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From the Desk of Lynn Raviv, RAVSAK President
Chaverim, Shalom!
Imagine yourself at a juncture
where you have to make critical
decisions. How do you feel? What
do you think about? Do you find
these moments to be stimulating?
Anxiety producing? A little bit of
both? Most of us are ambivalent
about decision making, even
though it may be at the heart of our
work.
We raise the professional status of
our member schools and in doing
so, work to ensure that community
day schools, new and long established, are able to meet the pressures and high standards placed
upon them by their local communities. RAVSAK supports and sustains
the leaders who support and sustain
our schools.
There are four behavioral responses to decision making: the
avoiding (little thinking and little
action); the impulsive (little thinking and swift action); the unresolved decision maker (much
thinking and little action); and, the
balanced decision maker
(appropriate thinking and reasoned
action).
To meet this challenge, the Executive Committee meets twice a year,
once at the annual conference and
once in the summer. In addition,
monthly conference calls are convened during the year to continue
our work. Through these meetings
and calls, we are able to plan highly
successful conferences like the one
this past January in Tampa while we
carry forth our ambitious mission to
serve all member schools.
I make these points to reflect on
the strength of the executive committee of RAVSAK. Our Executive Director’s vision is such that
we are constantly being asked to
consider tremendous leaps to move
our dynamic organization ahead.
And these decisions are made after
much “appropriate thinking” that
result in “reasoned action.”
RAVSAK offers members many
other opportunities such as our national school directory, our website
with its virtual networks for Heads
of Schools, Judaic Studies Directors,
Business Directors, and Lay Leaders, this newsletter, a resource for
attracting outstanding professional
staff, consulting, resources and inTo quote our Vision Statement: As formation on school management
the challenge to achieve and main- issues, Hebrew and Judaic curricula,
tain academic excellence and insti- professional development, Jewish
tutional viability has grown, so too, and general education issues, school
has the work of RAVSAK. We pro- policies, bylaws, and more.
vide guidance, resources, professional and lay development, and The newly announced RAVSAK
overall support to Jewish day Head of School Judaic Enrichment
schools uniquely committed to Program, an AVI CHAI Foundation
K'lal Yisrael in pluralistic settings.
funded partnership with JSkyway
and the Florence Melton Adult
Mini School, is emblematic of the
important work RAVSAK is doing.
The process that led to the successful achievement of this grant was
the result of balanced decisionmaking by our Executive Committee, over a period of many months,
involving “appropriate thinking”
that resulted in “reasoned action.”
I am deeply indebted to this strong
group of RAVSAK professionals
for the time, energy and wisdom
they expend in the growth and development of our organization, the
largest and fastest growing day
school movement outside the Orthodox world. Todah Rabbah to:
Executive Director, Dr. Marc N.
Kramer; Bathea James, Vice President; Judy Miller, Second Vice
President; Esther Feuerberg, Treasurer; Susan Koss, Secretary; Dr.
Zena Sulkes, Past President; Rabbi
Ellen Bernhardt, Northeast Regional Outreach Coordinator;
Simone Soltan, Southest Regional
Outreach Coordinator; Dean Goldfein, Western Regional Outreach
Coordinator;
Tzivia Garfinkel,
Midwest Outreach Chair; and
Marla Rottenstreich, Project Coordinator.
F
Lynn Raviv is President of
RAVSAK and Head of School at the
N.E. Miles Jewish Day School in
Birmingham, AL.
Welcome New Members!
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Watch us grow!
2004 RAVSAK Annual Leadership
Conference a Huge Success
It was my honor and pleasure to host this year’s RAVSAK conference in Tampa, Florida. Yesher Koach to all of
the Executive Committee members who worked tirelessly over many months to make this gathering a great success!
We kicked off the conference on Sunday with an Israel Fair that featured wonderful clothing, jewelry, books, art and
Judaica. The entire Tampa Jewish community was invited and it was great to see the families mixing with our Conference participants perusing the displays at the fair. With nearly 1,000 members of the local community in attendance, this was a wonderful gift from RAVSAK to Tampa.
This was our largest Conference in the history of the organization! Over 110 RAVSAK members were in attendance,
including Heads of Schools, Judaic Directors and Lay Leaders. We had representation from 43 schools from 25
states, District of Columbia and Israel. Over the four days, we participated in workshops on important topics such as
fundraising, governance issues, tefillah, marketing, Hebrew language acquisition and curriculum mapping. We visited the Holocaust Museum and heard a thought-provoking presentation by John Loftus.
The highlight of the Conference for many of us was the report on the “State of RAVSAK” by our dedicated Executive Director, Dr. Marc Kramer. He spoke about the amazing growth of our Network and about the exciting new initiatives in which we are involved. Whether it is improving staff benefits, strengthening our own Jewish knowledge
or advocating for Jewish day schools on a national level—RAVSAK is on the cutting edge. We can be proud of our
organization and of the tremendous vision and leadership that Marc provides for us.
Todah rabah to all of you who took time to fill out an evaluation form on the Conference. This event has improved
each year because of your willingness to provide thoughtful, honest, constructive criticism. If you have not already
done so, but would like to make comments, please visit the RAVSAK website today.
See you next year in Irvine, CA where we will be hosted by the Tarbut V’Torah School!
