Greetings!

Each day on campus CJDS is like orange juice from concentrate. It is so intense, rich, and packed with purpose and possibility. On any given day, I am a teacher, a coach, a marketer, a fundraiser, a rabbi, a scholar, an arbitrator, a social worker, a translator, a facilitator, a curriculum designer, a classroom observer, and more. And at the same time, it is also important to remember that even with all that happens every day on campus, there is, remarkably, even more to CJDS. We do not only exist only within the physical grounds of our campus. Our school exists in New Albany... and beyond. We are also a community, a philosophy, a combination of powerful experiences, and a visionary set of ideas and practices that transcend spaces. CJDS is portable. Our alumni and their parents know this, as they carry CJDS with them after they graduate from the school. Our students and teachers also carry CJDS with them on the weekends, after school, and elsewhere as they share our story and learning community with others. And now that I am entering my sixth month as Head of School at CJDS, I am proud to report that so, too, am I now taking CJDS out into the community and larger world. I am dedicating this week’s D’var Kesher to some recent and upcoming examples of how CJDS lives here on campus...and beyond. 

First, on the morning of Friday January 6th, all the clergy in the Columbus Jewish community were invited to celebrate the official opening of the new campus of JCC North’s preschool at its new site at Congregation Beth Tikvah in Worthington. The short but sweet ceremony was complete with Marc Rossio’s wonderful song leading, Rabbi Kellner’s puppetry, and gratitude to all that made the monumental project possible. It was followed by the purely joyous honor of helping 2, 3 and 4 year olds affix beautifully hand-decorated mezuzot to their brand new spacious classrooms. Beth Tikvah’s Rabbi Rick Kellner, Rabbi Sharon Mars of Temple Israel and I, decided this was definitely among our favorite ways to start a day, or every day. Here are a few of the pictures from that historic event (the plan to move the JCC to the Beth Tikvah site has been about 28 years in the making).

Then, the next day, on Shabbat morning of January 7th, I was invited to offer a parallel adult education session for parents of young children at the “Mini-Minyan,” brilliantly led by our very own CJDS parent, Rayna Weiner. Over 20 parents packed the library. My session was predicated on the following conundrum: after upwards of 20, 30, and for many even more than 40 years of attending Jewish prayer services, why is that so many adult Jews still feel like perennial visitors to the land of Jewish prayer? I handed out 10 slips of paper with the names of key prayers and asked brave participants to see if they can simply put them in the order of the rubric of the service (as they appear in any siddur, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, or Reform). It is invariably a difficult task for everyone, every time. If adults had taken the same tour of any foreign city for the last 40 years weekly, or even monthly, surely we would expect to be able to navigate that city independently by now. Instead, I argued, rabbis and Jewish education have inadvertently and very unnecessarily been hogging the GPS! So we began to discover the “map” and reveal the internal logic to the structure, meaning, and purpose of Jewish prayer. 

By Wednesday January 9th, both our Jewish Studies Kindergarten teacher, Annelyn Baron and Jewish Studies Coordinator and 4th grade Jewish Studies teacher, Eran Rosenberg had returned from their two week P2G (Partnership Together) trip to Israel where they collaborated and studied with our colleagues in our sister city Kfar Saba. I will leave a whole separate D’var Kesher for them to tell you all about their remarkable personal and professional experiences. But here is a teaser picture… 

On Wednesday afternoon of January 11th, I was treated to a wonderful tour of Columbus’ largest shul, Tifereth Israel, by their very talented and energetic Youth Director, Morgan Levin. In a meeting I had with Morgan some weeks ago, I learned of her desire for a kind of professional development that I used to offer regularly in my role as professor at HUC over the past decade. So we decided to have a little mini session together. It was a treat for me – and hopefully for her – that I got to study with her and share some tools and ideas for the great work she is doing there, with Tifereth’s super team. 

Looking ahead to Monday, January 16th, I am excited to once again get to draw on my role as teacher-educator when I, along with Debra Kellner, the JCC Preschool’s Jewish Studies specialist, will offer a workshop at JCC East entitled, “Bifocals for Early Childhood Education?” to 120 preschool teachers from all three JCC preschool sites as part of their all day In-Service program. 

This cluster of off-campus collaborations and contacts culminates in a three-day trip to Chicago, February 5-7, when I will attend the annual North American Jewish Day School conference. This is the first year the conference will be under the aegis of the newly formed Jewish day school umbrella organization called, “Prizmah,” combining all five of the Jewish day school organizations that had previously been separate. 

