Author Archives: Rabbi Dovid Felt

This Semester we experimented with doing a Project Based Learning (PBL) module in select Gemora classes. The Culmination was an exhibition (this past Sunday where we also celebrated a Siyum On Meseches Megillah as well as the Principals project) where different groups got to display their projects. The Gemora the boys were learning is inContinue reading “PBL comes to Valley Torah”

There is a very interesting commentary on this weeks Parsha that highlights the degree to which parental influence extends and the source for it. After the Bnei Yisroel’s complaints and dissatisfaction with the Manna the Torah tells us that Moshe questioned his ability to continue leading them on his own. The HaEmek Davar explains thatContinue reading “Trust is the cord that binds us”

A theme that has been mentioned here a number of time is the importance of teaching by example. The reality is, it can not be stressed enough. The Torah dedicates an entire Sefer to teach us Maaseh Avos Siman La’Bonim. Sefer Beraishis is read yearly and over the course of a number of weeks –Continue reading “Teaching by example”

This past Sunday we had a pre-Shevous learning program. It was designed to allow fathers, brother and other relatives the opportunity to learn together with their relative student. Boruch Hashem it was a resounding success with a Kol Ha’Torah that permeated throughout the Bais HaMedrash. This Kol Hatorah brought back memories of a time thatContinue reading “The power of the Bais HaMedrash”

This year coincides with the seventh year in a cycle that started when Bnei Yisreol inhabited Eretz Yisroel after leaving Egypt. It is vernacularly know as the Shmittah year. This weeks Parsha talks about the mitzvah of Shmittah (allowing the land to lie fallow) and it is distinctively introduced with the clause that it wasContinue reading “Getting away with it”

In this week’s Torah portion, Parshas Emor the Jewish people are commanded to “count the Omer” that is to count from the second day of Pesach the day that the Omer offering was brought in the Bais HaMikdash, forty-nine days leading up to the holiday of Shavuos. This the Torah tells us is to emulateContinue reading “Make each day count!”

“Nature versus nurture” is a  term used in psychology related to whether heredity or the environment most impacts human psychological development (behavior, habits, intelligence, personality, aggressive tendencies, and so on). It’s obvious that you share your parent’s’ DNA in the physical sense — you might have black hair like your father and blue eyes likeContinue reading “Free will”

Commemorating Yom Hashoah this year among the number of different messages, two stood out for me as they were particularly germane to the current situation the Jewish people find themselves. Even though Yom Hasoah has been a fixture in our calendar for the last 70 years these messages had not been as relevant then asContinue reading “Yom Hashoah 5775/2015”

Most of what we do as parents comes down to those few (maybe not so few) precious moments when we have an interaction with our child that will remain with them for life. If only we can plan those moments. Pesach is one such time that not only is already set in our calendar butContinue reading “Parenting moments”

Obedience is a word that is somewhat out of fashion but that doesn’t mean it is not important. So how do we learn it and more importantly how do we teach it. The first step is to understand why it is so difficult to be obedient. In Tanach we find a story with Dovid HamelechContinue reading “Obedience”

This weeks’ Parsha (Parshas Vayakhel) the Torah begins with the laws of keeping Shabbos. Following this the Torah continues with the intricacies of building the Mishkan. The Gemora questions the juxtaposition between Shabbos and the Mishkan and tells us that it is from the building of the Mishkan that we learn the laws of Shabbos.Continue reading “Oneg Shabbos  “

On the top ten list of what parents and teachers have to watch out for is not losing their credibility. When a parent threatens a child with a consequence and doesn’t follow through or when they make a promise and can’t carry it out – they lose credibility. That leaves a child without the securityContinue reading “Be (in)credibile”

I was reading an article this week entitled “Passion takes a teacher from being merely good to great” written by Adrian Furnham for The London Telegraph. In it he argues, “Teachers can, and do, change lives. They can light candles in the darkest mind. They can mold beliefs and behaviors, setting an example to follow.Continue reading “Becoming passionate”

This semester we started a new Perek in all the Gemora classes. The Gemora the talmidim are doing is the Eighth Perek in Bava Metziah. The first sugya in the Gemora is about the “Daled Shomrim” the four different types of custodians. The Gemora brings  a Mishna that lists the responsibilities of the different custodiansContinue reading “My child, not my possession”