From the Headmaster

Reading Week 2012 = A HUGE Success! For the third year in a row the entire Schechter campus came together to celebrate reading. During this  annual Reading Week event, many multi-age and multi-sensory events/projects were planned to celebrate reading. Each day students were asked to DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) for fifteen minutes.

Middle school students work with younger students to create an iMovie for the reading week character ”fashion” show.

During the launch of reading week, students gathered in the  gymnasium and brought pillows to sit on while they read. Our 4th graders celebrated with a Poetry and Punch party (photos to come) where each child recited their favorite poem in English and Hebrew. A character fashion show was also held. Middle school students dressed as their favorite storybook characters and spoke to the entire school about why each character inspired them. The whole school voted for their favorite storybook characters: 

Zoe Halpern, Erica Kahn and Matthew Mangel dressed as their favorite storybook character for a character “fashion” show.

Madeline, Corduroy and Curious George garnered the most votes (see photo). During this special event a student produced iMovie  “Why we love books” was also played. Staff also contributed with a variety of classroom-specific reading activities and a display the staff’s favorite books were displayed in the main hallway. This week was made possible by the generous support of Sveta Greenberg.

Preschool students enjoy a feast of dates, figs and oranges and worked diligently on their tree-themed art during the week. Each classroom celebrated by enjoy the tastes of Israel.

Tu B’shvat At Schechter- Most classrooms on campus observed the Tu B’shvat holiday with celebratory classroom seders. Students in the third grade welcomed their families for a special Tu’Bshvat play performance(given in Hebrew). The students depicted all the different parts of the tree and fought over which part of the tree was most important. In the end, a bird helped the students decided that they should all work together to support the earth and its inhabitants. Kindergarten students learned all about what trees do for us and the planet, and then created a three-dimensional display to help illustrate what they’ve learned. The young students and their 7^th grade buddies worked together on the project. Schechter’s 7th and 8th grade students also made a special Tu’bshvat-themed visit to the residents of Menorah Park in order to help them enjoy the holiday.

5th grade Israeli Restaurant event – Students (with some help from parent volunteers) prepared an authentic Israeli meal, created menus, took orders and calculated the bill for their customers while showing off their amazing Hebrew language skills. 

Chinese New Year is big around here! Visit our You Tube Channel for videos from the recent kindergarten Chinese New Year event. Students celebrated the holiday with class lessons on Chinese culture, a dragon parade and a feast of Chinese food. 

 
The Great Lakes Theatre Festival made their annual visit to campus. This year they had the opportunity to work with students in the third grade and middle school. Students studied classic works of literature using theatrical techniques to explore characters and themes.  
Photos of student buddy projects, the first grade hospitality lesson, the staff verses student basketball game and much more can be found by visiting our photo gallery. 

 In case you had not heard, we have had two very successful Kabbalat Shabbat programs at school in the past few weeks. The first one was aimed families with children in grades K-2; the second was for grades 3-5. The first night brought in over 160 people; the second brought in over 170. They both started with Kabbalat Shabbat services, then moved on to dinner and games for the kids. Both events were very successful, creating a very nice community feeling among our families. Special thanks to the SPA (Schechter Parents Association) and to Dan Weiss, who played the dual role of parent and staff member, helping the parent committee in their planning, and creating materials for the event.
 
Video and photo galleries can be found under the “What’s New” page of the website.

Keep up on how our alumni are engaged, empowered and inspired to improve the world. To view our latest alumni newsletter click here.

To view our latest news coverage in The Cleveland Jewish News click here.

The Mishna asks: “Who is wise?” The answer: “The person who sees what is yet to be born.” Put another way: the one who sees what’s around the next corner.

Our faculty and administrators have been to universities and graduate schools, and they have a lot of experience in their jobs. Yet, each one of us continues to learn. We go to seminars, workshops and conferences; we participate in online courses and webinars, and we get “feeds” from many organizations and think tanks. Why? Because educating children involves not only keeping up with current best practices, but figuring out what we’ll have to do in five years, and in 10 years.

