I wanted to mention her in her own post because she's been very helpful and I enjoy a lot of her work -- like these self portraits.
I pulled these images with her kind permission from her blog: A Field Guide to Needlework.
Artist: Sarah Swett
There's a textile artist named Sarah Swett who wrote a great book on teaching kids to weave (Kids Weaving, published 2005). I mentioned her pipe loom here.
I wanted to mention her in her own post because she's been very helpful and I enjoy a lot of her work -- like these self portraits.
I pulled these images with her kind permission from her blog: A Field Guide to Needlework.
I wanted to mention her in her own post because she's been very helpful and I enjoy a lot of her work -- like these self portraits.
I pulled these images with her kind permission from her blog: A Field Guide to Needlework.
A few paragraphs on R' Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan from Dayan Grunfeld's Three Generations
I've read this paragraph before, but somehow this time it particularly resonated with me.
It is difficult to describe now, a generation later, the impression which the sudden death of Kaplan made on his contemporaries in Germany. And yet it is important for the understanding of the inner development of German-Jewish orthodoxy during three generations after Samson Raphael Hirsch to recapture that impression of more than thirty years ago. This can best be done by reproducing here a literal translation of the beginning of a memorial essay which appeared in "Jeschurun" soon after Kaplan's passing away: "It is generally agreed that never has there been witnessed in Berlin a similar scene of lamentation as on the day when Avrohom Eliyah Kaplan was laid to his eternal rest. (16th Iyar 5684-1924). The expressions of desperate grief, the continued sobbing of West-European men trained in self-control cannot be explained merely by the tragic event that a young father had been torn away from his family and that a very promising career had been cut short. It was far more than that; from the depths of our sub-conscious minds a feeling arose, breaking with elemental force through all conventional behavior and telling us that this death was a blow which had struck down everyone of us and had put an end to a sacred conviction which we all shared: that this man was destined to bring about a revival and renewal of German Judaism." ("Jeschurun" Vol. XI (1924) p.234.)
Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld, Three Generations: The Influence of Samson Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Life and Thought. London: Jewish Post Publications, 5718/1958, p.77.
You can read more about R' Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan here.
It is difficult to describe now, a generation later, the impression which the sudden death of Kaplan made on his contemporaries in Germany. And yet it is important for the understanding of the inner development of German-Jewish orthodoxy during three generations after Samson Raphael Hirsch to recapture that impression of more than thirty years ago. This can best be done by reproducing here a literal translation of the beginning of a memorial essay which appeared in "Jeschurun" soon after Kaplan's passing away: "It is generally agreed that never has there been witnessed in Berlin a similar scene of lamentation as on the day when Avrohom Eliyah Kaplan was laid to his eternal rest. (16th Iyar 5684-1924). The expressions of desperate grief, the continued sobbing of West-European men trained in self-control cannot be explained merely by the tragic event that a young father had been torn away from his family and that a very promising career had been cut short. It was far more than that; from the depths of our sub-conscious minds a feeling arose, breaking with elemental force through all conventional behavior and telling us that this death was a blow which had struck down everyone of us and had put an end to a sacred conviction which we all shared: that this man was destined to bring about a revival and renewal of German Judaism." ("Jeschurun" Vol. XI (1924) p.234.)
Dayan Dr. I. Grunfeld, Three Generations: The Influence of Samson Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Life and Thought. London: Jewish Post Publications, 5718/1958, p.77.
You can read more about R' Avraham Eliyahu Kaplan here.
Textile Melachos Demonstrations for Non-Textile-Makers
This is the second year I've gone into my daughter's school to give a presentation on fiber arts for a class studying the 39 melachos.
It occurs to me that there are probably other teachers out there teaching these melachos who could use a hands-on demonstration, but don't know how to give one.
Here you go.
I'm sure fiber artists will see plenty here to correct (please add your comments!); but this is what I've done that has worked for us so far.
Melaben
I pass around a bag of unwashed wool and the kids (or anyway the ones who aren't grossed out by it -- unwashed wool is amazingly... unwashed) all feel it.
