Almost 11 months ago our world turned upside down, when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th. This attack – and the subsequent wars with Hamas and Hezbollah feels personal. While still needing to remain composed, empathetic, and charismatic, for Israeli teachers at Jewish schools in the Diaspora, this past school year was a particularly wrenching time. Once the hectic routine of the school year wound down in June, many Israeli teachers could finally let down their guards and allow their feelings wash over them.  

Efrat Yakobi-Gafni, Hebrew language department chair at Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School’s Middle School in Northridge, California, became determined to “do something about it.” Efrat led the charge to organize a gathering – in person – of Hebrew language and other Israeli teachers from across the Los Angeles Metropolitan area to lift each other from the morose and anxiety that she and others were feeling, and to share fresh ideas for teaching about Israel in Hebrew classes. Thus, was born the idea for a professional half-day gathering for Middle and High School Hebrew teachers, conducted entirely in Hebrew, held on a Sunday August 25, 2024 | 21 Av 5785, called “ישראל בשיעור העברית” or “Israel in the Hebrew Class,” hosted by The Heschel Day school. Heschel is a K-8 Community Day School whose middle school offers 4 different levels of Hebrew instruction per grade, from new Hebrew leaders through Hebrew heritage speakers/learners. 

Hebrew at the Center’s Member School Highlight sat down with Efrat to hear her reflections about the gathering of teachers from more than half a dozen LA Jewish day schools and Yeshivot. Here are translated excerpts from MSH’s interview with Efrat Yakobi-Gafni, which was conducted in Hebrew: 

MSH: Who was your end-game target audience? Were you organizing this to support the Hebrew teachers or were you organizing this so that Hebrew teachers could plan for deeper student engagement? 

EYG: To be honest? It started with a target audience of one. Me! The origin of this conference rippled out from the personal to the professional. I needed to refuel and to talk to fellow Hebrew speaking and Hebrew teaching practitioners. To comfort and be comforted. To learn from and with other veteran teachers and to brainstorm with them and with novice teachers regarding what to say to students on the first day of a new school year. I imagined that other teachers shared my yearning. As professionals, we all need to think about our students, the future leaders of the Jewish community, and how they will move forward during this chronic crisis. At the Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School, in addition to our regular Hebrew classes, we have a period every Friday called “שישי ישראלי” focused on Israeli news and culture. Shockingly, the focus changed last October, and unfortunately, almost one year later, things have not gone back to “normal.” How will we deal with that fact on the first day of school?  

MSH: Why didn’t you just gather your own teachers from Abraham Joshual Heschel Day School? How did you get the idea to gather the Hebrew language teachers from all LA County? 

EYG: My instinct told me the new reality transcends one school. We at Heschel could not be the only ones to be struggling with this dilemma. As for the idea of organizing a county-wide conference: In May, 2024, the BJE of LA put together a conference for Judaic Studies teachers on helping students cope with the war with Hamas. I am not a Judaic Studies teacher, so I did not receive an invitation, but Heschel’s Head of School at Heschel, Larry Kligman thought I’d be interested so he forwarded me the invitation and I attended. (Editor’s Note: This is Efrat’s 4th decade teaching Hebrew as a second language and her 18th year as the Hebrew Department Chair at the Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School’s Middle School. Efrat embodies being a lifelong learner and her Head of School honors this fact. In addition to holding a BA in English Literature from the University of Haifa, a teaching certificate from Oranim, and an MA in Hebrew letters from the American Jewish University, Efrat attends as many professional seminars and conferences as possible as part of her continuing professional education.) As the BJE-LA conference for Judaic Studies teachers proceeded, it struck me that the absence of other Hebrew language teachers was a missed opportunity. In the Hebrew classroom, we recreate a piece of Israeli culture every day. Authentic language is the best way to teach culture, and Hebrew is the language of Israel. I asked if the BJE was planning a day of learning about the current complexities, in Hebrew, and the answer was “no, not this year,” which triggered me to think about organizing a conference, for and by Hebrew language teachers, in Hebrew, at Heschel.  

