Lo Bashamayim Hi

The Talmud tells the story of Rabbi Eliezer who was so convinced that he was right regarding an issue of Jewish law that he called on various inanimate objects to prove that he was correct. First, the walls of the Beit Midrash, the house of study, shook to demonstrate that his position was right. Then, when his colleagues were unconvinced, he called upon the river to flow backwards, but this did not convince them. Finally, frustrated Eliezer calls upon the heavens to justify him and a bat kol, a voice from above, confirmed that he was correct.

One of his colleagues chastised him, though, quoting a pasuk (line) from this week’s parsha(Torah portion), Nitzavim-Vayelekh, stating that “lo bashamayim hi” (it is not in the heavens). All of sudden, God laughed and agreed with Eliezer’s colleagues that it was up to them to interpret and understand God’s laws. This phrase, through this story, has been used frequently to justify our ability to interpret and bring new understanding to Jewish law. Yet, if you read just a little further, the Torah is trying to tell us even more than that we have the authority to interpret Judaism.

The text continues, saying “It is not over the sea so [that you should] say, 'Who will cross the sea and get if for us, so that we will be able to hear it and keep it?' It is something that is very close to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can keep it.” So if we learned from the first story that it is in our hands to interpret our sacred texts, what is our understanding of this next verse?

Judaism is about experiences and using it as the lens through which to view the world. This to me is the essence of what our mission is at Gross Schechter is as a Jewish day school. Within our walls, students engage in their Judaism as a living laboratory - thinking, doing, and feeling. They are acquiring more than just Jewish identity; they are building Jewish literacy.

This morning, I visited with some of our preschool students as they were celebrating Shabbat. Seated in a circle, our four year olds were smiling as several of them were quietly seeing just how much challah they could get into their mouths. As we chatted, they were able to articulately state what was special about Shabbat and how it was different from other days. Some shared about specific foods, challah, grape juice, and, of course, chicken soup. Others talked about having friends and family join their Shabbat table. And, from the enthusiastic way that they greeted me, it is clear that these students understand what hachnasat orchim (welcoming guests) is. For our younger students, this is Jewish literacy.

For our older students, through the generosity of the SaltzmanYouth Panel, our students are engaging in learning and doing as they participate in the Middle School Tikkun Olam program. Just this morning, students visited with residents at Menorah Park, helped out at the Ronald McDonald House, and worked to eliminate invasive cattails at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes which will help maintain and preserve the ecosystem and Ohio's native species. Our students are learning first-hand that Tikkun Olam, repairing the world, has us in a variety of settings. They are taking their understanding of mitzvot and putting them into action.

In our preschool yesterday morning, if you had walked by, you would have found an interesting combination of big and little kids. Middle school students were making the first of many visits to their preschool buddies. They delivered a personalized Shanah Tovah card introducing themselves and then got down on the floor to play. The preschoolers were so excited by the visit that after the middle schoolers left, multiple classes began to draw their own cards to send back to their big buddies. This is the start of a year long relationship. And hopefully many years beyond that too.

Even in the short two months that I have served as Head of School, it is readily apparent that Schechter is about talking, acting, and loving engaging in Jewish life. At the end of Parshat Nitzvavim, we are given a choice. We have heard the blessings that await us if we follow God’s commandments and we have heard the curses if we choose otherwise. We are encouraged, as the Torah states, to choose life. A life that is enriched through mitzvot, connected through community, and embraced in the richness of Judaism.We look forward to seeing you all at Monday’s Totally Kosher Rib Burn Off as we continue our tradition to serve as a gathering place for the entire Cleveland Jewish community.

Meditating on Freedom

Early on Wednesday morning, I was working with a group of high school students on a meditation exercise in our alternative minyan. As we meditated together, I realized that the intentional and unintentional activities of the week had somehow aligned as the perfect preparation to spiritually enter Pesah. The meditation exercise that I had picked to use during the Amidah focused on reflecting on feelings of happiness, peace, and freedom. It was during this last portion of the exercise that, for me, the week began to click together and I realized that I was becoming ready to enter z’man matan cherutainu, the time of receiving our freedom.