I ordered two ounces of unwashed sheep wool (and one ounce of unwashed goat hair, for fun) from this supplier: Flintstown Fibers. I like that she put the names of the animals on the bags of wool. (I tell the kids to "Reach in the bag and pet Polly.")
I ask the kids: what's the first thing we need to do with this wool?
"Wash it!" they all scream.
Menapetz
Now I pass around another sample of wool from the same supplier, this time a washed one; and the contrast is amazing.
The next thing we have to do is comb out the tangles.
I use two wire-bristle dog brushes because the same tool is used for sheep wool, but the mini version sold for dogs costs much less.
I lay a little bit of the washed wool in one brush, and drag the other brush through it. This is carding, and it produces a fuzzy, fluffy wool.
Now we have a nice, detangled wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Tzovea
I had some jars of dye in the house (from here); it's not formulated for wool but it worked for the demonstration. I took the little bit of carded wool and dunked it in the dye jar, and patted it in a paper towel until it was dry. It came out a very pale blue.
(Making your own natural dyes would not be hard. Here are instructions for dyeing with onion skins.)
(Fun fact - if you have the disposable income of an emperor you can still buy argaman pigment.)
Now I have nice blue wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Toveh
I take my little piece of blue wool and twist it between my fingers so that it looks like a piece of yarn. Just twist -- that's it.
If you let go of the wool after you've twisted it, it will untwist: it has to be held in hot steam to stay twisted. So, I press it on a towel with a hot clothes-iron, pushing the steam button. Now it's yarn.
I like to show the kids how much faster spinning is with a spindle; they all can't wait to try it but the truth is that just twisting the wool between their fingers is easier for them. If you want to play with spindles I recommend (as both inexpensive and easy to use) this Mini Bottom-Whorl Spindle.
Here is a tutorial that explains how to spin on a spindle: Mielke's Fiber Arts Drop Spindle Tutorial.
Technically at this point I would take a couple of strands of yarn and twist them all together -- this is called plying -- but I skip that part.
What's the next melacha?
Meisach
At this point you need a loom.
A children's potholder loom (like this or this) is fun to use; maisach is putting on the loops in one direction. (These are called the warp threads.)
Or, take an empty picture frame, wrap a lot of thread or string around it (I wrapped eight times) so it looks like a two-sided guitar, and tape the ends to the frame.
Or, this is the kind of loom I use, just because I have one in the house already.
Oseh Shtei Batei Nirin
I show the kids how I weave potholder loops, or pine needles (easier to see in a demonstration than thread) over one string and under the next, all the way across.
(These are called the weft threads.)
I ask them whether they think that weaving curtains for the Mishkan this way would be a quick job or a slow one.
"It would take forever!" they say.
Enter heddles (batei nirin).
A lot of simple children's looms don't have heddles. There are also many that do, like this one and this one. Potholder looms don't.
You can make heddles. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work on a potholder loom (the warp loops slip off their pegs easily) so you'll need a picture frame or a beading loom or something else that lets you secure the warp threads well.
One way to make heddles is to make a heddle bar; but I just tie thread loops around every other warp thread and tape them together.
This is enough to show what a heddle does; to actually use the loom I would need a second heddle, which is slightly more complicated.
The best instructions I've seen for making an inexpensive loom with two sets of heddles are in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving, published 2005. The whole loom is made of PVC pipes (about $4 worth of pipe plus some fittings) and it's got cool moving parts.
If you want to make the kind of loom that (I think) was used for the mishkan, there are instructions here: How to Build and Use a Warp-Weighted Loom. (Ms. Swett's instructions are written for children and therefore more user-friendly.)
Oreg
When you pick up those heddle loops, every other warp thread rises. You can slip your weft thread (or pine needle...) in the space underneath.
When you release the loops, the warp threads drop back into place, and you'll see that your weft thread is held neatly between the warp threads, as if you had woven it over-under-over-under one thread at a time.
Now You Try
At this point I pinch off a piece of washed wool for each kid and pass out the carders and spindles; they card the wool and spin it, and bring it to me to steam it for them with the iron.
Today when everyone had spun a little strand of wool I dyed it for them also. We did tzovea last because I'm not sure this dye washes out of clothing. We would have gotten more even color had we worked in order.
