Where is your family located?
Our family lives in beautiful, sunny Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada. Our city is known as the City of Bridges as we are located by the South Saskatchewan River. We get to enjoy all four of Hashem’s wonderful seasons here. Our Jewish community is small but growing and we are excited to be pioneers in establishing the next up and coming center for Jewish life.
Can you share a little more about your children who are on JOS?
Baruch Hashem, we have seven children. Our oldest three children attend JOS and we also homeschool. Asher is 13 and this past January, we celebrated his bar mitzvah! Aderes is our 11 year daughter and Jacob is 8 years old. Asher enjoys learning and has always been quick to pick up Hebrew, halachah and anything he is studying, Baruch Hashem. He has been blessed to have such great Rebbes to teach him. He also enjoys playing soccer, hockey, building his own Lego creations and spending time with family and friends. Aderes loves her online class and fantastic Morah. She likes to learn as well and also teaches her younger siblings what she learns. She recently opened up a school in her room and her siblings love having her as their teacher! Aderes is a creative crafter and is always busy with a fun project. This was Jacob’s first year in JOS and he has really enjoyed learning along with his class with their wonderful Morah. Jacob enjoys building Lego, reading, soccer, hockey and going on adventures with his family.
How does JOS fit into your schooling approach, and how do you feel it has impacted your children’s learning and development?
JOS has enabled us to educate our children while living in a small Jewish community. Our kids have flourished and learned so much with their amazing Rebbes and Morahs and we are so thankful that we have this unique opportunity to be a part of such a great school. We truly believe that it’s our privilege and responsibility to raise our children and to teach them to go in the way that Hashem has created for them. We are grateful to be able to partner with JOS to create an inspiring atmosphere that helps them to grow and become the best Yid they can be.
What role does JOS play in your children’s connection to Judaism? Have you noticed any positive changes in their engagement or enthusiasm for Jewish learning?
Living in Saskatoon means that we are surrounded by family and friends who aren’t Jewish and in a lot of ways, it’s good for our kids to know that we are different from everyone else and that we have a special role to play as Jews. It’s also great when we have the opportunity to connect with other Jewish families and for our kids to meet other children who love Hashem, His Torah and mitzvos. It definitely inspires all of us when we get to meet and speak with our Jewish family from all over the world and we love that JOS connects us in that way.
If you have embraced Judaism or are deepening your connection, what inspired your journey?
Our journey to Judaism has been many years in the making. Both my husband (Bradley) and I grew up in loving Christian families. We were both taught about G-D and grew up with many of the same Torah stories Jewish children know and love. My husband’s mother was the one who began to study the roots of Christianity and realized that she wanted to teach her family about the Torah and its customs. She took her family out of the church and they began to celebrate Shabbos and other festivals as a family. When I met Bradley, we were unsure how we could merge our beliefs and begin a family together. Baruch Hashem, we prayed and studied and decided we wanted to get married. At this point, Bradley would have considered himself Messianic, which was good because it was the link that enabled me to see past all the differences and be able to accept these new strange customs. After we had been married for a few years, Bradley started to study Judaism more in depth. We started to learn more and as we learned more, we loved everything we learned! We continued to observe as we knew how but somehow it was still not enough and we never quite knew what to tell people when they asked us “What religion are you?” We wanted to say we were Jewish but knew that would be lying! Finally, we knew that the only path forward was to convert and we searched for a Beis Din that would help us. Unfortunately, the Beis Din we contacted told us that the only way we could convert would be to move to a bigger Jewish community, which is something we did not want to do as both our families live here and we also have a family business together with my husband’s father and brother. We were slightly discouraged but we knew that if Hashem wanted us to convert then He would open up a door. Baruch Hashem, we were accepted into the Sydney Beis Din with Rabbi Ulman and we worked with our local Chabad Rabbi to study and learn everything we needed. It was a huge endeavor and we sometimes felt overwhelmed but b’ezras Hashem, we kept going and with every little step, we learned and grew and changed. Both of our families have been extremely supportive and amazing through the whole process. After almost 3 years of intense studying, implementing all we learned and moving to a neighbourhood close to our Chabad House, we had our final Zoom with Rabbi Ulman and he warmly welcomed us into Klal Yisrael. In March of 2024, we went to the mikveh! It was such an emotional, spiritual and incredible day. That same day, we had our Chuppah with family and friends. We are so thankful for this journey and that we are finally home at last.
