|
D’var Kesher
May 19, 2017/ 23 Iyar, 5777
38th Day of the Omer
Parashat Behar-Bechukotai: Leviticus/Vayikra 25:1-27:34
|
“I wish there had been a school like this for me to send my own children to.”
- Dr. Susannah Heschel
(Susannah Heschel is the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. Her scholarship focuses on Jewish-Christian relations in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of biblical scholarship, and of Antisemitism. She is also the daughter of the great 20th century philosopher and rabbi, Abraham Joshua Heschel, whose teachings inspired our school's mission and vision. Rabbi Heschel is also well known for marching for civil rights with his good friend, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They are pictured together below.)
I’ve heard this sentiment about wishing CJDS had been around for their kids numerous times this year from local parents of teenagers and college kids. The regret and the longing is real and palpable.
On the morning of May 8th, I heard that very sentence from none other than Dr. Susannah Heschel, as she walked through the halls of our very own CJDS and stepped out into our glorious Butterfly Garden. T
he fact that Heschel’s daughter, who continues to teach her father’s inspiring articles and ideas all over the world, came to visit us at CJDS, was about the closest thing to getting to meet our intellectual and spiritual muse, himself.
|
|
Pictured together above, Rabbi Heschel presenting the Judaism and World Peace award to Dr. King in 1965
|
|
Dr. Heschel has edited, translated, and published many works by her late father, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, and she travels around the world continuing his legacy, teaching his writings and ideas which are as relevant as ever today.
Rabbi Heschel is woven into the fabric of our school in so many important ways. You can draw a direct line from our school founders’ commitment to creating a school rooted in the value of integrating all the various parts of oneself into a wholeness with integrity, directly to
the teachings and actions of his life.
Each year around the time of the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Heschel, Eran Rosenberg, CJDS Jewish Studies Coordinator and Fourth grade teacher, guides our fourth grade students in a close reading of the book, “Abraham Joshua Heschel: A Man of Spirit, Man of Action, by Or N. Rose, which includes various stories about Heschel, including his daughter, Susannah.
|
|
Eran was tickled to see his fourth graders star-struck when Susannah showed up in their classroom on May 8! At first, they were uncharacteristically reserved, but gradually warmed up and asked these great questions:
CJDS student: Do you keep the legacy of the holy sparks?
Susannah Heschel: Of course!
CS: How was it to grow up with your dad?
SH: Wonderful. I loved him very much, he was a great father. He played green light red light with me and “zoo” and chess. We used to go to the park to play.
CS: Do you play an instrument?
SH: Piano, and I use to play cello.
CS: Do you speak other languages?
SH: Yes, Hebrew, and a bit of Greek, Latin, and others.
CS: I really liked the story about your dad teaching the case study about the dilemma of whether the Jews in a neighborhood were moving from the area, and got two different offers to buy the building: from a bank and church. Your dad’s students said it must be to the bank since the Church is Christian, but your dad said, “No, to the Church, since the bank worships money, and the Church worships God. I was wondering if there were any other cases like this that your dad taught that you can share?
SH: Actually, there are. One was about the idea of not only having a “mashgiach” (supervisor”) for kashrut (Jewish dietary practices), but a “mashgiach ruchani,” a spiritual supervisor, or guide, who is responsible for helping guide us through the moral and ethical areas of our lives.
|
|
So it is no accident that it is from Heschel that we learn,
“Teach them a Judaism that will re-make the world.” And he did not mean just the Jewish world, but the whole broken world. So it is thanks to Rabbi Heschel that for us at CJDS, being Jewish is not somehow marginal or something carried awkwardly at our side and sort of pulled out from time to time ritually. Thanks to Rabbi Heschel, Jewish education at CJDS is about creating an organic space for Jewish children to grow up with deep and lasting wholeness, among all the parts of their authentic selves.
|
|
|
Pictured above:
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath (carrying the Torah) in Montgomery, Alabama, 1965.
|
|
And if all this wasn’t enough, Susannah Heschel then turned to Susan Couden (pictured together here) and me at the end of our tour and declared with a passionate urgency,
“You know that not all day schools are like this, right? You should be writing about this school; this should be the model. People need to know about this.” -Susannah Heschel.
Susan Couden, who, as you know is not only our Art Teacher but our Coordinator of Curriculum Integration, has been instrumental in the sacred act of transmitting the teaching and learning of Heschel senior at CJDS for 19 years. So you can only imagine what it was like for Susan to get to meet the daughter of Heschel, who is an extraordinary thinker in her own right. Ask Susan about it, and you will hear how it was a life-altering experience!
|
|
|
Wishing you a Shabbat of wholeness – of shalom!
