Repair the World....one bandaid at a time

In Judaism, we have a required work, called, Tikkun Olam; which translates to "repair the world". It calls all Jews to take up work that will help to repair the ills of the world, one good deed at a time. Some argue this is a call to social action or social justice, you can read about the beginning of the debate here.

I think it quite succintly explains why so many Jews work in service of some type; law, medicine, education and many others.

As a teacher, and former nurse, I feel as though I have a unique position to pass on to my students an interest and a love of serving others.  I try to find ways that our work in class either connects with their real-world lives or that we can connect it to other things. Such as, their long-term assignment of writing science books at a kindergarten level. This may sound easy, but once you take a look at the Dolch primer list of words, the project becomes astronomically more difficult.

This year, teaching feels a bit like we are under attack. It seems every way we turn there is someone else wanting to fill out a form, check a box, observe a space, or give some new standardized test to see what we're up to. I'm not sure what's helping and what's junk, but it's a lot.

Ultimately, I have to believe that what I am doing is helping. I have to believe that I am empowering my students to "think globally and act locally". My students asked if they could read their books to small children once they are finished, so I'm working on a field trip for them to go to area feeder schools and read to the students at their old elementary schools. I hope that the kids I'm teaching can show the kids I'll eventually teach that science is fun!

I think this is one of the many reasons why I can't leave education just yet.

I feel like I need to for personal reasons, mostly financial. But the love I have for the work and for the kids keeps pulling be back.

I guess eventually I'll get run down enough that I will finally give in. But for now, I'm going to keep pushing.

To that end, if you would like to help me in my quest to help St. Jude, please feel free to follow this link or this link, for my daughter's page and donate.

Shabbat and a Budget

So, I was going to spend this post talking about what Shabbat is, what it means and how special it is to me and my family. Which I will do. But today was also a pretty informative day for me. Up until now, I have not really had a strong ability to mange my money well and surprisingly, I also realized I haven't managed my faith well, either.

Did I pay the bills? For the most part, yes.

But could I really say my money was "working for me"? Oh heck no, I was WORKING hard for it!

So, after my post yesterday, I decided it was time to stop acting like a victim to my money and start acting like the owner of my financial freedom. I looked up budgeting and found these articles through Google. None really connected for me...maybe one will help you.

Since those weren't really sinking in and I am constantly getting emails from my bank about utilizing some of the other services at the bank; I went to the bank today and reviewed my ENTIRE financial status with a bank associate. He was really kind about explaining things to me, showing me how to use different features of the bank's website and (most importantly) demonstrating how to set up a budget.

How does this connect to the celebration of Shabbat?

First let's start with what Shabbat is...

Shabbat, is the Jewish holiday celebrated every friday night at sundown and ending on saturday's at sundown with the Havdalah service. Shabbat is celebrated, generally with others, by sharing bread, wine and lighting shabbat candles. Prayers are said over the wine, the bread and the candles and the evening is spent sharing time and dinner with friends and/or family. Saturday is spent relaxing and rejuvenating the self for the week ahead.

Havdalah, which begins at sundown on Saturday, is the celebration of the end of shabbat and ushers in a new week. The service is spent lighting of a havdalah candle, drinking wine and smelling sweet spices.

Both services are meant to rejuvenate and remind us of our connection to each other, to ourselves and to G-d. Some rabbis suggest setting religious or faith goals for the week. The intention is for you to think about the services, the time spent with others and your actions and interactions. Lately though, much like my financial income and outcome, religiously, I was mostly going through the motions, and not connecting with the core values of my faith, or for that matter, my family.

I could share all sorts of things about what the holidays were, what you needed to participate and what foods were traditionally eaten at the time, but the real meaning for our weekly shabbat, was not sinking in. Writing about the holidays over the last few weeks had started to make me feel more connected.

