Temple Educator's Column - May 2026

Families at the Center

We are all incredibly busy. Some of us are overwhelmingly so. We sign our kids up for so many activities – the wider community seems to believe that this is a good and important thing to do, so we do it. And if our kids enjoy those activities, and especially if they become passionate about them, we are delighted. We want our kids to find their passions. Some of them will go on to engage in those activities for a long time and at the highest levels. Most will enjoy them until their interest takes them in other directions. These are all good things.

Being Jewish, I believe, is something that to which we should ascribe a high value for our kids. Ideally it will not be about interest, but about identity. It is who we are and always will be. We are part of a people that has been around for over 3,800 years! And we have developed and adapted to the world around us as the world has changed. Reform Judaism is one of those adaptations, begun by Jews who wanted to retain their connection to our people and being fully engaged in the modern world around us.

There have been a lot of people and institutions who were instrumental in making that happen. I could spend hours listing them. I believe, however, that the most significant institution to help children develop Jewish identity is the family and the most important people in making that happen are their parents. TBT is here to help make those connections here on the Shoreline for all of us. Our religious school and our teachers and I are here to help families build Jewish relationships: kids with kids, parents with parents and families with families. I want to invite you – all of you – to engage more deeply with one another and with us. Help us build the school into a Kehilah (community).

We have a variety of opportunities to bring groups of families together throughout the year. Sometimes in groups of classmates and their families, others through shared experiences organized around a value or an idea. We want kids to learn with their parents and for parents to model Jewish learning and connecting. And we want to fashion those opportunities in ways that work for you. Please reach out to me. Let’s grab coffee or tea and talk about what that might look like.

I often talk about how we want our school and faculty to be important and meaningful tools that help you rear connected Jewish kids. We don’t want to be your proxies in doing that. We want to be your partners.

L’shalom,
Ira J. Wise, D.J.R.E., R.J.E.
Temple Educator

Temple Educator's Column - April 2026

A Light in Dark Times

A few weeks ago, Karin Beitel - our Kitah Zayin (7th grade) teacher - and I attended the ADL’s Never is Now conference in New York City. It was intense and emotional to learn from so many speakers about their personal stories confronting antisemitic acts and the efforts to combat them. They are genuine heroes doing the work on the ground to analyze situations and prevent attacks.

We heard from allies – people who are not Jewish who feel that the fight against antisemitism and hate is their fight as well as ours. I invite you to visit https://neverisnow.org/ to view recordings of some of the speakers. You can also find ways to connect with people like the ones we heard.

If this kind of work inspires you, I also invite you to get involved with Kulanu, a group of TBT members who work to advocate for and educate about the fight against antisemitism on the Shoreline. Contact Louis King to get involved.

Some of the sessions were disturbing. We learned about places on the internet where young people go to watch footage from mass casualty events and to venerate the killers. We learned about how some are perverting AI tools to create on-line games that teach hate. It was a lot to hear and learn, and I am grateful that the ADL and other organizations are actively monitoring and combating these sites and activities.

A true story. As the Metro North train approached my stop, a woman in the aisle fell right next to me. I got up to help her. When she had finally gotten herself back together, I was surprised to feel the train moving. I had just missed my stop, where my wife Audrey was waiting with our dog Lola to pick me up! I ran to the conductor near the train doors to ask how quickly I could get a return train at the next stop. He said it would be nearly an hour. I called Audrey, explained and apologized. She said she would come to that station to get me.

When she arrived, I walked to the car feeling foolish that I had missed the stop and put her to such trouble. She asked “Where is your suitcase?” I had completely forgotten it on the overhead rack. Having completed an on-line form with MTA in hopes of someday retrieving the bag, we sat down to dinner. When Lola began barking, I opened the front door to see the conductor of the train…with my suitcase!

He said “In nearly thirty years with the railroad, I have never done this. When I took your suitcase from the rack to turn it in at New Haven, I looked at the luggage tag. I know this street! My wife grew up in the next block! I had to bring it to you on my way home.”

I share this story because it fills me with hope and joy. My forgotten suitcase was not a tragedy. It was a nuisance. After a two-day emotional roller coaster, learning of awful things and wonderful people who work to prevent them and help those who have been hurt, the experience ended with a man going above and beyond for another person. Just because he could. And I invite you to join me in looking for opportunities to right some wrongs and do nice things, just because we can.

L’shalom,

Ira Wise, DJRE
Temple Educator

Temple Educator’s Column - March 2026

Let all who are hungry come and eat…

Mr. Sered insisted we learn how to read the prayer in the original Aramaic:

הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְאַרְעָא.

