A Pre-Shema Educational Vision for Growth: A Conversation with Parents of the Ramaz Upper School

The text below is the address given at the welcome reception for Rabbi Aaron Frank at Ramaz six weeks after he assumed the position of Upper School Principal. 

Good evening. 

I feel so blessed to be a part of the Ramaz family and am thankful to the community—students, parents and faculty—for welcoming me so warmly. I also want to especially thank the Upper School Administration and specifically Ms. Krupka and Rabbi Schiowitz for helping my transition run so smoothly and, of course, to Mr. Cannon for his ongoing guidance and support.

I also want to thank you, the parents, and the faculty. Aside from the warm welcome, your positivity and encouragement demonstrate your investment in the success of this new chapter in the life of the Upper School, and it makes me even more proud, excited, and motivated as I assume this new role.

Each and every morning, I sit with our students and encounter incredible texts from our siddur–ones that are timeless and eternally relevant. 

I would like to organize our discussion tonight on the following words that are said in the brachot before kriyat Shema where we ask from God:

אָבִֽינוּ הָאָב הָרַחֲמָן הַמְ֒רַחֵם רַחֵם עָלֵֽינוּ וְתֵן בְּלִבֵּֽנוּ לְהָבִין וּלְהַשְׂכִּיל לִשְׁמֹֽעַ לִלְמֹד וּלְ֒לַמֵּד לִשְׁמֹר וְלַעֲשׂוֹת וּלְקַיֵּם אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵי תַלְמוּד תּוֹרָתֶֽךָ בְּאַהֲבָה:

Put into our hearts to understand, to listen, to learn, and to teach, to preserve, to practice, and to fulfill all the words of instruction in Your Torah with love.

This small, inspirational paragraph serves as a roadmap for successful leadership, mentorship and shared goals for the future. 

וְתֵן בְּלִבֵּֽנוּ לְהָבִין וּלְהַשְׂכִּיל לִשְׁמֹֽעַ–The first goal is to put our hearts into everything we do to understand, to acknowledge, and to listen. 

Here at Ramaz over the past weeks, I have been working to make this idea of lshmoa come to life.

On Freshman and Sophomore Shabaton, I spent quality time with your children, understanding their values and listening closely about their dreams. I heard about their families and what kinds of Jews they want to be and how they work to balance the different priorities in their lives. 

As many of you have shared with me in your feedback for tonight, we all need to help them with that balance. That Shabbat opportunity outside the confines of the school building and regular day is very unique and I look forward to that same chance in February and March at junior and senior Shabbaton. 

At any given opportunity, I work to listen to the students’ concerns and challenges. I have met with each grade at our Town Halls, met with our student government each week for lunch. We’ve discussed policies for finals, dress code, scheduling priorities, Israel advocacy and much more. Sitting around the table with our students, doing my best to stand in their shoes, and hearing their concerns is our first step in our work together. 

And most importantly, I spend time in the halls whenever I can, learning your children’s names and simply “living” in their spaces to have a pulse on their lives and dreams. You are blessed to have amazing kids, and I have loved getting to know them here at school.  

I have also worked to make lshmoa come to life with our faculty and staff. I have met one on one with over 20 teachers during my Open Office Hours over the past month. 

There I have heard about their lives, what motivates them to come to school each day, their passions for their craft and ways we can work together to help them and our program become stronger. 

I am also working to get into classrooms regularly to have my “ears on the ground,” to understand the daily rhythm of school in each department.

Additionally, our teams of Grade Deans, Department Chairs, Guidance Staff and College Guidance Staff have been essential in showing me the ropes and helping me to understand how to make Ramaz even stronger. 

We have an incredibly smart, dedicated and talented staff and I would like us to recognize them.  

And finally, tonight is the beginning of opportunities for me to spend time with you. We will be setting times in the coming months to have small groups of parents discuss issues with me here at school. We will, together, work on the shared goals of creating even more opportunities for your children to reach their full potential. 

 לִלְמֹד וּלְ֒לַמֵּד-To Learn and to Teach

We also pray that our hearts learn. In order for me to be a thoughtful, skilled, knowledgeable, accessible and collaborative leader, I continue to learn. 

