I am writing from Israel where we are on our two-week journey through the land with our 8^th grade class.  The kids are doing really well (and so are the chaperones), having a great time and taking in many different experiences.   As we will soon be getting ready for Shabbat together in Jerusalem, I felt it was a good time to share some reflections from our trip.

Two weeks is a long time to be away from home, to be away from family and friends; yet, two weeks flies by when visiting Israel and you are trying to visit every site, taking in all of the food and culture, and working to connect spiritually and emotionally with the people and the land.

 During our trip, our students have “lived” Israel with host families in Haifa, experiencing a daily life that is different from their own; they have experienced the scientific prowess of Israel by doing lab work and attending lectures at the Technion, Rambam and Rosetta Genomics, a micro-RNA based Plant Biotechnology Initiative; they conquered Masada by climbing up early in the morning to daven as they watched the sun rise; they hiked in the Golan and in the Negev; they met with Israel’s most famous composer (and our school’s Zimriyah guest this year) Nahum Heiman; they gave tzedakah from family and friends to some of those in need as they traversed the roads of Jerusalem; they davened minha at Robinson’s Arch together complete with the Muslim call to prayer in the background of the silent Amidah; they visited Yad Vashem and Har Herzl, understanding important elements of our past; they ate together, laughed together, and even cried together as our students were privileged to see the many faces of Israel.

In a few short hours, we will welcome Shabbat together in Jerusalem.  The enthusiasm with which our students helped to prepare for Shabbat by going shopping in the shuk to buy food for the group was amazing, and soon, our walks to shul this evening will be filled with spirit and will serve as the beginning of an incredibly spiritual experience.

 What will our kids take away from this incredible experience?  What do we want them to take away?  How do we bring the magic that we have shared together back to our homes and to our communities?  I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

 Marc Medwed, Associate Head of School

באכם לשלום  צאתכם לשלום

Come in Peace and Go in Peace

I am in the airport leaving Israel.  The 8^th graders are still in Jerusalem.  I am leaving for a simcha, a family bat mitzvah which I am very much looking forward to.  And yet, I am so sad to not share Shabbat in Jerusalem with this 8^th grade-  this group of students, some of whom have been with us since kindergarten, some of whom have joined us this year, who have given us (the chaperones) of loving Israel with them.  They hiked, they explored, they experimented, and they bonded.  They conquered their own fears and they helped others conquer theirs.  They walked hand in hand, arm in arm, through the streets of Jerusalem-   and they ate and ate and ate….

I am often asked why I love the 8^th grade trip and it is so clear to me that we are helping our students develop their love of Israel.  This trip is different than a family trip because they share it with their friends from school and their teachers.  It is different than a high school trip because they are still young enough to marvel with child-like abandon at what they see, hear, feel, and taste.  They come to the bus on time, they show appreciation for the hard work of their teachers, and they want to come back.    And then there are the selfish reasons I love the Israel trip.  I love Israel and work hard to build a love of Israel in the school.   I want to see with my own eyes the way that the students hear, feel, and taste.  I want to have the experience like I had on Tuesday night when a girl put her head on the kotel, closed her eyes, and stood their for five minutes.  I did not ask her what she was thinking about.  I did not ask her how she felt.  I felt it without words-  and she knew.    A day later, as she and I spoke in Tel Aviv, she smiled when I told her how moved I was.  

In just a few months, these students will graduate from our school and we will no longer be a part of their every day lives.  But a part of them is in me, a part of my heart, a part of my spirit, a  part of my connection with Israel 

All of this is what I am thinking about while I wait for my flight on the way back from Israel.

Jane Taubenfeld Cohen

Head of School

ארץ ישראל

אוי כמה אני אוהב אותך

ISRAEL, HOW MUCH DO I LOVE YOU

I am sitting on the bus in the middle of our first full day in Israel.  We  have spent the day with our Ironi Gimmel friends, the students from our sister school in Haifa.  Each year, connections are made that are deep and lasting.  This year, because of Facebook, Skype, and other technology, the students were already ‘friends’ before we arrived.  Even with that, I want to write about something that we just witnessed on the bus. 

Behind me, sat two girls, one from our school and one from Ironi Gimmel.  They began to talk, to sing, to take videos together, when they simultaneously turned toward each other, gave each other a hug, and said,” I love you”   They were in awe of how much they had in common as they struggled with their language differences.  The adults around them were smiling, delighted with the unfolding friendship and the purity of the  feelings the girls already have for each other. Sometimes, we think of the Boston-Haifa connection in terms of big ideas and big plans.  But sometimes, the Boston Haifa connection is about two girls becoming friends sitting on a bus. 

Coming to Israel is about so many experiences making up two weeks-  the land, the people, the spirit, the bonding-   but it is also about understanding that we are a part of the Jewish people and we are a part of the Jewish future and we are joined together with our brothers and sisters in Israel.  It is meant to be a trip that lasts two weeks and carries into a lifetime. 

