Where do we draw the line between teaching Hebrew language and teaching content IN the Hebrew language? 

For many legacy Jewish day schools, there is a long, proud history of teaching Judaic Studies in Hebrew – Ivrit B’Ivrit.  Jewish schools aspire for students to gain fluency in Hebrew, but not at the expense of core subjects such as science, math, and history, which are taught in English or the home language of the country. And so, as a way of increasing exposure to Hebrew language the subjects that have traditionally been taught B’Ivrit have been in Judaic Studies. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer schools can still claim to teach Ivrit B’Ivrit. 

Over the decades, it has been observed that fewer and fewer teachers are entering the profession who are capable of teaching both high level Judaic Studies AND Ivrit. This erosion has been slow but steady. Gap year yeshivas and midrashas have de-emphasized Hebrew as the spoken language of instruction, and Hebrew language requirements have been cut or scaled back at schools of higher education. On the flip side, Limudei Kodesh in Israeli secular public schools has lost its luster, so younger, native Hebrew-speaking teachers often lack the deep content knowledge to teach Judaic Studies. As a result, over time, it has become the norm that in Judaic Studies classes, the texts studied are in Hebrew (and Aramaic) but the teachers’ lessons and interactive conversations are conducted in English.  

What would it look like to explore this conundrum with Hebrew teachers and Jewish Studies teachers together? How can day schools support their Judaic Studies faculty so that more instruction can be delivered in Hebrew, to students from a wide range of Hebrew language backgrounds? Recently Hebrew at the Center, in collaboration with the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in New Jersey, explored ways of bridging the gap and moving the language of instruction in middle school Judaic Studies classes back to Hebrew. 

On September 25, 2024, Hebrew at the Center offered an experimental joint workshop for the Hebrew and Jewish Studies teachers at the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy called “Making Sacred Texts Accessible to All Learners – B’Ivrit.” Led by Dr. Esty Gross, Chief of Staff and Director of Education at Hebrew at the Center, and designed in collaboration with Mrs. Debbie Finkelstein, Kushner’s Dean of Faculty and Instruction, this workshop was offered via Zoom for all Hebrew AND Jewish Studies teachers at Kushner Academy. The workshop was also opened for teachers in grades 5-8 from other yeshivot and day schools. The text selected by Kushner was from Sefer Shemot, Parashat Mishpatim, 12:1-12, some of the most challenging verses that Judaic studies teachers and students grapple with. 

Dr. Gross led the workshop in Hebrew and shared extensive, written lesson plans and supplemental materials, also in Hebrew. While most of Kushner’s Jewish Studies teachers were perfectly comfortable listening to and following the lesson in Hebrew, a few struggled to quickly read through the materials in Hebrew in the limited time allotted. Members of the Hebrew department jumped in to help their colleagues from the Judaic Studies department. According to Debbie, “this workshop was wonderful. Dr. Gross was so exquisitely prepared and built this workshop around a text our teachers and students struggle with. She opened the door for more cross-department collaboration in the future, and the teachers are now much more motivated to co-plan.”  

When asked what Kushner’s Hebrew language teachers got out of this legal, TaNaCH-based workshop, Debbie responded, “The Hebrew teachers saw themselves as an important resource, and this was very validating. As a faculty, we felt like we were speaking the same language, and this time, that language was Hebrew.” 

Hebrew at the Center thanks the Judaic and Hebrew Studies faculty from the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy for being our thought partners on this project. We welcome future collaborations with Yeshivot and day schools as we advocate for Hebrew as a more prominent and intentional feature of Jewish life. 

The Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy a Zionist Modern Orthodox Gan through 12^th Grade Yeshiva in Rockville, Maryland, has been considering administering AVANT Assessments for a long time, at least 7 or 8 years. It has been a long journey, and this is the year that Berman will finally get on AVANT boat and sail. Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy is a pioneer, the first Modern Orthodox school to have their students’ Hebrew language skills assessed through an ACTFL-based instrument so let’s wish them B’Hatchlacha Rabba. Given the centrality of Hebrew language to the mission of Zionist Orthodox schools, it is anticipated that other schools will follow Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy’s lead.

