Failure.

The word sounds so bitter and sad, doesn’t it?

Kinda makes you think of a wilted flower falling short of full potential bloomability*. Avoid it at all costs, no?

No 🙅.

A resounding no.

In the words of author Seth Godin, “If I fail more than you, I win.”

Why?

If we’re not failing, we’re not trying. If we’re not trying, we’re not winning.

We’re not winning when we’re afraid of pushing the boundaries and exploring new ideas.

We play it safe and settle for mediocrity.

But the moment we embrace failure and take risks, we crack open a world of possibility.

At MTA, mistakes = opportunities.

I see children taking risks and exploring new ideas, with the understanding that mistakes and failures are part of the learning process.

I see teachers taking the time to join with the children in reflecting on what went wrong and learning from it. Rather than simply telling them what they did wrong, they empower children to believe that mistakes are normal and important parts of growing.

I even see myself embracing failure opportunities, opening myself to fail more often, and learning more along the way.

Shlomo Hamelech (King Soloman) said it best** in Koheles,

“A righteous person falls seven times, but they will stand.”

It’s not despite the fall.

It’s because of the fall that they stand.

Does this method take immense amounts of patience?

Of course. But we wouldn’t change it for the world.

And I’ve got historical evidence proving failure is a part of any successful endeavor.

Thomas Edison famously tried thousands of times to invent a working, cost-effective, saleable lightbulb.

He failed more.

But we have light 💡 now because he did.

The Wright brothers made over a thousand short “glide” flights in their various prototypes – none of which achieved the sustained flight they wanted to accomplish.

But we can fly ✈️ now because they did.

The Apollo program to the moon was full of serious setbacks, missed goals, and serious mistakes.

But we can dream 🚀now because of them.

Embrace failure as the stepping-stone it is towards greatness.

Take a risk.

Fail early. Fail often.

All the best,

Rabbi Shmuel

*Ok I made that word up 😜

**and no. He doesn’t need my approbation 😉.

A student came into the office the other day. She was trying to make a photocopy of her artwork to share with her classmates. “It’s not working,” she said and asked if I could help her fix it. After flexing my (minimal) IT skills 👨‍💻, neither one of us could really figure out what was wrong. “Can I teach you a magic trick to use when this happens?” I asked, ” It works for printers, laptops, phones… even people!” She rolled her eyes, skeptical this was just a bad Rabbi Meyers joke* or something. I reached for the printer, turned it off, then back on. “Try it now,” I said. She pressed the button. Voila 💥! To her excitement, it worked. Fresh copies in hand, she asked me, “Ok, Rabbi Meyers. But how does this work on people”? “Simple,” I said. “Sometimes, all we need is a restart and a break. When we’re well-rested, well-fed, and our ‘cup’ is full 🍵, solutions appear out of nowhere.” I’d like to think she left the office with more than just a fresh copy but also with a fresh perspective. I started to think about my own perspectives on restarting. I didn’t have to look much further than our own Jewish heritage. In many ways, this is the message of Shabbos. If we were “On” for seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, and all 120** years of our lives, we’d quickly burn out, lose creative juices, and lose sight of our goals 🥱. Our Torah’s ancient wisdom teaches that there’s a better way. We are given defined times to pause. Once a week from Sundown to Sundown 🌄. Whether (I think) I need it or not. No matter what. No matter how much work I have left to do, I connect with my family 👪 on Shabbos. No matter what else I’d like to create (physically), I create connections with my soul and Jewish heritage on Shabbos 🙏. No matter what the world throws at me, I take a step back. I rest, recharge, and renew on Shabbos 🔋. And you know what? When I return to my work and my problems on Sunday, I have a fresh perspective. New solutions appear. It’s not just a trick for fixing printers and laptops. It’s the wisdom our people have been following for millennia. And it works. Wishing you all a meaningful, restful, and enjoyable Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Shmuel Meyers *Me? Bad Jokes? Never! 😉 **Throughout the ages, our people have blessed each other with the words, “may you live to 120 years”, the age Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses) was when he passed away. Here’s to hoping we all get there 🥂!

Now what?

Chanuka is over and behind us.

It’s cold outside.