If we would spend all day spinning we would end up with enough yarn for the kids to weave also; but we stop with spinning. The whole demonstration takes half an hour.
A lot of elementary school teachers keep a big loom in their rooms for kids to weave on during down time, which I think is a nice idea.
I have read that in art from certain parts of the ancient world, Jews are often recognizable as the nation depicted wearing striped textiles.
Total Shopping List for a Demonstration of the Textile Melachos
Melaben - unwashed wool. You can wash it yourself if you want to.
Menapetz - washed wool (two ounces of washed wool has lasted me through about 30 kids and we haven't used it up yet); two dog slicker brushes (or more pairs so lots of kids can try it at once - each needs to use two at a time)
Tzovea - commercial dye powder (or a pot of onion skins)
Toveh - clothes iron (I tried once to steam spun wool by holding it over the spout of an electric kettle. This was not pleasant - find an iron); spindles (optional)
Weaving melachos - a loom. Despite the fact that you have to buy the pipes and assemble it yourself, I think the best option for an affordable loom with batei nirin that has clear instructions is the DIY pipe loom in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving.
It occurs to me that there are probably other teachers out there teaching these melachos who could use a hands-on demonstration, but don't know how to give one.
Here you go.
I'm sure fiber artists will see plenty here to correct (please add your comments!); but this is what I've done that has worked for us so far.
Melaben
I pass around a bag of unwashed wool and the kids (or anyway the ones who aren't grossed out by it -- unwashed wool is amazingly... unwashed) all feel it.
I ordered two ounces of unwashed sheep wool (and one ounce of unwashed goat hair, for fun) from this supplier: Flintstown Fibers. I like that she put the names of the animals on the bags of wool. (I tell the kids to "Reach in the bag and pet Polly.")
I ask the kids: what's the first thing we need to do with this wool?
"Wash it!" they all scream.
Menapetz
Now I pass around another sample of wool from the same supplier, this time a washed one; and the contrast is amazing.
The next thing we have to do is comb out the tangles.
I use two wire-bristle dog brushes because the same tool is used for sheep wool, but the mini version sold for dogs costs much less.
I lay a little bit of the washed wool in one brush, and drag the other brush through it. This is carding, and it produces a fuzzy, fluffy wool.
Now we have a nice, detangled wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Tzovea
I had some jars of dye in the house (from here); it's not formulated for wool but it worked for the demonstration. I took the little bit of carded wool and dunked it in the dye jar, and patted it in a paper towel until it was dry. It came out a very pale blue.
(Making your own natural dyes would not be hard. Here are instructions for dyeing with onion skins.)
(Fun fact - if you have the disposable income of an emperor you can still buy argaman pigment.)
Now I have nice blue wool. What's the next thing we need to do with it?
Toveh
I take my little piece of blue wool and twist it between my fingers so that it looks like a piece of yarn. Just twist -- that's it.
If you let go of the wool after you've twisted it, it will untwist: it has to be held in hot steam to stay twisted. So, I press it on a towel with a hot clothes-iron, pushing the steam button. Now it's yarn.
I like to show the kids how much faster spinning is with a spindle; they all can't wait to try it but the truth is that just twisting the wool between their fingers is easier for them. If you want to play with spindles I recommend (as both inexpensive and easy to use) this Mini Bottom-Whorl Spindle.
Here is a tutorial that explains how to spin on a spindle: Mielke's Fiber Arts Drop Spindle Tutorial.
Technically at this point I would take a couple of strands of yarn and twist them all together -- this is called plying -- but I skip that part.
What's the next melacha?
Meisach
At this point you need a loom.
A children's potholder loom (like this or this) is fun to use; maisach is putting on the loops in one direction. (These are called the warp threads.)
Or, take an empty picture frame, wrap a lot of thread or string around it (I wrapped eight times) so it looks like a two-sided guitar, and tape the ends to the frame.
Or, this is the kind of loom I use, just because I have one in the house already.
Oseh Shtei Batei Nirin
I show the kids how I weave potholder loops, or pine needles (easier to see in a demonstration than thread) over one string and under the next, all the way across.
(These are called the weft threads.)