Avant STAMP for Hebrew is a general language proficiency assessment of Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking skills in Hebrew. Developed in collaboration with Hebrew at the Center, AVANT STAMP for Hebrew was originally designed for Jewish Day Schools and heritage learners. Today, Hebrew second-language learners also benefit from this proficiency test.

Member School Highlight met with Mrs. Rene Isser, Hebrew Language Department Chair at Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy to learn about their reasons for wanting to assess all Hebrew language learners and why is it finally happening in the 5785 academic year. Here are excerpts from the interview, in Rene’s own words:

Anecdotally we know we have a successful Hebrew program. We hear it from Berman Hebrew Academy alumni who go to Israel to study for a year after high school. When they come back, they tell us that although they didn’t think they knew enough Hebrew, they were placed in the highest Ulpan level or in the highest Shiur level of their Yeshiva. After they’ve graduated from High School at Berman, they look back and are proud of what they’ve achieved.

We hear these remarks after the fact, and it brings us great pride, but for many years parents have asked, “How do we know that our children are progressing the way you say they are progressing? How are they really doing?” Until this academic year we have had no real data points except for their placement tests for Bishvil HaIvrit, administered as students move from elementary to middle school.

Melvin J. Berman uses the Bishvil HaIvrit curriculum, published by CET, for our middle and high school Hebrew curriculum, and we are happy with it. For those students who complete the advanced units, we offer 11^th and 12^th graders a choice of either “Honors Hebrew Literature” or a Kolel/Midrasha program taught in Hebrew by a rebbe from Kolel MiTzion in Israel.

We do, however, want to make sure our students are doing as well as we think they are doing and tweak our curriculum here and there, as necessary, to fill any gaps in students’ language skills.

When Rabbi Dr. Hillel Broder came on last year as Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy’s new Head of School, he already knew from his predecessor that implementing AVANT Assessment was an action item on the school’s plan. In our very first meeting, I told Rabbi Broder that there are two things that I want to do: the first is to have our Gan be a Hebrew language immersion program. The second is to implement AVANT Assessment, so that we could finally give our parents answers to their questions and data on their students’ standing, support for our teachers in the areas where our students do not perform as well as they could, and the opportunity for our students to earn the Global Seal of Biliteracy. I told our new head of school that “we just need to find a way to get on this boat and sail with it, and I don’t know how to do it on my own, and I really need your support.”

As a new Head of School coming in, Rabbi Broder really embraced this. He helped me and supported me, knowing that we were taking a risk. We do not know how our students will perform, but we need this data so that we’ll know what to tweak. By becoming Members at Hebrew at the Center, we save 50% on the cost of each assessment, per student, which brings the cost within reach. Our Executive Director, Mr. Shmarya Gasner, was able to procure a grant that will cover a good part of the expense of the testing. So here we are. It is finally happening!

Based on the advice of Dr. Esty Gross, Hebrew at the Center’s Chief of Staff and Director of Education, we’ll be testing students in 4^th, 10^th, and 11^th grades. Beyond Membership, we have also contracted with Hebrew at the Center to analyze our students’ results, which will give us the means to share and present the data with parents, teachers, and the board, and will also give us direction for adjusting our curriculum for even better results in the future. This is one of the reasons we are assessing high school students in both 10^th and 11^th grades. This year’s 10^th graders will be retested next year, and we’ll be able to measure the impact of our curricular and methodological tweaks. This also gives students who did not achieve the Global Seal of Biliteracy at the functional level in 10^th grade another chance – and the motivation – to stretch themselves and achieve the Seal in 11^th grade. Likewise, it gives students who achieved functional fluency in 10^th grade the motivation to work hard and achieve working fluency in 11^th grade. I anticipate that this external measure will increase students’ drive for excellence.

Our students have a very strong reputation for their preparedness in Hebrew and it is something that makes Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy’s administration, teachers and me very proud. If our students do well enough on the AVANT Assessment to earn the Global Seal of Biliteracy, and if they can get college credit or fulfill their college Global language requirement, it will be another feather in their caps, and they will have earned it.

For more information on administering the AVANT STAMP in Hebrew, contact Sheila Bong at AVANT Assessment.

For more information on Membership at Hebrew at the Center, including discounts for assessments, contact Dr. Cindy Dolgin, Director of Membership and Data.

