Schechter Hosts Annual Mesibah B’Sukkah

by Talia Herbst, SSLI ‘25

Yesterday, the Schechter community gathered to celebrate Sukkot. This was the third annual Sukkah dinner Schechter has now hosted. The evening started off with students and their families being welcomed into the Sukkah to recite the blessings and shake the Lulav, which was led by Rabbi Fruihandler. After that, families headed into the gym for the rest of the evening.

The Student Government created a Kahoot for the younger students for one of the activities of the night, and many different videos were played to showcase the school. Senior and Paw Print Now editor Ellie Strachan was in attendance last night. She enjoyed watching the videos and hanging out with her friends. She shared, “It's really sweet to see the whole community together celebrating such a nice holiday, especially because times have been rough. It is really nice to just support each other.” 

Everyone had so much fun at the Mesibah B’Sukkah! (Schechter SmugMug)

Ofra Hiltzik, Head of School, shared, “The energy in the room was beautiful. The kids had a wonderful time. They love coming back to school and having the school [to themselves] after hours.” Board member and parent Rebecca Wurtzel added that “it’s uplifting to see our Schechter community come together. Reuniting with current families and meeting new ones is always special. The Sukkah beautifully represents unity and gratitude, which I appreciate especially during this time.”

Senior and Student Government Vice President Samson Mildron felt coming together in the Sukkah to shake the Lulav and say the brachot was the “most meaningful” part of the night. Over two hundred people were at the Sukkah dinner. Hiltzik elaborated, “The turnout was beautiful. In fact, so many people have registered that we had too many that we needed to close registration.”

Mildron concluded, “I'd love to see more high school participation, because it's really nice when our kehila [community] comes together, because we have such a wonderful kehila.”

Talia Herbst is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since December 2021. Talia is currently a senior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: therbst25@schechterli.org.