NewCAJE4

     NewCAJE4 has been an exciting educational experience for me.  Going back to a college, living in a dorm, having a roommate I never met before gave me such a sense of déjà vu, brought me right back to my youth.
     There have been so many great moments at this conference.  Perhaps one of the ideas presented that really resonated and stuck with me occurred during the opening of the conference.  One of the speakers quote a very famous sage....
"You can't always get what you want,
 You can't always get what you want.
 You can't always get what you want,
 But if you try hard sometimes, you get what you need"
     Such a powerful metaphor for life!  On a smaller scale, it helped put for me on focus what to expect from the conference. And yes, I may not have gotten everything I wanted from the conference, but I believe I got what I needed; re-energized and recharged for the coming year.  I have learned new techniques and tools that will help keep me relevant as a teacher.  A great class I took as a history teacher was "Jewish Time Travel in 4 Easy Steps" taught by Etta King of the Jewish Women's Archive. This great organization is right in our backyard and has so much fantastic information to share.  You can see some of what they have to offer at their website, jwa.org.  I'm thinking about inviting Etta King to be our luncheon speaker for the women's Shabbat service on March 8, 2014.  Check out their website and let me know what you think.

NewCAJE4 Closing Ceremony