Dear Yavneh Family,

There are times in our lives that we sense we are part of history.  This week's campus visit by recently-freed Cuban prisoner Alan Gross was one such time for the students and teachers of Yavneh Academy. 

In my more than thirty years as an educator, I cannot recall a single experience that touched me as deeply as Mr. Gross's visit with our students. (He is pictured here with his grand-nephew Noah Rubinstein '17).  Perhaps it was the national, indeed international, nature of the visitor, who just last week sat beside Mrs. Obama at the State of the Union Address.  In terms of American History - my first academic love - here was an individual who personified our two countries' difficult past and promising future.

Or perhaps it was the deeply personal connection of Mr. Gross to our Dallas Jewish Community, having stood shoulder-to-shoulder in support of the Rubinstein family these past five years.  Or perhaps it was the enthusiastic singing and prayers, led by Rabbis Tannenbaum and Lomner, with the voices of our teenagers filling the sun-drenched Beit Midrash in gratitude, joy and hope.  Following our daily afternoon Mincha prayer service, Mr. Gross shared the history of his assignment, arrest and captivity, then welcomed our students' questions, which ranged from the political (U.S. - Cuba relations) to the personal ("How did you get through each day?"), and finished by thanking us for our loyal support of him and his family.   As Mr. Rapps shared with me, "His humility is something that I will long remember."

And long remember this week at Yavneh we all will.  It was, in a word, historic.

Shabbat Shalom and Go Bulldogs!

Dr. P