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Breaking with tradition, elite NYC school adds a second entrance exam date to accommodate Jewish families
(New York Jewish Week) — Hunter College High School, a prestigious middle and high school in Manhattan, has added a second date for its entrance exam after a Jewish parent complained that the test was scheduled for the eve of Passover.
Hunter spokesperson Vince Dimiceli told the New York Jewish Week that he believes this is the first time the school has offered a second test date.
Hunter College High School, which runs from seventh to 12th grade, is a coveted destination for many New York City students. Because the school is run by Hunter College, an affiliate of the City University of New York, it is free to attend.
Its three-hour entrance exam is invitation-only, and is open only to students whose grades or scores on state tests in English and math exceed a high threshold. The school does not admit anyone after seventh grade, so the exam is students’ only chance to gain acceptance to Hunter.
Erica Rahavy, a Jewish parent, told the Jewish Week before the second test date was announced that her son was invited to take the exam, but was dismayed to see that it fell on April 5, the morning preceding the first Seder night of Passover. Although the test does not fall on the holiday itself, which begins at sundown, Rahavy said the school “has to understand that families travel to be with their families on the holidays.”
Hunter’s decision to add a second date to allow for Passover preparation reflects increasing sensitivity to religious observance at New York City schools, which have begun in recent years to close for a broad range of religious holidays. And it speaks to the particular sensitivities around Jewish practice in a city where Jews still make up more than 10% of the population. At the same time, the incident reflects how religious Jewish parents still contend with making sometimes difficult choices around holiday observance.
“I have no problem missing the day of school for my kids,” Rahavy said. “We’ve done that before to celebrate holidays with our families. It shouldn’t be quite so high-stakes that it’s just this one day or nothing.”
In an email sent to Hunter’s admissions office last week and obtained by the Jewish Week, Rahavy wrote that her family has plans to travel on April 5 and asked if the school offered an “alternate time for students celebrating the holiday.”
The school’s response, sent yesterday, was terse: “The Entrance Exam will only be held on Wednesday, April 5, 2023 in the morning and students have about three hours to complete the exam. HCCS is unable to administer make-up exams.”
Upon receiving Hunter’s response, Rahavy was worried that she would be forced to “decide to have my son take this exam or have a holiday with our family, which isn’t really a choice we should be asked to make.”
Soon afterward, however, the school changed its answer. As of Wednesday, a note on Hunter’s admissions website read, “An alternate test date for religious observance on Tuesday afternoon, April 4, 2023, held at Hunter College, will be made available upon request.”
A day earlier, that line had not appeared on the site. But Dimiceli told the Jewish Week, ‘[W]e always knew we would need to make accommodations. That was not reflected on the Campus School website. It is so now.”
Rahavy did not immediately respond to a request for comment about her reaction to the additional test date. But speaking to the Jewish Week before the date was added, she said accommodating a widely observed Jewish holiday in New York City felt like a clear choice.
“I can’t imagine they would have planned this out on Christmas Eve when families travel to be with each other for the holidays,” she said.
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Ro Khanna distances himself after posting documentary clip featuring antisemitic influencer
California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna came under fire Thursday after he shared a documentary clip featuring comments by antisemitic influencer Ian Carroll.
The documentary, titled “Investigating Israeli Influence on US Politics” and made by the popular YouTuber Tommy G, takes aim at AIPAC and what it says is Israel’s influence over American policy. Khanna appears in the documentary as an example of a Democratic lawmaker who rejects the pro-Israel lobby.
The documentary features a wide range of voices, including Republican lawmakers and an IDF reservist who offer a pro-Israel perspective; a doctor who volunteered in Gaza; and Medea Benjamin, the founder of the anti-war group Code Pink.
It has also drawn criticism for favorably citing Carroll, a conspiracy theorist who claims that a “modern Jewish mafia” controls America, that Israel was behind 9/11 and that Israel conspired to kill conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. Speaking to podcaster Joe Rogan earlier this year, Carroll said Israel was founded by the “the Jewish mob” and that sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was “a Jewish organization of Jewish people working on behalf of Israel and other groups.”
“Ian Carroll is one of the internet’s top conspiracy analysts,” Tommy G says in the documentary. “His critics label him an antisemite spreading false information about Israel, but to others, he is a fearless journalist that speaks on what some perceive as an extremely strong Zionist pressure on our government.”
Khanna posted a clip of the documentary on Thursday to make the point that he has not accepted money from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby. In the clip, Carroll claims that “93 out of 100 U.S. senators were taking money from a group that represents a foreign government and foreign interests in order to operate our government on behalf of someone else,” referring to AIPAC and Israel.
