A New Smile. A New Season

Shabbat Shalom!

There are certain signs that summer is coming to an end.

The days begin to get just a little shorter. Backpacks reappear by the front door. Calendars suddenly fill with practices, meetings, school events and carpools. And in our house this year, there is another unmistakable sign of a new season:

Nora has braces.

This week, as I looked at her new smile, and watched her figure out what she can and cannot eat, I was reminded that growing up often happens in ways both big and small.

For Nora, this year brings more than braces. It brings middle school.

New hallways. New teachers. New expectations. New friendships. More independence. And, undoubtedly, a few moments when she will wish she were back in the comfort and familiarity of elementary school.

For so many families across our community, these weeks mark a similar transition. Children are beginning kindergarten, middle school, high school, or college. Teachers are welcoming new students. Parents are taking a hopeful breath as they watch their children walk through a new door on their education journey.

Jewish tradition has always understood the importance of learning, but it also understands that learning does not happen alone.

The words of Psalm 133 say:

“Hinei mah tov u’mah na’im, shevet achim gam yachad.”
How good and pleasant it is when we dwell together in unity.

We often sing those words as a celebration of community. But as a new school year begins, I find myself hearing something more in them.

We become who we are in the company of others.

A school is more than classrooms and textbooks. It is a community. It is the teacher who notices when a child needs encouragement. The friend who saves a seat at lunch. The parent who volunteers. The coach who teaches that character matters as much as the score. The classmate who chooses kindness when it would be easier to walk away.

And the same is true of Jewish life.

We learn Torah together. We celebrate together. We mourn together. We argue, question, sing, eat, and pray together. Judaism has never imagined that we are meant to navigate life entirely on our own.

Perhaps that is one of the most important lessons we can give our children as they begin another school year: you belong to something larger than yourself.

As I watch Nora begin middle school, I know there are lessons ahead that will never appear on a syllabus. She will learn more about friendship and disappointment, independence and responsibility, courage and kindness. She will discover more about who she is and who she wants to become.

And yes, somewhere along the way, her teeth will hopefully get straighter too.

There is something wonderful about braces, actually. They are a visible reminder that growth sometimes requires a little pressure, a little discomfort, and a great deal of patience. We may not see the change from one day to the next, but slowly, almost imperceptibly, things begin moving toward where they are supposed to be.

Maybe growing up isn’t so different.

And maybe neither is building community.

Hinei mah tov u’mah na’im
How good it is when we are together.

As another school year begins, may our children enter their classrooms with curiosity, our teachers with strength, and all of us with a renewed commitment to creating communities where everyone knows that they belong.

And to Nora: proudly show off your braces when you smile because they, just like your first day of middle school, help mark this moment of change, adventure, and growth.