Dedication to Thanks

Earlier this week, I was asked about the convergence of Chanukah and Thanksgiving, commonly being referred to as Thanksgivukah. My initial thought was that it was going to be easy to decide on what kind of potato side dish I was serving for Thanksgiving dinner. On the surface, the two holidays have very little in common, except perhaps for the recent popularity of deep fried turkey. However, if we dig a little deeper, the connection between the two holidays is stronger than one would think, even if this overlap is an oddity of the calendar.

Chanukah’s origins lie in either the military victory over the Syrian-Greeks or the miracle of the oil depending upon which sources you want to look at (which one is accurate is a whole other conversation for another time). Chanukah gained its name, which means dedication, from the need to re-dedicate the Temple after it had been defiled by the Syrian-Greek government. With the re-dedication, they were able to celebrate Sukkot (an eight day holiday) during which the Maccabees had been too busy fighting the enemy. Sukkot is the holiday that many people have thought that Thanksgiving is modeled after. Whether this is historically accurate is debatable, but the two holidays share the importance of giving thanks, praising God, and taking stock of what we have.

This synergy between these holidays is what made my experience with our middle school students on Monday so poignant. As part of our Tikkun Olam program, a group of students traveled with Mrs. Foley and Ms. Stone to the Kosher Food Bank to help pack grocery bags of food for those in need. The students reflections’ about how thankful they were that their needs for food, shelter, and clothing were met were incredibly powerful and have stuck with me throughout this week. Just prior to Chanukah and Thanksgiving, our students were discovering what it meant to be thankful.

The convergence of Thanksgiving and Chanukah is more than an opportunity to fry traditional Thanksgiving foods in oil or to create turkey-shaped chanukiyot (Chanukah menorahs). It is a chance to explore the deeper meaning of these holidays. Perhaps, Thanksgivukah is not a silly mash-up of the two holiday names, but rather is a signal for dedicating ourselves to giving thanks.

Use the opportunity that the calendar provides us this year to to re-dedicate yourself to living a life of gratitude. As you light each candle this Chanukah, give thanks for the blessings that grace our lives. Enjoy the warmth of family, friends, and community as you eat your Thanksgiving feast and watch the dancing flames of the Chanukah candles.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Building Community

So I have to admit, one of the things that I was nervous about was moving to Cleveland when we were expecting a child. It’s one thing to change jobs, move your family, and find a new home. It’s a whole other thing when you do this and your wife is five months pregnant. Some of the anxiety was logistical. How quickly could we find an OB? What hospital would we use? Who would take the kids if Ali went into labor in the middle of the night?

The rest of the anxiety was about community.

And I and my family are grateful that it is just not something that you have to worry about in Cleveland. I have written before how appreciative we are of the support that we received as we made the transition. With the birth of our son, Gilad Lev, the strength of this community is even more readily apparent. Whether offers of meals, playdates for the girls, or just checking in to see how we were doing, this is a community that understands what it means to be a part of a kehillah.

Judaism is not a religion that functions well in a vacuum. We require a quorum of ten, a minyan, for some of our most important prayers and rituals. Our ceremonies are often at their most meaningful when said as part of a community whether it is saying gomel (a prayer of thanksgiving after an illness, surgery, or long trip), welcoming a child into a community as part of a Brit Milah, or hosting Sheva Brachot (special meals for the bride and groom during the seven days following a wedding).

Keeping a community going takes work and you can see it in the hours of volunteer work that goes on here at school. You can see it in the speed with which the Schechter community mobilizes to support families experiencing life cycle events. And you can see it in the pride that we show when we talk about our community.

So, keep talking, keep volunteering, and keep strengthening Kehillat Schechter. Join us at the next Kehillat Schechter meeting (December 9, 7:30 PM), volunteer for the book fair, participate in the school’s annual campaign, and come sit with me and talk all things Schechter at a Bo N’Daber session (December 16, 8:15 AM). And as someone who has seen first hand just how powerful and impactful our community can be, thank you.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dr. Ari Yares

Power of Reading

With the school abuzz about our new enlarged reading week program, Read for Life – Go for the Gold, I have been thinking a lot about reading. Growing up, I was a voracious reader. I always had a book, sometimes several, that I was working my way through. I even recall getting in trouble a few times at school for discretely (or at least I thought I was being discrete) hiding a book under my desk. I still read constantly, both professionally and for pleasure. It is a habit that I don’t want to kick.

Reading with my children has been one of the joys of parenting for me. Even before we were sure that they could understand what they were hearing, we have been reading books. It started out simple with books like "But Not the Hippopotamus" by Sandra Boynton and as the girls have aged we have moved on to more sophisticated books. Recently, we have taken the plunge into chapter books. It has been an incredible experience to see my daughters sit enraptured by classics that I remember reading when I was young.

When we look at the benefits of reading, we talk about how reading at an early age helps brain development and generally promotes positive outcomes from children. More recently, I have read that reading has the power to shape our students into strong leaders. Reading can enhance abstract reasoning skills, broaden horizons, and increase vocabulary. In my own personal reading, I often find that reading outside of my professional field stimulates new thinking. Perhaps, most importantly, reading can reduce stress and increase our ability to be empathetic. All of these are vital to developing leadership skills.

If we know all of this, then the answer is simple – let’s get our kids (and ourselves reading). Our overall goal during Read for Life – Go for the Gold is to instill a love reading in our students. You will be hearing about grade level challenges to complete books, magazines, and basically read anything with print on it (yes, that includes comic books). Encourage your children to jump feet first into these challenges and find books that inspire them.

We want everyone to get involved in our Olympic-themed reading events. Come help out at the Scholastic Book Fair, November 21-December 5. Schlep your children to the library to feed their reading habit. And, perhaps most importantly, have them see you curl up with a good book and a cup of hot cocoa and share with them your experience of being instantly transported away to a different place or time.

Shabbat Shalom,
Dr. Ari Yares