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.
Lessons to learn from Parashat Yitro
Guest Blogger: Perry Shak Akiva parent and board member What is the most valuable commodity in the world? It is Time. As we will see, this is one of the many lessons that can be learned from this weeks Parasha. Yitro priest of Midian, and Moshes' father in law, came...
Parashat Yitro
This week’s parashah describes the Israelites standing before Mount Sinai as they accept God’s Torah. As the ten commandments are read in synagogue this Shabbat, the congregation is asked to stand as did the Israelites in that awesome, powerful moment when God...
Parashat Beshalach – The Power of Ruach – Rabbi Sacks
This week I'd like to share a D'var Torah from Rabbi Sacks. The Power of Ruach - Rabbi Sacks Wishing everyone a wonderful Tu B'Shvat and Shabbat Shalom.
Parashat Bo – Art Speaks
On Monday, the children had the opportunity to visit the Marc Chagall exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. On Tuesday, Grade 6 had a poetry slam for parents in which they read poems they wrote inspired by Chagall paintings. In this week’s parashah, God...
Parashat Va-eira: We Remember
This week, as a school and community, we joined the World Jewish Congress’s global campaign to have the largest commemoration of the Holocaust ever by contributing our photos showing #we remember. We remember the victims of the Holocaust, we remember to continue the...
Parashat Shemot – Who am I?
In Les Miserables, when Jean Valjean contemplates allowing an innocent man to suffer the fate meant for him, he ultimately decides to stop hiding his true identity and face the consequences of disappearing from his parole – and we understand this decision when he...
Parashat Va-Yehi – Bless your children.
In Parashat Va-Yehi, this week’s final parashah of the book of Bereishit, Jacob blesses his sons before he dies. Among his words is the formula we use today to bless our own children: So he blessed them that day saying, “May God make you like Ephraim and like...
Parashat VaYeshev – “A single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” – Anne Frank
The week began with a power failure that showed us some of the most special qualities of Akiva School – community, teamwork, perseverance, commitment, and of course, the best interest of every child. Even in physical, concrete darkness, the Akiva family light shone...
Parashat VaYishlach
As our Akiva players begin their first performances of The Magic Lamp, they are full of excitement and nervous energy. Over the last few months, they have studied their lines, memorized their cues and rehearsed their dances – they have all worked so hard – but...
Parashat Vayetzei
This week we are fortunate to have as our guest blogger, Rabbi Lisa Grushcow, Akiva parent and Senior Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom. Shabbat Shalom. In this parsha, Jacob has a dream with a ladder, and angels going up and down. God reassures him...
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Rabbi Grossman’s Blog Corner
Rabbi Grossman's Corner
The Legend and Legacy of Language
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Fifth of an Ongoing Series The great mysteries of the human condition are the topics of the first eleven chapters of the Torah. In Genesis 1-6, which we read in last week’s Torah portion, Scripture addresses the origins of...
Turn! Turn! Turn!
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Fourth of an Ongoing Series The reading of Kohelet, the book of Ecclesiastes, on the holiday of Sukkot remains one of the great mysteries of the Jewish liturgical year. The just-completed Festival of Booths is the most...
Yom Kippur Message 2019
Yom Kippur is a day of judgment, but it is also a day of love. In the time of the Mishna (c. 200 C.E.), Yom Kippur was a day of courtship, when the young maidens of Jerusalem would dance in white robes in the vineyards, looking for a young man with whom to fall in...
Rosh HaShanah Message from Rabbi Grossman
Shomeia Kol Truat Amo Yisrael B’rachamim Hearing the Cries of Israel with Compassion One of my first students was a Grade 9 pupil whom I would describe as a fine young man. He was clean cut and kind, socially well-adjusted, and well-liked. Academically he was not an...
The “F” Word
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Third of an Ongoing Series There is a terrible and frightening moment in parenting when your child first uses the “F” word. Worst of all is when the object of the “F” word is you. Here is how it plays out. In response to...
Schools and Rules
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into EducationSecond of an ongoing seriesThere is an elite private school in New England that had a student handbook which, as of the last time I checked, contained only one rule. Pushing back on the endless injunctions that...
A School as Sweet as Honey
Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into EducationFirst of an Ongoing SeriesI had the pleasure this summer of spending time with the first president of the Akiva School, Charles Solomon, and his wife Chana, in their apartment in Jerusalem. In addition to enjoying their warm...
New beginnings…
Welcome back! We are so happy to see everyone return to school rested, revived and ready for a joyful and productive year of learning. A special welcome to all of our new Akiva families joining us this year; we are so happy to have you with us. This is a time of new...
A Heart of Many Rooms
As the last day of school approaches, I want to thank the entire community for making my first year at Akiva such a wonderful experience. At Grade 6 Graduation last night I spoke of Rabbi Hartman’s book, A Heart of Many Rooms. Rabbi Hartman took the title of his book...
A Chance to Shine
The biblical era was a time of hierarchies. There was an aristocracy, and there were peasants; there were wealthy landed gentry and poor paupers; there were royals and commoners; there were priests and laymen. Movement between these classes was rare, and in some...
