More from the URJ Biennial

Must-see vidoes& must-read speeches:

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the incoming URJ President, on the future of the Reform Movement:
http://blogs.rj.org/blog/2011/12/18/at-the-end-of-two-years/

Dr. Wendy Mogel, 2011 Biennial Plenary, The Blessing of a B Minus:



21st Century Education in New Brunswick, Canada (shown by Dr. Jonathan Woocher at the Biennial)... makes you think about what education, including Jewish education, should look like in a world that's changing very quickly!

URJ Biennial & Education Summit

About 5000 or more people have gathered in Washington, DC for this year's URJ Biennial, along with the "Education Summit" to talk about Jewish education in the 21st century.  I've been following events via Twitter (#edsummit11 and #URJBiennial), and I've heard fantastic things about a talk by Jonathan Woocher, "Chief Ideas Officer" at JESNA.  Here is a blog post from Rabbi Paul Kipnes about Woocher's talk, titled "Jewish Education is Dead; Long Live Jewish Education"... very inspiring!

Dream Doctors - Religious School Tzedakah Recipients

This year our sixth graders selected the Dream Doctors Project to be the recipients of our Religious School Tzedakah Drive.  The following video gives an inside look at the profession of "Medical Clowning" in Israel and specifics about the Dream Doctors Project.  It's a fantastic way to help hospitalized children, and I'm proud of our sixth graders for selecting such a wonderful organization!

'Tis the Season... for creative Chanukah videos on You Tube!

The new Fountainheads video, "Light up the Night":


The new Maccabeats video, "Miracle":


The 'old' Maccabeats video, "Candlelight," an oldie but a goodie:

Hebrew through TPR

This year we have a new "Hebrew Task Force" that is looking at better ways to teach Hebrew in our Religious School in the coming months and years.  As part of this effort, we have implemented a form of language learning called TPR (Total Physical Response), based on a curriculum called "Ivrit Bitnuah - Hebrew through Movement" developed by Dr. Lifsa Schachter and edited by Nachama Skolnik Moskowitz and Paula Sass at the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland.

TPR is a method of language learning that was developed in San Jose in the 1970s by Dr. James Asher, and it is based on the belief that people learn languages best the same way they do when they are babies / toddlers.  You begin by listening and watching, then doing, then a long time later, you learn how to speak.  We are implementing TPR in a few of our Religious School classes this year as an experiment to find out how it helps our students learn Hebrew.  My two primary goals for TPR at Isaiah are for kids to find Hebrew learning fun / engaging, and to provide a better aural / oral basis for learning how to decode and recite prayers.

The following links take you to videos of TPR with kids and adults of all ages... see below these links for videos of very our own students learning Hebrew through TPR at Temple Isaiah!

TPR and language acquisition

6^th grade Spanish demonstration of TPR

4-6 year olds learn German (definitely not the first TPR lesson!)

TPR with adults (learning English)

TPR, young kids learning English, run / stop / jump / etc.

TPR in Africa

Hebrew TPR with our Kindergarteners & 1st graders:


Hebrew TPR with 3rd and 4th graders in Teva (nature track):


Hebrew TPR with 5th & 6th graders in Edot (culture track):

New Music by Shira Students

Throughout the year our Shira students learn a lot of new Jewish music.  Some of the music is actually new (i.e. written recently), and some of it is simply new to our students and/or our community.  This year, the Shira students were asked to re-write lyrics to melodies of songs they have learned so far this year.  They wrote lyrics about Thanksgiving or their experiences in Shira... they had free reign to be as creative as they wanted to be!  For more information about what Shira has been up to, please feel free to visit Elaya's Shira blog.  In the meantime, check out the following four videos of their 'performances' for one another in class, right before the Thanksgiving break:

Max, Ben, Benji ("Turn the World Around" melody):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cQmCpT9j_Y

Maddy, Margot, Sophia ("The Hope" melody):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sOnzGpsY6c

Ellie, Lily, Hannah P., Deborah, Emma ("Oseh Shalom" melody): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3zay6iGIyk

Sarah M., Alexandra, Sarah M. ("Sabbath Prayer" melody): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N22GSxB0NA

Creation Story by Teva Students

3rd & 4th graders in our Teva (nature) program created a really cool video that tells the story of creation from Genesis 1... check it out!

