No more pencils, no more books

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“Teach… your children well”
-- Crosby, Stills and Nash

Teaching our kids—
A priority for us all, hopefully.
It’s certainly been a priority among Jews.
It turned into a stereotype—the Jew with the glasses, the bookworm, the smart kid. Doctor, lawyer-- professions that require a lot of studying.

Why?
And since when?
How long have the Jews prioritized education?

Well, for a while.

Even before NBC ran their “The More You Know” campaign.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD…

“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children”
(Deuteronomy 6:4,7)

“And ye shall teach them your children…”
(Deut. 11:19)

Teaching is key.
In the Hebrew version of verse 7, the word used for “teach them diligently” can be translated to mean “impress upon them.” A teacher taught me that children are like clay, and you shape their minds and ideas the way you give shape to a Play-doh.
Or, as Rodgers and Hammerstein put it—“You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear” (from the musical “South Pacific”)

So, Jews teach their kids…

Now, the preceding verses appear in the Sh’mah prayer, which I mentioned in my last entry. This prayer is said every morning and evening by observant Jews and is known (at least partially) to most Jews who have ever attended synagogue once in a while or a little bit of Hebrew School.

Which brings me to my Celebrity Moment of Nakhas!
(Nakhas means pride)

May 26, 2009-- Kevin Pollack's Chat Show: a weekly internet talk show, where the host has a two hour conversation with an artist/Hollywood persona.

Kevin Pollack is best known for supporting roles in "The Usual Suspects" and "A Few Good Men," and for his marvelous impressions of Christopher Walken and William Shatner.

He is fond of saying, "I was raised so Reform that I was practically Catholic."

ha ha... (eye roll).

Unfortunately, this is the predominant attitude of most Jews in America-- They're Jewish in as much as they eat bagels and enjoy "Seinfeld" reruns.
That’s the way it is.

Then we hear from the guest-- Josh Malina, the well-articulated, nebishy actor from Aaron Sorkin's "Sports Night" and, more famously, "The West Wing," where his character, Will Bailey, eventually replaced Sam Seaborn (Rob Lowe) in the 4th season.
Although raised as a Conservative Jew, he attended an Orthodox yeshiva growing up,
Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck, New York.
(Cool Coincidence-- Josh's first major role was as an understudy in Sorkin's stage version of "A Few Good Men").

He makes me proud!

"My recollection, even back to first grade... is that Ethics was a big part of what I got at school. Ethics, living a moral life--
I knew on Friday mornings you had to bring a little bit of money for tzedakah, charity, you put a little money in the pushke-- the little box, and say, 'mitzvah g'dolah la-tet tzedakah'-- 'it's an important mitzvah, commandment, to give charity.'
At the age of six... and that always sat well with me."

Yay! Three cheers for Day School! I, myself went to a Jewish day school, then high school, then college at JTS-Columbia. So, from the age of 5 until 22, half my studies were Secular (Math, Science, English, etc.) and half were Jewish studies.
Or, as Josh Malina puts it:

"A lot of people have the 'God, I hated Hebrew School' thing.

(Kevin Pollack interjects: "Well, that is a whole other beast")

Well that's true... this was hard-core Hebrew School-- half day English, half day Hebrew, Torah and Jewish Studies.
I loved it."

Yay!
And he has two kids that he is raising in a Reconstructionist Jewish household.

And he's been on the TV box, where I watch my stories!

Hooray for Jews!

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