The Year Ahead: A Path of Purpose (Eikev 5779)

The rhythm of transitioning from school days to summer days and back again to school days calls to mind one of my school teachers. On the last day of school in June, my teacher told us the best plan for summer “is to do nothing.” That seemed pretty cool, I thought to myself. No early wake-up! No homework! No schedules! No more chores! No more responsibilities! Do nothing!

My dreams of “doing nothing” were shattered when a classmate asked if the teacher literally meant “do nothing!” “Not exactly,” they explained, “I mean find a purpose outside of school. Try something new. Don’t be afraid to fail. Practice kindness without being blocked by peer pressure. Take responsibility for your boredom. That’s the purpose of summer!”

Listen Closely for the Spark; Fan the Flame (Summer Reading 2019; Beha'alotecha 5779)

Mike Norbert, former NCAA All-American, founder of
Swim with a Purpose swim school in Atlanta

Summer was time for fun in my family. But it also was a time for learning with a purpose -- whether it was beginning swim lessons or lifeguarding courses at the local pool, learning new social skills at public school enrichment day camp, theater and literature classes at summer school, or reading one of my parents' favorite childhood adventure books. Summer was a time for exploration, taking risks, and pursuing a passion or two.

As I got older summer also became a time for work to earn bus and gas money and learn new skills. While we couldn't afford big vacations, our summers were rich with experiences. Many of those experiences have informed important life choices -- working with children, encouraging others to pursue their passions, being open to learning from all experiences and people, celebrating diversity and honoring differences among people.

Are You a Journey Person or a Destination Person: Graduation 2019 (Bamidbar 5779)

My precious students*, I had a high school teacher who on the last day of class put a snow globe on her desk. Then she directed each of us to make a list of the most important things we’d be leaving behind when we finished high school. She asked us to imagine putting those things in a snow globe. That way, she explained, our imagined snow globe would be a kind of high school souvenir. Then she warned us to consider carefully whether it would be a journey snow globe or a destination snow globe. 

A journey snow globe would have artifacts from one's daily experience: maybe a pair of soccer shoes, a picnic lunch we enjoyed with a friend, and a park bench where we sat with a bestie up all night talking. A destination snow globe would have big memorable buildings,, the college we would be moving to in August, and a favorite swimming pool. 

The Journey: The Blues or Blue Skies (Shemini 5779)

Photo by Ramon Llorensi

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 inherent capacity to choose optimism over anxiety - seeing blue skies instead of feeling the blues. 

The Journey of Connection (Pekudei 5779)

It's been a remarkable year for JCHS athletics with three teams, so far, earning spots in state sectionals (Boys Soccer, Girls Volleyball, and Boys Basketball). The journey of this year's basketball team is especially remarkable leveraging exceptional  levels of teamwork to bring the school to a first-ever trip to the NorCal "Final Four." 

The basketball team played with tremendous heart and resilience. Their achievement can be measured in several ways. For instance, they won more games than any basketball team in school history. They scored 1,308 points and made 462 assists (another school record). With five players on the court at a time, they achieved 1,775 (that is, 5 + 1,308 + 462). The 1,775 represents not only their accomplishment but also the amazing connection they had with each other. 

Similarly, there are lots of numbers in this week’s Torah portion. Its name, Pekudei, could be translated as "audit" or “accounting.” In it, Moses accounts for and recounts the collection and donation of silver and other precious materials used to construct the Tabernacle in the wilderness. 

Moving Toward Face to Face (Terumah 5779)

Image Credit: iStock|FatCamera in Highlights.com
"Why Babies Need Parallel Play"

Parents of newborn twins tell me it can take several months before the babies express any explicit awareness of the presence of another infant. Even when twins are napping or sleeping together in the same bassinet or crib, each acts like an only child. It's not until months later they seem to wake up and take a keen interest in each other.  

That is echoed in child development as toddlers learn how to engage through the developmental stage of parallel-play. That is, they play adjacent to each other, but do not try to influence one another's behavior. Each toddler is, in a sense, playing alone, but in proximity with and some sideways interest in another. Only later do children learn authentic interaction, facing each other in true relationship. 

Torah this week echoes this developmental scheme as it describes the mechanics and artistry of constructing the tabernacle in the wilderness, Torah directs the making two gold statue images of kruveem or Cherubs to top the Ark. (Exodus 25:18-20.)

Don't Let the Light Go Out - JUDITH ELLEN ROBINS z"l (Bo 5779)

The Goldberg Twins 12th Birthday (Sept. 1946)

There are different theories about why we light candles on a birthday cake. Some say it has Greek origins -- dating back to ceremonies celebrating Artemis goddess of the moon. As the moon is seen only in light, Artemis was celebrated with a single, large candle in the middle of a cake. Others point to 18th-century German aristocrats who celebrated birthdays with candlelight cake. Candles to mark longevity with a candle for each year of life.  

But why is so much meaning ascribed to light? In the Jewish tradition, the story of Creation begins with the “creation” of light. It is the very first of all divine creations to be judged "good." Tanach (the Hebrew Bible) compares light to learning. (Even English uses the same idea with the word "enlightened.") Our tradition also identifies light with goodness, the human soul, and even life itself. For instance, we light a yahrzeit candle to mark the anniversary of someone’s death. 

This week's Torah portion, Bo, teaches us something more about light as we are introduced to the 9th plague deployed to persuade ancient Pharaoh to let our people go. That is the plague of darkness. Darkness so pervasive Torah describes it as thick. (Ex. 10:22). Darkness so heavy that Egyptians could not see each other.