By Sara Klein Wagner
Sara Klein Wagner, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the Trager Family JCC (Photo by Robyn Kaufman)
For the past few years, several cohorts of community volunteers and professionals have spent countless hours of discussion, planning and dreaming focused on Jewish education in Louisville. This week, a newly formed board charged with creating the next iteration of supplemental Jewish education gathered for its third meeting. Co-chaired by Carol Jones and Corey Shapiro, we welcomed a Jewish educator to share his experience. He noted the positive experience of post-b’nei mitzvah students stepping up as teachers. Our Hebrew schools have seen this path followed for many years. The discussion reminded me both of my daughter’s experience as a madricha and my most powerful Hebrew school experience as an assistant in Gevaert Anita Zeiden’s Aleph class as a teen. In the next issue of Community we look forward to sharing an update on the work of this new board. Meanwhile, this exciting initiative also reminded me just how important it is for all of us to be involved in delivering Jewish education.
At the heart of Jewish education we are all teachers and master storytellers, and there is no better display of this than on Passover and specifically the Seder.
Is this your first Seder or your hundredth?
Since last Passover, families have grown and many will have a new seat or, in our case this year, a new highchair at our table for baby Micah. It is never too early to start building Jewish memories and telling our Jewish story. The first time I heard Avraham Infeld in Israel during the ‘80s, I was drawn to his message, “Jews don’t have history, they have memory!” This wise educator has often repeated that while history is about what happened in the past, memory is about how that past drives our present and our future. As he continues to teach, “If history is prose, memory is poetry. Jewish life and language are filled with opportunities to remember our past – lizkor and zikaron in Hebrew – so that the present can be a strong bridge to the future.” This is demonstrated perfectly in our Passover Seders.
The Seder embraces all our senses: taste, smell, touch, sight and sound — from the aroma of soup simmering to putting your finger in the glass to touch the drops signifying the Ten Plagues. It truly creates memories for our children and grandchildren. As they grow up participating in these traditions, we should be proud that we have done a good job giving our children space to gradually become the teachers. It is a milestone to ask the Four Questions for the first time, to open the door for Elijiah, and to add your own personality and ideals to your Seder table — as so many of us decades ago added an orange to the Seder plate representing the fruitfulness for all Jews, particularly women and the LGBTQ+ community, being allowed to become active and contribute to the Jewish community.
I’ve lost count of how many Seders I have attended beyond those on the holiday. There have been model Seders, intergenerational Seders, interfaith and women’s Seders and of course, a chocolate Seder. I’ve participated in Seders of all shapes and sizes, reading the entire Haggadah in Hebrew and English, singing every song including “G-d Bless America,” debating Rabbi Elizar vs. Rabbi Tarfon until 1 a.m., or our daughters and friends putting on a play, using puppets or sitting on the floor pretending we were in a tent. Each time we prepare for this ritual of retelling the Passover story alongside our conversation of today, we do as Avraham Infeld taught: connecting the past to our present and future.
It is my dream that baby Micah, the students in our new school initiative – indeed, everyone in our community — will look back on their own special memories of Jewish education—whether around tables, in classrooms or simply by bonding with their families—with as much joy as I do.
Enjoy your prep and your Seder. Remember you are building Jewish memories and to ask everyone at your table to be a storyteller, because teaching is a gift not only to others, but to the teacher as well.
Chag Pesach Sameach!
Sara Klein Wagner is President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the Trager Family JCC.