In the Classroom with Herzog Global

Herzog Global is dedicating its Jewish Educator's Day on Monday, July 28th, to the issue of Teacher Standing in the Classroom. We're going to talk with and learn from experts about different ways to address and think about Teacher Standing - and begin the conversation about how to raise the stature, standing and attitude towards our teachers. As we prepare for the Jewish Educators’ Day, I wanted to get a birds-eye perspective on the issue from an experienced educator in the field. So I turned to Rabbi Daniel Alter, Head of School at the Moriah School in Englewood, New Jersey. 

Judaic studies Teachers often struggle to introduce innovative pedagogical techniques into their kodesh teaching. How do we bring cutting edge teaching into limmudei kodesh - which contains ancient, timeless wisdom? That’s why I’m so glad to share with you my conversation with Ariela Falack. Ariela is a long-time Judaic studies teacher, and I was so taken by her sense of confidence not only in her teaching techniques, but in her students’ ability to take ownership of their Judaic learning. She also shares a number of creative techniques that she brought into her Halachah curriculum to make her students’ Jewis learning more meaningful to them and their lives. 

As Jewish educators, we don’t want our students to simply learn knowledge - as important as that is. Rather, we want them to internalize the values that underlie the Jewish learning that they’re doing in the classroom. This is one of the important goals of the Lifnai V’lifnim program that has been brought to the Diaspora through the initiative of Rabbi Yehuda Chanales. Lifnai Vlifnim programs develop the spiritual inner world of students and adults, deepening connection by transforming relationships. We spoke with Rabbi Chanalesabout how Lifnai Vlifnim gives teachers tools to develop relationships of trust among themselves, and then give those tools that they have learned to their students.

How do our students read the Tanakh? Do we treat it like a text we want our students to read, connect with, and really warm up to? When we come to the Torah and the Tanakh - the book given to us from God - can we imagine our students having a similar relationship with the holiest book in our tradition? Do they have the skills to even read the books of the Tanakh in this way? This is what Amira Soleimani is working to give not only to her students in Southeastern Michigan, but to the students of any of the teachers who use her teaching methodology, which she calls Tanakh Sadna. Amira Soleimani currently serves as the Director of Judaic Studies Curriculum and Instruction at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit. You can learn all about Tanach Sadna at https://tanachsadna.com/

Elementary schools must balance the desire to keep children engaged and involved with the war in Israel, with the need to protect our children, especially younger children, from emotional and psychological stress. In this episode we speak with Rabbi Yaakov Singer, Head of Kodesh at the Independent Jewish Day School in Hendon, London, about his educational vision and how he connects his students to what’s happening in Israel in a gentle but meaningful manner.

Before she moved to Denver to teach at the Denver Academy of Torah last year, Gabi Gelman taught at the Robert M. Beren Academy for 17 years, where she taught Middle and High School Tanakh and also taught Kindergarten Judaics. Gabi earned her M.A. in Jewish Studies from Siegal College and her B.A. in Judaic Studies from Yeshiva University, and was an Ayeka Lead Educator as well as a Matan Bellows Eshkolot Fellow.  We spoke with Gabi in the days immediately following the rally for Israel in Washington DC, which she attended together with some of her students. You’ll hear her energy and excitement speaking about her experiences, but also the challenges of bringing her experiences back to students who could not travel across the country. This of course raises the broader challenge of relating the current war in Israel. As the fighting continues, how do teachers find a balance between their regular curriculum, while trying to keep their students aware and invested in what’s happening in Israel?

For our very first episode, I spoke with Rabbi Pesach Sommer. I reached out to Rav Pesach not only because he loves teaching Mishnah, as I do - but also because of his focus on teaching spirituality and godliness inside the classroom.   Rabbi Sommer, a veteran educator for more than 20 years, is a member of the Judaic Studies faculty, and the Coordinator of Spiritual Development at the Ramaz Middle School in Manhattan.