There are no Jewish holidays in our direct line of sight.

And last I checked, even though daylight is officially starting to get longer (hurray 🥳!) it still seems dark outside for an unfair proportion of each 24-hour period.

So now what?

What energy can we use to propel us toward spring?

I once heard it said that the time between Chanuka and Purim* is the time to work on ourselves when there aren’t candles glistening in Jewish windows 🕯️ or joyous singing and dancing in the streets 🎉.

It’s a time to grow when we don’t feel like it 🤨.

It’s a time to grow when growth doesn’t feel glamorous 💪.

It’s a time to keep developing when the cameras are powered down 📸.

It’s the time to find the light inside ourselves to propel us (and the world 🌎) toward greatness.

This week, I was lucky enough to see someone’s internal drive toward greatness shining bright and strong for all to see.

It was in the work of a young Bat Mitzvah girl in our community.

Sivan Danino.

Sivan, on her own, decided to undertake an initiative to build the school a brand-new portable children’s library as her Bat Mitzvah project.

As we say on Pesach, dayanu, that would have been enough.

But that wasn’t enough for her.

Not only is she building us a wonderfully functional library that perfectly meets our needs. Sivan has taken it upon herself to fundraise to fully stock it with a large selection of books for our students.

She set up an Amazon wishlist with hundreds (I’m not kidding) of pre-approved, age-appropriate books for our students to flex their reading muscles in a fun, enjoyable way**.

She is calling on her friends and family to help her complete this wishlist and get this library fully stocked so our students can enjoy it ASAP***.

Personally, I’m blown away by this act of kindness.

In the deep cold of the Winter, Sivan is choosing to share her inner light with the world.

My wife and have gone ahead and contributed a book to her Wishlist.

I hope you’ll consider doing the same****.

Wishing you a week of joy, happiness, and light,

Shmuel

*Spoiler alert: Purim may or may not be my favorite Jewish Holiday. You’ll just have to wait and see 😊

** Thank you to Morah Rochel, and my cousin Beth Meister for helping us put together this list!

*** The apple 🍎 doesn’t fall far from the tree. Thank you to Sivan’s parents, Ronen and Amy for all of your kindness and for encouraging and helping with this project.

***Go to https://amzn.to/3ikCose or search for “Sivan Danino” on Amazon’s registry list.

“Communication.”  Sounds like such a simple word, right?    Yet, the ability to communicate (or lack thereof) with others has been the driving force behind the creation and destruction of ideas, families, communities, and even nations throughout the ages.   Effective communication is what turns decent people into extraordinary ones.   It’s what sets great leaders apart from mediocre ones.   And it’s one of the core values we want to impart to the next generation.   So when Rabbi Mandel asked me if I would organize a game for the staff to play during our in-service a few weeks ago, I jumped [1] at the opportunity to arrange a communication activity. I later played this same game with the students, who loved it as much as the staff [2].   Everyone sat in a large circle. I told players to write down a sentence about anything they’d like and pass that sentence along to the player on the left. That player would take a new sheet of paper, draw a picture of the sentence, and pass it along to the person on the left, who wrote a sentence about what they thought the picture was. The cycle repeated until the message was returned to its original owner.   Suffice it to say the message had warped and changed in many funny ways along its journey through the room. In the context of a game, this was hilarious and comically entertaining. In real life, however, miscommunications can have unintended results [3]. We used the opportunity to strategize what to do about avoiding those results and how to create a school with good communication habits.   This got me thinking about the communications Hashem (G-d) has sent us throughout the ages.    We know that historically, the Chanukah story occurred at a time when there was no longer direct prophecy, aka communication, in Israel.    This made it a time ripe for existential miscommunications between Hashem and His People.    Does Hashem still love us?    Does Hashem still want us to continue along the path outlined in the Torah?   Do we still have a uniquely special role to play in history?    These were questions the Jewish people had to grapple with collectively as a nation.   Then along came the Greeks. The very fabric of our heritage, tradition, and faith was torn away from us by a foreign nation that forbade us from all Jewish practices. Our people were brutally forced to accept a foreign culture against their own will. The communication from the Greeks was clear – your way of life is no longer relevant. Move on.   But we know, that isn’t how the story ends. Hashem showed us that with His help, we can accomplish great things. He allowed a small team of righteous warriors to defeat a massive army – an unprecedented victory in antiquity. He allowed a small jug of oil to last long enough for us to know that we still matter to Him. He showed us through His actions that we still have our special mission in history.   Chanukah is about listening to messages and communications from the One Above.   Hashem continues to communicate with us in 5783. His communications are loud and clear at MTA.    A small flame, a small idea, is growing here in Louisville.   It is the idea that every child counts.   That every child has a special role.   That children thrive in an environment where they’re given the right degree of educational challenge.   And this idea is working. It’s a flame that is growing brighter and brighter. It’s one we are grateful to be a part of.   I continue to be excited about the communications Hashem has in store for us.    I hope you are too.   Wishing you a Chanukah full of light, inspiration, and joy.    Sincerely,    Shmuel

