Jewish Education Is Our Communal Ozone Layer: An Open Letter to the North Shore Jewish Community
Why investing in our children’s Jewish literacy and pride is the single greatest safeguard for our future
An Open Letter to the North Shore Jewish Community.
Dear friends,
It's time to face the reality of the cresting tidal wave of Antisemitism battering the shoreline of our Jewish community. For all my fellow environmentally conscious Jewish brothers and sisters, this climate change is ALSO real.
The sine qua non of Anti Semitisim has always been non partisan at its core, hence the flabbergasting irony, say, of Jewish women, carrying a pride flag with a Star of David— getting tossed out of the Chicago dyke march.
The North Shore has not been spared. This is felt most keenly in the dramatic increase of antisemitic incidents within the local public school systems. Despite some notable demonstrations of wise, compassionate, and firm messages of zero tolerance for hatred, there is less resistance toward the ever so subtle, and arguably far more insidious hatred, cynically accessorised with the accoutrements of pseudo compassion and its illegitimate spawn—the false and sinister equivalencies that undermine and disable the fundamental axioms of human morality.
We will fight this. Alongside many of our non Jewish friends who are not intimidated by the ascendency of the thuggish new thought kapos.
However, and really, to the point of this communique.
We have a gem of an institution in our local Jewish community. Epstein Hillel School, unlike its most passionate patron, the beloved and dearly missed Arthur Epstein, a giant man with a giant heart— is a small Jewish day school. But like Arthur, it too possesses a huge heart. It has evolved under the fantastic and relentlessly energetic leadership of Amy Gold, and her committed and hardworking staff and faculty, into a truly diverse, world class community school that encompasses the needs of Reform, Conservative, AND Orthodox students—and everything in between.
It is decidedly apolitical and strives to ensure that EVERY child is welcomed enthusiastically. They promote an unabashed love for Israel and instill an unapologetic pride in our only Jewish homeland. The students in its hallway are proudly Jewish. No EHS student has to go to school and tuck their Jewish Star or Chai pendant beneath their shirt. No EHS student is accused of being complicit in genocide by "humanitarian activists" that have yet to denounce the brutal and chilling rape of Israeli woman—amid the cold blooded murder of innocent, unarmed, peace loving men women and children dancing at a music festival.
All this at the hands of Hamas murderers, who are chillingly, (and dangerously) exalted as freedom fighters—cheered on and celebrated by far too many civilians to be dismissed as outliers.
What am I missing folks? In the aftermath of October 7th—this School has become THE MOST VITAL JEWISH INSTITUTION ON THE NORTH SHORE.
Therefore, I urge the three groups outlined below, to hear me out.
1) To my beloved Rabbinical colleagues. I URGE you to continue to prioritise the health and vitality of this school by actively promoting it from your pulpits.
"אם לא עכשיו אימתי?"
2) To the Philanthropists without whom nothing can happen in this community, I say firstly THANK YOU! Secondly, I truly believe that strengthening Jewish life in general, and supporting Jewish education in particular, is the front line in the war against antisemitism. It seems that today, THIS is where you will get the most value for your generosity. We MUST ALSO fight vigorously to denounce, expose, and combat the scourge of anti Jewish Bigotry. But the greatest weapon in our arsenal, by far, lies in our capacity to field a new generation of proud, knowledgable, and passionate Jews, deployed into the world with wisdom, and heads held high. This school needs and deserves your support more than ever before.
Jewish Education is our communal Ozone Layer. It must also must be nourished and replenished in order to guarantee our survival as a Jewish people.
3) To the prospective parents. It's time to think out of the box. The leadership of this community, myself included, are passionately committed to you and your children. They are all of our children. If there is one child that is feeling bullied, harassed, and discriminated against, we will be there to protest. Still, I urge you to give serious thought to EHS. I know there are some smaller classes. But overall there is sense of a robust and vibrant student community.
And while some have recognised the value of a teacher student ratio that allows for far more individual attention, for that one or two grades, most people still prefer to be where "the crowd" is. The social element is not a trivial issue. However, if YOU and enough others can consider this the viable, vital, and truly rewarding educational alternative that it can and will be for your child/children ( I know because I have had the privilege of working there for the past few years and have truly fallen in love with the ambiance, warmth, caring, and professionalism of this special place) — then ALL the classes will swell rapidly.
It's time for Jews to come home.
Much Love,
Rabbi Yossi