My response to Bradley: It started with chalk….

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 09:10 Written by bryfy Thursday, 27 January 2011 09:10

Dear Bradley,

The timing of this letter could not be more perfect, as I sit here finalizing my presentations for the Jewish Educators Assembly (JEA) of the Conservative Movement and National Association of Temple Educators (NATE) of the Reform Movement – both organizations have dedicated their conferences this year to Jewish Education and Technology. Is this focus on technology just a passing phase or does it signal a long-term strategic approach by the Jewish educational world?

I have tried to imagine what it would have been like as a teacher introducing chalk into the classroom for the first time. Consider what it must have felt like to be able to present the written word in front of an entire class for the first time. And then the amazement in the students eyes as you erased those words and replaced them with new, equally exciting equations. The first teacher to bring a radio into the classroom must have seemed really cool, and television, a VCR, a computer….the list truly does go on.

I’ve got mail: An open letter to me from Bradley Solmsen

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 09:08 Written by bryfy Thursday, 27 January 2011 09:08

The following was re-posted from the Innovation in Jewish Education blog from Brandeis University.

A letter to David Bryfman on Technology and Jewish Learning posted on January 24th, 2011.

Dear David:

Over the years you and I have gone back and forth about the role technology plays in Jewish learning. You know that I love tech toys and that I am a pretty big Apple fan. I have been thinking about all of this recently and wanted to share some thoughts and questions with you to see where you are standing on these issues.

First, technology is not the answer to all of our prayers. In fact I think in many cases technology might be part of the problem. Learners need and want to be challenged. Learners need and want to connect with other learners. Technology might appear to offer these things but I think that this is an illusion. Real challenge and true connection first need to happen between educators and learners in person. I also feel strongly that challenge and connection are fundamental elements for building community. I do not believe anything can replace a skilled, well-supported teacher connecting to a learner or group of learners – looking them in the eye and seeing and feeling one another’s excitement and passion.

But this is not the whole picture. I mentioned already that I am an Apple fan. I own an iPad. I can’t help but believe that this new toy has tremendous potential locked somewhere deep inside. I am fixated on the iPad because it can be shared so easily between small groups of people, it’s so easy to use and the touch interface, its location awareness and other features make it an ideal learning and communication tool. I believe that it has great potential for teaching Hebrew, connecting people to Israel, and unlocking our prayer book and other key texts. I have seen some amazing examples outside of the Jewish world that feed my sense of excitement.

Despite my enthusiasm I have to keep reminding myself that the iPad, like all of its cousins, is a tool not a solution.

How can we (Jewish educators and maybe software designers) take best advantage of iPads and other similar opportunities?

How do we help other Jewish educators do the hard work of innovating in Jewish education and avoid the sense that there are easy answers (i.e. technology)?

At the end of the day I feel that more has stayed the same than changed over the years. What do you think? I look forward to hearing from you.

Bradley

Rabbi Bradley Solmsen is the Director of the Office of High School Programs at Brandeis University.

On Friday we asked them to pray

Last Updated on Tuesday, 11 January 2011 08:48 Written by bryfy Tuesday, 11 January 2011 08:48

As someone who struggles with concepts of God (an atheist one might say) there is a certain chutzpah of me writing this post. There is also a sense of timing that I am uncomfortable with. Normally the questions that I am posing should wait, at least until after the shloshim (30 day memorial period after someone dies), but I also feel that they require immediate attention, because I imagine that these are the questions that many of you might be asking, or that many of you might be asked when you see your students next.

I am about to ask questions of all of you – ones that as a Jewish educator I struggle to find answers to….

On Friday we asked all of our students, our families, our congregations to say a mishebeyrach for Debbie Friedman z”l. By Sunday those same gatherings that were convened to come to pray for health were turned into memorial services.

Now, what do we tell our students? What power does the mishebeyrach prayer hold if it cannot even help the one who composed its melody? How will they approach this prayer, or any other prayer for that matter, with the same intentionality as before? What do we do for those who feel that this prayer has let them down once when they may have felt that they needed it most?

These questions are not new ones. And they are ones that Jewish educators, rabbis and parents have dealt with for centuries. But now we have the worldwide web to help us out – and to help me out. What will you tell your students the next time you see them?

If you have the strength, please share with me and with others how you might begin to address these questions….

This week I have also thought a lot about the many song leaders that are in my life today – those who are both colleagues and friends. Those who I have shared my cynicism with and those who I have secretly admired and even envied their power as Jewish educators. I know that this week they, like many of us, will all have heavy hearts. But they are also shared with an additional burden. This week their obligation to share Jewish music and Jewish education has become all the more important. Again I am envious of their gifts and in awe of their talents. May you have the strength to continue Debbie’s legacy.

I also need to mention the community where I first heard Debbie Friedman perform. CAJE was my first introduction to the world of American Jewish community in its grandest sense. It was there that I first really experienced pluralism and community of the size that CAJE conferences offered. It was there that I was fortunate enough to work with great staff (Dan, Shellie, Shira, Dan, Joe…) and be mentored by some of the gdolim in Jewish education. The kids and staff of the CAJE Teen Kallah, you carry forward the songs of the CAJE choir and the CAJE community. Whatever that community was and whatever it might emerge as – you were all part of that experience – who first introduced the power of Debbie and the power of Jewish music and ritual to me.

This week has been one of personal and communal reflection. As I sat watching the live funeral service online (alone with 7,000+ others), first in an office, and then from my colleagues cell phone as we sat in a train station, I felt a sense of community that would not have been imaginable just a few years ago. Even in her passing Debbie Friedman z”l has managed to bring together the diverse Jewish community like none other that I have ever witnessed.