Dean's Yom Kippur Message

Dear Parents,

As we rapidly approach the Yom Kippur – the Yom Hadin, Day of Judgment, we are all busy taking stock of the past year and making our New Year’s resolutions on how we can make the next year even better. One of the methods that helps us to get in the mood of Yom Kippur is to listen to inspirational speeches from our Rabbis. Over the course of the past week, I took advantage of many speech offerings directed at the Yamim Noraim.

Mr. Charlie Harary Esq., a noted speaker for Aish Hatorah, related the following story. When he first became a lawyer, Mr. Harary was investing many hours into his work. The goal of every lawyer is to work hard for eight years, at which time, hopefully, he will be made a partner in the firm. One morning, Mr. Harary walked in and saw the sad face of his colleague at the desk nearby. He asked him why he was sad. The man responded, “After eight years of working sixty and seventy hours per week, ignoring my family and friends I was told by my boss, ‘The partners all met today and we decided that you are not partnership material.’” He said, “For eight years, they patted me on the back and told me that I was doing a great job, and today they told me not to let the door hit me on the way out.” Upon hearing this news, Mr. Harary became worried that the same thing would happen to him. He researched the matter and was told that the way you know that you are “partnership material” is when the partners sit down, review your work, and give you feedback. Nobody is perfect and we all make mistakes. Each year, during Chodesh Elul and the Yamim Noraim –High Holidays, Hashem reviews our work and offers us strategies so that we can do an even better job the following year. Hashem wants a long term relationship with us, and He invests in building that relationship.

In any school–parent partnership, there are times when the teachers and administration point out areas in which our children need to improve on. Some may say, “Why is the school picking on my child?” or “If only they understood what was going on at home.” Obviously, this is a foolish response. The teachers and the school invest so much time and energy trying to help each and every student. When a child needs improvement, the easy way out is to simply ignore it the problem and say, “He/She will grow out of it.” The appropriate method of dealing with the situation is to partner with the teachers in an open and honest manner in an effort to jointly help your child to improve and reach his/her maximum potential.

As Yom Kippur approaches, we as a staff realize that over the course of the past year we may have offended you or delivered a message to you in a manner that seemed insincere, and for this we apologize. Mr. Harary realized that the biggest favor his boss could do was to review his work and give him ongoing feedback. We must view constructive criticism that flows in either direction of the communication chain as being sincere and growth-oriented. We thank our parents, board and the entire community for entrusting your children to us and for working jointly with us to further your children’s academic, social, emotional, and religious growth. On behalf of the administration and staff, I wish all of you a G’mar Chasima Tova – may you all be inscribed in the book of good health and parnasa.

Sincerely,
Rabbi Peretz Scheinerman, Dean