The Charlotte Jewish News -June-July 2015 - Page 20
Grandfriend’s Day 2015 at CJDS
Shavuot, the holiday that cele
brates the giving of the Torah was
last month and we are reminded of
the Midrash which is truly the
very reason of the existence of
CJDS. In fact, it really should be
our mission statement.
Rabbi Meir said: “When the
Jews stood before Sinai to receive
the Torah, God said to them: T
swear, I will not give you the
Torah unless you provide worthy
guarantors who will assure that
you will observe its laws.’
“The Jews responded, ‘Master
of the world, our forefathers will
be our guarantors! ’
‘“Your guarantors themselves
require guarantors!’ was God’s
reply.
“‘Master of the world,’ the
Jews exclaimed, ‘our prophets
will guarantee our observance of
the Torah.’
“‘I have grievances against
them, too. “The shepherds have
rebelled against Me” (Jeremiah
2:8),’ God replied. ‘Bring proper
guarantors and only then will I
give you the Torah.’
“As a last resort, the Jews de
clared, ‘Our children will serve as
our guarantors! ’
“‘They truly are worthy guar
antors,’ God replied. ‘Because of
them I will give the Torah.’”
Midrash Rabba, Song of Songs
1:4
The white-bearded rabbis and
the prophets weren’t sufficient to
satisfy God’s “need” for a guaran
tor. Why? Who can better guaran
tee the transmission of the Law
than the intellectuals and philoso
phers, who devote their lives to
developing it and teaching its wis
dom to so many throughout the
ages? Why did God prefer the
Torah study of the child whose
mind is constantly distracted,
moving on to far more important
subjects, such as which game to
play during recess, the caliber of
the snack which his mother
packed in his lunch bag, or his
plans for summer vacation?
Because there is a unique qual
ity exclusive to a child’s learning;
and it is the most effective guar
antee for the future of the Torah, a
quality which is appealing to God.
We at CJDS carry a great re
sponsibility to educate our stu
dents so that they recognize the
privilege they have to treasure the
Torah, its teachings and its
mitzvot. Through the experiences,
lessons, stories, games and cele
brations, CJDS instills and imbues
a love and joy for God and the
Jewish heritage.
So, on Grandfriend’s Day of
2015, we celebrated the guaran
tors that God requested in order to
give the Jewish people his pre
cious Torah. ^
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CJDS
Charlotte Jewish
Day School
New this year, CJDS was
able to llvestream the
Grandfriend’s
performance to family
and friends around the
world In over five
countries, seven states,
and fifty homes. Emails
are coming In expressing
how thankful they were
that they were able to
participate In this
celebration with their
children, grandchildren,
and friends. Working
parents who cannot
break away from their
day were not left out
from watching their
children perform In our
annual musical program.
It Is best expressed by
the emails we have
received:
“BRILLIANT I!!!!!!!!!
I had my parents and
brother also watching
this from Israel!”
“THANK YOU III
Thank you so very much
for giving me the
opportunity to watch the
Grandfriends Day
performances on You
Tube.
It was truly wonderful
to be a part of It even
though I was not able to
be there In person.
Thanks again.”
“Thank you for giving us
a way to see our grand
children at Grandfriends
Celebration. I just
finished watching and
although I am sorry I
could not be with you,
at least I got to see
Jacob on stage. Please
thank the music teacher
as well.”