Sharing Our Stories: Who Inspires You?

I can picture it like it was yesterday – although it was actually 50 years ago. I was thirteen years old, “working” as a teaching assistant in Joy Schenk’s kindergarten class at my synagogue, Monroe Temple of Liberal Judaism in Monroe, New York. I was the first and only TA in the religious school and, for whatever reason; some of the board members weren’t thrilled about this.

In my mind, Joy was about 60 years old. Now that I am in my sixties, I realize that she was probably closer to 35! But she was larger than life. She told me that working with “little Jewish souls” was one of the greatest gifts I could be given and that I shouldn’t listen to those “old guys” who didn’t think I should be working in her classroom. She told me they would have to run over her to get to me if they wanted me to leave the classroom. She was also not a big woman so the idea of her “wrestling” those men always made me laugh. What didn’t make me laugh, though, was the power of her words and her passion.

Joy Schenk taught me a lot about teaching. More importantly, though, she modeled how to share her passion for the joy of Judaism with others. Her eyes would sparkle when she sang to the kids or taught them a blessing. She knew when something transformative was happening in a child’s mind when he or she felt that moment of “awe” (although she knew no five-year-old child could explain it). Her goal was simple – to make sure that our little kids felt pure and simple joy when they thought about being Jewish. While that may sound simple it wasn’t always so. I didn’t understand it fifty years ago but now have a sense of the myriad of ridiculous stumbling blocks which were placed in front of Joy, to make it difficult for her to simply “do her thing”. It took me years to figure out why those lay leaders found her intimidating. She wasn’t afraid of her passion. In fact, she lived it to the fullest.

I remained close to Joy until the day she died, a few years ago. She maintained her passion for Jewish life until her very last breath.

I carry the image of her in the kindergarten classroom. In my mind, she was ten feet tall and had the wisdom of an 80-year-old woman – when in reality she was “five foot nothing” and probably only 35 years old. And when I begin to doubt myself or the passions I have I think of her. When anyone doubted what she was doing, especially in her teaching, her unique chuckle was her way of saying “Just try and keep me from sharing my passion!”

My passion for Judaism and Jewish life began with Joy Schenk. Her wisdom continues to be an integral part of me - personally and professionally - to this day. She was the reason I chose to become a Jewish Educator and am so grateful for the joy she instilled in me.

Dr. Madelyn Katz is Associate Dean at Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. She led the first WRJ Wilkenfeld International Women's Leadership Seminar in London in 2016.

This essay is published as part of the WRJ “Sharing Our Stories” project – a place where Reform/Progressive women in North America and around the world share personal stories of sisterhood, spirituality, and social good in an effort to help us create meaningful connections and a better understanding of each other, our shared values, goals and challenges, to share what we have in common as Reform/Progressive Jewish women, and also explore our own unique identities as citizens of different cultures.