Neshamah Online Hebrew School opened for the new year

Twenty five years in, the first day of Hebrew school still gets me. Even when the hallway is a gallery view and the kids are in different time zones.

Here is what I love about our online first day. The children do not have to travel to Jewish space. They log on from their own kitchens and bedrooms and living rooms, and over the course of a morning those rooms turn into Jewish rooms.

The Torah, the songs, the arguing about a story, the laughing, all of it happens in the middle of their ordinary house. That is not a compromise. For a lot of our families, it is the whole point.

Our students started with each other. New names, new faces, the nervous question of whether they would fit in, answered within about ten minutes the way it always is.

There is music, because there is always music, and it is loud and joyful and slightly out of control on purpose.

There is Torah, handed over to them rather than read at them, which means they take the parts, they act, and they argue, which is the most Jewish part of the whole thing.

And there is Mitzvah of the Month, where each month our students take on one mitzvah, learn it, practice it, and bring it home to their families.

That last piece is the one I am most inspired by. Jewish learning that stays in the classroom is a hobby. Jewish learning that shows up at your kitchen table is a life. Online, that distance was never there to begin with. The kitchen table is already in the room.

So ask your child what they did this week. Ask them to show you, not just tell you.

Neshamah’s online school serves families anywhere, with weekly live classes, self paced learning, and private tutoring.

There are no dues and no membership. Wherever you live, there is a welcoming home for your child here.

Everything at Neshamah starts with a conversation, so book a free welcome call and let’s talk about your child.

With love and blessings,
Rabbi Amy