MGH: This was an ambitious project for one Hebrew teacher, from one school, to take on!  

EYG: Yes, indeed! But a fire was burning inside of me. The Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School recently became a member of Hebrew at the Center, and I consulted with them. I heard from Dr. Esty Gross, Hebrew at the Center’s Chief of Staff and Director of Education, that a fellow Middle School Hebrew department chair from a school in New York had organized a similar day of peer-to-peer Hebrew professional development last spring, to which Hebrew language professionals from other schools in the NYC Metro area were invited..  Esty put me in touch with Sarit Nevo, The Leffell School’s Upper School Hebrew language chair, who generously shared micro and macro details from her own experience spearheading and organizing the “Shiur Ivrit” conference in April 2024. Reviewing Sarit’s game plan and master schedule gave me a framework to build upon. I realized that I need additional partners, including those from within my own school! I had to make my case, but Larry Kligman, our Head of School was very supportive and generous in making this event possible. In additional to expertise and marketing support from Hebrew at the Center, I also received support from Rabbi Jim Rogozen, Director of the Center for Excellence in Day School Education at the BJE of Los Angeles.  

MSH: Did you get much of a response? How did the “Israel in the Hebrew Class” Conference go? 

EYG: So much work went into creating and executing this conference. I wanted it to happen in June, but it was hard to gain traction in such a short window of time. However, once I got this idea into my head, I persevered. I would not abort the mission, and in the end, the conference far exceeded my expectations! About 25 Hebrew language teachers attended from 6 or 8 Los Angeles-based schools. Los Angeles County is large! People traveled for up to an hour to get to Heschel early on a Sunday morning. Considering that it was the last Sunday before the start of a new school year, that a phenominal response from truly dedicated teachers!  Orthodox, Community, Conservative, and Reform Day Schools and Yeshivas were represented. K’lal Yisrael pulled together. 

At the conference, there was time for us to reunite with old colleagues and meet new ones from across the city, the valley, and the hills of Los Angeles. There were four breakout options over 2 periods to choose from, peer-led by myself, another Heschel Day School teacher, and colleagues from 2 other schools. There was an excellent keynote address by Dr. Esty Gross. Heschel’s school rabbi spoke movingly, and there was a beautiful greeting from Rabbi Rogozin of the BJE. Just as importantly, there was excellent food! Don’t underestimate the importance of eating well to drive high-level thinking, sharing, and collaboration! 

The entire conference was conducted in Hebrew, and all teachers from all LA-based day schools who know Hebrew were invited to participate, regardless of their subject. This was the first such gathering for Hebrew speaking teachers since before the pandemic and I am confident it will not be the last. I am proud to have hosted, and so very grateful to Larry Kligman and the rest of the administration at the Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School for believing in, trusting, and supporting our efforts to see this vision through. With all the nuance and complexity of the current situation in Israel, all teachers who attended are now in a better frame of mind to begin teaching their classes.  

MSH: Rabbi Jim Rogozen commented: “I was very impressed by the initiative of Efrat Yakobi-Gafni and the other Heschel teachers, and the creative programmatic framing of Dr. Esty Gross from Hebrew at the Center. The fact that so many teachers gave up their last free Sunday before the school year shows their commitment to Israel, their schools, and their students. BJE LA was proud to support such a great event.  Kol HaKavod!” 

Hebrew at the Center is honored to have Abraham Joshua Heschel as a new member. May you and all your faculty and students have an inspiring year. 

______________________________  

If you are a Hebrew at the Center Member School interested in organizing a day of peer-to-peer professional learning in your community, contact Dr. Esty Gross at Hebrew at the Center, Sarit Nevo at The Leffell School in Westchester, NY, or Efrat Yakobi-Gafni at the Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in Northridge, CA. 

Amid an insidious war, with so many yeshivot and day schools cancelling their Capstone Trips to Israel, Member School Highlight recently caught up with Krieger Schechter’s K-8 Hebrew Department Chair, Lilach Arie, and Head of School, Rabbi Moshe Schwartz, to hear about their once-in-a-lifetime experiences in Israel, with their 8th grade students this past spring.  