“Prizmah consolidates the work of PARDES (Day Schools of Reform Judaism), PEJE (the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education), RAVSAK (The Jewish Community Day School Network of which CJDS is a long time member), the Conservative movement’s Schechter Day School Network, and the Yeshiva University School Partnership (YUSP). Collectively, the organizations serve about 40% of day school students nationwide.” (for more about the merger, see http://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/day-school-groups-merge-in-big-educational-shakeup/).

This year, the conference will engage over 2000 lay and professional Jewish day school leaders from across North America, and offer dozens of sessions on a spectacularly wide range of topics, all related to fostering excellence in Jewish day school education. I was very honored to be invited to offer a text study session at the conference, which I’ve decided to title, “The Riches and Risks of Deep Collaboration,” and will address the following issue: 

We talk a whole lot about “chevruta” in Jewish day school education. Variously translated as “pair study” or even simply “collegiality,” students are “sent” into chevruta, teachers are expected to work together (somehow), and best practices highly recommend that day school leaders also work together.  Chevruta comes from the Hebrew root to “connect or link.” A playful but also ominous story from the Talmud raises the questions of what it looks like when these connections work well, and what happens when they don’t. 

Overall, Prizmah’s Conference theme this year is about “The Power of Story, which is particularly relevant to our theme of Renewal/Hadesh Yameinu at CJDS this year. As the conference website states, “Our stories are powerful. Our voices are stronger when brought together. Our learning is amplified when we share our experiences…the future of Jewish Day School education is a story for all of us to tell.” For more about the conference see: www.Prizmah.org and click on the “Conference” tab.

Finally, CJDS exists at the intersection of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. This weekend, we honor the memory and legacy of MLK, along with Heschel, who marched with his friend, Dr. King. It is more than a coincidence of calendar that MLK and our own school's muse, Abraham Joshua Heschel, were born just days apart (January 15 and 11, respectively). The men were from different geographies, color, creed, theological background, but were joined in a spiritual kinship who legacy addresses our own times. Like Dr. King, Heschel and CJDS, have...

"the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits."

With King, we believe that, "what self-centered people have torn down, other-centered people can build up..."

Looking forward to seeing you on campus, and beyond. Together, we can and should bring portable CJDS to all of Central Ohio and beyond.

Shabbat shalom!

Upon returning from an exhilarating family trip to Israel, here is what one CJDS alumni grandfather was moved to write: 

While attending my grandchildren's B'nai Mitzvah in Israel, on the top of Masada, I could not help but reflect on their years at CJDS.  The same warm smiles from Annelyn Baron that greeted the children on their first day of school many years ago kept running through my mind as I watched them take part in this wonderful tradition.  Knowing that Eran Rosenberg, who taught the children Hebrew, along with Annelyn, their first teacher, were there to join our family and friends, could not have been more meaningful and moving. During the service, Annelyn's smile told us all just how proud she was of "her" children. Nothing more could remind me why I fell in love with this wonderful school.  While the teachers certainly set high standards for their teaching abilities, they do so much more.  They honestly care about the children and enjoy helping them become better people and productive members of society, all in vital addition to scoring well on a test. The teachers and staff at CJDS have done so much for our grandchildren and other students.  I know how much our community needs this outstanding school. 

- Jeff Grossman, grandfather of two CJDS alumni and current CJDS 4th grader

Pictured L-R: CJDS Alumni Elijah Mansur (Marburn Academy), Ethan Nguyen (Bexley High School), and Gabriel Rives (Marburn Academy)

Some of our CJDS Alumni seem to be the secret ingredient to some pretty amazing robotic programs in the central Ohio community. We congratulate CJDS Alumni Elijah Mansur (Marburn Academy) for their hard work and support for their school Robotic Teams.

Apparently, Marburn has never had a team go to the next level of robotics competition until they had CJDS alum Gabriel Rives (CJDS 2016) and Elijah Mansur (CJDS 2015), both leading the team. At the tournament, Marburn received the "Judges award"! Only one team gets this trophy every year, and CJDS parent, Dena Rives, had the opportunity to meet with the lead judge after the event. He told her:

"This magical pack left judges howling with delight. As a team, they approached all aspects of the FLL (First Lego League) with determination, hard work and a desire to do well!"

Mazel Tov Ethan Nguyen, Gabriel Rives, and Elijah Mansur on your tremendous leadership of your school teams!

Go CJDS Alumni!