Are you sure about this? My life as a Jewish Educator

My Remarks at the Covenant Foundation Award Dinner on October 28, 2026

“Are you sure about this?”

Thirty years ago, my father asked me that question as I prepared to begin my career as a Jewish educator.

I was stunned. His love for Judaism, Israel, and education had inspired the very path he was now questioning.

When Joni Blinderman called about the Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, I was speechless and my heart filled with gratitude. And yet, my mind returned to this past conversation, one of our last before my father died of pancreatic cancer.

“What about your quality of life?” he persisted.

“Quality of life, Dad? Jewish education and Torah are the quality in my life. Everything I learned from USY, Camp Yavneh, Schechter Boston, Maimonides, Brandeis, and JTS have become the lens through which I see the world.”

“Charlie,” my father interrupted, “That’s really nice. But can you support a family doing this?”

“Dad,” I replied, “This isn’t a hobby. It’s a profession. Jewish education is ultimately about shaping lives through Torah and creating a better, more confident Jewish future.”

“And what a funny question coming from you, of all people. When your business was failing, you and mom always said, ‘Anything Jewish you want to do, we will find the money.’”

In the midst of this intense conversation, I wanted to reassure my dad. Nobody goes into this field for fame and fortune. But how could I describe a life I had not yet lived?

Here is what I wish I could tell him now.

I have been blessed with teachers and colleagues like Joyce Judah, Rabbi Paul Freedman, Rabbi Bill Lebeau, and Kathy Elias. They helped me find my voice even when the words did not come fluently. They taught me to create community through meaning and to shape lives through Torah, one soul, one study session, one cup of coffee at a time.

Looking back, I understand that my father’s questions came from love. He wanted to know that I would be okay. As a father myself, I hear his questions differently now.

After an embrace that I carry with me always, he gave me a charge: “Whatever you do, leave the world better than the way you found it.”

It sounded like something Moses or George Washington would say, “leave the world better than the way you found it”. They are, in fact, the words of someone who knows that the future will unfold without them.

Today, my father’s charge and the concern behind it animates everything I do for my sons, Joseph and Benjamin, and the young people many of us here teach. Through Civic Spirit, I bring my commitments as a Jewish educator to strengthening our shared democracy and helping the next generation draw on their Jewish values when they enter the public square.

At a time of intense political division and rising antisemitism, we must prepare learners (of all ages) to confront hatred, build relationships across differences, and take responsibility for one another. Our tradition teaches us makloket l’shem shamayim/ to argue for the sake of heaven, dinah malchuta dinah/ to respect the rule of law, and kavod hamikrah/ to make the reading of sacred texts a fixture of our lives. These habits can guide us in this vital work. The future we hope for depends on what we teach and practice today.

To The Covenant Foundation and the Crown family, thank you for affirming the promise of Jewish education and those who devote their lives to it, including my fellow honorees, Dr. Jonah Hassenfeld and Joey Weisenberg.

To my mother and Paul; my brothers, Arnie and Marc; my wife Julie; and our sons, Joseph and Benjamin: when I think of Dad’s question about quality of life, I think of the life we share. Your love, strength, patience, and support inspire and sustain me every day. V’chaita nafshi bigla’laychem, My soul lives because of you!

Thirty years later, I wish I could tell my dad about the life I lead. About the people who have filled it with meaning. And about the work still ahead to leave this world better than the way we found it.

And I can say with fulfillment and hope: “Yeah, Dad, I’m sure about this.”