Mishpatim is the type of Torah Portion that makes B’nai Mitzvah students groan. No catastrophic forces of nature as in Noach. No dramatic family sagas like those of Jacob and Joseph. No cruel pharaoh, eye-popping plagues, or anxious flight into the wilderness. Mishpatim is mostly about laws which God tells to Moses who then tells […]
Shalom Kitah Gimel Students and Families #15
After students led the Blessings for Torah Study and cookies, we zipped through the attendance conversation, which students now know quite well. In order to review the words which students had studied at home over the past week, we played a game called “Back-Words.” Each student received a Hebrew word attached to a ribbon. The […]
From Sinai to Cyberspace, Pt. 2: Thawing out
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 […]
Highly Recommended – The Teacher’s Big Book of Graphic Organizers
I’ve added a new book to my collection of teaching resources – The Teacher’s Big Book of Graphic Organizers by Katherine S. McKnight, published by Jossey-Bass www.josseybass.com Graphic organizers are formats for presenting information visually. If you’ve ever drawn a circle with lines coming out of it to represent a main topic (circle) and sub-topics […]
From Sinai to Cyberspace, Pt. 1: Preparing to freeze.
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 […]
Shabbat Commentary – Yitro
The grand event in Parshat Yitro is the revelation at Mt. Sinai, preceded by God’s promise to the Israelites that they will be God’s “treasure” (Exodus 19:5) if they “listen” to God and keep God’s Covenant. Scrubbed and trembling, the Israelites stand at the foot of the mountain, awed by a spectacular, theatrical display of […]
Shalom Kitah Gimel Students and Families #14
In Wednesday Hebrew class, we began, as always, with the Blessings for Torah Study and cookies. Then, students received grape juice and a copy of the Kiddush Blessing which is recited on Friday evening to welcome Shabbat. Kiddush on Wednesday?! As we read through the Hebrew, students identified words, like Kiddush, formed from the root […]
Tu B’Shvat – Happy Birthday Trees from the Fourth Grade
“Ha Shkeidia Porachat…Tu B’Shvat Higiah – The almond tree is blossoming…Tu B’Shvat is coming” This Israeli children’s song doesn’t exactly describe Tu B’Shvat in my neighborhood, but is a reminder that in Eretz Yisrael, trees are really beginning to bud and the ground is warm enough to plant saplings. On Tu B’Shvat (the 15th day […]
Commentary – Beshallach
Parshat Beshallach might be called “Days of Whine and Moses.” The Israelites’ behavior in Beshallach is an embarrassment, a shonda, as my mother would say in Yiddish. After experiencing God’s protection from Ten devastating Plagues, after escaping from slavery to freedom under the leadership of Moses who communicated directly with God, the Israelites had the […]
Missing Debbie
I’ve had a rough week. To begin with, January is my least favorite month, and I seem to feel the cold even deeper this week. Some of you may have heard that singer, song-writer Debbie Friedman just passed away. She was an important part of my life, and on so many levels connected me to […]
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