I ask them whether they think that weaving curtains for the Mishkan this way would be a quick job or a slow one.
"It would take forever!" they say.
Enter heddles (batei nirin).
A lot of simple children's looms don't have heddles. There are also many that do, like this one and this one. Potholder looms don't.
You can make heddles. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't work on a potholder loom (the warp loops slip off their pegs easily) so you'll need a picture frame or a beading loom or something else that lets you secure the warp threads well.
One way to make heddles is to make a heddle bar; but I just tie thread loops around every other warp thread and tape them together.
This is enough to show what a heddle does; to actually use the loom I would need a second heddle, which is slightly more complicated.
The best instructions I've seen for making an inexpensive loom with two sets of heddles are in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving, published 2005. The whole loom is made of PVC pipes (about $4 worth of pipe plus some fittings) and it's got cool moving parts.
If you want to make the kind of loom that (I think) was used for the mishkan, there are instructions here: How to Build and Use a Warp-Weighted Loom. (Ms. Swett's instructions are written for children and therefore more user-friendly.)
Oreg
When you pick up those heddle loops, every other warp thread rises. You can slip your weft thread (or pine needle...) in the space underneath.
When you release the loops, the warp threads drop back into place, and you'll see that your weft thread is held neatly between the warp threads, as if you had woven it over-under-over-under one thread at a time.
Now You Try
At this point I pinch off a piece of washed wool for each kid and pass out the carders and spindles; they card the wool and spin it, and bring it to me to steam it for them with the iron.
Today when everyone had spun a little strand of wool I dyed it for them also. We did tzovea last because I'm not sure this dye washes out of clothing. We would have gotten more even color had we worked in order.
If we would spend all day spinning we would end up with enough yarn for the kids to weave also; but we stop with spinning. The whole demonstration takes half an hour.
A lot of elementary school teachers keep a big loom in their rooms for kids to weave on during down time, which I think is a nice idea.
I have read that in art from certain parts of the ancient world, Jews are often recognizable as the nation depicted wearing striped textiles.
Total Shopping List for a Demonstration of the Textile Melachos
Melaben - unwashed wool. You can wash it yourself if you want to.
Menapetz - washed wool (two ounces of washed wool has lasted me through about 30 kids and we haven't used it up yet); two dog slicker brushes (or more pairs so lots of kids can try it at once - each needs to use two at a time)
Tzovea - commercial dye powder (or a pot of onion skins)
Toveh - clothes iron (I tried once to steam spun wool by holding it over the spout of an electric kettle. This was not pleasant - find an iron); spindles (optional)
Weaving melachos - a loom. Despite the fact that you have to buy the pipes and assemble it yourself, I think the best option for an affordable loom with batei nirin that has clear instructions is the DIY pipe loom in Sarah Swett's book Kids Weaving.
Chitzonius
Chitzonius means, literally, externality; or perhaps superficiality is a better translation.
I was looking through some notes and I came across this --
Rebbetzin David observed that nowadays there's more chitzonius. Not more materialism -- more chitzonius.
...
Q.
What does that mean practically?
Why should that be?
What is there to do about it?
I was looking through some notes and I came across this --
Rebbetzin David observed that nowadays there's more chitzonius. Not more materialism -- more chitzonius.
...
Q.
What does that mean practically?
Why should that be?
What is there to do about it?
Remembering R' Naftali Soloff, z"l
"...and you know her husband was niftar," said my friend.
What? -- I exclaimed.
"...Oh..." said my friend.
Maybe it will not be amiss to say a few words here about R' Naftali Soloff, who was a truly remarkable person.
When I lived in Jerusalem I liked to visit the Soloffs for Shabbos and yontif, I suppose because (a) their home was overflowing with Torah; and (b) they always made me feel special.
I could end the entry here and leave those as the two take-away points for education.
But, I won't.
Every family I visited was exemplary in a hundred things but the Soloffs stood out in having carefully created (calmly, happily) an atmosphere of extraordinary yiras shamayim.
This manifested in part as extraordinary refinement.