Before our conversation formally began, Lilach showed a stone, upon which was written “K.S.D.S Israel 2024,” a gift given to each participant by their tour guide, Phillip, who has been guiding their school’s trip to Israel for the past 13 years. Phillip’s guiding relationship with Krieger Schechter’s Israel trips pre-dates Rabbi Schwartz and Lilach’s connection to the school, and even pre-dates the birth of some of this year’s students.  

Phillip’s connection to Krieger Schechter was but one of many connections that filled the students’ parents with enough trust to send their children on this journey at such a fragile time. 

In retrospect, Lilach realizes that CONNECTION is the best word to sum up this trip.  

Other aspects that made this trip completely unique came to fruition because of one or more of these connections: 

• Between the cities of Baltimore and Ashkelon. For many years, Baltimore and Ashkelon have shared a partnership, existing at many levels, so connections run deep, for children, teens, adults, schools, synagogues, and civic institutions. These connections are years in the making and fueled by financial and social capital, Mayor to Mayor, Federation to Community Centers, principal to principal, teacher to teacher, and student to student. So many of the unique aspects of this 8th grade trip would never have taken place were it not for the Baltimore-Ashkelon Partnership. 

• Between students from Krieger Schechter and Beit Sefer Omanuyot in Ashkelon. The students and teachers at the school in Ashkelon have been virtually connected through a program known as Shevet Achim, but their in-person Mifgash was almost cancelled, due to security concerns for the Schechter Krieger bus to enter Ashkelon. When the Mifgash finally happened, it was very impactful. For the Krieger Schechter teachers, it was fascinating to see their students’ experiences of an Israeli public school, noticing the culture similarities and differences. Through Shevet Achim, the teachers already knew each other, creating the conditions for almost-instant warming between the students. The Krieger Schechter students performed two of their songs in Hebrew from The Wizard of Oz (more on that later), and the students from Omanuyot performed two beautiful dances. Communicating through the arts was moving. They also communicated through conversation, with the Krieger Schechter students breaking their teeth in Hebrew, Omanuyot students breaking their teeth in English, and peals of laughter serving as the international language of connection. Once they met in person, the students immediately exchanged social media accounts and have continued to stay in touch,

  

  organically, since returning from their trip. Rabbi Schwartz described the past and future connections: “Some of these kids will become Diller Teen Fellows or HaZamir performers together. Some will go on other programs together. No doubt, in the future, some of the students from Beit Sefer Omanuyot will become Shinshinim in Baltimore and some of the students from Krieger Schechter will become Chayalim Bodedim and adopted by host families from Beit Sefer Omanuyot.” 

• Between Krieger Teachers and their own histories. After living in Baltimore for years and annual trips to visit family and friends, this was Lilach’s first time going to Israel with the Krieger Schechter 8th grade trip. This afforded Lilach the opportunity to revisit places of historical significance that she had not visited since her youth. Not only was Lilach seeing Israel through her students’ eyes, but also through the lens of her own life. Each year a different Krieger Schechter teacher makes this trip, and Lilach was grateful to experience this trip with the 8th graders, including her own son. 

• With Former Israeli Shinshinim. Each year, Baltimore hosts several 18-year old Shinshinim (which stands for Sh’nat Sheirut, or “year of service”) who come as emissaries of Israel for one year before beginning their army service. (see previous Member School Highlight on Shinshinim in San Fransisco). Throughout the trip, the K.S.D.S group met up with several who had formerly worked at the school. One former Shinshinit is now an Air Force Commander in the IDF and received special permission to give a tour of her base. Another showed Krieger’s 8th graders photos that she took when the students were in 3rd grade! Seeing Israel and knowing Israelis are two entirely different levels of connection! 

