Teaching What We Share
By Mariashi Groner
The Charlotte Jewish Day School( CJDS) is an anomaly. It is not an orthodox school. It is not a conservative school. Nor is it a reform school.
It is simply a Jewish school that is open to children with at least one Jewish parent. I am often asked how we successfully serve children with a wide range of needs and from families representing every Jewish denomination.
A recent email from a parent new to our school captures the answer more eloquently than I could. This family initially hesitated to enroll their children, concerned that the school’ s religious teachings might not align with their practices at home.
After finally choosing CJDS, the mother found herself fielding questions from others about why she had selected a school they perceived as too“ religious.” As the school year progressed, her uncertainty gave way to confidence that CJDS’ s approach to Judaism had room for her family, too. And in her correspondence, she explained why.
This parent pointed to two Passover activities her daughter brought home that reflected our approach. One encouraged students to practice the Four Questions in either Hebrew or English. The second turned a routine trip to the grocery store into an opportunity for discovery.
Parents were invited to visit the kosher-for-Passover section with their children, ask them to identify the kosher-for-Passover certifications on packages and see whether they could find the Hebrew word for Pesach. For this parent, the wording mattered. The activity taught children about Passover traditions without suggesting that every family was expected to observe them in the same way.
“ This assignment simply illustrates there are options in the store, and we as parents can use them as a teaching opportunity,” she wrote.“ The school never said, buy them, or you must keep kosher for Passover.”
I was not surprised to see the intentional instructions that we sent home because this is how we teach. Our goal, our dream and our hope is that we are graduating students with a breadth and wealth of knowledge paired with a love and joy for Judaism that will be a launching pad for all things Jewish.
We know our children are moving on to all types of experiences, expectations and environments. In this context, we can’ t possibly prepare them for each and every situation, but we can provide them with the tools and the means to make sense of what lies before them.
When learning about Rosh Hashanah, children explore its observances and rituals while being challenged to look more deeply at the lessons they can carry throughout their lives.
The shofar, for example, is not just taught as an artifact that we blow to bring us back to repentance. But, rather, we ask the question of why a shofar, why not a trumpet? One lesson emerges from the shofar’ s bent form. We, too, must learn to bend when circumstances call for flexibility and compromise. It is a lesson that endures throughout our lives.
This is CJDS: integrating general and Judaic studies to impart lessons that endure well beyond the classroom. My favorite way to describe our philosophy of Judaism is quite simple. We teach what we share, and there is far more than people might expect.
This approach allows children from families with differing Jewish practices to feel at home. I tell the rabbis at all three synagogues that we send our students to them“ oven ready.”
They can read Hebrew, have a working knowledge of the language, and are prepared to develop the skills they will need in the synagogue their family chooses to attend.
The Charlotte Jewish News- October 2026- Page 15
Charlotte Jewish Day School students are all smiles.
I invite you to visit CJDS and sit in on one of our Judaic studies classes. You may very well find yourself wishing you could go back to school.
To learn more about Charlotte Jewish Day School or to schedule a campus visit, contact gosborne @ cjdschool. org or visit www. cjdschool. org.