By Missy Bell
Good evening everyone. My name is Missy Bell, and I’m the First Vice-President of the ARJE. I’m so glad to be with you this evening to celebrate educators. Thank you again to Behrman House for being our Presenting Sponsor, and to The Jewish Education Project for sponsoring dinner this evening.
Pirkei Avot tells us, know from where you came and where you are going. Before we look forward, I want to spend a few minutes looking back at the last several years. We have been through a lot together and never have I felt the power of our community so strongly.
6 years ago, it was 2020. The first documented case of COVID in the United States had just been confirmed. We had to pivot, moving religious schools and youth groups online, canceling summer camp, sending college students home - together, we learned how to become Zoom experts from our living rooms, home offices, and even kitchens.
5 years ago, we were in the midst of virtual programming - figuring out how to build community when we couldn’t be together in person, scrambling to get vaccines, making plans upon plans for how we might be able to offer summer camp in a safe way. - For our learners and families living in a confusing world, we became a constant presence on their screens, helping them maintain a sense of normalcy and community. Oh and at the postponed Olympics that occurred in 2021, I’m pretty sure the ARJE won the gold medal in pivoting.
4 years ago - we were sending regular notifications home about COVID exposures. We rescheduled our ARJE conference at the last minute due to Omicron. For those of us who were still able attend, we wore masks and held hands during tefilah so that we were seated several feet apart. After giving our communities the renewed experience of being together in-person, we were able to have it for ourselves.
3 years ago - things were finally feeling normal again. We thought we could breathe. And then, later in 2023, October 7 happened.
2 years ago - we navigated the aftermath of October 7. Helping our community members deal with increased antisemitism. Helping our college students deal with encampments. Supporting our mishlachat, our Israeli staff at camp, while they were far from home.
1 year ago - we had hope, we were in the midst of a hostage release deal. But things fell apart just a few weeks later, leading to many more months of uncertainty. We saw a rise in global antisemitism and the targeting of marginalized communities. We worked even harder to become the Jewish joy producers and the mensch creators.
And just in the last few weeks - many of us woke up on Sunday mornings to learn about the Bondi Beach Chanukah massacre or the arson at Beth Israel in Jackson. We cried on our way to work, wondering if the Jewish joy we are trying to instill in our communities will ever be enough. We relied on each other for resources AND strength as we prepared yet another email about antisemitism.
The last 6 years have been incredibly hard in our beloved field of Jewish education. To everyone who has continued to do this work over these 6 years, thank you. To everyone who has decided to join this endeavor over the last 6 years - thank you.
After 6 years of difficulty, of sadness, of challenges - we all deserve a break. And so I’m proposing a year of shmita - a Sabbatical year. While this may not be an actual Sabbatical year for our friends the trees, perhaps it can be one for us. No, I’m not suggesting that we all take a year off. I’m also not suggesting that we bury our heads in the sand and ignore what is happening in the world around us. We’re educators. We know that we can hold two opposite feelings or thoughts at the same time. We know that feeling pain and sadness is also what allows us to feel joy deeply. There will still be oys. There will still be challenges. But when you feel at a loss, recommit to nurturing the relationships that bring you peace and comfort. When you have tears in your eyes on the way to work, call a colleague and remember that you’re not alone. Let our sacred community ground you in meaning, purpose - and that Jewish joy that we work so hard to give to others. And as we think about where we are going, and what this next year can be - I am inviting us to spend this shmita year leaning into the joy. We deserve joy.
Shmita literally means release. Whether through a primal scream, yoga, crying, a massage, a vent session with colleagues - we all need to find ways to get some release. I want to invite everyone now to do your best to release an oy. Take a piece of dissolvable paper on your table, and write down at least one “oy” that you would like to release for this next year. When everyone is finished, put them in the bowl of water on your table, give it a swirl, and say goodbye.
Water is cleansing - it dissolved our oys. We engage in ritual handwashing for spiritual purity. Just this past Shabbat, we read shelach lecha, when the Israelites crossed the Sea of Reeds, truly becoming free from Mitzrayim - slavery in Egypt. As we all know, when Miriam and the women got to the other side, they took their timbrels and sang and danced in celebration. They left Egypt in haste - packing quickly, of course not having enough time to let the bread rise - and yet, in the midst of everything they needed to do to get their families out of Egypt, they remembered their timbrels - Why? Because they wanted to be prepared for joy.
This story also reminds me of a Hanna Yerushalmi poem that has inspired me over the last year.
The rabbis advised:
Keep two truths in your pocket
One should read I am but dust and ashes
The other should read The entire world was created for me
An 8 year old has something else in his pocket.
Confetti.
Why?
It’s his emergency confetti, he says
During these raw days he carries it with him
Everywhere
Just in case
There is good news
I would love to give you some confetti to keep in your pocket, so that you, like Miriam and like the little boy in the poem, can be prepared for joy. But, hotel ballrooms and confetti don’t exactly mix. Instead, let’s all toss an imaginary handful of confetti in the air, and lean into the joy!