* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
What do we say on the first day of school? First of all, good luck to the more than 2.5 million students and more than a quarter-million teachers and educational staff in Israel who started the school year today.
Perhaps we should quote the opening verse of this week’s Torah portion:
*“You are standing today, all of you, before God.”*
In other words, we are all part of the same larger story. Every child matters, everyone has a place, and we all stand before God.
But this is not only about the here and now. Notice the surprising continuation:
*“And it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant... for those who are here with us, standing today before God, and with those who are not here with us today.”*
Moses is the educator of us all. He is speaking to that generation, thousands of years ago in the wilderness, but he tells them that he is also speaking about us and to us—their descendants.
There is a covenant that began before us and will continue after us. We are a link in the chain, committed to all the generations that came before us and to all the generations that will come after us.
How much responsibility, belonging, and joy there is in this. What a great privilege it is for every teacher, parent, and student to be part of this educational responsibility.
May we fulfill this mission. Good luck!