Shabbat Shalom,
|
|
|
Over a million dollars raised!
Donate to the Hadesh Yamenu Renewal Campaign here:
|
|
|
End of the year events
you won't want to miss...
|
|
CJDS Arts Night & Kosher Dessert Reception
Monday, May 22
6:30pm-8:00pm
(Students should arrive by 6:20)
|
|
|
You are all cordially invited to CJDS’s Night of the Performing and Visual Arts (also known as Arts Night) on Monday May 22nd, 2017. The students will showcase their musical skills by performing various compositions in a concert. This night CJDS will be transformed into an art museum; having galleries and exhibition spaces of the students’ visual arts accomplishments this year.
|
|
6th Grade Graduation
& Kosher Dessert Reception
Tuesday, May 23
7:00pm-8:30pm
|
|
|
You are all cordially invited to CJDS’s Graduation on Tuesday, May 23rd, 2017. Join us as we celebrate our graduates!
|
|
Last Day of School Assembly
& Education Bridge
Friday, May 26
1:30pm-2:20pm
|
|
|
Parents create a bridge with their arms as students run under and through the bridge, to their next grade! Join us for this fun and memorable CJDS ritual at 1:30pm-2:15pm Allison Goldberg Senser Gymnasium.
|
|
YEARBOOK ORDERS DUE
FRIDAY, MAY 26
$10.00 per Yearbook
Checks payable to: CJDS
|
|
|
During the Hadesh Yamenu event, Brett Kaufman recalled how he and his wife Katie experienced the school through their own children.
“What we found in sending our kids to the day school, in addition to the benefits of Bar Mitzvah preparation and learning Hebrew…. was that they were teaching our kids how to be really great people in the world. Teaching them to think about things like how to care for one another, how to really care about their environment, to care about community. To care about being independent. To care about a lot of things that I just didn’t know could be taught in school, let alone how it all could be connected to Judaism. The school really teaches kids how to be a certain type of person, and our kids have that in them now. They are Jewish in a way that I just didn’t ever know as Judaism. After CJDS, they’ve gone on to Bexley… to thrive academically, to thrive socially, athletically; really they’re thriving in every way. And because of this, our commitment to CJDS is stronger now than it’s ever been before.” -Brett Kaufman
Pictured above L-R: Dylan Kaufman (CJDS 2014) Brett Kaufman, Ian Kaufman (CJDS 2018), Grant Kaufman (CJDS 2015), Katie Kaufman
|
|
|
For the most up-to-date version of our calendar and a full list of current CJDS events:
CLICK HERE!
|
|
|
Sunday, May 14: Lag B’omer
Monday, May 22:
CJDS Arts Night
6:30pm-8:00pm Allison Goldberg Senser Gymnasium
Tuesday, May 23: 6
th Grade Graduation 7:00pm-8:30pm Allison Goldberg Senser Gymnasium
Wednesday, May 24: Yom Yerushalayim
Friday, May 26: Learning Bridge Assembly (parents create a bridge with their arms. As students run under and through the bridge, they move up to their next CJDS grade - join us for this fun event)1:30pm-2:15pm Allison Goldberg Senser Gymnasium
Friday, May 26: Last Day of School
2017-2018 SCHOOL YEAR
|
|
NEED MULCH? Oakland Nursery
Gift Cards
Click on the Oakland Nursery image for a printable form.
Purchase Oakland Nursery gift cards through CJDS and we keep 20% of the profits.
Cards are $20.00 each. To purchase gift certificates, just click
here
for a printable form. Checks should be made payable to CJDS for the desired amount. Your gift cards can be picked up or mailed to you within two weeks.
|
|
|
On Tuesday of this week, CJDS was a sea of ORANGE — a sign of support for our alumnus, sixth-grader, Brad Rothbaum.
Some of our current families will remember that the Rothbaum family moved from Ohio to Florida a few years ago. In March, we learned that Brad was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a form of cancer, and that he is currently undergoing treatment to fight this disease.
Even though Brad and his family are far away, we showed them all some CJDS love and support by wearing orange, which is Brad's favorite color. Todah Rabbah, everyone, thank you for this show of communal support; it makes a difference!