F
Judy Miller is the Head of School of the Hillel School of Tampa and the 2004 RAVSAK Conference Chair.
She was recently appointed as Head of School for the Maass Jewish Community Day School in Raleigh, NC.
Page Two
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Hebrew Academy’s Great Ideas 2004:
Fighting Poverty
The Talmud teaches that study leads to action. This
year’s production of Great Ideas, inspired by the Jewish
Fund for Justice curriculum, “The Tzedek Partner Program: Learning, Giving, and Organizing for Social Justice,” provided the Middle School students of Hebrew
Academy of Tidewater with the opportunity to fulfill this
precept.
by our own middle school band. She encounters a family
trying to survive on a low wage income. She witnesses
the side-by-side comparison of a comfortable family and
a struggling family, as well as vignettes illustrating the
different levels of tzedakah. By the end of the play the
“snooty woman” and our students realized that the way to
fight poverty is to help people find better jobs. Speaking
for our students, Ms. Richie announced, “Now I understand that not all people who are poor are lazy. They
may be down on their luck… I want to collect interview
clothes so that the poor will have something to wear to
get jobs. Only with better jobs can people get out of poverty.” The play ended with a beautiful song “Share Your
Goodwill,” selected by our wonderful music teacher
Edna Broadhurst.
We began our study of poverty with a visit to the Southeastern Virginia Foodbank where the students were surprised to learn that nearly half of the Foodbank’s clients
had college degrees. Subsequently they learned that one
in three children in the U.S. will be poor at sometime during childhood, and three out of four children live in a
family designated as working poor. In class the students
participated in hands-on activities to
learn about the harsh realities of My only wish is that I do not forget Completing the mandate of the
Jewish Fund for Justice curricupoverty. For instance, they were
given a two-week salary of $700 everything I have learned through lum of learning, giving, and orand had to decide which pressing Great Ideas, and hopefully it will ganizing, the students have introduced a tzedakah project inbill to pay. We simulated the proc- affect me for the rest of my life.
spired by our study. We have
ess of trimming government-funded
services resulting from a budget shortfall, and we ana- partnered with the agency, Kingdom Wardrobe, which
provides interview clothing for low-income women who
lyzed the impact of these choices on the community.
have completed a job-training program and have an interWe read excerpts from Nickel and Dimed by Barbara view lined up. At the play’s conclusion, Evan Davis, the
Ehrenreich, in which she describes her struggle to live on emcee, welcomed Kingdom Wardrobe’s Executive Diminimum wage jobs. The students were shocked to read rector Beverly Downs, who thanked the students and
about Carolyn Payne, a working woman caught up in the gave an example of how these clothes will benefit her clicycle of poverty, in an article by David K. Shipler which ents by describing the case of a single mother with five
appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Working kids. Evan also announced that we are collecting interjointly with Judaic Studies staff, the students integrated view-appropriate clothing for men and women through
the concepts of Rambam’s ladder, which puts into per- March 10.
spective the different levels of tzedakah. They learned
that the highest level is to provide someone in need with “Of all the Great Ideas I think this was the most important,” said Evan Davis. “We accomplished something.
a job so that that person can live productively.
We are helping these people get jobs and support themThe production itself was written and performed by the selves.” Alissa Isaacman reflected, “My only wish is
students. The vignettes and skits cleverly mixed poign- that I do not forget everything I have learned through
ancy with humor to illustrate the struggles of the working Great Ideas, and hopefully it will affect me for the rest of
poor. As Elisa Bloch explains, the play follows the life of my life.”
“a snooty rich woman, Ms. Richie, who slowly transforms into a wonderful giving person who starts her own Linda Peck teaches at the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater in
fund for the poor.” Along the way she meets a beggar Virginia Beach, VA. She attended the RAVSAK/Jewish Fund
who sings the blues in a song composed and performed for Justice Professional Development Seminar this past fall.
F
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Page Three
Crisis in School Leadership
Felt in RAVSAK Network
Shortage of Administrators Finds Many
Schools Without Heads, Judaic Directors
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Page Four
The pending “teacher shortage crisis,” whether real
or imagined, has taken center stage in many educational arenas. Perhaps better understood as a shortage of highly qualified, Judaically-knowledgeable
teachers willing to work outside of major Jewish citycenters, this dilemma is subject of much debate and a
call-to-arms among many Jewish organizations.
However, another pending crisis is emerging: We
need more heads of schools and Judaic directors.
Whereas the number of Jewish day schools in North
America has increased exponentially over the past
decade, the requisite number of new school leaders
has not kept pace. Graduate schools of Jewish education and Jewish communal service are not turning out
enough new graduates to enter the classrooms, let
alone the growing number of open administrative positions. Many established, successful heads are approaching retirement. As a result, there are far more
open positions than there are viable candidates to fill
them.
RAVSAK is dedicated to helping member school
identify qualified head of school and Judaic director
candidates when positions become open. Likewise,
we are committed to guiding candidates as they undertake professional searches. This year we have
successfully assisted several schools in identifying
new professional leaders and have worked closely
with a cadre of wonderful candidates as they explored new employment possibilities.
