When I set the table for  Shabbat or Yom Tov, my children immediately recognize that this is no ordinary meal. It’s not just that the piles are cleared off the kitchen table (we don’t have a dining room), and that I’ve put out a tablecloth and taken time to fold the cloth napkins rather than toss…

My daughter, Zoe, and her fifth-grade buddy beating willow branches on the ground  at their day school’s Hoshanah Rabbah assembly: Here’s part #1, part  #2 , part #3, and part-i’ve-lost-count, not necessarily in that order. Chag Sameach!

This summer I had the chance to meet my number one author crush, Kevin Henkes. He was the keynote speaker at the Summer Institute for the Teaaching of Writing that I attended this summer at Teacher’s College, and while I didn’t have the foresight to come armed with books for him to sign, I did…

I teach Kindergarten at a Jewish day school, and although we are affiliated with the Conservative movement, our children come from a wide range of backgrounds. Some come from homes that strongly identify as Jewish, and some come from homes where more than one  -or less than one – religion is practiced. As we began…

Homeshuling
about

ameltzer

I'm a mother of two girls, raised in suburban Baltimore, and transplanted to a small New England town. I teach, write, and try to create a vibrant Jewish home for my family while spending very little time in synagogue. I guess you could say we're home-shuling.

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