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If you don’t count the Shamash, the helper candle, we light 36 candles over 8 days of Chanukah.

This year, as Bornblum celebrates 36 years, I pause to reflect on each candle that we light, each spark of knowledge, each flame of inspiration. Light is part of who we are as Jews. We are called a “Light unto the Nations”. Our Hebrew words for Torah, parents, and teachers all come from the word or, light, because light is knowledge. When we teach our students, we are spreading light.

Sixth Grader Graham works on a painting of a Menorah where each light represents a Jewish value he finds important

It is one of the things that sets Bornblum apart. It is one of the things that makes a Jewish Day School education unique. Many of our local public and private schools have robust academics, as we do. They enrich and support their students through special services, as we do. They may have makers spaces or STEM labs, but don’t incorporate Design Thinking throughout their school like we do. It sets us apart. But what most sets us apart is that we incorporate our Judaism into everything that we do as a school. It is part of our curriculum, part of our programs, part of our Social Emotional Learning, part of our Design Thinking, part of our DNA. You won’t find that in other schools in Memphis.

Fourth Graders performing in the Grand Finale of their Illuminations Program

We live in dark times. Antisemitism is at an all-time high. Synagogues in Australia have been set ablaze. Soccer fans in Amsterdam attacked. And Jews in public and independent schools across the United States and the Mid-South, even here in Memphis and Germantown, have been subject to antisemitic instances, such as hurtful comments, graffiti, swastikas, and more.

Families made Chanukah Mobiles together after the Illuminations Program

Earlier this month, at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) People of Color Conference (POCC), keynote speakers shared divisive, hurtful rhetoric full of antisemitic tropes. At a National Conference. At a place where diversity should be lauded. And yet, Jewish attendees felt compelled to hide their Magen David necklaces as they walked out of the keynote address and throughout the remainder of the conference, afraid of how they may be attacked or verbally assaulted. While Debra Wilson, President of NAIS, has shared a strong rebuke of such statements in her response letter to Prizmah, AJC, ADL, and JFNA leaders, it is a stark reminder of the need to spread more light. It is why I have shared a letter, penned by staff at Prizmah, with my colleagues at Memphis Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), hoping they will add their signatures to show that we stand together to combat antisemitism and ensure that our schools are spaces of learning, empathy, and mutual respect; where we support student leaders to champion inclusivity and stand against hate. I hope that these heads take the letter to heart and realize that they have much work to do in their schools to keep us safe and wanted.

Kindergartener Lavi draws a Menorah at the Kindergarten-Fifth Grade Buddy Chanukah Party

It is also a reminder of the special place Bornblum holds in the Memphis Jewish community. Our school is a beacon of light. Our school, where every Jew is welcomed and made to feel at home, brings light into the world. That is why our logo, an open book with more pages left to be written, contains a flame in the center. This is why this weekly message and the name of our podcast are called Spark. It is why we don’t just light 36 candles each Chanukah but also light an additional candle each night. We are the Shamash. We are the Helper Candle, whose job is to spread the spark to all the other candles.

Eighth Graders created Chanukah pottery for their family

Now more than ever, Jewish Day School education is essential for our children. We must teach our children to become a Shamash. To be a light and to spread light. To illuminate the world and bring us from a time of darkness to a time of light.

As we think to the next 36 years, see the light that Bornblum provides. Tell your friends, your children, and your grandchildren to become a part of our story and to enroll their children at Bornblum and keep them here for the entire nine-year journey. Our students leave our campus when they graduate with a glow, with the ability to bring added light into the world and with an ability to combat antisemitism and the darkness around them.