It was overwhelming to wake up on Oct. 7 and learn about the tragedy unfolding in Israel.
The region’s Jewish day schools made sure that students, families, staff and teachers found comfort and support in the wake of the Hamas terrorist massacre.
Local day school administrators looked back at a year that augmented what the schools are designed for when every individual on campus has a personal connection to an Israeli who is either living, fighting, missing, injured or deceased.
“It’s continuing to live the values that we live every day as a school,” said Deborah Skolnick-Einhorn, head of school at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School in Washington, D.C. “They’re just amplified and took on more emotional weight for people.”
“In the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, CESJDS was in shock and living in grief,” said Rabbi Mitchel Malkus, head of school at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville. “We created opportunities to mourn, to share our feelings and to teach students about the events. We continued this work throughout the school year with special assemblies, memorials, student projects, special speakers and opportunities to come together as a community.”
“It definitely served as the backbone of everything we did this year,” said Sarah Sicherman, director of marketing and communications at Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville. “Even when we had our regular activities, we would always integrate it in some way. It was really beautiful to see everyone wanting to come to action so quickly.”
Oct. 7 impacted more than just programs.
“It infiltrated the school culture, the school community and certainly what the teachers were thinking about on a daily basis,” said Melanie Eisen, principal for teaching and learning at Gesher Jewish Day School in Fairfax.
An unprecedented show of support began the first day back to school after Sukkot, Sicherman recalled. “When we came back into the building on Oct. 9, the day was really dedicated to giving time and space to come together as a community to discuss what happened, of course, at age-appropriate levels.”
Older students were provided with the opportunity to express their emotions to one another and foster a sense of unity within the community, Sicherman said.
Israelis were on staff participating in one-to-two-year education programs at Berman. “It was very hard for them to be away from their families, friends and communities,” Sicherman recalled.
“We communicated to our staff that we’re there for them and we understand the way this reverberates in the United States, how hard it is to be away from your family and country,” said Skolnick-Einhorn.
One staff member at Milton Gottesman was born and raised at a kibbutz that saw a quarter of its members either killed or taken hostage. By some miracle, his parents survived.
“Somehow, he showed up, and we did not expect him. He said, ‘I need to get up. I need to come here. I need to see my students.’ We really tried to be a source of purpose for our staff.”
Almost immediately, students created projects for the IDF soldiers — cards and friendship bracelets. “There were lots of different ways to show the community in Israel that we’re here for them,” Sicherman said.
Berman administrators organized a mini-mission trip to Israel where they visited the school’s alumni community. They delivered dinners to families whose spouse was serving in the IDF at the time and had been deployed.
“Being able to provide that opportunity for our families in Israel was really important to us,” Sicherman said.
The schools added prayers to daily morning services for the safe return of the hostages. Posters were displayed with the message, “Bring Them Home.”
“We always say the prayer for the state of Israel and for our country,” Eisen said. “But this time we also included the names of soldiers that are related to Gesher in some way.”
The children FaceTimed with Mitchell Akawie, an IDF soldier who graduated from Gesher. “They created that bond and connection,” Eisen said.
Gesher educators observed students coming to school wearing more blue and white clothing. Teachers and students wore dog tag necklaces that memorialize Oct. 7. Israeli flags were displayed all over school.
For Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s remembrance day, Gesher teacher Youlyn Benitah and students replicated one of the exhibits in what is known as Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.
Benitah created places around the school dedicated to Israel using flags and memorial candles.
“Our Hebrew teachers really did help to bring Israel more to the forefront of the kids’ thoughts on a daily basis,” Eisen said.
Gesher sent nine out of the 14 eighth-grade students on a graduation trip to Israel for 10 days.
“It was certainly curtailed in terms of where we could go, but so important for us to be there,” Eisen said. “Most Israelis were so grateful for us coming there and just being there. The kids certainly couldn’t walk five paces without seeing some kind of memorial or prayer for peace or poster about the hostages.”
The Milton Gottesman class trip traveled to Europe but not Israel this year. The 40 children visited Vienna, Berlin and Prague.
The Milton Gottesman community hosted Israeli families who temporarily relocated because of the war. “Many of our classes are full, but we overfilled them if an Israeli family needed our community,” Skolnick-Einhorn said.
“After Oct. 7, we received over 70 student inquiries from students fleeing Israel and looking for a school,” Malkus said. “We opened our doors and had 45 temporary Israeli students study at CESJDS for periods of between two weeks and three months. A few families were able to stay until the end of the school year. We felt an obligation to be there for our brothers and sisters in Israel.”
Malkus noted that almost every CESJDS family, student and a majority of faculty members are strongly connected to Israel, including 40 teachers who are Israeli and many families that have relatives and close friends in Israel. Omer Balva, a CESJDS graduate, was killed in October 2023 defending Israel.
The school’s activities this year included a video sent to IDF soldiers, tzedakah drives to support different nonprofits and communities that were devastated on Oct. 7, letter writing to Israeli soldiers and a special speaker series that focused on different aspects of Oct. 7 and its aftermath.
Support for Israel carries through to the summer. For the first time, teachers are taking the Milton Aerospace Camp on the road, visiting students at camps and kibbutzim in Israel.
“It will bring them some joy and learning through our aerospace education, a little light from our community to theirs,” Skolnick-Einhorn said.
Ellen Braunstein is a freelance writer.