Dear Sixth Grade Families:

We know that many people in our community were taken by surprise by the recent announcement of Rabbi Mike's departure.  We also know that there is special concern among our sixth grade families as many of your children move toward the beginning of their B'nei Mitzvah year.

I want to assure you that we are very excited about the upcoming year even as we are in the midst of the process of hiring a new Head of School. We want to assure you that the B'nei Mitzvah journey of your children and families will be powerful, rich and rewarding. We will not miss a beat in your preparation process. Some of our current seventh grade students who Rabbi Mike was working with to prepare them to chant their Torah portions are moving seamlessly to Morah Sam and I will be more involved than ever in supporting her and overseeing that work.

There is not a single student who was working with Rabbi Mike on their Torah study and D'var preparation that was in any way affected by his departure and it will certainly not have any impact on the Torah study and D'var preparation that I will do with your children in the coming year.

We will keep all of you and our entire community apprised as we move to hire the best possible leader of our Beit Midrash and we are confident that we will continue to build on some of Rabbi Mike's accomplishments and enhance the educational and spiritual experiences of the young people of our community.

If you have questions or concerns, please call the office and we will be happy to talk with you.

We look forward to an easy transition and a new and even more exciting development of our Religious School and B'nei Mitzvah program.

Blessings,

Rabbi Dan