Regardless of religious or political affiliation, we all agree that our schools must continue to be bastions of joy, wonder, collaboration and peace. Our children deserve a space that is free of worry and stress, a place where childhood is forever accessible and learning is the priority. MJDS is and will continue to be such a place.
In the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida, Prizmah, an organization dedicated to supporting Jewish Day Schools across the country, reached out to its member schools with a call to action. The initial outcome of this is a powerful letter, signed by one hundred and forty Day School Heads, including this one, to push for a united national Jewish community response to the terrible trend of school violence. This letter follows a similar response from over three hundred Independent school Heads in New York and printed in the February 25th edition of the New York Times. To read that letter click here.
We spend significant time at MJDS learning how to be informed citizens, able to take action, instead of being a bystander. I share this letter with the hope that you will continue to talk with your children about how together, we are all responsible for our local and global community. Take the time to reflect on how we got here and what each of us need to do differently as we move forward, so that our children are able to grow up and build their own Jewish life of peace, wonder and empathy.
We come from a prophetic tradition that teaches a moral responsibility to pursue justice. We are called to speak, and to speak publicly, when our children are being put at emotional and physical risk. As leaders in our communities, as Jews of conscience, and most of all, as those who have taken on the sacred task of educating and protecting our children, we feel compelled to join our nation’s youth to demand action that will increase safety in all of our schools.
We are the heads of Jewish day schools that span denominational and geographical lines, educating students from early childhood through high school. We raise our voices as one to urge action and common sense legislation that will protect the students, teachers, and staff in our schools. There are many issues about which reasonable people can disagree, but as we listen to the voices of so many passionate and talented young people who are stepping forward to demand the right to be educated in safety, we know that we can no longer see this issue as a debate.
Instead, we must heed their voices as no less than a call to action. We call upon our President and legislative leaders, at both the federal and state levels of government, and our fellow citizens to work together now to enact common sense legislation that addresses all factors contributing to a safe and secure educational community, including restrictions and safeguards related to guns. We recognize that there is no perfect solution to the plague of school violence that has so tragically become the “new normal.” But that is no excuse not to act.
Our tradition teaches:
לא עליך המלאכה לגמור, ולא אתה בן חורין לבטל ממנה
“You are not expected to complete the task, neither are you free to avoid it.” (Ethics of the Fathers 2:16) and צדק צדק תרדוף
“Justice, justice shall you pursue.” (Deuteronomy 16:20)
We must take up the task of justice now, and we stand together committed to move towards a future in which no child, teacher, or staff member is afraid to come to school.
Respectfully,
Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, Paul Bernstein, CEO
Reading the list of Heads of Schools and Principals who signed the open letter from the New York Times and the words that are a desperate plea was so powerful. It is so good to know that our school is joining in the action by working together with other school leaders to improve safety at our schools.