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In accordance with Amendment 40
of the Communications Law, Pardes would like to confirm that you are
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Dear Hevre,
We hope this newsletter finds you well and enjoying a much
deserved winter vacation.
Back in Israel, we are reading and compiling the very positive feedback from the retreat participants (see article
below). Those who could not make it were sorely missed.
Since the last newsletter, we have launched the new Pardes
Educators Alumni Support Project website. While we are still fine-tuning the
site, we hope you have taken the opportunity to explore all that it provides:
updated job listings, announcements of faculty travel and other events
of interest to alumni, educational opportunities (conferences, workshops,
etc.), an archive of all our past newsletters, handouts and articles from the
fall retreat, the forum (to which we hope you will begin to
contribute), plus our soon-to-be-launched blog for teachers' reflections.
While the website is available to the public, the forum and blog are only for
our graduates and select faculty members.
Thanks to Debra Weiner-Solomont (and Joel Weiss) for the yeoman's
job of getting the project off the ground.
We hope that this holiday of lights will allow you to return
to school rested and again inspired to bring the light of Torah to your
students.
Kol tuv,
Susan, Abby and Debra
The Pardes Educators Alumni Support Project is funded by a generous grant from the
Jim Joseph Foundation.
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Dvar Torah by Rabbi Michael Hattin
 The Lights of Chanukah
The Gemara in Tractate Shabbat discusses the observance of Chanukah and
details the laws concerning the kindling and placement of the lights: "It
is a mitzvah to place the Chanukah lamp outside of one's door. If one lives in an upper storey of a building
then one should place the lamp near a window that faces the public
thoroughfare..." (Shabbat 21b). As
Rashi in his commentary to the passage explains, these provisions are eminently
practical in nature - they are meant to publicize to all the miracle of the
small cruse of oil by which the Temple
menorah was fueled for eight days. Therefore the Chanukah lights are to be placed outside of the door facing
the public domain so that a passerby should see the kindled lights and remember.
The Gerrer Rebbe (R. Yehuda Aryeh Leb Alter of Gur, 19th
century), however, sees the matter in more symbolic and spiritual terms. As he explains in his monumental Torah
commentary known as the Sefas Emes, the matter of the "door" or
"opening" referred to in the above passage is really a metaphor for
the receptivity of the heart. The doors
of the heart, so to speak, can be closed so that one is insensitive,
indifferent and apathetic, or else those doors can be flung open so that one is
responsive and concerned. Often, he
explains, even a tiny glimmer of light, a small spiritual awakening, is all
that is needed to break down the barriers that cover the heart, so that a
person can then open the proverbial door and let the light flood in. The provision to place the Chanukah lamp next
to the door is thus also a powerful metaphor: we must try to create
opportunities for spirituality and wisdom to triumph over the recalcitrant
heart, so that we and those around us can ultimately be transformed. It is for this reason, he suggests, that we
refer to this holiday as "Chanukah", because the word not only refers
to the rededication of the cleansed Temple and its rebuilt altar of ancient
times, but also to the perennial rededication of the individual - whose heart
had been unmoved - to the service of God.
As educators, perhaps we realize more than most the power of the idea to
effect transformation. In fact, we are
in constant interaction with hearts that are sometimes interested and alert but
often are less than attentive. As the
festival of Chanukah begins, let us rededicate ourselves anew to placing the
lights outside of our doors, inspiring not only our own hearts but the hearts
of those around us as well.
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Retreat Reunion-Looking Back and Moving Forward
 From Thursday November 20th through Sunday, November 23rd, thirty-nine PEP
alumni gathered at the Isabella Freedman Jewish
Retreat Center, located in the foothills of the southern Berkshires. Despite
the cold, participants enjoyed the opportunity for professional development
(learning from colleagues, teachers, and guest speakers), sharing challenges
and successes in the classroom, Torah
lishma, a Pardes style Shabbat, and generally
connecting with and meeting (new) colleagues and friends.
Thanks to the Jim Joseph Foundation, this was the first such
retreat in years to encompass all graduates. The program was the product of
input from many alumni, and several volunteered to coordinate various aspects of
the weekend. We are grateful to all
those who volunteered their time in planning or leading sessions, as well as to
all those who participated.
