Rosh HaShana Message 5787

Dear SJCS Community & Friends,

During my elementary, middle, and high school years, my family lived in the Capital District region of Upstate New York, and my grandparents lived in the Big Apple: my paternal grandmother in the Bronx and my maternal grandparents first in New Jersey and then in Far Rockaway. This meant that my five siblings and I spent many hours on the New York State Thruway, crammed into our station wagon along with all of our luggage -- unless our father had managed to load it atop the car, under a tarp and secured by bungee cords. Such journeys involved plenty of squabbling, jockeying for position, and loud pronouncements of boredom as well. 

All of that slipped away when we approached bridges, as we necessarily did. Even now the names themselves re-inspire youthful delight: the Tappan Zee, the George Washington, the Triboro, and the Verrazano Narrows, among others. The names of  tunnels -- the Lincoln, the Holland, the Queens Midtown -- evoke memories too, just not with quite the same spark to the imagination. 

As SJCS's theme for the year [G'sharim/גשרים (Bridges)] has been taking hold -- as richly as any theme in my professional experience -- I have been thinking about tunnels and bridges and about what, perhaps, can account for the different feelings and ideas they  can call to mind.

We reference bridges over troubled waters -- rather than tunnels beneath them -- because of the artistic choice Paul Simon made more than 50 years ago. Maybe we can also find more meaning in the distinction than just this. When traversing bridges -- literal or figurative -- with eyes open -- we can have visibility into where we came from, where we are headed, and what settled or troubled waters we cross. "Tunnel Vision" surely has its values, though "perspective" is not typically among them. 

Perhaps human nature honors this paradox: having visibility into where we began and where we are headed, along with what we must cross, can provide sources of reminiscence, steadfastness, intention, and possibility in ways that tunnel vision cannot. 

Taking children by the hand and leading them across bridges -- mindful of the "from," the "to," and the "over" -- provides an evocative metaphor for core features of the mission we pursue in partnership. This holds notably true in our times as we encounter some troubled waters, and as we guide our students to the times that will be theirs, portending challenges to meet and surmount, to be sure, and replete in opportunities as well.

Along with my family, my team, and my partners, I extend to every member of our dear community -- here and beyond -- wishes for a year filled with good traversing of bridges, mindful of the "from," the "to," and the "over" as well. May this be a year of good health for all, of fulfillment, of unanticipated delights -- perhaps atop bridges -- and of peace and love in the smallest everyday moments.

Shana Tova U'Metuka/שנה טובה ומתוקה ([Wishing you] a good and sweet year),

David Zimand, Head of School