If you want to know about the Etz Chaim/York County Community Hebrew School, you should ask our new alum, Ethan Levy. Ethan, a 16-yr-old Junior at Thornton Academy, has been part of the Etz Chaim community – and the Hebrew School – for over half his life.
“I think my family started going to Temple about 10 years ago. And I started Hebrew School when I was 7. Barbara was my first teacher!” he recalls.
After finishing up the Alef class with Barbara, Ethan moved on to the Bet class, where he learned Torah stories and characters. He remembers, “Joe Strassler was a good teacher, and introduced us to Jewardy, a Jewish trivia game. This was a fun way to learn and review some of the Torah stories and characters.”
Some sample answers/questions in the topic of Biblical Characters:
A: He struck the rock with a stick (Q: Who is Moses?)
A: He dreamt of a ladder and angels (Q: Who is Jacob?)
A: His wife turned into a pillar of salt (Q: Who is Lot?)
A: He was able to interpret dreams (Q: Who is Joseph?)
From there, in the Gimel Class, he learned about mitzvahs and other Jewish values from his
dad, Jeff Levy, and from David Strassler. After his bar mitzvah, Ethan started in the Teen Class, where he remembers learning from Rob Pierce. Ethan was so excited to finally be a part of it. “The New York trips were the best! What a great place to learn about Jewish history and culture in a different way.” he said. This year, Ethan completed his 3rd year of Teen Class, and had a confirmation ceremony to celebrate it. Congratulations, Ethan!
When he was 8 or 9, the Levy family began a 5-year stint, leading the Sunday School classes. This was when Ethan first started to teach the younger kids. Since then, he always finds time to voluntarily help with the younger kids, no matter what the topic, and for the past 2 years has been a student teacher in the Gimel class.
A favorite memory of Ethan’s is eating strawberry jam Hamentashen and bringing his non-Jewish friends to the Purim Parties for the games and prizes. He loves the latkes at Hannukah (who doesn’t?!) and loves his mom’s cheesecake which was served at his confirmation celebration. (click here for the recipe Adrianne’s Cheesecake)
At Thornton, Ethan takes a variety of advanced classes, and is looking forward to Honors Introduction to Engineering next semester. It’s no surprise that he loves math, and calls himself a “math nerd” for his extracurricular activity on the school math team. Ethan is on the Honor Roll, and plays in the school orchestra. Ethan has been playing the violin since the 3rd grade, and one year performed Hatikva for the Hebrew School Talent Show. When asked about his music, Ethan said “my inspiration for music is my grandfather, Howard Levy. Papa Howard has played the trumpet since his youth, and he has shown me how beautiful practice and hard work can sound like.”
Ethan is a karate black belt and he loves to travel — his trip to England and Ireland a couple of years ago was his favorite trip so far, especially when he slept in Ashford Castle in Ireland. This summer, Ethan is working at Funtown in Saco, and Is spending time at the beach with his family and friends.