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. 

Never in the history of the Modern State of Israel have Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut been so fraught as this year. How to commemorate and then celebrate when never have so many civilians lost their lives to terrorism, nor have so many soldiers been lost in the fight against terrorism? Many Hebrew leaders and teachers participated in Hebrew at the Center webinars and online Mifgashim to discuss how to mark these “holidays” this year as “unprecedented Holy Days.” This week’s Member School Highlight describes how the Luria Academy of Brooklyn leaned in to these two days, and specifically, to the twilight of transition from commemoration of remembrance to the celebration of independent statehood. 

We begin at the twilight between the end of Yom HaZikaron and the start of Yom HaAtzmaut. 

Luria Academy’s administration decided to have their middle school Tekes (טקס or “ceremony”) in the evening, enabling working parents to be in attendance. Over 150 members of the Brooklyn community came to participate. This is no small matter for the Luria community, a progressive Jewish day school in a progressive neighborhood in Brooklyn, whose focus has long been on seeking peace, and whose families by and large are strong supporters of equal rights for all. Like all Jewish communities, the events of October 7th, 2023 and its aftermath, have shaken this community to the core, but for this community in particular, shards of hope for peace needed to be at the forefront of any communal commemoration and celebration. 

Preparations for the post Pesach ימים קדושים began far in advance.  

An arts educator, Ellen Alt, was brought in to do a professional development program for the full faculty, on how to release their feelings about the tragic day of October 7th through creating a work of art. This was a powerful experience for the Luria educators which included viewing works of art created by Israeli artists. It also prepared the 6th through 8th grade teachers to replicate and facilitate a similar visual art experience for their students. 

At the Tekes, the resulting student art was on display in the school’s Beit Midrash and guests did a gallery walk to take in the work by the Luria Middle School artists.  

Between readings, each grade sang a song that they had learned for the Tekes, from a new repertoire of Hebrew music that has recently been composed, turning prose and poetry left behind by soldiers who have fallen in Israel’s wars. This collection is called עוד מעט נהפוך לשיר, or in English “Soon we will turn into a Song.” Various well-known Israeli musicians were each given a piece of writing left behind in letters and journals of different fallen soldiers to turn into a song. This includes Idan Reichel’s אמא, אבא, וכל השאר. (“Mommy, Daddy, and all the rest”). In preparing for the ceremony, each class learned the key vocabulary of their song as well as the overall spirit or meaning of the lyrics. Though all the words were written by fallen soldiers during their active duty in Israel’s military, all were “hope oriented” for a peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Though the musically enriched ceremony lasted 90 minutes, all remained riveted. 

Following the Tekes, the transition from remembrance to celebration took the form of Israeli food and music. 

The day of Yom HaAtzmaut at Luria Academy of Brooklyn was similar to past years, with fun stations highlighting the best of Israel. One activity was added this year, specifically linked to the events of October 7th. Fourth through Eighth grade students took a part in an initiative organized by The Jewish Agency For Israel (JAFI) in honor of the עפיפוניאדה, a Kite Festival held every October in Kfar Aza, Israel for the past four decades. The purpose of the annual Kite Festival is to promote peaceful connections between the south of Israel עוטף עזה and the Gaza strip. Ironically, this year’s event, scheduled for October 7, 2023, did not take place. Instead, on that very day, members of the Kotz family, the organizers of the Kite Festival and residents of Kfar Aza, were killed in their home.  

In its reconstituted format, now known as “Kites for Freedom,” the kites represent the Bring them Home Now movement. Each student decorated their hand-made kite with a message of Peace and Hope that they composed in Hebrew and in English. Sadly, it was not deemed safe to run through Prospect Park with Hebrew inscribed kites. Yet while running and flying their own hand-created kites along the Brooklyn streets surrounding their school, the children of Luria Academy processed and released at least some of the tension that has been a constant presence since that black day in October. 

At The Brandeis School of San Francisco Students have the choice to continue their Hebrew language studies or switch to Spanish when they enter 6th grade.  

The numbers of self-selected Hebrew students remain strong, thanks to the influence of smaller groups and accelerated progress of those who decide to continue learning Hebrew. However, developing close relationships with the Shinshinim is a major motivating factor for continuing to study Hebrew in Middle School. 

