This past spring, I embarked on a journey to Poland. It was a trip that, as a Jewish educator, felt like both a professional development opportunity and a profound pilgrimage. I travelled to witness the places where Jewish life flourished for centuries and where, tragically, it was brutally cut short. I knew it would be a difficult experience. I didn’t just gain a deeper understanding of the darkness; I brought back a powerful and essential lesson in Jewish hope and resilience that I now carry with me and am eager to share with our students and our Bialik community.
For an educator, standing on the former soil of the Warsaw Ghetto or walking the grounds of Auschwitz-Birkenau is an intense confrontation with the absolute worst of human history. We are tasked with teaching the facts of the Shoah and ensuring the memory of the six million endures. Yet, in those places of profound loss, I realized that my most important task is not simply to bear witness to death, but to reclaim life. The very act of standing there, as a proud Jewish person and a teacher dedicated to Jewish continuity, is a powerful act of defiance against the forces that sought our destruction.
In Krakow’s Jewish Quarter, I saw a living, breathing testament to our people's enduring spirit. Wandering through the revitalized streets, where new Jewish-themed cafes and a thriving Jewish Community Centre stand alongside centuries-old synagogues, I saw not a cemetery of memory, but a place of Jewish rebirth. This powerful sense of Ahavat Yisrael, a love for the Jewish people, transcends borders and generations, reminding us that our story is one of a continuum, not a conclusion.
This perspective was affirmed not only in historical sites but through the sacred, living acts of Judaism we performed.
As we walked out of the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, a place synonymous with death, we sang "Am Yisrael Chai." Later in the trip, we had the extraordinary privilege of dancing with a Torah in a historic synagogue that had once been emptied of its Jews. We celebrated B’nai Mitzvah ceremonies in places where Judaism was meant to be extinguished. These were not just emotional moments; they were a collective declaration that the past tried to destroy us, but we refuse to be defined by our persecutors.
This is the very essence of resilience that we strive to cultivate at Bialik. Our mission to provide an exemplary Jewish and General education, fostering a strong Jewish identity and embracing values like Menschlechkeit and Tikkun Olam, is our modern-day resistance. Every time a student celebrates Shabbat, learns Hebrew, or engages in a social justice project, they are honouring those lost by ensuring that Jewish culture and values not only survive but thrive.
My journey to Poland affirmed for me that the most meaningful way we honour the past is by building a future. Coming back to our community of over 1,600 proud young Jewish students was very powerful, and a real privilege. For the students at Bialik, the most profound answer to the history of hate is not just remembrance, but Jewish continuity — our unwavering commitment to learn, live and create.
As we begin the new year, 5786, and finish observing the sacred days our ancestors kept even in the darkest times, we are reminded of a timeless truth: we are still here.
Let our answer to loss be the vibrant joy in our classrooms, the commitment in our community, and the knowledge that the Jewish people, the people of Israel, live on.
Am Yisrael Chai.