The Voice | June-July 2020

LEARNING THROUGH Lockdown

By: Brandon Chiat, Digital Media Manager

A bearded and bespectacled man, adorned in an apron and floppy chef’s hat patterned with unmistakable matzah ridges, vigorously hand-mixed a vat of dough. His captivated audience of 40-families wriggled with anticipation.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Beth El moved adult education, early childhood, and Hebrew school classes online, thrusting teachers, students, and families into somewhat unfamiliar territory.

Before the pandemic hit, Beth El Congregation’s Berman-Lipavsky Religious School operated Tuesday

The classes - from Beth El’s religious school and preschool - seemed set to take their turn at a beloved annual field trip, albeit with one exception: the students were 30 miles away from their instructor, each safely sheltered in their respective homes. “We were supposed to go to a matzah factory in Montgomery County. Instead, we had a virtual

“It was never an option to suspend classes,”

and Sunday classes on its main Pikesville campus, as well once a week at its five “Hebrew School in Your Neighborhood” satellite locations. Early Childhood looked after 113 little ones across 12 classes. The Rabbi Mark G. Loeb Center for Lifelong Learning hosted hundreds of its Adult Education classes and cultural experiences, including its monthly “First Wednesdays” concerts. “It was never an option to suspend classes,” said Dr. Eyal Bor, Beth El’s Director of Education and Director of The Rabbi Mark G. Loeb Center for Lifelong Learning. “It would have been the easier thing to close, to just walk away, but that would have been

tour over Zoom,” explained Mrs. Amy Goldberg, Director of Beth El Congregation’s Berman-Lipavsky Religious School. “We also had a cooking demonstration about how to prepare a Seder plate when you might not have the right things. There was fantastic involvement, and it was nice to see the parents participating in their kitchens right alongside their kids.”

16 The Voice of Beth El Congregation