USDAN MUSING: WAS THERE
A REAL COMPANIONSHIP
WITH OUR CHILDREN?
Dear Usdan Community,
This week, I return to a piece of writing from about one year ago which I wrote during the Jewish High Holidays of 2019. In retrospect, that might have been the first time I put my fingers to the keyboard to publicly reflect, a process that has become a weekly practice since the pandemic came to our region. Thank you for allowing me to connect with you during these disruptive six months to examine parenting, Usdan, creativity, equity, and sustainability.
Sundown tonight marks the start of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. This year, my family will attend services virtually, but last year when we attended in-person I read a moving piece in the prayer book about parenting, which I share again with you below.
If you read on, I invite you to reply to me. If you are the parent of a school-age child, I am curious to know: was there a real companionship with your children this year? Was there a difference during the most recent six months compared to the six months prior?
Even if Rosh Hashana is not a day you personally commemorate, I would like to take this day to wish each of you health, new forms of happiness, and companionship with children in the year ahead. Let this year be one of unprecedented levels of youth creativity, equity, and sustainability in our community, our nation, and our world.
Warmest wishes,
Lauren Brandt Schloss, Executive Director
October 7, 2019
Dear Usdan Parents & Caregivers,
Today, I am connecting with you to share a writing that struck me deeply. I saw the piece by Jack Riemer in the Rosh Hashana prayer book of my synagogue. Throughout the service, I kept flipping back to that page of the book to re-read it. I encourage you to take some time to read it.
Let us ask ourselves hard questions
For this is the time for truth.
How much time did we waste
In the year that is now gone?
Did we fill our days with life
Or were they dull and empty?
Was there love inside our home
Or was the affectionate word left unsaid?
Was there a real companionship with
Our children or was there a living together
And a growing apart?
It was the last section that really hit me: Was there a real companionship with our children or was there a living together and a growing apart? I thought of my own household and thought sometimes the answer to that question is: living together and growing apart. I thought about how much I love my children and how frequently in this past year while I likely did what I had to do at home, they did what they had to do, or wanted to do, without us experiencing a real companionship all the time.
Then I thought of the summer at Usdan, and how always the answer to that question is: a real companionship with children. When I am at Usdan, from the moment the first bus arrives until the last one departs, I cannot stop trying to be a full companion to as many of your children as possible. I prioritize chatting at the green sign as your kids arrive, rushing from class to class all day to talk to students about their work, discussing the Festival performance with as many kids as I can each day, and saying farewell by the bus field. While this companionship is technically part of my job, it also feeds me.
The beautiful thing about Rosh Hashana and the ten days of atonement that follow is that we have the chance to reflect on our behavior from the past year and commit to making ourselves and our world better in the coming year. Though I know many people reading this message are not Jewish, I feel comfortable sharing this value from Judaism with our whole community. You may not know that Usdan was not only founded by a Jewish organization, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies (now UJA), but it thrives on land owned by UJA. Our mission even states: Our inclusive community is guided by Jewish values upon which we were founded half a century ago.
My question for myself is how much I behave as a real companion with my own children and the children of others from September through June. My challenge for myself is to bring the intention of companionship to every interaction I have with children.
Thank you for allowing me the space to share with you these Jewish values. I am grateful to have this time to reflect on our past year and in particular, to reflect on my relationship with children, my own and yours. I am committing myself to having a real companionship with all of our children all the time in the full year ahead. I ask that you too, take some time to consider your relationship with your children - how you live together and grow apart. Is your relationship what you want it to be and what your children want? How will you have a real companionship with your children in the coming year?
If you are comfortable, I hope you will take the opportunity to share your thoughts with me.
Warm wishes,
Lauren Brandt Schloss, Executive Director
USDAN ONLINE: ENROLLMENT OPEN
Enrollment for Usdan Online Fall 2020 is open. Click the button below to read more about what your children can learn in our online studios starting October 5, 2020.
ALUMNI THEATER TRIVIA NIGHT
Are you a Usdan Alum? Join us Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 PM for our for our first ever Alumni Theater Trivia Night. Invite your Usdan besties to join your team as you compete for the grand prize.
#PLANYOURVOTE
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