Ivrit is a School-Wide Responsibility
Andrew Ergas, EdD, is CEO at Hebrew at the Center. Over three decades, he served as senior executive at the Shames JCC, JCP Downtown, Beit Rabban Day School, and ARZA, and held senior roles in informal education with the URJ and Young Judaea. Ordained in Jerusalem at HUC‑JIR, Rabbi Dr. Ergas holds master’s degrees in nonprofit management and Hebrew literature and a doctorate from Davidson in Jewish education, focusing on Hebrew, identity, and pedagogy.
Imagine a Jewish day school that identifies Torah as a core value they seek to inculcate in their students as both a body of knowledge and a lens through which to see life. In such a school, it would be reasonable to expect to see the word “Torah” in the mission statements of the schools, represented in word and image in important locations around the building, and referenced at key gatherings of the community. One would never imagine that Torah would only be referenced in the Jewish studies courses or modeled solely by the Jewish studies faculty. For Torah to be a lived value, students would need to encounter it throughout the day and throughout the building, informing how they treat one another and how they help build a living Jewish community in school in ways that then spill over into their broader lives.
Yet, while Hebrew is a core value for many Jewish day schools, too many silo it in the faculty and classrooms of the Hebrew department. Hebrew, a connector to Israel, a key to Jewish literacy, a language shared across time and the globe, is being put on the shoulders of too narrow a slice of the school community. For Hebrew to be both a value and valued by both learners and adults alike, we need to think about how the language of the Jewish people—and all it enables—is experienced and advanced as a school-wide responsibility.
Thankfully, there are already some schools that are demonstrating innovative ways to allow Hebrew to flourish throughout the building and finding ways to integrate Hebrew as an organic component of daily life at school. By expanding the exposure of Hebrew to their students, these schools are both adding additional contact time that advances Hebrew language learning and demonstrating to their students that Hebrew is not just an academic topic but a core part of Jewish life, culture, and community.
Avira and Linguistic Landscape
Language is a critical builder of culture, and more intentionality can ensure that your school’s avira (environment) is Hebraically rich. One of the easiest ways to support Hebrew outside of the language department is through bringing a higher level of intentionality to what would be called linguistic landscape—what people see and hear as they make their way through the school building. While many schools use Hebrew in their signage of specific rooms or on plaques, is Hebrew also used on what is referred to as wayfaring signage, the signs used to provide direction and guidance? Such usage moves the Hebrew on the wall from being primarily a collection of nouns to reinforcing Hebrew as a useful living language of the school community. When adding Hebrew to signage, what fonts are selected—those that reinforce Hebrew as a sacred language or more contemporary type that connects to signage one finds in Israel—and what decisions are made regarding nikud/punctuation?
Some schools have also used dedicated bulletin boards that highlight Hebrew and have developed a “language policy” for teachers that ensures evidence of Hebrew learning is visible on the walls both inside and outside Hebrew classrooms. Other schools look for opportunities to add Hebrew to the walls of history class, literature class, science class, and any other subject where Hebrew can be represented. Schools can select posters or video images for hallway displays that emphasize Hebrew as a normative language throughout the school. Even school swag, social media, the website, and other digital platforms can be leveraged to put Hebrew in front of current students, their extended families, and prospective parents working to understand a school’s values.
The presence of aural Hebrew contributes to the avira and soundscape of a school. I know of schools that have deliberately selected Hebrew music to be played while someone calling in is placed on hold. At the beginning and ending of the day and in between class times, the sounds of Hebrew music can be played to reinforce Hebrew learning and to bring in a dimension of joy and fun to the equation. Student, faculty, and leadership presentations at school gatherings can be an easy place to continually increase the use of Hebrew as a means of atmosphere building as well as communication.
Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Opportunities
Strong second language acquisition emerges from a combination of the pedagogic skills of the teachers, the motivation of the students, and the contact hours of exposure to the language. When I was working as a Head of School, I knew adding additional time for Hebrew might be perceived by some as a zero-sum game. I decided on a different strategy, selecting fluent Hebrew speakers to take on the role of music director, art specialist, and physical education teachers. Without needing to engage in too much negotiation, we were suddenly able to add more than two and a half hours of exposure to spoken Hebrew to our week, prioritizing Hebrew learning and linking it to activities most students found to be low pressure and fun. While not every community can find people with these special skills, Hebrew language abilities, and experience with children, think about what types of local resources do exist in your community that can be brought into specific classes or programs.
Other schools decide to create Hebrew or Israel clubs or to take on programs that highlight and celebrate Hebrew achievement, contributing to student motivation and expanding the footprint within the weekly schedule where Hebrew is present and engaging. For those schools that include trips to Israel as core components of their program, consider ways in which Hebrew is both a part of the pre-trip experience and then brought into the trip itself where the immersive nature of the experience creates additional time for Hebrew in an environment where Hebrew is all around.