In the clip, Khanna later says that has not accepted any PAC or lobbyist contributions since entering Congress, adding that AIPAC’s stance was that “whatever Netanyahu does is right” and warning that those who disagree risk having the group “come after you.”
“I don’t take a dime from any PAC or lobbyist, including AIPAC,” wrote Khanna in the post on X. “I am proud to be one of the handful of Democrats standing up against Big Money.” He linked to an account of an organization called Track AIPAC that monitors the lobby’s donations.
Khanna soon drew criticism for appearing in the same production as Carroll and amplifying him. And hours later, he replied to his own post to distance himself from the conspiracy theorist.
“This was a documentary made by Tommy G who interviewed me. I did not speak to or meet Ian Carrol. I stand by my words and should be judged by them,” wrote Khanna.
Criticism resounded in the replies to Khanna’s post, with many commenters accusing the lawmaker of elevating Carroll’s antisemitic rhetoric on his platform.
“Stand by your words all you want. No one made you post a video where a Nazi talks favorably about you,” wrote one user on X. “In saner times, this would have [been] a career ending move. You are such a clown to defend it.”
Khanna, whose parents were from India and who was first elected in 2016, has long been one of Israel’s fiercest critics in Congress, including over its operations in Gaza. He led an effort last month to push President Donald Trump to recognize Palestinian statehood at the UN General Assembly.
“Who says we’re going to starve the people so much that they suffer that we’re going to force the surrender? It’s sick,” said Khanna later in the documentary interview. “And your tax dollars, my tax dollars are funding them because both Biden and Trump gave Netanyahu a blank check.”
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Singer James Maslow Expresses Solidarity With Israel in New Song ‘On My Mind’
James Maslow in front of the Dizengoff Fountain in Tel Aviv in the music video for “On My Mind.” Photo: YouTube screenshot
Actor and singer James Maslow recently released a single in collaboration with Israeli artists that celebrates Israel and showcases his solidarity with the Jewish state amid its war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
The Jewish artist, who is famously known for his leading role in the Nickelodeon series “Big Time Rush” and as a member of the platinum-selling band of the same name, released on Oct. 3 a track titled “On My Mind,” featuring Shahar Saul, one of Israel’s up and coming rappers, and Israeli vocalist Maya Dadon. “On My Mind” combines “international pop with Middle Eastern influences, reflecting the diversity and vibrancy of Israel itself,” according to a media release about the single.
The music video for the song was filmed in Israel during the Gaza war and is “both a visual love letter to the country and a reminder of the resilience of its people.” The video was made in partnership with Birthright Israel Foundation.
“‘On My Mind’ is about connection, resilience, and remembering those who cannot be forgotten,” Maslow said in a released statement. “Filming in Israel, during such a difficult time, was my way of showing solidarity with a country and people I deeply respect. Working with two incredible Israeli artists made the project even more meaningful.”
During an interview Monday on “CUOMO,” Maslow said the song celebrates Israel’s “diversity, the acceptance, and all the things that I know to be true about it.”
“I have been over there shooting the video to utilize this as hopefully a bridge to bring a bit of a better light to Israel, to Judaism, and hopefully start a conversation where people may realize, ‘Oh, wait a second, I may not have all the facts or I might be being misled right now,’” he added.
“We have normalized antisemitism to the likes of which I never thought that I would see in my life,” Maslow said. “That’s not OK. And that’s why I created this song. And that’s why I’m here today and why I’m standing up.”
Maslow timed the release of “On My Mind” to have it debut mere days before the second anniversary of the deadly Hamas terrorist attack that took place in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Maslow traveled to Washington, DC, to join commemorations for the second anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre.
“On My Mind” is streaming on all major platforms. Watch the music video below.
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Israel Declares Hamas Defeated ‘Every Place We Fought Them’ as Ceasefire Begins
An Israeli military tank prepares to move atop a truck, after US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, Oct. 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Hamas is no longer the terrorist group whose invasion of Israel triggered the two-year war in Gaza, the Israeli military spokesperson said on Friday at the start of a ceasefire with the Palestinian Islamist organization.
“Hamas is not the Hamas of two years ago. Hamas has been defeated every place we fought them,” Brigadier General Effie Defrin, the military spokesperson, told reporters at a briefing.
He urged Palestinian residents of Gaza to avoid entering areas under control by the Israel Defense Forces in the enclave.
“I am calling from here on the residents of Gaza to avoid entering areas under IDF control. Keep to the agreement and ensure your safety,” he said.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians began flocking towards their abandoned homes after a US-brokered ceasefire took effect on Friday and Israeli troops began pulling back from parts of Gaza.