It has to be bashert that I have the honor and privilege to join RAVSAK as its first Director of Institutional Advancement at precisely the same time that the AVI CHAI Foundation makes an extraordinary and historic commitment to enhancing and strengthening Jewish community day school education with a grant of $2,350,000. As the grandchild of a survivor of the horrors of Buchenwald, and first generation American Jew on my mother’s side, Jewish continuity has been at the forefront of my life both personally and professionally. From the time I spent a year in Israel as a fellow on Otzma II to the present, I find myself becoming more passionate about klal Yisrael, by blending it into the fabric of my being, by ensuring that we will have a Jewish future. Thus, there is no better way to achieve that then by working for an organization, whose “client is the Jewish Future.”

Tell us something about yourself.

A fifth generation Israeli, I was born in Jerusalem to a family of teachers. All my siblings are either teachers or principals in Jewish day schools, so teaching is in our blood. I have taught English, math, and Jewish studies, to students ranging from 2 to 82.

The day-to-day interactions that the school leader should embrace require sensitivity, self-confidence and finesse in order to build and maintain the relationships that are essential to success. The HOS must possess the ability to communicate clearly and appropriately with all stakeholders, regardless of the circumstances. This can sometimes be a challenge, as evidenced by the questions below.

By now I hope you all have received RAVSAK’s new business plan (of which an executive summary appears on pages 32-33), a plan that envisions investing more resources into the day school field, leveraging existing resources better, and continuing to build on successful strategies.

Responses to “The Torah of Relevance” in the summer issue

The Torah is an ancient book that presents great ideas in simple, accessible language. Thus the Torah invites any reader, teachers and students alike, to study its plain meaning or peshat. That’s the product we have. That’s what we’re “selling” and what we want our students to “buy.” When students are invited to dig into the text, and thereby gain mastery, matters of relevance melt away. Guided as they encounter the text, they will ask challenging questions, tease out meaning, argue with each other and eventually develop their own understandings of basic Jewish ideas.

This summer I took my very first cruise and traveled to Alaska, where 6,000 hardy Jewish souls live among 722,000 other inhabitants. Five thousand of these Jews, who statistics reveal to be more observant than most other Jews (although there is no day school here), live in Anchorage, where there are two synagogues. I would have loved to have met some of my co-religionists, but a cruise leaves little time for self-directed exploration. Likewise on my cruise, I would have liked to meet more of my fellow Jews, but alas, I seemed to be traveling in middle America. How I longed to play Jewish geography! How hard I listened for an accent that said “big city,” and looked for a chai on a neck chain. When I finally heard some Israelis speaking Hebrew at their dinner table, I could have hugged them!

We live in a time when our culture changes its mind in less than a generation. Our youth use the word “sick” to mean something is really great, and I just heard a researcher on public radio say he has done a three year study that shows procrastination is actually a valuable tool that enables better decision making.

The following are some of the terms and platforms referenced in the articles in this issue.

Early childhood, often overlooked within the spectrum of Jewish education, can be a critical time for building habits and dispositions to inspire families to choose day school.

Networks of teachers, whether within one school or over a broader range, can foster individual growth while enriching the school community in powerful ways.