CAJE Blog

I was born in a DP camp in Hanover, Germany. The only thing I remember about it was the snow. At the age of two, we were able to emigrate to the United States, and we lived in Manhattan until I was 10 years old. My parents sent me to a yeshiva preschool and kindergarten mainly because they both had to work until 5pm and the program offered extended hours, not because my parents were that observant. After that, I attended public schools.

Joan Micklin Silver (z”l), the groundbreaking filmmaker and Miami Jewish Film Festival alum (Hester Street -MJFF 2007), passed away December 31. The daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, Micklin Silver was a trailblazer for women directors and created proud depictions of Jewish culture in cinema.

Words from Our Hearts: A Prayer Exploration for Early Childhood offers an opportunity for our youngest learners, their teachers and their parents to immerse themselves into the spiritual language of prayer. Prayer concepts are introduced to the children through simple everyday words like: Todah- gratitude, B’vakasha- please, S’licha- forgiveness, and Halleluyah- praise and wonder.

Rabbi Sacks taught, “There always were two ways to live in a world that is often dark and full of tears. We can curse the darkness or we can light a light, and even a little light drives out much darkness. May we all help light up the world.” This week, the light of community and the light of learning shone brightly, casting a beautiful glow that could even be felt through our computer screens. May this Chanukah season remind us that even in times of darkness, each of us has the power to be a source of light.

Recognizing how important peer trips to Israel are in anchoring our children’s Jewish identity, we started with a fundamental premise-- just as Jewish parents plan for their children to go to college and they save for it early, so Jewish parents must plan for their children to attend a peer trip to Israel and they must save for it early.

Covid-19 has changed the way we do many things. Yet one factor remains the same: our early childhood educators’ commitment to the children and their families and to creating and nurturing relationships that become the beginning of many family’s Jewish journey.

The 8th Cohort of the Miami Diller Teen Fellows (a select leadership development program for 10th and 11th graders) kicked off their year with three workshops and a virtual Shabbat experience. Each teen's contributions to the group were so inspiring!

JNTP is a national Jewish day school program adapted from the New Teacher Center in Santa Cruz, California. Through JNTP, CAJE develops veteran teachers into mentors who work specifically with novice teachers in their first 1-3 years in the field. Mentors learn about the specific challenges faced by novice teachers and develop the skills and dispositions needed to guide them through their first years of teaching.