Recent articles and news from Tiferet Bet Israel. http://www.tbibluebell.org May 9, 2010: MOTHER'S DAY

THE MITZVAH OF KIBBUD AV V'EM: RESPECTING PARENTS. With all due respect to Mr. (or Ms., for that matter) Hallmark, the idea of a Mother's Day or Fathers' Day is not something for which we Jews really have a need http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=265 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=265/ Fri, 21 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT As you may be reading this article on either side of your seder, I thought I'd pass along an interesting idea about the topic of matzah (and hametz as well). The subject of matzah is a polarizing one. Most Jews I have met in my life either love it or http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=257 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=257/ Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT As we have just read about the receiving of the Ten Commandments (as I write this article in early February) and we are looking at the upcoming Pesach holiday which tells the story of the freedom of the Jewish people from slavery, I am thinking about http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=247 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=247/ Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT It has all the elements of a great novel. There is the beautiful young orphan girl who rises from obscurity to become queen. She even hides a secret that could bring about her demise. Then there is the ambitious villain whose passion is to destroy th http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=237 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=237/ Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT About a year ago, I was talking with a fellow Jewish educator, discussing some ideas about having religious school on Shabbat. He told me that he had successfully held a month of school on Shabbat, which worked well in the middle of the winter when http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=227 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=227/ Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT In past years I have written about December Dilemma and what it means to us as Jews living in a predominantly Christian country. Often what has traditionally defined this term has been the concern of parents that our children would be unduly attracte http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=217 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=217/ Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT Well, here we are: The leaves are making their annual assault on my backyard with annoying frequency. But as I rake furiously my thoughts turn to that most sublime and hectic time of turkey and Thanksgiving. I find a great symmetry here as we are a http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=207 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=207/ Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT As a child who grew up in the 50's and 60's, I was particularly drawn to the events of August 28 and 29 this year. It began after our weekly Shabbat dinner as my wife and I sat down to watch the tribute to the late Senator Edward Kennedy. That evenin http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=193 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=193/ Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT Shalom. It's always jolting to be writing an article in the middle of summer that speaks of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Please slow down the progression of time (a function of getting older no doubt)! But by the time you are reading this, we will h http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=194 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=194/ Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT As you read this article the books have been stored for another summer, the rooms lie quiet and our children prepare for summer activities. But in our preschool, religious school and high school it's been a great year of growth and continued positiv http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=178 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=178/ Thu, 04 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT When I think of how much our Sages valued Jewish learning, an interesting passage of Talmud that appears in our liturgy comes to mind. If you open a siddur you will find, interspersed within our different services, texts from Tanakh (Torah, Prophets, http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=170 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=170/ Tue, 19 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT One of the unplanned side benefits of TBI's participation in the NESS (Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools) Initiative over the past 2½ years has been the revamping of our post-B'nai Mitzvah education program. The NESS Initiative, administered http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=140 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=140/ Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT Over a year ago I wrote my monthly article about the challenges of creating a meaning-centered curriculum for the supplementary synagogue religious school. It's hard to believe, but we are past the mid-point of another school year and I feel it's imp http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=148 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=148/ Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT There we stood, all together, eyes transfixed on the TV set up in the office with a makeshift antenna--a rather curious sight in an age of 500-channel cable. Somehow all of us drifted into the room as if called by a mysterious force telling us that n http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=155 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=155/ Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT Pesach: The Ultimate Family Education Event

I can never resist the temptation to use the Pesach Seder as the ultimate setting for Jewish education. For in reality, that's exactly what our Sages intended it to be when the Hagaddah was co http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=162 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=162/ Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMT Make This Hanukkah a Special Family Affair

Every December/Kislev I say to myself, "no, I'm not going to write about Hanukkah again. What else can I say about this holiday that I haven't said before?"

Well, here it is, that t http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=133 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=133/ Tue, 16 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT I try to include an update to you every other month, on TBI Religious School's participation in NESS (Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools), the four-year program administered by the Auerbach Central Agency for Jewish Education.

As http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=126 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=126/ Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMT ROSH HASHANAH & OUR WORLD-ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

In my Messenger articles I try to alternate months when I write about our schools and then write about a broader Jewish topic. This month a http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=104 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=104/ Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT WELCOME BACK IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT YEAR!

After what is now 17 years in Jewish education, I’ve learned that Jewish educators have their own cyclical calendar. Our year ends http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=103 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=103/ Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT The Challenges of Teaching Kids about Israel Today

In the TBI Religious School, one of our curricular goals is to teach about Israel and nurture a love for the Jewish nation in our students. Many of our grades have components about the h http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=89 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=89/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT GROWING UP ONLINE

Facebook. YouTube. iPods. MySpace, text messaging. It's the greatest threat to our children in history. It's the greatest innovation and creative tool in history. The Internet. It's the most pervasive double-edged sword http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=73 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=73/ Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT SURVIVING THE MULTIGENERATIONAL PESACH SEDER
Or, How I learned to Love Matzo Balls at 11:00 p.m.

Every year at this time I promise myself that I'm not going to write another April article about Passover. And basically, every year I http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=81 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=81/ Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT JEWISH STUDENTS, JEWISH TEACHERS, AND THE "S" WORD

Over the past few years, one of the hottest items on the Jewish scene has been the "newly rediscovered" concept of spirituality. All one has to do is scan any of the Jewish newspapers ar http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=65 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=65/ Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:00:00 GMT Curriculum and Meaning-Centered Learning
As we move along in our second year of our four-year NESS (Nurturing Excellence in Synagogue Schools) participation, two prominent areas of positive change are becoming evident in our Religious School. http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=56 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=56/ Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT 8 Days, 8 Actions--a Family Hanukkah Project

It's hard to believe, but Hanukkah is upon us again! Since we and our children have heard the story of Hanukkah (many times over for some of us), I wanted to share with you, an unusual aspect http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=47 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=47/ Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 GMT NESS and TBI: Important Partners for Change

Developing an Educational Vision
When I was growing up as a kid in Detroit in the 1960's my Jewish identity was being forged by a strong family background of Jewish philanthropy, a love http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=39 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=39/ Tue, 30 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT TBI Messenger, October 2007

We're Underway with a Great New School Year

As you read this we will be about 3 weeks into our new Religious School year at TBI. And although I addressed some of the new and continuing eleme http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=18 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=18/ Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 GMT TBI Messenger, September 2007

Sukkot: When Nothing Turns into Something

As we begin the start of a new year in our Jewish lives, I am going to skip past the "usual" topics of the High Holy Days and Teshuvah and go dir http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=19 http://www.tbibluebell.org/article.aspx?id=19/ Sun, 16 Sep 2007 00:00:00 GMT