Here Is Wonder

The other day, as I wrote my bi-annual Cheder Update for the Hebrew School I head up in London, I began reflecting on the larger role of children in Jewish communal life. Over the years, in my conversations with people from a wide-range of communities, I have found some people's preference for their communities to create 'children only' or 'family only' spaces. The logic here - and I do see the logic - is that children disrupt those people who are capable of 'participating' in the 'proper' or 'main' services or activities. Here, children are at best a mild distraction and at worse, a deterrent to fee-paying members. Those who are more sympathetic to families will often remind me that children (and their parents) will find the 'main' service and activities boring and un-engaging. In short, 'main' services are not for them. Instead, they suggest that children and their families should be encouraged to attend cheder (Hebrew sch...

The other day we were listening to the soundtrack of "& Juliet"; a musical exploring 'what' would have happened and the end of Romeo and Juliet had the latter not taken her own life at the end of the play. The show is actually a jukebox musical meaning that it takes established songs - here, largely pop songs from the late 90s to early 2010s - and uses them to tell an original story. One of the songs featured is the show is the 2001 Britney Spears song, "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman". The lyrics include: I'm not a girl don't tell me what to believe (Not yet a woman) I'm just tryin' to find the woman in me, yeah (All I need is time) all I need is time (A moment that is mine) that's mine While I'm in between Whilst this song was playing Aviva, my six year old daughter, asked what the song was about and why a 'man' was singing about "not being a girl". [To her it was 'obvious' that 'he' was...