The BiG Story

No one (not even the children)
was dressed up when we arrived at
the Hillel building (there was no
synagogue in Columbia) for Purim
services.
I was mortified and most especial-
ly by the knowledge that everyone
was staring, mouth agape, at
"Captain Chai," and they all knew
he was part of my family. Quite
frankly, I did not think I would live
through the experience.
These many years later, however, I
look back rather pleasantly amused
by the whole incicent. Were I a psy-
chologist, I might also view it as a
reason — dare I call it "inspiration"?
— for some of the oddball things I do
to my children. I like to sing them love
songs, leave fake throw up for them
to stumble on, wear plastic glasses
with googly eyes that spring out and
back — all in public.
"Mom!" they cry pitifully, plead-
ingly. "Puhleeeezel"
I know I am not alone. Parents
everywhere are just like me, and I
have to know who they are. And
so, I decided to create a new fea-
ture called "Weird Parents," where
children everywhere can tell us
about their weird parents!
Want to contribute? Please, send
a brief description of your parent's
weird activi-y to:
Weird Parents
c/a AppleTree
27676 Franklin Road
Southfield, MI 48034
fax: (248) 354-6069
e-mail: philapple©earthlink.net
Children, YOU MUST check with
your parents before contacting us. You
do not need to send a photo. (We'll
get our own, catching your parent in
the very act of being weird. Any other
questions? Call AppleTree at (248)
354-6060, ext. 308, and leave a
message with your name and number.
And now, on the previous page,
please meet our first Weird Parent:
Shelley Nadiv of Huntington
Woods, mother of Danie11,11 1/2;
Yoni, 91/2; and Ami, 21/2. II

8/13
1999

68 Detrbit Jewish News

Reading
And
ritin
And
Torah

From the first
day schools
to learning
for girls, here's
a short history
of Jewish
education.

Elizabeth Applebaum
AppleTree Editor
ducation of the masses sounds
like a contemporary idea.
Who would have imagined it's
thousands of years old?

First-grader Aaron Buxbaum gets some guidance
1
from sixth grade student Bentzion Elchonen at Yes
va Beth Yehudah in Southfield in May 1998

.

In the 6th century B.C.E., Ezra the
Scribe began a process of educat-
ing Jews — all Jews — about the
Torah. Working with handpicked
instructors called mevinim, Ezra
accomplished a remarkable goal:
he managed to teach Torah (often,
through public readings) to thou-
sands of men, women and children.
Not that everything he said was
immediately _accepted; on the con-
trary, as Jews sought to understand
Torah in their modern world, they
had many questions. This led to the
creation of the Midrash.
Today, Torah is still read aloud in
synagogues and temples. And
while a great diversity exists when it
comes to interpreting the Torah's
contents, Jews everywhere remain
committed to the idea of Jewish
education.

The new school year is about to„,
begin. Before you start shopping f-6
the clothes, the shoes and the bac <
pack, before you start the lectures
of "Turn off the -1/ if you haven't
done your homework," before you
start sneaking to the library for
Math 101 so you can actually
understand what your child is lea,7
ing, take a look at what education
has meant to Jewish families since
the beginning ...

School Days, School Days

My, how times have changed.
The first Jewish "day schools,"
public facilities specifically for
teaching Jewish education, came,/
about in 3 B.C.E. Unlike today,
parents weren't likely to find the
cost prohibitive: The schools were
free.
Of course, the teachers couldn't