shani

Recently, the daughter of one of my relatives showed me her exam on the laws of mezuzah. The test showed she could cite the relevant sources in the Torah, Talmud, and Codes competently. She definitely “knew her stuff.”

No one knows how the new academic year of 2020-2021 will start off. Most administrators have designed a Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C. One thing is for sure, most of our students will have been on summer vacation during the protests that emerged around the country after George Floyd’s tragic death. Many may well have missed an opportunity to discuss racial discrimination with their teachers. Whatever form school takes this fall, we should not pass up the opportunity to engage our students in a discussion of racial and economic injustice.

This Pesach, it will not be difficult to answer the question: “How will our s’darim this year be different from all other years?” My guess is they will be smaller, possibly shorter, requiring more distance between participants.

If you’ve ever been in a class where the teacher makes you laugh or where the teacher is willing to laugh at herself or himself, you’ve probably found that the learning becomes lighter and easier.

I lived in Canada for four and a half years. One cultural difference between Canadians and Americans is that Canadians apologize for everything. Canadians sneeze, and they say, “sorry.”