Letter from Rabbi Jim Stoloff

My name is Mikah Atkind and I am so incredibly honored to have the opportunity to serve as your new Educational Director. Jewish Education has always been part of my life and even before, from the moment my parents met at Temple.

I participated in the community and programming of the Reform Movement,

grew up at Eisner Camp and became involved in NFTY, returned to Eisner as Limud (Jewish learning) staff, and taught at various synagogues along the way.

After graduating from Brandeis with a BA in Linguistics and Minor in Philosophy,

I attended Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion receiving a dual Masters in Jewish Education and Jewish Nonprofit Management. Upon graduating, I served as the Director of K-12 Learning and Engagement at Temple Beth Avodah in Newton, MA.

Today, like every other Friday over the last three months, I’ll be baking challah. In a sea of change in Jewish life responding to COVID-19, this was my unchanging weekly ritual. But now, even this is evolving as the warmer days and greater humidity quickly activates the yeast, thus shortening the time my challah needs to rise. (Though the timing to make it has changed, the 24 hours in which it disappears has somehow stayed consistent).

In every aspect of our lives, we have been adapting in this crisis, and it hasn’t stopped. In the last months, our day to day experiences, our Jewish learning, and even our challah (or at least mine) have not turned out quite as they used to.

And so, this summer, myself and the rest of the TAS team will be dedicated to completely rewriting the Religious School recipe.

We are planning learning opportunities that can be modified for in-person, distance learning, or hybrid models to meet those goals. Learners will experience a tailored curriculum that balances Jewish values, culture, and Hebrew, and we will continue to emphasize community and relationship building. Our complete plans need to follow the state and local public health guidelines and will be announced more definitively as those guidelines emerge.

Also, since we are all around, we will be offering online and possibly even safe outdoor family and youth engagement in July and August. We are working hard to keep you and your kids engaged, informed, and most of all, safe.

I look forward to meeting, teaching, and learning with each of you and your children. Please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns, or simply to introduce yourself! I look forward to enjoying challah with you and your families this fall, and to trying Zadie’s Whole Wheat Everything Challah so Rabbi Jim will stop going on about it. In the meantime, I have included my non-metaphorical recipe below, adapted from that of my friend, Abi. I would love to try out your recipe too!
 
Shabbat Shalom,
Mikah Atkind, Educational Director
educator@avodatshalom.net