June 5, 2020

Dear FJECC Families,

We have just barely adjusted our lives in the uncharted waters of this pandemic. The casualties of Covid-related victims have reached an unfathomable number of more than 100,000 deaths. Now, we watch with horror, fear, outrage, and sadness as yet more Black Americans have died at the hands of police. The undeniable racism that plagues our country cannot be ignored and demands our attention. As a community, especially one that cherishes the immense potential of young children, we need to be open to teaching, listening, learning, and stretching, in ways that we never thought possible.

Our Jewish values of tikkun olam (repair of the world) and g’milut chasadim (loving-kindness) guide our individual and collective efforts to bring about justice and healing. We are the role models for our children and everything that we say and do has a huge impact upon them.  This is our work as humans, parents, and teachers, and we owe it to all children to do better.

As Maya Angelou wrote, "It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength."  We are preparing a thoughtfully curated list of resources about diversity, including children’s books for conversation starters, how to talk about racism with children, and more.  As well, we hope to provide a reading list for adults to understand our own biases. In the meantime, a shortlist of resources provided for your convenience today, can be found here.