Overall, feedback has been positive. One participant summarized
what many others mentioned on their forms:
"...The workshops were great, the davening was intense, and the food was delicious...It was very
strengthening and encouraging to once again be around people who take learning
seriously and take prayer seriously. I don't have that kind of chevre where I live...the retreat was a true
chizuk. I went back to work this
morning re-energized..."
While most aspects of the retreat were extremely successful,
the staff learned valuable lessons to incorporate into next year's
retreat. For example, we hope to further develop professional
tracks so as to better address the needs of our veteran
graduates (as well as those of our newest alumni). Our
outside guests added a great deal to the program, and we will try in
the future
to have them remain with us, as resource people, throughout the
retreat. In addition,
we are hoping to expand the program so as to allow for more formal and
informal
sharing opportunities as well as time to process the various sessions.
These
are only a few of the suggested changes.
We are currently making our reservations for next November. As
soon as we have finalized the locale (which will be in the vicinity of a major
airport with direct flights from all coasts), we will send you a "save the
date" e-mail. We hope to see again those of you who joined us this year, those who
missed the opportunity, as well as by then, our newest twelve graduates (from
cohort 8).
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PEP Corner by Dr. Judy Markose
What's New in the Pardes Educators Program?
Gail Kirschner
has launched a Pardes Educators Group on Facebook. The group is aimed
at
potential applicants and there will be a place for them to ask
questions. Please join the group so that you can answer questions, add
pictures, etc. And
please make suggestions on how to make it interesting, friendly, and
appealing
to those future cohorts. Click here to join the group.
We're
at the height of our recruitment for Cohort 10. We are encouraged by the
interest for next September, but still need a larger pool of inquiries. Please
take a minute to think of one friend or colleague that you would recommend to
the Educators Program and send it to Gail.
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From the Field
 Matthew
Lipman (cohort 6), Charles
E. Smith
Upper School
The
recent tragic events in Mumbai presented spiritual and emotional challenges for all of
us as people, as Jews and as teachers. It is impossible to quantify tragedy or to say which of the hundreds of
terrible events that take place in the world every day is the most important
one. However, there are certain events
which speak to each of us or which speak to our students. I knew that I wanted to raise the issue with
my students but I wasn't sure of the best way to do it. I was reading some articles about the Chabad
shlichim on the Chabad website when I came across as an article by Rabbi Tzvi
Freeman who writes a weekly "Ask the Rabbi" column. Somebody asked him a question that struck me
as both simple and complicated, but ultimately as one of the most beautiful
questions that I had ever heard. It was written by a reader who had prayed for
two days for the safe release of the Holzberg family.
"Where did all of the prayers go"? he asked.
I opened
up this question to my students. I did
this in classes ranging from 8th through 12th grade
(although my 8th grade class is unusually mature.) We brainstormed and wrote up all of the
students' ideas on the board and discussed each one. This question provoked a really meaningful
discussion. Many of the students told me that they were thankful for having had
the opportunity to do so. Some of the
students' ideas were so moving and inspiring that I emailed the author of the
article and shared their reactions with him.
I read the students the email he sent me in reply.
We also
read through Rabbi Freeman's article and discussed his response to the original
question.
I would
like to share one response from a student, which I found to be incredibly
inspiring and showed me once again that my students teach me a great deal.
Towards
the end of the discussion one 10th grader raised his hand and told
us that we were all missing the point. It wasn't that the prayers for the Rabbi
and his wife went unanswered. Those prayers were simply not as heartfelt as
were the prayers of the rabbi and his wife. Their prayers were that their son
should escape unharmed. The prayers of
the parents, in essence, trumped those of well-wishers throughout the world.
"Like Harry Potter's parents?" asked another. "Yeah, kind of" responded the
student.
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Education Corner:
Carousel Brainstorming
At
the retreat, Fayge Safran, from the Jewish New Teacher Project, used
a technique called Carousel Brainstorming as a collaborative way to bring to
the fore, beliefs our graduates hold about teaching. Several people commented
that they liked the technique, so we decided to share it here. In general,
Carousel Brainstorming can be used when you want to undercover your students'
knowledge/beliefs (background knowledge probe), stimulate thinking, or assess
what they have learned. It has the added benefit of actively engaging your
students.
