My Jewish Growth

By Mattytee

  • Birth

    I was Born in Chicago to a multi-religious family who had decided to raise my sister and I as Jews.
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    Sunday School

    I started to attend Sunday classes at our Synagogue in Oak Park, IL: Bnei Abraham Zion. Or, as it is known, Oak Park Temple.
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    Hebrew School

    Classes moved to Wednesdays, and now we were focusing on B'nei Mitzvah prep.
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    Continued Jewish Education

    I continued with classes at the synagogue in Junior High and High School (now on Mondays--why I remember the day of the week is beyond me) leading towards confirmation.

  • Bar Mitzvah

    I became a Bar Mitzvah!

  • College Chabad House

    I went to a Chabad event at college (Rutgers) but didn't really connect to it.

  • Hillel Rabbi

    I went with a friend of mine to study Torah with a Hillel Rabbi at Rutgers. I was disgusted by racist comments he made and stopped going to the sessions. I also stopped involving myself in Jewish life, preferring to identify as atheist (which I still do).

  • Met my future wife

    I met my wife Sivan who was Israeli born and would lead me on a Jewish Journey. We met on OKCupid and each signified that the religion of our potential match was not of consequence.

  • Aidan was born

    Aidan Avishai Royal Teitelman (my son) was born on the first day of Chanukkah.

  • Sivan decided to go to Rabbinical School

    This was the beginning of a number of changes in our lives.

  • Biblical Grammar

    I audited a biblical grammar course at HUC. The teacher was so welcoming to me and it really sparked a new trajectory for my life and interests and studies
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    Year in Israel

    We had a year in Israel for Sivan's Rabbincal school. I was in a Hebrew Ulpan, I audited some HUC classes, Aidan was in a Hebrew speaking gan and became עדן. I became very interested in the Hebrew Language, and studied it intensively both day to day and reading academic textbooks on the language. I joined Nava Tehila in their musical minyan every month. I made aliyah,
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    Los Angeles

    We moved to LA after Jerusalem and I started teaching Hebrew at a synagogue there and we joined a synagogue that offered Hebrew immersion preschool for Aidan. Until COVID interrupted and we moved back to Israel.

  • MJEd

    Here I am, living in Jerusalem again, studying Tanach, leading Kabbalat Shabbat, study to be a day-school educator. The future looks very Jewish!