Shinshinim are 18-year-old Israeli emissaries that come to communities in America to spread knowledge and love for Israel. According to Debby Arzt-Mor, Director of Jewish Learning at The Brandeis School, the Shinshinim bring Ruach, lots of games, up-to-date Israeli music, and enthusiasm for both Israel and for Hebrew language. The selection process in Israeli high schools to become a Shinshin is highly competitive, and is cannot be overstated that Israel’s best and brightest high school graduates are taking a gap year before beginning their army service to serve in Jewish communities. Inspiring Shinshinim increase motivation as they bring Modern Hebrew language to life, throughout the K-8 school, “making Hebrew cool.”   

Over the past few years, a strategic decision was implemented to focus a major part of Brandeis’ Shininims’ time to support the work of the 5th, 6th, 7th. and 8th grade Hebrew classes. This has resulted in greater interest among 5th graders to continue their formal study of Hebrew when they move into 6th grade.   

Shinshinim are not trained teachers, however they prepare and run a wide range of Israel and holiday related programs. They function as “intern teachers” and interact with students during formal and informal learning times, such as assemblies, arrivals, recess, and aftercare. The Shinshinim that work at the Brandeis School are highly motivated to “teach” Hebrew throughout the school, as they see and feel how their leadership impacts student motivation. 

This year The Brandeis School has had one full-time and one part-time Shinshinit, Lia and Avya. Both Shinshiniyot work with 4 Hebrew teachers as well as with Debby, infusing the spirit of Israel throughout the school. The Middle School Hebrew teachers work with the shiniyot an average of 3 times a week, in the different classes and most teachers spend some of their prep time mentoring the Shinshinim, working with them on their ideas, and helping them adapt their ideas to a language class environment. By way of example: the Shinishinim don’t just get to teach a new, trendy Israeli song. They learn to give context, teach vocabulary, and help students integrate the new vocabulary into their own receptive and productive language skills.   

When this academic year ends and Lia and Avia return to Israel to begin their army service, they will be able to apply their new skills to their service. No doubt they will employ some recently acquired teaching skills from their year as a Shinshiniyot at The Brandeis School of San Francisco. 

For more information on effective utilization of Shinshinim in Hebrew ool classrooms, contact Debby Arzt-Mor at darzt-mor@sfbrandeis.org. Click HERE or more information on bringing Shinshinim to your school and community. 

Music quite naturally stands at the core of learning at the Jewish day school in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee. After all, the city of Memphis is anchored by “Graceland,” the legendary home of Elvis Presley, of blessed memory, arguably one of the greatest American songwriters, singers, and performers of all time. The Bornblum Jewish Community Day School is nourished by both Israel’s and Tennessee’s deep wells of lyrical and liturgical inspiration.  

Since Israel was brutally attacked by Hamas on October 7th, many new Israeli songs of inspiration, determination, mourning, and hope have been written and recorded. As fast as Israeli radio stations get new songs out to the public, Bornblum’s Hebrew faculty members integrate the new music into the teaching of Hebrew, particularly in the Middle School.  Member School Highlight sat down with Michal Almalem, Bornblum’s Judaic Studies Principal and the Hebrew teachers, Rinat Kremer, Sapir Pinto, and Maya Sharabi, to learn how Israeli music is utilized to build Hebrew language and Israeli cultural proficiency, as well as strengthen Jewish identity. MSH wanted to know more about how learning emerging Israeli music over the past 6 months has benefited the teaching of Hebrew language and touched Bornblum’s students, their parents, the wider Memphis community, and even the Israeli community of Memphis’ sister city, Shoham. 

Whereas instinct guides many good Hebrew teachers to believe that learning the Hebrew words and the beautiful melodies of Israeli music will bring students closer to Israel, and that learning some of the vocabulary will bring them even closer, the Hebrew teachers at Bornblum were able to add grammatical constructs, sentence composition, and perfecting multiple drafts for deeper student learning. As first-year Members of Hebrew at the Center, they requested of their coach, Nili Pinhasi, to help the teachers connect the teaching of Israeli songs, in Hebrew, to ACTFL’s standards for second language acquisition. Once these techniques were applied to the first song, the teachers became increasingly adept at teaching Hebrew language and Israeli culture through music. 