I remember R' Soloff telling a story to his children about Mr. Right Hand and Mr. Left Hand, who got into an argument. The argument escalated, until one hand gave a smack to the other. Then suddenly both hands heard, "Ouch!" from Mr. Head. The hands realized that they were really part of one body: what one does to another, he really does to himself. It's an analogy for the Jewish people.
It's a good analogy; I had heard it before; what stood out to me in R' Soloff's retelling was that he couldn't bring himself to say that one hand hit the other. Someone had to fill in that detail for him.
My friend told me that she heard from Mrs. Soloff that the two had arranged that R' Soloff would call from the hospital in America any any hour if he had any good news to share.
One night the phone rang.
What could be the good news?
R' Soloff was so happy, he said. The treatments he had been receiving generally clouded his mind but he had finally managed, that day, to learn a daf of Gemara.
This was his great simcha that he had to share.
Someone else I once brought to the Soloffs' said to me, afterward, "They probably never talk in that house about who's going to take out the garbage." They probably don't.
You wouldn't either, if you were standing before the King, would you?
That's where R' Soloff was always standing.
יהי זכרו ברוך
What? -- I exclaimed.
"...Oh..." said my friend.
Maybe it will not be amiss to say a few words here about R' Naftali Soloff, who was a truly remarkable person.
When I lived in Jerusalem I liked to visit the Soloffs for Shabbos and yontif, I suppose because (a) their home was overflowing with Torah; and (b) they always made me feel special.
I could end the entry here and leave those as the two take-away points for education.
But, I won't.
Every family I visited was exemplary in a hundred things but the Soloffs stood out in having carefully created (calmly, happily) an atmosphere of extraordinary yiras shamayim.
This manifested in part as extraordinary refinement.
I remember R' Soloff telling a story to his children about Mr. Right Hand and Mr. Left Hand, who got into an argument. The argument escalated, until one hand gave a smack to the other. Then suddenly both hands heard, "Ouch!" from Mr. Head. The hands realized that they were really part of one body: what one does to another, he really does to himself. It's an analogy for the Jewish people.
It's a good analogy; I had heard it before; what stood out to me in R' Soloff's retelling was that he couldn't bring himself to say that one hand hit the other. Someone had to fill in that detail for him.
My friend told me that she heard from Mrs. Soloff that the two had arranged that R' Soloff would call from the hospital in America any any hour if he had any good news to share.
One night the phone rang.
What could be the good news?
R' Soloff was so happy, he said. The treatments he had been receiving generally clouded his mind but he had finally managed, that day, to learn a daf of Gemara.
This was his great simcha that he had to share.
Someone else I once brought to the Soloffs' said to me, afterward, "They probably never talk in that house about who's going to take out the garbage." They probably don't.
You wouldn't either, if you were standing before the King, would you?
That's where R' Soloff was always standing.
יהי זכרו ברוך
Embroidery
Well, here's another one to add to the list of ways to integrate a school with its community...
I believe I read once years ago (in Minhagei Frankfurt) that it was the custom in Frankfurt for the oldest girls' grade in the school to do the embroidery for the shul.
The Beecher Sisters on Education
Here are two thoughts on education from Harriet Beecher Stowe and her sister Catharine, from the textbook they co-authored, The American Woman's Home, first published in 1869, and apparently widely read at the time.
I. A Caution on Classroom Management
(Actually, they're addressing parents, not teachers; but this is how I read it.)
"In regard to forming habits of obedience, there have been two extremes, both of which need to be shunned. One is, a stern and uncompromising maintenance of parental authority, demanding perfect and constant obedience, without any attempt to convince a child of the propriety and benevolence of the requisitions, and without any manifestation of sympathy and tenderness for the pain and difficulties which are to be met. Under such discipline, children grow up to fear their parents, rather than to love and trust them; while some of the most valuable principles of character are chilled, or forever blasted.
"In shunning this danger, other parents pass to the opposite extreme. They put themselves too much on the footing of equals with their children, as if little were due to superiority of relation, age, and experience. Nothing is exacted, without the implied concession that the child is to be a judge of the propriety of the requisition; and reason and persuasion are employed, where simple command and obedience would be far better. This system produces a most pernicious influence. Children soon perceive the position thus allowed them, and take every advantage of it. They soon learn to dispute parental requirements, acquire habits of forwardness and conceit, assume disrespectful manners and address, maintain their views with pertinacity, and yield to authority with ill-humor and resentment, as if their rights were infringed upon."
