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Welcome to Sunday School
Dear SYVJC JED families,
I am thrilled to be your new Education Director! I’m looking forward to meeting all of you in September.
A little information about myself: I live between Santa Barbara and Goleta with my husband and our two
daughters, who are entering 6th and 9th grades. My college and graduate degrees are in Physics and Engineering,
but I’ve been involved in Jewish education in one form or another since I was a teenager teaching music to
younger students in my Hebrew School. For the past 25 years I’ve been the High Holiday cantor for Santa
Barbara Hillel, and for the past 16+ years I’ve worked with Jewish students of all ages in the Santa Barbara area,
from preschool Hebrew classes to adult education, from bar/t mitzvah preparation to provocative Women’s
Nights of Learning. I also served on the committee to overhaul the Judaic curriculum at Congregation B’nai
B’rith in Santa Barbara.
Rabbi Pearl and I have been busy preparing for the 2011-12 JED year and we have some wonderful things
planned, including a number of guest speakers, fun activities, field trips, and opportunities for learning and
growth for the whole family. Our overall theme for this year is “Jewish Every Day”. It’s not just a cute title,
but an answer to a question: When are we Jewish—on Shabbat? Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur? Hannukah &
Passover? Yes, but not only then—we’re Jewish every day! This year at JED we’ll be learning about how
Judaism can be part of our everyday lives.
Recognizing that we are all part of a community, each week we will spend some of our time all together, and
then we will separate into smaller groups for age-appropriate learning. Our curriculum includes many different
types of Jewish experiences: we will experience a little tefilah and d’var torah (prayer and Torah study); share
our stories with Jews from a variety of different backgrounds; study Hebrew, learn about Israel, and explore our
people’s history and culture through music, dance, art, and (of course!) food. We’ll investigate the concepts of
mitzvah and tzedakah and put them into action, and generally look at the question of “What does it mean to be
Jewish?” from many different angles, including a wonderful Hebrew names project. In addition to acquiring
skills in Hebrew and basic Jewish literacy, older students will discuss the Jewish take on some “hot topics” and
ethical dilemmas.
I’m excited to be working with Rabbi Pearl on a new B’nei Mitzvah program for SYVJC. I bring to this
important and pivotal rite of passage my years of experience both as a teacher, tutor and cantor, and as a
parent – my older daughter was called to the Torah as a bat mitzvah just last January, and the younger one will
soon start preparing for her Feb. 2013 date.
Our JED year starts on Sunday, September 11. On September 25, the Sunday before Rosh Hashanah, we will
have a Family Education Day; I hope to see all of you there. Another special event is coming up on October 16:
all JED families, and in fact the entire SYVJC community, are invited to participate in Mitzvah Day at
Congregation B’nai B’rith in Santa Barbara. It’s a wonderful day, with opportunities for both “doing good in the
world” and meeting and interacting with a large number of Jews of all ages. Our JED students have been
invited to participate in supervised mitzvah projects with other students of the same age, and there are a variety
of mitzvah opportunities for adults as well. Stay tuned...more information about this event will be coming soon!
Once again, I look forward to meeting you all and learning together with you.
Member of the Union for Reform Judaism
