tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1483161445191385302024-03-13T13:45:35.174-04:00Welcome To The Next LevelA cooperative exploration of where we might take Jewish Education nextIra J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.comBlogger251125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-30780741825584215142023-12-18T06:00:00.013-05:002023-12-18T06:00:00.133-05:00A new Anne Frank momentDavid Bryfman, the CEO of the Jewish Education Project posted this on the Times of Israel Blogs last Wednesday. I believe his point is very important for Jewish educators and parents. Here are the first two paragraphs. I urge you to read the entire article at https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-new-anne-frank-moment/.A new Anne Frank momentJewish educators must teach our youth to be confident Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-71046410544029229102023-12-14T06:00:00.001-05:002023-12-14T06:00:00.139-05:00Do you want to be helped, heard or hugged?Jancee Dunn is a columnist for the New York Times. Last April she wrote a piece in the NYT's Well newsletter called "When Someone You Love Is Upset, Ask This One Question." In it she describes her response to her sister Heather, a teacher who had just completed a challenging week with some agitated students: “What do you do when a kid is emotionally overwhelmed?” I asked. Many teachers at her Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-62751263502294296772023-12-12T16:51:00.001-05:002023-12-12T16:51:56.683-05:00I am on the side of peace.I work with Rabbi Danny Moss at Temple Beth Tikvah in Madison, CT.
He posted this on October 14.
I can only say Amen.Elie Wiesel said that remaining neutral always helps the oppressor, never the oppressed. So, I’m picking sides:I am on the side of babies torn from their cribs.
I am on the side of children made orphans by terror.
I am on the side of all peace-loving people seeking safety for Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-24275246891179464882023-12-07T21:45:00.000-05:002023-12-07T21:45:13.509-05:00Grandma Honey's Infallible LatkesA neighbor texted looking for my once famous latke recipe. It was never mine. It was Grandma Honey's. (Her name was Helen, but none of us knew her by any other name than Honey. If I smell a latke (or if I am an honest, even a French fry will do), I am transported back to her kitchen. About 17 years ago, my son Ethan challenged me to a fry-off. Grandma Honey's latkes are perfect. And they are Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-82915743405081068162023-12-07T14:57:00.000-05:002023-12-07T21:32:41.237-05:00How can we celebrate in the midst of this (or any) tragedy?We are all looking for ways to cope and ways to help. I have found a few and am looking for more. Focusing on my own emotional and spiritual health, it seems to me I need to start writing again. I hope it invites some of you to engage in conversation - perhaps with me, if not with one another. I wrote this for the Temple Bulletin last week and thought it might make a good start. Chag Urim SameachIra J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-91105912012357095952023-06-20T13:43:00.003-04:002023-06-20T13:53:20.660-04:00The best use of my time ever (for professional growth)I should have posted this sooner. If you listen to me you only have two days to act. I hope you do. Like many of us in Jewish education, I have devoted a lot of time to my own professional development. I have always asked my teachers to attend conferences, online learning and other ways to build their professional tool box. Being a Dugma Ishit (personal example) has always been a core value to meIra J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-6918214974757830212023-06-12T18:02:00.001-04:002023-06-12T18:02:00.141-04:00I ran this a year ago. It was originally the final bulletin article at a congregation I had served for 27 years. The past year has been, as Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead once said, a long strange trip. I am sharing it again, because it is truer than ever. Thank you again Patton Oswalt for your inspiration. And if you want to see a pretty good commencement address, Patton gave it at the Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-52013719679931143042023-06-08T12:00:00.003-04:002023-06-08T12:00:00.132-04:00Daily Life Lessons from Rabbi HeschelRabbi Abraham Joshua HeschelRabbi Mark Borovitz is a friend, teacher and mentor. His story is amazing. And he has a tremendous blog in which he riffs on a teaching from Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, whom he reveres, each day. I try to read them as they post. Yesterday's is a standout and I would like to share it with you. Please go to Rabbi Mark's blog to read more: Living Rabbi Heschel's Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-55323330497252795732023-06-07T17:32:00.000-04:002023-06-07T17:32:02.319-04:00Three thousand years of longing...An amazing story about theimportance of our storiesI have been a lifelong devotee of story telling. At the old CAJE Conference I could sit for hours and listen to so many amazing story tellers - people like Peninnah Schram, Gerald Fierst and Cherie Karo Schwartz - to name only a few of the many. When I watch a movie or TV show, I am drawn in by good writing - by the story. Even Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-10394997546325275752022-08-12T10:43:00.000-04:002022-08-12T10:43:14.161-04:00Chai, Chai, Pizza Pie!It was the end of a wonderful and weird adventure in Italy this past July. (Lost luggage, stolen passport, dishonest cabbies mixed with beautiful sights, delicious flavors and lovely people.) We had a long drive in from Florence to the Rome airport where we would return our rental car and stay one night in Fiumicino before flying home. My wife Audrey found an old Conde Nast Traveler article Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-83924523122490617012022-05-17T14:55:00.004-04:002022-05-17T14:55:32.524-04:00Why "Welcome to the Next Level?"This post may seem a bit self-indulgent. Please forgive me. As I prepare to transition to a new congregation and community after 27 years, I am finding it helpful to look a bit inward.Full disclosure. I began this blog when I was applying for a Jim Joseph Fellowship at the Lookstein Center for Jewish Education at Bar-Ilan University. They were looking for educators who wer tech and social media Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-27030213250320752542022-05-01T06:00:00.001-04:002022-05-01T06:00:00.222-04:00It’s all chaos. Be kind.In June I will be leaving Congregation B'nai Israel in Bridgeport, CT and beginning a new adventure with Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York. This is my final bulletin article for B'nai Israel.It was a very tense time in my life. The reason for the stress is not
important now. We were waiting to hear some news, but there was nothing more to
do to affect the outcome. So, I found a comedyIra J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-84497121913148100082022-04-20T06:00:00.000-04:002022-04-20T06:00:00.227-04:00“Someone should…”Catching up on some blogging with things I have already written. This applies everywhere!
