At Sulam, our team of educators is always thinking about how to help students make progress in their academic, social, and emotional lives. We all know that doing well in school is not the ultimate goal. We are looking ahead to our students’ futures as adults, and their ability to not only navigate a complex and forever changing world, but to live deeply fulfilling and meaningful lives.

Human fulfillment is the great challenge of life. People tend to spend so much time doing things they don’t want to do, instead of the things they do want to do. As adults we make promises to ourselves that are hard to keep regarding diet, exercise, sleep, and a vast milieu of personal interests that get put aside for other, often unimportant activities.

On Rosh Hashanah we celebrate the birthday of man. It is during this time that we are tasked with careful reflection of the past year; mistakes that were made, and, with acknowledgement and repentance, the promise of a fresh and new beginning. But each new beginning can quickly spiral back into old habits. How can we decide to live a life of meaning in which we are not distracted by the meaningless?

Time. The first and most important step to living a life of fulfillment and meaning is to realize that every single day is a gift from G-d. Ask anyone who has had a near death experience. There are so many stories of people who “saw life pass in front of their eyes.” Those who have had this type of experience are given the gift of recognizing the immeasurable value of time. With this recognition, meaningless activities easily fall away, and what’s important - family, friends, chesed, tzedakah, and striving to improve - become the essence of life.

These are some of the important lessons that our students at Sulam learn. Yes, we build habits and skills that impact their day to day learning. But it is the culmination of these skills and habits that we hope will result in their ability to carpe diem, seize the day, every day for the rest of their lives.

Wishing our students, their families, and the community a happy new year, and one that is complete with meaning and fulfillment.


Lianne Heller
Executive Director
Sulam