So, today, after I left the bank, I realized that money management is just like your faith management. The two take energy, practice and faith. You must put forth energy to control what is happening around you; how are you spending your time, your energy, your spirituality and your money? What practices are you participating in to enrich your life? How are you practicing good stewardship of your wallet, your heart, your faith and your family? What faith are you investing in yourself, in your family and in G-d?

I know this may have felt a bit strange. But there is something to be said for taking the time to consider these questions as they apply to your faith and financial practices.

Maybe you won't be financially rich any time soon, but I can promise that you will easily be faithly rich in family, in self and possibly in a different type of relationship with your own spiritual G-d, in whatever form you practice.

 

A Recap on the Bat Mitzvah

A little over 2 years ago, I shared all the planning that was going in to getting ready for Annie's Bat Mitzvah. It was such a beautiful day!

So many friends and family came to help us celebrate Annie's great accomplishment.

When we first started out on this journey, we really didn't know Megan, the girl with whom Annie shared her Bat Mitzvah, and her family. Now, I can't imagine my life without them.

Here's some of the things we did:

For the service we wrote our own program. It had some information about the girls and specifics to their service, a lot of information about our synagogue and some great ideas about things our visitors could do while they were in Memphis. If you would like a copy for your Bar or Bat Mitzvah, email me!

We also made busy bags and coloring programs for the service. This was a HUGE part of having a really great day! The kids who came to the service all had a way to engage with the songs that are a regular part of the service, but the coloring pages were pictures of what was happening in the same order that things were actually going on!

For the luncheon following the service, we invited family to Central BBQ. We had posters of each girl for family to sign and paper and crayons on the tables to keep the kiddos occupied. Flowers acted as center-pieces for a few of the tables and the whole experience was warm and special.

For the party, we headed to the pool! A inflatable projector screen made it possible to share pictures of the girls and we grilled burgers and hot dogs! We had custom cups printed as a party favor, and really got to enjoy a big birthday celebration!

If you are interested in the weekly to-do lists for the last couple of months of planning, I am working on a DIY workbook! If you are interested in being one of the first to know about it, please let me know, by emailing me here.

Here's a few pictures of the great day!

It was a great day, beautifully photographed by our dear friend, Hiedi Walter. If you would like to have her photograph your family, please email her here.

Simchat Torah and A Mass

I shared last week that my family and I practice Judaism. My daughter attends a Catholic school for Pre-Kindergarten. It's a sweet little school in Memphis, that I can say without reservation, is AMAZING. She has a classroom full of sweet children, a teacher who loves her, a principal who loves her and a clergy full of priests and sisters who all seem to enjoy getting to know her, too. It's a great choice. And one that many of my friends and family were surprised we made.

On Sunday we celebrated the holiday, Simchat Torah. It's a beautiful holiday in which Jews all over the world, rejoice that they have completed another year of Torah study and read all 5 books of the Torah; Genesis, Deuteronomy, Leviticus, Numbers, and Exodus, and roll the Torahs in the synagogue back to the beginning. 

The holiday is spent eating, drinking, blessing the Torah, singing and dancing around the synagogue, spot reading various passage and making sure that the entire scroll of each Torah is loving looked over to places needing care. It's one of the loudest and happiest holidays we have. And we just celebrated it early this week.

Today, my daughter shared in a completely different celebration. The Guardian Angel Mass. To be honest, I was unfamiliar with such a thing. I have heard of Mass, primarily in reference to Christmas, but never regarding Guardian Angels. I googled. Here's a link to what I found. The best I can understand from this is that the children are told that the Guardian Angels are watching out for them and the parents are saying they will help the Angels. Sounds pretty good to me. 

I have to be honest, it just doesn't sound too bad. I like to think that my mother is somewhere watching over me, my sisters, our family and my children. It's oddly comforting. Especially given the day I had yesterday! Though Judaism does not teach directly that our loved ones are around in the form of Angels, we have some references throughout many texts that G-d has sent angels to watch us, share messages and help guide our lives.

