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At Moshe Aaron Yeshiva High School in South River, Tuesday's student-run memorial for assassinated Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was an example of how the school takes Israel education beyond the usual occasions like Yom Ha'atzmaut, Yom Hazikaron, and the Salute to Israel Parade.

Thirteen 11th and 12th graders of MAYHS Girls' Division studied the life of Rabin, who was shot on Nov. 4, 1995 by a Jewish opponent to the Arab-Israeli peace process named Yigal Amir, during the two weeks leading up to 14th anniversary of the assassination. Then, the group presented a memorial service for Rabin in Hebrew and English in front of the Girls' Division's 75 students.

Rabbi Dovid Komet, principal of MAYHS, said the program was just one component of the school's focus on keeping students connected with Israel throughout the year.

"Our students, we want them to have a certain connection to what goes on in Israel, both historically and in the present," Komet said. Raya Ben Haim, a Hebrew teacher for 11th and 12th grade honors students, said she wasn't aware of Rabin memorials organized by Jewish students at any other schools in Central Jersey.

Students alternated between Hebrew and English while reading passages on Rabin's life, held a minute of silence, lit a yahrzeit candle, watched a video about Rabin, and sang Hatikvah together to end the program. The room was decorated with Israeli flags, along with posters of Rabin and his interactions with other world leaders that were donated to Ben Haim by the Consulate General of Israel in New York.

Ben Haim, who teachers 11th and 12th grade honors students, said she hoped the ceremony would simulate memorials for Rabin that took place throughout Israel this week.

"I want to give those girls the feeling of how it is in Israel," said.

Ben Haim's students learned about Rabin leading up to the ceremony through classroom discussions, reading Hebrew news articles, performing Internet research, homework assignments, and writing Hebrew essays based on their reactions to two pictures -- one of Rabin alone, and another with Rabin, former president Bill Clinton, and King Hussein of Jordan during the signing of an Israel-Jordan peace treaty in 1994.

Of the picture with Rabin, Clinton, and Hussein, student Meryl Fireberg wrote how Clinton looked very happy to see longtime enemies like Israel and Jordan making peace. Of the picture of Rabin alone, Tziona Zeller also focused on the peace process, a trademark of Rabin's career, noting that the class is remembering Rabin and his tragic death primarily because of his efforts to make peace with Arabs.

"Just remember," Ben Haim said she told her students, "just like Americans remember [assassinated president] John F. Kennedy, we need to remember our prime ministers in Israel also."

At the start of the ceremony, teacher Señora Lory Stricker explained to students that in the final speeches of his life, Rabin emphasized that peace was the answer to the Arab-Israeli conflict, not war. Rabin's courage is still admired by Israelis and by Jews around the world, she said. "Yitzhak Rabin was one of the greatest heroes Israel has and the world will have for years to come," Stricker said.