I have always kept my eyes and ears open for innovative and effective methods of educating, transforming and inspiring children. In my first day school, back in 1986, we looked at new ways to teach language arts. As a result of our study, we began ordering our textbooks from Australia because that was the only place to get books that used the “Whole Language” approach. Most schools in the U.S. knew nothing about this approach; now everyone does. When my school, located near Silicon Valley, heard that the local hi-tech firms were complaining that their brilliant engineers didn’t know how to work in groups, we, along with a few other schools, adopted the newly created “Cooperative Learning” approach, so that our graduates would be better prepared to enter the workforce.

The only way to keep up and stay ahead is to spend some time with educators who have a similar thirst for knowledge and innovation. These are the kind of people who are always dissatisfied with the status quo, who want to do better for their students and for the Jewish People.

So, I’m off to the National Jewish Day School Conference in Atlanta, so I can hang out with passionate, creative educators. I will be leading some sessions, as well as attending a variety of workshops, and learning everything I can from my hallway conversations with colleagues.

A few workshops listed in the program really caught my eye. One is called “Games Based Learning” with Barry Joseph from Global Kids, Inc. This examines using digital media-based games, and comes out of  their recent work funded by the MacArthur Foundation (I attended one of their seminars before – it was awesome!). Another one is “Fostering Social and Emotional Resilience in Students” led by Nancy Siegel of Stanford University’s Compassion Center.

I always find these events to be inspiring, and I look forward to sharing new ideas with everyone when I return.

There are two Hanukka stories: the Jewish civil war between the assimilationists and the religious zealots (Book of Maccabees), and the miracle of the oil (Talmud).

The lesser known, lengthy version in the Book of Maccabees shows intense division within the Jewish People, and has the gritty reality of real-world politics and power struggles. The Talmud, on the other hand, has only a few short sentences about the oil that lasted eight days. That’s the story everyone knows.

For many centuries the “oil story” has been the only story for the Jewish People. About 30 years ago scholars and Rabbis began reminding us that “real story” is not so simple or nice. Scholars documented the shift from “political story” to “oil story” in our sacred texts. The scholarly view is that when the Romans occupied the Land of Israel (two centuries after the Greeks were defeated) the Rabbis made the oil story the focus of the holiday so that the Romans would not worry that the Jews would rise up against them, the way they did against the Greeks.

This concern for the opinions of powerful occupiers led to similar changes in Jewish practice over time, including the removal of a day celebrating a Jewish general, self-censorship of sacred texts, changes in when we blow the Shofar, and the order of the Passover Seder.

Whatever the motivation, our literature and Hannuka customs are evidence that the holiday’s meaning among the Jewish People changed dramatically over time.

My question is: will we ever embrace the original story, or will the Miracle of the Oil narrative be our only story?

It won’t be an easy transition.

In addition to loving the latkes, the Hannukiya, and the sufganiyot, we have a lot to overcome.

What we know from brain research, and learning theory, is that each new fact or event we experience is integrated or assimilated into larger constructs or formats. We look for patterns; we try to construct meaning from the individual pieces.

We want things to fit; we don’t like it when information challenges our current ways of thinking. Sometimes we purposefully reject new information…because it’s easier than restructuring.

One of my teachers used to say: religion is neither logical nor illogical; it’s psychological. His point was that we have a vested interest in believing certain things. It’s hard to move away from certain, comforting beliefs.

On the other hand, we Jews in the 21st century are sophisticated and self reflective. While we want to stay in our comfort zones, we at least we know they exist. We are also quite aware that history and events are “spun” by writers and news shows. As a result…

• We can think of our ancestors as engaging in war… after all, we’ve seen the Israeli army in action.
• We can think of our ancestors as being divided… we read the Cleveland Jewish News, we see what’s happening in Israeli politics and society.
• We can think of our ancestors as having had to deal with assimilation… we see it all around us.

Getting back to the real Hannuka story might actually be possible.

The “oil lasting 8 days” is certainly a valid understanding of God’s role in the events of Hannuka, and there’s no reason not to hold onto it. But to focus on the oil is to be blinded by those little lights to the important lessons of the “historical” Hannuka. Without a doubt, the struggles of the Maccabees are our struggles: how to live as a minority, how to preserve our Jewish identity, how to live with integrity.

Objective Jewish scholarship brought the original story of Hannuka back to life. Seeing how Jewish holidays developed within political and social contexts is one of the hallmarks of Conservative Judaism. The Conservative approach helps us achieve a more complete understanding of how our people and our Tradition have survived in a very complex world.

