(Courtesy of Consortium of Jewish Day Schools) The Bergen County community rallied together in a heartwarming show of achdut on Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 4-5, in a series of events titled “Getting Everyone on Board for the Sake of Our Children.” With the support of the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools (CoJDS) Bergen County Branch, the community stepped in to address the challenge of rising rates of childhood anxiety.
The newly-formed Bergen County branch of the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools has further unified the community, as eight Bergen County elementary schools have wholeheartedly joined the collaborative efforts of the new branch.
The branch’s first project, a video Q&A titled “Oct. 7 — A Forever Impact” featured Rabbi Yaakov Neuberger addressing middle school students regarding the proper outlook for Oct. 7 and the events in Israel this past year. The video and accompanying classroom resources were used in 120 schools worldwide and quickly led to further projects such as the anxiety event series developed as a group effort by Bergen County elementary school leaders.
Each event in the series was geared to a target audience that impacts local children. The first event, geared toward Bergen County parents, drew a crowd of over 100 participants from across the spectrum of the community. Rabbi Heshy Glass, national chairman of CoJDS, opened the evening by reflecting on the years he served as principal in this very school in 1979. He expressed admiration for the growth of the community since. The featured speaker, Dr. David Rosmarin, author of “Thriving with Anxiety,” associate professor at Harvard Medical School and founder of Center for Anxiety, introduced parents to his unique approach. Parents also enjoyed the take-home summary notes that were prepared so they could review key ideas at home.
The following day, over 750 educators from Bergen County, from Ben Porat Yosef, Chabad of Tenafly, Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey, The Moriah School, Yavneh Academy, Yeshivat He’Atid, Yeshivat Noam, and Yeshivat Shalshelet, converged at Rosenbaum Yeshiva of North Jersey with the single-minded focus of addressing anxiety in the community’s children.
The animated hallway chatter drew to a close as Rabbi Daniel Price, principal of RYNJ and generous event host, opened the morning. He remarked how amazing it was to have this many educators under one roof and that it’s a zechut to host the local yeshivas working together on behalf of the community’s children. Glass introduced Rosmarin, who spoke to the standing room only crowd, at least until RYNJ added further seats to accommodate the large number of attendees.
Later in the day, the events for dozens of school-based mental health professionals and community rabbis brought further detailed exploration of how best to support the community’s children through this challenge.
Most importantly, these events were a testament to Bergen County’s unique communal leadership and ability to work together to expand and maximize community resources to educate their children holistically.
Rabbi Yehoshua Yeamans, director of development at CoJDS, said, “This is just touching the surface of what we plan to do as a community. I’m excited to see where this collaboration of all Bergen County schools is headed.”
To learn more about upcoming Bergen County Branch Jewish education events, contact Yeamans at [email protected] or (215) 954-8210.
