Mosad Shalom Director's Message

Mosad Shalom

Mosad Shalom Home

Director's Message

Rabbi's Message

Curriculum and Programs

Staff

Schedule

Calendar

What's New

Get Involved

Make a Donation

Mosad Shalom Religious School
15905 Pomerado Road, Poway, CA 92064
858-451-8480

Rabbis' Message

You can contact Rabbi Castiglione at 858-451-1200 or via email at:

Dear Parents, (Dear Faculty,)

What a fantastic and awesome year lies ahead of us. A renewal of energy, excitement and commitment can be felt in every open space, through every hall, in every colorful classroom of our congregation, and as we prepare for the upcoming school year, I feel the same tangible excitement within Mosad Shalom as all the last minute details are being buttoned up.

Education, from young to old, has always been a great joy as well as a sacred obligation for me. Having grown, endured, perhaps even survived the religious school education of my early years, I vowed that if ever placed in a position of authority, I would never subject, and more succinctly, I would never deprive a Jewish child of the magic our heritage holds for them the way I and my classmates were deprived in our day. The oft hidden truth is that Torah and all it incorporates is a joy- it is not a chore. It is certainly not a punishment. It's not all free play to be sure, but it is, when taught correctly, an inspiration for creativity, discovery and affirmation. As teachers, we enter into covenant with the spirit of generations past, the promise of generations future, and the obligation we have in our own generation to preserve and further the work of God.

Teachers, parents, students, and staff, all have a stake in sparking the lights of such inspiration. More than teaching our lessons themselves, I suggest that our first obligation is to inspire the desire to learn. Indeed, every lesson should have as its primary goal, first and foremost, to inspire the desire to learn.

If we imagine Torah as a drop of the sweetest honey, then let us imagine as well how we, about to taste something we hope to enjoy, would want to experience it. Our creativity must set our children's table for discovery. Our enthusiasm must wet their appetite till it cannot be contained. The pictures we paint with our words, the utensils we use to serve with, the aromas we let drift in their minds- all must be guided by this primary objective- inspire the desire. The tasting will naturally come. And, as with all good things, once will not be enough.

Do not be afraid to probe and to challenge. Accept each child and every family for whom and where they are but continually place new tastes before them to sample. Judaism is a vibrant and fluid enterprise, and we the teachers, parents and staff of our children are charged to supply the ingredients and stock the table of their imagination and exploration.

Let us allow Torah not to be a list of terms and facts to be drilled until memorized. Let us allow Torah to be the very energy our children use to live. Inspire the desire.

Faithfully,

Rabbi David Castiglione