Said to Myself

The Job of Making Mensches

Published by

ravhiorlow

on

In just over a week,  on September 13th, will be the annual celebration of Character Day created by my friend Tiffany Shlain. In preparation for this I wanted to share a new article I wrote for the September addition of the American Camp Association Magazine entitled The Job of Making Mensches: Campers with Integrity and Honor. In this article I explored the process of sharing the resource inspired by Tiffany Shlain’s Periodic Table of Character Strengths  titled “Making Mensches Periodic Table”with the field of Jewish camp.  This this poster and accompanying resources inspired and continues to inspire discussions about how to develop Middot, character traits ( see below links). At the outset of this project, to get the creativity flowing, we  intentionally left it as an informational resource for you, your family, or your organization to utilize in whatever creative way you find relevant. As time moves on we realize that we need to provide more specific resources. You might enjoy this expanding and interactive website version of Making Mensches. We have some interesting new functions, programs, and fun things planned for this coming year. We also continue to develop additional educational resources surrounding this project.  If you would like to contribute any ideas, suggestions, or directions to take this project please contact me or just comment below.

I hope that seeing this blog or even reading my new article inspires you to find a  new way to join in celebrating Character Day this year.

Resources for the Making of Mesnches

Leave a comment

Previous Post
Next Post

Recent posts

Quote of the week

But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then erase me out of the book you have written.

~ Exodus 32:32

Said to Myself

About

My name is Rabbi Avi Katz Orlow. I have always had a deep love for the Jewish people and making the world a better place. It was while building community in the Former Soviet Union for YUSSR that I realized the transformative power of being a rabbi. After spending time learning in Israel, I moved to New York to be a charter student in Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the Open Orthodox Seminary. After graduating in 2004 until 2008 I served as the Rabbi and ran the program at St. Louis Hillel at Washington University. Now I have the great pleasure of thinking about how Judaism is seriously fun. In my mind I am up at camp every day in my work at the Foundation for Jewish Camp. My wife, Cantor Adina Frydman, and I are the proud parents of Yadid, Yishama, Emunah, and Libi.

Said to Myself

When my son Yadid was four years old he came home from daycare and reported to me that he got into trouble. He got put into timeout for throwing sand at another child. Yadid said,” Myself said to myself, I do not want to be in timeout. Myself said to my cry, I do not want to cry”. And with that we started a conversation about his conscious life. It seemed only fitting to continue that conversation with a blog with the same name.

אָמַרְתִּי אֲנִי בְּלִבִּי

My son spoke in the words of Ecclesiastes, “I said in my heart: ‘Come now, I will try you with mirth, and enjoy pleasure’; and, behold, this also was vanity.” (Kohelet 2:1) My mission is to model a life that is personally meaningful, universally relevant, and distinctly Jewish. I aspire to be frank and to speak of Torah in real life.

Topics

Follow Us

Blog at WordPress.com.