Why I can't stand the term "Religious School"

Ever since I was a little kid, "Religious School" has had a bad rap.  I didn't like "Religious School" as a kid, and even though I am the Director of a Religious School now, I still can't stand the terminology.  Let's see if I can break down the reasons why the term "Religious School" drives me bananas (but also why we haven't changed it at Temple Isaiah):

• Neither "Religious" nor "School" describes Jewish education very well.  The term conjures up images of kids sitting at desks with textbooks discussing 'religious' things like what the Bible says about X or Y and what kids should know / believe about God.  However, that is not what Jewish education is (or should be, in my view)...
• Jewish education is best when it doesn't look like, sound, or feel like "school."  Yes, we have a curriculum and teachers, and yes, we are trying to help our students learn.  But in my mind, that's where the similarities between "Jewish education" and "school" should end.  We are not trying to teach subject matter for the sake of mastery of facts or progression from one grade to the next.  We are trying to teach identity, to instill a sense of commitment to and excitement about Jewish life and Jewish peoplehood.  Many studies have shown that the best forms of Jewish education (i.e. the ones that 'work' the best) are informal - Jewish camps, youth groups, trips to Israel, etc.  So the less our educational programs look like 'school,' the more successful they will be in trying to achieve our goals of building Jewish identity, enthusiasm, and commitment.
• Jewish education is not necessarily (and certainly not always) "religious."  Judaism is a religion - sort of - but it is also a culture, a people, a way of life, a tradition, a community, a nation, a sense of identity and a way of seeing and understanding the world.  Jewish education ought to help kids find various entry points to Jewish life - to see themselves as part of the chain of tradition of the Jewish people, in whatever way that might be.  So when we call our program "religious," it is pretty misleading.  For some people, the religious aspect of Jewish life is essential, compelling, meaningful.  For others, 'religion' itself is a turn-off and something to avoid.  We do talk about and learn about 'religious' things in Jewish education - we explore different connections to God, we study 'religious' texts, we experience prayer - but it is a misnomer to say that what we are doing is 'Religious School' in its entirety.

So why do we still call our program at Temple Isaiah "Religious School"?  I think it's due to advertising / PR... because of the longstanding view that many parents have that they should send their kids to "Religious School."  When people visit our website, and they have children ages Pre-K to 6th grade, one of the first things they look for is information about our "Religious School."  If we change the name of our educational program to something else, we would probably still have to put the term "Religious School" in parentheses to let people know that it's our version of Religious School, even though it has a different name.  

Also, what would be a better, more descriptive name?  The term "Talmud Torah" is a little bit better, since the word "Talmud" comes from the Hebrew word for learning / teaching, and the word "Torah" of course refers to the actual Torah but also to the whole corpus of Jewish literature / text / learning.  So that could work.  Do you have other ideas?  I'm open to suggestions!!

Health

Health is a funny thing.  One minute you're fine, and the next you've got something that won't go away.  I was diagnosed with pneumonia recently, and it's been a strange and somewhat new experience for me.  The doctor keeps telling me to stay home and rest, but it's just not in my nature to take it easy!  Nevertheless, I'm trying to follow doctors' orders and take care of myself.  In the meantime, I've been thinking a lot about the miracle of our bodies (see my previous post) and my gratitude that most things do work, most of the time.  Baruch Atah Adonah, rofeh kol basar u'mafli la'asot.  Blessed are you, Adonai, who heals all flesh, working wondrously.

Thanking God for our Bodies

Last Sunday I did a short teaching during tefillah for the 3rd-5th graders on a prayer called 'Asher Yatzar.'  More popularly known as the "bathroom blessing," Asher Yatzar is a prayer we say at the beginning of morning services when we thank God that our bodies are more-or-less working.  I noted that when you think about the thousands (maybe millions?) of things that have to work JUST SO in order for us to be alive, much less functioning well, it's really miraculous!

Unfortunately I've been sick for most of the past week.  I have a bad cold that I can't seem to shake.  I've been thinking about Asher yatzar, realizing that when even just a few small things go 'wrong' with our physical health, it can make us feel pretty miserable.  And all the more so when there's something bigger that's not functioning properly...