As the school year draws to a close, a number of
RAVSAK schools making contingency plans which
include identifying an interim head, outsourcing a
variety of leadership tasks, and calling on lay leaders
to assume some limited professional responsibilities.
If there are open positions at your school, please send
the job postings to ravsak@ravsak.org and we will
post them on our website and distribute the postings
to the various graduate schools of Jewish education.
If you know of someone seeking a leadership position in a Jewish community day school, please have
them contact Dr. Marc Kramer at 646-698-3662.
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Associate Members Help Schools
Save Time and Money
In addition to serving Jewish community day schools across North America, RAVSAK has a special category of
membership for Jewish and educational organizations, consultants and companies which share our vision of excellence in Jewish day school education. We encourage you take advantage of our newest Associate Members’ offers
and services.
1st Choice Judaica
1st Choice Judaica specializes in community supplies and covers the full range of products from Israel, including Judaica, cosmetics, food, music, books and jewelry. David Singer from IsraelShop1.
com, one of the owners of 1st Choice Judaica has been supplying Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, Weddings
and other Simchas custom made kippot, benchers, brachot and Simcha favours since 1999, with 227
satisfied communities as his customers.
While 1st Choice Judaica offers toll free consultation (1-866-230-9716) for Simchas, the company holds several
websites with literally thousands of products made and shipped from Israel. The flagship Webstores are: www.
IsraelShop1.com and www.IsraelShop.com with a general selection of products from Israel, www.ShofarShop.com
with the largest selection of shofarot on the Internet, www.DeadSeaCosmetics4u.com, www.CosmeticsFromIsrael.
com and www.Seabeauty.com for cosmetics and many other specialized Internet stores.
As an Associated Member of RAVSAK, 1st Choice Judaica is offering all its services for RAVSAK members at a
special community discount.
Contact ulf@israelshop1.com or david@israelshop1.com for details. Toll free: 1-866-230-9716
Jewish Jobs.com
JewishJobs.com seeks to create the best possible matches between job candidates and
Jewish communal organizations and educational institutions. RAVSAK knows that
our member schools need to advertise positions for the upcoming school year, and as
a result, RAVSAK is pleased to announce our partnership with JewishJobs.com
(www.JewishJobs.com). JewishJobs.com is the largest online Jewish communal resource to provide web-based, interactive staffing and employment services within the nonprofit Jewish communal world.
Jewish communal employers advertise open job positions and search the resumes of job seekers. More than 800 organizations, including RAVSAK and many RAVSAK schools, have found JewishJobs.com to be the most effective
way to advertise positions and ultimately, hire teachers, administrators and principals. If your school needs to hire
staff, try using www.JewishJobs.com today!
As an Associated Member of RAVSAK, JewishJobs.com is offering all its services for RAVSAK members at a special community discount.
Contact Benjamin Brown at office@jewishjobs.com for details.
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Page Five
RAVSAK Receives AVI CHAI
Grant for Head of School
Judaic Enrichment
Cutting Edge Professional Development Program Planned
To support what is believed to be one of the most exciting new initiatives in Jewish day school education, the
AVI CHAI Foundation has most generously funded The
RAVSAK Head of School Judaic Enrichment Program. This year-long program will provide a select
group of heads of Jewish community day schools who
themselves have yet to benefit from a meaningful Jewish
learning experience of their own with the opportunity to
learn and grow Jewishly.
Developing the Jewish professionalism of
our Heads of Schools puts us on the cutting
edge of the 21st century.
Developed by an interdisciplinary team of experts in the
fields of day school leadership, Hebrew language acquisition, adult education, distance learning, rabbinics, and
program evaluation, The RAVSAK Head of School Judaic Enrichment Program is designed to increase a head
of school’s Judaic knowledge and comfort level such
that he or she can better advocate for and support Jewish
studies in community day schools. Other program goals
include fostering a commitment to life-long Jewish
learning, enhancing a head’s capacity to guide Judaic
staff, and supporting the overall Judaic climate of the
school.
•
•
•
Funding for post-program continuing education
A generous stipend for participation
A nationally recognized credential benchmarking
excellence
According to Dr. Zena Sulkes, Immediate PastPresident of RAVSAK, “How wonderful that
RAVSAK is leading the way to meet a long time need
in our Jewish educational world. We have recognized
the need for professional development of teachers for a
long time, but to recognize the need for developing the
Jewish professionalism of our Heads of Schools puts us
on the cutting edge of the 21st century.”
The RAVSAK Head of School Judaic Enrichment Program is supported though a grant from AVI CHAI.
Funding will allow for participation without cost to the
school. Schools will be required to make a $1,000 upfront commitment to the project to guarantee a place
for their head. Upon successful completion of the program, the participating head will be awarded a $1,000
honorarium and the school will be awarded a $500 onetime grant to support future Judaic learning for the head
of school.
The RAVSAK Head of School Judaic Enrichment Program features several key components:
One of the unique features of the program
is that it fosters an active partnership between RAVSAK and other extraordinary
organizations.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
One of the unique features of the RAVSAK Head of
School Judaic Enrichment Program is that it fosters an
active partnership between RAVSAK and other extraordinary organizations: JSkyway and the Florence
Melton Adult Mini School. JSkyway will partner with
RAVSAK to create and facilitate distance learning
courses for program participants. This will allow mem-
Two 10-day summer institutes
Two semesters of distance learning
Partnering with a peer-mentor
Individual learning goals and projects
Intimate cohort of participants
A mid-winter retreat
Learning from leading minds in Judaic studies
Page Six
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
bers of the learning cohort to build on the learning begun in the first summer, fostering independent learning
skills. Distance learning will also allow heads to continue learning at their own pace and on their own
schedule while remaining linked to their peers and
mentors.
