Jewish Portal of
Teacher Education
The online resource of pedagogical and academic content on teaching and Jewish education
Jewish Portal of Teacher Education
Articles of the week
Throughout the social and political conflicts, Birthright-Israel has remained a delightfully counter-cultural and non-partisan organization. We’re in the Jewish identity business, not the business of politics. We’re playing the long game: welcoming everyone into a 3,900-year-old conversation about our people, our faith, our homeland, and ourselves, as well as into a 73-year-old conversation about our Jewish democratic state and our Jewish communities worldwide.
This past year has changed all of us. As we count down until we see our campers once again, we want to take a moment to write a letter to some of the most important people in their lives – camp staff: our counselors, our health center staff, our kitchen crew, camper care team, department heads, office staff, support staff, and everyone in between. In a year that has been unlike any other, you have all made an incredibly selfless commitment, and we struggle to put words to the impact you’re about to have and the gratitude that we already feel for the investment of time and energy that this summer will require of all of us.
The school year is coming to a close in the northern hemisphere, and in-class parties (to the extent they are not on Zoom) have begun. A sine qua non is food, of course. But the typical end-of-year rituals include more than just treats: award ceremonies, outdoor fun in the fresh air, time capsules (lots of pandemic memories to store away for a later date), a recap of the past year, or sharing of summer plans. A Hebrew teacher in one of my schools ended the year in a most atypical way. She used the last week of school to continue teaching…but with games. Here are three of her favorites and the reasons why these games were my favorites too–even though I was only invited to observe, never to play.