My Jewish Journey
Deborah Abecassis Warshawsky, Director of Jewish Life and Learning, shares insights on lessons from the Torah, Jewish customs and traditions and inspirational thoughts for personal growth.
Parashat Ba-Midbar/Shavuot: Counting, accounting and recounting
This week’s parashah begins the book of Ba-Midbar, which opens with God commanding Moses to count. Take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel according to their families, according to their fathers’ house, by number of the names, every male...
Parashat Emor – Counting
This weekend is Lag Ba-Omer, the 33rd day of counting from Passover to Shavuot. In our parshah this week we find the commandment to count these days: You shall count for yourselves – from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the omer of the waving...
Parashat Acharei- Mot – Kedoshim
In this week’s double parashah we find the well-know commandment “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Rabbi Akiva taught that this precept is the most important rule in the Torah. In this week of commemoration and celebration - with Yom...
Parashat Tazria-Metzora – Yom Ha-Shoah
I love when my children come home eager to tell me something they learned in school that made an impression on them. I love it more when they assume they are telling me something I would have never heard before and they are eager to teach me. This past Monday we...
Parashat Shemini – Food for thought
The last thing I feel like doing the day after Passover is think about food. Again. There are so many important and meaningful messages to the holiday - about freedom and family and community, about faith and courage, traditions, history and heritage. But let’s face...
Happy Passover!
Questions are a central part of the Passover Seder. Our very youngest participants are tasked with asking the Mah Nishtana – why this night, this holiday, is different from every other night of the year. Questions help instill a love of learning and encourage the...
Parashat Vayikra – Guest blogger Akiva Shinshinit Yael Goldstone
This week's Dvar Torah is written by our Akiva Shinshinit, Yael Goldstone. Thank you Yael for sharing! Shabbat Shalom! Israel Kristal is the Guinness world record holder of being the oldest man alive. Israel was born in 1903 in Žernov. His father was drafted to the...
Parashat Va-Yakhel / Pikudei – However you can
In the weeks leading up to Passover, I hesitate sending my husband to the grocery store for me. My priority is cleaning out my pantry of hametz and purchasing only the essentials we can use and finish immediately. A request for a red pepper, a package of cheese and...
Parsha Ki Tisa – featuring guest blogger Dr. Michael Kalin
This week, we have a guest blogger, Akiva parent Dr. Michael Kalin, with an inspirational D'var Torah on Parashat Ki Tisa. Thank you Michael for sharing. Shabbat Shalom, Debbie We are all familiar with the story of the golden calf in Ki Tisa. Moshe ascends Mt....
Parashat Terumah – The home we build together…
At Akiva School we all work together to build something beautiful – a home for our children to learn, to grow and to thrive. This is the gift that we give to them - and to us - as we play a role in shaping our future through our children. I invite you all to read a...
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Why Do I Have To Go To School?
Chidushim B’chinuch—Insights into Education Eleventh in an Ongoing Series Most people have asked this question at some point in their academic careers, and most parents have had to answer this query for their children. With elementary school students, the question is...
Unparalleled Prayer
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Tenth of an Ongoing Series Watching Akiva students participate in prayer services, one would never know that prayer, or tefillah, in Hebrew, is considered the greatest educational challenge in the Jewish day school world. ...
What’s in a Name?
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Ninth of an Ongoing Series Jewish schools today tend to take their names from magnanimous donors. This system of nomenclature rightly honours those who have provided for the needs and welfare of our community, called in...
Lessons from the Land of Egypt
When we conclude the Book of Genesis this week in synagogue, the Israelites will have taken up residence in a most hospitable and welcoming country: Egypt. Invited there by Pharaoh himself, with the Hebrew Joseph as his viceroy, our people prospered financially and...
There’s No Place Like Home
Before we go off for Winter Vacation, I wanted to wish the entire Akiva community a restful break and a happy Chanukah. We are wrapping up this secular year with energy and inspiration courtesy of the Akiva Players amazing production of the original musical, Cyber...
Chanukah Musings
During the Chanukah season it is traditional to reflect upon the relationship between Jewish and Greek civilization. The story of Chanukah celebrates the literal and figurative victory of Judaism over Greek cultural and military forces in the battle between Jews and...
Cast Me Not Off
Cast me not off when I am old; forsake me not when my usefulness fails. Psalm 71:9 Mr. Stein would not sell you a book unless he thought you worthy of reading it. His books were located on the ancient shelves of his store—behind the counter and out of reach of...
Happily Ever After
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Eighth of an Ongoing Series When I moved to Massachusetts many years ago, one of my first stops was the Granary Burial Ground, located in downtown Boston. Tourists and residents alike make pilgrimages to this cemetery to pay...
A Place where the Air is Sweet
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Seventh in an Ongoing Series As a child, neither my friends nor I were afraid of monsters or vampires, and I know whom to thank. When children of a previous generation imagined monsters or Gothic villains they would think...
A Paean to Poetry
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Sixth of an Ongoing Series My decision to pursue a career in education was solidified in 1989 when I saw Peter Weir’s Oscar-winning film, Dead Poets Society. As far as I can remember, I wanted to become a teacher from the...
