California Jewish school receives backlash after name change

By Kelsi Thorud

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    PALO ALTO, California (KPIX) — A Jewish school in Palo Alto is receiving backlash from members of its community for dropping a key word from its name.

Everyone connected to The Kehillah School, from faculty to former students, has nothing but great things to say about it.

“We are a distinctly Jewish school. We are purposefully pluralistic and we are intentionally inclusive,” said Rabbi Dennis Eisner, the school’s dean of Jewish life and philanthropy.

“It was top-tier academics. I had small classes. From then, I graduated in 2010, to now, it’s 2024, the school has doubled in size actually,” said Dan Waisbein, a Kehillah alumnus.

The small private high school in Palo Alto has become enthralled in controversy because of a recent name change.

“It goes against everything that Kehillah was founded upon, its Jewish identity and it being the only Jewish high school in the South Bay,” said Waisbein.

A few months ago, the school officially changed its name from Kehillah Jewish High School to The Kehillah School. Rabbi Dennis Eisner, the Dean of Jewish Life and Philanthropy at the school says it was a decision that’s been in the works for years and one that was made with the intention of making the school more inclusive.

“‘Kehillah’ is a Hebrew word which means ‘community’ and that word we love and we’ve always held onto it. As a matter of fact, most people if they ever referred to the school just called it Kehillah anyway,” said Eisner.

But many alumni including Waisbein saw the name change as a move to try and hide the school’s true identity.

“I think, you know, we just need to say it how it is, this is an act for Kehillah to distance itself from the Jewish community by removing the Jewish name in part,” said Waisbein.

Waisbein and close to 700 others connected to the school have signed a petition calling for the school to return to its previous name. He says it’s especially important right now as the war between Israel and Hamas has put many Jewish communities on edge.

“It’s conveying that it’s acceptable to distance yourself from your true identity when times get tough or there’s external pressures and that’s what the Jewish community is doing right now and this isn’t the time to do that,” said Waisbein. “It’s time to do the opposite, where Judaism and being proud of it, we need to double down and be proud of who we are and stand up for what is right.”

But Eisner says the notion the school is trying to hide its Jewish identity is ludicrous.

“Nothing could be further from the truth. Nobody’s hiding, as a matter of fact we’re so proud of who we are and for good reason. You know we fly the Israeli flag when you walk in the front of the building. You see the Israeli flag, you see the American flag, you see the flag of California. If we were hiding something we would put that flag away,” said Rabbi Eisner.

The rabbi invited Waisbein and other alumni concerned with the name change to come and tour the school. Waisbein said he would be interested in the Eisner’s offer but says he and the hundreds of other petitioners still believe the name needs to change back.

“One of the main takeaways in the petition is that, you know, it says it in black and white, is that at this time all the 700 people who have signed it, we would find it hard to support the school going forward,” said Waisbein.

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