Tag Archives: teachers

Cause for Celebration

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This letter, written by Matan Executive Director Dori Frumin Kirshner, appeared in the Washington Jewish Week on June 16, 2010.

“The news of the planned collaboration between Yeshiva University, the Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute for Religion vis-a-vis Jewish teacher recruiting and training, thanks to the $33 million gift from the Jim Joseph Foundation, is indeed cause for celebration (“Grant pushes historic partnership of seminaries,” WJW, June 3).

This is a significant, timely statement acknowledging that the value of a Jewish education transcends denominational lines. I have full faith that the three institutions’ efforts will yield results that will positively impact the Jewish community for decades to come.

It is my hope that when these esteemed institutions delineate their priorities, there will be a focus on empowering teachers to include all learners. We, as a community, are still slow to act on the commandment that it is our responsibility to ensure that every child, regardless of ability, has full and complete access to Jewish education and participation in Jewish life.

We live in a Jewish community where too many children and families feel marginalized from the beauty and vibrancy of Jewish life. There are too many stories of exclusion, rejection and intolerance. It is time to take action so that the Jewish community not only tolerates, not only makes accommodations, but includes all Jews. I hope that as these professional schools begin to design individual and collective syllabi and multiple courses, a professional track dedicated to teaching children with learning differences also will be implemented.

Most important, I hope that these schools will partner with organizations that are entrenched in this meaningful work — we do not want to envision a Jewish community with professional teachers who do not, cannot or will not include all of our children.

DORI FRUMIN KIRSHNER

White Plains, N.Y.

 

Spotlight on the Matan Class at the JCC of Manhattan

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The Matan class, part of the Kulam program at the JCC of Manhattan, serves children ages 8-12 years with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  This year, the focus of the class is Synagogue Life.  This is a unique experience for the students in the JCC setting, as for many of them it is their first opportunity to learn about synagogues.

Recently, Matan teacher Shira Arcus introduced a unit on “People in the Synagogue”.  Rabbinical Student Ariella Rosen made a guest appearance at the class.  She told the students that she is studying to be a Rabbi.  Through using stick puppets, she explained the various roles of different people in the Synagogue, including the Rabbi, cantor and teachers.  She told the students that Rabbis help people learn about being Jewish, and they also help to lead prayers in Synagogue.  Ariella showed them different versions of a Siddur (Jewish prayer book) and the students began their own Siddur project.

Shira told the students that with the new year, they would be starting a new way of doing t’fillah in their class so that everyone would have a new way of connecting with God.  They learned about tzitzit (ritual fringes) and the brachah (blessing) people say when they put on tzitzit.  Beginning their siddur project, they colored the body of a cut out person and glued on felt tzitzit to remind them what people wear when they pray to God.  They also created a cover for their siddur.  The students will create new pages of their siddur as they learn about different t’fillot (prayers) and even create their own personal prayer to God.

According to Shira, “Having the students interact with a Rabbinical student made synagogue and prayer more real to them. They had the opportunity to ask questions, and learn about and experience ritual objects by putting on tzitzit and reading from the siddur.”

To learn more about the Matan Class at the JCC of Manhattan, please contact Matan’s site supervisor at Chava@matankids.org.

Each month, Matan will put the spotlight on a Jewish Special Education program.  If you are interested in having your program featured, please contact Meredith@matankids.org.