Stephanie Kaplan Elementary School  Limudei Kodesh  Teacher   Stephanie Kaplan, known as Morah Tova to her students, teaches limudei kodesh in third grade and fifth grade. She is the proud mother of three alumni and one current student.   The Hebrew language often reveals ideas that shape Jewish life. One such insight lies in the shared root of the words  חינוך , education, and  חנוכה , dedication. Both come from the root  ח–נ–ך , reminding us that education, at its core, is not simply the transmission of information, but an act of dedication, initiating a person into a lifelong relationship with  Torah, mitzvot,  and  middot.   The holiday of  Chanukah  commemorates the rededication of the  Beit HaMikdash  after a period of spiritual darkness. The Maccabees did not build something new; they restored purpose to something sacred that had been disrupted.  Chinuch  works much the same way. Jewish education...

Rachel Schwartz 2025-26 Maimonides Fellow   Rachel Schwartz graduated from Ida Crown Jewish Academy and Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim. She is studying Judaic studies and biochemistry in the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program at Stern College. Rachel helped establish Camp Chai Chicago, still serving as Chief Activities Coordinator for the Girls Division, and worked as a counselor on Yad B'Yad and at Moshava Wild Rose. She has also conducted biomedical research as an intern at both Northwestern University and Bar-Ilan University.   Throughout this week's  parsha,  I noticed the remarkable consistency of Yosef's leadership. No matter where he goes, and regardless of what circumstances surround him, Yosef rises. From his father's home to Potiphar's house and even in jail, Yosef somehow emerges as a leader. Yosef does not merely survive, but rather, he prevails.   We see the first hints of Yosef's leadership in his dreams. His initial dream depicts his brothers as b...

Marc Fishkind 2025-26 Maimonides Fellow   Marc Fishkind is in his first year of semicha at Yeshiva University, where he is a Sacks Research Fellow. He attended Yeshivat Har Etzion and the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with  a degree in cognitive science . Marc cultivated a deep sense of communal involvement and responsibility through many years with Yachad, and served as Torah Education Chair and gabbai of the Orthodox community at Penn.   One of the first things I noticed in our  parsha  at last week's  Shabbos Mincha  was how many popular songs exist in the first  aliyah  of  Vayishlach:  " Im Lavan Garti"  by Lev Tahor, " Katonti"  by Yonatan Razel, and " Ve'ata Amarta ," a classic Chabad  nigun . Strikingly, all of the  pesukim  behind these songs are powerful expressions of trust in  Hashem , each one expressing a deeper sense of dependence than the one before.   The first song highli...

Rabbi Shimmy Trencher Executive Director of Community Engagement   Rabbi Shimmy Trencher serves as Executive Director of Community Engagement, overseeing admissions, recruitment, marketing, communications, community programming, and alumni affairs. Prior to joining Maimonides, Rabbi Trencher was a high school principal and dean of students. He is married to Stacey (Kepnes) Trencher ('93).   Recently, I made a mistake at work.   I  really  don't like making mistakes. As a child, I remember getting up in  shul  to sing  A'anim Zemirot  and counting on my fingers the number of mistakes I made! However, while I have worked quite a bit on being less critical in the face of being human, I still want to hold myself to a high standard and do the right thing. From a psychological perspective, I tend to understand many of my challenges in this area through the lens of Alfred Adler's theory of  Individual Psychology . Adler, an early theorist and f...

Atara Eis ('99)   Atara (Sendor) Eis ('99) is a  Yoetzet Halacha  and currently serves as one of the Deans of Nishmat, the Jeanie Schottenstein Center for Advanced Torah Studies for Women. She previously founded Nishmat's U.S. branch, the Miriam Glaubach Center.   If you knew me during my twelve years at Maimonides, you probably already know that I am not great at holding my cards close to my chest. I am pathologically transparent. So this week's  parsha  makes me a little uneasy with Eliezer's talent for selective storytelling. While some commentaries see Eliezer as subtly sabotaging Avraham's plan to find a wife for Yitzchak, Rashi quotes a  midrash  that seems to praise his storytelling. Why else, asks the  midrash,  would the  Torah  lavish such real estate on this long, detailed retelling, when so many  mitzvot  appear only in brief hints? Eliezer is introduced simply as "the servant, the elder of Avraham's house...

Yedidya Meuchas Middle/Upper School  Limudei Kodesh  Teacher   Yedidya Meuchas was the Chatan Tanach of the 2019 International Adult Bible Contest. He and his wife Shira, Middle School Student Activities Coordinator and Limudei Kodesh Teacher, are serving as Brookline Bnei Akiva Shlichim this year.   A guiding principle found throughout the  Midrashim  and commentaries on the book of  Bereshit  is  מַעֲשֵׂה אָבוֹת סִימָן לַבָּנִים  – "the actions of the forefathers are a sign for their descendants." This means that the stories we learn about the patriarchs and matriarchs are not just ancient history. They are our story – the story of what we have gone through and what is yet to come. Looking closely at the founding generation of our nation is like studying the spiritual DNA of all of us.   In this week's  parsha , Abraham and Sarah – both elderly – receive a message from three visitors that they will soon have a son. Sarah's re...