Special Events Committe

The Special Events Committee plans and implements our holiday celebrations and special events with the help of parents in each grade.  The holiday celebrations are: Sukkot, Chanukah, Purim, Passover, and the Graduation/Moving-Up Ceremony. Each grade is assigned a holiday/special event and the parents in that grade are expected to help. One or two parents are in charge of each celebration/special event. 

For Sukkot, the 7^th grade students and teacher help build our sukkah, which is constructed outside on the morning of the celebration.  Once it's constructed the rest of the students add decorations. Prayers, songs and explanations of this holiday are given by each class. We then go back inside the school for refreshments, which are usually fruit and or fruit breads.  The sukkah is then taken down and stored until the following year.

For Chanukah, our celebrations include latkes, with some parents bringing in the latkes and other parents making them fresh during the celebration.  Games and Chanukah crafts are set up in each classroom, and students can be found playing the dreidle game while munching on a latke.  In past years, fourth grade students have displayed menorahs they made, including some made entirely from Legoes, edible menorahs, and menorahs made of shells and other objects.  Other years we have offered Judaica items, including books for sale, with some of the proceeds going towards school expenses or charitable causes. 

For Purim, CJEG has a carnival of sorts, with games set up in each classroom and an ample assortment of prizes for all of the children.  Children are encouraged to dress in costume and we usually see sevral Queen Esthers and Hamans.  Hammentashen are part of the refreshments.  The story of Purim is told through songs and skits by the classes, and a Purim parade tops off the celebration.

For Passover, we have a model seder in a banquet room of a local hotel, where we have a sampling of traditional seder fare, including matzo, gefilte fish, charroset, and macaroons.  Through presentations by students, we hear the story of Passover, sing traditional songs, and even have a hunt for the affikomen.

Click here to see the 2006 holiday schedule.

 Tzedakah Committee

The Tzedakah Committee oversees the school’s charitable projects, including sending Rosh Hashanah cards to nursing homes, holding a holiday toy/gift drive to benefit various charitable organizations, and collecting money on Tu B’shevat for the planting of trees in Israel. In the past we've held a food drive to benefit local food pantries, as well as coordinated CJEG’s contribution to Project Ezra.  Project Ezra is an organization which distributes Passover food items to elderly Jews on the lower east side of Manhattan.  Each CJEG student is assigned a “shopping list” containing one or two of the food items. The Tzedakah Committee compiles the food into boxes, which are decorated by the younger students. 

In past years, this committee has also arranged for our students to visit local nursing homes, pack groceries for an organization that delivers them to needy residents, and has “adopted” a group of needy children and provided them with “wish list” holiday gifts.