AS PARENTS & TEACHERS
  • PARENTING & JEWISH VALUES
  • FAMILY DYNAMICS
  • KIDS & TEXTS
  • TEENS & TEXTS​
  • ​ART & TEXTS
  • SELF-CARE

FOR PARENTS 

Workshops focused on parenting through Jewish values.



​From Theory to Practice
​
The Blessing of a Skinned Knee 
(Parenting Young Children)​
​The Blessing of a B Minus 
(Parenting Teens) 

Using a framework of nine “blessings,” clinical psychologist and educator Wendy Mogel takes traditional Jewish wisdom and presents it to parents as a new way of looking at the world, at one’s own life and at the life of the family. Together we focus on one of these blessings and discuss ways of applying Mogel’s ideas to our own realities. (It is not necessary to have read the book in advance, but it helps :) 
​

East of Eden, North of San Francisco: 
Birth Order and the Nature vs. Nurture Debate ​in Biblical Terms

Reflection on the mishegoss (Yiddish for absurdities/craziness) in the Bible’s "First Family" (Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel) can shed some light on one of the strongest influences on personal development: birth order. Together we explore Genesis chapter 4 through the twin lenses of traditional midrash (interpretive readings) and scientific studies of birth order. 
​

Parental Prerogative: Blessings for a Bar and Bat Mitzvah 

Using the traditional blessing said by parents of a bar mitzvah as a starting point, this workshop explores the form and function of a contemporary parents' blessing. Through text study, reflection and a review of alternative translations, parents have an opportunity to begin to shape this ritual moment for themselves and their children.

FOR TEACHERS  

​Professional development workshops designed for Hebrew School teachers, Family Educators, Early Childhood Educators and Jewish Teen Educators.  
​

The Secret Recipe for Teaching
​Jewish Texts to Teens

​A general introduction to teaching text study (including how to find great texts, how to get the most out of them and a bag-o-tricks for varying the format of text study in a classroom setting).
​

Handmade Midrash:
Traditional and Contemporary Tools
​for Approaching and Interpreting the Bible

From Rembrandt to Andrew Lloyd Webber many an artist has chosen to depict Biblical stories in images, sounds and movement.  Every one of these paintings, sculptures, musical scores and dances is a midrash--an interpretation of the Biblical text—and part of a tradition that dates back thousands of years.  After a brief introduction to this concept we participate in the act of creation by using a powerful technique (requiring no special artistic skills) called “Handmade Midrash.”  Developed by the artist and educator, Jo Milgrom, this process is easily and immediately usable in your own classroom. ​
​

THRIVE!
​Self-Care for Jewish Communal Professionals

Notice how Kaiser Permanente hasn't made a slogan of "Sustain!"? Me too. Sustaining just about anything seems like a rather low bar to set.  Personally and professionally (and HMOishly) I'd rather "Thrive!"  Join in a text study and discussion of Jewish wisdom around self-care.  Don't bother to bring a yoga mat, but a water bottle and loose clothing are always encouraged.


​FOR BOTH

Noah's Art [Sic]: Sharing the Bible with Young Children

Using the story of Noah as an example we study the text itself and then compare it to the versions in different children’s books. This serves as the basis for discussing both the teaching of Bible to young children as well as the power of art as midrash (interpretive reading). 

​

Family Matters:
Ethical Dimensions of Parent-Child Relationships

The Torah insists that we both “honor” and “revere” our parents.  What is the difference between the two? How do we understand these concepts in our particular context: a society of where children are encouraged to think critically, and feel empowered to act on their own sense of right and wrong, and where parental enforcement of these values faces limitations unimaginable to our ancestors.  And what about the reverse? What obligations do parent have to their children? To what lengths must parents go to fulfill this obligation?  To what extent must parents take responsibility for the behavior of their children?

Unpacking the mutual obligations between parents and children over two millennia of Jewish wisdom, with the lens of contemporary social psychology, we are led to question much more than our individual relationships to family. The conversation inevitably leads to a discussion of the place of Jewish values in North America today.