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All Aboard “The Health Express”!
This update comes to us from AmeriCorps member Gernelle Nelson. For her year of national service, she’s working in the Community Engagement Department at the ISJL. Greetings from the Community...
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The Adventures of Matzah Mama
Sam Kahan, left, debuts her Jewish Superhero, Matzah Mama, at the 2012 ISJL Education Conference. By ISJL Education Fellow, Sam Kahan During the annual ISJL Education Conference, Education Fellows...
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Small Town Field Trip for Fort Worth Teens
One of the foundational ideas behind the ISJL is that mid-size and large congregations should build connections to smaller Jewish communities, especially in small towns where the Jewish population is...
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Special Education: A Special Need in Jewish Education
By Education Fellow Elaine Barenblat I have loved teaching since I was very young, but I did not get my first real experience teaching students with cognitive and physical disabilities until after high...
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From the Collection: I See / I Think / I Wonder
The image above comes from a collection of photographs and papers that belonged to Adele Marcus of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. According to the narrative sent by her cousin, Adele was the daughter of...
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It’s a Trans-denominational, Multi-congregational, Inter-generational...
By Education Fellow Amanda Winer The title of this post sounds like a Broadway song, doesn’t it? It actually describes a recent program that we had the pleasure of organizing for two partner...
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Remembering the Tuscaloosa Tornado
By Education Fellow Rachel Blume “Office was destroyed. Walking to hospital with Mom. Can’t find your brother.” I received this text message from my father just after 5:00pm on April 27, 2011, after an...
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Kveller’s God Month
Full disclosure: Kveller.com is a partner site of our host, My Jewish Learning. In a recent blog post on the Jewish parenting site Kveller, Joyce Anderson wrote about the process of teaching her oldest...
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Meeting Mississippi, For Real
This post is from a new staff member, 2013-2015 ISJL Education Fellow Lex Rofes. A few weeks ago, I listened intently as Beverly Wade Hogan, President of Tougaloo College, gave a truly inspirational...
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Preparing for the Education Conference
Late June is a special time at the ISJL office. Education Fellows are hard at work on programs, crafts and multimedia projects. The halls are lined with boxes of newly edited curriculum, which will be...
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Sounding the Shofar in Hinds County, Mississippi
One of the greatest things about the “Southern Jewish Experience” is getting not only to have Southern Jewish experiences, but also getting to be a Southern Jewish experience. This week, Rachel Jarman...
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Gorillas, Bananas, Jewish Education
Sometimes, being a Jewish organization in the Deep South means being perceived as an “outsider”– outside the major metropolitan areas, far from the largest centers of Jewish life. But what we know is...
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Every summer, the ISJL office is privileged to be one of the stops on the journey of teens participating in Operation Understanding. Operation Understanding, which has sites in Philadelphia, PA, and...
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Sukkot Guest List: Will You Invite Challenging Conversations?
Sukkot offers some incredible starting points for discussion. The Sukkot holiday begins tonight and lasts for a week. Among other things, core to Sukkot is the sukkah itself: something that provides...
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Bully on the Bimah: Bar Mitzvah, No Matter What?
Picture this: a really mean kid. A kid who spends each day at school calling others names, like fat and loser. He chooses specific targets to publicly humiliate. He excludes people from the lunch table...
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“Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish…”
Three Jewish women walked into a nail salon…. This is not a joke, just what I did with two of my friends last weekend. These tired working moms needed a pedicure, stat! I have been to this salon...
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Southern & Conservative
I spend a lot of time with Conservatives in the South. Conservative Jews, in this case (probably not what most people picture when you say “Southern and Conservative”). With all of the information...
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Mensch Madness, Game 1: Esther vs. Hannah!
In the South, we love our sports. March Madness is on the horizon and our minds are on the game! Of course, Southern-and-Jewish sporting (especially if you’re an Education Fellow) can look a little...
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Mensch Madness, Game 2: Devorah vs. Miriam!
It’s a big sports week in the Jewish South! First, there’s a new Jewish college basketball coach at a big school down here, which folks are clearly pretty excited about. And second… It’s time for...
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Mensch Madness, Game 4: Abraham vs. Hillel!
As Mensch Madness continues, our next match-up is between the one… the only… the Father of Monotheism… Abraham! And his opponent? The ever patient… ever kind… ever knowledgeable-sage… Hillel the Elder....
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