(“The Torah Team” posts share experiences which my husband and I have as we study with B’nai Mitzvah families and guide them in the preparation of D’vrei Torah.) One of the special pleasures of studying with B’nai Mitzvah families is watching how each student makes a personal connection to his/her Torah Portion. We’ve just completed […]

Eons ago in the 1990’s, as director of a Jewish Teacher Resource Center, I gave workshop presentations on “Being Resource-full in Jewish Education.” In one presentation I handed out shoelaces to represent the “shoestring” budgets that Jewish teachers and administrators were required to stretch. Toward the end of the workshop, I handed out index cards […]

Back-To-What! The long days of summer have been rolling by – fun at camp, sun at the beach, mountain hikes, lazy days, a huge aisle-filling supermarket display of backpacks, folders, and notebooks! Whoa! Like a brisk autumn breeze, the commercial world sweeps us from vacation mode to bustling back-to-school preparations. It’s SOS time. Time to […]

Last Shabbat, when the Torah Scroll was raised following the completion of Sefer B’Midbar, I was startled to see how “unbalanced” it was. Most of the Torah Scroll containing the first four Books had, of course, been wound to one side, leaving only Sefer D’varim to be chanted in the 5773 Torah cycle. This image […]

“Reaching Kitah Gimel ” posts are a continuing feature which present learning activities which I’ve recently used with my 6th grade Hebrew class. These activities can easily be modified for use with students in other grade levels including adult education. Continue Reading…

Shalom! It has been months since my last post, but now I’m back to continue sharing activities, projects, techniques, resources, and commentary – all related to Jewish Education and lifelong Jewish Learning. This past school year, I tried several new approaches to engaging my 6th grade Kitah Gimel Hebrew school students. The next several posts […]

Today is day 3 in the hideous unfolding of events which began in Sandy Hook Elementary School in bucolic Newtown, Connecticut. Today we’re learning the names and personal details of the victims. Choked voices tell of a six year old girl whose little sisters looked up to her; of another young child who was passionate […]

During the Erev Simchat Torah service at our synagogue (Congregation Albert in Albuquerque, NM), the congregation was invited to stand shoulder to shoulder around the Sanctuary to support the Torah Scroll as it was unrolled from hand to hand. The personal imagery of being surrounded by Torah, engulfed in Torah, touched by Torah, supporting Torah […]