Happy Channukah and other things...

We're in the middle of Channukah, and Mr. Cohen, our Head of School, pulled this from the archives. It's a story of how Kadima, that small school in Woodland Hills, convinced the Federal government to issue, for the first time ever, a Channukah stamp.

People often forget that Kadima has been educating Jewish children for nearly four decades. We were around in 1970, which, I might add, was the heyday of public school education in the West San Fernando Valley. It is when I started public school, and at the time, there were oodles and oodles of kids in public school; the PTAs were vibrant, and while may have been complaints, people believed in the public schools far more than they do now. There was no busing issue to deflect the school's educational mission; indeed, I'd argue that much of the established Jewish leadership in Los Angeles views Jewish Day Schools somewhat dimly because they were weaned on the values embodied in a public school education. For many who had children in those years before busing and Proposition 13 changed everything, there was strong support for public education; day schools were for primarily the Orthodox. Things, however, have changed.

So it is important to remember that a determined group of people formed a Jewish Day School in 1970 not because they did not believe in public education, but because they believed in Jewish Day School education. At the time, they were tied to a Conservative synagogue (Congregation Beth Kodesh, which later morphed into Shomrei Torah Synagogue).

Through the years, Kadima has morphed from a small Mom and Pop place, to the more professionalized institution it is today. While we've had our struggles over the years--we know about those--we've also had our achievements. And it's important to remember them. Not the least is the fact that school was started in 1970 and has, despite it all, lasted until today.

The fact that Kadima, in 1996, convinced the US Postal Service to issue a Channukah stamp is not, however, at least to this observer, the school's greatest legacy. The school's true mark exists in the legions of students who have passed through Kadima's rooms and hallways, and, taught by some of the greatest teachers ever, have left Kadima not merely as well-educated children, academically prepared to face their future educational programs, but who, in the end, remain cognizant of the many strands of Judaism and Jewish tradition, and use this knowledge to forge a strong sense of themselves and their own vibrant Jewish identities. Kadima graduates, by possessing an academic understanding, a serious study and a spiritual love of Judaism, bring a richness, and leadership to the entire Jewish community. It is this--an influence that will resonate through the generations--that is Kadima's greatest legacy.

Happy Channukah!

We have a Board meeting tomorrow night at 7:15 p.m. at the school. All members of the school community are invited.