I'm copying a blog post that I wrote this past Friday for my school, Richmond Jewish Day School. It is about our grade 6 and 7 students joining with their counterparts from Az-Zahraa Islamic Academy, and delivering over 1,000 lunches along with toiletries and blankets, all generously donated, to residents of the Downtown East Side, the poorest neighborhood in Canada. It is worth the read, and I encourage you to also click on the following link to see how our program made the news.
The blog post begins like this:
The blog post begins like this:
The well known phrase and song “Mishenichnas Adar, Marbim B’Simcha”, which translates as: When the month of Adar arrives we should increase our joy, is often taken at its literal meaning that we should act and be happier during the month of Adar (which begins this Saturday night with the close of Shabbat). This year, of course, is a leap year, and we have two months of Adar – Adar Aleph and Adar Bet, the month we are currently in. On a simple level, increasing ones happiness in this month generally revolves around Purim and celebrating all of its aspects. But let’s look a little deeper, because really, where’s the fun in keeping it simple?
To keep on reading, click here.
The way I see it, you can teach about tzedakah, chesed and coexistence, or you can just do it. It is Jewish education as the ultimate expression of authentic activity. It is Avraham Avinu running out of his tent, in pain, to see to the three travelling strangers, rather than him sitting in his tent and studying the halachot of tzedakah and hachnasat orchim. I believe the more we are able to fashion a Jewish Education experience that combines studying with doing, learning with practice, then we will be able to make it that much more personal and meaningful to all students in Jewish day schools, be they in yeshiva day schools, or community day schools.