The Start Of A New Year

Dear Families,

“Do you realize that this is the first day my daughter has ever been in school?” a proud father asked me yesterday. “She may be in school for twenty years or more but this is her first day!” What an amazing week it has been to witness so many firsts. I had the privilege of watching our talented teachers transform empty classrooms into spaces of wonder and learning and then seeing our common space and classrooms get filled with the energy, the creativity, the excitement and, yes, sometimes the hesitation of you and your children. These past two days, we have watched 185 children make beautiful transitions into their classrooms, connecting to peers, connecting to materials, and connecting to teachers in brave and powerful ways. We also have witnessed parents, grandparents and caregivers gently launch these children – with gentle hugs, words of encouragement, and just the right balance of push and stable presence. I watched children eagerly walk into classrooms, and also saw some children looking at their old classrooms and old teachers with a sense of missing; they know that they have outgrown last year’s classroom but some part of them still wants to return. All of these reactions are natural! But what struck me most about these past two days has been the way that parents and caregivers have nurtured and responded to their children before drop off, and perhaps even more strikingly, after pick up. The kind of reassuring presence that you all bring to your children is powerful and helps your children to make the kind of brave steps that they ALL have taken these past few days.

Not only are we experiencing beginnings here at the JCC Nursery School, but we are also very much a part of a broader Jewish celebration of beginnings. This Sunday night at sunset through Tuesday evening, Jews around the world will be celebrating the holiday of Rosh Hashanah (literally translated as the head of the year). One of the central symbols of Rosh Hashanah is the Shofar, a ram’s horn that is hollowed out and blown like a trumpet on both days of the holiday in synagogue. If one looks at a Shofar, one will immediately notice that each one is different, and has unique colorations, bumps and bends. If you blow a Shofar, you might notice that they also have slightly different sounds, depending on variations of shape, size and the person blowing it. Like the rams from which they come, each is different, each is unique.

As we face a new year, the shofar is a beautiful symbol to hold in our mind, as we, too, are each different. As we begin to turn our minds to the kind of person we hope to be in the year ahead, it is good to remember that there is not one model for goodness or righteousness. Similarly for our children, there is not one model of perfection. Each child will approach the beginning of school in his or her own way. Each child will interact with teachers, with materials and with their new friends in their own unique and magnificent way. We do not need to compare them to their friends or siblings; they need only be their own best selves. Just as we are able to see beauty in our shofars – curvy, bumpy, and speckled as they may be, we too will see the beauty in each one of you and your children.

As this year begins with a rush of busy days, hectic drop offs, and too many errands, let us also remember to get quiet and be present. In the high holiday prayer of the U’netanah Tokef, we say: “The great Shofar is sounded, and a still small voice is heard.” Can we take the time to hear the small, still voice within the loud thunder of the shofar? Can we hear the voice inside of ourselves that reminds us what is most important, what we hope for in the year ahead, what we care most to protect and to preserve in our lives? Can we hear our children’s quiet small voices beneath our children’s loud or whiny or tantrum-filled expressions? They have so much to teach us and sometimes these lessons come in loud and boisterous forms, other times in more subtle and less language-based forms, but our lives will be enriched if we can hear those quiet voices inside ourselves and each other.

Wishing you all a restful Shabbat Shalom and a sweet and a sweet and happy new year filled with health and peace,

Ilana

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Ilana Ruskay-Kidd

Ilana has been serving the Jewish educational community in New York City in multiple capacities for the past twelve years. Most recently, she served as the Director of The Saul and Carole Zabar Nursery School at the JCC in Manhattan. Prior to being named to this position in 2006, she worked at the JCC as Director of Young Families and then as Senior Director of Family Life, supervising programs serving families and children from birth to eighteen years old. Ilana began her teaching career at the Central Park East school in Harlem and went on to become a founding teacher at the Ella Baker School, an alternative public school in Manhattan. She then worked as an Early Childhood Curriculum Consultant for the Children's Aid Society where she developed curricula with directors and teachers in day care, Head Start and private nursery school programs throughout the city.

Ilana received her B.A. from Harvard College and a Master's Degree in Education from Bank Street College. She was born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and now lives there with her husband and three children.

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