Shinshinim, Shelihim, and Locals
Many schools bring Israelis into their program through the shinshinim, benot sheirut, or morim shelihim programs. While some of these individuals become important parts of the Hebrew language department, others may be more focused on Israel engagement and may lean into using English to build bridges. It is highly recommended that a school develop an approach for how to encourage these individuals to leverage their Hebrew outside of their formal instruction and to make certain this approach is a part of the discussion during candidate selection and subsequent orientation. While these individuals will organically speak to one another in Hebrew within the building, think of ways you can encourage them to speak to students in the hallways in Hebrew, including with the non-Israel-based staff (more below).
In North America, as well as in many other regions around the globe, our communities have been enriched by hundreds of thousands of Israelis living abroad who can also bring Hebrew into our schools as a living language. They, along with graduates of Jewish day schools from our own communities or those communities that have always had penchant for strong Hebrew language learning, are additional resources that can and should be leveraged to bring Hebrew alive in your school.
Leveraging Everyone’s Hebrew
When we look at key principles of second language acquisition, traditionalists emphasize that students learn the most when their instructors speak to them exclusively in the target language. However, the language goals of a Jewish day school for foreign languages such as French or Spanish are profoundly different than the goals for Hebrew language. My own children learned French or Latin in their day schools, but their teachers, school leaders, and parents did not hope that one day they might aspire to move to Paris, or organize their life according to the worldview of Moliere, or to perhaps lead prayer services in Latin. However, we did want them to be Zionists, use Hebrew as a Jewish lens through which to see the world, and feel confident as shelihei tzibur.
Without necessarily having a formal policy, many schools have a culture where the native or near-native Hebrew speakers speak to one another in Hebrew and do this as well with children in the school who are from Israel or growing up in a Hebrew-speaking home. My own doctoral research indicated that non-native Hebrew teachers bring to their students a powerful dimension of role modeling to their learners, demonstrating that one can make the journey from novice to expert without having been born into a Hebrew speaking home or country. I would encourage schools to develop a practice where the individuals who have Hebrew skills—whether advanced or more intermediate—use Hebrew in the hallways to also demonstrate this language is of value to them, and by extension, a value of the school. While students may hear an incorrect preposition from time to time, the upside will be the affirmation that we are all on a journey, it is alright to make mistakes along the learning journey, and that our community cares about Hebrew.
These are only some of the strategies that are at play in schools that are expanding their vision as to who is responsible for Hebrew language in their community. A good language program is supported by a language ideology or philosophy as to how language is envisioned in the school, a solid language policy that lays out the tactics as to how this approach is implemented, and a set of principles that turn policy into practice. We find ourselves once again in a historical moment of transition as we recalibrate how we will ensure the next generation feels connected to global Jewry and Israel, moving towards Jewish literacy, and anchored in a sense of identity and pride. Jewish day schools are engines that will help ensure success and we must all play a role in making Hebrew a central component of this effort. Hazak, hazak, ve’nit’hazek!
Andrew Ergas, EdD, is CEO at Hebrew at the Center. Over three decades, he served as senior executive at the Shames JCC, JCP Downtown, Beit Rabban Day School, and ARZA, and held senior roles in informal education with the URJ and Young Judaea. Ordained in Jerusalem at HUC‑JIR, Rabbi Dr. Ergas holds master’s degrees in nonprofit management and Hebrew literature and a doctorate from Davidson in Jewish education, focusing on Hebrew, identity, and pedagogy.
From The Editor: Spring 2026
By the time I entered the elementary school I attended, it had been around for nearly 50 years and was already in decline. Despite the challenges, there were two things which left a lasting impression. The Jewish studies, which occupied the first half of the day, were all conducted in Hebrew, Ivrit beIvrit; some of the teachers were dedicated, die-hard Hebraists who provided me with a very solid foundation. The Hebrew that I learned gave me access to Israeli songs popularized after the Six Day War and to classic Jewish texts—the siddur, Humash, and even to Gemara (yes, Aramaic and Hebrew are closely connected). The language enabled me to act as a translator when my father’s cousin came to visit from Israel, and even enabled me, years later, to attend a regular Israeli yeshiva—in Hebrew.
Aside from the Hebrew language, the school was suffused with Israeli culture.
