teaching moments Archives - Values & Ethics

IGNITING CURIOSITY’S FLAME…

Posted by TTT | Jun 11, 2020 | communication, leadership, problem solving, teaching moments |

BEHA’ALOTECHA — A child’s face lighting up can light up the world. It most certainly will light up his or her parents’ hearts. Children are naturally curious, and their faces light up with understanding and delight. It’s up to us as parents and teachers to keep encouraging and nurturing that curiosity. When children ask a question and you don’t know the answer, look it up with them, or encourage them to look for the answer themselves. That is the beginning of education and using resources to follow one’s own curiosity into deeper understanding. This week’s Torah portion describes the...

PARENTS AS MODELS…

Posted by TTT | Jun 5, 2020 | communication, family, leadership, sharing, teaching moments |

NASO — When you live with someone, it’s difficult to become a model. People who live together see one another’s flaws and weaknesses and all their inconsistencies. Still, even with that reality, parents must be models for their children. For better or worse, children learn how to be in the world from their parents. Parents learn that it’s not what we instruct verbally, but what we do ourselves that is the most powerful teacher of all. In this week’s Torah portion, the laws of a Nazarite are enumerated for someone who voluntarily takes on stringent rules for a defined...

SHAVUOT—Study for Its Own Sake

Posted by TTT | May 29, 2020 | holidays, teaching moments |

SHAVUOT — Parents naturally want their children to do well in school. We are concerned when they, for one reason or another, are not flourishing in school, and this gives us anxiety regarding their futures. We do all we can to address whatever problems or obstacles seem to be in their way. There are times when children feel a great deal of pressure from parents and teachers to do well in school and often this pressure can be counterproductive. The Jewish holiday of Shavuot sheds a different light on the meaning of study. This holiday, marking the receiving of the Torah by Moses on Mount Sinai, is...

HOSPITALITY…

Posted by TTT | May 8, 2020 | family, home, responsibility, rituals, sharing, teaching moments |

EMOR — A great blessing one can have is the ability to give to others. Hosting guests and taking care of them is an important way to express this. Guests care much more about your attitude towards them than the expense or beauty of the surroundings. This week’s Torah portion, Emor, discusses Jewish holidays. We are called upon to celebrate these holidays joyously and always instructed to make sure we are sharing the joy with others – our families as well as guests we can bring into our home. In fact, we are taught that taking care of a...

PASSOVER—Asking Questions

Posted by TTT | Apr 7, 2020 | communication, holidays, sharing, teaching moments |

PASSOVER — Asking questions is essential to childhood. Doing one’s best to answer these questions is part of being a parent. Sometimes we are delighted by these questions, and at other times we are discomfited, at a loss as to how to answer them. Whichever it is, we know how important it is for our children to keep on asking questions. This coming week is time for the yearly Passover seders. The Torah and the rabbis who shaped the seders placed children’s questions at the heart of the seder. Not only are the “Four Questions” designed to specifically engage...

Category: teaching moments

IGNITING CURIOSITY’S FLAME…

SHAVUOT—Study for Its Own Sake

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