The Spark

The tragedies of October 7th completely upended our lives, especially the lives of our Israeli faculty who were inundated with group messages from friends and family about sirens, taking shelter, and prayers for the state of Israel. In this episode, Dr. Weiss sat down with Michal Almalem, Bornblum's Jewish Studies Principal, and Rinat Kremer, Bornblum's 4th and 5th Grade Jewish Studies and Hebrew...

Sally Baer—our Director of Student Services and Assistant Head of School— is Bornblum. She is one of the pioneers who started in the genesis of this school 36 years ago and has continued to come back every day.   In this episode, Dr. Weiss had the privilege of having a conversation with Sally—who will be honored at Bornblum's 36th Anniversary Gala on March 30, 2025—about her childhood growing up i...

Not only is it the 36th Anniversary of Bornblum, it's also Season 3 of The Spark! To kick off the new season, Dr Weiss had the honor of sitting down with the four members of the 36th Anniversary Committee—Alla Lubin (alumni parent and current grandparent), Jaclyn Marshall (current parent and Board of Directors Vice President), Kara Bierman (alumni parent and Board of Directors Past President), and...

Our Eighth Graders are back from their nine-day excursion to New York and Boston where they explored iconic Jewish sights, toured historical monuments and museums, and got to learn more about each other and the chaperones that traveled with them. In this week's episode, Dr. Weiss speaks with four Bornblum Eighth Graders—Mollie, Nava, Kenny, and Ross—about their class trip that fostered the creatio...

It's Teacher Appreciation Week! Our teachers add incredible care, talent, knowledge, warmth and so much more to the Bornblum community that we just had to talk about it. In this week's episode, Dr. Weiss speaks with three Bornblum parents/alum—Abby Felsenthal, Cara Munekata, and Justin Katz—about their experience with teachers they grew up with at Bornblum and the teachers that now instruct their...

Chaos has erupted at college campuses across the nation due to pro-Palestine protests. Since April, nearly 2,000 protesters have been arrested nationwide, according to The Associated Press.  In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss speaks with Isaac Ostrow—a Student Life Associate at Colombia/Barnard Hillel—and Alex Fogelman—a senior at Tulane University—about the unrest they have witnessed in the...

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss sits down with Bornblum's beloved security guards, Titus and BJ. The two security guards joined Bornblum at the beginning of the school year and have become a staple in our community.  They talk how about being part of the Bornblum family have changed their lives in a positive way, how students learn respect, how Titus formulated his famous handshakes with n...

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss sits down with Bornblum science teacher Mary Beth Beeber to talk all things butterflies! Mary Beth is instrumental in the upkeep and beautification of our Heather Samuels Butterfly Garden, which is listed as a Monarch Waystation.  They talk about how butterflies fit into Bornblum curriculum, teaching students to be responsible in the environment, the process...

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss sits down with Rabbi Levi and Rivky Klein from Chabad of Tennessee . Thirty years ago, they moved to Memphis to start Chabad of Tennessee and have since created several Chabad communities across the state.  They talk about the fascinating history of Chabad of Tennessee, how to build resources for the Memphis Jewish community, taking it one mitzvah at a time,...

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss is joined by parent and former Bornblum board member Margo Fogelman and past president of the Bornblum board Jill Shanker, as they recount their experience with 20 members of the Memphis Jewish community as they traveled around Israel on a mission. They talked about the feeling of the atmosphere and the “veil of normalcy” they witnessed, visiting a car grave...

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss sits down with Fourth Grader Sammie and Fifth Grader Graham, who placed in the Top 5 out of 254 entries for their team submission to ADI Negev's Make the Change Challenge for Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month! Sammie and Graham came up with the Helmet Pillow, designed to prevent Muscular Dystrophy head injuries due to falls. He is also joined b...

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss sits down with three Bornblum Fifth Graders—Sasha, Dylan, and Ezra—to talk about their experience meeting and talking with Dwania Kyles, one of the Memphis 13 and co-founder and president of the Memphis 13 Foundation.  They talk about the importance of the Civil Rights Movement, showing empathy to others not like us, what they've learned in Fifth Grade Socia...

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss sits down with artist Ephraim Urevbu who spearheaded the Naked Truth Art project, a body of work that consists of 150 pieces of art that explore race and reconciliation, telling untold stories, and connecting artists. They talk about Ephraim's journey from Nigeria to Memphis to pursue his life's purpose, how he developed the South Main Arts District, how mus...

