.וְכָל-בָּנַיִךְ, לִמּוּדֵי יְיִ; וְרַב, שְׁלוֹם בָּנָיִךְ

All your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. (Isaiah 54:13)

Children are a constant source of wonder and joy. I seek always to provide them with entertaining,connected opportunities to grow as Jews and as leaders.

Directing Religious School

The most important part of a modern Jewish education is that it be integrated with love into the lives of our children. Emphases on community, accomplishment, inclusivity, giving to the world, and fun all contribute to making secondary religious school a pleasurable experience, as well as preparing children for celebration of Bat and Bar Mitzvah and leadership as teens. Understanding of history and how it affects our lives is balanced with connecting to topics through Jewish values. I believe every child in our synagogues should be able to discourse with an age-appropriate level of erudition on Torah stories, seminal events in Jewish history, and modern Israel. Discussions of the nature of the Divine can be tailored to meet the understanding and outlook of all.

Havdalah Brigade

To support this learning, I have dedicated myself to hiring and training excellent teachers, creating or modifying scope and sequence plans and curricula, developing efficient methods for registration and communication, and creating really great events. I thrive on collaboration and evaluation, so that we may make religious school the best it can be and shift to meet the developing needs of our students. These pictures are about the experience of participating in my programs.

Biblical Bread Bakeoff

Camel relay race

Embodied Hebrew Vowels for Gan

Cleaning the local watershed

Teaching

Through the generous lens of Judaic Studies, I get to teach spirituality, innovative thinking, liturgical skills, textual analysis, moral development, problem solving, metaphoric exploration and art appreciation. My students have written the missing ending for the Book of Jonah, created personal wimples, transformed the synagogue into Solomon's Temple, complete with a shuk (market) where they could buy sheep (made of cotton balls) to 'sacrifice', served the class a virtual Persian feast when studying the Book of Esther, and studied technological innovations from Israel both Biblical and modern. We delve into critical thinking, create timelines to relate events to one another, use silliness to ingrain facts ('Green Elephants Live Near Danville' gets you the first letter of the books in the Torah) and engage in living history in tiny ways to understand our sacred texts. Above all, my goal is to have them understand and incorporate their learning into the fabric of their lives.