Why I Teach at a Jewish School

Train up a child in the way he should go and even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6) As a child, I benefited from participating in many Jewish organizations that would guide my life. I went to Young Judaea for summer sleep-away camp, I attended and worked at year-round youth activities and summer camps at the Jewish Community Center, I was active in BBYO, and I attended USY activities and graduated from Shearith Israel's religious school. Many events led to me choosing to teach at Levine, and my first few months have been what I hoped.

After becoming a teacher in the public schools, I used my school breaks to take part-time work in the Jewish community. I chaperoned weekend conventions, taught Sundays and weeknights at religious school, and led activities at Young Judaea and then Camp Chai in the summers. All the time developing relationships with Jewish youth and their families while planning memorable activities while intertwining a love for Judaism and Israel. I felt working in the Jewish community kept me connected to the people who had supported and influenced me through my childhood. I squeezed in this commitment between my public-school teaching positions, yet it was through this part-time work that I received many of my most memorable educational experiences.

And then, an awaking moment happened. My grandmother passed away. It was she who my mother put in charge of my Jewish education. It was she who made sure I attended religious school through 12th grade. It was she who assured I went to Jewish camps. And it was she, who fostered a love of Judaism for me. I hadn't put it all together until I was listening to her eulogy. As I reflected on what she taught me, my experiences with Judaism, and all the ways she had influenced me, I decided that working in Jewish education is where I wanted to be teaching.

My first few weeks at Levine have been rewarding. I have connected Jewish values into discipline lessons. Our one classroom rule comes from the Talmud— “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is explanation; go and learn it”. I have been able to infuse my Jewish knowledge in many places while I teach reading and writing. As we read Gossamer by Lois Lowry, I shared the story of the two Shabbat Angels. Learning about Chinese culture while reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord has led to connections to our own Jewish culture. During brainstorming activities for our Writer's Notebook, I shared my favorite Yiddish word to add to the list of interesting words one might add to their writing. I am eager to see what other ways I can infuse Judaism into my teaching throughout my first year at Levine.

More than in teaching lessons in my language arts classroom, I feel a connection to each one of my students and their families. There is a personal stake in the success of each one of my students. Not only because they are my students, but because they are part of the Jewish community that helped raise and define who I am as an adult. And now that I have become a veteran teacher, I want to return to the path I was led through in childhood. A Jewish path.