Messages from the Head of School
Important messages and announcements, as well as inspiring Divrei Torah from our Head of School.
To Err is Human
While I deeply venerate our forefathers Abraham and Isaac, I find it difficult to relate to them. Abraham, at the age of 75, gives up everything he is familiar with in life to follow God to an unknown land, and is willing to sacrifice his only son. Isaac is obedient...
When Life Imitates Art
I walked into our Kindergarten class while they were completing one of my favorite art projects, the Shabbat Box. A Shabbat Box is a shoebox-sized receptacle containing all of the basics for making Shabbat: A Kiddush cup, challah cover, booklet of...
You Belong
I echo the words of the Psalmist, imo anochi b’tzarah—I am with you in your sorrow. I join the voices of the people of Pittsburgh, Jews and decent people everywhere, in pain and distress over the events of this past Shabbat. Imo anochi b’tzarah, I am...
Shabbat has kept the Jews
“It may be said without exaggeration that more than the Jews have kept the Sabbath, it is the Sabbath that has kept the Jews.” So wrote Asher Zvi Ginsberg in his celebrated 1898 essay, “Shabbes and Zionism.” This quip became the writer’s most famous...
History Repeats Itself
In this week’s Torah portion we are introduced to the first Israelites—Abraham and his family. Abraham and these early Israelites go down to Egypt because there is a famine in the Land of Canaan/Israel; when they get to Egypt, Abraham is afraid that he,...
Message from the Head of School – October 12, 2018
Life has returned to normal, and this can be of some concern. With the end of the Jewish holiday season, topped off this year by Thanksgiving, the series of feasts and fasts, celebrations and commemorations has finally finished. Gone are the three-day...
Message from the Head of School – October 4th, 2018
The story of the Garden of Eden, which we read this week in synagogue, certainly ends badly. The first man and woman disobey the one command of their Creator and are exiled forever from paradise. For millennia, Jewish (and Christian) commentators have looked to the...
Message from the Head of School – What makes us happy?
The happiness of Sukkot, about which I wrote last week, culminates in the holiday of Simchat Torah that we will celebrate next Tuesday. The name of the holiday is usually rendered into English as “The Holiday of Rejoicing with the Torah,” but its literal...
Message from the Head of School – Sept 20
The holiday of Sukkot, which we celebrate next week, is unique in that it is the only holiday specifically associated with joy. While nearly all Jewish holidays have an element of joy associated with them (even Yom Kippur!), it is only Sukkot that is singled out by...
Message from the Head of School – Sept 12, 2018
The Road to Repentance Starts at School Rabbi Eric Grossman Head of School, Akiva School Excerpt from the Congregation Beth Israel Beth Aaron High Holiday Magazine, September 2018 Maimonides divided his Laws of Repentance into precisely ten chapters,...
Akiva Calendar
Experience Akiva
Donate
Rabbi Grossman’s Blog Corner
Rabbi Grossman's Corner
The Dignity of Difference – Message from the Head of School
The story of how our world came to have numerous nations populating different lands is told in Genesis 11, the story of the Tower of Babel:Now the whole world had one language and a common speech [and lived in the same land]. People said to each other…...
Chidon HaTanach
I have been waiting for this week since the first time I was introduced to the Akiva community. During the meet-and-greet when I first spoke at Akiva, I shared the following story:Growing up in Toronto, I did not have the privilege of going to a school...
The Jewish History of Snow
Is there any greater gift a headmaster can give to his students than a Snow Day? Like all beloved presents, it combines anticipation, surprise, and fun. Moreover, unlike other gifts, it carries no expectation of reciprocity, so it can be enjoyed without...
The Siddur
The Torah is the most venerated book in Judaism, revered as the Word of God. The Bible is Jewish Holy Scripture, a collection of sacred books filled with the ancient history of our people, the admonitions of our prophets, and the wisdom of our ancestors. ...
Art Fair – Message from the Head of School
The Torah’s prohibition of creating artistic images, promulgated in last week’s parsha, was taken most seriously by Jews throughout our history. “You shall not make for yourself an image…” was considered by prominent rabbinic figures in different eras and...
Art Speaks! Message from the Head of School
« Par ma foi ! il y a plus de quarante ans que je dis de la prose sans que j'en susse rien !»"My faith! For more than forty years I have been speaking prose without knowing it!"Molière, Le Bourgeois gentilhommeLike Monsieur Jourdain in Molière’s play, most...
Hebrew Language Week
When the Israelites left Egypt after 430 years of exile, they brought with them their old and their young, their flocks and their herds, great wealth, and unleavened bread. So we learned in last week’s Torah reading. According to our rabbis, there was...
Message from the Head of School
As we return from winter break, I find that the most popular topic of conversation is the weather. While we know that winter comes every year—and at the same time—somehow we find ourselves unreasonably surprised that the cold and snow have returned...
Grade 6 Day
Tomorrow is Grade 6 Day, an Akiva tradition where the Grade 6 students become the teachers and administrators of the school for one day. Like so many Akiva traditions, Grade 6 Day speaks directly to the mission of the Akiva school, encouraging student...
The show must go on…
With Chanukkah’s departure, we have the opportunity to take a more nuanced look at the intersection between Jewish and Greek culture. While Chanukkah offers a binary view of Hellenism as antithetical to Biblical and Rabbinic values, the reality is more...