Orna Sonnenschein
Welcome to Temple Beth Am

As the Director of Education of Temple Beth Am, I am pleased to make available, on-line, my thoughts which are found in Temple Beth Am's monthly newsletter, TEBEAM.

My articles are available on-line and are readily available for viewing or downloading and reading at your convenience.

Director of Education’s Message
Tebeam
December 2007

Ten years ago, I was just settling in as the Director of our religious school.  Reaching this milestone has inspired me to reflect on how we all got to where we are, and how our school has grown and developed into the vibrant center of religious education it is today.  Everyone brings their background and experiences to every aspect of their lives.  Therefore, in order to look back and examine the development of our school, it would be helpful if I first offered an explanation of my own journey to the position of its Director.

Despite the fact that I never envisioned myself as a director of education, let alone in a synagogue, I now know that this is what I was meant to do.  While I was raised in a secular Israeli household and my family was not affiliated with any temple, I was always interested in Judaism.  My Jewish learning began at home.  Hebrew was my first language and my mother taught me to read and write in Hebrew as a young child.  From my father I learned about Jewish history, philosophy and theology.  He instilled in me a great pride in my heritage and a strong Jewish identity.  And yet I had no appreciation for the institutional aspect of my faith and as I have said before I always felt like a stranger whenever I entered a synagogue.

This discomfort lasted until I started teaching Hebrew School.  The road I traveled toward that end had many unexpected twists and turns.  After college I spent a year in Israel on a unique program called Otzma.  I spent the year travelling the country and working within different underprivileged communities.  When the year ended I intended to stay in Israel to work in a boarding school for children whose parents were either unfit, drug addicts, or in prison.  I became very attached to the students there and desperately wanted to make a difference in their lives.  But then I received a phone call from my sister who was teaching at Beth Elohim in Wellesley.  She told me that the director there (Claire Robbins Rubin) was offering me a job at a very attractive pay rate.  Never mind that I had never taught in my life, or that it was my sister offering me the position and not the director herself, I quickly came to the conclusion that it was more practical for me to return home, earn money and decide what it was I wanted to do with my life. 

I began teaching grade 6 at Beth Elohim in the fall of 1992.  It was a disaster!  I team taught with my sister.  She and I shared the same students but taught different subjects.  The kids hated my sister.  They said she was too strict and mean and never let them have any fun.  Knowing all too well how my sister could be I took pity on the children and decided I was going to be nicer, friendlier and more lenient.  We all learn from our mistakes.  I’m not sure what the students got from that year but I certainly learned a lot and if I was going to be rehired I was certainly going to do things differently.  Back then it was just as hard as it is now to find qualified and effective Hebrew school teachers.  You have to be engaging but structured, creative yet firm, compassionate but strict, willing to spend hours on a lesson plan only to have it fly out the window as your student’s enthusiasm takes you somewhere unexpected.  You have to be able to work with the other teachers (my sister didn’t last long), your boss and parents.  In short being a Hebrew school teacher is tough!  And yet, it was the most rewarding thing I had ever done.  After my second year teaching at Beth Elohim, Claire told me I should go to school to become a Reform Jewish Educator.  I thought she was crazy.  Being a rather observant and perceptive person I knew how hard her job was and really who was she kidding?  I could never do what she did.  I continued teaching in Wellesley and also took on teaching positions in Needham and Newton. 

Although I enjoyed teaching tremendously, basic economics dictated a need for a full-time job.  I got one and I was miserable.  What was it that I wanted to do?  I took a class with some friends that was supposed to help us uncover what it was we were good at and where our passions lay.  Every exercise I did pointed in the direction of Jewish education.  But I refused to see it.  Instead I went back to school and received my masters degree in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.  I continued teaching in various Hebrew schools to cover my rent.  And in many ways it was a stress reliever.  I now felt very comfortable being involved with a synagogue.  I learned all about Reform Judaism, the service, and the prayers.  I discovered that teaching was one of the best ways to learn…I always had to be one step ahead of my students.

During my second year at Brandeis I started getting phone calls from schools looking for educators.  It is a mystery to me how my name got to these people but I still had one year of school and could not take on a full time position.  I did, however, take a position as an assistant director at a congregation in Cambridge.  That was a pivotal year for me.  I realized then that Claire had seen something in me that I could not see in myself.  I wanted to be in a position of influence.  I wanted to make Hebrew school a positive learning experience for students AND parents.  I wanted to help families make room for Judaism in their lives.  I wanted to make temple a home for people like it had become for me.  I was ready for the challenge. 

After graduating from Brandeis I applied for several positions.  But Temple Beth Am stood out.  I remember feeling so comfortable walking into the building and throughout the interview.  I received word right away and it was with great excitement and trepidation that I accepted the position.  I had a vision of what I wanted to accomplish.  The school had a lot of potential.  I was ready to get to work.

Stay tuned for Part 2: The Growth of a School

L’Shalom,