II. A Lament on Curriculum
"The race of strong, hardy, cheerful girls, that used to grow up on country places, and made the bright, neat, New-England kitchens of old times---the girls that could wash, iron, brew, bake, harness a horse and drive him, no less than braid straw, embroider, draw, paint, and read innumerable books---this race of women, pride of olden time, is daily lessening; and in their stead come the fragile, easily-fatigued, languid girls of a modern age, drilled in book-learning, ignorant of common things."
I. A Caution on Classroom Management
(Actually, they're addressing parents, not teachers; but this is how I read it.)
"In regard to forming habits of obedience, there have been two extremes, both of which need to be shunned. One is, a stern and uncompromising maintenance of parental authority, demanding perfect and constant obedience, without any attempt to convince a child of the propriety and benevolence of the requisitions, and without any manifestation of sympathy and tenderness for the pain and difficulties which are to be met. Under such discipline, children grow up to fear their parents, rather than to love and trust them; while some of the most valuable principles of character are chilled, or forever blasted.
"In shunning this danger, other parents pass to the opposite extreme. They put themselves too much on the footing of equals with their children, as if little were due to superiority of relation, age, and experience. Nothing is exacted, without the implied concession that the child is to be a judge of the propriety of the requisition; and reason and persuasion are employed, where simple command and obedience would be far better. This system produces a most pernicious influence. Children soon perceive the position thus allowed them, and take every advantage of it. They soon learn to dispute parental requirements, acquire habits of forwardness and conceit, assume disrespectful manners and address, maintain their views with pertinacity, and yield to authority with ill-humor and resentment, as if their rights were infringed upon."
II. A Lament on Curriculum
"The race of strong, hardy, cheerful girls, that used to grow up on country places, and made the bright, neat, New-England kitchens of old times---the girls that could wash, iron, brew, bake, harness a horse and drive him, no less than braid straw, embroider, draw, paint, and read innumerable books---this race of women, pride of olden time, is daily lessening; and in their stead come the fragile, easily-fatigued, languid girls of a modern age, drilled in book-learning, ignorant of common things."
Rav Hirsch -related Links
Here is a miscellaneous basket of Rav Hirsch -related resources online.
Some are Torah; and some are just candy for those of us who like to peek a little more into Rav Hirsch's particular place and era. I think the distinction is important.
Miscellaneous essays by Rav Hirsch online in English: Dr. Levine's list
The German Jeschurun archives, as well as a great many other fabulous items of a similar vintage, are online at Compact Memory.
Here is a nice collection of articles about Rav Hirsch: Dr. Levine's collection of TIDE articles
Someone once started a website to serve a purpose similar to Chinuch.org but for limudei chol; I thought it was a good idea. I can't find it now.
Looking for the niggunim employed in the shul in Frankfurt (as I did recently for a music teacher here) is its own rabbit hole; here are some links:
I M Japhet on Wikipedia
the sheet music of I M Japhet
some notes on the KAJ choir including a list of composers
Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz, which presumably is up on all this
the recordings of Mr. Benno Weis in the Dartmouth archive.
The Leo Baeck Institute has some great paraphernalia.
Museum Judengasse, about the history of Jews in Frankfurt
Here (veering sharply into fangirl territory) is a virtual tour of Rav Hirsch's house (because Schopenhauer also lived in the building): Schopenhauerhaus
Some are Torah; and some are just candy for those of us who like to peek a little more into Rav Hirsch's particular place and era. I think the distinction is important.
Miscellaneous essays by Rav Hirsch online in English: Dr. Levine's list
The German Jeschurun archives, as well as a great many other fabulous items of a similar vintage, are online at Compact Memory.
Here is a nice collection of articles about Rav Hirsch: Dr. Levine's collection of TIDE articles
Someone once started a website to serve a purpose similar to Chinuch.org but for limudei chol; I thought it was a good idea. I can't find it now.
