NO WORDS JUST FEELINGS

I like many others sat in shock as the news about the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut hit the airwaves.  Since our school is housed in the Jewish Community Center ,my first phone call on Friday was to the JCC Building manager  to find out if there is anything that we should be aware of. We had no school on Friday and our students were not in building but as I read more and more over the weekend and saw the blog posts and the stories about modern day heroes, my thoughts turned towards Monday morning when our students would be returning. So late Saturday night I sent out an email to our faculty asking for their input and started speaking to other administrators  and professionals about what to do since we are currently a K-7 school with the majority of our students 10 year old and younger. Once I had a plan I sent an email to our parent body as well. While it had been a very draining day the day went on; my mom was here visiting , I had a morning meeting and an evening Bat Mitzvah. 
By Monday morning I had revised my plan of what I was going to say to the students ,and sent out an email to the faculty reviewing some basic safety procedures. I was drained and tired but I thought I was OK. 
Then came carpool. One of the highlights on may day ( usually) when I get to greet over 100 smiling students as they come to school. However today was different my thoughts kept on drifting back to Newton CT. What did those parents think when they dropped off their  kids on Friday and even more moving were the thoughts about  what is going on  today as parents in Newton CT start a new  a week. My eyes  started to well up and I took a bit more time to actually watch the students as they walked into the building trying not to think about the unimaginable that for some became reality.  Today as we began our morning routine with the Pledge of Alliance and the singing of Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem my eyes filled once again with tears. 

There are no words just feelings 

"We must feel the pain of our fellow Americans; we must beseech Hashem (G-D) to end this plague of violence and we must work hard to insure that all of our own actions are befitting the descendants of Avraham Avinu. ( Abraham our Father)" Rabbi Ron Eisenman