Look for the Wind

I like to look for the wind. I realize that you can’t actually SEE wind, but you can see its impact on things that ARE visible. You can see the wind in treetops swaying, in leaves rustling, in waves dancing on a lake to make it shimmer. You can see wind bringing in a storm, and blowing clouds away so the sun can shine on us. You can only see the wind as it impacts other things.

Looking back on my 21 years at Mirowitz, I look for the tangible enactment of the intangible

Like the wind, there are so many things in a school that can only be seen when you notice their impact on other things. The cultural milieu, the education, the deep love of teacher to student and vice versa, the partnership of parent and educator, the safe space to make mistakes, to learn and grow. These are the ruach, the wind of Mirowitz.

Mirowitz students are the swaying leaves. They show visible signs of the intangible gifts they have been during their years at Mirowitz. Their intelligence, values, Jewish identity and moral compass. Their intellect, passion for justice, commitment to making this world better, this is where I see the wind.

It is in the children who journey through life with confidence, competence and compassion…with Jewish values and a love of Israel….with a sense of purpose and a model for what community can be.

Ruach is the Hebrew word for wind, but it is also a name for God, sometimes translated as “spirit.” It is used in the second verse of Torah: Ruach Elohim m’rachefet al p’nei hamayim. (The wind of God flutters on the face of the water.)

In your children, we see Ruach Elohim, the spirit of God. Thank you for sharing them with us and allowing us to contribute to the people they will become.

The school has seen ups and downs over my 21 years here. We survived a merger, a pandemic and an economic recession.

A cycle of passion has brought forth varying strong attitudes about denominational Judaism, Israel, Covid protocols and politics. We’ve seen employees come and go, and some stand steady and strong in all the weather. And throughout it all, we’ve remained true to our mission: providing the highest quality secular and Jewish education, enabling students to become life-long learners and leaders and to apply Jewish values to all aspects of life. We’ve been committed to academic excellence, social responsibility and Jewish learning.

We are proud that with our board, faculty, staff, parents and donors, our leadership team built a school of excellence, recognized both locally among independent schools and nationally among day schools.

But mostly, we are proud that Mirowitz has ruach, the spirit of God. We are proud when people walk in our building and say, “You can just feel it. You can feel the joy, the learning and the values.” We are proud when we see the ruach, the wind, the breath of God in our students.

Thank you for being part of this holy work. I hope you’ll stay connected, give generously and support our new head of school with a full heart. She’s going to love you!

 

L’hitraot, b’hatzlacha and Shabbat Shalom,

Cheryl

P.S. The Ruach you can see in these photos was captured by Zev (4th grade) who won a raffle prize to be our student photographer this week!