Robyn Faintich (@Jewishgps and JewishGPS) posted this piece entitled “Todah Rabah to our Educators!”on Davar Acher-On the Other Hand  blog on Sunday. In it she celebrates the profession of Jewish educators and their role in building the Jewish future. As a Director of Education in a congregational school, I would like to say Todah Rabah […]

As I reflect on the Jewish Educators Assembly conference that just ended, the lyrics of an old song pops into my head: “There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.”  It’s not that we’re clueless when it comes to us knowing what Jewish education will look like in the future; it’s just that […]

I’m sitting in a pizza joint in Palm Beach International, waiting for my flight to the frozen tundra of southern New Jersey.  Why would I, a 17 year resident of tropical Florida be braving the Arctic cold of the North East?  What would have prompted me to purchased a down jacket – my first since […]

I’ve written a lot over the last year and a half about creating a Jewish  tomorrow. Cyd Weissman, Director of Innovation in Congregational Learning at The Jewish Education Project recently posted a piece entitled “inspired by a student: an article about new models” on her blog Cyd Weissman Takes LOMED Challenge.  In it she presents […]

When I was a kid I loved tinker-toys. I would spend hours constructing skeletal looking and what I thought were futuristic buildings.  I never knew what the outcome would be, I didn’t know if what I was building would stand up to the forces of nature or my brother’s kicks, but I had fun.  I […]

When I first read this past Sunday’s New York Time’s article on digital B’nai Mitzvah preparation, my first thought was that it was intriguing that this topic would be the lead story in, of all things, the Fashion and Style section. It then occurred to me that the topic’s visibility in the soft news section […]

I came across this poem recently. It’s by Leonard Cohen and appeared in his collection entitled Book of Longing. There’s something about it that has touched my soul, and won’t leave. I thought I’d share this as my Shabbat Shalom wish to you all. You might be a person who likes to argue with Eternity. […]

I’m a bowler. I’m in a league. Sometimes I hate it. You see, once the ball is rolled, the outcome is by no means assured. I can control how I grasp the ball, swing and release it, but that’s it. Once it’s thrown, it interacts with the oil that is spread on the lane and […]

Repentance.  Renewal.  Returning to our pure selves.  Looking in the mirror.  T’shuvah. One of my favorite midrashim is about Reb Zusya – who upon his death was worried that he had been emulating Moses and Abraham too much, and not achieving his own Zusya potential – “In the world to come, they will not ask […]

Of late I’ve been obsessing about the controversy over the Muslim center in lower Manhattan.  Those of you who pay attention to my tweets or Facebook postings will have noticed this.  There’s a very simple reason. B-14777 That’s the number on my father’s arm. We children of survivors are witnesses.  Imbedded in our genes is […]