I got asked if I was sure that this was the right choice for our family. To be fair, you can never know for absolute certainty that anything is "right". But it seems to be a good fit. My daughter comes home and explains prayer hands, "the father, the son and homey ghost" and tries to tell us about "Her Mary full of grass". It's cute for now. I know that at Christmas we will be learning more about the Nativity. 

But I also know that each night when we sit down together for dinner, she is the first to ask about saying or singing the Hamotzi, our prayer over the bread said before we eat a meal, and encourages her siblings to do the same. She loves to go to services at our synagogue and is IMMENSELY jealous that she is not yet old enough for Sunday School classes. 

So is it the right choice for our family? Time will tell.

But it's right, right now.

I am Jewish

Growing up, I wore my religion on my sleeve. I loved being different. I loved being asked questions about my religion and answering questions.

In high school, that changed. I was called names and made to feel that my differences were bad. I was ridiculed and bullied and administration couldn't stop it. Ultimately, I left my school for a semester to allow things to calm down. 

In college I went to a Jesuit college. The Brothers encouraged my attendance and participation and nurtured my curiosity in other faiths. I was accepted. When I moved to a bigger university setting, I still felt accepted. 

After college I worked for faith based and non-faith based companies. Now I work for a public school. We have a very diverse student population, but there is a strong division between church and state. I don't overly broadcast my Judaism, but I don't try to hide it. There are other teachers who are Jewish and they make sure that we are treated fairly for religious holidays and the like.

But we are in the midst of the Days of Awe, the High Holiday Days, and my Judaism feels more special. More like a gift.

Last week, we celebrated and commemorated Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this day, Jews are called upon to recognize a lot about themselves; their brokenness, their position in this life, wrongs that they may have committed, and really take note of the person they are becoming.

Generally, in our faith, bringing someone to services is considered a mitzvah, a good deed. It is meant to be an invitation to share in our celebrations, not to be proselytizing, or trying to get someone to change religions. We don't usually bring "outsiders" to the High Holiday services. But, this year was different.

I have not attended or participated in High Holiday services since my mother, of blessed memory, passed away in 2011. I have been harboring some difficult feelings that I was not all-together ready to face. Frankly, I was pissed off at G-d, and frustrated with my "beautiful religion" as my friends would say and I was sick of hearing things like, "She's in a better place", or "it was her time" or, my least favorite and hardest to swallow, "It was G-d's will". Like hell it was.

So, this year, I asked my friend to come with me. She is someone I have a lot of respect for. She'll shoot you straight, tell you how she's feeling and she says no. That last one is one I'm hoping to learn from her. She will say no when she can't, won't or doesn't want to. I don't know how to do that well yet.

The service this year featured a sermon by our newest Rabbi. She shared, beautifully, how important it is to be vulnerable. To recognize our brokenness, our lack of always knowing and that sometimes it's totally fine to lay it all out there. Rabbi Wohlner is a little quirky in some really great ways. She has an insane amount of confidence, a beautiful voice for cannon and song and a great wit. But she's fiercely intelligent and very well positioned in the South, though I don't think she is a native.

this spoke to me

Her sermon, like most sermons I've heard lately it seems, spoke directly into my heart and soul. It sounded something like this... "Rachel, it's totally cool that you're livid at G-d. You have that right. It's awesome that you came to services and probably wise that you brought a friend to share the awesome parts and be there if the bad stuff gets too bad. Some days we all have great days, but it's those bad days that we push through and hold closer to our faith, whatever it is, that really define who we are. Can you recognize the bad day in someone else? Can you be responsive to that in a supportive and kind way? Are you ok with the idea that we are not all perfect?"

Members 10 years or less

So, I've decided that this is where I'll share my Judaism. There's lots of questions out there....so shoot. Ask me. I'll share my thoughts on our holidays, how my family is participating or give my personal commentary on my synagogue's sermon or activities that week and you can ask me anything you want to know. And if I don't know the answer, maybe I can get Rabbi Wohlner do guest blog at some point. She may be cool like that...