Purim Palooza and Mishloach Manot!

 by Gavi Nitka, SSLI '28

Yesterday, the Schechter community gathered for the Purim Palooza, a fun-filled day with a DJ, foods, games, and more. Furthermore, some students volunteered to assemble Mishloach Manot that will be given out to the student body.

Micah Bidner, a junior, said, “Schechter had asked for a group of volunteers to volunteer at the Purim Palooza, which is a yearly Purim party that Schechter runs for elementary school families. I was asked to volunteer during that.”

Upper school students ran the cotton candy booth. (SSLI Instagram)

Everything was organized into assembly lines, and that organization helped this event come together. Zoey Diamond, a seventh grader, said, “Each person was assigned a job to do, and they worked on that until it was done, and then moved on to the next job.” Gilad Nitzan, a freshman, said, “There were multiple stations. One was for candy, another for snacks, etc. Nitzan explained his specific role: “My job was to move and sort the bags when they were done.”

Anna Siegel, an eighth grader, said, “We unpacked the boxes [of snacks], and we were given a list of certain amounts of snacks to put into each box. Then we went down the list and put each item into each box for students and faculty.”

Jake Siegel, a freshman, said, “I was a part of the hamantaschen packing unit along with some others. I also was in charge of organizing finished bags into neat rows. It felt really good to be a part of the team.”

Freshman Sabrina Monasebian prepared the Mishloach Manot and spent some time at the Palooza. She worked as a decorator of the boxes. “They looked really pretty. The theme was based on the movie Wicked. These were probably the best ones that we’ve [Schechter] made. They had awesome stuff in them.”

The Purim Palooza was loads of fun, Monasebian said: “It had a great turnout. The younger kids had a lot of fun. My siblings [in the elementary school] had such a great time.”

Bidner continued, “I ran the snow cone machine, which was really fun. They brought in an outside company with a big machine. It was definitely a little daunting at first, but I had a great time, and it was so nice getting to interact with all of the little kids. They were so sweet, and their costumes were so cute! It was really nice to give back to the community.”

Elan Golan, a freshman, said, “I worked the carnival with some other people. I did a little of everything. I also did cotton candy, which was super fun. It was chill. Everyone was happy.”

Students will receive their carefully-packed Mishloach Manot later this week!

Gavi Nitka is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since January 2025. Gavi is currently a freshman at Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: gnitka28@schechterli.org