President’s Message GIL FELDMAN

The most horrific and awesome volcano eruption that has ever occurred in the history of the world is known as the Toba Supereruption (you would think scientists would have been a little more creative in their naming mechanism). This powerful eruption gave birth to what is known as the Toba Catastrophe Theory which posits that all of humanity was on the verge of extinction due to a resulting 10-year-long winter which nearly destroyed all vegetation and caused a severe drought. Estimates range that the global population dropped between 3,000 and 10,000 individuals.

Supporters of this well regarded theory are confronted with a particularly difficult question: with the global population at such dangerously low levels, how did humanity rally and survive? As Professor Jonathan Haidt’s notes in his exquisite book, The Righteous Mind

“Let’s imagine that 95% of the food on Earth magically disappears tonight, guaranteeing that almost all of us will starve to death within two months. Law and order collapse. Chaos and mayhem ensue. Who among us will still be alive a year from now? Will it be the biggest, strongest, and most violent individuals in each town? Or will it be the people who manage to work together in groups to monopolize, hide, and share the remaining food supplies among themselves?” (Haidt, Jonathan. The Righteous Mind. New York Vintage: 2013 pg. 252)

Haidt asserts that humanity likely flourished as a result of communal cohesiveness, where individuals and families did not prioritize their personal needs but rather cooperated with their surrounding communities to ensure that communal needs were primarily being met. Several examples are given of the dominant male who tried to take charge of a community only to have his rule overturned by the masses as a result of them feeling that he was too controlling and did not represent the needs and concerns of the community.

Both of our honorees this evening are couples that are well in touch with our community and have humbly and unpretentiously been actively involved in our school. Mikey and Ariella, both alum, have lived a very Farber Hebrew Day School centric life. Mikey has been a long-standing board member (and executive committee member), while Ariella has been a mainstay as a teacher in our Judaic Studies curriculum. Their upcoming Aliyah is a true testament to our success as a school in seeing our mission statement lived out.

The school owes a tremendous amount of Hakarat Hatov to Marty and Sarah Kornblum. From their four boys firming up the Farber athletic teams, to their unyielding commitment to anything Farber related and their willingness to roll up their sleeves for any school cause, we, Farber Hebrew Day School, are exceptionally fortunate to have the Kornblums in our community.

May we continue to be blessed with families that prioritize the communal good over the needs of individuals. However, we should rest assured that if we ever faced a Supereruption again, we would be in good hands with our honorees at the helm.