Sara Cox sits in

From Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski, rabbi of Golders Green Synagogue and CEO of University Jewish Chaplaincy:

I know it’s 3rd January, but I reckon it’s not too late to wish everyone a happy new year. I’m just feeling ready to return to full professional duties.

But five people in my house are rather less enthusiastic about getting back to normal – my lovely children. They are returning to school tomorrow but they’re wishing the holiday could just continue.

We all have our favourite ‘back to school’ stories. A friend told me that only two days after her daughter Freda had returned to school for the new term, her teacher phoned to say that Freda was misbehaving. ‘Wait a minute’, she said, I’ve just had Freda with me for six weeks and I never called you once when she misbehaved.

On a more personal note, my wife recently found a letter she wrote about one of our kids. It started, ‘Dear Teacher, little Johnny is having a few school issues at the moment. And apologies for addressing this letter to “teacher”, as even though he’s been in your class for quite a while, Johnny doesn’t know your name!’

Jewish tradition places an enormous emphasis on schooling. Back in the first century, the general Vespasian – later the emperor of Rome – led a siege against Jewish Jerusalem, which eventually ended in disaster. The leading rabbi of the era was a visionary named Yochanan ben Zakay. He faced criticism from all sides, especially within his family, but held firm to prepare the Jewish world for massive change. In one of the most famous passages in the whole of Jewish literature, Yochanan is offered a wish by Vespasian. He could have begged the general to save the Holy Temple, then the centre of Jewish life, but he doesn’t. Instead, Yochanan simply asks, ‘give me Yavneh and its teachers’. Yavneh was the birthplace of the Jewish school system and Yochanan knew that the Jewish life and tradition – indeed the Jewish future itself – was dependent not on Temples, but on schools and teachers who ignite a passion for life and knowledge. They are the greatest blessing we can gift to our children.

Wishing all of us a happy new year and my children – and children everywhere – a successful and exciting return to school.