So why is this prayer sometimes called the "Bathroom Blessing"?  There's a Jewish custom of saying 100 blessings a day, and one of the ways we can get up to 100 blessings is by saying one every time we go to the bathroom.  The prayer Asher Yatzar thanks God that the things in our bodies that are supposed to be open are actually open, and the things that are closed are actually closed.  How true that is when we use the bathroom - we are grateful when the 'plumbing' works correctly!  So the custom is to use the bathroom and then say the blessing to remember that even something as simple and mundane as going to the bathroom is a miraculous gift, indeed, could be seen as a gift from God. 

Without further ado, here's the prayer, as seen in our prayerbook Mishkan Tefillah... (feel free to print it for use at home!):

What is Consecration?

On Wednesday night we celebrated Simchat Torah, and we also held Consecration for all students new to Religious School this year.  For those who are curious about what 'Consecration' is, here is an article from the URJ (Union for Reform Judaism) answering exactly that question!

What is Consecration? What is its connection to Reform Judaism?

by Barry Shainker

How many of us actually remember our own Consecration service? We were young, probably overwhelmed, and most likely unsure of the event’s significance. Aside from some paper flags, an uncomfortable clip-on tie, and a bunch of kids making a mad dash from the sanctuary to the social hall for cookies, today the only real memory I have of my Consecration is the picture which now hangs alongside the many others in the temple. But the meaning of the event is something that I have acquired over time. Looking back, I know that my Consecration began a lifelong experience of Jewish learning.

Consecration is a uniquely Reform event. According to historian Michael Meyer, the ceremony can be attributed to Rabbi David Einhorn, one of the early leading figures during Reform’s creation in Germany and later in the United States. Rabbi Einhorn was a proponent of placing spirituality over halachah (Jewish law), and so he suggested replacing circumcision with a consecration ritual as the opening event that would confirm a young boy’s life in the Jewish community.(1, 2)

The ceremony of Consecration marks the beginning on one’s Jewish learning, usually between the ages of 5 and 8, within an organized setting, for example a congregational religious school. When young people begin their study of Judaism, they are honored before the community as a new student and often presented with a certificate marking the occasion and gifts like miniature Torah scrolls. Many congregations will add other rituals to the ceremony such as a special blessing or a recitation of the Sh’ma.

Consecration services often take place at the end of the High Holiday season, usually as part of the congregation’s celebration for the holiday of Simchat Torah, meaning ‘joy or celebration of the Torah.’ The word “consecrate” in religious circles means an association with something holy, and throughout our tradition Jewish learning is considered a sacred task. What an appropriate time, then, to celebrate this milestone in a young person’s life. As the entire synagogue community joins in the hakafah (processional of the Torah) and Torah scrolls are unrolled for all to see, new students see the importance and centrality of this ancient and holy sourcebook. They also have the opportunity to see Judaism as a tradition that is interactive, celebratory, and engaging.

A textual basis for Consecration’s placement on this day might come from a custom of calling all in the community to hear the Torah on Sukkot, which is itself based on Deuteronomy 31:12.(3) The text reads as God’s instructions to Moses: Gather the people – men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities – that they may hear and so learn to revere Adonai your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching.”(4)

While the overwhelming majority of synagogues follow this practice, a handful in our movement do not. Some see Consecration as a statement of dedication and therefore recognize their new students on Chanukah, one of most triumphant stories of renewal and survival in the history of the Jewish people. Others look to Shavuot, the spring holiday in which we celebrate Matan Torah, the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Sinai, and draw a direct parallel between the start of one’s Jewish education at Consecration and the reaffirmation of it as a young adult at Confirmation.

While most of our young people cannot fully comprehend the magnitude of this milestone, we hope that they will look back on the occasion in the years that follow with a new understanding. Consecration, like so many other rituals in our tradition, is about coming together to as a community to welcome new students and new families. Wherever the ceremony is celebrated on the calendar, we affirm our commitment and dedication to educating our young people in Jewish tradition. And, as we see the hope and spirit in our young people, we renew in ourselves a passion for Jewish learning that we hope to transmit to our children.

Barry Shainker is currently an Education student at HUC-JIR in New York. He is also Educational Intern at Temple Sinai in Roslyn, NY.

1 Meyer, Michael A. Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism. Oxford UP: New York, 1999. p. 163

2 At the time, only young boys were recognized with a bris ritual, Consecration, Bar Mitzvah, or any other sort of ceremony. Similar services for girls would only be instituted years later, as the women’s liberation movement gained acceptance in Reform.

