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Religious School

  • May 2010 Ma'aseem - With All Due Respect: Honoring Your Parents - 5/21/2010
    May 9, 2010: MOTHER'S DAY

    THE MITZVAH OF KIBBUD AV V'EM: RESPECTING PARENTS. With all due respect to Mr. (or Ms., for that matter) Hallmark, the idea of a Mother's Day or Fathers' Day... Continue Reading
  • April, 2010 Ma'aseem - Hametz & Matzah - A Morality Tale - 5/18/2010
    As you may be reading this article on either side of your seder, I thought I'd pass along an interesting idea about the topic of matzah (and hametz as well). The subject of matzah is a polarizing... Continue Reading
  • March, 2010 Ma'aseem - The Most Difficult Commandment - 3/17/2010
    As we have just read about the receiving of the Ten Commandments (as I write this article in early February) and we are looking at the upcoming Pesach holiday which tells the story of the freedom... Continue Reading
  • February, 2010 Ma'aseem - The Book of Esther: A Persian Soap Opera - 1/27/2010
    It has all the elements of a great novel. There is the beautiful young orphan girl who rises from obscurity to become queen. She even hides a secret that could bring about her demise. Then there... Continue Reading
  • January, 2010 Ma'aseem: Shabbat B'Yachad - 1/20/2010
    About a year ago, I was talking with a fellow Jewish educator, discussing some ideas about having religious school on Shabbat. He told me that he had successfully held a month of school on... Continue Reading
  • December, 2009 - A New Kind of December Dilemma - 12/4/2009
    In past years I have written about December Dilemma and what it means to us as Jews living in a predominantly Christian country. Often what has traditionally defined this term has been the concern... Continue Reading
  • November, 2009 - Thanksgiving, Sukkot and the Jewish Family - 11/13/2009
    Well, here we are: The leaves are making their annual assault on my backyard with annoying frequency. But as I rake furiously my thoughts turn to that most sublime and hectic time of turkey and... Continue Reading
  • October, 2009 Ma'aseem - Teachers: Our Educational Role Models - 10/2/2009
    As a child who grew up in the 50's and 60's, I was particularly drawn to the events of August 28 and 29 this year. It began after our weekly Shabbat dinner as my wife and I sat down to watch the... Continue Reading
  • September, 2009 Ma'aseem - A New Year, A Fresh Start - 10/2/2009
    Shalom. It's always jolting to be writing an article in the middle of summer that speaks of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Please slow down the progression of time (a function of getting older no... Continue Reading
  • June, 2009 - Ma'aseem - Jewish Education in Our Schools: It's Been a Very Good Year - 6/4/2009
    As you read this article the books have been stored for another summer, the rooms lie quiet and our children prepare for summer activities. But in our preschool, religious school and high school... Continue Reading
  • May, 2009 Ma'aseem - Etz Chaim: Helping TBI to Create the Next Generation of Jews - 5/19/2009
    When I think of how much our Sages valued Jewish learning, an interesting passage of Talmud that appears in our liturgy comes to mind. If you open a siddur you will find, interspersed within our... Continue Reading
  • January, 2009 Messenger- Hebrew High @ TBI - 3/26/2009
    One of the unplanned side benefits of TBI's participation in the NESS (Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools) Initiative over the past 2½ years has been the revamping of our post-B'nai Mitzvah... Continue Reading
  • February, 2009 Ma'aseem - Challenges of Creating Meaning-Centered Curriculum - 3/26/2009
    Over a year ago I wrote my monthly article about the challenges of creating a meaning-centered curriculum for the supplementary synagogue religious school. It's hard to believe, but we are past... Continue Reading
  • March, 2009 Ma'aseem - Standing Together, Witnessing History - 3/26/2009
    There we stood, all together, eyes transfixed on the TV set up in the office with a makeshift antenna--a rather curious sight in an age of 500-channel cable. Somehow all of us drifted into the... Continue Reading
  • April, 2009 Ma-aseem - You Shall Teach Your Children - 3/26/2009
    Pesach: The Ultimate Family Education Event

    I can never resist the temptation to use the Pesach Seder as the ultimate setting for Jewish education. For in reality, that's exactly... Continue Reading
  • December 2008 Messenger - 12/16/2008
    Make This Hanukkah a Special Family Affair

    Every December/Kislev I say to myself, "no, I'm not going to write about Hanukkah again. What else can I say about this holiday that I... Continue Reading
  • November 2008 - 10/30/2008
    I try to include an update to you every other month, on TBI Religious School's participation in NESS (Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools), the four-year program administered by the Auerbach... Continue Reading
  • October 2008 - 9/26/2008
    ROSH HASHANAH & OUR WORLD-ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

    In my Messenger articles I try to alternate months when I write about our schools and... Continue Reading
  • September 2008 - 9/25/2008
    WELCOME BACK IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR!

    After what is now 17 years in Jewish education, I’ve learned that Jewish... Continue Reading