Love your article......very honest and emotional......Let's pray for our people in Iran.....and also for remaining hostages......Thank you for your wonderful writing.....Am Israel Chai....
You write beautifully and from the heart. Not surprised your students were happy to teach you how to lay tefillin. You provided them with an opportunity to perform a mitzvah.
Beautiful. One day this war will, as do all wars, eventually end. Then all Jews need to make the commitment to live with ourselves, regardless of the differences. As Abraham Lincoln once said, a nation divided against itself cannot stand.
Thank you for endorsing my way of living Jewishly (as a child of a convert) and helped me to be even more tolerant toward other Jews, whom I look to learn halahach.
Beautiful heartfelt writing. I taught history at a Jewish Day School in Los Angeles in 1979. Of course, it was the year most Jewish Persians left Iran after the Shah was overthrown. I will always remember the sweet and kind Persian teenagers in my classes. There were also Israeli students who were kind and caring toward me, especially when I taught their yearbook class and took them to a weekend in Catalina. Lots of fun! There were also Russian students in my classes whom I had to watch a bit. Your story made me realize how lucky I was to have this cultural experience. Thank you!
when I was a young man volunteering on a Kibbutz ulpan, the best part was meeting Jewish kids from all across the Soviet empire...from the baltics to Caucasus to central Asia.....and India....there was certainly no racism among the western volunteers.....I didn't share tefellin with the Indians ,but pot. On any visit to Israel, the ingathering of the exiles is what moves me and excites me for the Jewish future. My parents moved to Encino which was heavily Jewish Persian....hard for my American mom and dad to adjust to....or to Israelis....who were there too. For me it was all good. My friend from Alexandria Egypt French speaking family ....we related to each other as Jews. I had Mizrahi music I would tape for him....all good. I have more I could say...but that sums it up.
Okay I'm inspired to share my experience teaching, but not other Jews. This is an absolutely true story that I call, "How I Taught the Saudis to Kvetch." In 2006 I was hired to teach English as a Second Language to about 19 Saudi Arabians in Melbourne FL. These young men, ranging in age from 18 to 30, had never met a Jew. (This was a program set up by then President George W. whereby we agreed to educate 10,000 Saudis in various disciplines. They were required to return to their country). I hoped that in the future they would remember their teacher. I was always caring and respectful, except for that one time when I crossed the line and passed off a Yiddish word as an English one. I swear, it was quite by accident.
These Saudi men were very spoiled. They had a Middle Eastern flair for the marketplace, BUT ne er having had to make a bed they were soft, entitled, and with a layer of emotional fat. And so, every assignment I gave them was greeted with a whine. After 3 months, it was a bit annoying.
Now, one of the guys was an adorable 18-year old who had studied some English in London. On this particular day I informed the class that there would a quiz on Friday, as usual, and he began the litany of whines and moans. Suddenly, from deep in my second generation Jewish-Lithuanian gut it just came out: "How about you stop kvetching!"
“What is this word,” they all wanted to know, all curiosity and excitement. Not surprisingly, they had never come across it before. How could they have heard such a word in a Bedouin tent or in the offices of the capital of Riyad? Something in the sound of it caught their attention immediately, like a red ruby in a sea of diamonds.
This posed no problem for me, the expert English language teacher. I simply went to my white board and wrote out the usual conjugation, which the class repeated in unison like little lambs. Oh they loved to learn! They just didn’t like to be tested: “I kvetch, you kvetch, he kvetches, we kvetch, they kvetch.” It couldn’t be clearer. Or more rewarding. I couldn’t help but have them repeat it several times, and form sentences as well! But that wasn't all.
At the end of every month, each class graduated and went on to the next level. As teachers, we were encouraged to give out certificates for special accomplishments, and to add a bit of humor to the affair, we could also give out certificates for dubious achievements. For me, this was as easy as getting gefilte fish out of a jar. WhileMohammad received “Best Student” and Omar received “Most Improved,” my favorite student received certificate for “Biggest Kvetch.” He accepted it proudly with a broad white smile, understanding my joke – well, at least in part.
It makes me sigh with pleasure to know that somewhere in Riyahd, lying in a folder, or better yet hung on an office wall, is an honored certificate which – hopefully – will never be fully understood.
Education, religious and secular, is of importance to Jews Our history-- thousands of years-- is our education. Those who do not learn from history, we are told, are bound to repeat it. Do we want to relive a painful history, one which repeats and repeats? Maybe, we haven't learned, so we are condemned to this cycle. Do we realize that we are in essence all the same? We all have the same common denominator-- the Lord G-d that we chose and has chosen us. When we learn that we are one, unite as one, the evil in this world will steer clear. Evil lives and thrives in darkness, while we are of the divine light. In spite of the division, the divisiveness, all over the globe, the sickness of anti-Jew, anti-Israel, anti-Zion will cause us to see ourselves as one. G-d's blessings come in many different forms. Shalom brothers and sisters.
Beautiful. This is early morning chores-in-barn hour but I soared, so happy to be Jewish because of your words. Indeed, Esther’s children in Iran.
Love your article......very honest and emotional......Let's pray for our people in Iran.....and also for remaining hostages......Thank you for your wonderful writing.....Am Israel Chai....
