Rabbi Shimmy Trencher Executive Director of Community Engagement   Rabbi Shimmy Trencher serves as Executive Director of Community Engagement, overseeing admissions, recruitment, marketing, communications, community programming, and alumni affairs. Prior to joining Maimonides, Rabbi Trencher was a high school principal and dean of students. He is married to Stacey (Kepnes) Trencher (‘93).   Last night, I had the privilege of attending the Maimonides Senior Recognition Night. It has become a Maimonides tradition that on the Thursday night prior to graduation, the twelfth graders and their families gather for a program that highlights each individual graduate prior to the formal commencement ceremonies. Each graduate was acknowledged for their unique contributions to the grade and to the school, and had an opportunity to share how Maimonides School has impacted them. One senior began his speech by quoting the Rambam ( Hilchot Deot 6:1): דֶרֶךְ בְּרִיָּתוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם לִהְיוֹת נִמ...

Jacob Pinnolis Chiel Educator-in-Residence Jacob Pinnolis joined Maimonides in 2020 as Chiel Educator-in-Residence, named by Lisa Rosenbaum and Ron Fisher in honor of Judy and Jonathan Chiel. This position allows Jacob to serve in a high-level consultative leadership role that leverages his considerable expertise in systematic implementation of reflective teaching practice, with a focus on student-centered learning and mastery. He also served as Interim CEO during the 2021-22 academic year while we conducted a nationwide search for a new Head of School.   I want to focus on a single word in this week’s parsha and explore its meaning and relevance for what happens at Maimonides School. The word is ויסעו, vayisu . It and various forms of the root נסע appear in this parsha nineteen times. Its core meaning is similar to “to pull up tent pegs.” It shades naturally into meaning more broadly “to decamp” or “to set out.” Given that the narrative of Bechukotai concerns the movement of B’...