Community Blog

Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Ekev, which continues Moses’s teachings to the people of Israel as they prepare for the next chapter on their journey. 

On Sunday, our Religious School students returned for their next chapter in their religious education - a new school year. Many of our students have leveled up - something that’s not a given in our small school with its multi-grade level classes. We have one new assistant teacher in our recent Bat Mitzvah, two students who have reached their B’nai Mitzvah year, and other new changes for each and every one of our students as they grow and change and continue to learn more about their Judaism, the world, and themselves.

Sometimes going to school, even a supplemental or secondary school which is not legally mandated the way grade school is, seems like something we do because we just do. We’re expected to. It’s the norm. Our parents tell us to. We take that education for granted. So sometimes it’s good to check in with ourselves, our students, our teachers, and ask: Why are we here? 

Our students reported that they come to synagogue, to Religious School and Family Shabbat, to learn our people’s history, to learn about God, and to learn how to make the world a better place. They are excited to learn about Hebrew, to learn to read a new language and embrace our differences as a minority people in the United States. Our B’nai Mitzvah students felt the need to “lock in” (which I assume is Gen Alpha speak for knuckle down?) for their Bar Mitzvah ceremonies. They also wanted to “lock in” to earn the right to dunk their Rabbi in the dunk tank at Purim, and to graduate to being allowed in the dunk tank when they return as teachers after their B’nai Mitzvah. 

Our teachers, especially the teen assistant teachers, shared that they find joy in bringing knowledge to people younger than them, and that they feel a responsibility to pass on what they’ve learned so recently in preparation for their own B’nai Mitzvah. 

May we all be so blessed to continue to have such eager learners and teachers in our community, and may this congregation continue to be a source of joy and Judaism for all who seek it. Amen and Shabbat Shalom.