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My grandfather died when I was 3 years old. Much of his library of Judaic books were stored in my closet and eventually I started looking at them thinking it would be cool to learn how to translate all those Hebrew words in case he ever asks me what I did with his books some day.
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I started a 12 year education journey in the Talmudical Academy in Baltimore. My teachers inspired me to either be like them or be the opposite of them depending on my school experience.
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I celebrated my Bar Mitzvah on a Sunday Rosh Chodesh way after I was 13 in order to avoid Shabbat length of parsha and different observance levels of Shabbat in our family.
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My one and only Jewish sleepaway summer camp year. It continued my Zionistic and Jewish growth.
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The two best years of my life without a doubt were right after high school in israel studying Torah at Neveh Zion and seeing the land. My high school Principal moved to israel the year before and I went there to study with him.
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Defining point of my Jewish growth when I discovered the mind blowing transformative writings of Rabbi Abraham Kook, first chief Rabbi of Palestine. He became my spiritual lodestar until this day. I view my Jewish growth in two halves, before I started learning Rav Kook's teachings and after I started to learn Rav Kook's teachings.
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Year of student teaching of Russian students in Denver went great other than the fact they couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Russian.
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My wife Alissa and I met in Denver while I was student teaching. We were married and i spent the year studying for completing ordination in Kollel in New York.
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We moved to Seattle where I taught middle school Judaic Studies and our first child was born. We named him after my grandfather Nassan.
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Our second son Elan is born named for the New Year for Trees.
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I became the Assistant Principal of Jewish studies at Northwest Yeshiva High School.
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I earned a Masters degree in Education Administration from Seattle Pacific University.
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Our first daughter is born on Shabbat, hence the name.
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Our daughter Yaffa is born. She has special needs and life is very different. She was born with Down Syndrome.
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I became head of school in a jewish High School in Atlanta.
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Earned second level of rabbinic ordination.
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Started new job running the Sulam special needs school for Jewish students.
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Earned Doctoral Certificate in Jewish Educational Leadership at Boston Hebrew College and Northeastern University.
