Every time we walk away from something Jewish, we lose a little of ourselves, sometimes without realizing it. It doesn’t have to be that way. Just as many of us have chosen to walk further away, so can we come … Read More
Author Archives: sfreedman
Love Israel
Last year, on Yom Hashoah, I published the following blog. Today, on Yom Ha-atzma’ut, I feel compelled to republish a somewhat revised version because I believe these words need to be read and internalized, and, sadly, because nothing has changed. … Read More
Closing Thoughts Part I- Place Some Trust in Your Children
We are living in a strange time for parenting. It seems every month another book comes out about over-parenting and its consequences. In short, over-parenting involves micro-managing your child’s life, hovering, and attempting to prevent your child from any physical … Read More
The Urgent Question: Who Am I?
Yogi Bera once said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” That has not stopped innumerable people, from all walks of life, from predicting what the future will be for our children when they are grown. A day … Read More
It’s Full STEAMath Ahead at Hillel
By Joan Freedman, Director of Curriculum Two years ago we invited our families to school for Pi Night, a wildly successful evening devoted to math in all its magic. So why expand to a full-fledged STEAM Event? Because we feel … Read More
Homework: The Battle Continues
Exercise the brain like a muscle or give kids time to work on the family farm? Educators have been debating the effectiveness of homework as a tool for learning for over a century. Support for and against homework has ebbed … Read More
Small Greatness
I was deeply moved this past weekend by the final words that were shared between President George H.W. Bush, and his long-time dear friend, former Secretary of State, James Baker III. On the final morning of his life, President Bush … Read More
Utopia or Dystopia?
Hardly a week goes by that I don’t come across an analysis that either warns of how automation and Artificial Intelligence are going to wreak havoc on humanity or how they will solve all of humanity’s problems. Either way, our … Read More
You’ve Got To be Carefully Taught 2.0
I originally wrote this blog in 2015, and feel it is necessary to update and share again within the context of the violence of these last several weeks in Pittsburgh, Tallahassee, Thousand Oaks, and this week in Israel. It is … Read More
Just Show Up!
This past Shabbat we witnessed the deadliest anti-Semitic attack against our people in American history. Eleven gentle souls entered their Pittsburgh synagogue, greeted one another with Shabbat Shalom, and settled into their regular seats they have sat in for decades … Read More