page 3