3 Knobel, Peter S. ed. Gates of the Seasons: A Guide to the Jewish Year. CCAR Press: New York, 1983. p. 135.

4 Translation from JPS Tanakh, 1999 ed.

Release of Gilad Shalit

As many of you are, I've been quite emotional about the release of Gilad Shalit from captivity this week.  Rabbi Howard Ruben, the Head of School of the Jewish Community High School of the Bay, recently sent a message regarding Gilad's release that explains my thoughts / feelings to a T... so I share it with you here:

Gilad: The Mystery of Relief and Fear

Rabbi Howard Ruben

Last night as we sat in our Sukkah to welcome the sixth day of the festival, we followed the mystical tradition of welcoming 'virtual guests' from Jewish history into the Sukkah. Last night, the biblical Joseph led the guest list. Joseph is known not only for his coat of many colors, but also for being held captive and, ultimately, released and reunited with his family.

And last night in the Sukkah we used our smart-phones to stay virtually connected to events in Israel around the pending release of Gilad Shalit from five years of isolated captivity at the hands of Hamas. We prayed that Gilad, like the biblical Joseph, be safely released and, in time, reunited with his family.

And now that Gilad is free, I celebrate in my heart with his family.

The deal for Gilad's release has stirred up many emotions for Israelis and those who care for Israel around the world. JCHS students discussed the terms of the exchange for Gilad's release at Hakhel on Monday and a number continued the conversation through lunch afterwards. Several classes have also discussed it from a variety of perspectives - political, societal, and religious.

I admit to being conflicted - agreeing in my heart with those who support this deal that released Gilad from captivity and agreeing in my heart with those who opposed this deal. (My colleague Avi Weiss writes today about celebrating with a heavy heart - with a heart that celebrates with Gilad and a head that recognizes the deal is bad for Israel. Link to Weiss)

...

The timing of Gilad's release also coincides with the reading of parashat Bereisheet that includes the conflict between Cain and Abel. The first life and death struggle in the Torah occurs when Cain kills his brother Abel.

God accuses Cain of murder by declaring that "the voice of your brother's blood is screaming to Me from the ground." Bereisheet 4:10. The Sages puzzle over the term for blood being in the plural. Rashi, for example, interprets the plural to mean, in effect, that in addition to Abel crying out from the ground, God also hears the voices of all the children he would have had and all of their descendants but for the murder at Cain's hand.

These cries are the foundation for how deeply Judaism values life.

So it is with Gilad: many voices have been crying out in pain over Gilad's silent captivity. Many now are crying out in pain over the prisoners with blood on their hands who have been released by Israel in exchange for Gilad. And many from both of those camps are weeping together now in fear over those who may be killed in the future by some of the prisoners released in exchange for Gilad. The weeping is for each of them and for their descendants.

While it is true that Judaism values life, it is not clear how to enact that value when there are competing claims on it. What is clear is that Judaism encourages humility toward valuing one life over another life. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 74b) teaches that a person is not permitted to say one person's blood is redder than another's. Yet that was precisely the dilemma that Israel faced with Gilad.  

My colleague Jan Uhrbach, when writing about this admonition toward humility, quotes Reb Nachman of Bratslav who taught about the inevitable mysteries we confront through life. In Reb Nachman's words, "Just as there are unanswerable questions directed to (or against) God, so, too, it is inevitable that there will be questions even the wisest of us cannot answer." The power of that mystery reveals both how precious life is and how confounding.

That mystery is embedded in each of us. Each of us is filled with contradictions and paradoxes. We are careful in some settings and careless in others. We are generous and stingy on the same day. We are often wise and foolish in the same week - or in the same moment. If that is true for each of us, how much more so it must be true about a community or a country.

This is one of those mystery moments.

There was no "good" deal that could have brought about Gilad's release. There was only the opportunity to choose from a number of "bad" deals. A contradiction wrapped inside a paradox.  

We sigh with relief and joy over the deal that brought Gilad's release even as we sigh with fear that his release may/will lead to more deaths.

Even as we celebrate with Gilad's family, we pray for all those whose hearts have been shattered by loss - for whom there is no release from the captivity of grief. We pray for the safety and security of all those whose lives remain (and may be even more) vulnerable now because of the deal for Gilad's release.

Most of all, we pray for both the wisdom and strength to endure a world filled with mystery.

Rabbi Howard Ruben

Sukkot!

