Walking to Learn
Usually one learns to walk. During the omer, the period from Pesach to Shavuot, we almost walk to learn. We journey metaphorically from the freedom of Pesach, to the revelation of Torah (and the responsibility that comes with that) and this is celebrated with a long night of learning. In terms of observance most people know about the cheesecake at Shavuot. A smaller (but growing) number know about and engage in the learning!
There are different ways of approaching the omer, from the Homer omer calander, to exploring the kabbalistic approach to preparing for Shavuot. As I walk the omer this year (I always imagine it as a journey from the Reed Sea to Sinai) I am frantically trying to finish things off at my West London Synagogue post, and I am conscious that after Shavuot (which is my last service at WLS) I will be turning my focus to my new post at the Movement for Reform Judaism as Communities Educator. Teaching and education has always been a central part of my rabbinate, so through the omer I am going to be offering here some Jewish educational nuggets that have been important to me, from links to quotes, for discussion here and for personal reflection, whether you are an educator or a student (as we all are!). So together we will be walking towards learning,
So for my first little education oriented nugget, a short quote from Rachel Adler:
"Our teachers break our hearts when they do not see how their Torah is bounded by their context" Full article can be found here
What does this quote mean for you? How does it speak about you? How can we help students find their own context in the Torah?
There are different ways of approaching the omer, from the Homer omer calander, to exploring the kabbalistic approach to preparing for Shavuot. As I walk the omer this year (I always imagine it as a journey from the Reed Sea to Sinai) I am frantically trying to finish things off at my West London Synagogue post, and I am conscious that after Shavuot (which is my last service at WLS) I will be turning my focus to my new post at the Movement for Reform Judaism as Communities Educator. Teaching and education has always been a central part of my rabbinate, so through the omer I am going to be offering here some Jewish educational nuggets that have been important to me, from links to quotes, for discussion here and for personal reflection, whether you are an educator or a student (as we all are!). So together we will be walking towards learning,
So for my first little education oriented nugget, a short quote from Rachel Adler:
"Our teachers break our hearts when they do not see how their Torah is bounded by their context" Full article can be found here
What does this quote mean for you? How does it speak about you? How can we help students find their own context in the Torah?
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