The Florence Melton Adult Mini School
will work with RAVSAK in developing the core curriculum of both summer institutes, focusing on best
practice in adult learning hand-in-hand with rich,
thought-provoking subject/content material.
Mentoring has important goals and benefits
for the Head of School and the mentor.
Another important component is a mentoring program
which will match participants with Judaically strong
heads of school who will participate in the summer institutes, support individual learning plans, and provide
ongoing guidance through monthly conference calls
and occasional site visits.
Dr. Larry Kutler, head of the Hebrew Academy of
Tidewater and member of the program’s initial advisory panel, finds biblical inspiration for the mentoring
component. “Moshe's mentoring of Yehoshua was critical and helped realize his mission. Mentoring has important goals and benefits for the Head of School and
the mentor: The Head is exposed to Judaic ideas and
creativity, visibility in the field, opportunities for challenging and risk taking opportunities, increased competence in Judaica and improved Jewish reflection. The
mentor also benefits from renewed enthusiasm, new
insights, satisfaction by becoming a teacher again and
the possibility of entering into an I-Thou friendship of
lasting value. At the end of Moshe's journey he confers
leadership onto Yehoshua. The image of mentorship is
thus placed where it needs to be, looking on, encouraging rather than completing the journey.”
The program was officially announced for the first time
at the JESNA Education Summit on February 9, 2004
at a gala dinner attended by hundreds of lay and professional leaders in Jewish day school education. The announcement was met by applause and praise. Since the
February announcement, dozens of heads of RAVSAK
schools have contacted the National Office to express
interest in the program. A number of board presidents
have nominated their heads of schools as program participants. Not surprisingly, heads of schools from other
Jewish school networks have contacted RAVSAK as
well.
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
The RAVSAK Head of School Judaic Enrichment Program will officially launch this fall with a formal application to the program. Once a cohort of participants is
selected, pre-program reading will be assigned. The
first summer institute will be held in July 2005. The
location of this institute will be announced shortly.
This spring, the project’s Steering Committee will
gather to establish a working timeline for the development and implementation of the program. The Steering
Committee is composed of practitioners, academics,
educational leaders, and potential program participants.
Dr. Marc N. Kramer, RAVSAK Executive Director,
has been appointed as Program Director as well. He
will dedicate 50% of his time to program leadership,
working closely with the Steering Committee and AVI
CHAI to ensure that all program goals are met.
RAVSAK will hire additional staff to support his work
and the ongoing work of the organization.
RAVSAK extends a debt of gratitude to AVI CHAI,
particularly to Dr. Michael Berger, who has served as
our Program Officer. Dr. Berger worked tirelessly to
ensure that our proposal would warrant support. We
are grateful for his guidance and his friendship.
RAVSAK extends a debt of gratitude to
AVI CHAI and Dr. Michael Berger.
RAVSAK also thanks the members of the advisory
panel who helped shape the program’s vision: Shani
Bechhofer, Senior Research and Evaluation Associate,
JESNA; Dr. Steven Brown, Dean, William Davidson
Graduate School of Jewish Education; Karen Feller,
Head of School, Donna Klein Jewish Academy; Rabbi
Uri Gordon, Director, The Jewish Teacher Corps; Dr.
Laurence Kutler, Head of School, Hebrew Academy of
Tidewater; Caren Levine, Founder, Etheoreal; Dr. Jon
Levisohn, Assistant Professor of Jewish Education,
Brandeis University; Lynn Raviv, Head of School, N.
E. Miles Jewish Day School; Dr. Vardit Ringvald, Director, Hebrew & Arabic Languages Department,
Brandeis University; Dr. Zena Sulkes, Head of School,
Hebrew Day School of Central Florida; Dr. Jane West
Walsh, Executive Director, DeLeT; and Rabbi Dov
Weiss, Dir. of Admissions, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.
If you are interested in participating in The RAVSAK
Head of School Judaic Enrichment Program as either a
participant or a mentor, please contact Dr. Marc
Kramer at Mkramer@ravsak.org.
Page Seven
RAVSAK Judaica and
Israel Fair a Huge Success!
Our first annual RAVSAK Judaica Vendor Fair, held in conjunction with the 20th Annual RAVSAK Leadership
Conference, was a real success! On Sunday, January 18th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., we hosted a Judaica Fair open to
the entire Tampa-Clearwater-St. Petersburg community, home to more than 25,000 Jews. The vendor fair featured
Judaica, arts & crafts, jewelry, educational materials, organizational outreach booths, technology and much, much
more. Held in advance of Tu B’ Shevat, Purim and Pesach, times when the Jewish community looks for what’s new
in Jewish life, this Judaica Fair surely proved to be an exciting community-wide event.
We thank the following vendors and organizations for their participation and encourage all RAVSAK schools and
supporters to keep this contact information close at hand for the next time you need something for your school, family, or friends.
Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education
Congregation Rodeph Sholom
333 Stablestone Drive
Chesterfield, MO 63017-2508
Contact: Lori Serbin Lasday
http://www.amiie.org
amhsistl@aol.com
2713 Bayshore Blvd.
Tampa, FL 33629
Contact: Linda Wilson
http://www.rsholom.org
rsholom@tampabay.rr.com
Israel educational opportunities
Florida Religious Institution
American Hebrew Academy
Dadon’s Micro-Calligraphy
4334 Hobbs Road
Greensboro, NC 27410
Contact: Howard Kaplan, Director
http://www.americanhebrewacademy.org
hkaplan@americanhebrewacademy.org
5002 Sheridan Street
Hollywood, FL 33021
Contact: Nir Dadon
http://www.dadon-art.co.il
snir925@aol.com
America’s only pluralistic Jewish boarding high school
Jewish Art in Pictures
Art of Eretz Yisrael
DeLeT: Day School Leadership through Teaching*
Moshav Meor Modiim
DN HaMercaz, Israel 73122
Contact: Shalom Schwarz
http://www.artoferetzyisrael.com
chaitech@netvision.net.il
601 Skokie Blvd., Suite 2-B
Northbrook, IL 60062
Contact: Dr. Jane West Walsh
http://www.delet.org
info@delet.org
*Please note: fellowships are still available
Ceramics, Judaica, Jewelry, Art
Recruitment, induction and retention of JDS teachers
Biku Riki Art
Gabrieli & Kuzari
P.O. Box 1308
New York, NY 10025
Contact: Bizu Riki Mullu
http://www. Bizuriki.com
bizuriki@msn.com
18 Mazal Dagim Lane
Old Jaffa 68036 Israel
Contact: Arik Gabrieli
http://www.gabrieli.co.il
sales@gabrieli.co.il
Hand-embroidered Tallitot, Kippot and Jewelry
Hand-woven and embroidered items
Congregation Beth Am Sisterhood
IMI Trading Company
2030 West Fletcher Avenue
Tampa, FL 33612
Contact: Harriet Katz
hkitten@juno.com
4613 Country Hills
Tampa, FL 33624
Contact: Dorit Feldman
http://jeunessecosmeticusa.com
doritfeldman@yahoo.com
Judaic Giftware, Jewelry
Page Eight
Cosmetics, Jewelry
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
IsraelShop1.com, 1 Choice Judaica
Sefer Israel
POB 68085
Jerusalem 91681 Israel
Contact: David Singer, Ulf Didon
Israelshop1.com, 1stchoicejudaica.com, Revolutionmedia.com,
cosmeticsfromisrael.com, 1st-choice-cosmetics.com, seabeauty.
com, shofarshop.com, israelshop.com
info@israelshop1.com
28 West 27 th Street, Suite 402
New York, NY 10001
Contact: Marc Gozlan
http://www.seferisrael.com
marcgozlan@seferisrael.com
st
Retail & wholesale of products from Israel
Jerusalem T-Shirts
Original Hebrew T-shirts made in Israel
2 Ben Yehuda Street
Jerusalem 94622 Israel
Contact: Edy Dwek
http://www.jerusalemtshirts.up.co.il
dwek-em@bezeqint.net
Netef Designs
Sterling Silver Jewelry
45 Essex Street, Suite 203
Millburn, NJ 07041
Contact: Guy Netef
http://www.netef.com
guy@netef.com
Oranim Educational Initiatives
Travel Programs for schools and Jewish youth
International Headquarters:
4 HaKikar Street, PO Box 858
Kfar Saba 44108 Israel
momo@jewishadventures.com
North American Office:
5432 Mayfield Road, #205
Lyndhurst, OH 44124
Contact: Shlomo Lifshitz
http://www.jewishadventures.com
http://www.IsraelFree.com
http://www.Tours4School.com
http://www.Israel4U.com
info@jewishadventures.com
Sagemont Virtual School
Online Education for High School Students
2585 Glades Circle
Weston, FL 33327
Contact: Dr. Richard Goldman
http://www.sagemontvirtual.com
rgoldman@sagemontvirtual.com
Schaarai Zedek Synagogue
Florida Religious Institution
3303 West Swann Avenue
Tampa, FL 33609
Contact: Sherry Stein
http://www.zedek.org
sstein@zedek.org
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Hebrew Books, Teaching Aids
Susan Leavitt, Stephanie Wisselman
Handmade Jewelry, Guatemalan art
Tampa, FL
Contact: Susan Leavitt, Stephanie Wisselman
stefwiss@tampabay.rr.com
The Studio in Old Jaffa
Jewish Art and Jewelry
18 Mazal Dagim Lane
Old Jaffa 68036 Israel
Contact: Alon Baker, Rachel Bola
http://thestudioinoldjaffa.com
baker@netvision.net.il
Renee & Howard Vichinsky
Hand-crafted Ceramic Judaica
1559 Route 213
Ulster Park, NY 12487
Contact: Renee & Howard Vichinsky
http://www.judaicapottery.com
vichinsk@aol.com
Yoram Gal Art
Jewish Art
9 Mazal Arieh
Old Jaffa 68036 Israel
Contact: Yoram Gal
http://www.yoramgal.co.il
galfilms@netvision.net.il
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Page Nine
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Abarbanel Wine
Kosher wine & spirits
100 Cedarhurst Avenue
Cedarhurst, NY 11516
http://www.kosher -wine.com
Du-Art Recycled Paper Products
Office Supplies, Promotional Items, Cards, Gifts
Kibbutz Kfar Masaryk
Facing History and Ourselves
Announces an Exciting
Professional Development
Opportunity for Jewish Day School
Teachers and Administrators
Facing History & Ourselves is an educational organization, committed to helping teachers and their students
link the steps that led to the Holocaust to issues related
to civic responsibilities in a democratic society, and the
moral choices that they face in their daily lives. Facing
History supports teachers as they guide their students in
a rigorous study of history and consider what causes
people to act as perpetrators, bystanders, resistors, victims and rescuers in situations in which hatred and bigotry arises. The Jewish Education Program of Facing
History is specifically dedicated to teaching about the
Holocaust within the context of Jewish history, identity
and Jewish ethics.
