Month: February 2016

Listening and Responding: Learning to Teach

I have taught first grade at a Sunday school for four years. Each year started off the same. I would meet with the director of education and talk about the curriculum for that year and the overarching classroom themes. I would spend some time exploring and setting up my classroom, and then plunge headfirst into teaching Judaism to children. At…

Mi She Nichnas Adar

Last year around this time, about a foot of snow fell in Jerusalem. The streets were silent and the city was shut down. It was Rosh Hodesh Adar, the first day of the month of Adar. Every month, I would celebrate Rosh Hodesh with Women of the Wall. My roommate and I looked out our window to the snow covered…

Find a Day of Rest

In the Torah, God instructs Israel, “Therefore the people of Israel shall keep Shabbat, to observe Shabbat throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant” (Exodus 31:16). We are told that, after six days of Creation, God rested. Thus, according to Jewish tradition, we should all have a day of rest in our week as God did. I plan on being…