A new friendship unfolding, a relationship with Israel unfolding… I am sure I will have more to share as the trip continues, but this poignant moment begged to be written down…

Jane Taubenfeld Cohen

Head of School

Today is Purim and tomorrow we leave for Israel.  It is a day of anticipation for our kids and for those of us blessed to be going with them on the trip.   For me, I start to imagine how it will be when they meet their Israeli friends in Haifa, when they climb Massada, and when the enter Yerushalayim.  I start to hear their voices davening on the bus, and begin to imagine what our daily debriefs will be like.   I know they will take pictures of things I have never noticed before, will be moved by sites that I never paid attention to before, and that for each of them, the experience will be different than any they have had before.  

This is my fourth time going to Israel with 8^th graders and each time is like the first time. It does not matter how many times the students have been to Israel before.   It does not matter how many times the chaperones have been to Israel before.  Sharing this experience together elevates our trip to a level of holiness that is indescribable.  

So, today, there are a lot of families packing their children up, with a bit of nervousness, a lot of excitement, and dreams of what will be.   And no matter how beautiful that dream, the trip will probably surpass it.  All that they have been learning over the years, and all that they have shared (even for those who just entered the school this year) will be with us in Israel.   And if previous groups are any indication, all that happens over the next two weeks will be with them forever  

Looking forward to blogging from Midinat Yisrael.

Jane Taubenfeld Cohen

Head of School

There are many important messages to the story of Purim.  One that resonates with me is wondering how Queen Esther must have felt when she revealed her true identity to King Ahashverosh—how liberating it must have been for her!

As adults, many of us remember (or are still in the midst of it!) a struggle with our identities—who am I?  What do I represent?  Am I happy with who I am?  There are no black and white answers to these questions.  For our children, whose identities are continuing to grow and change on a daily basis, these questions loom large.  And, the answers can change on a dime, with different responses in each situation.

Perhaps no other time in the Jewish calendar do I struggle as much as I do as Purim approaches—why does this holiday of fun, frivolity, sharing gifts of food with friends and giving money to charity evoke such a struggle for me?   It’s the costume.  It all starts with deciding what I will wear to school.  Choosing a costume should be easy and fun, right?  I wish it was.  For me, the costume creates a distraction from my true self and forces me to hide who I really am.  Sure I could choose a costume that accentuates certain aspects of my personality, but as a shy person, that is something I could never do.  Yet, with all of this, I always do choose to dress up as it is important for me to be a part of the identity changing experience.

However, even with all of the struggle and angst I have about choosing a costume, I really do love the holiday.  I love seeing our kids dressed up in various and sundry costumes, embracing the spirit of the day both in religious practice and plain old fun.  I enjoy laughing about life’s daily events, from the mundane to the absurd, and then taking a moment to step away from reality and let my inner child out to play.

The holiday of Purim gives us the chance to engage with our children in meaningful conversation about who we are and who our children are—a chance to relate to one another through dressing up in costume, sharing a gift of food or a festive meal and creating opportunities to celebrate that which makes us proud and to laugh at some of those things we wish could be different.   How do you relate to these ideas with your families? 

I wish you all a Hag Purim Sameah—a happy and joyous Purim!

Marc Medwed, Associate Head of School

It is school vacation and I just was reading our blog entries over again.  When we first decided to do this, I was a little nervous.  Would I have anything to say?  Would it work that Marc and I are switching off articles?  Would people respond to us?  Is a blog a proper forum for discussion in a Jewish day school? 

Reading over what we have written, I am excited.  I think that we have begun a process of conversation.  Interestingly, I hear from people around the country about our blog.  Despite my pleas that they write an opinion or ‘have their say’, people are reluctant.  We hear from people,  they have opinions on what we write.  That is a start. 

One of the things that is unusual about our blog is that Marc and I write differently and about different things.  I like that.  A school is filled with different ideas and passions and our readers are exposed to those in our posts. 

I am not so computer savvy or social media advanced.   I just dove in with my heart in the right place.   I want our parents, our community, and the greater day school community to understand our school more.  I am hoping that by writing, we can help that happen. 

And my fear about having anything to say?  I committed to an article every other week…I write much more often than that.

So, what are your thoughts about the use of a blog as one way we communicate?   How about the fact that people still respond by email?  I would love to hear your responses to some of the questions I asked in the first paragraph?

 Jane Taubenfeld Cohen

Head of School

As much of the area was at home awaiting the storm, our fourth graders, their families, and their teachers gathered to celebrate a fabulous milestone event.

Beginning with a spirited tefilah, our fourth graders were shining stars.  They demonstrated their fluency with the tefilot and their ability to speak in front of a large group.  Then, in the smaller groups of the individual classes, each student made a presentation about what they had learned in class and through their mitzvah projects of feeding the hungry and honoring the elderly.  The program concluded with a hands-on activity for each class, bring the projects full circle and creating an opportunity for kids and parents to learn and do together.