25208 Israel
http://www.duart.co.il
du-art@masaryk.org.il
Equal Exchange
Fair Trade coffee, tea, cocoa and supplies
251 Revere Str eet
Canton, MA 02021
http://www.equalexchange.com
interfaith@equalexchange.com
KinderKlassics
Curriculum tools, Jewish books
1640 Vauxhall Road
Union, NJ 07083
http://www.kinderklassics.com
info@kinderklassics.com
Jewish Women International
Jewish Woman Magazine
200 M Street, NW, Suite 720
Washington, DC 20036
http://www.jewishwomen.org
jkarotkin@jwi.org
The Jews of Poland, which serves as the
core curriculum for the Jewish Education
Program of Facing History represents a
new and innovative method for teaching
about the Holocaust within Jewish settings. In a day school setting this resource
is used to complement the Facing History
primary resource, Holocaust and Human
Behavior. The Jews of Poland begins with an examination of Jewish identity in the Diaspora, examining the
lives of Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and unaffiliated Jews. It also provides resources about the rich and
varied Jewish life in Poland before World War II, including art, music, and literature. The material includes
a substantial piece on Jewish resistance, and a chapter
dealing with the legacy of the Holocaust for Jews as
individuals and as a community.
The Jews of Poland is a resource book that incorporates
biographies, diaries, primary source documents, literary
works, and videos to engage students in discussions
and critical thinking activities. The Jewish Education
Program has also developed exciting resources to be
used in conjunction with The Jews of Poland that explore issues of Jewish identity, integrate Biblical and
Rabbinic sources with the teaching of history, and incorporate Yiddish literature.
These resources, created by the Jewish Education Pro-
Page Ten
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
gram of Facing History, have been well received by administrators of Jewish day Schools. Dr. Dianna Lindsay, former Head of School at the Columbus Jewish
Day School writes, “As a public school teacher I found
the resources of [Facing History] appropriately exhilarating; as the Head of a Jewish day school, I find the
resources and leadership of the foundation as essential
to all serious Jewish schools teaching U.S. history. I
applaud the work of Jan Darsa [Director of the Jewish
Education Program] at the Facing History Foundation…the depth and scholarship of her work is unequaled.”
To date, more than 550 Jewish school educators have attended an introductory seminar, workshop, or institute, and have
learned how to bring the themes raised by
the Jews of Poland resource book into their
middle and high school classrooms. These
teachers represent over two hundred day
and supplementary schools as well as informal Jewish educational settings.
to explore the connection between Jewish history and
identity and the moral questions inherent in everyday
life. Daily sessions will explore the Holocaust as a lesson not only in racism and antisemitism but also in
courage, caring and compassion. Participants will learn
multi-disciplinary pedagogical approaches for teaching
a course on the Holocaust that is grounded in a study of
Jewish ethics and values. In addition, educators will
gain a deeper understanding of the rich and vibrant culture created by the Jews of Eastern Europe before the
war, the dilemmas of ghetto life, the scope of Jewish
resistance and the way history shapes Jewish identity
today. Finally, participants will have access to the vast
resources and personalized support that Facing History
offers to all of its teachers.
F
For more information about the summer institute
please visit, www.facinghistory.org/institutes, and click
International Institute for Jewish Educators, under the
Massachusetts heading, or contact Jan Darsa at
jan_darsa@facing.org or 617-735-1613.
The content and pedagogy of Facing History and Ourselves is currently being used by teachers in twelve
RAVSAK middle and high schools. It is the hope of
both RAVSAK and Facing History that this number
will continue to grow as more member schools send
administrators and teachers to summer institutes. The
summer institute for Jewish educators is a professional
development opportunity of the highest of caliber, one
in which participants gain pedagogical skills, historical
insight, and models for the integration of subject areas.
Jennifer Miller, Head of School at The Pardes School
in Cleveland, participated in the 2002 Summer Institute
for Jewish Educators in Boston. She reflects on her experience at the institute, “The teacher as facilitator
model is carefully demonstrated at the Institute and
helps teachers develop skills in the use of primary
source materials. The hierarchy of probes, prompts and
language is demonstrated and practiced extensively.
