Making (and Keeping) It Real

The ghosts come alive at NAJDS.

Don’t know about you, but I keep meeting people—tons of 'em—I previously knew only in the digital sense. People who were, until this lively conference, an amalgamation of blog posts, comments, tweets, instant messages, and emails are now nibbling greasy fried green tomatoes and knocking back the odd glass of Merlot with me here in Atlanta. It’s superb.

There’s The AVI CHAI Foundation’s Alicia Post!
Here comes Noah Hartman!
Make way for Jane Taubenfeld Cohen!

I dig NAJDS so much because it shows the importance of real-time, real-world networking. It cements the day school field’s sense of community.

And why is that important? What’s so great about this kind of Jewish-ed social cement?

Simple: The better you get to know the dedicated professionals in our field, the more seriously you can collaborate with them. The deep sense of the communal responsibility is essential to long-term sustainability.

It took a while, but we have finally learned to recognize our interdependence. No doubt about it: We must band together (in an NAJDS-sort-of way) to figure out how best to survive. More than that: we must get the whole Jewish world to understand that what schools produce is not just good, competent Jews but the people who will—one day soon—be their leaders.

So our suddenly real-life conversations are just the beginning. An inkling of what can, and should, be happening in the way we approach the daily business of Jewish day school. Let's pledge to keep these conversations going once we scurry back home (and recommence our virtual conversations).

But in the meantime...

Shalom, Lisa Colton!
Dr. Eliezer Jones: What’s up?
That you, Rabbi Scott Bolton? C'mere. Let’s talk!