While
there are different ways to do this, basically the activity consists of the
following:
1.
Choose a number of subheadings within any category. For example, for Chanukah,
topics could include (depending on the age you teach): sources, history/the
story, lighting the Chanukiah, halachah, customs, etc. (Usually you want to
limit the categories to 5 or 6 different ones, lest the activity become too
repetitious.) Or, see alternative #1 below for using questions, as opposed to topic, to engender
thinking.
2.
Divide the class into small groups of 3-5, depending partly on how many
categories you have, but no more than 5 to a group. Give each group a large sheet
of paper (with the topic recorded on the top) and a different color magic
marker. (You can either give the sheet to the group seated around the table, or
hang the sheets on the wall.)
3.
Explain to the class that they will be given a topic and a limited amount of
time. (This can be anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on whether
this is a background knowledge probe, a review of what they have learned, or a
way to generate thinking.) Their task is to brainstorm together, writing down
all the terms or ideas that they associate with that topic, using the color
marker they have been given.
4.
When the time is up, give each group another group's sheet (in rotation) or
move to a different sheet on the wall - while holding on to the same colored
marker. The members of the group should read what the other group/groups have
written, and add on other terms or ideas that they have. (After a couple of
rounds, you need to extend the time as it will become increasingly difficult to
add new information.) Keep rotating the groups until each group has dealt with
each topic.
Follow-up
Be sure you think through what you will do at
the end of the activity, as a follow-up to make the exercise more worthwhile.
For example, Susan Rubel (a reading
consultant in Middletown, CT) shares the following:
"I
like to go beyond the simple brainstorm and have the group who started with the
sheet look it over when it returns to them, note all the other ideas that were
added after it was passed around to the other groups, and then circle the three
terms that they think are most essential, most important, or most fundamental
to the topic at the top of their sheet. That way, they spend some time
critically evaluating all the possible terms and topics and making decisions
about which are most representative of or most closely associated with the
given topic."
In
any case, and especially if you are raising questions (see alternative #1), you
want to allow for some reflection, categorizing, summarizing or sharing of main
ideas. If you are using this as a background knowledge probe, you at least want
- as you proceed to teach the topics - to tie what you do into the lists the
students generated.
Alternatives
1.
Rather than listing factual information, one can use questions as the topic
headings, such as, "Are their parallels between the Hanukkah story and our own
experience as Jews in America?", "To what extent was the Hanukkah story one of
Jew against Jew?", "What was the miracle
of Hanukkah?", etc. If so, rotations will need the maximal time for discussion.
2.
You could ask one member of each group to remain behind as you rotate the
groups. This will allow him/her to
explain/clarify if there are any questions regarding what the previous group wrote.
(No one should remain behind more than one time.)
An application
A
number of years ago, I observed Jessica (Lissy) Trey (cohort 3) use a
similar approach in her Tanakh classroom. She had asked students to
raise questions
regarding a Biblical text. She chose a number of their questions and
put them
on large sheets around the room, beneath the textual quotes. Students
moved
from sheet to sheet, entering their own thoughts/answers to the
questions their
classmates had raised. This was used as a lead-in to studying some of
the
commentaries.
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Focus on Elizabeth Corlin (Cohort 5)
 Hi, my name is Elizabeth Corlin and I'm in my third year of teaching at the Adelson Educational Campus in snowy Las
Vegas. Indeed, the winter with its freezing temperatures and horrific
winds are something nobody mentions when you move here. But, I have to
say that Fall and Spring makes up for the Summer and Winter.
When
I first announced that I was moving to Las Vegas, I was met with "Are
there Jews in Vegas?" and "Seriously?!" I was even asked once if the
school was in a casino. But, two and a half years into my adventure I
can honestly say that I'm having fun. This really was an opportunity
unlike any other. While our school was technically founded in 1982, it
has recently undergone a complete overhaul, replete with a brand new
campus. This "new start" has opened the door for us [the teachers] to
think outside the box. At my school, you rarely hear, "well this is how
we've always done it" Rather you hear, "let's try this" and "I have an
idea." In the beginning, I found this a little daunting (and sometimes
I still do) but I am very proud to say that everyday I am helping to
build a community and a school from the ground up.
