Community Blog The Perfect Job
“Sounds like the perfect job for you Mom”, my 19 year old son said to me wryly, “You’re a parent and you’re Jewish.”
Would that it were so simple.
As new parents, we are reminded frequently that children are not born with a manual. Yet, Jewish text and tradition can serve as guides that help us navigate the daily challenges of raising kids. Creating a home rich in Jewish values and ritual can also be daunting to many. Parenting through a Jewish Lens provides a framework for parents to explore these challenges and to learn how Judaism can be an invaluable resource .
As the new Associate Director of Parenting Through a Jewish Lens (PTJL) I am excited to share with others the richness of this program.
While being a parent has been, and continues to be, a central part of my life for the past 22 years, I have also dedicated my career to education, much of that in Jewish institutions. I taught at Cohen Hillel Academy in Marblehead for many years, and later served as the Director of Education for the North Shore branch of Prozdor. More recently, I have been the coordinator of the Myra and Robert Kraft Passport to Israel program at Temple Emanuel in Newton and am also the co-Chair of the Prozdor Advisory Board. For the past 13 years, I have worked in the secular world as a Literacy teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School in Newton.
But when my oldest child went off to college, I found my Jewish professional roots tugging at me as I re-engaged with the Boston Jewish community through my volunteer work and now, to my great excitement, with the wonderful creative team at PTJL.
My son was right. This is a perfect job for me: working to promote and develop learning experiences that inspire engagement through all the ages and stages of Jewish family life.
And while nothing in life is perfect, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to help parents like me engage in learning, and build community: what better model for our own children?
Ahava Rosenthal is Associate Director of Parenting Through a Jewish Lens.