ך יֵיתֵי וְיִפְסַח 􀉜 .דְמִצְרָיִם. כָּל דִכְפִין יֵיתֵי וְיֵיכֹל, כָּל דִצְרִי

Ha lachma anya di achalu avhatana b’arah d’mitzrayim.
Kol difchin yeitei v’yeichol, kol ditzrin yeitei v’yifsach.

We liked Mr. Sered. (He looked weird to us sixth graders. Looking back he looked a lot like Kurt Vonnegut.) This was painful. Why did we need to learn ANOTHER language, even if it used the same letters as Hebrew?

I realize now, many years later, what his point was. It was not about the language. It was about the idea that no matter what language we speak, no matter where we wander as Jews, we have an obligation to remember and to act on that memory. We remember that we were strangers in a strange land, slaves in Egypt who suffered physically, emotionally and spiritually. We are commanded to use that memory to inform our actions. We are commanded to share our meals with those who do not have enough.

I am grateful for the work of our Social Justice Committee that has focused our congregation’s efforts on addressing those suffering food insecurity in our community. They have urged me to make it a part of the learning in our Religious School.

As I write these words, Passover is a scant six weeks away. We are commanded to remember and to act. I invite you to consider how we can act on that memory in our own homes. Perhaps invite someone in need to your seder. Maybe contribute time and money to the several institutions in our community that feed those in need like the Community Dining Room in Branford or the Pauline Baldwin Food Pantry in Madison – just to name two places. Have a family conversation about how your family might best remember and act on this Mitzvah.

We are Reform Jews. That means we have accepted the responsibility of examining our heritage and finding ways to make meaning that works for us. I do not believe it means “we don’t have to.”

So, as we get ready to once again be redeemed from Egypt, let’s remember that we were once slaves and we still have a lot of folks in our world who need redemption.

L’Shalom,

Ira J. Wise, DJRE,
Temple Educator

Temple Educator's Column - February 2026

A Purim Dilemma or (Two)

The holiday of Purim always presents us with challenges. That is one of the reasons it is such a great holiday. It engages our minds. Please consider a few:

1. This year, Purim begins on the evening of March 2. Too close to the publication of the March bulletin to be helpful in your planning. So even though you are getting this email days before Tu Bishvat, I am reminding you to plan on Purim.

2. As we get older, we tend to think of Purim as a kid-centric holiday. We DO have a lot of fun with kids. However, this is actually one of our most serious as well as most festive holidays. We are celebrating events that prevented a genocide. There are anecdotal stories that immediately after the liberation of some concentration and death camps, survivors began to organize daily worship. Some journalists and GI’s who witnessed this asked the survivors how they could pray after Hitler and what they had experienced. It is said that different people said the same thing, “Hitler was nothing new to us. He was just a more successful Haman.” So let me suggest we celebrate the seriousness of our survival together.

3. A third (but not the last) dilemma is about drinking. In the Babylonian Talmud (Megillah 7b), Rava said “A person is obligated to become so intoxicated on Purim that they do not know the difference between "Cursed is Haman and Blessed is Mordecai." The clear implication is that Rava was referring to wine and actual drunkenness. This seems a bit much to many of us today.

At the same time, the most enduring of the Jewish values is Pikuach Nefesh – saving a life. We can violate every commandment to save a life, with the exception of murder, adultery and public idolatry.

It is simple to say that our understanding of the real consequences of alcoholism is better than it was to Rava’s 4th century C.E. contemporaries. I think this obligation is a challenge to us – we need to take time to examine our understanding of what it means to celebrate in ways that are healthy for us and that set good examples for our children. I love the idea that we are to be so joyful that we unbutton our inhibitions a little bit to honor Esther’s bravery and celebrate our survival. It is upon us to find ways to do that.

How to celebrate is not such a dilemma. The Mitzvot of Purim are a) to hear the story of Esther in a language you understand; b) give tzedakah and gifts to the poor and c) give mishloach manot – tasty treats – to your friends.

To address these Mitzvot:

On Sunday, March 1, we will celebrate by wearing costumes to Religious School, telling the story of Purim, eating Hamantaschen and enjoying the SALTY Purim Carnival!

On Monday, March 2, we will come together as a whole community, kids and adults for a Purim Spiel (play) and celebration.

Our Religious Activities Committee (RAC) is providing the opportunity to send Mishloach Manot to your TBT friends and family.

There should be more details elsewhere in this issue and they will also be in the weekly emails.