Hebrew, Achievement, and Educational Leadership: The Process of Building Depth and Durability
בבתי ספר יהודיים בתפוצות, הוראת עברית נעה זה שנים בין שני קטבים: מחד, שפה של זהות, רגש וחיבור לעם ולמדינה; מאידך, מקצוע הנאבק על מקומו מול תחומי דעת הנתפסים כ”ליבתיים” ובעלי יוקרה אקדמית. כמנהל מחלקה לעברית וכמורה בבית ספר יהודי־ציוני, מצאתי את עצמי שואל לא פעם: האם תפקידי הוא להגיב לציפיות משתנות של תלמידים, הורים והקשר פוליטי, או שמא להציב חזון חינוכי ברור—גם במחיר של חיכוך, עומס ואתגר מערכתי. מתוך התבוננות בזהותי כמחנך עברי־ציוני ובחיבור לערכים שעליהם גדלתי, בחרתי לראות בעברית לא רק כלי זהותי אלא תחום דעת מלא: שפה חיה, תרבות עשירה, וספרות ושירה הראויות להילמד ללא התנצלות ובסטנדרטים אקדמיים ברורים.
When Hebrew Became a Lifeline: Teaching Language, Culture, and Identity After October 7
A few days after October 7, I received an email from the parent of one of my students. The message itself was simple: a link to a video of the prayer for the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces, set to music. But it was the words, written by the student, that stayed with me:
I’m sure you’ll like this video because you are Israeli. It’s a good song, very encouraging. I hope Hashem will watch over all our soldiers and bring them home safely so there will be peace.
This was not an assignment. No one had asked her to do this. It was an instinctive act of connection—a student using Hebrew, prayer, and music to reach out to her teacher and to Israel. In that moment, it became clear to me that Hebrew in my classroom had changed. It was no longer only a subject to be mastered; it had become a lifeline.
Successful Shelihim
Jewish Educational Leadership: What do you see as the real value of shelihim?
Bini Krauss: Ivrit beIvrit has long been a central pillar of what we believe in. I know that there are fewer schools doing that today than there were twenty years ago, for sure, but it’s still something that’s very important to us. So the first thing is that if we want to do it properly, it’s probably good to have people who speak Ivrit as their native language. It’s not the only way to do it, but I believe that it is certainly the best way. Many years ago, I taught at the Yeshivah of Flatbush. I was not a native Hebrew speaker, but I think that I was pretty good. Nonetheless, it is much better for students to interact regularly with those for whom Hebrew is native.
From Exposure to Expression: A Schoolwide Model for Increasing Hebrew Production through Joyful Culturally Rich Pedagogy
Despite significant growth across nearly all curricular areas in recent decades, Hebrew language instruction remains a persistent challenge in many Jewish day schools. While schools throughout the diaspora have sought to address this issue by employing shelihim from Israel, this model has raised ongoing concerns, including a lack of continuity due to frequent staff turnover, uneven pedagogical training, differing cultural assumptions about teaching and learning, and questions of quality control. At the Moriah School (Englewood, NJ), these long-standing concerns converged with a broader question that many school communities face: How could it be that a child could spend twelve years in a Jewish day school and still struggle to speak Hebrew?
This urgent question became the catalyst for our recent initiative. The school’s leadership felt that the moment had arrived for a bold, systemic rethink. Student outcomes in many subjects were improving, yet progress in Hebrew remained stagnant.
Teaching Hebrew in a Changing World
אולי נתחיל בשאלה פשוטה מאוד. למה זה חשוב שיהודי בתפוצות ילמד עברית, ואיך זה משפיע על חייו?
אני חושב שהיא באמת שאלה מאוד מורכבת, מכיוון שאחד מהאתגרים הגדולים שיש היום בתפוצות הוא להתמודד עם השאלה “למה עברית?”. אני חושב שלכולם די ברור למה צריך לעסוק בתכנים יהודיים—בחלק מבתי הספר קוראים לזה מקצועות הקודש, בחלק מבתי הספר מגדירים את זה אחרת—אבל לכולם מאוד ברור שבית ספר יהודי צריך שתהיה לו זיקה ליהדות. אך מבחינת העברית יש היום הרבה מאוד סימני שאלה גדולים. ה”אני מאמין” שלי, והוא שלי בלבד, זה שאנחנו מלמדים עברית משתי סיבות. אלף, מתוך זה שהעברית היא חלק מהעולם היהודי. אי אפשר לנתק את העברית מכל ההיסטוריה היהודית. העברית היא הערך הבסיסי ביותר של היהדות.
