Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Midrash Manicures

(from right to left) Idol, Terach's Shop, Abe smashing idols, Abe in pit of fire

A rabbi from Westechester is using her nails to teach young woman Torah. Dubbed Midrash Manicures, the program was recently covered by the august and always peeking in on the Jews, New York Times:
It’s the Midrash Manicures club at [Solomon] Schechter [of Westchester], a Jewish day school here, where the weekly club offerings include math club, glee club, sports writing club and this one, in which Rabbi Yael Buechler teaches girls in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades how to do their nails with designs inspired by the weekly Torah portion
Mitlonanim include Renee Ghert-Zand of the Forward who doesn't like separate sex studying. She writes:

"I feel strongly that co-ed learning should be maintained throughout the curriculum in egalitarian settings such as Conservative, Reform and community day schools. As a mother of boys, I think it is critical that my sons learn together with and benefit from the insights and perspectives of girls."

Renee hyphenated-last-name thinks its terrible that girls are being encouraged to use their nails to think about Torah, and that this is occurring without the participation of boys. I don't agree with her, but at the same time fail to see what's so exciting about Rabbi Yael Buechler's approach. My daughters (and sons!) also draw parsha pictures.

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