Join us!
L'shalom,

Ira J. Wise, DJRE, RJE
Temple Educator

Temple Educator's Column - January 2026

Temple Educator’s Column - Let’s Plant a Tree and Celebrate on February 1!

Dear Friends,

While the war in Gaza is still not fully resolved, (see footnote) Israel and the Jewish people continue to move forward and live life, as we always have. That resolve has kept us going for thousands of years. Tu Bishvat – the birthday of the trees – begins the evening of February 1, 2026. We are planning to have Yom Yisrael (lit. Israel Day) on that morning in the Religious School and for the entire congregational community. I hope you will join us for some or all of the activities!

9:30 a.m. – Noon Religious School as scheduled:

Gan – Kitah Hey (K–5th) will engage in a variety of Israel-related activities.

9:30 a.m. - Parent Schmooze in the Lobby

10:15 a.m. - Meet Maayan Amsterdamer, a living bridge to Israel

Kitot Vav – Yud Bet (6th –12th) and Adults will meet this wonderful teen who recently spent a semester in Israel at the Alexander Muss High School. She will share her experiences living outside Tel Aviv, learning and experiencing life in Israel with her classmates. This will be followed by our students singing some Israeli songs led by our music teacher, Ed Soufer.

11:15 a.m.- Noon Israeli food buffet and a variety of engaging activities.

Students will sit with their classes to eat and have more experiential learning. There will be conversation guides for adult tables, and Maayan and her parents will also be available for more conversation.

Plant a tree in Israel in honor or memory of someone – maybe yourself!

For over 100 years it has been a practice of Jewish people all over the world to contribute money to plant a tree in Israel. It is a powerful statement of connection. Trees planted through the JNF have become massive forests throughout the land, in places that were once wilderness.

To plant a tree, we ask that you use our TBT Religious School page on the JNF website. That way we can all see how many trees our community plants! Click HERE .

Finally, our individual relationships with Israel are as varied as each of us are. I hope we each have a vision of what we hope Israel is and can be. Whatever that vision is, I believe the only way we can make it a reality is to be engaged with Israel and Israelis. As Theodor Herzl said: “Im tirzu, ayn zo agadah – If you will it, it is not a dream.”

L’shalom,
Ira J. Wise, DJRE
Temple Educator

As I write this on the final day of Chanukah, there is only one hostage remaining in Gaza. Staff Sargeant Ron Gvili, a police officer was captured and killed on October 7, 2023. We pray for the return of his remains soon. And while the situation is still fluid, it feels like things are moving toward a more peaceful status quo. There is a long way to go before Israel is truly at peace.

Temple Educator's Column - December 2025

TBT has been blessed with amazing teachers- past and present- who serve our Religious School.

We are fortunate that the Jewish community at Yale has been a great source of many of our teachers. We currently have five Yale undergraduates teaching at TBT: Aviv Pilipski, Hannah Saraf, Keira Gerstley, Dani Klein and Anya Geist. They teach Kitot Bet – Vav (2nd – 6th) in the order listed. It is a joy to watch them work with our kids, and the kids love them!

From the broader community, we have Ed Soufer, who teaches music and leads tefilah for our students, while Miriam Heyman teaches Gan (kindergarten). Ed lives in Madison, and Miriam makes her way from the Naugatuck Valley each Sunday.

Members Shelley Capozzi and Rachel Kilian, teach Kitot Zayin (7th) and Alef (1st), respectively. I realize that many of our congregational members served our school long before I became part of this amazing community. Our members often find ways to share their gifts with us – such as working in leadership, worshipping with us, or serving on committees.

TBT members often connect me to candidates who join our faculty. Our mission statement says: “Temple Beth Tikvah is a vibrant, inclusive Reform Jewish community, guided by Torah and interconnected through our traditions and values of tikkun hanefesh (enriching our lives) and tikkun olam (improving the world).”

Our teachers fulfill most of the mission. However, only the teachers who are TBT members can fully demonstrate our mission. They live the values of TBT, and they model them to our children inside TBT and outside in the community.

If I have two candidates equally capable, and only one is a member of our congregation, I will hire the member. I do so because a member modeling our values is something that rarely can be found outside of TBT. Of course, not being a member is a curable condition. Our SALTY advisor, Devon Barker, joined TBT around the same time he began his work with us!

Please consider teaching Religious School at TBT, perhaps starting as a substitute. No teaching experience? Not to worry. The best teacher I ever had was a treasury agent. The criteria for teaching our children is simple:
You love being Jewish and are passionate about the history and future of the Jewish people.
You enjoy engaging with children.
Good listening skills.

