Dear Brandeis community,

 

Last week I was lucky to be able to attend a session of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Executive Director Learning Series, which brings together EDs from Bay Area Jewish organizations for seminars on a variety of topics. Last week’s was taught by Dr. Yehuda Kurtzner on “The Ethics of Coalition Building.” It was a fascinating discussion, following a topic that Dr. Kurtzner has been writing about recently, ranging from the Kantian notion of moral imperatives to the pragmatic politics of building effective organizational cultures. It felt—blissfully so!—like being in one of my grad school critical theory seminars, and I’ve been chewing on the questions it raised in the week since. (I feel compelled to say, again: the Jewish communal emphasis on intellectual engagement and learning is such a gift!)

 

Coalitions show up in schools in a variety of ways, and at Brandeis in some particular ones. We actively foster certain connections—buddy families, for example, as people enter the school community—and some cohere by virtue of the gravity of shared experience, such as the coalitions of grade levels, the bonds built at birthday parties, on the soccer field and on camping trips, and in various group celebrations. There are parent friendships and neighborhood carpools. There are strong links forged in times of family crisis, and burnished over summer outings together, that we reflect on with nostalgia as the middle school years whir by and near their close.

 

Yesterday, sitting at AT&T park on an afternoon that could not have been more beautiful, I saw 4th grade families building community together over hot dogs and peanuts and pretzels, as our students sang a beautiful national anthem (invoking another shared identity). The Bay stretched out before us like a mirror to the sky (are there more beautiful nosebleed seats in all of American sports?). Sitting next to a first grader there to see his big sister shine, I got to witness a lovely moment of connection, when a classmate ambled over and asked to sit with him. Nathaniel gladly welcomed Geffen, and mom snapped a picture of the two of them before they sat down, etching into digital memory this bright moment of togetherness.

 

Reflecting on all of this this morning, I wondered about the origin of the word coalition. I was surprised to see it was once a past participle of coalesce, though perhaps I should not have been, given their similarity. Coalesce is an important word in my life—my first summer job was at my Aunt Linna’s bookstore Coalesce in Morro Bay, where I’d go stay for a month or six weeks as a young adolescent, immersed in the freedom of being away from home and the smell of books. And the word itself actually shares a root with adolescent, the beautiful Latin alescere, which means "to nourish" (as I like to remind parents, adolescence is a time that tells us what it needs, emotional and intellectual nourishment!). The shared co- of coalition and coalesce means "together"—so both words mean "to be nourished together," or to grow together. I think you’ll agree with me that whether in communal and organizational politics, or in playground friendships and parent connections, that is a beautiful vision.

 

Wishing you all weekends full of being nourished together, my friends.

 

Warmly,

 

Dan