In middle school, Rinat, Sapir, and Michal first play the music, then pull out vocabulary words that are already familiar, then add some new Hebrew vocabulary. Students then orally express and write in simple Hebrew their understanding of the meaning of the song, all while listening to the song again and again. Then the teachers introduce and teach one or two new grammatical structures that appear in the song. The next step is for the students to translate the song from its original Hebrew to English. At this point, students go back to their first Hebrew draft of the meaning of the school and improve upon it, writing a brief description of the song in English, to share with non-Hebrew speaking audiences. 

Emergent Israeli music has been incorporated into daily prayer and into community-wide Kabbalot Shabbat at Bornblum, attended by parents and grandparents. Before a song is sung at Kabbalat Shabbat, one or more of the middle school children make a short presentation, in English, about the origins and meaning of the song. The songs taught this year include: 

• Yeish Lochamim (יש לוחמים) 
• Im Machar Ani Meit (אם מחר אני מת) 
• Giborai Al – (גיבורי על) by HaTikva 6, full of Hebrew vocabulary about different professions that the students already knew. 
• Hai – the original version by Ofra Hazzah, compared and contrasted with the remix by Noa Kirel. 
• LaTzeit MeiDika’on (לצאת מדיקאון) 

After one Kabbalat Shabbat, the song LaTzeit MeiDika’on (לצאת מדיקאון) organically became something of a schoolwide anthem, together with the video clips of soldiers coming back to their families after long stints in Gaza. The students were then challenged: the first student to memorize the entire first verse would get to sing it the following week as a solo. By the following week, the entire school had learned the chorus and one student sang the first verse as a solo. Today, every student at Bornblum can sing the entire first verse. In March, when visitors came to Memphis from their twin city of Shoham, they were invited to hear the Bornblum students sing this song and were overcome with emotion to hear these American children singing this song. 

At another Kabbalat Shabbat assembly, there was a display of ceramic hearts, created by the students, engraved with the names of each of the hostages, with a red balloon attached to each heart. When over 100 hostages returned home, each ceramic heart was given to the freed captive, creating a powerful and meaningful bond. The distribution of the hearts to returning hostages were coordinated through Bornblum’s “sister school” in Shoham. 

The war has tightened ties between Soham’s and Bornblum’s middle school students, who have been paired up as WhatsApp buddies. To practice correct writing skills, the Bornblum students write in Hebrew and the Shoham students write back in English. They also make voice recordings to send back and forth, recording, blushing, erasing, and recording again, until their messages meet their own expectations of what is acceptable to send. When the Bornblum 8th graders travel to Israel in May, they will spend 2 full days with their friends in Shoham. 

Maya Sharabi is the only member of the Hebrew department who does not teach in the middle school. As an early learning specialist, she wants her 1st and 2nd grade students to experience the emotions of the war through music without scaring them. She returned to a classic Israeli childrens’ song, “Eretz Yisrael Sheli.” While teaching the vocabulary, grammatical structures, and music of this Hebrew song, she focused on the educational messages, including the need to rebuild, repave, and replant what was destroyed by Hamas in Israel, and that our brothers and sisters in Israel do these things with love and filled with hope for the future. 

Much of what Bornblum’s Hebrew teachers undertook would have happened whether they were Hebrew at the Center members or not. Their faculty is dedicated and strong, their relationship with the city of Shoham is well-established, and music is deep in the souls of every resident of Elvis’ hometown, Memphis, Tennessee. However, learning and incorporating the ACTFL scale and mindfully teaching Hebrew through authentic Israeli cultural materials has given the teachers a professional framework upon which to turn this terrible moment in Israeli history into specific growth opportunities in Hebrew language acquisition. 

Close your eyes and imagine being a child in the middle of a desert, growing up and being educated in an oasis of Jewish joy. What picture comes to mind?

Your imagination may have taken you to one of many communities in Israel. Or, it may have taken you to the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Educational Campus, a community day school in Las Vegas, Nevada, where close to 700 children from age 18 months to 18 years, of diverse backgrounds, receive a world-class education in General and Judaic Studies, in English and in Hebrew.

