OUSD Celebrates Jewish American Heritage Month Throughout May

May is Jewish American Heritage Month, and every year, we recognize the invaluable contributions of Jewish Americans to the fabric of our nation and the vibrant tapestry of our District. This celebration comes at a time when there has been a dangerous rise in antisemitism in California and across the country. While the Jewish people have always faced persecution over their 3,500 year history, they have survived and thrived, playing an instrumental role in building and supporting the social justice movements that are at our country’s core, from the establishment of labor unions to the launching of national civil rights organizations.

There are approximately 15 million Jewish people in the world today, with 90% of Jewish people residing in either the United States or Israel. The Bay Area is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the United States. Over the centuries, Jewish people have been persecuted and expelled from countries around the world. One of the central aspects of Jewish heritage is its deep-rooted tradition of scholarship and intellectual pursuit. From the ancient wisdom of the Torah to the groundbreaking discoveries of Jewish scientists and thinkers throughout the ages, the quest for knowledge has been a central tenet of Jewish culture. Scholars like Maimonides, Spinoza, and Einstein have left an enduring legacy that continues to inspire generations of thinkers and innovators.

Here are four Jewish Americans who made, and continue to make, a difference in American life. Left to right, they are:

• Daveed Diggs - Oakland-born artist who starred in Blindspotting and Hamilton.
• Levi Strauss - Inventor of the blue jean.
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg - Served on the U.S. Supreme Court from 1993-2020
• Harvey Milk - First openly gay man elected to office in California, served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Closer to home, here are two of our wonderful staff members who are Jewish, and their thoughts on this month’s celebration.

Sean Sawyer is a Reading Acceleration Teacher at Roosevelt Middle School. He is African American, and he converted to Judaism. “It is a Mitzvah (a good deed done from religious duty) to study and engage in Torah and as a reading acceleration teacher, I am able to fulfill this obligation five days a week. For clarification, when I say "engage with Torah" I mean both studying the text and applying my interpretation of the text in my everyday life. The way in which I do so in the classroom is by challenging our scholars to dream and dream big, to imagine a world outside of the East Bay, to imagine an ideal Oakland, and to find a deeper meaning in the text we read. Being both African American and Jewish I am marginalized in America both racially and spiritually. Being both those things here in Oakland, however, means in some capacity I share common ground with our Muslim, Christian, and Buddhist families in our struggle to guide the world in a direction that serves the many and not just the few.”

Jessica Cannon is the Principal of Chabot Elementary (shown at her son’s Bar Mitzvah), and is soon transitioning to lead our Early Childhood Education Department. Her grandparents escaped anti-semitism in Russia before immigrating to the United States. Jessica says her strong Jewish roots have informed much of her work in OUSD over the past 26 years. “A core tenet of Jewish tradition is the idea of “tikkun olam,” which means to repair the world. Our tradition teaches that the world we live in is broken and its repair rests in the hands of each of us. While no one is expected to single-handedly mend the fractures, we are all compelled to do our part. As an OUSD educator, I have been inspired by this teaching over and over again. Understanding that from ancient times to present day Jewish people have faced persecution, discrimination, and attempts at erasure, it is a moral imperative to do my part to create a world where every identity can be celebrated and honored.”

Reading Lists

In addition to highlighting our staff, we’d like to share a reading list that samples works for all grade spans and reading levels, including historical fiction, memoires, and graphic novels. These books are just a few that highlight the experiences and perspectives of and about people of Jewish descent and demonstrate a rich diversity in themes, locations, and narrative styles. Students can access each of these texts, and many more, for free in Sora, our digital District Library collection.

• Awe-Some Days (Kinder - 3rd Grade)
• Chunky (4th-5th grade)
• Across So Many Seas (Middle School)
• The Magical Imperfect (Middle School)
• They Went Left (High School)

Lastly, this is a proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month from President Joe Biden. In it, he says in part, “It is our shared moral responsibility to forcefully stand up to antisemitism and to make clear that hate can have no safe harbor in America.”

Oakland Unified remains committed to fostering an environment in which all students and staff of every background feel valued and respected. As we celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month, it is important to reiterate that OUSD stands with the President, firmly against antisemitism and united against all forms of hate. The experiences of the Jewish American community are diverse and we invite you to join us in learning more about, and honoring Jewish American Heritage Month.