Let me start with an announcement that we have just been honoured by The Maryland General Assembly for the Gesher Ambassador Program and its success. It is a success that started 9 years ago. ...
Thank you so much that I was able to participate in the program for the second time. It was good to see how our students had a special time, too. The programs were very well organized and useful. Besides ...
I had been waiting for the trip to Baltimore since last March when BT students and teachers had visited our country. The date of the trip finally came and it is unbelievable how fast the time went by and the trip is already over.
Many people asked me about how it was. My answer is that it was phenomenal. But this word cannot describe how I feel. It is impossible to express in words how magical this week was to me.
Some people asked me what I had enjoyed the most during the trip. Honestly, I cannot answer this question, because I cannot choose only one from the thousands of unbelievable moments. When I think about the days we spent in Baltimore memories are continuously popping up in my head: the corridors of the school, the lessons, the synagogues in Baltimore, the view of Washington, jumping in Sky Zone, the conversations, laughing a lot, the games we played and of course the highlight of the week, the Shabbaton.
During the trip, we both learned from each other. We learned from BT teachers and students, but also from our students, who taught me that if I pushed myself and step out of my comfort zone I could achieve goals that first might seem impossible.
I’m extremely happy that I experienced this memorable week with my colleagues. Preparation for the lessons was really good. Our hard work was worth it because our lessons were successful. All the participants enjoyed it, even the ones who were just looking from outside.
During the week in Baltimore (just as during their visit in March) I noticed the happiness of togetherness. It was heart-warming to see that the connection was getting stronger and stronger between us.
The last part of the trip was the amazing Shabbaton at a beautiful place surrounded by nature. During the weekend our Jewish identity got stronger by praying a lot and singing together as one community. We played different games and had many amazing conversations. At the end of the Shabbat meal, each and everyone got a book written by Rabbi Soskil.
Last but not least I would like to say thank you for SOS International: Enriching Jewish Identities for the opportunity and also to BT for the warm welcome and the cooperation. I’m extremely excited about the upcoming journey. I also want to say thank you to Glynis Smith and Alan Reinitz who put all their heart and soul into the program and without them, this unforgettable adventure could not come true.
We are looking forward to seeing you again in March. ~ Zita Bauer, SSG Educator, Elementary School Teacher, Sciences
For me, it was the first time ever in the United States and the second occasion participating in the Morim Limmud Program. Therefore I had already known all the SSG/BT students and teachers attending the program.
Before our departure I was very excited because of the unknown places I would visit and I was curious to see some new ways of teaching and get some more resources to use in my work. The transatlantic flight was also one of the reasons for being excited.
Our journey was safe and sound and our welcome was heart-warming.
The days passed faster than I thought they would due to the numerous experiences we had. We visited Baltimore, Washington DC, we had useful meetings and most of all: the school.
Being there at Beth Tfiloh was a turning point in my life as I had always wanted to know the American way of approaching Sciences and teaching them. Now I’ve got a huge amount of examples, methods, and ideas about it. Through this experience, I have plenty of ideas and projects to implement in my everyday practice. It can make my work more efficient and for my students, the time spent with learning will become more pleasurable and easier. It was a pleasure to see a society and an education system which believes that Sciences represented the future. They also believe that we have to prepare our students for it and provide them with the competence to use so that it can make their lives successful and make this planet a better place to live on.
The other big surprise for me was the STEM-lab and how it was involved in the curriculum. It was a big novelty for me, I had heard about it, but I didn’t know its meaning in the practice. The integrated approach to these materials is essential in this century. I feel lucky to be probably one of the first ones from Hungary to see this integrated method in everyday teaching and gave me the possibility to adapt it to our curriculum.
The Morim Limmud Program gave me new ideas to accomplish and let me see how a modern school does work, what is needed in the 21st century.