Hebrew at the Center’s Member School Highlight sat down with the Head of School, Alli Abrahamson, and the lower school’s Hebrew leader, Dina Rudaizky, to learn about their focused efforts to strengthen the Hebrew language program at their oasis known as the Adelson Campus

Knowing that their community wished to take a comprehensive approach to growing Hebrew language learning at the Adelson Campus, their multi-year partnership with Hebrew at the Center began in the spring of 2023. In turning to Hebrew at the Center, their goal was to establish Adelson Campus’ own K-5 scope and sequence, based on the ACTFL standards for teaching of foreign languages, which would lead their students to balanced competency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Luckily, they already had on board excellent teachers who were open to learning, and who are appreciative that the school was willing to invest in their professional growth as teachers of Hebrew language.

Now close your eyes again and imagine building a house in that desert. You’d first need to envision the house and how it fits into the unique landscape. Then you’d need to develop an architectural plan. Only then could you design the spaces within the house, such as kitchens, bedrooms, and bathrooms, created by utilizing commercially available components, such as cabinets, lighting, and furnishings.

The process of restructuring Adelson Campus’ Hebrew program began with coming together to develop a bold yet realistic vision for Hebrew language at this particular school, in this particular place. Then came the creation the “architectural plans,” what we call “scope and sequence,” before undertaking the design of rooms, what we call instructional units, utilizing commercially available components, otherwise known as published curriculum.

Throughout the summer of 2023, Dina Rudaitsky worked with her coach, a senior educator from Hebrew at the Center, to developed Adelson Campus’ scope and sequence for the lower school, the architectural plans of education. The next step, beginning in the fall of 2023, was designing each “room,” or instructional unit. For this phase, all lower school Hebrew teachers received coaching from a Hebrew at the Center coach to develop a complete unit plan for their own grade level, including all aspects of language instruction – reading, writing, listening, and speaking – as well as formative and summative assessment of student learning. Adelson Campus’ teacher-developed units incorporate commercially available curricular materials from Nifla’ot (Matach) and Haverim B’Ivrit, and are assembled to align with the blueprint, that is, Adelson Campus’ unique scope and sequence. The plan is that after being carefully coached through the first unit, Hebrew teachers will become more independent in developing subsequent units of instruction.

Thanks to having received Adelson Campus’ unique scope and sequence, teachers know the details of what students need to learn and achieve over time. They can utilize the published materials as components to reach their iterative goals, not just teach what comes next in the textbook series.

Adelson Campus’ reimagined Hebrew language program is a work in progress. They are, after all, a campus, not a house. As a nursery through 12th grade school, there are many more houses to build in this desert landscape. If all goes as planned, in a few years, when you close your eyes and imagine that oasis of Jewish joy in the middle of the desert, it will be much harder to discern if that oasis is in Israel or in Nevada.

Denver Jewish Day School has a long and proud history as a member of Hebrew at the Center. Over the years, the status of both Hebrew language and the Hebrew teaching faculty have risen in stature in this K-12 community day school in the Mile-High City. Today, secular and Hebrew language studies flourish together, on equal footing, side-by-side but also intertwined, most notably through PBL units, meaning Project Based Learning or Project Based Learning. Either way, PBL is a student-centered pedagogy that involves a dynamic classroom approach in which it is believed that students acquire deeper knowledge through active exploration of areas of personal interest or real-world challenges and problems. PBL units involve the whole self and culminate in written and oral presentations and/or exhibitions, in which students can share their expertise and answer clarifying and probing questions, in real time, from members of their audience. Denver JDS is renowned among Jewish schools for their commitment to bilingual PBL units. 

Member School Highlights sat down with the lower school principal, Elana Shapiro, the lower school Hebrew Coordinator, Ravit Eldar, and the 2nd and 3rd grade Hebrew teacher, Elena Shtutman, to learn how Hebrew language instruction at Denver Jewish Day School continues to evolve and why PBL is such a source of true joy for students and faculty alike. 

