Jewish

Supporting Each Other Judgement Free

School is beginning and this year, more than ever, educators in early childhood centers and religious schools need support. A year and a half of changing plans that we worked so hard on, learning entirely new ways of teaching, comforting others while feeling uncertain ourselves, and doing our best to create a sense of community while students are separated into pods or logging into class from their homes has left educators running on fumes.

As we all dig deep to ensure that the start of this school year is as special and exciting as we can make it, our Jewish tradition offers answers as to where we might look for support. Hinei ma tov u’ma naim, shevet achim gam yachad: how good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to sit together (Psalm 133:1). We are in this together and we understand one another’s struggles and achievements, as educators, better than anyone else. While early childhood centers and religious schools welcome children to campus at different times and for different programs, the educational leaders of these departments can find time to sit with one another on a regular basis, without a formal agenda. Having this time set aside to speak with someone who inherently understands what we do and the intricacies of the organizations in which we work, can become the extra emotional sustenance that we need to propel us into this new school year.

This year we can make an extra effort to support our fellow educators by sitting together without judgment through:

• Joy: sharing our successes with students and watching their growth, watching our teachers develop professionally, celebrating lifecycle events, enjoy the moments when we get to feel a sense of “normalcy”, and laugh at the silly things that we see and hear when our students are with us.
• Hardship: the personal and professional challenges that Covid creates for educators, the shortage of teachers and money to pay them what they deserve, and the fear of our students, staff, families, or ourselves becoming ill.
• Change: the ways that we have had to learn to adapt to teaching our students in new ways, the ever-changing guidelines and mandates placed on schools, and the ways that many aspects of our jobs have dramatically changed since Covid began.
   

Rose Orlovich, MAEd, MAEd ECE
Director of Education
Lee and Frank Goldberg Family Religious School
Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego, CA

New Jewish Education Materials Now Available

In the last few years there has been an influx of new Jewish education materials created for our Jewish early childhood community. BimBam is one of these amazing and innovative resources found on the ReformJudaism.org website. These educational videos are creative, fun, and accessible for learners of every age.  They were created to spark connections to Judaism through digital storytelling.

Here are a few of BimBam’s offerings connected to the themes and values for starting a new year of learning as we welcome our learners and their families into the community.

1. The Shehecheyanu prayer:  this prayer is central to marking times of transition and the start of something new. In a one-minute animated video, BimBam artfully illustrates both the many different times we traditionally say Shecheyanu as well as times that we may each use it in own lives.
2. The value of kehillah:  inclusivity and welcoming guests is what makes each of our communities sacred spaces for everyone. Even our youngest learners are invited to welcome new faces into their classrooms with a warm smile and greeting. Gabi and Rafael, the stars of Shaboom! (BimBam’s series for young children) help out a regular family that makes a lot of silly mistakes while exploring a Jewish value. In the first episode, Welcoming Guests: Hachnasat Orchim, they remind us how this value applies to our friends and family just as we practice this value in our schools.
3. Tzedakah:  Considering launching a new Tzedakah challenge for your community? BimBam offers a whole series of videos from another Shaboom! episode called Get with the Giving, from understanding the difference between tzedakah and charity to a DIY Tzedakah box, as well as an introductory video for parents, too.

Sharing these videos with the families of your students not only welcomes parents into the learning, it also offers an opportunity for families to continue the learning together at home. Children love to be experts, and encouraging families to watch these videos together creates a space for children to share and expand upon their knowledge with their families.

May our classrooms be sacred spaces of learning and connection. May we be inspired by our learners and the holy communities we create together.

Ellen Lefkowitz
Early Childhood Director
Temple Sinai
Oakland, CA

September 2019