TBS News and Information

There exists a theory that one small interaction may later have a large ripple effect somewhere else known as the butterfly effect. A resonance with this idea of providing a moment for a butterfly effect to occur was the stimulus for two momentous occasions in the month of October.

For one event, a group of local educators brought together by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington lead to the creation of a professional development opportunity that over 225 individuals took part in smack in the middle of our High Holy Days this year on Sunday, October 5. On Sunday, October 5, 2025, over 225 educators, madrichim, and religious school support staff came together for a morning of learning representing mostly Fairfax County. This morning of professional development was made possible by a spark grant from the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. Hosted at Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, the three goals of the day were to build ties among the greater Fairfax County population that supports Jewish supplemental education, explore teaching to different modalities: how we navigate lessons on our feet, and internalize goal setting with the goal of meeting kids where they are.

With the timing of just days after Yom Kippur and the morning before Sukkot began, we were in a unique position to have started our year with the students just enough to have an idea of who the individuals are in our classrooms and schools but still new enough in the year to support a positive year ahead. It was an unbelievably triumphant moment for congregational education of the next generation of Jewish education in our greater Fairfax County community with reach to both Loudoun and Prince William Counties and even up into Maryland. For some attendees, the day was your average professional development opportunity, yet for others it really spoke to them. I am so proud of the 40 TBS staff, faculty, and madrichim who took part in this day.

The other event, only three weeks later on Saturday night October 25, a NFTY NoVA “micro-region” event was held by a delegation of teenagers from Temple B’nai Shalom, Temple Rodef Shalom, Beth-El Congregation, and Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation. A group of 52 reform Jewish teens (13 affiliated with TBS - 25% of the attendees) gathered for dinner, Havdalah, and a bus ride out to Milltown Haunt for their Saturday evening activity. Yet another incredible moment for our community to celebrate. This event did not exist without lots of planning and hopes. One of the goals being to have teens meet at the professional development opportunity and then see each other again at the teen night out to promote friendships of Jewish teens that exist between our local reform synagogues. We also had the goal of connecting teens that go to the same school but don’t know the other is Jewish. Almost as if meant to be during our icebreakers, two teens who go to the same high school but had no idea there was another Jewish student at their school met and decided to start a Jewish student club.

Creating and realizing these opportunities to participate in the greater Jewish community and offer a catalyst for what I hope to be many positive butterfly moments fills me with love and joy. We can only hope that the butterfly effect will be for the best…whatever may radiate from these moments of joint communal joy.