\”The U.S. had all the right reasons for going to war with Iraq without the support of United Nations,\” said Jordana Friedman, an eighth-grader at Kadima Hebrew Academy in Woodland Hills. \”[Their leaders] lied. They said they were disarmed. Do we want another Sept. 11? I think we\’re totally justified.\”
Without realizing his ideas would culminate in a book, Ed Feinstein began writing down his thoughts more than six years ago. He collected the most common questions children asked him — most having to do with why bad things happen to good people.
While the media bombards Americans with images and stories of air strikes, wounded soldiers, POWs and the question of terrorism, teachers and administrators around the Southland are finding sensitive ways to teach students about the events without causing unneeded anxiety.
Sharon Evans founded Adopt-a-Family, a project of the Coalition Against Terror, a nonprofit organization that matches Jewish organizations worldwide.
No matter what the profit, most synagogue administrators agree that the yearly celebrations are helpful morale boosters.
While the summer is still a good four months away, the race to register for Jewish overnight camp has already kicked into high gear.
Like college graduates looking to make career contacts, many of the professional and lay day school leaders, major philanthropists, Jewish Federation leaders and Jewish endowment fund representatives attending the PEJE Leadership Assembly portion, the first of its kind in the United States, took time out to network.
Before they met five years ago, searching for their besherts kept Lynn and Thad Gerber active in Jewish life: Between singles\’ dances,
Shabbat dinners and Jewish discussion groups, their dating lives gave way to a sense of belonging and connectedness through Judaism.
Something vital is missing from public and day school curriculums, says Dr. Hanan Alexander, a rabbi, educator and author of \”Reclaiming
Goodness: Education and the Spiritual Quest\” (University of Notre Dame Press, 2001), which received the 2002 National Jewish Book Award in Education.
\”Ana,\” a Catholic Latina nanny working for a Jewish family in Studio City, was afraid to ask her employers whether she could buy a holiday gift for their young son. She was torn between wanting to give the child a present and worrying about insulting the family. Like many foreigners, Ana (not her real name) was unsure of proper holiday protocol.
\”It\’s hard for these women to know where to draw the line,\” said Davina Klein, who teaches a class at Adat Ari El in North Hollywood for Latina nannies working for Jewish families. \”They don\’t want to ask questions because they don\’t want to rock the boat. I think that comes from a different mentality.\”
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