HAFTR High and Middle Schools Honor Fallen Israeli Soldiers

In commemoration of Yom Ha’Zikaron, students memorialized Israel’s fallen soldiers in a special ceremony last Monday.

Students spoke about visiting gravesites of soldiers killed in Israel and shared background about them. A video presentation showed brief vignettes about those who sacrificed their lives for Israel, including paratrooper, Michael Levine, originally from Philadelphia, P.A., and Roi Klein, who wanted to be a chayal (soldier) since he was a young child and was killed by the gunfire of terrorists.

“In Israel, Yom Ha’Zikaron is Israel’s Memorial Day,” said Mr. Tuvia Book, HAFTR High School’s Zionism teacher. “Six million Jews stop what they are doing to remember Israel’s fallen soldiers. Six million is a very symbolic number.”

Ye’ela Mandel, the high school’s Bat Ami representative who is doing national service at HAFTR, dropped the Israeli flag to half mast as she noted how the high school students are just a few years younger than those who serve in the Israeli Army at 17 and 18 years old. “To these kedoshim (holy ones), we are forever indebted to you,” she said.

One of the student speakers, Leor Bareli, a senior, will be serving in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) next year. HAFTR has alumni, including two recent graduates, serving in the IDF — one in the Golani Unit and one in the Air Force.

Mr. Book added, “The Yom Ha’Zikaron national memorial commemoration precedes Yom Ha’Atzmaut, the celebration of Israel’s independence, to remind us of what it takes to get to the country’s freedom. The soldiers pay the ultimate price for Israel.”

Middle School

Einat Rabinovich, Hebrew language Instructor at HAFTR Middle School, with the assistance of Roni Sharabi, our Bat Ami ambassador, created, directed and presented an emotional memorial to the Fallen Heroes of Israel on Yom HaZikaron. The sixth grade girls and the seventh grade boys performed both in song and dance and conveyed the depth of feelings we all have for Medinat Yisrael.

This release was sent to Patch by HAFTR.