400 at Shulamith gala cheer school’s new campus

Over 400 people from the Five Towns and beyond celebrated the new Cedarhurst campus of the Shulamith School for Girls and the commencement of the 50th year of a reunified Jerusalem last Tuesday night in a 6,000 square foot tent on the campus.

The dinner honored three families and a faculty member who hail from four different communities:

•Chaim Schreck are active in Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns, Aish Kodesh and Beis Medrash of Woodmere.

•Machazikei Torah honorees Josh and Miri Lifshitz of Lawrence are active in Congregation Tifereth Zvi and close to its Rabbi Pinchas Chatzinoff.

•Shomer Yisrael awardees Menachem and Shayna Landau are affiliated with Rabbi Friedman and Kehilas Bais Yisroel in Cedarhurst.

• Mechanechet Hashanah Naomi Hollander is a long time board member of the Young Israel of West Hempstead.      

The fast-moving program was done entirely by videos, which can be viewed on the Shulamith website.   

Asked why they chose Shulamith, parents inevitably say that the hashkafa of its parent body is “just right” -— thoroughly committed to halacha while passionately Zionistic and inclusive of technology in the educational process. 

With this in mind, “an evening with friends” was the vision of event planner Josh Spiegel of Birch Events, who is the father of three Shulamith students. The program was front-loaded in the evening, allowing the Shulamith community to leisurely enjoy a lavish buffet and dessert provided by incoming ninth grade parent Shlomo Katz of Elite Caterers.

Politically and communally active Rabbi Aryeh Lightstone, first year parent of a Shulamith Early Childhood student, served as dinner chairman and master of ceremonies.

“The jewel of Cedarhurst” is how Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise referred to the former #5 School on Cedarhurst Avenue. Shulamith has honored this venerable 65,000 square foot building by painting the entire interior, installing security cameras and alarms around the perimeter, augmenting interior lighting, and installing a new intercom and phone system. 

Shulamith is America’s oldest Jewish girls school, opened on Long Island in 1999. Its Early Childhood Center is housed in its original building on Irving Place in Woodmere. Its Lower, Middle and High School Divisions are housed in the former #5 School in Cedarhurst.