This approach to teaching Judaism – through intellectual honesty, as well as allegiance to our traditions and customs – is one of the unique characteristics of a Schechter day school.

Since other people go through the list of highlights, I always wonder what I should speak about at the Annual Meeting. Well, two things happened recently which gave me my cue.

First, I was recently at a simcha, and some modern Orthodox friends were sitting at my table. As I got up to go I noticed that the father was sitting, reciting Birkat HaMazon by himself. His wife and two teenage children were silent. The reason he was reciting Birkat HaMazon by himself was that his family did not count women in a “mezuman” – the minimum of three people above the age of Bar or Bat Mitzvah you need to launch Birkat HaMazon as a group prayer. So his wife, daughter and son sat quietly. Unless they have friends over for a meal, this family never has a mezuman at home. In my home, I had to wait until my eldest reached her Bat Mitzvah so we’d have our team of three. In my friend’s family, they’ll have to wait until their male grandchildren reach the age of 13. Why do I tell you this story? Because the parents in this family know quite well that the Talmud allows women to be counted in a “mezuman.” They have chosen to ignore the Talmud because that’s how it’s done in Orthodox circles in Cleveland. Those on the religious right have deemed the Talmudic practice of including women too progressive.

The second event occurred during a recent discussion with some friends. One of the people present asked when we were all going to just admit that there is no need for “denominations” in Judaism, that Judaism is whatever people want it to be. Others in the group pushed back hard and said that of course there’s a need for denominations, that there are ways of studying and understanding Judaism that lead to specific decisions within schools and synagogues. If we drop all boundaries and core ideas, we might be politically correct, but we would also be intellectually dishonest.

These two interactions made me think of the work of the Solomon Schechter Day School Association. This organization recently did some re-branding work and is now called the Schechter Day School Network. Materials were created that will help parents around the country better understand how a Schechter education differs from what is delivered in Orthodox or community day schools. We’re going to use some of those materials in our school.

Why the need for a re-branding? Why the need to re-establish a Conservative identity?

Let’s look at the history of denominations in Judaism.

The history of the different movements is really about the “actions” and “reactions” of Reform and Orthodoxy in Germany in the mid-19th century.

While there had always been differences of opinion, as well as customs, among the Jewish People, it was the Reform Movement that took the biggest step away from halakha, or Jewish Law. While Reform’s first changes weren’t all that radical, when Reform came to America, the changes became more dramatic. The response to Reform was the founding of an Orthodox Movement. At the time, there was no Conservative. There was just Judaism.

Conservative came along years later and said, “Lo zeh, v’lo zeh” – neither Reform nor Orthodoxy are true to traditional Judaism. The founders of Conservative (called the “positive historical school”) sought to “conserve” the Tradition, using Jewish Law (the “legal positivist” approach) as the foundation, all the while trying to understand how each and every law and custom came about (the “historical” approach). Their goal was to continue applying our sacred texts to new situations, just as the Rabbis in the Talmud did. The architects of Conservative Judaism always saw themselves as documenting and practicing “just plain Judaism” – the Judaism that the Rabbis would have practiced had they been living in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Unfortunately, Conservative “Judaism” gets evaluated by, or confused with, “what Conservative Jews do” (or don’t do). Here’s why:

The Conservative Movement is made up of institutions (synagogues, camps, day schools, USY, etc.), each with their own members, boards of directors and professionals. The people in these organizations don’t usually decide halakha; they choose how to apply halakhic options in their own organizations; their boards and members choose how halakha will inform their actions.

When these organizations have a question about some new issue in Jewish Law, they turn to the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, called the “Law Committee.” The Rabbis on the Law Committee ponder these questions and decide what halakha has to say. Then the leaders in shuls or camps or schools figure out how to apply these rulings in their organizations. Here’s an interesting example: the Solomon Schechter Day School Association asked the “Law Committee” if halakha allowed Schechter schools to reject a child who wasn’t vaccinated (the answer was “yes”). There are schools that follow that ruling and some that don’t. By connecting Jewish law to new situations, the Law Committee makes halakha relevant. It does not, however, have the power to make Conservative congregants keep kosher. On the other side of the equation, the fact that some Conservative congregants ignore Shabbat does not invalidate Conservative Judaism. That would be like saying someone who drives above the speed limit rejects the Constitution.