[1] If you know me, you know I love this kind of stuff 😊. [2] If you’re looking for a fun game to play at your next Chanukah party, this is the one! Reach out, and I can give you more detailed instructions on how to make it even funnier. [3] I try to keep that in mind every time I’m in Israel, trying desperately to communicate (in my regrettably broken Hebrew) to taxi drivers. I know where I want to go, and they know how to drive. But when I can’t communicate effectively, I may end up at a shawarma shop in Geula instead of the Kotel in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Sooooooooo…..

I’m about to expose insider information here and let you in on one of the biggest secrets to Montessori’s success. Once you know what I’m about to share, you are hereby ready to start your own Montessori program*.

The secret sauce?

Self-correction.

When a work is self-correcting, a student gets clear, instant feedback on whether they’ve found the right solution or not.

What does this look like in the classroom?

Imagine a Hebrew-English matching game played between two students (we’ve told you we’re into the value of collaborative learning haven’t we?). The students are matching the Hebrew word cards to their English translations. When they are ready to check their work, they flip the cards over and see if the numbers on the back match, letting them know instantly if they are correct. Students don’t need to rush to a teacher to “check their work”. They check it themselves.

There are hundreds of examples of self-correcting works in our classrooms. All of them build confidence and autonomy, eliminate the crutch of traditional testing, and result in needing less external feedback.

Let’s look at a real-life example of the value of self-correction.… basketball (shout out to my brother Elias who has taught me all I know about the sport)**!

When you shoot a basketball, there is clear feedback if you got the ball in the hoop or not. You don’t need someone hovering over your shoulder telling up whether or not you scored. You can see and adjust your shot slightly as needed. You still need guidance and coaching, but a lot is learned from the visual feedback of the activity itself.

Now if you’re still reading***, take a moment and imagine two very different scenarios.

Scenario one: You enjoy basketball, you’re not the best at it, not even second-best, but hey it’s fun and you spend your Sundays practicing. Eventually, you tone up your skills, and over a few months, you become a decent basketball player. You still aren’t the best at it, but you are getting better, it’s great exercise, and it’s fun!

Scenario number two: You start off at the same level as above, you’re still practicing, but after a few days, your teacher hands out grades based on your performance. Your grade (in bright red numbers)?

62.

Now, how motivated are you to keep practicing?

And if you do, how much will you enjoy it?

Swap out basketball with math or science and require students to keep “playing”, only now with red numbers hovering over their heads. Is anyone starting to lose their motivation 🤔?

The point isn’t that you should be oblivious to your skill level. And everyone needs a coach (we still have teachers here ya know 🤗). But by leaning towards self-correction, our students build independence and learn to grow from their mistakes on their own.

I have a lot more to say about self-correction and testing.

But maybe I’ll first let this sink in for y’all.

Looking forward to hearing your feedback.

Have a wonderful Shabbos,

Shmuel

*Oh wait, you don’t want to start your own school from scratch? Well, whaddya know? We’ve gone ahead and done all the hard work over here already for you already 😊. Reply to this email to schedule a visit.

** what’s the point of writing a weekly newsletter if I can’t give a shout-out to my little brother 👦 once in a while?)

*** Hey, it’s been a while since I wrote so I’m making it up here 😜.