Over the
course of three years I have taught Grades 1-10 and think that I have
finally settled on middle school. In our school, students have one
period a day of Judaics. My struggles have primarily been with fitting
everything into 42 minutes a day. During my first two years, I focused
on building a foundation with my students and teaching them the basics.
I am now starting to be able to branch out and explore deeper, more
complex issues. I love to use technology, history and music (primarily
classic rock) to supplement my lessons and love how my students have
started to do the same in their assignments. One of my personal
favorites was this Chanukah, when my seventh and eighth graders created
a Living History Museum based on our study of the Book of Maccabees.
During
my time at Pardes, I often struggled with the fact that I did not fit
the image of what I thought a Judaics teacher should look like. I
believed that I wasn't observant enough, I didn't dress the part, and I
didn't grow up in a day school environment - so how could I ever
successfully teach in one? I am thankful that I found a place where I
can recreate for myself the image of what a Judaics teacher should look
like!
Elizabeth would love to keep in touch.
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Resources and Educational Opportunities
*An article in the December 7th issue of the New York Jewish Week
focused on the large number of Day Schools that have dropped their
affiliation with the Conservative movement in favor of the Community
Day School network. The educational site- Mifgashim has had an interesting discussion on the nature of community schools that we suggest you read.
*Tichon
Winter Learning Seminars-from Coast to Coast. East Coast, February 1-2,
2009, West Coast, February 5, 2009. For more information contact Noam Zion.
*Isra-Connect,
an innovative distance learning program has been launched in an attempt
to connect Israel and Diaspora students. For more information contact Yitzchak Schwartz.
*Revadim offers an on-line resource for learning/teaching Talmud.
*Torah from JTS-weekly commentaries on Parshat Hashavua available on their website.
*Educational discounts up to 25% available through Borders Books.
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Job Listings
Camp Yavneh,
Northwood, NH is seeking Judaic Studies teachers. The teaching staff
teaches three formal
classes per day and at other times creates informal Jewish educational
opportunities for our campers. Teachers can come for either one session
(4 weeks) or the entire summer. For more information about this
position and others available, please contact Debbie Sussman.
New Orleans Jewish Day School has openings for elementary school Judaic studies teachers for the 2009/2010 school year. For more information please contact Dr. Bob Berk.
The Job Listing section of the website is updated as we hear about new job openings. Please check the PEP Alumni website on a regular basis. If you know of a job opening, please let Debra know.
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Call for Papers
Jewish Educational Leadership invites articles for the Spring 2009 issue
focusing on Active Learning.
Click here for more information on the types of articles and guidelines for writers or contact Zvi Grumet. Submissions will be accepted until February 15, 2009.
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Help Us Help You
*As you change your email address, home address, family status, etc. please update us so that we can continue to be in touch.
*PEP is updating it's PR material and is looking for high resolution photos of alumni in the classroom; teaching and /or with groups of students. Please send your photos to Debra.
*We are looking for a limited number of videos of classes that you are teaching, for our teaching puposes. Please contact Susan to learn more about how to proceed and the financial compensation available.
*Please
refer any interested novice Judaic studies teachers in your school to
us for the Summer Curriculum Workshop. The flyer and application can
be found on the home page of our website.
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Alumni Update
Condolences:
Jill Rosenfeld Baker (Cohort 1) on the loss of her Father. May she be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
Mazel Tovs:
Adam Tilove (Cohort 6) and Marni Thompson (Pardes, 06-07) on the birth of a son, Naftali Amichai.
Amanda Pogany (Cohort 2) and Aaron Bisman (Pardes, 01) on the birth of a son, Asher Reuben.
Eric Zaff (Cohort 1) and Jillian on the birth of a son, Joshua Ezra.
Ali Feldman Gutfreund (Cohort 1) and Yoram on the birth of a daughter, Shira Raya.
Read about our alumni:
Marc Baker (Cohort 1), Jill Rosenfeld Baker (Cohort 1) and family were featured in The Jewish Journal of Boston.
Adam Tilove (cohort 6) took his 8th grade on an unusual field trip which was featured in The Forward.
We are sorry if we missed something. Please help us by sending in your news! |
