Mr. Jacob Pinnolis Chiel Educator-in-Residence and Acting Humanities Department Chair I was working together with a teacher this week as he planned to try a new teaching method that would ask (and train) Middle School students to do some complex, independent work and to learn from one another. After considering different options, he decided to, as he put it, go into the deep water. He picked a choice with high risk but potentially high reward. And it could only work by trusting his students, by believing in them.   The metaphor of deep water he used resonated with me this week as we read Parshat Noach. Noach’s story is powerful and disturbing, but ultimately deeply hopeful and grounded in faith and trust. It is a narrative about human violence and cruelty that prompts a terrifying form of justice. Yet while the narrative recognizes the human capacity for evil, things turn around because Noach has faith in G-d, builds the ark as instructed, and trusts that G-d will protect him, his ...

Rabbi Dov Huff (’00) Middle and Upper School Principal זכור שנים עשר שבטים שהעברת בגזרת מים, שהמתקת למו מרירות מים This final petition fro m   Tefillat Geshem,  which we said on  Shemini Atzeret,  is the culmination of the many pronounced water themes that pervade the  tefillot  and Temple service   of the  yamim noraim  and  Sukkot . It has all built up to this moment. And up until now, the water theme has represented life, sustenance,  Torah , and  simcha —  happiness flowing from the promise of a year of blessing and success. The first part of this final petition resonates with the hopeful emotions the water theme evoked up to this point: “ Remember Hashem the twelve tribes who You lovingly carried through water as we left Egypt! Remember how You sweetened the bitter waters at Marah for their sake!”  And then on  Shemini Atzeret,  something suddenly changes.    It is the continuation of this pet...

Mrs. Robin Meyerowitz Early Childhood Director This has been an exciting and inspiring week at Maimonides School. On Tuesday our Early Childhood Center students enjoyed the privilege of visiting the  sukkot  of some of our local families. That afternoon, in preparation for  Simchat Torah , we went into the S. Joseph Solomont Synagogue where Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe, Dean of Judaic Studies. opened the  aron  to show us the  Torahs  and let the students kiss them. One student went up, kissed a  Torah , and spontaneously screamed “ Amen !” Other students, not content to kiss only one, tried to kiss every  Torah  there. When Rabbi Jaffe unrolled a  Torah  to show us the words inside, one student excitedly yelled, “It’s just like the  siddur !” Another student said, “That’s G-d’s word.” And a third said, “That’s the most holy thing in the world.”   What beautiful  neshamas  our students have, and what love they dis...

HaMorah Michal Bessler Elementary School Principal Rosh HaShanah  and  Yom Kippur  are meaningful days of reflection, judgment, elevation, and repentance. It makes sense that we celebrate one after the other. We spend many hours across both holidays  davening  alongside our families and community members, praying for our children, our family, our community, and  Am Yisrael  as a whole. The essence of  Sukkot,  however, is to recognize  Hashem ’s protection of  Bnei Yisrael  in the  midbar  for forty years. We could recognize His guiding hand at any point in the year .  W hy do so now?   It may be difficult for us to realize, but this time of year is a time of uncertainty.  Sukkot  is celebrated at the time when the harvest from the previous year is gathered. which is also right before the rainy season begins. The lives and livelihood of our ancestors depended upon a plentiful rainy season, but at t...

Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe Dean of Judaic Studies Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to ask our Upper School students how many of them have family members currently serving in  Tzahal , the Israel Defense Forces. Twenty hands rose, a much larger number than I had expected. As I scanned the room, I saw that some of the hands raised were of students reflecting on their older siblings – alumni of our school – who were presently serving in  Tzahal . In recent years, more than 10% of each graduating class has concluded their studies at Maimonides with a plan to join the Israeli army, either directly or following a period of  Torah  study. We pray for their safety and are proud of their commitment to the Jewish people and to  Medinat Yisrael .   Our students were gathering to reflect on the 50th anniversary of the  Yom Kippur  War, a sad but inspiring moment in the history of our nation and one that many of our current students, born de...

Rabbi Shimmy Trencher Executive Director of Community Engagement Hundreds of years ago in the country of Siam, a group of monks lived in peace, and in their temple stood a large golden statue. One day, they heard that the Burmese army was about to invade. Realizing that their city would soon be attacked, they covered their precious golden statue with an outer covering of clay, figuring that when the army came through and saw a clay statue, they would think it had no value and pass by without looting the temple. The army invaded in the 1760s, and the monks were killed or displaced. And with them went the secret of the statue. Years passed. Ten, twenty, one hundred, two hundred years. Until 1954. At that time a new building was built to house the statue, and workers brought in a crane to move it to the new location. But when the crane began to lift it, the rope snapped, and the statue crashed to the ground! Work stopped immediately, and the workers gathered around the statue to check it ...

Rabbi Yaakov Green ('98) Head of School The start of the school year means I get to do something that really gets me in the mood for the  Yamim Noraim , high holy days. During these first weeks of school, I walk into each classroom every morning and blow  shofar  for the students. In our youngest classrooms, we listen with wide eyes and wonder. We ask questions about the sounds and the shape of the  shofar.  In our older classrooms, we learn the reasons for standing solemnly, and someone in each class suggests an intention, a  kavanah , for  tekiyat shofar . Right at the beginning of the new school year I have the perfect reason to go into every classroom, talk with students, and have individual interactions centered around this communal ritual. The sense of community at our school is palpable as students reunite and warmly integrate new friends, greeting them with smiles and introductions. When we start a new school year we encourage our students to c...