That is why I felt I had to write this blog to give thanks to Alan Reinitz, Glynis Smith and the SOS Morim Limmud Program to make my ways of teaching change and gave me the opportunity to show and explain to my colleagues all I had seen. ~Ferenc Mark, SSG Educator, Science
We have finally had our opportunity to have our workshop, with all of our educators involved in it. Sincere thanks to the awesome MLP members for their collaborative work to create the questions and answers. This quiz wanted to show the history of Jews in Hungary through a funny quiz show hosted by one of us, involving the tenth graders and with the participation of my outstanding colleagues who showed some significant moments of the story of the Jews in an extremely funny way. Without the enthusiasm of my colleagues or the excellent sense of humor of them all, we could not reach the kids out the way we could. Hopefully, kids from BT could take advantage of the things they heard and we sincerely hope that they became interested in Morim Limmud Program as well and this way they also might apply for this excellent program in the very near future.
The assembly was the other wonderful part of our day. Some kids of SSG made the Dvar Torah and we are proud of them as some of them had their first time in front of such a big audience, not telling about the fact that English is their second language. The Fireside Chat was really cool for our kids, as well as some of them, have a very good sense of humor. We love how organized it always is and we are happy to know that in Budapest we can welcome Eli Creeger, the head of this amazing event.
After the assembly, I personally could have a meeting with Karen Kaufman, responsible for the Department of Spanish as a foreign language. We could have a very useful talk about the work of departments and talked about the possible changes we could do to improve the efficiency of language teaching. We agreed on keeping in touch in the future to improve our professional development.
After the last period, we are ready to leave for Shabbaton, which every one of us has been looking forward since the moment we arrived here in Baltimore.
It has been a very rich day in varieties as we have done some charity in a place called Art with a Heart. We very much like the idea of doing some charity annually together with BT kids, it feels so good to give. Kids and teachers altogether prepared some handcraft so that little kids can play with them in the future.
Our evening program was the Skyzone, where our kids could have so much fun playing sports together. After this active day, we are looking forward to Friday and SSG teachers’ workshop. Hopefully, BT kids will enjoy having it together. ~Violetta Varga
What a welcome. I mean this is it. Arriving at BT we were welcomed by the host students and a billboard, saying: ‘Welcome Hungarians.’ We were amazed and touched.
As to begin the day Dr. Rubin showed us around the school and told us about many interesting facts that we had not known so far about BT. We were informed about the history of the school, heard about the remarkable rabbis, we were fascinated by the artwork that is almost finished. Students were shown the famous library we teachers always stand at for a moment and we all wish if we could have such a beautiful collection of books. We visited the Student Lounge which was worth a visit and the thought of creating something similar for our kids. It was interesting to see the ceiling paintings on the corridor as a relaxing thing to watch whenever a student starts staring around. We heard about the charity of collecting shoes which we consider as a wonderful idea to help those in need.
Our next program was with Rochelle Sullivan, who created a wonderful 45 minutes in helping us release stress. Kids were shown some stress releasing techniques and taught each other them. We laughed a lot, we enjoyed ourselves very much.
After lunch we were taken to Lloyd Street Synagogue and then to B’nai Israel. Due to guide, Helene Waranch, we got all the possible information about the history of the Baltimore Jewish Congregation and synagogues and she also took us to the Jewish Museum of Maryland where our kids could see the story of some old Jewish families.
Luckily we were honored to meet Dr. Schorr while having dinner, which was a great opportunity to share our first experiences with her and tell her about our kids’ teaching experiences in Grade 4. We were very proud of our students who could have a memorable lesson and BT teachers were all impressed and what is more, kids enjoyed themselves a lot.
The last thing we did was watch the basketball match. It was amazing how passionately Warriors were playing, both girls and boys. Coaches Ari Braun and Jack Warnick are doing a great job with these kids training them to be there for each other during the whole match. Whenever one falls all the rest are there for them to support. Those who sit and wait to play are focusing on the ones who are playing a hundred percent. Mental support is as important an issue as the physical one if not more. So disciplined the kids were during the whole game. It was the best ever finishing for the evening.
