The Decision™
With a mixture of excitement and sadness I am writing to announce that I will be leaving my current position as Educational Technology Director at the Scheck HIllel Community School at the end of this year so that my family and I can relocate to New Jersey where I will be the Director of Teaching and Learning at Yeshivat Noam in Paramus.
This is a bittersweet decision for us because of the good friends Judi, the kids and I have all made here in South Florida. The Hollywood Jewish community has taken us in and made us feel welcome, Rabbis Davis and Weinstock and the entire Young Israel family have given our family a spiritual home and the Scheck HIllel Community has given me, Judi and all five kids a place to learn and grow every day.
Speaking personally, I have spent the last five years working with the most talented team of educators I have ever met. I have had the opportunity to learn new things daily and been humbled by the expertise, work ethic and dedication to our students that I see around me. The Mishna in Avot instructs us to “make for ourselves a teacher and purchase for ourselves a friend.” I’ve always understood this curious idea to mean that we must seek out mentors and “purchase” friends by paying them with our time, effort and energy. I am proud of the things we accomplished here at Hillel over the last five years and owe all of those successes to the brilliant guidance I have received and the hard work and esprit de corps of my colleagues. Deciding to leave the @eHillel DreamTeam behind was not easy and I know I will be poorer for the loss.
The community of friends –family, really– that we have joined in Hollywood is another special group we’re going to miss. We moved to Florida knowing only two families here and now, when I look around the Shul on Shabbos, I realize I’m an adopted member of the Kehillah. The Hollywood community is a special one: inviting, diverse, welcoming and nonjudgmental. Each of us has made great friendships here and we’re going to miss those when we go.
In the end, however, the chance to join Yeshivat Noam, a young school with a dynamic leader, dedicated faculty and famously involved parents was too good an opportunity to let go by. As difficult as leaving South Florida is going to be, my family and I are excited about what is to come.
On behalf of Judi, Hillel, Shoshana, Shifra, Gedaliah and Eliezer, I want to thank everyone for making it so difficult for us to decide to leave. We look forward to maintaining and growing our friendships for years to come.
