Yesterday, I was greatly saddened to learn that master Jewish educator Peter Stark, had died in early January. I had the pleasure of working with Peter on several projects for CAJE (the former Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education). I first met Peter when he chaired the 1995 CAJE 20 Conference at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. As a co-chair of the Educational Resource Center, I was a member of Peter’s mazkirut (steering committee). He was an innovative, visionary leader who encouraged us to think creatively about our various conference responsibilities. With Peter’s support, I and the two other co-chairs of the Educational Resource Center set up a huge room filled with exciting resource displays contributed by dozens of Jewish educators and assorted hands-on activities. It was a fantastic experience! In later CAJE Conferences, Peter and I worked on various projects that benefitted greatly from his understanding of the learning process; his lively sense of humor and presentation; and his knowledgeable application of technology to Jewish education. I learned from him at every encounter. The Program Book from CAJE 20 is still on my bookshelf. Thinking of Peter, I leafed through it – and learned from him once again. I discovered what I had missed back in 1995, that in addition to a welcome letter, Peter had written two introductory articles. One article was a thoughtful, scholarly background piece on Shmuel HaNagid, a medieval Spanish Jewish poet, community leader and general, whose poetry was the source of the CAJE 20 signature quote,”One who comes to understand is like a tree bearing sweet fruit; each leaf brings healing.”In relating the achievements of Shmuel HaNagid to the attendees at CAJE 20, Peter wrote,”At CAJE 20, let us aspire as Jewish educators to the versatility of the Nagid, mastering diverse arts and sciences, literate in the highest sense, embracing unafraid the secular world around him, secure in the power and creativity of his Jewish identity.”The second article was a humorous look at the history of the Massachusetts Jewish community in which Paul Revere’s ride cleverly became (Rebbe) Polrever’s Ride and “Yankee Doodle” morphed into “Yankl’s Duty!” I wish I had taken note of these articles at the time and complimented Peter on his skill as a writer.Time is short and life more uncertain than we know. Messages of value, like Peter’s, can escape our attention for far too long, until it’s too late to respond and we’re left alone to learn from our oversight. I am grateful to have grown professionally from Peter’s wise guidance. I mourn the loss of this remarkable Jewish educator. May Peter Stark’s memory be for a Blessing. Examples of Peter Stark’s wonderful “teaching strategies” may be found in Carol Starin’s article on the Torah Aura Bulletin Board www.torahaura.com
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