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It's All About the

Children

by Rabbi Dr. Yisrael Rothwachs

Every day I am profoundly grateful for the interconnectedness of my
personal and professional lives.
One of my earliest memories is of lying in my bed as a 6 year old boy
and hearing lively discussions taking place downstairs around the
dining room table. While I did not recognize most of the voices—
although I would one day get to know and appreciate them as those
of heroic and brave trailblazers—I did hear among them a very
familiar voice: that of my mother, Laurette Rothwachs, SINAI’s
founding Dean. From my bedroom I could hear the words, but I did
not understand the content of the dialogue, and yet I could sense
that something exciting was happening—something groundbreaking
—and it was occurring in my home. The seeds of SINAI were being
planted and sown in my home, and today, 40 years later, I have the
privilege and responsibility of being the faithful steward of the
beautiful garden that is now SINAI, as Dean of SINAI Schools. I believe Laurette Rothwachs, Dean Emeritus, walks with the author at SINAI at RYNJ
that perhaps even more than my decades of professional experience,
it is the values that I learned as a child that prepared me for my roles
today, both as a parent and a professional. temptation of a “quick fix,” and instead to think about my long term
goals and to invest in the process in order to attain them. I have
Each one of us is faced with the opportunity to make choices, big and brought this approach into my professional life at SINAI; my
small, every day. Often, facing an important decision can be colleagues and I are regularly engaged in identifying thoughtful and
overwhelming. I am grateful to my parents for teaching me to view measured steps to achieve goals, both for individual students and for
decisions as opportunities to bring our priorities into focus, and that SINAI as a whole. When we consider how to successfully “stretch” a
once you narrowly identify your most important and salient goals, student academically, how to smoothly implement a new curriculum,
your choices become clearer. This is a guiding principle that we or when to open a new school, we embrace a disciplined and
actively employ multiple times every day at SINAI. Whether our thoughtful approach, which has, Baruch Hashem, led us to see
educators are meeting to discuss the aspects of a particular student’s sustained growth.
educational program, or our board is deliberating where and how to
invest in our school, each member of our team embraces a single Today, as Dean of SINAI Schools, I am responsible for a staff of 170
perspective and priority: “It is all about the children.” This simple and a student body with a wide range of profiles just shy of 200. And
declaration is powerfully liberating. Politics are discarded. Egos are yet I have come to appreciate that my role today is not so different
checked at the door. Instead, clarity of purpose is embraced as the from my mother’s role 40 years ago, when our school consisted of
guiding principle. The surging feelings of uncertainty subside and merely one class of three students. She set the tone from the very
instead yield to calm and confidence. While this approach has beginning, identifying and embracing her core values and using
become a hallmark of the way we do business at SINAI, I believe that them to guide SINAI’s purposeful and steady growth. I imagine that
it has become so because of the standards that my mother modeled my having assumed the role of Dean brings my mother great nachas
both at SINAI and at home. (pride). Ten years ago, she entrusted her “baby” with her baby. It may
be surprising to some, therefore, that when she and I talk about how
things are at SINAI she never imposes her opinion. She doesn’t even
share her opinion unless it is solicited. And while I believe that her
approach stems from her wishing not to “step on my toes,” it is likely
easier for her to do so knowing that she successfully instilled in me
these guiding principles of good decision making.
It should come as no wonder, therefore, that my greatest pride is
when my children and students demonstrate their having internalized
these values as well. As the world around us becomes more nuanced
and therefore confident decision-making more complicated, it is
ultimately the lessons that I initially learned at home that help to
Rabbi Dr. Yisrael Rothwachs meets with SINAI educational directors guide me, my dear colleagues, and my precious students with
clarity.
Sustained growth in any area of life is achieved by taking slow and
deliberate steps. In the words of Chazal, “Tafasta merubeh lo tafasta,”
loosely translated as, “if you try to do too much, you may fail to do it Rabbi Dr. Yisrael Rothwachs is the Dean of SINAI Schools, overseeing the educational
altogether.” Although many recognize the strength of this principle, leadership of SINAI’s eight schools and adult programs across the New York region.
the pressures of life sometimes cause us to forget it and entice us to He is grateful every day for the opportunity to be part of a team that leads with its
act otherwise. At an early age, my mother taught me to resist the heart.