We enjoyed our first day in The House of Prayer. What a welcome it was.~ Violetta Varga
Here we go again, arrived safe and sound. Thanks to SOS International: Enriching Jewish Identities we have just started the third year of the program together with our partner school, Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School. Due to Morim Limmud Program we can have our annual experience together, educators from BT and SSG and among our kids. All of of us have been waiting for the day to meet again and it has come. Thrilled with hopes and ambitions we are ready to kick this week off. The kids from both schools have been really excited and waiting for this moment for long and why it is really special now is that they have known each other for long and can meet this time as good old friends. Some of our educators have been changed, but our enthusiasm for the program has not at all.
After a long flight we were welcomed by our lovely hosts, Glynis Smith and Alan Reinitz – we are grateful for the heart-warming attitude that they always show towards us and we cannot express our gratitude. Our two lovely colleagues, Neil and Vince we were soon after touching down taken to the school where the host kids welcomed SSG students with warm hugs. It was so nice to see them feel so happy about each other. Due to the long and exhausting flight our host took us home soon so that everyone can relax before the week starts.
We can hardly wait the week to begin. We are full of joy and are looking forward to all the challenges and experiences we are going to have together. Great thanks to our partner colleagues from BT who have planned all the week for us.
We cannot express our gratitude in words to SOS International: Enriching Jewish Identities for creating the idea of bridging these two communities and for supporting the program with all their heart. We also thank all participating members of Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School for their kind welcoming us and caring for our kids while we are here.
And last but not least we would like to thank Dr. Schorr for the opportunity to be here again. ~ Violetta Varga , Educator, SSG
I have joined the group this year. I was very excited about the arrival of the Baltimore team. I met the group on Monday and during the week all the programs went on unbelievably fast. It seemed to me that all the students and teachers enjoyed it. I attended really interesting lessons at school, exciting afternoon activities and of course, most importantly the unforgettable Shabbaton. It was really good to see the enthusiastic children who were participating in each program with the biggest enjoyment and empathy and even though on many outside activities the weather was a little bit chilly they stayed happy and cheerful. They laughed, played and sang a lot.
We also had some serious programs, for example, our visit to the Holocaust Shoe Memorial next to the Danube. It was really good to see that our students from Scheiber school were responsibly helping during the tour
in the city. I was a little bit nervous before our visit to the ZOO because I was one of the organizers of that program. My worries were unnecessary because everything went by the plan and we had a great time.
By the time we arrived in Leányfalu on Friday we had become a real team and there was a connection between us. (We even had several inside jokes as well). This was my first Shabbaton and the vibe and spirit were really touching.
Joyful and emotional moments were repeating themselves during we were singing, praying, talking and playing. I could feel the message of Shabbat, for example, that sometimes we have to take a break and stop
living our busy everyday life.
All of these amazing memories made this weekend unforgettable for me. During the week it was amazing to see how the connection between our little team got stronger and how everyone got closer to each other. I’m extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to join to the program and be part of this new community. I’m really excited to continue this journey.
See you in November.
Zita Bauer, elementary school teacher
This fantastic Shabbaton has been held for the second time this school-year… and it will be a source of spiritual and physical strength for the coming season.
It is hard to find words that could well describe my feelings and the richness of the day. We often say that everything is coming from ha Shem and therefore it is not accidental that the weekly parasha is dealing with ‘chesed’…
How important that we learn to love in an unselfish way and to give love not only to close relatives and friends.
We spoke of this in relation to the Torah portion and the example of the chasida – the stork – that only feeds his own family therefore we cannot eat it.
A great ‘thank you’ to Alan Reinitz, who had the vision and then he realized this amazing program. Greeting the Shabat Queen has been the crowning of the week we have spent together. The fantastic personalities and commitment of the two American rabbis have been felt all the way through and captivated and motivated us all. Shared prayers, singing, games and dancing have lifted us to a higher spiritual level.
It was his first Torah aliyah for one of our students, which will become a lifelong memory for him.
Rabbi Soskil led a game where we had to say what was common and what was different about us. We are all different personalities, but what we have in common is that we love this program and all it brings into our lives and how it is building the future of our students.
We are grateful to ha Shem and to the organizers and bis 120 to this program!
Preparing for the visit from the staff of BT Dahan Community School, Baltimore, I could not really foresee what a magnificent program I will be in. I was unaware of the potentials of the program as a person or a teacher.
But let us see the features one by one.