On Monday, our 8th graders led an interfaith seder for the students of St. Aidan School, our neighbors around the corner. They eloquently explained the reasons behind each section of the seder and served as ambassadors of both our school and the Jewish people. Together, we celebrated the beauty of the seder and learned about its educational mission as the story of the exodus from Egypt is told. For two groups of students from different faiths to sit down and learn from one another brings to mind the incredible gift of our religious freedom.

Tuesday morning began with the delivery of the cots from New York Blood Services for our second blood drive of the school year. Blood, however, has a mixed relationship with Pesah. It can bring to mind the infamous blood libels of our past as Jews were accused of using the blood of Christian children to make matzot. It can also represent the first of the Ten Plagues that dip our fingers into at our seder. At school, however, it represented giving others the gift of life through 48 units of blood that students, staff, parents, and other members of the Schechter community contributed. This giving of ourselves provides others with the freedom to live their lives in health.

Even the fire alarm during high school lunch provided a sense of liberation. Yes, it was cold and wet outside. Yes, it was scary not knowing what was going on. But as an administrator, I found a sense of freedom from my own fears of what would happen if we did have an emergency in the building. Our preparations and practice with our own emergency procedures worked.

With the feeling that spring is actually arriving, our sixth grade students set out to engage in acts of maot chittim, pre-Pesah activities of chesed (community service). While our students did not gather wheat to provide others with the ability to celebrate Pesah, they did stock kosher for Pesah supplies at a food pantry. With the ever present fear of hunger among some in our community, our students worked to liberate them from this through their actions.

I was greeted early one morning by a student stating that she was so tired, but vacation is only a few days away. Clearly, our students are looking forward to the freedom from classwork that Pesah break will bring. Many of us among the faculty have joked about our own self-imposed slavery as we prepare for Pesah and are yearning to be set free.

My hope is that all of us will have a moment to truly reflect on what freedom means to us as we sit down at our own seder tables with friends and family to tell the story of our people’s exodus from Egypt. May you truly be able to feel a sense of freedom as we celebrate z’man matan cherutainu.

L’Shanah Ha’Ba’ah B’Yerushalayim (Next Year in Jerusalem)!

Friday Letter - February 15, 2013

The room was silent. You could hear a pin drop. It didn't matter that there were more than 150 people seated or standing in the gym. The room could not have been quieter empty. Eyes were facing front. No one was shifting in their seat. The entire focus of the room was towards the podium.

These respectful, dignified reactions were beautiful to watch on Tuesday morning. Our students, regardless of how they personally felt about gay marriage, Judaism and homosexuality, or any related issues, made an incredible statement with their behavior. That statement, as they listened to an alumna tell her story of hiding her identity and gradually coming out, was that each individual is deserving of dignity and respect. It continued as their peers stood in front of them to introduce clips of the movie Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School which depicts the story of a student in a Boston Jewish high school grappling with her sexual identity. As the students moved upstairs into workshops that they had selected earlier in the week, the level of dignity and respect that they afforded each other as they discussed topics that could be potentially fraught with emotion was similarly high.

This is a powerful statement.

I recently saw that this past week had been declared National Random Acts of Kindness week by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. What occurred here, in my mind, was much more powerful than a random act of kindness. While we encourage our students to engage the world with derekh eretz and look for moments where they can do tikun olam, there is something even more meaningful when our students actively work as a group to create an environment that provides dignity and respect to everyone. It recognizes that as a community, we are responsible for setting the tone in each and every conversation that we have with another person.

Through our actions and our words, we shape the environment around us. This Tuesday’s program, a product of collaboration between the Tzibur Club and its advisor Becky Friedman-Charry, Robin Stanton, and Rabbi Josh Rabin, laid the foundation for creating an environment that is more accepting of our individual differences. When we return from break, students will have the opportunity to again shape their environment by engaging in acts of tikun olam at our school and in the community for our Upper School Chesed Day. Step by step, we are changing our school and our world.