Jody Rosenblum – Gan and Primary Enrichment
Jody has taught both Gesher and Gan classes. She comes up to Machane TBA from TBA Nursery School, where she has taught three- and four-year-old children since 1993. She thoroughly enjoys teaching young children about the Jewish holidays and traditions. When not teaching, Jody loves to read, cook, bake, and play Mah Jongg. Jody has two married children and an adorable granddaughter.
As introductions go, Noah’s was rather impressive. At the opening of this weeks parasha he is described as a “righteous man in his generation …[who] walked with God.” [Gen. 6:9] The rabbis have a great deal of praise for Noah, or rather, some do and some do not. The great medieval commentator Rashi describes the debate. He notes that some rabbis teach that Noah was righteous even in his generation; that if he had lived in a more righteous generation then he would have been even more righteous because of his innate goodness. However, Rashi also directs our attention the Talmud, which teaches that Noah was only righteous in comparison with the evil people of his own generation. Had he lived in the time of Abraham, he would have been nobody special (Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 108a).
This may seem a little harsh, but the Talmudic rabbis are not creating this idea from thin air. They ask us to compare Noah with Abraham. Of Abraham, the Torah says that he was righteous, but does not add the phrase “in his generation.” The Talmudic rabbis consider that a purposeful omission: Abraham’s righteousness would stand out in any generation, whereas Noah’s only stood out in relation to his own generation. The rabbis also look to another detail in the text. According to the text, Abraham did not walk with God like Noah, but instead, walked before God [Gen. 17:1 and 24:40]. What is the difference? Noah needed extra support from God for his righteousness, like a toddler needing to hold his parent’s hand for support. Abraham had enough strength to walk on his own in righteousness, like an older child walking in front of his parent.
While this may seem like an academic argument, the difference can clearly be seen in their actions. When God approaches Noah, describing the imminent destruction of the world, Noah does exactly what God commands: he builds an ark. The rabbis consider that a righteous act indeed, not to mention incredibly difficult to execute. But, when God told Abraham about the imminent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham tries to talk God out of it. What courage! He directly challenged God, asking if the innocent should die with the guilty, and eventually talks God down to the point where if ten innocents could be found, then the entire city would be spared. Amazingly, God does not punish Abraham for insolence but instead agrees with Abraham’s arguments.
Here we arrive at one of the most fundamental truths of our tradition: blind faith is not true righteousness. True righteousness means living with such a commitment to the values and teachings of Torah that we are willing to challenge any authority, even God, when they seem contrary to what we know to be right.
If Noah had challenged God the way Abraham did, would there still have been a flood? We will never know. However, in today’s world, which in some ways seems just as filled with violence and hate as in Noah’s day, we have a choice. Who will we choose to emulate, Noah or Abraham?
Kochavim (Stars)
Leela Greenblott
As a native New Englander, Leela moved to the Mid-Atlantic area after graduating from University of Rhode Island. She has been teaching preschool since 2000. She has taught at Children’s Learning Center, Washington Hebrew Congregation and now is really excited to be teaching a Dalet class at Gan Ami. Leela’s first introduction to Gan Ami was in a Gimel class during the Gan Ami Summer program in 2021. Leela lives in North Potomac with her husband and dog Sadie. Her two grown children are spread out in Arlington, Va., and Boulder Colorado. In her spare time, she loves to garden and play frisbee with Sadie.
Stephanie Fleischer
Stephanie has resided in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC her entire life (her parents also still live in the area). She lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland with her husband, Ian, along with their two children, Carly and Daniel, and two cats Coffee and Bean. She enjoys the beach and traveling (having family in Germany, Italy and Israel). Stephanie’s children both attended Kehilat Shalom where she held various teaching positions over five years. Prior to teaching at Gan Ami, she spent two years with the 2’s class at B’nai Tzedek in Potomac. Stephanie was thrilled to continue her passion for teaching children when she joined the Temple Beth Ami Nursery School staff in 2014.
