Gilli, our firstborn son, was fortunate to receive his K–12 education at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy. Jeff and I committed to providing our children with a Jewish education, and in Kansas City we hit the jackpot with a pluralistic day school five minutes from our house.
Before Gilli’s first day of kindergarten, there was the annual popsicle party where we met the other parents, and the rambunctious, excited and some more timid five-year-olds were allowed to play on the HBHA playground. We were introduced to Morah Nira, Sosover, and Ms. H.
The most coveted part of the pre-kindergarten experience was the “tote.” Each family was given a light cream-colored tote the night of the popsicle party with instructions for their child to decorate it before the first day of school. Now talk about an assignment! How cute it was walking Gilli into the first day of school with the tote that was bigger than him, a yarmulke on his head and dressed in the HBHA uniform of khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt. The morning was filled with such excitement, hope, and affirmation of why we made the decision to send Gilli to HBHA.
What stuck with me most about that August morning over 15 years ago was the consistent message that graduates of HBHA are mensches and ready for the next phase of their journey. Most of us know that in the English language there is no exact definition of a true mensch — it’s the golden rule of doing unto others as you would have done to you, plus more.
Fast forward to graduation year, 2022. Gilli was the student who visited the principal’s office more times in second-through-fifth grade than any previous student. I think over the course of a week we received at least three emails from teachers about Gilli’s rambunctious spirit and inattentiveness (spoiler alert: Gilli was diagnosed with ADHD at the beginning of second grade).
I remember dropping Gilli off and thinking every day, “How many ‘913-327’ numbers am I going to receive today?” With every phone call, email and meeting with the principal, the message was always: How can we help Gilli grow into the mensch that we know he is? All of these experiences were lessons for Gilli — and, quite frankly, for Jeff and me — to learn from and to help Gilli on his road to becoming a mensch.
In middle and high school, this pattern of “visiting” Dr. Kyanka or Mr. Clauer continued. Even though I worked in the building, I felt that my true second home was the administration offices of HBHA. I was “fortunate” to get to know the administration team on a pretty deep level. And through it all, the message continued to be: Gilli will make a great adult and be ready for the world when he graduates from HBHA.
Fast forward to the present. Since Gilli graduated in 2022, he has participated in a gap year program called Carpe Diem, where he traveled through Italy and Greece to learn the language, people, customs and political climate of these countries. He attended two years at the University of Kansas, where he made lifelong friends from all over the world, managed his daily schedule and academics successfully and began to be more aware of those around him, making more “mensch-like” choices.
Today I am sitting on a balcony overlooking the beautiful city of Tel Aviv, watching the sun come up while my firstborn son, Gilli, is asleep in the room. We are here in Israel because over the course of Gilli’s short 21 years — and with the help of so many of you — the Jewish education gifted to Gilli and all of his life experiences led him to make Aliyah on Aug. 28. In just three short months, he will serve in the IDF.
In Gilli’s tenure at HBHA, he never did receive the Mensch of the Week award (Jeff and I even enticed him with a $100 bonus if he received it before the end of his senior year). But now my precious firstborn son — the one who was rambunctious and had more adult interaction throughout his years at HBHA than most — is a true mensch.
I would not trade the past 21 years for anything. Todah rabah to the entire staff at HBHA, where education is about the whole child, not just math and science; to the loving environment at Camp Ramah, where living Jewishly 24/7 is the norm; to the amazing Kansas City community, who truly role-modeled menchlike behavior; and to all of Gilli’s interactions with family and friends near and far.
Gilli is a true mensch, and Jeff and I could not be prouder of the man he has become today.