Seniors Participate in Madrichei Ruach Leadership Program

 by Shir Levenson, SSLI ‘26

This past week, middle and high school students began a new program in their morning Minyan. Seniors are Madrichei Ruach, or spirit leaders, in a program where students attend the middle school Minyan services. The aim is to bring good energy to middle school prayer and help them with the various parts of their services.

This beautiful ark was decorated and gifted to the middle school for their Minyan. (E. Strachan)

Led and organized by Morah Becky Friedman-Charry, the Upper School Minyan Coordinator, the Madrichei Ruach students are split into groups and go to the middle school Minyan multiple times a week. Morah Becky explained that the seniors “sit amongst the middle school students; they help the people who are new to wearing their Talit and Tefillin do that properly; they help with the Torah honors if they are there on a Torah reading day; they help with the learning activities that Ms. Beckerman has planned. They basically are like spirit-raisers to bring positive vibes."

Samson Mildron, a senior and Vice President of the Student Government, shared that as a high school student, his goal is to “show the middle school [students] how fun, engaging, and meaningful prayer in a community can be.” They are there, not only to help with the technical procedure like when the ark is opened and when to sit and stand, but also, Mildron explained, to “inspire them, be role models, and give them support in learning."

Elinor Schlissel, a senior and President of the Student Government, shared that “I really love the opportunity to go and interact with the middle school. It really strengthens that connection, and hopefully we can do more things together as one upper school community, and we can really just have a more united experience.”

Not only does the program benefit the middle schoolers, but it's an engaging and exciting opportunity for the seniors. Mildron says that he “liked being back in middle school Minyan." Schlissel agreed that “it was nice to be back in that environment after such a long time, and it was nice to reminisce there.”

Morah Becky concluded that, so far, the experience has been successful, and she has noticed students bonding and building new connections. Just yesterday morning, she could “see the smiles, [and] today I saw a high-five; as someone came in, there's just a nice positive vibe, [and] good energy.”

Shir Levenson is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since December 2022. Shir is currently a junior at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: slevenson26@schechterli.org