The founders of the Conservative approach did not see themselves as changing the underlying ideas or practices of Judaism. They did not have an activist agenda. They weren’t trying to re-imagine Judaism. They weren’t even trying to hold down the center. They wanted to keep the “reformers” on the left and the reactionary right from re-interpreting Judaism too far away from the Talmud’s approach.

One can legitimately ask: have Conservative institutions successfully educated each generation in Jewish texts and Jewish Law? No. Has Jewish observance matched the aspirations of Conservative Rabbis? No. But let’s be real: we have never seen 100% Jewish literacy and observance in the history of the Jewish People. Furthermore, in a free and open society, where we have no “God Squad” to make Jews keep Kosher and Shabbat, every Jew is a “Jew by Choice” – so what makes us think that any stream of Judaism can capture the hearts and minds of all Jews?

So back to my friend’s question: why even bother with denominations and labels? Why not just “teach Judaism?” Here’s what we found in our marketing work in the Schechter Network:

Even though Jews everywhere are moving further to the left and the right, research shows there is a large, and growing number of Jews who are looking for what’s been labeled the “passionate center.” For them, positions too far to the left are too far removed from halakha and core values, and positions on the right require them to give up on intellectual honesty. They say: “Lo zeh, v’lo zeh” – we don’t just make Judaism in our own image, nor do we let the ultra-Orthodox re-write Judaism in a way that ignores the Talmud and our history.

There are people who want a dynamic Judaism, based on Tradition, a Judaism that touches their hearts and their minds.

We see more and more of that in the many new independent minyanim and yeshivot in the U.S. and Israel. Guess who is starting and attending these exciting programs? Products of Schechter day schools and Ramah camps. They are taking their commitment to Jewish life and learning away from the big-box synagogue model and planting it new venues. Many of these groups have dropped the label “Conservative” not because they disagree with it, but because the label is confusing to many people. They want to be in that passionate center. They are looking to re-assert the normative, traditional Judaism that is, as Chancellor Arnie Eisen of JTS says, “just Judaism.”

The challenge, though, is that without some labeling and branding, it’s hard to market “just Judaism.” Just as the Schechter Association did a re-branding, Conservative synagogues, through the United Synagogue, need to do the same. Furthermore, Conservative synagogues need to clearly explain how they are different, unique and special. And they need to deliver on that promise.

In many ways we have benefitted from being in the middle. Just look at the broad range of families who are attracted to our school. I believe we need to take even further advantage of this yearning for the passionate center. For those who don’t understand what “Conservative” or “Schechter” stands for, let’s teach them; let’s educate the entire community that our approach to Jewish learning not only represents the original, normative Judaism, but is an exciting place to be…intellectually, spiritually and educationally. We educate the heart and the mind; we care about the whole child; we combine academic rigor with exciting discovery. As educator Mel Levine told a Schechter conference: the Schechter program is the most comprehensive, challenging program of any school system in America.

Here’s some language from the Schechter Network branding statement that we can use:

• Schechter is a place where curiosity rules. Where children learn to honor timeless traditions and think for themselves.

• Where they’re encouraged to ask bold questions, confront paradox and discover new connections.

• Where critical inquiry feels like fun, and lights go on in unexpected ways.

• Schechter is a place where students see links between Moses and Macbeth, anthropology and architecture, biology and Bible.

• Where children understand empathy so deeply that they relate to characters – real and fictional – across every era in time and draw guidance from them for living today.

• Schechter is a place where everything feels accessible, nothing is off-limits and students yearn to engage the world.

• This is Schechter.

The Schechter re-branding, and future Schechter Network activities, are being supported by large foundations who believe in what we have to offer. They actually see us as stabilizing the Jewish world. As one program officer told me, “We see Schechter as the group keeping the ship of American Judaism afloat.”

Like other Schechter schools, we do not exist to be “something in between a community day school or an Orthodox one.” We exist because we believe that a Schechter education is the most powerful gift we can give our children, our community and the Jewish world.

Now, more than ever, the Jewish world needs what we have to offer. In spite of the economy, we have to live up to the expectations placed on us. It’s going to take more hard work and more resources. As it says in Pirkei Avot: l’fum tza’ara agra, the more work, the greater the reward.

I look forward to many more great things for our school. Thank you all for continuing to be our partners in creating the Jewish Future.

