Parents at Arabella Kushner's D.C. School Voice Concerns About a Trump in Their Midst
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump's eldest child, Arabella, reportedly began classes at the Jewish Primary Day School in Washington, D.C. this week. As you might imagine, the reaction among parents has been strong-and not just because a high-profile new family has joined the school.
The running joke at the school is that "parents are saying Kaddish for the election," one parent said, referring to the traditional Jewish prayer of mourning. "The other night, I heard a parent who was very upset saying, 'I can't believe they're invading my personal space! They're against everything I stand for!'"
When it comes to Parents' Night, it's going to be really awkward.
The school's spokesperson, Richard Mintz, told me that JPDS would not confirm the attendance of any student at the school. "Without referring to any specific family or child," he said, "the school is a community day school. It welcomes everyone; there are lots of different people, and lots of different opinions, and everybody gets along."
But Trump's victory last November was so upsetting to the school that Head of School Naomi Reem sent a letter to the parent body addressing their fears about the Trump's victory (you can read the letter in full here). She opened the email by evoking her own childhood memories of a military coup in Argentina:
Forty years ago, in my first week of high school, a military coup put an end to the democratically elected government in Argentina, where I was born and raised. Sixteen years later, I arrived in the US, on Election Day 1992, and listened to Bill Clinton's victory speech in my hotel room, understanding only every other word. Little did I know that several presidents later I would be writing a letter to families in Washington DC about yet another Election Day.
She went on to praise America's long history of democracy, free elections, and the peaceful transition of power. And as any responsible grown-up would, she advised parents not to be sore losers:
We also reminded our kids that just as when they play games or sports, the person who wins the election needs to gracious and the person who loses needs to accept defeat. But there is always another game to play in the future and there is a new chance for winning next time.
According to the parent who shared this letter, the email was Reem's way of responding to "the incredibly sorrowful atmosphere among the school parents and even the school children who were horrified after the election of Trump." This is perhaps not surprising since more than 90 percent of Washington D.C. voters cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton.
The parent body's reaction probably won't come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the ethos of JPDS. The school is progressive, as is the parent body. "I'm amused," said the parent, "because if [the Trump-Kushners] had done their research they would know it's like going to a hippie colony. It would be like Donald Trump going to Woodstock!"
Jared and Ivanka should know it's like going to a hippie colony.
None of the parents with whom I spoke for this story suggested that five-year-old Arabella will be anything other than welcomed with open arms and "will be treated nicely and get playdates."
The school is used to famous and well-connected families. In 2013, Tablet magazine called JPDS "the place to be for the kids of Washington's politically connected Jews" and "an informal epicenter of Jewish life in Obama's Washington." Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel's children were enrolled when he worked as President Obama's chief of staff, and the younger daughter of Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is also an alum.
But parents see the Trump-Kushner family as different. One reason they are so upset, said the parent, is that "Kushner not only defended him and ran the campaign, but after the 'grab 'em by the pussy' tape-a phrase you would never hear from one of the parents at that school-it was reported that Kushner took time off on the Sabbath to help Trump deal with that."
"The idea that someone would make such a song and dance about being an observant Jew and support a racist like Donald Trump cuts to the core."
"Look, I don't know the guy," said another parent, referring to Kushner, "but his hands are not clean here."
The idea that someone would make such a song and dance about being an observant Jew and support a racist like Donald Trump cuts to the core.
Many parents said it is their faith that led them to oppose Trump. "We teach our children from a very young age that we were strangers in Egypt and have an obligation to help a stranger wherever they are. The rhetoric on immigrants and refugees is gravely concerning from a Jewish perspective, and not just refugees and immigrants, but also the rhetoric on the LGBTQ community, minorities, and persecuted and vulnerable communities, period."
Another point of contention for parents is that Trump and his administration seem to be profoundly hostile to science. "There is a very strong science curriculum at the school, and in the first week this administration has done more than anyone could have feared to try to silence science-from telling the EPA to remove all references to climate change from its website to forbidding scientists from posting any information to government websites. That runs in direct conflict with a school community that is very much focused on science," the parent added.
The school will continue to teach real science regardless of whose children and grandchildren are here.
Still, he said he "certainly expect[s] the school will continue to teach real science based on evidence gathering and facts regardless of whose children and grandchildren are [enrolled]."
All the parents I spoke to report that Arabella's reception at the school has been a warm one. "The staff are falling over themselves to be attentive to the child," said a parent. "In part, that is normal when a new child comes in outside of the usual intake times. And in part, it is because the parents are high-profile and extremely wealthy."
What remains to be seen is whether Jared and Ivanka will be received as pleasantly. "When it comes to Parents' Night, it's going to be really awkward, entertainingly awkward," the same parent said. "People are going to turn their backs on them, and some might say to their face, 'I reject the racism you stand for.'"
Fortunately for the school and its families, Judaism offers a model for handling conflict as well. "JPDS is truly a community school that welcomes families across the full spectrum of Jewish observance and political opinion," said Mintz, the school spokesperson. "And we've managed to all get along well, even if occasionally with some respectful disagreement in the Talmudic tradition."
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