The Torah instructs us to ‘teach your children: as you sit at home, as you walk on your way, when you lay down and when you rise up.’ In short, our children’s spiritual well-being should always be foremost in our consciousness. Even though I have taught many children of all ages, it is still their parents who are the primary teachers: by example and by what is said and not said in the home. I encourage parents to talk about their values and spiritual beliefs with their children: it’s OK to talk about your own doubts and questions.I think Jewish education should be fun. I love Hebrew and continue to find it fascinating. Such as learning to tie tzitzit as in the photo to the left. I encourage my students to think critically; they don’t have to agree with everything, but at least have an understanding of various viewpoints.
In Vancouver, I now teach children individually, and I find that the teacher-student relationship is what tends to motivate my students to learn. This means I need to find what reaches each one and tailor my efforts to fit. I have students with whom I sing alot, others make posters and create Jewish artifacts, others thrive on history, stories and discussion, some enjoy tackling new Hebrew challenges and then helping me lead a service using what they’ve learned.
I want my students to love being Jewish, knowing that later that love will bring them to pursue their own education further.
Other families undertake to have a ‘private’ Bar/Bat Mitzvah: they haven’t been part of a congregation previously, and don’t want to join one just to facilitate the Bar/Bat Mitzvah experience. These experiences have been intense and profound because of the extra effort involved. It takes much more thought, planning, and self-examination to create the independent Bar/Bat Mitzvah. The results have been wonderful, both for the families and myself.