Each morning our students enter school to the sounds of Israeli songs of peace…
Each time we do Tefillah we add tehillim (psalms) and/or special prayers for Israel, the IDF and/or the missing and the kidnapped…
Each week we revisit our layers of security according to what is true and communicate carefully and clearly to our families…
Each day we decide how much “current events” should or shouldn’t be part of each particular grade and class…
Each week brings a new rally or vigil…including this weekend…
Each day brings new and worthy charities and causes to support…
Each week brings new Israeli families to our community and to our school…
Each child in our school, each parent in our community, each teacher in our classroom is differently touched by what is happening each and every moment of the day…
…it makes a routine like “weekly blogging” feel like nothing more than spitting into the wind.
Two weeks ago, I blogged explicitly on the pain and sadness we are experiencing as a result of the terrorist attacks on our beloved Israel. It felt important to say those words and, maybe, it provided me with a hint of catharsis.
Last week, I blogged about the launch of our school’s new “Goal-Setting Conferences” coming in a few weeks. It felt important to share a truly meaningful change in our school’s approach to parent and student engagement, and, maybe, it provided me with a hint of normalcy.
This week? I feel stuck.
All the blog posts have already been written.
I could write about the coming dissonance between those who have already started to move on a bit and those who are still sitting still in the thick of it. This is true for our students, our teachers, our parents, our community and – for sure- the wider world. But someone smarter than I has already written it.
I could write about the challenges our alumni are experiencing in high schools and universities throughout Canada (including my own daughters) with anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism and leaders too careful (or too scared) to call it by its name. But everyone is writing about that and ten minutes of doomscrolling on X (Twitter) is more than enough.
I could write about the impact of trauma on leaders of Jewish schools and institutions. But I just came back from a Day School Leadership Training Institute (DSLTI) Retreat on this topic and there are books and articles you can Google that will tell you all you need to know.
Or.
I could write my first “Tour of the OJCS Blogosphere” where I highlight the amazing work that our teachers and students produce and share with the world. But it just doesn’t feel like this is the time for that kind of post. (Don’t worry…that post is coming one of these weeks.)
Or.
I could skip a week. I could give myself permission not to blog. Other than my mother, my wife, my friend Nancy and my Aunt Donna…I mean…
Of course, I’m nearly 500 words in now so I guess that’s out.
So here is what I will do. A simple request. If you are feeling like asking people if they are okay feels a bit trite or tone-deaf these days, but you want to show that you care…please take time this week to ask all the people you care about in your life, these four questions (yes, of course it had to be “four questions”):
- Are you getting enough sleep?
- Are you getting enough exercise or fresh air?
- Are you eating healthily and properly?
- What can I do?
If we can each do that for a few people in our lives this week, maybe, just maybe, it will be a slightly better week than the one before.
Ken y’hi ratzon.
