Vayishlach 5773: The Fears of Jacob - Toward Framing a Personal Response to Israel and Gaza (Part 2)

Dear JCHS School Community, Thankfully in the week since we circulated the first packet of resources there is now a ceasefire in Gaza and Israel.   But several important issues and feelings remain.   I addressed some of these at the November 26 Hakhel (schoolwide community gathering each Monday).  I want to share those thoughts with you and some additional resources.   It is crucial that we speak with each other honestly and respectfully -- and that we listen to each other openly and compassionately -- if we hope to have vital conversations about Israel.   To help us do that, let me share a reminder about the goals of Israel learning at JCHS, some context from this week's Torah portion, and a glimpse at one public, sharp, and charged debate that has been trending online in recent days.   JCHS Goals for Israel Education As a Jewish educator my starting point is (often) Torah.  But before turning to this week's Torahportion, I want to be explicit about what JCHS wishes for its students in this arena -- that all students develop their own, unique and engaged relationship with Israel.  For some that may manifest itself in aligning with secular Zionists or with religious Zionists, for others it could mean aligning oneself with progressives or with their opponents.  An engaged relationship is the big goal -- but the flavor of that relationship depends on the unique vision of each student.

Vayetzei 5773: Into the Woods - Toward Framing a Personal Response to Israel and Gaza (Part 1)

November 20, 2012

Dear JCHS School Community, At the time of this writing, the conflict in Gaza and Israel continues. I spoke with the students at Hakhel on Monday about the situation and promised to distribute some materials that might inform how each of us comes to a personal response to recent events. Here are some materials that set a context with the weekly Torah, provide some background information, urge you to stand with Israel, give sources for prayers, invite you to give, and provide a range of diverse Jewish perspectives about the situation.   Into the Woods and the Weekly Torah Portion I began my words to the students by celebrating the remarkable student production of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, which closed its run in our theater with a sold-out Sunday matinee on November 18. Into the Woods embodies many enduring themes including our human need to be bound to others by stories and narratives and the power of community to transform our lives.  As Ms. Russell wrote in her Director's Notes for the show community is bound together through moral responsibility for each other and the support we give "each other in times of darkness and light."

Toledot 5773: A Friend is Someone Who Likes You

Friendship is so hard to define.  When I was a little boy and had a fight with the next door neighbor – Joey Skemp – my mother gave me the book “A Friend is Someone Who Likes You.”  Do you know the tiny book?

My favorite passages include:

• A friend is someone who likes you

• Sometimes you don't know who are your friends. Sometimes they are there all the time, but you walk right past them and don't notice that they like you in a special way.

• Some people have lots and lots of friends . . . and some people have quite a few friends

• And when you think you don't have any friends. Then you must stop hurrying and rushing so fast . . . and move very slowly, and look around carefully, to see someone who smiles at you in a special way

• But everyone . . . Everyone in the whole world has at least one friend.  Where did you find yours?

Friendship and brotherhood are at the heart of this week’s Torah portion.

The two are dealt with in Toledot because Judaism understands that there is not such a clear line between someone who is a true friend and someone who is family, and that the divine image in all of us precludes friends or family from being discarded when they no longer serve a specific purpose.