Looking for the niggunim employed in the shul in Frankfurt (as I did recently for a music teacher here) is its own rabbit hole; here are some links:
I M Japhet on Wikipedia
the sheet music of I M Japhet
some notes on the KAJ choir including a list of composers
Machon Moreshes Ashkenaz, which presumably is up on all this
the recordings of Mr. Benno Weis in the Dartmouth archive.
The Leo Baeck Institute has some great paraphernalia.
Museum Judengasse, about the history of Jews in Frankfurt
Here (veering sharply into fangirl territory) is a virtual tour of Rav Hirsch's house (because Schopenhauer also lived in the building): Schopenhauerhaus
Well, That Worked: Mediation on the Playground
I was helping out the usual recess supervisor this week when Phosphorus (not his real name) ran up to tell me that Francium something something something.
"Go get Francium," I said. "You cannot tell me about something Francium did without him here."
Francium came over.
"Francium," I said. "Phosphorus says you did something. Phosphorus is going to speak, and you are going to listen, and then you will have a turn to speak. All right, Phosphorus."
Phosphorus: "He pushed me down the slide, and then he poured water on me, and..." etc., etc. --
Francium: "I didn't! You --"
I: "Wait, Francium. You will have a turn in a minute."
P: "and then he, etc., etc."
I: "All right. Francium, what did Phosphorus just say?"
F: "He said that I, etc., which isn't true -"
I: "Wait, Francium, before you say whether it's true or not, just say what he said."
F: "He said that I, etc., etc."
I: "Phosphorus, is that what you said?"
P: "Yes."
I: "All right, Francium, your turn. What happened?"
F: "He asked me to push him down the slide, and..." etc., etc.
I: "Phosphorus, what did Francium just say?"
P: "I don't know."
I: "Francium, can you say it again? And this time, Phosphorus, listen."
F: "He asked me to..." etc., etc.
I: "All right, Phosphorus, what did Francium say?"
P: "He said that I asked him to, etc., etc."
I: "Francium, did he get it right?"
F: "Yes."
I: "All right, now, how would you like to resolve this?"
Both burst out laughing. "We're tired of standing here. Let's go play."
And they did.
"Go get Francium," I said. "You cannot tell me about something Francium did without him here."
Francium came over.
"Francium," I said. "Phosphorus says you did something. Phosphorus is going to speak, and you are going to listen, and then you will have a turn to speak. All right, Phosphorus."
Phosphorus: "He pushed me down the slide, and then he poured water on me, and..." etc., etc. --
Francium: "I didn't! You --"
I: "Wait, Francium. You will have a turn in a minute."
P: "and then he, etc., etc."
I: "All right. Francium, what did Phosphorus just say?"
F: "He said that I, etc., which isn't true -"
I: "Wait, Francium, before you say whether it's true or not, just say what he said."
F: "He said that I, etc., etc."
I: "Phosphorus, is that what you said?"
P: "Yes."
I: "All right, Francium, your turn. What happened?"
F: "He asked me to push him down the slide, and..." etc., etc.
I: "Phosphorus, what did Francium just say?"
P: "I don't know."
I: "Francium, can you say it again? And this time, Phosphorus, listen."
F: "He asked me to..." etc., etc.
I: "All right, Phosphorus, what did Francium say?"
P: "He said that I asked him to, etc., etc."
I: "Francium, did he get it right?"
F: "Yes."
I: "All right, now, how would you like to resolve this?"
Both burst out laughing. "We're tired of standing here. Let's go play."
And they did.
Undivided: a Computer Game about Consideration
My husband found this game.
I never thought I would recommend a computer game, but we've both found it useful in teaching consideration.
The game must be played by two players simultaneously. The two need to collaborate to push each other toward the goal.
One controls the right & left arrows and can move its character only sideways; the other uses only the S & W keys and can move its character only up or down.
The game is here:
Undivided
I never thought I would recommend a computer game, but we've both found it useful in teaching consideration.
The game must be played by two players simultaneously. The two need to collaborate to push each other toward the goal.
One controls the right & left arrows and can move its character only sideways; the other uses only the S & W keys and can move its character only up or down.
