Community at Temple Israel
Rabbi’s Message – May 2, 2024
It is teacher appreciation week, and for those with school-age children, perhaps the PTA has sent home flyers about ways to thank classroom teachers. For those without school-age children, this week may seem to hold little meaning – but Jewish tradition teaches otherwise.
In Midrash Ha-Baur (Rabbi Sa’adia b. David, 15th century, Yemen), the author comments on God’s revelation of Godself to Jacob in Genesis 28 during his dream (Jacob’s Ladder with the angels ascending and descending). God says: “I am Adonai, God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac…” What is peculiar about this verse is that Isaac is Jacob’s father, and yet, “your father” is connected with Abraham. Our midrash asks this question and responds: Abraham is called Jacob’s father because Abraham taught Jacob Torah, which teaches us that just as a child honors their parent, so too, a student honors their teacher.
One can have a teacher in the traditional sense as a student enrolled in a class. We also have teachers in other ways: mentors, friends, so-called “work-parents,” coaches, perhaps even communal leaders, artists, or other role models. We learn all the time from lots of people. In the midrash above, as well as other Jewish texts, including the Mishneh Torah which codified this notion, we are instructed to honor those who teach us Torah – Jewish learning, life lessons, our connection to our past – with as much, or more, respect as those who raise us in the home.
I hope that you also take a moment to identify those who have taught you this past year and share that appreciation with them.
We will be honoring our religious school teaching team on Friday during our Share Shabbat service to show our appreciation of their gift to our students and community. I hope you will join me in celebrating them. For those with rising religious-school aged children, this is a good way to meet some of the people you’ll see in the coming years.
Shameless Plug: Next school year will begin with a picnic on August 11th and some other
new-to-Temple fun, so wear your sneakers! Registration packets are available for children who will be 3 years old through 10th grade, and madrichim (teaching assistants) applications are open to all rising 9th-12th grades.
If you need a packet, please contact the office or me directly. New students can set up a time to tour the school or visit during a session before we end on May 19, 2024. Early Bird registration ends May 31st and helps significantly with getting the year ahead ready to be more amazing than this one!