Happy Thanksgiving 2024

The way we celebrate Thanksgiving at school is one of our most public expressions of communal values, and it never gets old. We prepared for Thanksgiving as we do each year by taking a school-wide, deep dive into gratitude. We learned about hakarat hatov (the Jewish value of expressing gratitude) and how we use brachot (blessings) to this end. We did mindfulness exercises to become more aware of all those who help us daily and chose local community members to appreciate. Starting in the preschool, each class chose a person or institution to thank and then made a “Box-O-Gratitude” filled with handmade gifts and notes. All students and staff members prepared hand-painted parade signs in their art classes.

This morning, we gathered, wearing special parade sashes printed with the word "Grateful." We held our parade signs and carried our boxes of gratitude, ready to make our parade stops and spread positivity along the way. And then we marched, chanting “you are appreciated,” and “when I say thank, you say you- THANK! YOU!” Our classes brought boxes-o-gratitude to:

• Our School Security Guards

• BJ's Maintenance Team

• Jesus, the Security Guard at Yeshiva Katana who helps us cross the street

• Animal General Veterinarian

• Tend Dentistry

• NYPD 20th Precinct

• Wild Bird Fund

• New York City Councilmember Gale Brewer

• City MD Urgent Care

• Mount Sinai Urgent Care

• Westside Campaign Against Hunger

• Blank Street Coffee Baristas

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The neighborhood helpers we visited were overwhelmed with gratitude at the experience of being publicly recognized and thanked by Beit Rabban students and teachers. Between stops on our parade route, our students and staff chanted "You are appreciated" and other expressions of gratitude and stopped to thank people we noticed along the way. We thanked sanitation department workers, construction crews, crossing guards, police officers, caregivers, doormen, kiosk workers, neighbors, and everyone else we encountered.

We are so proud of our students for the joy they spread today as they delivered their boxes around the neighborhood. It feels incredible to be thanked. The amazing thing we all experienced, as we do every year, is that the act of thanking others feels even better. This is one of the most important lessons our children can learn. With this lesson in mind, we hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving weekend. 

Wishing all a gratitude-filled Thanksgiving. Please remember, YOU ARE APPRECIATED!