The game is here:
Undivided
Torah Sources Online
Here is a collection of some major sefarim available online.
Wikipedia has Mikraos Gedolos in Hebrew and some in English. It also has a bunch of other sefarim in Hebrew and in English translation, including, apparently, Tur, Shulchan Aruch, and Aruch haShulchan. I also noticed Ayil Meshulash.
You can download a lot of sefarim (with editable text) as a free program called Toras Emes.
HebrewBooks.org is a more extensive treasure house of PDFs.
The Soncino translation is available for free download, one masechta at a time, at Halakhah.com.
E-daf.com is my other resource for insta-Gemara.
Sefaria.org is a new one: a mixed bag with a lot of classic sefarim in the mix.
Here's another extensive online Mikraos Gedolos: Al HaTorah
The Aspaklaria encyclopedia is online!
Part of the Gemara is indexed here: WebShas
Mesillas Yesharim, Chovos haLevavos, and some others are in both Hebrew and English on this site: Daf Yomi Review
Chabad has kindly put up the entire Tanach with Rashi in both Hebrew and English.
The Mishneh Torah (along with Tanach & Gemara) is for some reason online here: Mechon Mamre
Daat.co.il is another mixed bag with a lot of classic sefarim in it. Here, for instance, is its (big) collection of mefarshim on Tanach.
Wikipedia has Mikraos Gedolos in Hebrew and some in English. It also has a bunch of other sefarim in Hebrew and in English translation, including, apparently, Tur, Shulchan Aruch, and Aruch haShulchan. I also noticed Ayil Meshulash.
You can download a lot of sefarim (with editable text) as a free program called Toras Emes.
HebrewBooks.org is a more extensive treasure house of PDFs.
The Soncino translation is available for free download, one masechta at a time, at Halakhah.com.
E-daf.com is my other resource for insta-Gemara.
Sefaria.org is a new one: a mixed bag with a lot of classic sefarim in the mix.
Here's another extensive online Mikraos Gedolos: Al HaTorah
The Aspaklaria encyclopedia is online!
Part of the Gemara is indexed here: WebShas
Mesillas Yesharim, Chovos haLevavos, and some others are in both Hebrew and English on this site: Daf Yomi Review
Chabad has kindly put up the entire Tanach with Rashi in both Hebrew and English.
The Mishneh Torah (along with Tanach & Gemara) is for some reason online here: Mechon Mamre
Daat.co.il is another mixed bag with a lot of classic sefarim in it. Here, for instance, is its (big) collection of mefarshim on Tanach.
Aus der Schuetzenstrasse: Memories of Frankfurt
This is one of the best treasures I ever found lurking in a dusty corner of the Internet.
Memories of Frankfurt (Aus der Schuetzenstrasse) -- by Hermann Schwab, reprinted with permission from the Mitteilungen and the author's family.
Memories of Frankfurt (Aus der Schuetzenstrasse) -- by Hermann Schwab, reprinted with permission from the Mitteilungen and the author's family.
The Parking Lot Minyan
Rabbi Ilan Feldman's essay on being part of a community:
The Parking Lot Minyan
"...Why is someone with your abilities spending his time in the back of the shul dreaming about parking lot minyanim to save twenty minutes on a Friday night instead of dreaming big dreams for this shul...?"
The Parking Lot Minyan
"...Why is someone with your abilities spending his time in the back of the shul dreaming about parking lot minyanim to save twenty minutes on a Friday night instead of dreaming big dreams for this shul...?"
Monkey School
My daughter informs me that her stuffed monkey, Monkey, attends Monkey School.
In Monkey School, she said, instead of being in a grade, when the monkeys know the material, they graduate up to the next level.
Apparently, Monkey School differs from a typical K-8 school in that the default assumption isn't that students will spend a year in a grade; instead, units are smaller and students are constantly moving up, as if in a video game.
I like it.
In Monkey School, she said, instead of being in a grade, when the monkeys know the material, they graduate up to the next level.
Apparently, Monkey School differs from a typical K-8 school in that the default assumption isn't that students will spend a year in a grade; instead, units are smaller and students are constantly moving up, as if in a video game.
I like it.
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