September 10, 2021
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This week’s Torah portion is short and sweet — just one chapter of the book of Deuteronomy — which suits me just fine. Who has time to be reading long portions of Torah during the first two weeks of Tishrei, anyway? We have plenty of extra readings on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur without worrying […]
Continue readingSeptember 3, 2021
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Every morning, my wife wakes me up with a cup of coffee. I know, I know, I’m pretty lucky. Actually, though, it’s in her interest to wake me up with some caffeine — I’m not exactly a morning person. My brain kind of idles in neutral for a while, slowly making its way into gear […]
Continue readingSeptember 2, 2021
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Six months after the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh where 11 people were killed and six wounded, I sat in a Twin Cities synagogue with my family. We were witnessing a Bat Mitzvah, a beautiful tradition when a young person commits to the religious, moral, and spiritual obligations of Judaism. It’s supposed to […]
Continue readingSeptember 1, 2021
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I have been in school basically my whole life, first as a student, then as a teacher, now as a professor. Every year (except for when I taught at a Jewish day school), I have had to navigate asking for days off for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I have been lucky, in that I […]
Continue readingAugust 27, 2021
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Getting a toddler to do what you want them to do is an art form I’m still perfecting. Actually, I have serious doubts about whether I will ever get it right, but I aim to sometimes win one or two skirmishes a day. Like, maybe this time the teeth will get brushed without too much […]
Continue readingAugust 25, 2021
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I just spent two hours with my synagogue’s High Holiday guide which arrived in the mail last week. Two. Hours. Longer than any Pottery Barn catalog I’ve memorized, and I’ve cuddled up with many over the years. I smelled the pages like I would a well-loved, dog-eared Nancy Drew novel in my Grandma’s musty attic. […]
Continue readingAugust 20, 2021
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When I first conceived of this column, I ran it by an editor friend who told me it was a bad idea. “Aren’t there a lot of weekly portions that won’t connect to parenthood?” she asked me, obviously skeptical about how long I could keep this thing going. I admitted that this was a concern, […]
Continue readingAugust 19, 2021
August 18, 2021
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Shanah Tovah! I am both excited and honored to join the staff at Adath Jeshurun Congregation as the new Director of Early Childhood Education. My path here has been a long and winding one. My Jewish educational journey began at Hillel Academy in Milwaukee, which I attended for kindergarten and first grade. Those very […]
Continue readingAugust 17, 2021
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What would bring a family from Boston to Minnesota for Jewish education? Meet the Dashevsky family from Boston. Parents, Zhenya and Anya, and their children, Ari, Eli, Liora, and Elisheva. They are a busy family. In addition to work and school, the three eldest children are highly competitive gymnasts, and they participate in Jewish life […]
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