An article by Sarah Kershaw<\/a> in The New York Times that my Facebook buddy Yosef referred me to described how hugs have now caught on in high school…outside of Israel. So much so that there are different terms for all the hugging.<\/p>\nFor example, there’s the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bear claw\u00e2\u20ac\u009d where a boy embraces a girl awkwardly with his elbows poking out. The “fist bump and slap on the back.” Something known as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shake and lean.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And now the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153triple\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c any combination of three girls and boys hugging at once.<\/p>\n
It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s become so rampant that some schools are now trying to limit hugging via a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153three-second rule\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or to ban hugs outright. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Touching and physical contact is very dangerous territory,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d bemoaned a principal in New Jersey interviewed by Kershaw.<\/p>\n
The kids disagree, calling it the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153hello\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of their generation. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We like to get cozy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said a San Francisco eighth grader. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The high-five is, like, boring.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
What seems to be unique to Israel (and perhaps other Mediterranean countries \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t done a scientific study), is hugging between students and teachers, something that would be absolutely verboten in a litigious U.S. where it could be perceived as bordering on sexual harassment or abuse.<\/p>\n
All hugging aside, the graduation ceremony of our oldest child was very emotional for my wife Jody and I. To think that we have come so far as to have a child finished with his formal education. How did we get so old! \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Proud and old are not mutually exclusive,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d our friend Shira was quick to point out on Facebook.<\/p>\n
Some other highlights from graduation:<\/p>\n
— As each boy (Amir attended an all boy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s school) received his diploma, his teacher read a short paragraph describing the graduate (Hartman high school, with a graduating class of 56, is small enough to indulge such a personal touch).<\/p>\n
— There was a lot of emphasis on the army and mechinot (pre-army preparatory programs) rather than “where are you going to college next year?”<\/p>\n
— Amir put together a great slide show with music summing up the six years the guys have been together. The photos of the class from 7th grade elicited some raucous teenage guffaws.<\/p>\n
— Hartman Institute founder Rabbi David Hartman gave an impassioned speech on the importance for religious youth to fight against extremism and intolerance. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let anyone tell you you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not religious,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he exhorted the graduates.<\/p>\n
— This being Israel, the dress code was casual, though a number of the graduates wore loosely knotted ties over untucked short sleeve shirts and jeans. Needless to say there were no caps and gowns. And so, at the end of the evening, rather than toss their caps into the air, they threw their kippot to the sky.<\/p>\n
Jody and I were so filled with pride and excitement. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a major milestone…for the entire family. So what did we do when Amir came over to us after the ceremony was done?<\/p>\n
We gave him a great big hug, of course.
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll remember most about our son Amir\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s graduation from 12th grade earlier this week was the hugs. Hugs between the guys. Hugs from the teachers to the graduates while on stage receiving their diplomas. The spontaneous group hug and circle dance the guys did to Mashina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Return, Return\u00e2\u20ac\u009d at the end of the evening. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=955"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1042,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/955\/revisions\/1042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}