Sukkot is almost here!  A few suggestions for reading / listening / watching / learning:

A year ago I recorded a podcast comparing the Jewish tradition of building a Sukkah to the Christian tradition of putting up a Christmas tree.  I'm on a 'mission' to convert the holiday of Sukkot from a barely-observed American Jewish holiday to one of the biggest, most fun holidays we have!  Check out my podcast for details: http://yourjewishneighborhood.libsyn.com/yjn-206-09-26-10-decorating-your-home-sukkah-can-be-a-new-family-tradition

If you'd like to know how to shake the lulav and etrog for sukkot, here's some information:
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Sukkot/In_the_Community/Lulav_and_Etrog.shtml

Last but not least, check out this fun video of people in Jerusalem shaking the lulav & etrog:

Ethiopian Basket Weaving

One of our new programs this year is called "Edot," and students spend the year learning about a variety of different diaspora communities / cultures of the Jewish people.  The first unit of the year focuses on Ethiopian Jews and Ethiopian Jewish traditions, and our students spent time trying out a technique of Ethiopian Jewish basket weaving last Sunday... check out a few of the pictures!

Race Remixed

A recent series in the NY Times called "Race Remixed" talks about the changing nature of race in America.  I would add that the nature of race in the Jewish community has changed significantly as well.  Some people assume that almost all American Jews are white, of European (mostly Eastern European) descent.  While this may have been true historically, it is not necessarily true today (particularly in the Bay Area!).  If you come to Temple Isaiah, you will find children and adults of many different racial backgrounds.  At times I get questions from parents who are thinking about joining Temple Isaiah, but they have children who are mixed race or some other race besides Caucasian... the parents are concerned that their child/ren will be 'the only one' and will somehow feel left out or different due to their looks.  Luckily, we can reassure those parents that their children will be among a wide variety of children in our community, of all different 'colors' and races.  That being said, I think it's time for an image 'update' of Jewish families in America.

For a couple of visual images, below is a picture of Ganeinu (the "Parenting My Jewish Baby" program at Temple Isaiah) from last winter, followed by a silly picture of our Religious School students at Consecration last year...

In addition to pointing out that our community is more racially mixed than many people would assume, I also want to note that there are new organizations devoted to representing the 'rainbow' of Jewish families out there.  One in particular, Be'chol Lashon, advocates for "the growth and diversity of the Jewish people," and received press earlier this year for its new summer camp for "Jews of Color."

If you are thinking about joining a synagogue but are concerned that it's going to feel 'too white,' worry not!  The Jewish community is (and is becoming) more diverse than you might think!

School is back in session!

It's now been two weeks of our Religious School year, and so far everything is going very well.  There are always a few glitches getting things up and running, but I've been pleased with the beginning of the year overall.  I'm especially excited about our new track system, in which students in 3rd-6th grade choose which type of Religious School program they want to do.  All of our programs are filled with energy, excitement, and engaging learning experiences! 

One of our new programs is called Teva (Nature), and the kids and parents in Teva have created a brand new "Gan Teva", an organic garden just outside our 'big' playground.  Check out these pictures of Teva kids and their parents / teachers creating the garden this past Sunday!


Hard at work, creating Gan Teva (the Teva Garden)

Teacher Adi showing a group of kids how to plant seeds

Carrying soil to the garden beds

Lead Teacher Eyal showing students how to hammer in stakes




More Rosh Hashanah Videos...

Here are a couple more Rosh Hashanah videos this year:



This one is a happy new year message from the staff at Temple Emanuel Denver, the congregation where Rabbi Forrest and I both grew up:

Getting in shape for the High Holidays

Ever wonder how your rabbis & cantor prepare for the upcoming holidays?  Check out this new video that gives you an 'inside look'!  (Note that the two young female rabbis are friends of mine from rabbinical school!!)

Rosh Hashanah is coming!

A new Jewish year must be coming, as there's a great YouTube video making the rounds... Shana tovah u'metukah, wishing you a happy & sweet new year!

