Belonging to Summer: A Time for Daring Greatly (Beha'alotecha 5776)

ImageThink graphic recap Brown 2016 SXSW keynote

My first summer camp experience was painful! I felt alone and vulnerable. At first, summer camp made me sick. I was seasick - riding a tiny ferry across choppy ocean waves to an island based Boy Scout camp. Then I was homesick - being placed in a tent by myself because, it seemed to me, I was young and uncool. Then I was just plain sick - it rained early and late; I caught a cold. I wrote tear-stained letters home offering to be nicer to my sister if only someone would rescue me from camp. I was ashamed about crying so much. I was 11 years old.

The Gift of a Mezuzah for Graduation (Graduation 2016) (Shavuot 5776)

My precious students:* I have a virtual gift for you inspired by a story told by Rabbi Susan Silverman, the sister of comedian Sarah Silverman. It is about a gift their mother, Beth Ann received at a moment of profound transition - her wedding. Her mother received this gift at a bridal shower or some other wedding event. Beth Ann, carefully unwrapped the gift -- it was a mezuzah.

A mezuzah is that little box attached to the side of a doorpost of a Jewish home. Inside is a scroll onto which are hand-calligraphed two passages from Torah.

According to Silverman family legend, Beth Ann pulled out the scroll. Unrolled it. Looked at it for a moment, then said something like: “G** dammit! The directions are in Hebrew!” 

Here [holding up parchment] is a scroll like the one Beth Ann opened. For her the contents of this scroll were a mystery. But for you, after four years at Jewish Community High School of the Bay (@jchsofthebay), you know it is not a mystery but rather a reminder of the most powerful lessons from Torah. We celebrate receiving Torah each year with the festival of Shavuot that begins in just two days.

The Freedom Journey: A Marathon, Not a Sprint (#HackYourFreedom) (Pesach 5776)

We take so many liberties for granted it's hard to remember just how long and bumpy is the journey toward freedom. At this week's Boston Marathon, the annual race that began in 1897, we take for granted the four different, competitive divisions -- men, women, men in wheelchairs, women in wheelchairs. Or that just about half of the entrants are women. That has not always been the case. In fact, the first official entrant who was a woman was Kathrine "K.V." Switzer (#261 pictured above) - a sophomore at Syracuse University. The year was 1967. 

When Kathrine registered for the 1967 Boston Marathon there was no place on the form to indicate gender. It was assumed only men would enter the race. K.V. had been routinely running 10 miles a day with the man who became her coach. She convinced him she could cover the distance one evening after adding 5 miles on to the end of their 26-mile run. 

On that snowy, race day in 1967, Kathrine was dressed like all the other runners in a baggy gray sweat suit. At about the two mile mark other runners got excited to see that #261 was a woman. Lots of photos were taken as Kathrine approached a press truck. 

Helpless or Hopeful: Sunday for The Blues or Blue Skies? (Shemini 5776)

We often are ambivalent about Sundays. Some Sundays leave us with dissonance and anxiety anticipating the week ahead. We feel helpless: those are Sunday blues. Other Sundays inspire us to carry optimism and hope into the coming week. We feel hopeful; those are blue sky Sundays. 

This Sunday every JCHS student will be adventuring far from home - to southern California, to Zion National Park, to New Orleans, and within Israel. These journeys empower our students by engaging them with others who think, live, and believe differently than they do. These journeys empower our students to see their own world from different points of view -- and to imagine shaping the world through their effort and labor. Still just as Sundays start each week, some journey encounters will generate dissonance or anxiety while others inspire optimism and hope.

The Torah portion this week hints at our potential to choose optimism over anxiety - seeing blue skies instead of feeling the blues. Just after the Torah

The Most Memorable Gift: ROLLA LEE RUBEN z"l (Terumah 5776)

Teacher Gift Ideas

Next week ends sheloshim (first month of mourning) for my mom, Rolla Lee Ruben z"l, who died at the age of 81 after a valiant battle against breast cancer and resilience through a decade of Parkinson's. She died peacefully surrounded by her family just weeks after holding her first great-grandchild. 

After raising her family and teaching for nearly four decades at Broadway Elementary School in Los Angeles, my mom wrote powerful reminiscences about, among other things, teaching at this public school in an economically depressed neighborhood. We called these reminiscences, "Bubby Stories"; one especially resonates with the theme of gifts in this week's Torah portion, Terumah. 

Rolla collected lots of memorable gifts brought by students as she taught elementary school for nearly 40 years. For example, the beautiful box of headless chocolate Santas she received from a student whose mother worked in a candy factory. Or animal figurines bought at Pin 'N' Save a few blocks from school. 

Humble and Wise Enough to Learn From Others: ROLLA LEE RUBEN z"l (Mishpatim 5776)

ROLLA LEE RUBEN z"l with Gayle and Howard (2011)

I dedicate this to my mom, Rolla Lee Ruben z"l, who died two weeks ago at the age of 81 after a valiant battle against breast cancer and resilience through a decade of Parkinson's. She died peacefully surrounded by her family just a few weeks after holding her first great-grandchild. 

After raising her family and teaching for nearly four decades at Broadway Elementary School in Los Angeles, my mom started writing powerful reminiscences about: growing up with a twin sister in the Twin Cities, falling in love with and marrying my dad, devoting her life to my sister and me, teaching public school in an economically depressed neighborhood, mentoring novice teachers through UCLA and LMU, sharing her life with friends, celebrating her Judaism, and cherishing her grandchildren. We called these reminiscences, "Bubby Stories." She wrote dozens of them. 

Juggling: Accepting and Challenging (Va'eyra 5776)

Gandini Juggling Troupe

Being a teen calls for lots of juggling. Especially this time of year - juggling the delights of vacation with a return to school; or intense family time with intense friend time; or excitement about reconnecting with friends and anxiety about reconnecting with academic material. 

Sometimes the juggling can feel especially intense. I told our students this week about my own juggling in late December. On the same day that my first granddaughter turned eight days old and received the blessing of her name, my eighty-one year old mother transitioned to hospice care in her home. Intense and happy and sad. We juggle a lot in our lives; it can be stressful and powerful.