Effective use of these is critical to the success of the
program as they will encourage students to draw valid
lessons that they will own throughout their lives.”
Facing History and Ourselves will be offering another
summer institute specifically designed for Jewish educators, July 11-16, 2004 at Hebrew College in Boston.
This professional development opportunity will offer
day school teachers and administrators an opportunity
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Page Eleven
Featured Strategic Partner:
Online Jewish Museum
Kids Teach Other Kids
At a time when “survival” and “continuity” are words often expressing adult anxiety and uncertainty about the Jewish
“tomorrow,” Toldot.org, the Online Jewish Museum of the Next Generation transforms these concepts into an invitation to provide words of creativity and empowerment for today, and for an age group that is torn between identity struggle and resolute
apathy. Toldot’s mission is to use the Internet and associated new technologies as a tool to motivate and empower Jewish young
people worldwide (ages 10-22) to discover, share and, most especially, create Jewish culture. Toldot draws upon the use of material culture (human-made things) and art making as an outlet for identity formation (the intersection between self and community, understanding the needs of differentiation and belonging), through the interactive medium of the Internet. We aim for Toldot exhibits – comprising artifacts, artworks and reflections from site visitors – to become a record of our people’s ongoing Jewish conversation. Individually and collectively, these assembled voices become part of an acknowledged, honored discourse to
be shared publicly with the Jewish world, locally and globally.
Toldot’s core exhibit, TelL Toldot, presents real Jewish teens from around the world who talk to site visitors (and themselves)
about who they are through video clips and personal artifacts. Your students can add new meaning to the term “interactivity” by
supplementing the tel (our cyber archaeological site) with their own class artifact exhibit or self-portrait for display on the Toldot site.
Toldot is currently enrolling classrooms to participate in this innovative program. We offer participating schools a Teachers
Guide to help teachers use TelL Toldot in the classroom. The five-ten lesson unit explores Jewish identity, Jews around the
world, diversity, through the integration of material culture, art making and history. The Toldot educator will work with your
teacher to customize TelL Toldot for your class.
Toldot provides:
•
Identity Exploration:
o TelL Toldot, the core exhibit, guides students to explore Jewish identity through video clips, historic and contemporary artifacts and to create their own class artifact exhibit or self-portrait exhibit for display within the
Toldot site.
o Beyond Stereotype is an annual international photography competition that explores stereotype and identity
for students, age 14-23;
•
A Hebrew language tool:
(see www.toldot.org/hebrew);
•
Curricular advise: A Toldot educator will work with your teacher to help situate Toldot within your curriculum;
•
A world Jewish community: 250 students have signed on in schools all over the world – from the Abraham
Joshua Heschel School in New York, to the Mid Peninsula Jewish Day School in California to Beit Aviv in Belgium and to Ayalon in Israel, help to build our world Jewish community
Toldot is available in HEBREW as an amazing new language tool
For more information, contact the Founder and Director directly at Rabbi Miriam Ancis at 212.284.6748, ancis@toldot.org and
please remember to go online!
Toldot is supported by the UJA Federation, NY, Bikkurim, a joint project of the UJC, Jesna, and the Kaminer Family
Foundation, the Righteous Persons Foundation, the Dorot Foundation and the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund.
Toldot is NY State’s first accredited online museum and a not-for- profit 501(c)(3).
Page Twelve
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
JESNA and The First Education Leadership Summit
What a joy it was to attend my first JESNA board meeting as a RAVSAK representative and follow it up with the
first ever Summit. I found the Board to be an exciting, interesting group of people who care about Jewish education,
study, exchange ideas, and pray together. The Summit started immediately following the Board meeting. Its theme
“Aseh Lekha Rav – Make for Yourself a Master Teacher” attracted over three hundred people. The tracks included
Adult Jewish Learning, Congregational Education, Day School, Early Childhood Education, Education for CollegeAge Students and Young Adults, Family Education, Special Needs Education, and Youth/Informal Education. Jews
of all backgrounds participated.
Recognition of the needs for recruiting and retaining a new generation of Jewish educators is something many of us
have expressed concern about for a long time. Now we were finally gathered in one place with some of the best
thinkers in the Jewish world to define the problem and develop specific recommendations for institutional and local
communal action in these areas.
I was privileged to be invited to participate in a special track on marketing which was facilitated by Passion Marketing. Several of us from the field spent a total of eight hours with representatives of the major Jewish educational
funders defining the needs of the field, and developing an action plan. I envision this plan beginning to take place in
the near future and look forward to its implementation.
As RAVSAK grows and continues to develop its role as a the major association of Day Schools of North America, it
is essential that we insure our place at the table by our participation, not simply through the Executive Director, but
through active participation of heads of schools.
F
Dr. Zena Sulkes is the Immediate Past President of RAVSAK and Head of School of the Hebrew Day School of Central Florida.
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Page Thirteen
Training Tomorrow’s Hebrew Teachers
HEBREW TEACHER CERTIFICATE PROGRAM
AT BOSTON’S HEBREW COLLEGE
If you want to become a professional Hebrew teacher, this program is for you.
This 21-credit certificate program will qualify graduates to teach Hebrew in middle and high schools
(grades 7-12). Classes will be taught by experts in teaching Hebrew as a second language and in linguistics, and will use the appealing curricular materials of the innovative NETA Hebrew language program.