Jewish Greetings

One of the things I learned in rabbinical school was how to greet people with appropriate Jewish / Hebrew phrases, depending on the day, the season, and even before / during / after certain life-cycle events.  Here's a little cheat sheet that would've been useful for me years ago:

Phrase - Translation - When to use it

Shalom (or L'shalom) - Hello, goodbye, peace - Anytime
L'hitraot - See you again soon - Whenever you're saying goodbye to someone
Shabbat shalom - Have a peaceful Shabbat! - Weds through Sat
Shavua tov - Have a good week - Sat night through Tues
Shana tovah (or L'shana tovah) - Happy New Year - Starting about a month before the High Holy Days and up until / including Rosh Hashanah
Shana tovah u'metukah - Have a happy & sweet New Year - Same as "shana tovah"
G'mar chatimah tovah or g'mar tov - May you be sealed for good (i.e. may you be sealed in the Book of Life on Yom Kippur) - Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
Tzom kal - Have an easy fast - Before any day on the Jewish calendar when it's customary to fast (including Yom Kippur)
Chag sameach - Happy holiday! - Before and during holidays that are 'chagim,' which includes the first and last days of Sukkot & Passover, Shavuot
Moadim l'simcha - It's the season/times of joy - During chol ha'moed, which includes the middle days of Sukkot & Pesach (in other words, you begin the holiday saying Chag sameach, then you say Moadim l'simcha for about a week, then Chag sameach at the end of the holiday)
Chag Sukkot sameach - Happy holiday of Sukkot - First and last days of Sukkot
Chanukah sameach - Happy Chanukah - Before/during Chanukah
Chag urim sameach - Happy holiday of lights - Before / during Chanukah
Chag Purim sameach - Happy holiday of Purim - Before/ during Purim
Chodesh tov - Happy new month - On Rosh Hodesh (the first day or two of each Hebrew month)
Yasher koach - Great job - When someone accomplished something or did something great (i.e. 'nice job chanting Torah!')
Mazal tov - Congratulations - When something exciting happens, such as the birth of a new baby, a wedding, etc.
B'sha'ah tovah - In good time (also has a congratulatory connotation) - When you find out that someone is pregnant (in other words, you don't say 'mazal tov' until the baby is born since it's not a 'done deal' yet... rather, you say 'b'sha'ah tovah' to mean, may the baby come at a good time, i.e. when s/he is really ready to be born and no sooner)
Kol tuv / kol tov - All is good, may all be good - A generic greeting that closes letters / e-mails any time of the year
B'ezrat Ha'shem - With God's help - When you're hopeful and/or cautious about something
Baruch dayan ha'emet - Praise the Judge of truth - When you first hear about a death... The phrase is said in order "to acknowledge that the poignant mystery and tender thread between life and death is in God's hands, so to speak" (Rabbi Howard Ruben's beautiful explanation)

Let me know if you have other Jewish greetings / phrases you've heard and I left off this list... I'm happy to add more!

Must-Read Articles

Today I read two fantastic articles about re-inventing Jewish education that echo my views of what Jewish education can & should be.  I thought I'd pass them along:

Reinventing Jewish Education by Dr. Jonathan Woocher, eJewishPhilanthropy.com

Religious Schools add Family Programs, New Apps by Rachel Heller, JewishJournal.com

Summer turns to fall...

Hard to believe we are just a few short weeks away from the beginning of the school year!  Where does the time go?  Every summer I go through a similar pattern:

• May - Religious School ends, I frantically finish everything from the previous school year so that the summer months can be spent visioning and preparing for the following year. 
• June - "I have so much time on my hands!"  Haha, right.  I always think that the summer is long and I'll be able to get to all the things that I put off during the school year - clean my office, read the books that have piled up on my desk, spend a lot of one-on-one time with congregants, etc.  However, I start to work on the tachlis (logistical details) of the year to come, as well as visioning & curriculum development, and before I know it, it's...
• July - This month is the meat of my summer.  Other than taking a short vacation, I usually spend July working on teacher contracts, curriculum development, and adult education.  This is also the time I attend workshops, conferences, and generally have conversations that help me to plan out the 'big picture' of Religious School for the upcoming year.
• August - "WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO?"  This is usually my refrain for the month of August, as I become swamped with the details of getting our program up and running by September - finalizing enrollment #s and teacher assignments, ordering books/supplies, assigning classroom spaces, creating and mailing class placement letters, planning and leading a faculty retreat, recruiting and training teen TA's, preparing details for the year-long calendar, developing and working with teams of lay leaders, and of course, working with teachers to plan their programs.  It's a very busy month, and it always flies by.  We also have Camp Kefli in August at Temple Isaiah (which I try to attend here and there), and in some years, the High Holy Days creep up as well.  Then all of a sudden it's...
• September - Back to school!

