Birdie's First School
On October 1, Birdie started Sunday School. Well, she's 2, so the "Torah Tots" program she is signed up for is more like "Sunday morning daycare at a synagogue," but even if you don't want to count it as her first organized educational activity, it certainly counts as her first daycare experience. We're signed up through the end of the year, and we'll keep signing up after that.
All of this is happening at a synagogue in Beachwood where we have a family connection. The son of one of my father's first cousins married a rabbi, who got a pulpit in Beachwood more than a decade ago. For ease of conversation, I just refer to her as my cousin the Rabbi. This is the same rabbi who performed our Zoom wedding, and let me tell you when you have a rabbi in the family nearby, you're definitely going to their synagogue. It's a bit of a drive from our house as it's on the east side and our house is on the west side, but it's much, much closer than Sunday School was from my house when I was growing up so I can hardly complain.
Birdie loves it. The instructor is a guy named Liam, and Birdie often spends hours at a time talking about how much fun she had with Liam and the various kids who are in it with her. The first day I sat in the class since she'd never been in a daycare environment before, but the second time she went she was like "Dad, go away" as soon as we walked in the room. Since there is also adult education, I wander off to my concurrent adult classes and check in on her at the break. She's twice been very upset when it's time to leave.
I don't really believe in G-d, but I am immersed in American Jewish culture. I am in touch with more people today from my childhood synagogue than I am from my high school or any other activity that I took part in growing up, possibly because growing up Jewish in North Dakota was like being a minority of a minority. I sometimes say "I need my daughter to go to Sunday School because a lot of people are going to hate her just for being Jewish," which feels a lot less like a joke after some of the political fallout in the U.S. from 10/7 and subsequent events. In any event, I hope my daughter enjoys her formal Jewish education and makes many lifelong friends during it, regardless of what she chooses to believe about G-d's existence or lack thereof. And may we not get used to having security at synagogue doors, although, I suspect that battle has already long been lost.
All of this is happening at a synagogue in Beachwood where we have a family connection. The son of one of my father's first cousins married a rabbi, who got a pulpit in Beachwood more than a decade ago. For ease of conversation, I just refer to her as my cousin the Rabbi. This is the same rabbi who performed our Zoom wedding, and let me tell you when you have a rabbi in the family nearby, you're definitely going to their synagogue. It's a bit of a drive from our house as it's on the east side and our house is on the west side, but it's much, much closer than Sunday School was from my house when I was growing up so I can hardly complain.
Birdie loves it. The instructor is a guy named Liam, and Birdie often spends hours at a time talking about how much fun she had with Liam and the various kids who are in it with her. The first day I sat in the class since she'd never been in a daycare environment before, but the second time she went she was like "Dad, go away" as soon as we walked in the room. Since there is also adult education, I wander off to my concurrent adult classes and check in on her at the break. She's twice been very upset when it's time to leave.
I don't really believe in G-d, but I am immersed in American Jewish culture. I am in touch with more people today from my childhood synagogue than I am from my high school or any other activity that I took part in growing up, possibly because growing up Jewish in North Dakota was like being a minority of a minority. I sometimes say "I need my daughter to go to Sunday School because a lot of people are going to hate her just for being Jewish," which feels a lot less like a joke after some of the political fallout in the U.S. from 10/7 and subsequent events. In any event, I hope my daughter enjoys her formal Jewish education and makes many lifelong friends during it, regardless of what she chooses to believe about G-d's existence or lack thereof. And may we not get used to having security at synagogue doors, although, I suspect that battle has already long been lost.