One of my biggest role models as I taught first grade at Rockwern Academy this year has been Mick Jagger. Adam Morgan, in his book A Beautiful Constraint, recounts the story of how the Rolling Stones first started out. They performed in small venues, and Jagger had very little room to move around. Unable to pace around the stage, Jagger used…
Month: March 2021
A Chaplain in Training
This year as a part of my fourth-year rabbinical training, I participated in a Clinical Pastoral Education program—CPE for short. The goal of this program was to train me in pastoral care and give me experiences that would let me put my ongoing training to use. I had three field placements in addition to three full weeks of being on…
Inclusion and Belonging: Teaching High Schoolers to Use Their Voices
Inclusion is an open ear, but belonging is having a real voice. According to Shelly Christensen, author of From Longing to Belonging: A Practical Guide to Including People with Disabilities and Mental Health Conditions in Your Faith Community, “Belonging is based on relationships within the community that encourage and empower people with disabilities and mental health conditions to participate like anyone…
A Recipe for Teaching Sifrei Kodesh
How do you make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? A few months ago, I began my sixth grade religious school class by asking my students this question while presenting sandwich-making materials to my computer camera. They instructed me to put the peanut butter on the bread. So, as they said, I put my unopened jar of peanut butter on…