Hopefully this little overview gives you a sense of what I usually do all summer.  I'm guessing that some people wonder what rabbis and educators do all summer long when families go on vacation and kids go to camp, when Religious School is out of session and our regular cycle of programming is quieter than usual.  For me, summer is a wonderful time to get things done in the office, continue to build relationships with teachers, colleagues, and parents, and do the visioning that can sometimes get muddled during the year. 

Now here comes the school year....!!

"This is Your Brain on Summer"

An article in the NY Times today addresses the major problem of what happens to learning over the summer (i.e. it disappears, or rather, gets backtracked).  The title of the article is 'This is Your Brain on Summer," and it specifically challenges the notion of a 9- or 10-month school year and 2-3 months of nothing but fun and R&R.  While I love the idea that kids need a couple months a year to re-group (as do teachers!), I also recognize as an educator that summer break significantly (and detrimentally) impacts student learning and achievement.  I call this phenomenon, "This is your (Jewish) Brain on Summer." In Religious School, the learning drop is particularly significant with Hebrew.  We spend the school-year trying to help all our kids reach a certain baseline knowledge of Hebrew (or rather, we help them learn to 'decode' Hebrew, to sound out words by identifying letter and vowel combinations).  It's an educational challenge all year long, but by the end of the year, we do see significant improvement.  Most of our kids feel reasonably comfortable with Hebrew decoding by May.  However, we then go on break for the summer, and when they come back in September (almost 4 months later!), many kids have lost much - if not all- of what they learned the previous year.  One of the main reasons for this is that a large percentage of our kids do not see or encounter Hebrew at all over the summer.  If they do not attend services, go to a Jewish summer camp, visit Israel, or have Hebrew books at home, then they are in a Hebrew-poor environment (i.e. one that lacks any connection to Hebrew).  It's parallel to the kids from less affluent backgrounds described in the NY Times article, who spend their summers in environments without a lot of academic / reading enrichment.  For our kids, without an environment over the summer that supports ongoing Hebrew or Jewish learning, they backpedal significantly.  I'm not sure how to address this problem, but I do think it's something to consider when we take a look at our goals for Hebrew education and what's reasonable to accomplish in a supplementary educational setting!

What makes a good teacher?

I'm finally back!  I planned to re-start a blog last year, but then never got around to it.  So, here we go again, hopefully with more success this time... :)

A significant component of my role as Director of Education at Temple Isaiah is to spend time thinking about what makes a good teacher.  How can we find, train, and keep outstanding teachers in our program?  I like to say that there are three key things I look for when I'm hiring someone to teach in our community:

• Jewish background & commitment - Does this person have a strong Jewish / Jewish educational background?  Does this person have a strong Jewish knowledge base?  Does this person live a committed Jewish life?  How does this person express his/her Jewish identity? 
• Pedagogical skills - How will this person deal with classroom management?  How does this person plan lessons and implement them?  How might this person create differentiated instruction so that it meets the needs of all our children?
• Personality - Is this person a mentsch?  Is s/he loving, kind, fun, energetic, engaging, and warm-hearted?  Will our parents and kids love this person?

Of course, there are all kinds of other things I look for, but these are the basics, and I have to say that it's incredibly challenging to find Religious School teachers who are strong in all three categories.  It's more common to find people who are strong in two of these three areas and significantly weaker in one of them (the area of weakness varies from person to person).  So then the question for me is... can I help this person improve in the areas where s/he may be weak?  Or connect the teacher to resources or mentors who will help him or her grow?  Sometimes the answer is 'yes' and sometimes the answer is 'no.'

The question of what makes a good teacher is a hot topic in the world of (secular) education right now.  What kinds of programs train people to be the best teachers they can be?  What skills do people need to learn / develop to be outstanding teachers?  Can educational schools really provide those skills, or are the ed schools themselves falling short?  There's a movement underfoot to make significant changes in the way that teachers are trained, and an interesting article in the NY Times this week examined some of the new teacher training programs.  I'm always curious to find out what's happening in the broader world of education so that we can adapt from best practices to make our teaching staff as strong as it can be. I wonder how professional development at Temple Isaiah can give our teachers the skills they need to do their best in our setting, which is admittedly different (and with different goals) than a public school setting...

Do any of you have thoughts on what makes a good teacher for your children?  What kind of Religious School teacher do you want for your children?