One of the most resonant piyyutim of the High Holiday liturgy is Unetaneh Tokef, a meditation on the harsh reality of what every living thing shares with one another: One day we will cease to be. We encounter these words when we are spiritually vulnerable; there is simply no denying their truth. Our tradition presents no course correction to the realities we face. Rather, even when acknowledging our powerlessness, there are still ways to reclaim our agency. In the language of our High Holidays, the response is to engage in Teshuvah, Tzedakah and Tefillah, or returning to make amends, charitable giving and inner reflection.
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Bringing Israel Home: Am Echad, Lev Echad
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October 7 arrived at the tail end of our holidays, bringing an all-too-real understanding of the intertwined nature of our mortality and morality. In the immediate aftermath, in the face of unspeakable horror, our community in the suburbs of Los Angeles certainly felt powerless. Like Jews of previous generations, we faced an unchangeable reality; all that we had left was our chosen response.
Of course, these responses came in various ways. The professional and volunteer leadership of our school responded with programming, education and opportunities for giving. Our larger community responded with generosity, both locally and for Jews globally. And perhaps the most unexpected and welcome response was the way in which real world events, happening far away from Northridge, California, were inspiring more families to check out Heschel (and other Jewish day schools) and enroll their students with us.
Taking Action
The calls to action came rapidly. Families distributed supplies lists that were most in need in Israel, for both the IDF and civilians alike. Our community went to stores and shopped online. Suitcases were quickly packed, while families with connections to El-Al made the arrangements to get these supplies to Israel.
A small cohort of parents and myself went to Israel in February to visit the impacted communities, volunteer, donate and display our unbroken solidarity. We flew with as many duffel bags as El-Al would permit each of us; these were all filled with even more items purchased by our community. They were unable to physically join us, yet we brought the Heschel community in spirit, every step of the way.
Heschel, like many other Jewish communities around the world, opened its doors to families fleeing from the chaos of war. Our school welcomed these families with open arms and made sure to give them a home away from home, a small oasis in a desert of uncertainty. One of these students, age 6, asked our admissions director where our school bomb shelter was, reminding us in no uncertain terms that we were literally saving lives.
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We have no illusions that the Band-Aids we were offering were long-term solutions. The desire to help was tangible on campus and beyond; we all wanted to combat our own pervasive feelings of powerlessness. In taking even these small steps, a transformation happened on our school campus. Our sense of pride in being Jews and Zionists only grew more pronounced.
As we put out calls for supplies needed in Israel, our families took pride in purchasing these items. Families had the opportunity to engage in tikkun olam together, putting in action the values we teach here. We noticed too that our student and parent ambassadors incorporated the language of giving to Israel and our fellow Jews as a key value of why they are a part of the Heschel family.
Our families too took great pride in making our school accessible to families from Israel. We helped them find housing and arranged playdates for the students. We all chipped in to make sure they had not just material goods to get by in Los Angeles, but to turn houses into homes for them. In welcoming guests into our lives, we were able to replicate the actions of Avraham, a story our youngest students learn and are already encouraged to put into practice in their own lives.
This connection matters; families who were first-time Jewish day school shoppers were able to see a direct link between the Judaic lessons of the classroom and the values we embody. Many of our families stress “values” as what they are seeking in a formal Jewish education. That we can show a through-line from academic theory to lived values also proved enticing to new families; they could see their own families in the seats of our students and parents.
Recruitment Today
After October 7, a new sense of mission seemed to develop among our existing and prospective families. Heschel was clearly a school and community in which they wanted to see themselves now more than ever.
Of our applicants for sixth grade, all were coming from public school. Overall, 31% of our new students are coming to us from public schools or independent secular private schools. These numbers are much higher than our usual applicant pool. In conversations, we learned they were not only looking for the Jewish values-based education we offer, but also for the centrality of Israel to our community.
Certainly, families also feared the unknown of public education and independent secular private schools, and how this issue would be addressed, both top-down, from the administrations and teachers, but also from the community members themselves. Threats of antisemitism, real and imagined, have also helped propel more families our way, often among those who in years past would not have considered Heschel for their children. When they saw these in action, our school culture sold itself.
On tours, families saw Heschel students living the values we teach and engaging in Jewish education with endless joy. Tikkun olam and tzedakah were not intellectual concepts to be discussed; they were ideas to put into action, from our youngest to oldest students, inclusive of the faculty and parents as well.
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During our Winter Festival enrollment and community engagement event, our entire focus was on projects about Israel. All the new families who attended our event applied to Heschel for their TK-fifth grade students. We were able to admit 80% of these applicants. Our community events also inspired and validated a passion for Judaism and a love of Israel; we noticed once again that our role in the community, especially this past year, was a draw to many.
We gave space for our entire community to mourn, cry, laugh and find joy again. We hosted conversations for parents and grandparents. A grandfather, who helped build one of the kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope, shared a poem he composed after October 7. Our teachers came together to show support and solidarity with each other. Heschel alums on their college campuses reached out to ask how they should speak with their Southern sorority sisters about why they felt it necessary to bring pepper spray to a pro-Israel rally or ways in which to respond to antisemites and false information so prevalent on social media. We remained an epicenter of education and support, a safe haven for our community to emote and engage in holy action.
We are certainly still living on that precipice. Uncertainty surrounds us. There is much we cannot do or change; even prayer feels hollow at times. However, in our choosing to respond, we reclaim our agency. The actions we took and continue to engage in have strengthened our community and brought other families into our orbit as well. They see a school converting intellectual thought into action, an academy of living Torah. We may not finish the task, but we will certainly strive to do our part.
The evil decree of October 7 can never be annulled. But we can choose to respond with light and goodness. When we do, others will want to join us in this mission.
