Rabbi’s Message – May4, 2023
This first week of May is recognized as Teacher Appreciation Week and it is an honor to take some time to reflect on how grateful I am for this year’s teaching team in our religious school. While in many ways, this year felt like a “normal” year – without Zoom boxes, masking, and other of the major COVID disruptions – we embarked on the year, hoping for the best, but prepared for additional disruptions. Fortunately, those disruptions did not come. One measure of normalcy: I am happy to report as Director of Education, I made more notifications for strep throat exposure than COVID exposure. After two years with adaptations for the changing times, it was comforting to have a year where “regular” challenges were the primary focus.
This Friday, I hope you will join us in celebrating our teaching team and our graduating seniors. As you hopefully all know, we have welcomed our newest addition, and I will not be at Share Shabbat. In lieu of my presence at the service, I would like to take this opportunity to thank them and let them know how I feel about their impact on our community.
If you have not yet had the chance to stroll through the religious school wing, I encourage you to do so. There you will see the fingerprints and (literal) handprints of the children on the walls. The learning that we engaged in throughout the year is evident and deepened by all who are involved directly and indirectly in the school. We are all teachers, and we are all students. We all leave our mark, whether it is physically noticeable or something imprinted on our hearts.
The certificates that we give to the teachers contain a quote from Rabbi Chanina (Taanit 7a), “I have learned much from my teachers and even more from my friends, but from my students, I have learned more than from all of them.” Please take time this week to show your gratitude to the teachers in your life, whether they are teachers in the walls of a school setting or in the classroom of life. May we all be open to learning and growth.
And, a shameless plug for the 5784/2023-24 School Year! Registration materials will be sent out to current families this Sunday and our teaching team for the next year is currently being finalized. Jewish (grand)children from age 3 through grade 10 are eligible to enroll in our program. We still have room on our teaching team for classroom teachers and “specialists.” If you would like to be involved in the school at any level, please feel free to reach out to Rabbi Bodney-Halasz during my leave (rabbi@tidayton.org), or send me an email now (educator@tidayton.org), and we can chat in July when I return to the office.