The extended Ma’ayanot family experienced the “magic of Ma’ayanot” at the school’s third annual Mishpacha Mishmar this month. The kol Torah filled the student center as parents, grandparents and siblings joined their Ma’ayanot student in learning from three members of Ma’ayanot’s distinguished faculty: Associate Principal Shira Heller, Tanakh and Jewish Philosophy teacher Rabbi Dr. Jay Goldmintz and Clinical Psychologist Dr. Rayzel Yaish.

Incorporating Ma’ayanot’s theme “Ma’alin BaKodesh—Be the Light,” the Ted-Talk-style shiurim invited the families to learn classical and modern sources b’chavruta to explore the role of light in “seeing and being seen” with Mrs. Heller; sources of tefillah in our tradition with Rabbi Goldmintz; and the meaning of the month of Mar Cheshvan with Dr. Yaish. Mishpacha Mishmar also highlighted the richness of Ma’ayanot’s faculty, as two of the presenters do not regularly teach Torah at Ma’ayanot, yet all three shared top-notch, eloquent and erudite shiurim. Each shiur spoke to the heart of the listeners and shared practical ways to add light and holiness in relating to others and to God.

Mishpacha Mishmar was sponsored by Meyer and Keren Muschel, parents of Cayla (‘19) and Sophie (‘26), in memory of Sarah bat Yechiel Mechel Muschel. Sophie shared moving memories of her grandmother, a survivor of Auschwitz, who, like Sarah Imenu in the week’s parsha, was a hardworking matriarch of her family and community who always focused on the light and good in her life.

As Rabbi Goldmintz noted, grandparents and parents learning together with their children is the ideal Torah-study model in Jewish tradition. Mishpacha Mishmar exemplifies Ma’ayanot’s achievement in creating a warm, close-knit, accessible community of learners. This year’s Mishpacha Mishmar also marked the culmination of Ma’ayanot’s fall crowdfunding campaign, which vastly exceeded its goals, and celebrated its success in building a Ma’ayanot family that learns together and supports each other, across generations.