Upper School Gathers to Remember and Honor the Released Hostages

by Shir Levenson, SSLI ‘26

Yesterday morning, middle and high school students gathered to commemorate the recently released Israeli hostages and honor the memories of Oded Lifshitz HY”D, as well as Shiri HY”D, Kfir HY”D, and Ariel Bibas HY”D. The heartbreaking news broke during Schechter’s February break, leading minyan teachers and administrators to plan a special commemoration when students returned to school.

The service was held in the gym, where middle and high school students gathered for Shacharit, rather than going to classrooms and dividing into smaller minyanim. Morah Becky Friedman-Charry, the upper-school Tefilah coordinator, worked with members of the Israel Club and students to plan the service. Becky shared, “As we got closer to the end of vacation, I realized that this community would really benefit from the opportunity to acknowledge and have that sense of togetherness because ‘Kol Yisrael Arevim Ze la Zeh.’”

When planning the service, Becky’s “goal was to express, to say some things about being part of Klal Yisrael and the idea [that] what pains one segment of the Jewish community, pains us all. This was a particularly painful thing to have happened.”

May their memories be for a blessing. (Schechter Instagram)

Before the Amidah began, “Samson Mildron encouraged people to have their individual moment during Shema Koleinu of the Amidah,” Becky shared.

Throughout the week, Becky had been collecting “resources and different Tefilot.” She elaborated that in preparation for the day, “I reread a lot of those things that I had collected and chose things that I thought would resonate with our student body.”

Before the Torah Service, members of the Israel Club stood at the podium in front of the students and read various passages related to the Bibas family and the release of the hostages. The club, made up of high school students and advised by Ms. Dubow, took action quickly to plan a meaningful service for the students and teachers.

Noah Schor, senior, and co-president of the Israel Club, shared, “Morah Becky reached out to us [on Sunday], and I’m proud of how we came together quickly to plan this ceremony.” Club members helped to put passages together on a document, assign parts, and organize readers. Schor felt that putting together this program “was extraordinarily meaningful.”

Students read prayers for peace, the State of Israel, and the remaining hostages. In addition, they read a letter to Yarden Bibas, the only surviving member of the Bibas family who was recently released from captivity. Finally, the program closed with a poem expressing pain and hope of the Jewish people. 

Members of the Israel Club read different prayers and passages during the ceremony. (Schechter Instagram)

Eitan Guy, a freshman and member of the Israel Club, participated in the service by reading one of the passages. Guy shared, “I got asked to do a speaking role, and I immediately stepped up because I felt like it was the right thing to do to pay my respects.” Guy read a message that Chabad.org had posted, which were words of comfort and strength to Yarden Bibas. Guy expressed, “It was really a meaningful message and very powerful thing. [While] it was really heavy, [it was] important to do.”

Guy explained that holding a service in school “helped us connect because we're sharing and doing what we can and know that there are people here to support us and that we really are here [and going through it] together.”

May their memories be for and bring blessings.

Oded Lifshitz HY”D
Shiri Bibas HY”D
Kfir Bibas HY”D
Ariel Bibas HY”D

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