Keshatot (Rainbows)
Irwin Slonin
Irwin has lived in the Rockville area nearly his entire life. A graduate of the University of Maryland and George Washington University, he left his “professional” career in business to become an at-home dad. While helping out in his daughters’ preschool, he discovered his passion for working with children in a Jewish early childhood setting. Since 1999, he has worked with children at Children’s Learning Center, Har Shalom, and Shaare Torah. Irwin joined Gan Ami in 2016 as the Keshatot teacher. He also teaches religious school and tutors b’nai mitzvah students. Irwin and his wife, Sue-Anne, have three daughters.
Randi Kay
Randi’s educational background includes a degree in Secondary Education and Biology from Monmouth College in New Jersey, where she is originally from. She has 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren, two of which graduated from Gan Ami and are currently attending Machane for Hebrew School. Randi loves working as an assistant teacher and has been in the field for over 25 years. When Randi is not working with children, she enjoys making hand crafted jewelry!
GIMEL STAFF
Megallim (Explorers)
Susan Chirumbole
Susan is originally from New York. She graduated from the University of Maryland and shortly thereafter met her husband Stephen. They have two daughters, Dana, Alyse, and one son, Ryan, who graduated from Gan Ami. Susan joined the Gan Ami staff in September 1999. She has worked with Bets and Gimels. Susan enjoys learning, teaching and sharing Jewish experiences with our youngest students. When not at school, she spends time with family and friends and loves to travel.
Chris Mullett
Chris Mullett was born in Montana and wandered around the world as the daughter of a military father. She attended 8 schools in 13 years. One of her favorite places to visit when she lived in Germany was Austria to see the giant chessboard! She settled in the Washington area in 1991. She volunteers for Habitat with Humanity, and loves Scrabble, crosswords, and Sudoku. She started volunteering at Gan Ami in 2000 and joined the staff in 2003. Chris loves the camaraderie among the teachers as much as she loves working with the children.
Parparim (Butterflies)
Jody Rosenblum
Jody was born in New York, moved to Montgomery County in 1973, and eventually graduated from the University of Maryland with a fine arts degree. She became a member of Temple Beth Ami in 1982. She knew she wanted to become a Gan Ami teacher when her son Sam attended Gan Ami from the day it opened in 1989. She said, “I saw a top notch nursery school run by a director and small group of professional and excited teachers.” She waited four years for an opening and was so excited to begin teaching in 1993. She has always taught five day Gimels, and finds it a joy to come to work each day. When Jody is not working she is busy playing Mah Jongg, attending book club, participating in TBA events, supporting her Condo Association, and most enjoyably, playing with her granddaughters.
Morgan Leiter
Morgan was born and raised in the Washingtonian area and loved it so much she stayed! She now resides in Rockville with her husband and two children. She joined the Gan Ami staff in 2023 when her daughter had just graduated from our program and her son was entering the Dalets. Since enrolling her children in Gan Ami, Morgan has been extremely involved in the Parent Committee and gets pleasure from building our community and bringing everyone together. She graduated from the University of Hartford with a BS in Psychology focused on early childhood development. Her strengths are connecting people, working with children to reach their potential, and supporting everyone in her presence.
Mensches (Mensches!)
Laurie Galfond
Laurie started as a parent at Gan Ami in 1989 when her son Phil was a 4 year old, and Jeff was a mid-year 2 year old. Over the next several years, Laurie alternated between being a substitute, a 2-day 2’s teacher, and for one year, a stay at home mom with Jeff and Emily. But the lure was too great, and Laurie returned to teaching soon after her daughter was born. All three of Laurie’s children are Gan Ami grads! Laurie says, “Working with children is clearly the primary reason I have stayed at Gan Ami for as long as I have, but a close second is the staff. We are a family that thoroughly enjoys being together.” Laurie has always lived in the DC area except for 3 years in Palo Alto, California. Laurie attended Winston Churchill High School and graduated from the University of Maryland.
Beth Jolles
Beth graduated from the University of Delaware with a degree in Early Childhood Education and Family Studies. Before coming to Gan Ami, Beth taught pre-school at CLC and various parent/toddler classes throughout the county. She enjoys time with her two daughters, exercise, 70’s music, sushi, and jelly beans. Beth lives in North Potomac with her husband Jim
