By Dr. Michael Kay

October 7, as we all now know, was Simchat Torah in the Land of Israel. In traditional halakhic communities outside of Israel, however, it was Shemini Atzeret, the holiday that bridges Sukkot to the conclusion of the Torah-reading cycle. On that Shabbat morning, many of us therefore read the Torah reading for Shemini Atzeret, which includes Deuteronomy 15:8: an exhortation that when a member of our community is in need, we must provide די מחסורו/dei machsoro – sufficient for whatever is needed in that moment.

Since that day, our goal has been to provide dei machsoro to meet the evolving needs of our kehilah. Beginning on the morning of October 9, those needs have included mental health resources, both in English and in Hebrew. They have included enhanced security protections, some visible and some not, that we continue to adjust on a regular basis in accordance with changing circumstances in Westchester, around New York, and around the world. They have included outreach to our alumni, who are enduring challenges on their college campuses and making us proud every day with the leadership they are demonstrating in response. And they have included the need to be present, and to ensure that our voices could be heard: by transporting members of our community to rallies at the United Nations and near Central Park, to a vigil in White Plains for the hostages, and of course to the November 14 March for Israel on the National Mall (to which we brought a delegation of 450 people on nine buses).

One of the most impactful needs that we have sought to fill has been the need for Israeli children displaced by the war to have a safe, comfortable, constructive community in which to learn. Our school has stepped forward to provide this, and we have now welcomed 16 Israeli students into our school on a temporary basis, without regard for finances, across all three divisions.

In what I see as a hopeful sign, the first of our Israeli families have begun to bid farewell to us and return to Israel. At the bottom of this letter, I will share, with permission, an excerpt from a note that we received from one of them – a testament to the extraordinary act of hachnasat orchim (welcoming of guests) that this community has undertaken and the long-term, positive impact that we have engendered.

On August 30, I sent a letter to our kehilah noting that we had spent the summer devising an ambitious set of goals and priorities for the 2023-2024 school year. Of course, none of the initiatives noted above appeared among them – we could never have imagined the nightmares that would ultimately render them necessary. And yet, amid everything else that continues to operate as normal in this thriving community of learners, we have all stepped up to meet these unanticipated obligations dei machsoro – sufficient for whatever is needed – and many of you have generously provided resources to ensure that we could do so. On behalf of all colleagues and students who are benefiting from bilingual mental-health support, and every alumnus who has received outreach and fortification from our community, and everyone who has ridden a Leffell School bus to a rally, and everyone whose life has been enhanced by the presence of visiting Israeli students in our school, and everyone who has felt just a bit more comfortable on our premises and trips due to upgraded security – on behalf of all of these people, I express unending gratitude for your support.

 

Am Yisrael Chai!

 

From one of our Israeli families, upon returning to Israel:

"We cannot express enough how grateful we are for how you've taken in our children, and really, taken in our family. Leffell is clearly not simply a school, it is a community. We felt embraced by the faculty and staff, the students, and by the parents. You have warmed our hearts and helped us through a time that is filled with trials and unknowns. It has been a haven to be embraced by a community that is sharing in our same stress and our same hopes for the future.

Our boys have had the opportunity to learn, to make friends, to be joyful as children should. You've given them a special experience they will never forget. We hope to find ways to stay connected to the Leffell community."