Thanks to my blessings, courage and my wonderful colleague, Dr. Andrea Tóth for my getting into the program. When getting ready for the first visit of BT staff we were trying to match pairs of co-workers. As there was a History teacher, it seemed to be obvious to make a History teacher match. I was glad to cooperate. We recommended themes for the first team work. We selected events from American history which we both teach. Good luck that we had Mr. Joel Monroe with his memorable personal qualities and teaching skills. Students loved him, strong relationships formed of the outset. I could pick up a new vision and conducts of classes. If Morim Limmud Program had been just this, I could have been lucky as well.
Half a year later a competition has been announced for Scheiber staff so as to participate in the return visit. I did not consider to apply since I have got serious problems with English communication. However, I was courageous enough and encouraged by Dr. Andrea Tóth to apply with a shared project. We pre-planned to have my sketch of historical background for her lectures of Chassidim in the 20th century Hungary. Our application was welcomed, but it was just me to make the trip because my colleague could not make it due to prior commitments.
I had hard feelings while preparing. I was stressed by being unable to meet expectations, but I was having a natural interest in the different cultural background at the same time. It was all new and interesting. I visited classes on different subjects and saw lessons in different age groups. I could conduct classes and seminars myself on the history of 20th century Hungary focusing on Jewish life and communist past.
Emotional involvement became the prime strength of the program. Bridging over Jewish communities. I was feeling like this from the very first moment on. Everybody was open-hearted, teachers and students were all very friendly. It was a great pleasure when Joe Bosley asked me for my presentation so that he could use the caricatures in his classes. I was also pleased to be provided with supplementary material for teaching History. They all helped me without being asked. When realizing my language difficulties the students were also very helpful and sympathetic with me. At their next time in Budapest, I could greet them as if they were my own students.
My supreme gain was to get to know Rabbi Soskil who proved to be like the onion which becomes more and more familiar as you peel one layer after another. He is a strict rabbi, a caring leader, a humorous person, and a real gourmet.
Special thanks to Alan Reinitz who encouraged, supported and even empowered me and even accompanied me in teaching at BT sometimes.
I have already gained lots out of this program. Now is the time to contribute to it. To do so I am taking every single opportunity to witness about this cooperation hoping to get more and more teachers and students involved.
I heard about the Morim Limmud Program founded and supported by SOS International: Enriching Jewish Identities from my colleagues two years ago when they were discussing it. Although I could not join the project then, I became interested to hear their reports about the experiences they collected in the States.
Not long after my colleagues arrived home from Baltimore I was told that a Science teacher was needed in the project to collaborate with the American colleague who also newly joined the project. Therefore the Hungarian team asked me to join them and be the partner of Vince Bonina.
It is always interesting to make bridges between two countries, get connected with new people from another part of the world and learn their thoughts, reasons about how they see the world.
I hope I can meet new people, I would like to learn new things from them and I am sure I will learn new points of view to observe the world from some other sides of the Jewish tradition. There’s also a professional side of my interest: as a teacher it is very useful for me to learn from an American colleague. I will be able to see a different way of transmitting knowledge, their preferred inductive way of examining the problems. I can also see that their approach is more focused on the every day’s importance of the subject in the curriculum.
I wish to bring the two communities closer to each other and to learn a lot while I am participating in this program. Last, but not least I can develop my skills as a teacher.
This year we have spent the Shabbaton in Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School. Our host Rabbi Soskil did his best to make this Shabbaton unforgettable for both the kids and all the teachers participating in it.
