The nine days and actual fast of Tisha B’av leave a large amount of time in which to commemorate and lament upon the loss of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. How each individual may spend that time varies; though among all there is a definite sense of defeat. There is the difficult fact to deal with that a huge chunk of our culture was destroyed due to sinat hienam (a hatred of our fellows), our inability to treat other Jews with equality and respect. Most years, some may resolve to do so, though somehow Tisha B’av comes around again and we find ourselves in the same place. This year, however, an anonymous Jewish Syrian community member followed through on those resolutions, and managed to bring the rest of the community along with her.

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, Chairman of the Assembly’s Committee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, brought Arlene González-Sánchez, Commissioner of the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services to see firsthand how SAFE achieves its impressive record of successes.

September 13th is primary day, and for a portion of our community this includes the special election to fill a vacant seat in the US House of Representatives. Voting is critical and has already been benefiting our community in some direct ways.

According to SCF President Sam Sutton, “Against the backdrop of massive cuts at every level—federal, state, and city—we are also making it clear that budgets must not be balanced at the expense of our community, because we participate in the democratic process.”

School Choice is a program that allows students to attend any private, public or charter school based on a system of vouchers. School vouchers redirect the flow of education funding, channeling it directly to families rather than to school districts. This allows families to select the public or private school of their choice and have all or part of the tuition paid for with their tax dollars.

In the year 1825 Sir William Curtis, a longstanding Member of Parliament of the City of London, made a toast at the local Board of Education dinner. He listed the educational achievements to date and highlighted the challenges. Within his remarks he coined a phrase that would be repeated thousands of times in educational institutions all over the world. He said: “We must build our educational system around the three essential R’s of education: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic”.

It’s mid July and as I walked into Walmart today the first things that caught my eye were the rows and rows of back to school supplies. Packs and packs of fresh Crayola crayons, #2 sharpened pencils, cool folders and those marble composition notebooks. Suddenly I was eight years old again. There it was in the pit of my stomach just remembering going back to school. Old anxieties surfaced once again. Class cards didn’t come yet, who will be in my class? Will I have friends? Will the kids like me? Who’s my teacher?

Here I am a mother, grandmother, educator and therapist and these feelings are as real now as they were then. We as parents need to stay in touch with our inner child and by doing this we will better understand our children, their fears and dreams. As parents we need to be ready for the change and start planning for the transition.

From the moment we bring our infants home from the hospital we worry about their safety. As they grow, they want more and more freedom. By the age of 10, most kids want to walk to their bus stop or school by themselves.

We want our kids to be independent and confident, however it is very hard to let them out of our sight because approximately 800,000 children are reported missing every year. While most return home safely, others are sadly not so lucky.

For decades, parents have been telling children not to talk to strangers. This concept is difficult for children to grasp and doesn’t help if the perpetrator of a kidnapping is someone the child knows.

It is more beneficial to teach them to respond to a potentially dangerous situation, rather than teaching them to look out for a particular type of person.

Since camp began, the community has been abuzz about the SCA’s Israel leadership training program, I-LEAD. The trip included an intensive hands-on journey through Israel, in a fashion both unconventional and intense. The Sephardic Community Alliance (SCA) wanted those involved to embark on an experience of self-discovery; to learn more about what it means to love the State of Israel, and to know what it means to be a leader. The five week intensive course, as it is called, traveled Israel in its entirety, exposing the select group of 20 boys and 20 girls to a side of the country that would never be seen on a typical bar mitzvah trip.

At Hillel Yeshiva, our 12 year old girls embark on a yearlong program of learning the importance of mitzvot and hesed. The lessons are discussed and presented at mother/daughter bat mitzvah workshops throughout the year. The theme of this year’s bat mitzvah program was olam hesed yibaneh (loving kindness builds the world). This year’s program was dedicated to Mr. Morris I. Franco A”H, the beloved chairman of the board of trustees and dear friend of the Hillel Yeshiva family.

This past November, the girls and their mothers participated in the bat mitzvah learning program. After learning about various mitzvot, the girls and their guests participated in an exciting game of Jeopardy with categories that included: the weekly parashah, the Jewish home, questions referring to each mother and daughter, women of the Torah, and Jewish holidays. At the conclusion of the game each team was able to “buy” prizes with the points they had earned by answering the questions correctly.

Our high school years  helped mold us into who we are today and left most of us with very fond and  special memories. Do you ever wonder what your classmates are doing now? I recently asked several MDY graduates about their journeys thus far and their personal accomplishments. Their choices reflect the education and advice they received from their teachers and advisors; their decisions embody who they are as individuals.

As the sea of bikers eagerly waited to set off for their rides, their exuberant energy was breathtakingly uplifting. Their vivacious blue and yellow matching bike shirts provided a most perfect preview to the colorful day ahead.

Recently, Sammy and Poopa Dweck celebrated the annual Jesse Dweck bike-a-thon in memory of their son, Jesse A”H, along with family and friends. The Bike-a-thon raised funds for The Jesse Dweck City Learning Center, an organization that provides Torah classes for community members working or living in New York City and Deal, New Jersey. The Center serves an important and unique purpose by directly enhancing our community’s growth in Torah and providing students with a sense of belonging and community. Event volunteer, Rachel Sabbagh said, “I admire the family for all their hard work and broadening our community’s spiritual scope.”