On the day before her 23rd birthday, Noa Abitbul—a paramedic with Magen David Adom, Israel's national medical emergency service—hoped for a quiet 8-hour shift. Then, she heard the sirens. What followed was a 16-hour shift tending to wounded soldiers and civilians during the October 7 attacks in Israel. In this episode of the Spark, Dr. Weiss sat down with Noa Abitbul and Adi Ben Ezra—Senior Develo...

In this episode of the Spark, Dr. Weiss sat down with our eight Eighth Graders to talk about their journey through Bornblum. Four of the Eighth Graders interviewed were part of the first Kindergarten class at Bornblum! They talked about the importance of the 7th and 8th grade years of Bornblum in strengthening a student's Jewish identity and combating anti-Semitism, cultivating a family amongst th...

In this episode of the Spark, Dr. Weiss sat down with Alan Harkavy, who has spent nearly 10 years in Israel as a tour guide. They talked about the unification of people in Israel, the impact of volunteerism and Alan's own experience with volunteering at citrus farms in Israel, Alan's favorite places to give a tour, and what happened during a tour with 40 people when news of the October 7 attack ha...

In this episode of the Spark, Dr. Weiss is honored to be joined by Elie Klein, Director of Development & Marketing for ADI Negev — Nahalat Eran . Founded in 2005, the 40-acre ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran Rehabilitation Village was named to honor the memory of Eran Almog, the late son and guiding light of founders Didi and Major General (Res.) Doron Almog. In addition to caring for and empowering mor...

In this episode of the Spark, Dr. Weiss is joined by Bornblum's Design Thinking experts Mary Beth Beeber and Samantha Schmidt. They talk about the 40% drop in empathy among young people, how Bornblum students expanded the chicken coop through a Design Thinking project, the creation of the Design Lab, how Design Thinking aligns with Judaism, and the Bornblum Middle Capstone Project.

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss is joined by five Bornblum faculty members—Rinat Kremer, Charna Schubert, Amy Goldkin, Michelle Johnson, and Stephanie Osher—to talk about their experience at the Rally for Israel in Washington, D.C. They talked about the importance of showing up in support of Israel, the impact of being around over 300,000 supporters, and the beauty of connection.

In this entertaining episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss is joined by Jessica Greenberg—Bornblum alum and daughter to Bornblum art teacher, Paula Greenberg—who is a self-proclaimed family historian who has researched the life of her fascinating grandfather. When presented with two bound volumes with hundreds of letters written by her grandfather between 1942 and 1946, Jessica began a journey of explor...

In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss had the honor of sitting down with Rabbi Charles Savenor, the Executive Director of Civic Spirit. This summer, three Bornblum faculty members—Michal Almalem, Stephanie Osher, and Cindy VanGunda—attended The Summer Institute to learn how to integrate civics into lessons.  They talk about how teachers can use civics to teach students how to dialogue and debate...

In this eye-opening episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss gathered four unique perspectives and Bornblum alumni from college campuses across the nation: Seth Taub, a freshman at Susquehanna University; Alex Fogelman, a senior at Tulane University; Sarah Boxer, a second-year law student at Harvard Law School; and Isaac Ostrow, a Student Life Associate at Columbia Barnard Hillel. Through candid conversati...

In this powerful episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss sat down with Bornblum's Israeli faculty—Sapir Pinto, Amir Sharabi, Michal Almalem, Rinat Kremer, and Maya Sharabi—to hear updates about their family and friends who are in the midst of war in Israel.

On this week’s episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss is joined by Rabbi Akiva Weisinger—one of Bornblum Middle's Jewish Studies teachers—who runs a successful podcast and blog about Jewish identity called Misfit Torah. They talk about happiness involving Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, how he teaches Torah through a different lens each and every year, and his experience of professional development wit...

On this week’s episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss is joined by Julie Goldstein—Bornblum's new Director of Admissions & Parent Engagement. A lifelong Memphian, Julie has worked in the Memphis Jewish community in a variety of roles. Julie's wealth of experience and talent position her perfectly to help Bornblum continue to grow and thrive. They talk about the reason she enrolled her son into Bornbl...