With Senator Ben Cardin
But before all we started our morning with Senator Ben Cardin, who visited the school in order to tell our kids about democracy and have a conversation about it. He had such an impact on the kids that one of them, Daniel Kallo from SSG even wrote an article about it. In the hope of our future relationship, we invited the Senator to our school for his next visit to Hungary. After this really interactive conversation with Sen.Ben Cardin we participated in the weekly assembly. It was the second time for us that we had seen it. Moreover, this year our two kids (Daniel Kallo and Abel Keszler) made Dvar Torah even more exciting with their performance. After the assembly, Dr Schorr had a meeting with some of the leaders in SSG, where we could have a wonderful chat about those things/morals we both (the two schools) believe in. After having our last seminars, we were taken home to our hosts to get ready for Shabbat. We had this wonderful Shabbaton in the school. Rabbi Soskil, our amazing host had done it for the second time for us. After the Shabbaton in Leányfalu, it was a bit different, but the same joy and happiness was present on each kid’s face. Special thanks to Alan Reinitz and Glynis Smith, who also took part in it and without them this whole mission would have been impossible to complete. Our kids were enjoying each and every moment. Girls having their night in the library, boys – in the gym, teachers in the offices – we could feel like a big loving family, who we honestly are. The meals were incredibly delicious, the programs were rich in varieties all the way from prayers through deep conversations to playing games. Apart from the fact that we were informed about the tragedy in Pittsburgh, it was one of the most memorable Shabbatons we had ever had. Right after Havdalah we went to Sky Zone, the biggest trampoline park the kids had ever seen. The kids enjoyed it so much. After this very active week we were ready for our last day, to have our last common program – mini golf – with our brothers and sisters from BT and to be ready to take off to Hungary. It was one of the hardest farewells I had ever seen. The kids from BT and SSG kissed and hugged each other, they did not want to get rid of each other’s hugs – so touching was it to see. We can hardly wait for our next meeting.
To this day our seminars have become completed by those missing pieces which made them much better. BT students did not hesitate to ask and SSG kids were able to release stress.. this was the night when we went out with the kids to play bowling, which they really enjoyed. Our kids are really close to each other. It is hard to imagine how they will keep going after saying goodbye to each other and unfortunately, it is closer and closer in time.
Thursday was the night when we were invited for dinner to our hosts. Let us thank all of them, Robin and Rob Chafitz (the best ever squash soup and stuffed chicken, yummy… ), Phil & his wife, Rochelle Sullivan, Joel Monroe for the delicious meals we were given. After the heartwarming evening, it was easy for us to fall asleep.
Now that we have been in the school for some days our kids have started to get rid of their anxiety and they are ready to work. Our classes are going better and better. Kids have been becoming more and more confident. It is wonderful to see that our kids are stepping out of their comfort zone. During the day some of us had the possibility to take part in the administration’s meeting, which was a fantastic experience again. The way Dr. Schorr was leading the meeting was simply fabulous. What was very meaningful to all of us at the meeting was that we learned about the same problems that we are facing in Hungary. Cyber-bullying is an issue everywhere. We agree that we could prevent our kids from being bullied by educating either them or their parents. The sentence of the meeting was: “We should not be afraid of our children.” ….. So after we finished our lessons we were taken to Jewish Community Centre so that we could make Chala for Sabbath… This was an unforgettable and uplifting experience which our children will surely never forget.
20 thousand steps. That is the number of steps we have walked together. We started our day with a bus drive to Washington DC. Our kids had been so excited, they could hardly wait for this day. We saw some places and at the most significant ones, BT kids told us the story of the given place. We were really happy to see all those things that are worth a visit. The most memorable moment of the day after the squirrels, was when Rabbi Soskil showed us the video about Martin Luther King’s speech, which was recorded right at the place we were sitting in the afternoon, at the Lincoln’s Memorial. After a long days walk it was fabulous to have dinner in a restaurant. Each and every student of SSG arrived back to their hosts filled with experiences and joy. They are simply becoming brothers and sisters. We know that our friends are our chosen relatives.
Looking back to the day we have been through, we feel really proud. Why? Because the students have amazed us. This was the first time they had been doing lectures and they were really good at doing it. After being very nervous about this day, each and every student of ours proved that they really deserved to be here with us. We are really happy again and again about the opportunity to be here with the kids. For them it is is really important to exchange experiences with each other so that they can have an impression about their mates. The favorite story of the day is Rabbi Soskil’s and his daughter’s. The question Rabbi Soskil asked was what Hungarian students are like. The answer was that they are the same as BT students, the only difference is that they speak another language. To me it means that wherever our kids live throughout the world, whatever they do in their home countries, there is one thing in common – all of them belong to a strong community which never lets its members fall apart, even if we are in such fatal situations like the ones we have mentioned today in one of our seminars. The community we all belong to is like a big family as the board in BT said: Welcome to our Hungarian brothers and sisters. It is so touching how our kids are becoming closer and closer to each other. Thank you for SOS International which deserves its name and it does also deserve its function Enriching Jewish Identity and Values and Bridging Jewish Communities together.