• 

  With the Bereaved. Another former Shinshin, Ayal Twitto, was killed in Gaza, and his father, Moti, is the athletic director at a school in Ashkelon. The Kreiger Schechter students paid a belated Shiva Call to Moti Twitto in his office and heard stories about his son. They also visited the grave of a friend of Phillip’s on Har Herzl. Hearing personal stories from loved ones creates indelible connections. 

• With the WZO, Cultural Exchange. Every year, Krieger Schechter’s 8th graders learn and perform a full-length musical in Hebrew. Through the World Zionist Organization’s Cultural Exchange, a theatre director comes from Israel to direct the play. Thanks to these connections, a theatre was secured and the students performed this year’s show, in Hebrew, in Jerusalem. Yizhar Hess, the Vice Chair of the WZO honored the students by attending the performance and later posting on Facebook. 

• With Krieger Schechter Alumni. In addition to Mr. Hess and his delegation from the WZO, most of the audience at the performance were connected to the school, including families who were temporarily in Baltimore, whether at Johns Hopkins or as diplomats, or as Shinshinim, who subsequently returned home to Israel. Schechter alumni popped up at other places as well. While visiting the grave of David Ben-Gurion, the Krieger Schechter students witnessed a swearing in ceremony of a group of soldiers. Lo and behold, one of the soldiers was a graduate of Krieger Schechter and now a lone soldier in Israel! There were many hugs and tears, and Krieger Schechter students who had never met Gabi suddenly felt like she was part of their family. 

• With Arab-Israelis. Their bus driver, Fawaz, is a secular Muslim who took them to Ein Rafah and to a Muslim village, where the students engaged with its residents. 

• With everyday Israelis. The 8th graders brought 400 letters and postcards, composed and hand-written by younger Krieger Schechter students in grades 4-7, with help from their Hebrew teachers. These carefully (and legibly!) written letters were distributed all along the way to Israelis. The letters expressed empathy, support, faith, and love to the citizens of Israel who have endured this horrific year. With the hand-off of each letter came a conversation, in Hebrew, smiles, and hugs. 

• With shop keepers, vendors, and restauranteurs. Since most tour groups and schools cancelled this year’s trips, everywhere the students went, people were thanking them for coming, and took the time to converse. These former strangers also told the children to thank their parents for being brave enough to send them on this trip. Which leads to the next connection… 

• With the parents of the Krieger Schechter 8th graders. It is no small thing to choose to allow one’s 8th grader to travel to Israel during an active war. The school asked parents for their trust, which meant something different this year than in other years. Trust was granted, and thank Gd, everyone returned to Baltimore, happy and healthy. 

“The whole trip was powerful. And beautiful. And organized,” shared Rabbi Schwartz. “But it was the ad hoc moments that you can’t plan for yet are the results of years and years of relationship-building between cities, between communal organizations, between families, and between individuals.” Connections that had been nurtured made all the difference. 

Rabbi Schwartz expressed his pride in Baltimore, Krieger Schechter Day School’s board, parents, teachers, and students for putting the school’s mission first, for rolling with the punches, and for making this successful and powerful trip to Israel a reality. “Ultimately, we are very proud to have been able to go, run a successful trip, and bring love and hugs and energy everywhere we went. And it was deeply impactful, on us, personally, and on our students. They are our future and they experienced Israel at this precarious moment, with love and with the depths of their neshamot.”  

Returning to her inscribed stone from Phillip, Lilach recalled his words to the students. “You’ll go home and throw this stone in a drawer and forget all about it. And someday, you’ll be making order out of your mess, and you’ll find this stone, and it will connect you to a flood of memories about this unique and special time in your life, and in the life of the nation and people of Israel.” 

The Pacific Northwest is a vast geographical region, with pockets of thriving Jewish life. Each of the twelve Jewish day schools and Yeshivot, located in the major cities of Oregon, Washington State, and Vancouver are distinctive. What works at one school might not apply at another school, yet all are working to strengthen their Hebrew language programs as members of Hebrew at the Center’s Cascadia Project, thanks to the wisdom and generosity of funders who appreciated the value of this community-wide Hebrew language initiative. Each of these twelve schools learn together at regional conferences, and then take home and apply what they have learned, as they see fit. Each pursues one-on-one coaching to deepen the facet of the Hebrew Language Competencies Framework that resonate for their school. Each has a unique story to tell.   

