This Rosh HaShanah feels unlike any other for my family and me. It has been a season of new beginnings, both joyful and humbling. On the first day of school, my daughter and I walked into school, hand-in-hand, she for her first day of Junior Kindergarten, and I for my first day as Head of School. We were both nervous. We were both excited. And, in truth, we both needed the steady support of the incredible Bialik staff who met us at the door with warmth and reassurance.
A few days later, my daughter came home singing Tapuchim U’Dvash, a song I have taught and heard countless times floating through our Kindergarten hallways. But this year, hearing it sung at our own Shabbat table in her small, confident voice, I felt something shift. What had always been a sweet and familiar tune suddenly became a family tradition. It was no longer just a song sung in the Bialik hallways. It was now my daughter’s song.
My wife and I often talk about how fortunate we feel to know that our children, our daughter today and her younger sisters in the years to come, will grow up within the loving embrace of this community. Bialik is not simply where I work. It is now where my family learns, sings and grows alongside yours.
Rosh HaShanah invites us to see the world with new eyes. The Machzor teaches: היום הרת עולם, “Today the world is born anew.” Each year we are given a chance to begin again, to choose the values we will live by, and to imagine the kind of future we hope to create. This year, that teaching resonates with me more than ever. Just as my daughter has stepped into her new classroom, and I into my new role, our whole community is called to embrace what is new - with courage, faith and hope.
At the same time, we know we are living through difficult and uncertain days for the Jewish people. Our hearts are heavy with worry for Israel and for Jewish communities everywhere. At the recent UJA campaign launch, Douglas Murray spoke powerfully about the challenges ahead, but also about our opportunity to raise a generation who know right from wrong, who stand proudly in their Jewish identity, and who will advocate for our people when the world needs them most. That is precisely what we are doing together at Bialik.
Every day in our classrooms, we are not only teaching skills and knowledge: we are shaping character. We are teaching our children to take pride in who they are, to find strength in Torah and tradition, and to approach the world with empathy, courage and resilience. They may be singing about apples and honey today, but tomorrow they will be the voices of leadership, hope and renewal for the Jewish people, for Israel, and for the world.
This is the cycle of Jewish life. Each new year begins with children singing the songs we once sang, learning the stories we once learned, and carrying forward the values we now pass to them. It is in those small voices, echoing through our hallways and our homes, that we find both comfort and courage.
As we enter the new year, 5786, may we all be blessed with the sweetness of family, the strength of community and the renewal that comes from new beginnings. From my family to yours, Shana Tova U’Metuka.