For many religious school teachers, it’s report card time. The synagogue-based religious school where I teach uses the term, “Progress Report,” which is a more accurate description of this document in the context of a two-day-a-week religious education program. Unlike the grade and behavior oriented report cards of a secular school or Jewish day school, […]
The Bible Code – Holy or Hole-y
The History Channel recently featured a lengthy program called “The Bible Code.” The Bible Code is a computer generated search of the Hebrew Torah Text for “grids” of words that allegedly prophesize some cataclysmic historical event such as Napoleon’s conquests, World War II, or 9/11. The Bible Code turns the Torah into a giant word […]
Words of Wisdom for Shabbat – Shemot
This week’s Torah Portion, Shemot, begins Sefer Shemot or the Book of Exodus. In Parshat Shemot, a cruel Pharaoh comes to power. Baby Moses is rescued from the Nile by Pharoah’s daughter. When grown, Moses kills an Egyptian who is beating a Jewish slave and flees to Midian where he marries Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah. God […]
People of the Kindle?
A friend came to visit recently and brought his new Kindle. It was the first time I’d seen one close-up. Our friend described the Kindle’s amazing capabilities including its capacity to store 3000 books. “It only takes a few seconds to download an entire book,” he pointed out. Could the Kindle be a metaphor for […]
Words of Wisdom for Shabbat – Vayechi
We have now reached Vayechi, the final portion of the Book of B’reishit . Under Joseph’s care, Jacob and sons are thriving in Egypt. As Jacob nears the end of his life, he blesses Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob also blesses each of his own sons with blessings that are at once poetic and […]
Shalom Kitah Gimel Students and Families #11
Students led the Blessings for Torah Study and cookies and zipped through the Hebrew attendance conversation, which they now know very well. Today, we celebrated a special finale – the final Portion of the Joseph story which is also the final Portion of the Book of B’reishit (Genesis). Students used packets of information to review […]
“Lessons and Carols” – “December Dilemma”
I had intended to write about the winter vacation activity which I’ve planned for my Hebrew School students. Instead, however,an experience which I had yesterday is very much on my mind. I frequently exercise at a facility which is run by a local hospital. This hospital was founded by and bears the name of a […]
Words of Wisdom for Shabbat – Vayigash
The story of Joseph which has been unfolding over the two previous Parshot reaches a dramatic climax in this week’s Parsha, Vayigash. Joseph has made it appear that Benjamin is a thief and threatens to enslave Jacob’s beloved youngest son. Judah eloquently pleas for Benjamin’s release by recounting in detail how Benjamin came to Egypt […]
Shalom Kitah Gimel Students and Families #10
Today we celebrated the eighth night of Hanukkah and the first day of the Hebrew month of Tevet. After a student led the Blessings for Torah Study and cookies, we used Hanukkah vocabulary to practice the Hebrew language patterns which translate as “I want,” “Here is,” and “I have.” In our textb00k, Shalom Ivrit, we […]
Creating Community in the Classroom and Beyond
I recently attended a wonderful faculty meeting. That might sound like an oxymoron, but this meeting was really informative, stimulating, – and fun! As one of the activities, we were given a sheet detailing ways of “Creating Community in Learning Environments.” We were asked to discuss how we might apply the concepts presented on the […]
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