August 19th, 2024 / 15 Av 5784
Dear LGA Community,
I hope this note finds you well. Shavua tov! I am writing it to you all from my desk at LGA, back from the break, and Morah Devorah, Ashley and Bianca are all here, as well. Teachers and staff have been in and out of the building and officially come back in just over a week, and on September 4th, I will be greeting and shaking hands with all of our students. And inasmuch as I am looking forward to that moment, right now, I am grateful that the summer is still going strong, and intend to make it last! In this message, which I am recording as a video, and also sending as an email for everyone’s convenience and accessibility, I would like to share a few thoughts about the summer, and the year ahead. At the end of the email, our enrolled families will find some pertinent dates and relevant information.
I don’t know about you, but driving around Western Mass, I find that I simply cannot get past a farm stand without stopping to see what’s there – and generally, not out of purely anthropological reasons. Perhaps I am still new to the area, but somehow I doubt that this is about to change anytime soon. I am simply overwhelmed and delighted by the abundance of everything growing and blossoming around us. And, I am often reminded of my childhood, when, faced by similar abundance, I would be at my grandmother’s side in her epic canning marathons: making innumerable jams, preserves, jellies, compots, juices and pickles, which would fill the shelves of her cellar. And while the goal was to put together provisions for the winter, it was also the desire to make summer last a little longer, trying to hold on to the sweetness, lightness, positivity, and a special sense of freedom we all associate with the season.
Today, I am wondering how to carry over the summer’s reserves of joy into the coming year. None of us expected last year to be as challenging as it was. This year, we already know that the election season is upon us, and news of the war has no end in sight. How can we prepare ourselves, our families, and our community for the rising intensity that is to come?
Over the summer, I relished reading “The Ecopoetry Anthology”, and thought a lot about these lines by Robinson Jeffers:
…for my children, I would have them keep their distance from the thickening center; corruption
Never has been compulsory, when the cities lie at the monster’s feet, there are left the mountains
The poem is a hundred years old, and surely, in the age of social media, the “thickening center” is far wider than the poet ever imagined it to be. Heavy rhetoric aside, what remains the same is the fact that the mountains are, and have always been, a stark reminder of a vast world, far greater than our own. We all know that there is profound wisdom in the natural world – even when the farm stands begin to close down for the season. Living here in Western Mass, we are so lucky to be able to see the mountain ranges. So lucky to have the beautiful rivers, the bike path, the marsh, the farm just outside of our school. My hope for us all is to continue to be intentional in drawing strength and wisdom from these elements.
The mountains Jeffers speaks of are also a universal spiritual symbol, a space of inner and communal elevation. In counterpoint to the “thickening center”, Judaism sees Mount Sinai, and the Torah’s ethical, intellectual, and spiritual charge as the actual center. Jewish mystics point to a gematria, a hidden linguistic connection, between the Hebrew words “Sinai” and “Sulam” (ladder), positing that the dream our Biblical ancestor Jacob dreamt, as a youth, about the ladder reaching heavenward, was also a vision of Mount Sinai and the spiritual transformation of his descendants. A ladder is what growing up can sometimes feel like: slow movement through stages and phases – but, the sages remind us, it echoes with an all-encompassing, communal ascent towards transformation, growth, and focus on what binds us together.
Surely, learning is one of the most important things that binds us together as a community. Over the summer, so many members of our faculty and staff spent their time honing their craft. Morah Annie delved into pedagogical routines; Rabbi Becca found herself in two different Hebrew bootcamps; Morah Laurie attended a math intensive; Morah Ayla focused on specialized literacy class; Moreh Nachum participated in Yiddish Book Center’s learning for educators; Morah Devorah is diving into a yearlong observation and support course. These are just a few of the ones I’m aware of, and I’m sure there were others I do not yet know about.
I had the great pleasure of attending a two-week intensive at the Day School Leadership and Training Institute in New York, meeting specialists and digging into topics as diverse as leadership, management, school culture, development, enrollment, finance, and much more. I hope to make the inspiration and the learning last far into the year, and into years to come. And even if I can’t can the knowledge into preserves and jellies, I do look forward to jamming with you all at our assemblies, gatherings, kabbalat shabbat celebrations, and more.
A few helpful items for our current families:
Updated Calendar for the year!
Mon Sep 2nd 4pm – PTO Potluck @ LGA
Tue Sep 3rd 10am – Gan Families short visit
Wed Sep 4th 8am – School Starts! (half-day: dismissal at 12:15)
Thur Sep 12th 6:30-8:30pm– Back to School Night
See you all soon!
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