The Torah startles us. Its words compel persistent inquiry. Happily, JCDS is a community committed to learning Torah. We immerse ourselves in the texts of our tradition and study them every year in a rising spiral. We are a curious and joyful learning community — we delight in following the Torah’s leads. Even before our commitment to learning, however, is the intentional pluralism of our community.

Almost implausibly, the Torah commands: “ואהבת לרעך כמוך — Be loving to your neighbor as one like yourself” (Leviticus:ויקרא 19:18). It’s not even clear what that means in practice. Perhaps all it really means is, “Be nice.” But then why does our verse speak so radically of love? Hillel, among the greatest of our early Sages, raises the stakes. In Talmud Shabbat 31a, he tells a rude but intriguing person that the whole Torah boils down to this: “What is hateful to you, don’t do to your fellow.” Hillel is reciting our verse in the opposite direction. A startling bit of Torah.

Each of us may find the core of our Jewishness in a different place, but all of us share a common heritage. In a pluralistic community, we intentionally draw students whose families span the range of Jewish expression. From there, we embrace our differences and create a learning community that both deepens what we share and strengthens what is distinctive about us. Differences need not separate us when we highlight what is rich, joyful, colorful, and meaningful in Jewish living and learning together. All the while we cultivate respect for the integrity of our distinct paths and for the paths of our peers. In short, we seek to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

In recognizing that all Jews share more than what sets us apart, we understand that all Jews are our רֵעים — our neighbors, our peers. But for that kinship, the command of our verse ואהבת לרעך כמוך, to love our neighbor as one like ourselves, would be impossible to achieve. Further, in encountering one another, we are challenged to better know ourselves and to stand behind the commitments we make. Finally, being at JCDS helps make real that startling command ואהבת — to love. By learning Jewish tradition in a school as joyful and embracing as this one, as curious about the world and as committed to the dignity of all people as we are, we come to know what the Torah means in calling on us to live our lives with love.

ברוכים הבאים! B’rukhim haBa’im! Welcome to JCDS — a school where every child is like a flame to be kindled. We look forward to seeing you in our community!

B’vracha Rabbah,

Rav Yoel (Rabbi Joel Alter)
School Rabbi רב בית הספר
and Assistant Head of School