Earlier this year we shared stories from The Richmond Jewish Day School (Vancouver)  and Portland Jewish Academy. Today we shine the spotlight on the Seattle Hebrew Academy, aka SHA, and their journey to improve Hebrew reading skills. 

If you are an American of – ahem – a certain age, you will remember public service television commercials with the tag link, “Reading is Fundamental.” As it turns out, this is true in Hebrew just as much as in English. Creative ideas, personal choice, and project-based language learning can only take a student so far if they have not mastered the fundamentals of reading at a very young age. Thus concluded Rabbi Weiss, Director of Judaic Studies at SHA, an Orthodox yeshiva serving Early Childhood through 8th grade. Reading formed the starting point of Rabbi Weiss’ project to (re)build a 4-skills scope and sequence for Hebrew language, across the elementary and middle schools. By middle school, veteran teachers recognized that their students were no longer able to reach the goals that had been met by a previous generation of students, and it became clear to Rabbi Weiss that the reason was that too many students had not mastered Hebrew reading in the lower elementary grades. This, he believes, leads to wider and wider learning gaps as children matriculate from grade to grade.   

Rabbi Weiss understood that the necessary partner to “goal setting” is “assessment.” Goal setting and assessment sandwich curriculum and instruction. How else to know if you have met your short-term goals before moving on to the next short-term, incremental goal? Yet in Jewish day schools and yeshivot, with dual curriculum and such limited time, curriculum and instruction often take place in the absence of either goal setting or assessment.  

SHA does value the importance of assessment and had long been using its own, home-grown benchmarks for Kriyah in grades K-5. They recently moved to using MaDYK, an early reading assessment designed to quickly and easily assess and monitor individual students’ Hebrew reading skills, developed by Dr. Scott Goldberg, professor at the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education at Yeshiva University in New York City. Once students’ reading was assessed with MaDYK and teachers began learning what the implication of the results SHA decided to pilot EVEN KRIYAH, Dr. Goldberg’s approach to teaching reading, with a strong emphasis on phonemic awareness. Rabbi Weiss has seen significant growth in grades K and 1 as a result. One of the next steps on the Hebrew teachers’ professional learning journey will be for lower school Hebrew teachers and reading specialists at SHA to be trained in the Orton-Gillingham method of Hebrew reading and decoding to be able to better serve students with learning challenges.   

However, significant growth can only be achieved through effort, and effort requires many ingredients, including motivation and time to practice. To meet the goals for improved Hebrew reading, the parents at SHA had to be brought on board, which Rabbi Weiss and the teachers did by (re)introducing at-home daily reading in Hebrew. For quite a few years, this was not part of the culture of the school, as over the years there was a move away from Hebrew reading homework.  To meet their revitalized goals, this cultural norm had to change.   

Today, the SHA Kriyah Program begins with 5 minutes of at-home reading in the lower grades and increases in the upper grades. Five years ago, when the SHA Kriyah Program was rolled out, prizes were awarded as incentives. Once the real gains were recognized by students and parents, the prizes were no longer necessary. Success became its own reward. Reading became fundamental.  

The SHA parents support the program. Students are reading at home. Some teachers have students use Google Voice to record themselves while reading at home, while other teachers prefer having parents sign a reading log. No matter the method, oral Hebrew reading at home is a fundamental part of the teacher-student-parent partnership and SHA culture of rigor and excellence. With that cultural shift in place and on course, Rabbi Weiss and his team continues their work on building the K-8, 4-skill scope and sequence with all its complexities with the support of Hebrew at the Center. Hebrew at the Center is proud of the achievements at the Seattle Hebrew Academy and looks forward to continuing this journey in 5785 during Year Two of the Cascadia Project.