Service Trip to New Orleans

Went to New Orleans to Help the Community Rebuild After Hurricane Katrina, A Storm That Happend Before Most of Them Were Born.

During the January intersession, Ramaz took a group of 22 students who volunteered to go on a chesed mission to New Orleans, Louisiana. Just a few short hours after the last final exam, the volunteer group gathered in the Upper School lobby with great anticipation to head to the airport and tackle the challenges ahead of them. The trip was a balance of meaningful chesed activities and action-packed events that intended to educate the group about life and culture in New Orleans.

Following an unexpected flight delay, the group arrived in New Orleans after 1 a.m., bleary-eyed, but in good spirits and ready to begin the mission. On the first day of the trip, the group volunteered with SBP, an organization that rebuilds homes that were destroyed as a result of natural disasters impacting New Orleans. The group participated in various tasks around the homes, including painting, carpentry, sanding, and more. The group then got to meet Ms. Louise, the woman who lived at the home the group was renovating. Soon after, the students made a pre-Shabbat food run to the local Trader Joe’s before heading back to their hotel to prepare for Shabbat. The group spent their Friday night at Beth Israel synagogue. It was a special and unique experience going to a shul in an area where there is far less Jewish life than the students were used to. Ms. Wilner notably remarked how it was “really beautiful that we were able to contribute in such a powerful way by helping to create a minyan.” Without the Ramaz students in attendance, the synagogue would not have had enough people for a minyan for the Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat Maariv services.

On the second day of the trip, the group walked to the Chabad synagogue for Shabbat morning services followed by lunch. Rabbi Segal remarked, “Some students leined, and it was great to see the students take a role” in leading services. On Saturday night, the group went to the Preservation Hall - Jazz Club. After watching an outstanding and entertaining performance, the students ate the famous beignets at Cafe Du Monde while watching an exciting parade for Mardi Gras in the French Quarter.

The final full day of the trip kicked off early in the morning with farming with the W.o.o.F. organization. Each person was assigned a different task around the farm. The W.o.o.F. organization helps people learn how to be self-sustaining by teaching them how to farm. Soon after, the students heard a gut-wrenching story from a mother whose son was sadly murdered when he was just a young adult, and how the experience inspired her to create pop-up restaurants to feed homeless people. The group was moved by her story, and then set up a pop-up restaurant that fed “over 150 people” according to Ms. Wilner. This act of chesed was incredibly meaningful for the group and the beneficiaries. For the night activity, the group took a horse and buggy ride on a city tour where they learned all about the mysterious history of New Orleans. To end the night, the group took a walk to a Holocaust memorial statue where everyone reflected on the trip and how it impacted them.

The teachers and students were asked to sum up the entire trip in one word. Rabbi Segal said “togetherness” while Alex Sultan said, “meaningful”. For Ms. Wilner it was “reigniting”, explaining that “we are here for a reason; us as educators, and as people here at Ramaz, are here to do chesed and be an ‘Or Lagoyim,’ the light unto the nations.” Pairing chesed with exploring Jewish life, and New Orleans fun, made the mission fulfilling and ultimately amazing.

Cross Country in California

This year, I was fortunate enough to go with the Ramaz track team to run in the Surf City Marathon with Friendship Circle. The Ramaz team consisted of Sarah Kalimi ’25 running the 10K and Emanuel Khodorkovsky ’24 and me, Keren Teichner ’25, running the half marathon. Additionally, Rabbi Sommer, the cross-country (XC) coach joined us as a chaperone. Friendship Circle is an organization that helps over 3000 individuals with special needs and their families. Additionally, it promotes an inclusive community for everyone, regardless of the challenges they may face. All of the money fundraised was dedicated to the memory of Daniella Moffson, a former Ramaz student, who tragically died in a bus crash in Honduras on a service mission. The team as a whole raised over 8,500 dollars.

The team left on Friday and arrived in California in the early afternoon. We went straight from the airport to the hotel where we met many of the other participants in this event for lunch. Then we got the opportunity to explore the city and returned to the hotel for Shabbat. We participated in a meaningful Maariv and Kabbalat Shabbat experience with many different types of Jewish people from around the world. All the runners came together for Shabbat dinner where we heard stories of people’s personal experiences with Friendship Circle. It was amazing to hear about the impact that Friendship Circle had on people’s lives and it excited us to know that we were helping make that a reality.

On Shabbat day we heard even more meaningful stories of friends and family with special needs. We ushered Shabbat out with a musical Havdalah and a pre-race pasta party. Everyone was singing and dancing their hearts out to the music and we even heard from the Friendship Circle band. This was by far the most lively Havdalah I have ever been to!

All of the energy built up from Shabbat was carried over to the race itself. Even though wake-up was at five in the morning, we had more energy than ever before. Everyone joined together to take some pre-race photos, and wish each other good luck. We were loaded onto the party bus which was blasting Israeli music.