A Letter from the Editor: Celebrating DJDS at 50

I’m at that point as an editor where I’ve started to forget the letters I’ve written, and I imagine some readers might feel the same. With the range of perspectives and topics in this edition, I’ll try to keep this one brief. 

This issue of The Paw brings together reporting on school, local, and global topics, alongside reflections on DJDS’s 50th year anniversary. The goal of this issue is to tell the story of DJDS through different journalistic avenues. 

For me, this edition is especially personal. My grandfather, Marvin Kark z”l, was a founder of this school. I was never really close with him, but I often ask myself, “What would he think about the state of the school now?” 

There is simply no easy way to answer that. But as we approach the 50th anniversary Annual Dinner, I like to imagine him taking it all in: the community we have built, the students so engaged in Jewish learning, the growth over the decades, and feeling proud of what his vision, along with the many other founders and visionaries, has become. 

You may have also noticed that three of our editors, some of the best, will be leaving staff at the end of the year. Sophia Gitler, Karen Gerecht, and Soren Goldberg-Butler are some of the best people I have ever met, honestly and truthfully, and it has been an honor and a privilege to have them on staff, some for as long as I have been. 

As we wish them goodbye, I welcome you to read their senior letters from an editor on page 15. I want to thank them for their dedication to The Paw, for the school for supporting student journalism, and our readers for following us. 

Fifty years of DJDS is no small milestone. Whether you’re reading this at home, in a car, or at the dinner itself, I hope this edition sparks reflection and pride in all we’ve built together. Here’s to the next fifty years— may they be just as full of stories worth telling. 

From my desk to yours,

Cooper Coughlan