Life of Spud

In memory/honor of Leibka Feiga bat Chanoch A”H (Laura Faye Topper) This week marks the 9 th anniversary of my mother-in-law’s passing. Laura suffered most of her adult life from Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that slows down or blocks messages between the brain and the body and causes – amongst other symptoms – visual disturbances, muscle weakness and thinking and memory problems. While there are treatments that can slow the disease, there is no cure for it. I was only privileged to meet Laura during the final months of her life. But while I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with her, I was privy to observing her recite Birkat Hamazon numerous times. Being in her company during those moments was inspirational, as it seemed to me that I was in the presence of a Tzadika (righteous woman). The term tzadik shows up for the first time in Jewish literature in the first verse of this week’s parsha, as follows: “ אלה תולדות נח : נח איש צדיק , תמים היה בדורותיו ...

I've been watching documentaries about Vietnam again. But this time it's different because, not two weeks ago, I sat through a presentation about Tefilah (prayer) in Jewish day schools. The first slide of the presentation had a quote that went something like this: 'Tefilah: The Vietnam of Jewish education". So as I'm watching these documentaries, I'm thinking about the language of Vietnam as a descriptive for the situation of Tefilah in today's day schools: We follow a failed strategy that is leaving behind a staggering body count. Our leaders are far away from the battlefield, issuing orders that are ideological and political, but rarely rational. Soon we begin to talk about our task as "policing" and it seems that no one back home actually supports what we're doing. It's tearing vital relationships apart. I like this language. But then I'm not certain that it's appropriate because Vietnam is Vietnam and not a metaphor. Lives affe...

So I had intended for this to be a daily blog documenting my time as a student-teacher. But things have been so hectic and I've been having a difficult time focusing long enough on my thoughts to write about them. And now two weeks have passed. So I'm at least going to try reflect for a bit right now, stream-of-thought style. ---- I just walked into the house and it is empty. I am not sure if my hosts will be here for Shabbat. And I am pretty sure that I didn't confirm with them my intentions to spend Shabbat with them. So I'm not certain that I will have any food this weekend. And if they do come back in time for Shabbat (there is an hour and a half to go) it's going to be awkward that I didn't say anything earlier in the week about my plans. Lose, lose, eh? Personally, I hope I have the house to myself. I need some time to decompress and relax without having anyone else in my immediate vicinity. That's been one of the most draining parts of this experience...

Arrived in the US on Sunday morning, rented a car and drove to my host family. Accommodations are great. Private room with shower, internet access. In Israel, this would be $150/night. After tying up some loose ends, I met up with the students from Cohort 12 at the home of Danny Lehmann for a discussion about Jewish day school education. He quoted Jonathan Sarna who argues that the goal of Jewish day schools is to help students navigate the tensions of being Jewish and America. The starting point seems to be that our kids are Americans and our mission/job is to infuse Jewish in all of that. Dinner was Chinese food with continuing discussion about Jewish ed. Afterwards I got to play some ice hockey, which is the best way to beat jet-lag. Went to sleep exhausted, looking forward to day one at my host school.

All the rage in education is an approach to curriculum writing called Understanding by Design . I've been working with this model as an educator for the last few years and it is the main focus of the second year pedagogy class at PEP. So I decided to use this model in planning for my visit to the US, by setting out my goals for the visit and then arranging my calendar accordingly. I met with my coach for a half hour (we've been talking about this for a while, though) to flush out my ideas, and I walked away with a good list of questions and ideas that I want to test in the US.

The date is the best title because it's been ages since the last blog post. I am now in Israel, a member of the Pardes Educators Program, living with the wife and kids in a two bedroom apartment in Talpiot. Last night the pipe under the sink calcified and broke and I awoke this morning to a flooded floor and hours of spoon-jeh . But this year has been a blessing, as I have become re-acquainted with the learning of my youth to enjoy it and aim to comprehend it in a pedagogic conception. I want to get a few thoughts out quickly. I will try to come back to them later and write more (although, historically...) "Where I See Myself in Five Years" My hope is to move forward in the circles of Jewish education. I aim to employ 21st century pedagogy to the texts and traditions of Judaism in the hopes of uniting the Jewish people in conversation regarding them. Whilst text study has been divisive at certain points in our history, it has always been a constant. I believe that it is o...