I can help you with technique and Jewish knowledge.
Let’s talk.
Ira J. Wise, DJRE Temple Educator

Temple Educator's Column - November 2025

Hakarat Hatov means Gratitude (or Thanksgiving if you prefer!)

Thanksgiving is a time for…check the boxes that fit your reality:
0 Family gathering?
0 Specific food choices?
0 Lions and/or Cowboys football?
0 Debating the historical origins of the holiday?
0 Booking flights and hotels?
0 Counting the blessings in your life?

As Jews, many of us tend not to use the “count your blessings” phrase too often. It sounds to some like language other people use. I think that may be a mistake for us.

During the High Holy Day season, we often talk about doing Cheshbon Hanefesh – an accounting of the soul. The idea is to review the past year and note the times we have hurt someone or fallen short from what we (and God) expect from our own behavior. Then we are supposed to go to those people and to God and atone – make amends – and try to restore our relationships.

Thanksgiving suggests a similar, yet slightly different, exercise. The Hebrew for gratitude is Hakarat Hatov. The literal translation of the two words is “recognizing the good.”

Cheshbon Hanefesh focuses on how we missed the mark. Hakarat Hatov demands that we take some time to take notice of the good things – both those we have done and especially those that others have done which we now value.

When President Lincoln formalized the holiday, he was asking that each American, in their own way, give thanks and praise. He did this in the months following Gettysburg, which was the turning point in the American Civil War and the end was seen to be nearing.

We teach Hakarat Hatov as a part of our Religious School curriculum. The idea is that no matter what negative things may happen, it is our job to find sparks of the divine in our world, to recognize and acknowledge them. I hope that as each of us may or may not begin to work our own pre-Thanksgiving checklists we each include a check box for counting blessings and giving thanks. Join me in recognizing the good.

L’shalom,
Ira J. Wise
0 Count Blessings
0 Give thanks

Educator's Column - Summer 2025

This past weekend (June 21-22), my flight to participate in the Jewish National Fund Educator’s Mission on July 13 was cancelled due to the airport in Tel Aviv being closed because of the war with Iran. While I am working to get the airfare refunded, I am still hopeful that the war will end in time for me to go. Of course, hope is not a strategy.

As I write, October 7th was 625 days ago; I know that many of us at TBT have been watching the events in Israel and Gaza with concern, hope and compassion that is now compounded with the war with Iran. These emotions intensify. We each bring our own perspective to our emotions. Your feelings are yours alone. We should have conversations about them – that is part of a healthy process.

The idea of the mission I was to attend was to learn alongside other synagogue educators and explore how we might do better at teaching about Israel than we already do. Israel has been a core Jewish value for my entire personal life and for my professional practice since I first worked in a classroom as a 9th grade aide.

I believe that we need to teach our children the dream of what Israel can be and what led to the creation of the modern state. Theodor Herzl saw it as a home for our people, who were seen as outsiders, despite being citizens of the countries in which they lived. Ahad Ha’am described the dream as a center and source of Jewish culture for all of us. Ze’ev Jabotinsky saw it as a place where the Jewish people can be strong and defend themselves against all who sought to destroy us, and A.D. Gordon described a place where we could get our hands dirty in the soil, bringing life to an arid place. These are just a few of the ideas.

I believe in a developmental approach to learning. We are ready to explore topics in different ways at different times in our lives. So, we should revisit them, applying our experiences and ideas that we have developed since we last talked about them. We might think about God, for example, differently at 39 than we did in third grade – which is when we do our first deep dive into theology at TBT.

In the younger grades, we are teaching our kids about the dream of Israel and introducing parts of Israeli life and culture that will help them to learn, to connect, and perhaps even love it. As they get older, and develop skills in pulling apart complex issues, we get into the ideas that keep some of us up at night or cause flights to be cancelled.

I invite you to take advantage of the opportunities TBT will be offering for adult conversations around Israel and current events. I ask you to have real conversations about it with one another and with your kids in a way that makes sense for you and them. I want to gently remind everyone that even if our opinions on how to approach Israel may vary widely, we are all a part of the same Jewish family. We need to remember we are talking about people in our family. Our children will learn from our example, both in what we say about Israel and how to say it to one another and to people outside the Jewish community.

L'shalom,

Ira Wise

Hebrew Matters: Temple Educator's Column

When Mishkan Tefilah – our current siddur was shared in prepublication in 2005, we were told it was going to include transliteration. That is to say that along with the English and the Hebrew, there would be Hebrew written phonetically with English letters. Apparently, a great deal of research had revealed that many adults, who had forgotten or never learned Hebrew, felt infantilized when attending services. This was meant to solve that.

