Last Friday night, we celebrated many of our students at Ramat Shalom. Our 7th graders were honored and welcomed into our 8th-12th grade learning and social action program. Graduation cords and other special gifts were presented to some of our high school seniors who have volunteered at Ramat Shalom and/or been involved in iServe — our teen community service track. And some of our 10th grade students, as part of our Confirmation Ceremony, shared what it means to them to be Jewish. What struck so many of us about our 10th graders presentations was that each of them centered around the importance of community. These students were simply asked to share what it means to be Jewish. No other guidelines or prompts were given to them. In a day and age when many worry about the viability of the Jewish community, listening to our “kids” last Friday evening was truly inspiring. I invite you to listen to the words of three of our 10th graders – Isaac, Jonah and Sarah – by clicking on the videos below.
