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| This is the Ta Shma Weekly Newsletter, a publication for the Beit Rabban Day School Community. |
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March 29, 2019/ 22 Adar II
, 5779
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Head of School Message
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Dear Beit Rabban Community,
Our annual gala, Manna from Heaven, is coming up in late May. The event will leave you feeling full of nachas, gratitude and hope as well as full of excellent food and drink. So save the date, May 30.
Beit Rabban is a
community that is held up by the work of its many devoted members. Parents, staff, students, and other community members have a voice in shaping and reshaping our school, and they also take responsibility to help implement our values. Each year at Manna from Heaven we highlight someone in our community who plays an essential role in ensuring the ongoing vitality of our school. This year, we are doing something different.
We have decided to honor the BIG machers (see
Yiddish Slang Dictionary)...
all the Jewish professionals within our parent body
, and we are calling them "Rabbanan Beit Rabban."
We take immense pride in the fact that Beit Rabban has always been a school where Jewish professionals -- clergy, educators, academics, artists and non-profit professionals -- send their children for a Jewish education. It speaks to the highly committed and diverse makeup of our parent body. I believe it is also critical to our ability to prioritize the teaching of Judaism with both rigor and joy.
I spend a lot of time in conversation with other school leaders, including many who run pluralistic, non-denominational, or liberal Jewish day schools. And I know that many of my colleagues in the non-Orthodox day school world struggle to satisfy a parent body that worries about their children's schools being "too Jewish" -- too much time spent learning text, too much emphasis on prayer, too much talk of God. I am acutely aware of and extremely grateful for the fact that I have never once felt this tension. Our parent body has a lot to say about the way we teach Judaism -- about how we discuss God, about how we teach Rashi, about the language of prayer, about the particular tradition of Torah reading troupe we choose, about how we ensure that our children are asking Jewish question and considering Jewish values in all their learning. These are the conversations I have regularly with parents, but I never have to justify Jewish learning as a priority.
There are a lot of reasons that Beit Rabban is unusual in the realm of non-Orthodox schools. It has to do with our founder Dr. Devorah Steinmetz and our founding history; with the true diversity of affiliation and practice among our families; with a faculty comprised of sophisticated Jews, etc. I believe, it also has a lot to do with the fact that we have always had a significant group of parents who work as Jewish professionals and have spent a lot of time thinking about Jewish education, community, and continuity outside of their own children's experience.
This school year, 35% of Beit Rabban families include one or more parent who works for a Jewish organization. Their choice to send their children to Beit Rabban is a badge of honor for the school. It also is a backbone of the type of unique family community we strive for at Beit Rabban, one that is both Jewishly diverse and Jewishly committed.
We hope you will join us at Manna from Heaven on May 30th to celebrate these big machers, our "Rabbanan Beit Rabban." Individual names of honorees are listed below, and you should look out for an invitation in your inbox this coming week. We promise an epic evening of nachas and revelry.
Wishing all a restful and rejuvenating Shabbat,
Stephanie
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Honoring "
RABBANAN BEIT RABBAN,"
the inspiring Jewish professionals
within our parent body,
including...
Rabbi Ayelet Cohen
Dr. Jeremy Dauber
Lisa Exler
Erica Fishbein
Anat Fisher Tsin
Rabbi Jonah Geffen
Rabbi David Ingber
Ariel Ingber
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer
Yael Kornfeld
Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
Dr. Sara Labaton
Zachary Lebwohl
Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler
Miriam Levi
Rabbi Marc Margolius
Cantor David Mintz
Rabbi Avram Mlotek
Hai Piasezky
Dr. Noam Pines
Miri Pomerantz Dauber
Rabbi Aviva Richman
Deborah Sacks Mintz
Rabbi Joanna Samuels
Naomi Skop Richter
Rabbi Dan Smokler
Rabbi Felicia Sol
Oded Tsin
Dr. Katja Vehlow
Rabbi Tzemah Yoreh
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Calling all Bubbies, Zaydies, Savtas, Sabbas, Grandmas, Grandpas and others...
You are invited to attend
Beit Rabban's annual
Someone Special Day!
Please join us for a morning of sharing, learning and joy with the students of Beit Rabban.
Friday, April 12th
8:30/8:45AM-11:00AM
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for more information and to RSVP!
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Overheard at Beit Rabban...
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First grade trash talking in the playground, Beit Rabban style:
- Student 1: "So, do you know Birkot Hashachar?"
- Student 2: "Yeah."
- Student 1: "So then say it if you know it..."
- Student 2: "Um, I just have to remember how it starts."
Nitzanim (5th grade) Student 1: "What happens at the flesh eating wall." Nitzanim Student 2: "People eat flesh."
Anafim (3rd grade) student to teacher: "You could be the next Rashi. You did such a detailed Torah footnote on Rivka's story!"
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Parashat HaShavuah Page
Parashat Shemini
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Spend the Summer at Beit Rabban! CAMP HAVAYA...
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June 25 - August 16
2.5 years - Rising 2nd Grade
Weekly Registration Available
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Need Your Prayers
We pray for refuah shelemah, complete healing, for:
- Dori Shifra bat Masha Aviva, Beit Rabban teacher who is recovering from a fall.
- Michael ben Chaya, father of Yaron Schwartz and grandfather of Shane in Anafim.
- Patricia bat Elsa, caregiver in our community going through chemotherapy.
- David Uri ben Aviva, father of Gan student.
- Tziviya Devorah bat Zelda Zichlah, mother of Gan student.
- Yosef ben Rachel, father of Gan student who is recovering from heart surgery.
- Sarah Leah bat Yocheved Ruth, mother of Jennifer Taviv and grandmother of Ariela in Shtillim and Temima in Nitzanim.
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| Beit Rabban Slideshow 3/29/19 |
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