Although May is the official Jewish Heritage Month, Oak Park High School celebrated early this year with the Jewish heritage festival on Thursday, April 21. The Jewish Student Union club organized the event, and after a rainy forecast, relocated the festival to inside the gym, where they provided a plethora of food and activities to OPHS students and faculty.
To celebrate Jewish heritage, the club provided traditional Jewish food such as hummus and bread, complimented with cups of mango juice.
“This is called mango prigat,” junior Samantha Liba said. “A lot of young children drink it–it’s a fun thing to have on a hot day, or even a cold one.”
Aside from food, the festival aimed to share various aspects of Jewish culture. The club organized activities and booths presenting a variety of different topics: Hebrew lessons, geography, dancing and craft-making. The craft station gave students the opportunity to design their own charity boxes–a space to collect money to give to those in need.
“Having a charity box in your room, or in your house, and contributing to it whenever you have the opportunity–it just elevates your room, it makes your room a better place,” Rabbi Mendy Friedman said. “Such a big part about being Jewish is giving charity, so, when we teach Judaism, you cannot not promote the giving of charity.”
Junior Meirav Zarin, president of the Jewish Student Union, finds herself tied very closely to her Jewish identity and has a pleasure in sharing it with others–she worked hard to coordinate the event along with a team of students and parent volunteers.
“Our goal was to introduce Jewish culture to our fellow students, as well as give Jewish students an opportunity to feel proud of their Jewish identity.”