What aspects of JOS have been most valuable for your family? Would you recommend it to others, and if so, why?
JOS has been a great way to connect with other Jewish families around the world. We love that our kids get to meet kids like them, learn about Judaism and be inspired by their fantastic Rebbes and Morahs. Yes, we would definitely recommend this amazing school to others.
How do you celebrate Jewish holidays as a family? Are there any special traditions or moments you’d like to share?
We feel very blessed that we get the privilege to celebrate Shabbos every week and all the meaningful and beautiful Jewish holidays throughout the year. Every single one of them are unique and have a special place in our hearts. I really enjoy when our kids share a divrei Torah or something interesting they learned in class with us. Aderes used to share her weekly parsha craft with us (this was last year) and tell us the story behind it.
What I love about Shabbos and Yom Tov, is that we work very hard to prepare and make it extra special by cleaning the house and making delicious treats and food to enjoy. It feels like a marathon as we keep working tirelessly until we finally stop everything and light the candles and usher in this indescribable peace and beauty that only Shabbos and Yom Tov brings into our lives. The time we get to relax and study Torah with our kids and not have to think or care about anything else is priceless and it has truly transformed our family. Baruch Hashem, we get to do this for real! We practiced for so long and now it feels as if we are in the Big Leagues at last. One of my favourite memories is when the late Shabbos nights arrive. During our summers here in Saskatoon, sometimes we are finishing our Seudah at midnight! The older kids (the ones who haven’t konked out on the sofa during the Seudah) and I would go out to our backyard and jump on the trampoline and star gaze. Such fun and special memories with my kinderlach.
What has surprised you most about your experience with JOS or homeschooling in general?
I wasn’t sure if the kids would enjoy learning over Zoom but it has been a great experience for all of us and we are so thankful that JOS is such a good school with amazing teachers.
Even though my husband and I were both homeschooled, I definitely didn’t think I would homeschool my kids. But my husband really wanted to so I thought “Why not give it a try?” It’s been such a huge blessing and gift to all of us. We have learned so much and I love that we get to live life together and that my kids get to grow up together. They all play well together, Baruch Hashem. I used to try to imitate a school setting in our homeschool but I soon realized that the great thing about homeschooling is that we get to custom make an education that includes practical life skills as well as everything else our children will need to succeed in life. Our schooling approach changed drastically when I discovered the Leadership Education model by Oliver and Rachel DeMille. Instead of trying so hard to make them “do school” as younger kids, we were now free to let them play and discover. Of course, we still are learning and as parents we are always teaching (whether or not we know it!) but in a more natural and relaxed method. As they get older, around Bar and Bas Mitzvah age, they are physiologically and mentally mature enough to really dig deep into educating themselves. The emphasis is actually on us as parents to be the role models. As we pursue and attain our own education -we should never stop learning and growing - our children will also follow suit.
Has being part of JOS affected your parenting journey? If so, in what ways?
Being a Jewish parent in a remote community has given us unique opportunities to teach our kids who they really are and to strengthen their identity as a Jewish neshama who is here for a very special and important mission that only they can fulfill. It’s been encouraging to connect with other Jewish parents who are in similar situations and to know that we aren’t alone in this adventure! We are thankful to Chanie Hertzel, who is always so kind and thoughtful, as well as all the Morahs and Rebbes, who inspire us. And all the staff! We are grateful for the fast replies and help whenever we needed it.
Do you have a favorite story, memory, or moment from your family’s time with JOS that you’d like to share?
When we were about to finish our conversion, we were planning on flying to New York City for Mikveh. We needed passports! I decided to take all the kids with me and go stand in line at the passport office early one morning. It was crazy busy. We got there around 7:30 AM and got in a line that went all the way down the corridor of a mall. Asher brought his laptop with us and as we stood in line, he put on his headset and did his whole davening class while standing in line at the passport office! It was quite the experience and it was a long wait but we did end up getting our passports. We were thankful that Asher was able to still do his class and join us to get our passports. There’s nothing quite like JOS!