We are living at a time with unprecedented challenges in order to understand our children and how we can help them to succeed. As you have shared with me, you want to be assured that we know your child and care for each and every one of them. Learning is part of that process. 

Books such as Quiet, The Teenage Brain and Nurtureshock and authors such as Dana Boyd and Parker Palmer, have influenced my thinking about how to teach and approach our children and work to bring out the best in each one of them, as well as ongoing  professional development through the help of national organizations such as Prizmah, Pardes and NY State Ed Department.   

Much more than all of these, is the importance of ongoing Torah learning which I try to prioritize each day. In fact, daily Torah learning has already come in handy as I, just like most of the Judaics staff, have been pulled at the last minute to teach mishmar or to run a small group learning during the Geynes Shabbaton. 

All of my learning is enabling me to engage with and teach students so they can  continue to thrive both academically, spiritually and emotionally. 

 לִשְׁמֹר -To preserve

All of us, parents and teachers alike, are tasked with showing our children the beauty and relevance of Torah, halakha, the importance of Israel, and of course, the values of bein adam l’makom and bein adam lchaveiro– religious and interpersonal obligations. 

We have to model for our children the importance of the principles that we hold most dear – the principles of civil discourse, of freedom and respect that hold our country together, principles of community and Divine love and awe. These are the principles of the 85 plus year-old mission of Ramaz that hangs in each room of our school. 

Holding on to these values in these trying times is not easy, and here at school we continue to work to create opportunities to educate about these issues through constant review of our current curricula in addition to special academic seminars, advocacy workshops, and group discussions. 

 לַעֲשׂוֹת-To do and act

Parents, your example, how you give to others, how you spend your time, what you read, and your attitude and approach is the greatest lesson your children will ever have. You are their greatest textbook of la'asot of acting. 

And we are honored to be your partners in this task of doing and now, more than ever we are all being put to the test. 

As the war in Israel intensifies and the challenges of antisemitism grow, I have witnessed the Hineni spirit of Ramaz, as all of you, parents, teachers and students answer the call for Israel, showing up in every way. If you attended the Annual Dinner, you saw in words and in video what our students and alumni have been accomplishing. As it says in avot. 

משנה אבות א׳:י״ז

שִׁמְעוֹן בְּנוֹ אוֹמֵר לֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הָעִקָּר, אֶלָּא הַמַּעֲשֶׂה:

Pirkei Avot 1:17

Shimon, his son, used to say: Study is not the most important thing, but actions; 

וּלְקַיֵּם-To Establish

I cannot tell you how many times people have asked me “What is your vision for Ramaz going forward?”  “What do you want to change about Ramaz?” 

This school is the model Jewish Day School in all of America. Its brand and its mission have been strong and vibrant for over 85 years and it has truly changed the Jewish world. 

The goal for all of us, as each of us is entrusted with this legacy, should be to  make it kayam to continue to make it strong. We will dedicate ourselves to making the Ramaz mission come to life even stronger and more relevant for this and future generations. 

This will mean that in every department and program there will be preservation, reinvention and innovation. 

בְּאַהֲבָה-With Love

It is the duty of all of us to make your child feel loved. Behind the success of every child and adult is someone who was in their corner–someone who cheered them on and valued their quest to find their voice and their fulfillment. As John Maxwell said, “children don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

I have never been more excited to work together with you, our faculty and our students.  

Steven Covey said it well. In his seminal work,The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he tells us, “Seek first to understand, and then be understood.” 

In order to make an impact and share a vision, it is critical to first spend time working to understand people’s needs and perspectives. 

This is especially true in a school, where the lenses of all constituents – faculty, student, parents and administration need to be internalized each day in order to make decisions, both large and small. Each group’s unique input is critical for the success of the school community. 

As our siddur reminds me each and every day, I need to assess, to hear, to learn, to teach, to preserve and then to establish.  

And then, together, with our faculty and your children we will, with God’s help, continue to work on the shared goal of strengthening this community to reach its full sacred potential-with conviction, strength and love.   

One of my favorite quotes says it well. The African proverb says, “If you want to walk fast, walk alone. But if you want to walk far, walk together.” 

I look forward to many years of walking with you, together, teachers, parents and students – and walking very far.