|  | SOUNDBAYIT- An Interactive Blog by Rabbi Aaron Frank, High School Principal Soundbayit
4/22/2010
“If faith schools are so bad, why do thoughtful, often secular, parents think they are so good?”
Rabbi Aaron Frank
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Soundbayit: A Jewish Lens on Time, School and the World around Us
11/23/2009
By Rabbi Aaron Frank
Carbon Footprints and the Footprints in our Lives: A Blessing for Thanksgiving
The other day, I came across a book entitled No Impact Man. It’s about a man, Colin Braverman, who decides to spend an entire year trying to have as little an impact on the environment as possible. He struggles with erasing the carbon footprint of his everyday activities, from transporting himself from place to place without environmental impact, to buying the right “green” diapers for his baby to achieving an organic-only diet. He even spends time thinking about the most environmental way to blow his nose.
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Soundbayit: A Jewish Lens on Time, School and the World around Us
11/12/2009
By Rabbi Aaron Frank
Ironic Shields: Protecting our Children through and from Our Love
As this week’s parsha closes the curtain on the life of Avraham (Gen. 25:9), I wanted to focus a moment on one of the most famous references to Avraham in our daily tefilah, the reference to G-d as magen Avraham, the shield of Avraham. In this Tefilah, Hashem is referred to as a shield, a magen. The different understandings of magen, shield, teach us important lessons about protection from Hashem and the type of protection we need to give those whom we love.
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Soundbayit: A Jewish Lens on Time, School and the World around Us
10/30/2009
By Rabbi Aaron Frank
Importing songs, importing food, importing time, and an aborted effort to dance through the hall
Last week, in our high school, we celebrated maybe the strangest Hallel of the year. After a month of the intense introspection and celebration of the holidays, we finally are back to routine and, all of the sudden, we were interrupted with Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan. While many (including myself) have written and taught of the blessing and opportunities that a “regular month” can bring, Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan still poses a unique problem. Each Rosh Chodesh on the Jewish calendar not only ushers in a time, it ushers in an emotion---Kislev and Adar usher in the joy of Chanukah and Purim , Nisan ushers in a time of hope for Pesach, and Tamuz and Av usher in the period of heartbreak in the loss of our Temples. Cheshvan is, both blessedly and sadly, a bit “emotionless.”
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Soundbayit: A Jewish Lens on Time, School and the World around Us
10/15/2009
By Rabbi Aaron Frank
"What Can be Really Bad about the “Good” and What Can be Really Good about the “Bad”?
One of the most well known phrases in Hebrew is “tov meod”, which means, “very good.” Even those who are not fluent know, not only tov, but “tov meod.” In this week’s parsha, Hashem uses this phrase to describe Day 6 of creation. After looking at the creations on that day, Hashem realizes, v’hinei tov meod, “behold, it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31)
There is a wonderful Midrash about the exact reference of tov meod. The Midrash (Breishit 9:7) points out that it was "very good" refers to the yetser hatov, the good inclination and the word “behold” broadens the phrase to refer to the yetser hara, the evil inclination.
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Soundbayit: A Jewish Lens on Time, School and the World Around Us
10/1/2009
By Rabbi Aaron Frank, Principal
Philosophy of Science and the Strong Partnership of Yom Kippur and Sukkot
As a college student of philosophy, I spent much of my sophomore spring semester contemplating the concepts of space and time and the philosophical foundations of these concepts in my class of Philosophy of Science. Space and time not only inform the realms of science and philosophy, they inform the Jewish experience, especially around this time of year. I would like to briefly look at two concepts of Yom Kippur that inform our space and our time and inspire us toward the Sukkot holiday.
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Soundbayit: Grand Torah from Gran Torino
9/17/2009
In this world of soundbytes, I will share my reflections on life here at school, the Jewish community and the broader world around us. Many of these thoughts will emerge from my weekly meetings with various student groups, classroom visits and other aspects of daily life here at Beth Tfiloh. Bayit is the Hebrew word for “home” and, through the interactive “Soundbayit” blog, we hope to create an online discussion that will make our various homes ones that are sound – academically, emotionally and spiritually.
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