Turn on the cable news
channel of your choice. Fox, CNN, MSNBC, InfoWars, it doesn’t matter. Within a
few minutes – at most an hour – a commentator will likely say that “Someone should…”
Hang out at a sporting event. Could be kids playing
little league, a minor league game or a showdown between the YankeesIra J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-5956267013724682762022-04-17T06:00:00.001-04:002022-04-17T06:00:00.227-04:00Don’t Cancel Alice Walker. Hold Her Accountable.I have been a reader and follower of Yair Rosenberg for several years. He has been an amazing writer fighting the good fight against antisemitism in the media. And he has an amazing sense of humor. He has punk'd some of the most outrageous online trolls and spoken truth to power.His regular newsletter, Deep Shtetl has become a subscriber based newsletter from the Atlantic Magazine. You can accessIra J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-34014502254377286352022-04-14T06:00:00.053-04:002022-04-14T06:00:00.218-04:00The Jewishness of Disney’s ‘Luca’ eJewishPhilanthropy has over it's long (for a Jewihs internet outlet) existence developed a reputation for sharing a lot of news in the professional Jewish world - often in advance of the rumor mill. One of the things I have always loved about it (and it's founder) is the ability to find people who write brilliant opinion or thought pieces. They don't tell us about what has happened so muchIra J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-83601124660269586572022-04-11T06:00:00.024-04:002022-06-17T13:16:22.629-04:00Sing a Redemption SongI alternate between
Pesach and Sukkot as my favorite Jewish holiday. I love building and hanging
out in our Sukkah. Feeding people I love and celebrating with them is my happy
place – and so I love the seder as well. Passover is so much more than that
though.
Geulah – Redemption – is
much more than a moment in our history: the crossing of the Sea of Reeds on the
beginning of the walk to freedom.Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-1420999974367236722022-04-07T06:00:00.002-04:002022-04-07T06:00:00.209-04:00The Neshama of Baseball - a New Season (again)This was originally posted in 2017. Like the cycle of holidays, the cycle of life and the eco-cycle, Baseball is born anew each spring. With baseball opening today, I felt the need to repost it!A busy winter has kept me away from the blog. But it is time for spring, Pesach and Baseball (although it looks like opening day is a wash for the Cubs and Cards. One of my favorite Cardinals fans is Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-37250078684527129692022-04-06T12:58:00.001-04:002022-04-06T12:58:23.301-04:00Oy to the World?Getting back into the blog, posting some older pieces that never went online.
If you have spent five minutes on social media, Amazon
or in Homegoods, you have likely seen a mug, napkins, a sweater or a pair of
socks with an image of a Chanukiah
(Chanukah Menorah) with the phrase “Oy to the World!” imprinted on it. I am not
going to rant about mixing Christmas-based phrases with Chanukah Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-55855977721123105082020-10-18T10:00:00.001-04:002020-10-18T10:00:03.664-04:00Even the way you hold your glass mattersOn August 28th the world tipped a little further on its side for some of us. That was the day Mark S. Shapiro, my rabbi, died. Now there have been a number of rabbis who I have called MY rabbi. MSS, as many of us who speak or write about him, was my first rabbi. We joined B'nai Jehoshua Beth Elohim when I was entering second grade in 1968. My Grampa Leo had died that summer, and sometime before Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-14310754318612611282020-10-16T10:00:00.002-04:002022-04-06T14:44:46.803-04:00Virtual Experiential Education: It Works!I do not believe that anyone who is reading this does not already know about eJewishPhilanthropy.com, an amazing curated blog that covers Jewish Philanthropy and Jewish Education. "To assist organizations progress as they adapt to the continuing changes and challenges of the 21st Century, eJewish Philanthropy was launched in 2007 as an independent on-line publisher and a facilitator of resource Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-44384984756802361702020-10-14T10:00:00.001-04:002020-10-14T10:00:06.982-04:00Civilly Speaking: A Curriculum on Civil Discourse (redux)In the summer of 2018, Harlene Appelman, a mentor, friend and the Executive Director of the Covenant Foundation asked me and Joel Lurie Grishaver (also a mentor, friend and the Creative Chair of Torah Aura Productions) to create a curriculum on civil discourse.She looked at the public environment and saw and heard people shouting at the top of their voices. And using language that would have Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-72574225467469397322020-10-13T15:13:00.003-04:002020-10-13T15:13:35.610-04:00What A Long, Strange Trip It Could Be!You would think that with the pandemic and quarantine I would have posted often. As I look at the past six months or so, I realize two thing about my time. I am not sure if this is universal, or just my mishigas (craziness).I have been busier than ever before. Working with lay leaders and colleagues, we spent an enormous amount of time figuring out what learning should look like at our Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-63949718040306838042020-03-30T08:00:00.000-04:002020-03-30T08:00:02.211-04:00The Socially Distanced Full-Contact Seder ™
Before our children were even conceived (the youngest turns 22 on Sunday) my wife Audrey and I developed what we called the Full-Contact Seder. The idea was to create a Seder that was so engaging that the children we would someday have would be an experience that filled them with wonder. Thanks to being at the seder at Kibbutz Lotan in 1989 - where we saw five little ones mesmerized by the Ira J. Wisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12562334169931991726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148316144519138530.post-14191115558604165182019-10-18T08:00:00.000-04:002019-10-18T08:00:02.850-04:00It's All About The Journey<!--[if gte mso 9]>
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