April 5, 2020
Dear Senesh
Families -
As we prepare for Pesach, I am filled with gratitude for this community. During such a challenging time, we are seeing staff, parents, and students rise to the occasion and support one another in so many ways. It is truly inspiring.
Our faculty and staff are preparing for the possibility that we will continue our distance learning program through the end of the school. Nothing would make us happier than being able to open and run school in person at 342 Smith Street as soon as it is deemed safe and appropriate. We will keep you updated about this.
Your feedback has been an essential part of our remote program’s growth and improvements. When we return to our distance learning program on April 20 you will be able to experience a more user-friendly platform to follow the daily schedule. There will also be more small groups classes for lower school students via Zoom.
A highlight for me last week was bringing together around 300 people to our first ever Senesh community-wide Kabbalat Shabbat via zoom. We were able to welcome Shabbat with students, parents, staff, alumni, grandparents, and friends of Senesh. While we miss our in-person interactions; together we are finding new and creative ways to connect and support one another and the greater community. Stay tuned for our next Senesh Community Kabbalat Shabbat!
This is also a time we are preparing for Passover. While working and learning remotely, we created our
first-ever Senesh Haggadah
. This school-wide project grew out of a desire to celebrate and share the richness of diversity in our own community and the global Jewish community. What better way to share the wealth of our traditions and interpretations than with a Passover Haggadah to help guide us on this journey of Jewish peoplehood together.
In this Haggadah, you will find examples of how Jews across the world and in our own community observe Passover. Through pictures and stories, you will see ritual objects and traditions that have been handed down from generation to generation. We have included personal stories of journeys to freedom and helpful discussion prompts to use throughout your seder.
Passover celebrates our exodus from Egypt. The Hebrew word for Egypt is “mitzrayim,” which means “narrow place.” This journey to freedom involves the Jewish people moving from a narrow place out into the openness of the desert, which - while uncertain - held great possibilities. May we, as a community, come out of our narrow places and continue to explore and embrace the diversity of our people.
Wishing all of you a happy and healthy Passover and a year of possibility and freedom.