What an amazing arrival. After a really exciting and smooth flight from Budapest to Washington and taking the bus to Baltimore at last we arrived at Beth Tfiloh Community High School. What just happened there was simply unbelievable, yet admirable. Seeing the kids saying hello to each other, kissing and hugging one another was so touching that no one can express it in words. No exhaustion could be seen on any of our kids’ face. And the warmhearted welcome of BT kids and staff is something that was the best ever kick off for such a week that we are just going to start. So filled with joy and love we are all looking forward to tomorrow, the following week and the work we are going to do together, now for the fourth time. For this unique opportunity again and again our special thanks to SOS International, to Glynis Smith and Alan Reinitz.
approaching Sciences and teaching them. Now I’ve got a huge amount of examples, methods, and ideas about it. Through this experience, I have plenty of ideas and projects to implement in my everyday practice. It can make my work more efficient and for my students, the time spent with learning will become more pleasurable and easier. It was a pleasure to see a society and an education system which believes that Sciences represented the future. They also believe that we have to prepare our students for it and provide them with the competence to use so that it can make their lives successful and make this planet a better place to live on.
The other big surprise for me was the STEM-lab and how it was involved in the curriculum. It was a big novelty for me, I had heard about it, but I didn’t know its meaning in the practice. The integrated approach to these materials is essential in this century. I feel lucky to be probably one of the first ones from Hungary to see this integrated method in everyday teaching and gave me the possibility to adapt it to our curriculum.
We have finally had our opportunity to have our workshop, with all of our educators involved in it. Sincere thanks to the awesome MLP members for their collaborative work to create the questions and answers. This quiz wanted to show the history of Jews in Hungary through a funny quiz show hosted by one of us, involving the tenth graders and with the participation of my outstanding colleagues who showed some significant moments of the story of the Jews in an extremely funny way. Without the enthusiasm of my colleagues or the excellent sense of humor of them all, we could not reach the kids out the way we could. Hopefully, kids from BT could take advantage of the things they heard and we sincerely hope that they became interested in Morim Limmud Program as well and this way they also might apply for this excellent program in the very near future.
The assembly was the other wonderful part of our day. Some kids of SSG made the Dvar Torah and we are proud of them as some of them had their first time in front of such a big audience, not telling about the fact that English is their second language. The Fireside Chat was really cool for our kids, as well as some of them, have a very good sense of humor. We love how organized it always is and we are happy to know that in Budapest we can welcome Eli Creeger, the head of this amazing event.
After the last period, we are ready to leave for Shabbaton, which every one of us has been looking forward since the moment we arrived here in Baltimore.
It has been a very rich day in varieties as we have done some charity in a place called Art with a Heart. We very much like the idea of doing some charity annually together with BT kids, it feels so good to give. Kids and teachers altogether prepared some handcraft so that little kids can play with them in the future.
Our evening program was the Skyzone, where our kids could have so much fun playing sports together. After this active day, we are looking forward to Friday and SSG teachers’ workshop. Hopefully, BT kids will enjoy having it together. ~Violetta Varga
‘Welcome Hungarians.’ We were amazed and touched.
colleagues, Neil and Vince we were soon after touching down taken to the school where the host kids welcomed SSG students with warm hugs. It was so nice to see them feel so happy about each other. Due to the long and exhausting flight our host took us home soon so that everyone can relax before the week starts.
importantly the unforgettable Shabbaton. It was really good to see the enthusiastic children who were participating in each program with the biggest enjoyment and empathy and even though on many outside activities the weather was a little bit chilly they stayed happy and cheerful. They laughed, played and sang a lot.
This fantastic Shabbaton has been held for the second time this school-year… and it will be a source of spiritual and physical strength for the coming season.