Kol hakavod to our teachers for their dedication to our students and our school and a special thank you to our parents who support our school and our community.  Great job, fourth graders—we all thought you shined brilliantly today!

Marc Medwed, Associate Head of School

In just a few weeks, we will travel to Israel with most of our 8th graders. As I anticipate our trip (and we work to contain their excitement), I have flashbacks to some of the most extraordinary memories of previous trips. There is something indescribable about being in Israel with 8th graders. They are mature yet still children. They want ‘freedom’ but stay very close. And, they express their awe, their connection, their love, their Jewishness, each in his or her own way. Because Rabbi David comes with us, and we have chances to daven (pray) overlooking Jerusalem, in the lobby of a hotel, and on the bus, and the students do so in a way that is different than here in school, I am sometimes moved to tears. I love to hear the reflections of the students at night of what they saw, what they felt, what they shared and I am always wondering about life long memories.

The trip also has other features that are hard to describe. The triumphs that these 8th graders experience far from home- whether it is sleeping away for the first time, hiking a mountain, pouring out their hearts in a note they leave in the kotel, speaking Hebrew to a storekeeper, or helping a friend are all part of the experience. Each triumph is one that builds their character and their connection to Israel and to each other. Even though about half the class has been to Israel before, students in the past have said that there is nothing like this trip. I am going to ask this group more about that this year.

Our 8th Grade trip would not be possible without Dr. Nitzan Resnick. The whole Science component that brings scientists from all over Israel flocking to see us is unique and outstanding. What many do not realize is that we are one of the few schools that plans our trip ourselves, without using a company, because of Nitzan’s hard work. That saves each family hundreds and hundreds of dollars but also means that our trip is designed with our students in mind. In other words, our Israel trip matches our school- keeping the kids’ needs in mind.

I have been to Israel many times. Each trip is like coming home and, at the same time, each trip is like beginning again. It is an honor to take our class to Israel. I am looking forward to seeing their faces as we ride through Israel, as we walk through Israel, as we experience Israel together.

Jane Taubenfeld Cohen

Head of School

The milestone events in our school represent the convergence of home and school, as families join together with our teachers to celebrate the students’ learning.  Last night, I had the privilege of attending the second grade milestone event—a family havdalah celebration.  What a beautiful evening it was and how great it was to see our students participating in this event.

As part of the program, the students acted out the story of “The Shabbat Spice.”  I was so impressed with the way they memorized their lines and the way in which they were able to guide the flow of the story and knew when to say their lines and who came before and after—not an easy feat!  Then, as the lights dimmed, each family lit their havdalah candle and joined together in the blessings as we made the transition to a new week.

Kol HaKavod to the teachers and to our families for bringing our students to this point and for helping them each to shine on the stage and in our school.  What a pleasure it is to celebrate together and to honor our 2nd graders.  Way to go!

Marc Medwed, Associate Head of School

I was in the Izzy Arbeiter Gallery of Understanding and I was talking with two sixth grade boys. We were having a meaningful conversation when one said, with all good intentions, “I think that God made the earthquake in Haiti so that Haiti would be rebuilt and it would be better for the people.” I needed to keep my reaction calm and steady as this 11 year old felt safe sharing his thoughts. I calmly answered, “You know, it is really ok to be angry with God for causing so many people to die. Even if Haiti gets rebuilt and gets help from lots and lots of countries, we can still be angry and wonder why God would let this happen to innocent people.”

I took a risk but I could not allow this young man to think that we, as Jews, need to say that there is an understandable reason for everything instead of that we, as Jews, have to acknowledge that we don’t know what reason there could be for such things as earthquakes and other natural disasters. (We do understand the scientific reasoning but this blog post is about the religious reasoning) When a child is in a Jewish Day School, that child has to feel that it is ok to question, it is ok to be angry at God, and it is ok to have all those feelings and still pray and still be a part of the community. The theology of an eleven year old is relatively concrete. It is our job to allow the children to think deeper and openly and safely. His reaction to me was one of a little surprise and a little relief. He had worked so hard to find an explanation but it still (probably) did not feel right to him.

It was interesting because a number of teachers were in the Gallery during our discussion. A few of them commented afterwards on what my response had been. They were wondering what I would answer but probably don’t wonder any more. In some ways, I answered both for the student and to give teachers the sense that it is ok to answer in the way that I did. To me this was a very Jewish response.

I wish that the world did not face such catastrophes as what happened in Haiti. But, that is real life. The kinds of answers we give our children and the sincerity with which we give those answers are important. That does not mean that you and I would always have the same answer. That is ok. But authentic answers are important to our children because, whether or not they articulate it, they are often wondering.

Jane Taubenfeld Cohen

Head of School