The program includes theoretical components, hands-on workshops and a yearlong practicum.
THE PROGRAM
21 graduate credits (no audits)
PART I: 140 hour course, August 1-26, 2004
PART II: 40-hour Hebrew teaching practicum, 2004–2005 school year
PART III: 70 hour course, Summer 2005
COURSE TOPICS
•
•
•
•
•
•
Concepts of second language acquisition
Goals of second language teaching
Components of a second language curriculum
Linguistic progression
Pedagogical and didactic skills for teaching Hebrew as a second language
o
Didactic principles of second language lesson planning
o
Methods of evaluation – quizzes and tests
o
Teaching beginners
o
Special needs and learning differences
Linguistics, history and literature of the Hebrew language
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Applicants must have a BA, a background in Jewish studies and fluency in Hebrew.
Applicants will be selected based on assessment of:
•
Application form and essays
•
Transcript of prior coursework
•
Interview
•
2 letters of recommendation
•
Model lesson under guidance of experienced teacher
For more information and an application, e-mail us at: neta@hebrewcollege.edu
Page Fourteen
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Teva Learning Center:
A Great Resource for
RAVSAK Schools & Educators
The Teva Learning Center, North America’s foremost Jewish Environmental Education institution, is a nondenominational educational service for students from throughout the Jewish community. For years now, several
RAVSAK schools, such as the Gesher Jewish Day School of Northern Virginia, have attended the Teva Learning
Center’s three or four day residential and camping programs. Schools have found Teva to be a wonderful opportunity for their students to develop a more meaningful relationship with nature and their own Jewish practices. In addition to complementing their science curriculums, Teva’s experiential activities and immersion programs promote
personal growth, community building, and a genuine commitment to tikkun olam.
Bringing it Back To Our School Program
While the four days at the Teva Learning Center have a profound effect on everyone involved, Teva is committed to
facilitating an even deeper impact through supporting school efforts in the classroom beyond the one time Teva experience. For some schools, the message is reinforced through doing more than one Teva program per class, such as
Shomrei Adamah in 6th grade and Achdoot in 7th grade. But for all the schools, there is the Bringing it Back To Our
Schools program (BBTOS). BBTOS is designed to foster further opportunities for teachers and students to explore
the themes taught at Teva. On their last day at
Teva, students are asked to sit as a class and initiate a project that they will establish back at
school. BBTOS also keeps the excitement and
momentum going with follow-up school visits
to every school
Teacher Training: RAVSAK and Teva
Learning Center Provide Six Scholarships
After ten years of highly successful seminars
for informal Jewish educators, Teva is leading
the first such seminar for formal educators.
Workshops will explore how to integrate the
Teva model and message into your classroom
and school. Courses will rotate around four
main themes: Judaics, Israel, Jewish Gardening
and Science. From June 23-24, 2004, you can
have the access to exciting learning opportunities.
RAVSAK and Teva are offering special scholarship opportunities to this Teacher Training
Seminar exclusively for RAVSAK teachers.
For more information please view the Teva
Learning Center ad on page 16 and visit their
website www.tevacenter.org or call (212) 8076376.
HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter
Page Fifteen
RAVSAK Explores National Health Insurance Plan
Goals: Save time, save money, attract and retain high quality educators
Attending to the skyrocketing costs of quality medical and dental insurance, RAVSAK is working in close partnership with Kaye Benefits and a volunteer committee of Human Resources consultants to develop a cost-saving, lowlabor national benefits plan. If successful, the RAVSAK medical and dental insurance plan will be the largest and
most comprehensive national plan for Jewish educators in the United States.
How does your school compare to the
national averages in RAVSAK schools?
Planning for such a massive and important undertaking is guided by
four core principles:
1.
Average Costs
Medical Dental
Individual
Couple
Family
$304
$579
$855
% of cost paid by schools?
% of cost paid by employees?
$41
$89
$118
76%
24%
2.
3.
4.
As Jewish organizations, RAVSAK schools have a
moral obligation to care for their employees;
RAVSAK has an obligation to help member schools
save money;
Funds saved on benefits could be used to raise
teacher salaries and aid in teacher retention;
After initial planning and enrollment, the RAVSAK
should reduce the burden of plan management.
We have sent two survey instruments to each school and need to hear back from every member school in order to
have the requisite data to make informed choices about possible health care plans. Please encourage your business
manager to complete these confidential surveys as soon as possible. We hope to have plan information available by
the close of the school year. Do not hesitate to be in touch with us if you have any questions or ideas.
Responding to The Passion
What are you going to tell your students, your co-workers,
your family or yourself about Judaism's take on The Passion
and the events preceding and following it? How do the Talmud and numerous other ancient texts describe the interplay
between the Jewish sages and the founders of Christianity?
Just what IS the Jewish concept of the Messiah and the Messianic Age?
If you have been contemplating the aforementioned questions, in response to the recent controversy with Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion, you could find the answers you
are looking for by working with Jews for Judaism.
Please visit their website: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org or
call 410-902-7700 to gain resources or to invite a Jews for
Judaism representative to speak/run programs at your school
today.
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HaYidion: The RAVSAK Newsletter