Tag: Teen Education & Engagement

Kedoshim contains the two great love commands of the Torah. The first is, “Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:18). Rabbi Akiva called this “the great principle of the Torah.” The second is no less challenging: “The stranger living among you must be treated as your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt. I am the Lord your God (Lev. 19:34). These are extraordinary commands. Many civilizations contain variants of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do to you,” or in the negative form attributed to Hillel (sometimes called the Silver Rule), “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; go and learn.”(Shabbat 31a). But these are rules of reciprocity, not love.

50% of all new teachers drop out of teaching within their first five years. Since 2008, CAJE has partnered with the Jewish New Teacher Project (JNTP) to increase teacher retention and reduce teacher dropout. Through the two-year JNTP training, new teachers are paired with veteran teachers so they can better handle the school culture and challenges of the classroom. Simultaneously, JNTP shows experienced teachers how to serve as mentors to new teachers. Mentor-mentee pairs meet regularly to focus on classroom management, instructional planning, and pedagogy. This collaboration is a win-win because it not only enhances the new teachers’ practices and satisfaction but also encourages the reflective growth of the mentors. This week, the CAJE Miami - Jewish New Teacher Project (JNTP) program concluded Year 1 of the two-year training.