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Alumni News • Issue 8 • Fall 2019
It is an exciting time for the Brandeis alumni community. On the heels of our 40th anniversary we are continuing our commitment to grow and reconnect with our alumni community. We have many events planned this coming year designed to support the continued growth of Brandeis in Marin and connect with our extensive alumni network.
This Fall we are pleased to announce the first annual Alumni Giving Week, from November 18th to 22nd. At 186 current students - 90 of whom fill our Middle School - we are beginning to feel the new (and exciting!) reality of growing pains. The hallways at Brandeis are buzzing, the classrooms are filling up, the communal spaces are bursting and the playground is ready for new, updated equipment. And so, to support our alma mater, we are asking our alumni and alumni families to rise up and support our school during Giving Week. Donations at any level are greatly appreciated. Please consider making a gift of at least $18, $36, $54 or more. Simply click here to make an impact!
This Spring we will be gathering once again in celebration of the school's success thanks in large part to Brandeis Marin parent and Board member, Dr. Jeff Halbrecht. We will also be recognizing Ruth (Abramovitz) Rosenthal for her 35 years of service to Brandeis. Please mark your calendars to join us for a wonderful Spring Simcha on Sunday, April 26th at the Marin JCC!
In early Summer I am pleased to announce that we will be holding an alumni family reunion on Sunday, June 7th at a private home of Brandeis alumni parents. This event titled Mums with Alums and Dads with Grads is designed to allow our decades of alumni and alumni parents to gather for a magical morning of reminiscing and reconnecting with each other and beloved staff members.
You will be hearing from us throughout the coming year with more information and invites to all of the above events as the dates draw closer!
Lastly, a huge thank you to all of the alumni and alumni parents who participated in our 40th anniversary Tribute Book this past Spring. The outpouring of love and shared memories was overwhelming and created an incredible Tribute Book capturing and celebrating our school's 40 year history. The Tribute Book is available for viewing online here. Beautiful, hardbound Tribute Books can be purchased for $55 per copy here. We highly encourage our alumni community to peruse this book as time permits. Decades of photographs, memories and tributes are captured in this special keepsake.
It will be another busy year for Mishpacha, our family alumni association. Brandeis alumni and alumni parents are welcome to contact me if you'd be interested in becoming part of our alumni council and further building our family alumni association.
I hope to see many of you this coming year!
Warmly,
Becky Genet Fenster ('93)
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It's a typical Thursday at Brandeis Marin. I walked into my 6th grade English class, where Mrs. Fenster had prepared our weekly journal prompt. It was these journal activities that helped me find my voice and taught me how to use it. But this journal prompt was a little different, it was based on the song "For Good" from the musical Wicked. Mrs. Fenster chose this song to prepare us for our school's upcoming Grandparents Day just a few days before Thanksgiving. We were to pay special attention to the lyrics of the chorus "because I knew you I have been changed for good." And when we had finished soaking up the lyrics, Mrs. Fenster asked us to complete the sentence "because I knew you…." as it related to our grandparents. I still remember exactly what I wrote and will forever stay with me….
Because I knew you I go to Brandeis.
I am so very grateful to my grandparents for allowing me to be a part of a community like Brandeis Marin. Brandeis gave me the education, values, and experience that has launched me into high school, college, and beyond. Everything I am and everything I want to be can be traced back to Brandeis Marin. READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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Every day in 3rd grade, Rebecca Neiman and I would test a new version of the same routine. One of us would "get hurt" while the other would rush over to tend to her "wounds." Timing was everything. We needed a teacher to see it happen; we wanted to get "Caught Caring." Caught Carings, a recognition given to students who were "caught" in an act of kindness, were one of the countless ways in which Brandeis Marin fostered compassion and community. From Mensch of the Month to the 7th grade Tzedakah Project, Brandeis gives an actionable form to the Jewish spirit of lovingkindness. Marrying message and method in these varied community initiatives, Brandeis taught me to care for people unconditionally; to stand with others; to fight for justice. Kindness. Solidarity. Tikkun Olam.
Fast forward to 2016. I'm a rising junior at Barnard College obsessed with all things medicine: the science, the culture, the history. I spend my waking hours volunteering in the emergency department at Bellevue Hospital, which is North America's oldest public hospital, Manhattan's only acute trauma center, and the catch-all safety net for New York's most vulnerable populations. Doctors at Bellevue teach me that patients' words are sacrosanct, their stories the primary data for holistic care. Sitting at patients' bedsides, listening to their life histories unfurl before me, I realize too that experiences of sickness comprise more than the biology of sickness itself. At this nexus of stories and symptoms emerges a vision of medicine grounded in practicing compassion and redressing inequity — a model for the kind of doctor I want to be. Throughout my life, from Brandeis to JCHS and beyond, I've been told that I could do anything I set my mind to, and that I must do so with loving kindness and an eye towards justice. READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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On Friday, September 20th, there was a worldwide march against climate change. Millions of people around the world left school and work to protest climate change throughout their city. A few of us 8th graders really wanted to go, so we arranged for it to happen. Our parents agreed to let us skip school in order to speak up as youth and demand action in the "climate strike" in San Francisco. The group of approximately 20 of us took the ferry and BART to the starting location. About 40,000 people gathered holding signs with catchy phrases and marched together for a good 3 hours. It was an amazing, moving experience for all. READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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Why do Alums Give Back?
Every independent school has its own philanthropic personality, and Brandeis Marin is no different. As a development professional, I've witnessed many different giving cultures, and it is clear the Brandeis Marin alumni community is especially inspired. From the moment I arrived on the Brandeis campus, I have discovered a genuinely warm and generous community. Some of the common themes I've observed among Brandeis alum include:
Gratitude
At its core, I believe that our alums give back to acknowledge the role Brandeis played in becoming the person they are today. It is a foundational experience characterized by decency, critical evaluation, and personal connection that transforms them as individuals. Our Head of School, Dr. Peg Sandel, said it best at our last graduation: "The Jewish tradition serves as our north star, setting an example of reverence for deep learning, inspiring us to use our talents to repair the world, urging us to experience moments of awe in life, teaching us to use ritual to mark life's big and little moments and inviting us into genuine community with one another." READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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It turned out to be a pivotal life moment, but it was otherwise a regular 7th grade day. I was sitting in Susan Goldsborough's English class when she came over to my desk to offer sound literary advice (I think I was complaining that Shakespeare wasn't my thing):
"You like spies and politics," she said. "You should read Tom Clancy."
I went home, pulled Patriot Games off my parents' shelf, read it through, then read everything else Tom Clancy had written, and then became a senior congressional staffer to a member of Congress in Washington, DC. Sure, some things happened in between, but I'd like to think there was a direct line from Mrs. Goldsborough's instincts to working in the Capitol Building years later. Spies and politics? Yes, she had my number down even at the age of 13. READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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Our family's experience with Brandeis Marin (nee Brandeis Hillel Day School) began in 2003 when I became friendly with Brandeis mom, Cathy Capper. Cathy and Dave's children were the most poised, confident, kind and smart individuals. Thus, when I asked Cathy what her secret was, she responded that it was her children's school, Brandeis Hillel Day School! So at that very moment I started planning our daughter's school trajectory. Funny enough, Isabel was only two years old at the time. Thankfully, Isabel was a good fit for Brandeis and Brandeis was a great fit for our family, when she entered Kindergarten a few years later. READ THE FULL STORY HERE
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180 North San Pedro Road • San Rafael, CA • 94903
415-472-1833 • www.brandeismarin.org