Organizer, Kindergarten teacher Annelyn Baron (pictured below L-R: Claire Rothchild and Annelyn Baron) thanked students and faculty for their support, sharing: "I thank each of you for supporting our “Orange Out” and be a strong force in Brad’s Brigade. I was so happy for the amount of students that participated in some way. This is important stuff. Most of all I know that Jennie (Brad's mom) was blown away! I am so happy to be a part of a caring staff who cares about those around us."
|
|
|
Pictured above and below: CJDS Students and residents of Wexner Heritage Village enjoyed time together remembering and releasing Butterflies.
|
|
|
Pictured above and below: During morning tefillah this week, 6th grade students were called up for aliyot while 5th grade students read from Torah. Yasher Koah 5th and 6th grade!
|
|
|
Pictured above: Proud students shared their work with guests who visited the European Fair.
|
|
|
Global Connections with
Guests from Kfar Saba
|
|
|
Pictured above and below: The 4th grade students presented Rachel Nistor, Chairperson of the
Partnership2Gether program, with a gift to take back to 4th grade students at The Brenner School, in Kfar Saba.
|
|
|
Pictured above: Students were asked to create a symbol out of clay that best represented the Partnership2Gether program with The Brenner School in Kfar Saba.
|
|
|
Pictured above: Michal Waizer (seated 3rd from the left, in the front row with the Kindergarten class) is the Chair to the Educational Bridge project between CJDS and The Brenner School in Kfar Saba.
|
|
|
Pictured above: A 4th grade student accepts the gift that Brenner students made for the CJDS 4th grade class.
Pictured Below: Kindergarten students had a Skype session with Kindergartners at The Brenner School, in Kfar Saba - Israel. They all had fun talking about different time zones and asking each other questions about the school day. At the end of the session, they sang a song together.
|
|
|
Pictured above and below: Each year, the 2nd grade students put on a Recyclable Fashion Show. All of the outfits and costumes are made form 100% recyclable items.
|
|
|
Pictured above and below:Members of the Yarok Together Club delivered fresh produce to people living in the Wexner Heritage Towers. For this delivery, they were joined by International Exchange Students who are currently studying in Columbus.
|
|
|
Kesher Organization
PARENT LIAISONS
|
|
|
Kindergarten: Stefanie Zelkind
Grade 1-2: Rayna Weiner and Adam Davis
Grade 3: Merav Dill and Bat-Ami Moses
Grade 4: Maggie Saracheck and Sara Zeigler
Grade 5: Alan Bassik
Grade 6: Ruth Rubin and Jennifer Wasserstrom
|
|
|
Supporting
our
Community
We Want to Know About the Life Cycle Events in Your Family
|
|
|
Mi Sh'berach
When a member of the CJDS family is ill or in need of healing, the entire community lends its support and its prayers for a full and complete recovery.
Bradley Rothbaum
CJDS Alumni Class of 2016
(his Hebrew name is Benyamin Eitan)
A NOTE FROM Jennie Rothbaum: “After a night that can be described as so-so at best, we woke up to photos and videos of an orange out at Columbus Jewish Day School in Ohio, where Brad attended kindergarten thru second grade before we moved to Florida. The pictures you attached were of teacher and staff faces that I love and miss…and it made me cry. You guys are awesome and the love is overwhelming and amazing. Thank you “
-Jennie Rothbaum
|
|
|
Share a Mazel Tov!
Mazel Tov to Ben Goodman on becoming a Bar Mitzvah (pictured below reading Torah). We were thrilled that Ben came back to join his CJDS family and read Torah for our school Tefillah a few days before his simcha!
|
|
|
May Their Memory Be a Blessing...
|
|
|
CJDS Tribute Cards
CJDS Tribute Cards provide a thoughtful and caring gift for everyone. The income generated by every purchase enhances a child's educational experience at CJDS. You can get the All-Occasion pack year-round. It includes five pre-printed memorial cards and five pre-printed special event cards for only $90. You can also make an individual tribute gift and we will send a Tribute card to the recipient. Tribute cards require seven business days for delivery.
|
|
|
We Collect Boxtops
Help us reach our goal this year of $1000.00
|
|
AmazonSmile
When you shop at
smile.amazon.com
, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to CJDS.
|
|
|
The Rewards Add Up
Have you linked CJDS to your Kroger Plus card or Giant Eagle Advantage Card?
|
|
|
Community Events
To learn more about these events
Click on any of the images
|
|
|
Love & Hugs for Zusman Hospice
|
|
|
Baked Goods Delivered to the Classroom
|
|
|
Hooray for Challah!
Welcome to the 2016-17 School Year! Once again, we are fortunate for the opportunity to order weekly challahs and baked goods from Matt’s Bakery. It is as easy as "pie" to place your orders. All you need to do is go to the Matts Bakery website to see a full listing of all of their delicious items. All challah and or baked goods will be delivered on Fridays to your child’s classroom.
Have questions? Call or email Matt's directly:
info@matt’sbakery.com or (614) 237-4848
|
|
|
Order your CJDS Apparel today!
|
|
We have several events and opportunities for you to come to the school. Take a look at our school calendar of events
HERE.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
