Reasons Why I Will Always Be a Kindergartener at Heart by:Staci Rosenthal

For me, Judaism really began to hold a place in my life when I was in Kindergarten. My family had just moved out of my grandparent’s home and into our own place in a small, Jewish town on Long Island, New York. Because my older brother was old enough to attend Jewish day school, my mother placed my twin sister and myself in the Kindergarten program at a local Reform synagogue. Then started my twelve-year long Hebrew School career, and what would be the foundation of my life’s dedication. You see, somewhere between my first day as a Kindergartener, and my last class teaching Kindergarten during my Senior Year of High School, I had decided to become a Rabbi—to continue to study, learn, inspire and be inspired well into my adulthood.

When I was going through my Bat-Mitzvah process, I learned that Rabbis and Cantors can have lives outside of the Jewish world, but most of the time their hobbies revolve the Jewish world because it is there that they feel most content and centered. It is no surprise, therefore, that I am very involved in a synagogue on Long Island, where I have built relationships and connections that I am very passionate about, ones that hopefully will last a lifetime. Outside of congregational life—and up here in Boston—I enjoy being active in Brandeis Hillel, spending time with my friends, studying Anthropology, and doing the usual pleasure-reading and exercising.

I am very much enjoying my work as BJEP’s Kindergarten teacher. I am able to work with young children on a close and personal level, introducing them to a faith that has given me my strength in times of celebration and in times of need. And this doesn’t have to be on such a divulging level; often, I try to get the children enthused with projects and events they themselves would find exhilarating and stimulating. This is something I share in common with the other teachers and the Director and Brandeis. That is why our latest event, PAJAMARAMA, was a huge success. It was an event that used fun, exciting, and creative ways to teach the children about Jewish values and ideas. It was amusing, pleasurable, and entertaining—And, it was great to see so many parents learning together with their children. I look forward to many, many more thrilling events like this one at BJEP. Thinking head, I am also looking forward to spending more time trying to inspire the same way I was, and still am, inspired.