Forward.com

‘The Perfect Storm’ for Day Schools

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:17:00 EST

As Jewish day schools prepare to open their doors for the 2009–10 school year, there is only one thing beyond the well-being of their students that is on the minds of those in charge: the economy.

50 Years of Turning Out Doctors at Einstein

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:16:00 EST

Leon Chameides was an undergraduate at Yeshiva University in the early 1950s, taking all the required courses so he could apply to medical school right after graduation. But he knew that his chances of getting in were slim because of the unwritten rule that he and all his pre-med classmates understood.

The Pearl Project Picks Up the Story Where the Slain Reporter Left Off

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:15:00 EST

For two years, journalism students at Georgetown University worked tirelessly to separate fact from fiction in the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl and to finish the story he was pursuing when Pakistani extremists kidnapped and murdered him.

A Classroom Film That Explores the Tensions Over Marriage in Israel

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:13:00 EST

Israelis who plan to marry but don’t want their weddings performed by a government-approved Orthodox rabbi have an alternative: They can leave the country.

The Israel Teacher Corps Sends Young English Teachers to the Poorest Towns

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:07:00 EST

Although visitors to Israel’s big cities see what appears to be a prosperous lifestyle, 40% of Israel’s children live below the poverty level, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel. Many of these underprivileged children live in the Negev region, where opportunities for a proper English education are sparse.

Muslims and Jews: Fostering Respect, Bridging Cultural Differences

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:05:00 EST

When a new venture at Columbia University brought together 30 Muslim and Jewish entrepreneurs from the United States, the United Kingdom and France for a cross-cultural dialogue, the focus was on something other than interfaith work. They talked business.

Students Create Their Own Charity

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:00:00 EST

For many Jewish children, the idea of charity often means dropping change into a bright-blue tzedakah box. Sure, the collected money goes to charitable organizations, but how do you measure whether the kids’ own efforts have any noticeable effect?

At Davennen’ Leadership Institute, A Chance To Deepen Spiritual Experience

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:59:00 EST

Ask Rabbi Marcia Prager what a typical day at the Davennen’ Leadership Training Institute is like, and she won’t talk about the master classes, the skills sessions, the group work. Not at first. At first, she’ll start at the beginning.

‘Names, Not Numbers’: Listening to the Stories Told by Holocaust Survivors

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:57:00 EST

Tova Rosenberg knows about stories. Sitting in her Yeshiva University office in New York City’s Washington Heights, the creator of the Holocaust education project “Names, Not Numbers” recounted a student’s interview with the son of a Holocaust survivor.

Balancing Act

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST

Lisa Appel spends more time standing on her head than most Jewish educators spend on their feet. The classroom veteran with an affinity for Hebrew songs also spins more plates and juggles more scarves than her colleagues, and she’s more likely to teach in sparkly attire and a bright-pink wig.

Truth Seekers: The Pursuit of Math

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:58:00 EST

At the age of 25, most New Yorkers would think twice before spending $500 a month to finance an informal school of mathematics, especially in these times of economic uncertainty. But in mathematical terms, Avital Oliver would be called a statistical outlier. After deciding that he needed time away from academia, yet still finding himself drawn to the beauty of mathematics, the Brooklyn resident created a space where people could do math for math’s sake — with no tests and no pressure to become the next awkward genius.

Struggling To Stay Afloat

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:55:00 EST

Last August, just as the new academic year was starting, Rabbi Yaacov Dvorin, head of Hillel Torah North Suburban Day School, in Skokie, Ill., was facing an increase in the number of families applying for financial aid, decreased dollars coming in through fundraising efforts and the possibility of cutting back on teaching assistants. It was a tough position to be in, given that the school had limited funds and prided itself on maintaining small classroom sizes with lots of individual attention.

The Next Generation: Organizers and Activists Learn the Ropes

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:54:00 EST

By 10 o’clock on a Saturday morning, a dozen bleary-eyed idealists were already milling around, chewing absently on bagels and sipping from little orange juice cartons. Sunlight streamed into the windows of the fifth floor of the brownstone on East 10th Street in New York City, where they had gathered to talk about leadership development and oppression. Later that day, they would use such words as “invisible-ize” and discuss systems of power and the best approach to knocking on doors on the Lower East Side. But they began the morning with an invocation of sorts, a reading from Grace Paley’s short story “Midrash on Happiness.”

Hollywood Drama About Jewish Resistance Hits the Classroom

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:50:00 EST

High-school history instructors don’t normally find themselves on Hollywood guest lists, so filmgoers with better inside connections might have been surprised recently by the teachers’ presence at advance screenings of “Defiance,” the Holocaust drama that opened nationwide January 16 and stars James Bond actor Daniel Craig.

Culinary Arts: A Taste of Kosher Cooking

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:47:00 EST

Tucked amid the shops on a busy street in Brooklyn, the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts is at first hard to find. The one-room school, located on the second floor of a housewares store, is small and unimposing. Despite its humble appearance, the center offers an impressive array of recreational classes for the home cook, from a master class in chocolate, taught by chocolatier Bruce Beck, to preparation of healthful weeknight meals, taught by cookbook author Rachel Saks.

Building Jewish Identity, Preschool Program Expands Its Reach

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:46:00 EST

At a table in the rear of classroom 3 of the nursery school at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, several of the children, ages 3 and 4, pause from busily gluing photographs of the class Hanukkah party onto a large piece of brown paper to explain to a visitor what they’re doing.

A Beit Midrash Aims to Soothe Troubled Minds

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:44:00 EST

It’s about 1:30 on a weekday afternoon, an hour before the students in the beit midrash, or study hall, will be dismissed. At a table strewn with books, notebooks and pens, young men are listening, chatting, smiling and scribbling. A tad more chaotic than a typical beit midrash, but the rabbi at the table doesn’t seem to mind. Neither does the program’s director, who is high five-ing any student in his path.

A Cross-Denominational Approach to High School in the U.K.

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:42:00 EST

To send her 11-year-old son to a Jewish high school was an obvious decision for Helena Miller, who until recently was director of education and development at a rabbinical college in London. But Miller noted that the process wasn’t as simple for the parents of some of her son’s friends: Their children were denied admission because they didn’t meet halachic requirements.

Orthodox Institute Launches New Teacher Program

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:40:00 EST

The Jerusalem-based Shalom Hartman Institute is gearing up to challenge the common understanding of the term “rabbi.”

A Teacher's Toolkit for Tackling Tough Issues

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:32:00 EST

The “Evaded Issues in Jewish Education” workshops aim to integrate such issues as harassment and bullying, sexuality and relationships, sexism and gender identity, eating disorders and body image, and substance abuse into teachers’ educational “toolkits.”