I, and many of my colleagues (educators, rabbis and cantors) objected. We felt that if everyone could rely on the transliteration, no one – especially kids – would invest the effort and time in learning to actually read the Hebrew. The editorial committee of Mishkan Tefillah responded by offering an option that is NOT transliterated. That is the light blue version you see in the hands of our students.

Reform Judaism is about having personal autonomy over our Jewish practices. If, after careful study and reflection, we find that a particular practice is not meaningful, we can choose to set it aside. And if we find another practice particularly meaningful, we can embrace it. We have choices.

I believe that Hebrew is a very important part of our heritage. I remember learning with a rabbi who had been a frequent visitor to the Soviet Union in the 70s and 80s. He would smuggle in bibles and Hebrew books for Refuseniks who were trying to teach Judaism in spite of the laws against it. He was asked to travel to Siberia and check on the wellbeing of someone there. After a 21-hour train ride, he found a pay phone and called. The person on the other end did not speak English. The rabbi spoke no Russian. He tried Hebrew. The Refusenik asked in Hebrew “How did you find me?” And in Hebrew the rabbi answered, “There are people in Israel and the United States who were worried about you.”

Without Hebrew, that man might have been lost to us forever. He emigrated to Israel in 1987. Our current Hebrew language curriculum focuses on reading the prayers we regularly say or chant in Hebrew. Our kids learn a vocabulary of approximately 350 words over the course of five years. And they learn a lot about the meaning of those prayers – even if they cannot readily translate them word for word.

During the next several months, I and some of the members of the Curriculum Working Group would like to speak with you who are willing. We have some questions about what you think is important – or not important – about what Hebrew our kids will learn. Whether you have a child who is, or soon will be- in Religious School, or not, our school should reflect the values of the whole congregation. Please reach out to me at rsdirector@tbtshoreline.org or give me a call. We will have some group conversations as well as one-on-one meetings.

L’Shalom, Ira Wise, Temple Educator

Religious School Enrollment 2025-2026 Enrollment will begin May 19, 2025. If your child is currently enrolled in Religious School (and not graduating High School) , they will be automatically re-enrolled for the fall! You will be sent a link to a form that will ask about your child’s specific needs and your hopes and dreams. You will be billed for tuition through Shulcloud in the early Fall and you will be all set! If you have children who are of school age and have not yet enrolled, we will send you a form the week of the 19 th and will follow up with you then.

Temple Educator's Column - April 2025

AHA! You Can Make Pesach Amazing!

I once published a monthly pullout section in a printed temple bulletin. It would teach the basics of a holiday, a section of the prayerbook, segment of history or lifecycle ritual. The idea was to give people – especially parents – the tools to talk confidently. (If you would like us to do something like that, please let me know!)

One feature of each issue were the At Home Activities or the AHA section. With Pesach coming in less than two weeks, here are some AHAs and one ATA (At Temple Activity) to help bring more joy to your Pesach:

• AHA: Host a Seder. It is not as difficult as it sounds. And it is ok to ask guests to share in the cooking and/or planning the Seder. Make it a team activity! There are many different Haggadot available. More than 3,000 versions exist, and you can make your own as well. Recustom.com is a great resource. Or speak to me and I can help.

• AHA: Place a piece of paper and a pencil next to each plate at your Seder. Ask each person to write down a Passover-related question. Read the questions out loud, and as a group, try to answer each. You might end up creating your own Midrash!

• AHA Do spring cleaning in your home before Pesach.

• AHA: Conduct a ritual search for Hametz. Bimbam has a short video to get you started.

• AHA: Try converting a favorite recipe for Passover (matzo pizza, matzo lasagna) OR look online for the wonderful variety of recipes available! Tori Avey, Delish, and The New York Times are just a few ideas. Of course, there is no shortage of cookbooks to be had, including in the TBT Library!

• AHA: Make a Miriam’s Cup and include it in your Seder. Miriam’s Cup is a new ritual object that is placed on the seder table beside the Cup of Elijah. Miriam’s Cup is filled with water. It serves as a symbol of Miriam’s Well, which was the source of water for the Israelites in the desert.

• AHA: Create matzo covers out of cloth napkins or handkerchiefs with fabric paint and other craft items.

• ATA: Join us at TBT for the Temple Seder on Friday, April 18 and let’s celebrate together! I invite the kids to help me lead part of the Seder – more to follow in the Religious School blast.

Do you have some of your creative ways to celebrate? Please let me know and I will share them further! Chag Sameach! Happy Pesach!

L’shalom,
Ira J. Wise, DJRE, RJE
Temple Educator