Years ago, the State of California created the Task Force on Self Esteem. At the time, the debate among educators was like the chicken-egg dilemma: which came first? Did a child need to first develop self esteem in order to be able to learn, or did actual accomplishment in learning lead to self esteem?  The Task Force created an official definition of self esteem: “appreciating my own worth and importance and having the character to be accountable for myself and to act responsibly toward others.” Then they identified four elements of self esteem: a sense of belonging, likability, a feeling of significance, acknowledgment of hard work.

In my opinion, the elements of “hard work” and “the character to be accountable for myself” seem to have disappeared. The media rarely show just how hard successful people had to work in order to achieve their success, and news programs are filled with examples of people who have failed to admit their mistakes or take responsibility for their actions. One therapist I know is fond of saying “People have three basic needs: food, shelter, and someone else to blame.”

Children know when we give them false praise. However, when we celebrate their real accomplishments, when we compliment them on their effort, when a child learns to say, “I blew it; I can do better” and then really tries to do better, they grow in self esteem.

When a child falls short at school – whether it’s on a homework assignment, a test, an interaction with a classmate, a problematic behavior – parents have a wonderful opportunity to help their child grow by asking them: “What are you going to do to solve this problem?”

An important part of the Schechter experience is giving students opportunities to be responsible for their own work as well as contribute to the efforts of a larger group. We want them to know what it feels like when teachers and classmates count on them to do their work. We want our students to understand that what they do matters to others. Lost in the ongoing debate about homework is the fact that homework gives a child the opportunity to be responsible for work outside of the classroom. When we insist that children take ownership for their homework (write down the assignment at school, understand the assignment, calls others for clarification) we are providing opportunities for the development of realistic self-esteem.

To “parent” a child is to “grow” a child. Unconditional love is the soil. High expectations and a sense of responsibility and realistic self-esteem are the sun, water and air.

When I listen to parents express their goals or concerns about raising children, the following themes keep repeating:

1. Will my child have friends?
2. Will my child have positive self-esteem?
3. Will my child be prepared for the future?
4. Will my child be financially secure?

Being a parent has always been hard work. New realities bring additional challenges. Our responses as parents and educators should be informed by research, shared wisdom and a commitment to the core values we hold dear.
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Question #1 – Will My Child Have Friends?

It’s good to have goals for a child, and it’s every parent’s job to be concerned about the future. The question about having friends points to a product or outcome. It’s important to realize that in order to arrive at a parenting product one must pay attention to the process needed to achieve that particular goal. There aren’t shortcuts to these “products” – they each require time, effort, discipline and commitment. But rest assured – the payoff is huge!

We are social beings; we need to be around people who care about us and bring out the best in us. But in order to “have” friends, one must learn how to “be” a friend. This means children must learn, practice, and eventually master, a wide range of skills. For instance, children need to learn how to share, communicate, deal with disappointment, compromise, take initiative, ignore peer pressure, ask for forgiveness, and anticipate the needs of others…just to name a few. When I see children quickly and painfully moving in and out of friendships, very often it’s due to a lack of skills on the child’s part, and a lack of “educational commitment” from the parent.  Making and keeping friends is not easy. Parents play a key role by actively educating their children about the complexity of friendship if they want to truly give them the opportunity to achieve this goal.

At Schechter we teach children how to make friends, keep friends and be a friend. We teach the value of friendship and point out that it takes work. Our Guidance Counselor works with children at all ages to develop the skills, methods, and vocabulary to handle conflict, cement relationships, and come to the aid of others. Whether through role play, peer mediation training, or group projects, we put “relationships with others” at the center of classroom life. Our teachers have been trained in the Responsive Classroom method that creates an environment of mutual support, providing many opportunities to help children learn empathy and methods of support towards their friends.  We have “working groups” of girls who have lunch with our Guidance Counselor to work on group issues, and we have a support group of children whose families are going through big changes. Finally, we have “policies of inclusion” that guide families towards inviting the entire grade (or all the boys/girls) to parties so no child will feel left out.

Parents who work with the school have a great opportunity to give their children a set of life skills and attitudes that will lead to long lasting, meaningful friendships.  The more we work together, the greater the payoff for our students.

I welcome your comments and questions.

Next Time…. Will my child have positive self esteem?