Years back Denver Jewish Day School made the pioneering decision to invest serious thought, time, and funding for a customized, multi-year PD program for their Hebrew language staff through Hebrew at the Center. They went “all in” with the equivalent to what is now referred to as “Package 3: Best Recommended Value Package.” Around this time, Elana Shapiro became the elementary school principal and the lower division Hebrew Coordinator, Ravit Eldar, set out to earn a master’s degree in Hebrew language instruction at Middlebury College. Such intensive professional development led to significantly increased expertise in Hebrew language teaching and learning for the entire lower school Hebrew faculty. Maintaining basic membership, year after year, which includes some one-on-one coaching hours with their long-time and beloved HATC coach, Hamutal Keinan allows the Hebrew faculty to continue to refresh, renew, and sharpen their knowledge at a reasonable cost. 

Once the intensive work of professionalizing Hebrew teaching and learning at Denver JDS was well underway, interest and enthusiasm grew among secular studies teachers and subject specialists to collaborate with their Hebrew language partners in planning PBL units. As principal, Elana Shapiro was deeply committed to PBL, but she also gave the Hebrew and secular studies teachers agency in figuring out what concepts and topics would work well as bilingual units. Elana gave the teachers the gift of time, as she reorganized the daily schedule so that English and Hebrew teachers would have simultaneous prep periods. Teachers’ good intentions are worthless if there is no time to collaborate to create PBL units, and Elana made it happen. Currently, there are between two and three PBL units per grade, some that emanate from secular studies, and others from Judaic and Israel Studies. Examples of Judaic and Israel studies based PBL units are the Siddur Celebration in second grade, the Jerusalem Project in 3rd grade, Israeli Communities in 4th grade, and Israeli Inventions in 5th grade. 

As an example of a PBL that originated in the English language arts curriculum, Elena describes the second grade’s “Monsters Project,” a fruitful collaboration between the English and Hebrew teachers, and an imaginative and enjoyable leap forward in the writing and oral presentation skills of seven-year-olds. In their minds, and while workshopping ideas with their peers, each student created their imaginary monster and then developed their monster into a well-rounded, believable being: physically, emotionally, and cognitively. Each monster would have a personality, demeanor, look, likes, dislikes, moods, favorite foods, and hobbies. The vocabulary needed to develop their monsters was based on the daily conversations conducted in Hebrew class beginning in kindergarten, in which students described themselves in Hebrew and listened to their classmates’ self-descriptions. Through the Monster Project, students moved from first-person to third-person, and in dozens of creative ways from describing people to narrating the life of monsters. By unleashing their imaginations, learning more and more Hebrew vocabulary became an absolute necessity. How else could the students’ monsters become fantastical? 

Students conducted consultations with their peers and their teacher. Rough drafts were improved upon until the final version of their monsters’ descriptions were ready to be presented at exhibition, requiring artistic, written, and oral skills, as well as strong reading and aural skills to learn about their friends’ monsters. In other words, through imagining and expressing crazy, angry, and silly monsters, all four Hebrew language skill sets – listening, speaking, writing, and reading – grew stronger and stronger, side by side, in collaboration, but not in competition with English language skills. In fact, Elena Shtutman made very clear that students were NOT to translate their English writing, rather she encouraged her students to include different details in their Hebrew presentation. 

Topic-wise, next up for the second graders at the Denver Jewish Day School is a PBL unit on animals, which will rely more on reading-based research and less on imagination. It will require re-using the Hebrew and English vocabulary that children developed through the Monster Project, while also requiring the acquisition of new terminology. After all, just like monsters, animals have personalities, demeanors, likes, dislikes, and looks, but they also have habitats, ecosystems, and the need for healthy diets. Inevitably, fewer animals than monsters will be purple, pink, and green, but the students’ thinking, reasoning, vocabularies, writing, and speaking will continue to grow…bilingually. 

As part of Denver JDS’s ongoing PD through Hebrew at the Center, this year’s coaching hours with Hamutal Keinan are focused on building a scope and sequence for Hebrew grammar. Inevitably, future PBL units will include an increased focus on building written and spoken grammar skills. The students will not even notice. They will just think they are creating fantastical monsters! 

To learn more about effective interdisciplinary PBL’s, contact Elana Shapiro, Lower School Principal, or Ravit Eldar, Lower School Hebrew Coordinator at Denver Jewish Day School. To learn more about one-on-one coaching, professional development, and the benefits of membership at Hebrew at the Center, contact Dr. Cindy Dolgin.