You write beautifully and from the heart. Not surprised your students were happy to teach you how to lay tefillin. You provided them with an opportunity to perform a mitzvah.
Beautiful. One day this war will, as do all wars, eventually end. Then all Jews need to make the commitment to live with ourselves, regardless of the differences. As Abraham Lincoln once said, a nation divided against itself cannot stand.
Nice. I feel the same way.
If there are 15,000,000 Jews in the world there are 15,000,001 way to be Jewish.
Am echad. Mispacha echad.
One nation. One family.
(Now if only the Charedim would see the light.)
Superb
Thank you for endorsing my way of living Jewishly (as a child of a convert) and helped me to be even more tolerant toward other Jews, whom I look to learn halahach.
Beautiful heartfelt writing. I taught history at a Jewish Day School in Los Angeles in 1979. Of course, it was the year most Jewish Persians left Iran after the Shah was overthrown. I will always remember the sweet and kind Persian teenagers in my classes. There were also Israeli students who were kind and caring toward me, especially when I taught their yearbook class and took them to a weekend in Catalina. Lots of fun! There were also Russian students in my classes whom I had to watch a bit. Your story made me realize how lucky I was to have this cultural experience. Thank you!
Loved this so much
when I was a young man volunteering on a Kibbutz ulpan, the best part was meeting Jewish kids from all across the Soviet empire...from the baltics to Caucasus to central Asia.....and India....there was certainly no racism among the western volunteers.....I didn't share tefellin with the Indians ,but pot. On any visit to Israel, the ingathering of the exiles is what moves me and excites me for the Jewish future. My parents moved to Encino which was heavily Jewish Persian....hard for my American mom and dad to adjust to....or to Israelis....who were there too. For me it was all good. My friend from Alexandria Egypt French speaking family ....we related to each other as Jews. I had Mizrahi music I would tape for him....all good. I have more I could say...but that sums it up.
So wonderful!
Okay I'm inspired to share my experience teaching, but not other Jews. This is an absolutely true story that I call, "How I Taught the Saudis to Kvetch." In 2006 I was hired to teach English as a Second Language to about 19 Saudi Arabians in Melbourne FL. These young men, ranging in age from 18 to 30, had never met a Jew. (This was a program set up by then President George W. whereby we agreed to educate 10,000 Saudis in various disciplines. They were required to return to their country). I hoped that in the future they would remember their teacher. I was always caring and respectful, except for that one time when I crossed the line and passed off a Yiddish word as an English one. I swear, it was quite by accident.
These Saudi men were very spoiled. They had a Middle Eastern flair for the marketplace, BUT ne er having had to make a bed they were soft, entitled, and with a layer of emotional fat. And so, every assignment I gave them was greeted with a whine. After 3 months, it was a bit annoying.
Now, one of the guys was an adorable 18-year old who had studied some English in London. On this particular day I informed the class that there would a quiz on Friday, as usual, and he began the litany of whines and moans. Suddenly, from deep in my second generation Jewish-Lithuanian gut it just came out: "How about you stop kvetching!"
“What is this word,” they all wanted to know, all curiosity and excitement. Not surprisingly, they had never come across it before. How could they have heard such a word in a Bedouin tent or in the offices of the capital of Riyad? Something in the sound of it caught their attention immediately, like a red ruby in a sea of diamonds.
This posed no problem for me, the expert English language teacher. I simply went to my white board and wrote out the usual conjugation, which the class repeated in unison like little lambs. Oh they loved to learn! They just didn’t like to be tested: “I kvetch, you kvetch, he kvetches, we kvetch, they kvetch.” It couldn’t be clearer. Or more rewarding. I couldn’t help but have them repeat it several times, and form sentences as well! But that wasn't all.
At the end of every month, each class graduated and went on to the next level. As teachers, we were encouraged to give out certificates for special accomplishments, and to add a bit of humor to the affair, we could also give out certificates for dubious achievements. For me, this was as easy as getting gefilte fish out of a jar. WhileMohammad received “Best Student” and Omar received “Most Improved,” my favorite student received certificate for “Biggest Kvetch.” He accepted it proudly with a broad white smile, understanding my joke – well, at least in part.
It makes me sigh with pleasure to know that somewhere in Riyahd, lying in a folder, or better yet hung on an office wall, is an honored certificate which – hopefully – will never be fully understood.
This is gorgeous. It really spoke to me. Suddenly, I understood how precious was the gathering of the exiles. We must gather the Persians.
Education, religious and secular, is of importance to Jews Our history-- thousands of years-- is our education. Those who do not learn from history, we are told, are bound to repeat it. Do we want to relive a painful history, one which repeats and repeats? Maybe, we haven't learned, so we are condemned to this cycle. Do we realize that we are in essence all the same? We all have the same common denominator-- the Lord G-d that we chose and has chosen us. When we learn that we are one, unite as one, the evil in this world will steer clear. Evil lives and thrives in darkness, while we are of the divine light. In spite of the division, the divisiveness, all over the globe, the sickness of anti-Jew, anti-Israel, anti-Zion will cause us to see ourselves as one. G-d's blessings come in many different forms. Shalom brothers and sisters.