Hebrew as an Identity Anchor in Diaspora Supplementary Schools: A Response to a Secular-Israeli-Jewish community
הוראת עברית כעוגן זהותי בחינוך המשלים בתפוצות: מענה לצורך הקהילה הישראלית-חילונית
מאת: אליאנה גורדון, נירית פריקורן וטל זילברשטיין פז
תקציר
מאמר זה מציג מודל פרקטי ליצירת תחושת שייכות וטיפוח זהות ישראלית-יהודית רב-שכבתית בקרב ילדים להורים ישראלים החיים בתפוצות, בדגש על קהילתיות ועל יחס ליהדות כתרבות חיה ומתפתחת. המאמר מתמקד באופן שבו בית ספר לעברית משלים יוצא מגבולות המוסד הלימודי וממסגרת השיעור הפרונטלי והופך לעוגן קהילתי, תרבותי, וחיוני עבור הקהילה המקומית כולה.
From Immersion to Deliberation: A Model for Hebrew Identity Education
In recent years, we have found ourselves returning to a question that feels both old and new: If early Zionist thinkers believed that reviving Hebrew could reshape Jewish life, how might they have imagined teaching it in communities far from the land where it would be revived? We are not historians of Zionist pedagogy, and we do not pretend to reconstruct their educational blueprints. But reading figures such as Ze’ev Jabotinsky alongside other early twentieth-century voices forces us to pause and plan intentionally. For them, Hebrew was never meant to function merely as a school subject. It was imagined as atmosphere, as music, as discipline, as shared inheritance. It was something that would seep into consciousness and form character.
Ze’ev Jabotinsky, founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Betar youth organization, is often remembered for his political writings and sharp polemics. Yet woven throughout his speeches and essays is a sustained concern with formation.
Language Defines Identity: A Literary Unit on Multilingualism and Multiculturalism
אירועי השבעה באוקטובר ומה שאירע בעקבותיהם היו שבר שהשפעתו עדיין מהדהדת בכול. לא רק שערעור תחושת הביטחון, האמון, והאמונה שלי עצמי הקשו עליי לעמוד בכיתה וללמד ״כרגיל״, גם תלמידיי בצפון קליפורניה הרחוקה והבטוחה חשו שמשהו נסדק. בימים הראשונים שלאחר הטבח, תלמידים אמרו לי שלראשונה בחייהם הם נחשפים לגילויי אנטישמיות וחוששים לביטחונם האישי, או לעסק בעל הנראות היהודית מאוד של משפחתם. הדהימה אותי העובדה שגם בתיכון היהודי הקטן שבו אני מלמדת (180 תלמידים), תלמידים, אנשי סגל ומשפחותיהם הכירו אישית חטופים, ניצולים, לוחמים וחללים.
בשנת הלימודים 2024-2025, תכננתי ללמד את ההקבצה המתקדמת שלנו (כיתות ט׳-יב) קורס בספרות עברית. היחידה שעמה החלטתי לפתוח את השנה עוסקת ברב-לשוניות ורב-תרבותיות, נושא שמעסיק אותי בחיי האישיים והמקצועיים כאחד.
What Would Jabotinsky Expect from a Hebrew Program Today?
In recent years, we have found ourselves returning to a question that feels both old and new: If early Zionist thinkers believed that reviving Hebrew could reshape Jewish life, how might they have imagined teaching it in communities far from the land where it would be revived? We are not historians of Zionist pedagogy, and we do not pretend to reconstruct their educational blueprints. But reading figures such as Ze’ev Jabotinsky alongside other early twentieth-century voices forces us to pause and plan intentionally. For them, Hebrew was never meant to function merely as a school subject. It was imagined as atmosphere, as music, as discipline, as shared inheritance. It was something that would seep into consciousness and form character.
Ze’ev Jabotinsky, founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Betar youth organization, is often remembered for his political writings and sharp polemics. Yet woven throughout his speeches and essays is a sustained concern with formation.
Resilience in Jewish Education Begins With Hebrew
כמעט שמונה עשורים מהווים בתי הספר “המלך דויד” (King David) ביוהנסבורג רשת של בתי ספר יהודיים, הפועלת תחת חסות ועד החינוך היהודי בדרום אפריקה. הרשת כוללת ארבעה קמפוסים ומציעה חינוך מגיל גן ועד תיכון, במסגרת משותפת לבנים ולבנות, ובה לומדים כיום כ־2700 תלמידים ומלמדים כ־385 מורים. בתי הספר פועלים ברוח אורתודוקסית-מסורתית, תוך פתיחות וקבלת תלמידים ממשפחות יהודיות מגוונות. לצד חינוך כללי ברמה גבוהה, מושם דגש משמעותי על לימודי עברית ולימודי יהדות, כחלק מתפיסה חינוכית הרואה בשפה, במסורת ובקשר למדינת ישראל מרכיבים מרכזיים בזהותם של התלמידים. במסגרת קהילה יהודית מגובשת ובעלת ציפיות ברורות, בתי הספר שואפים לחנך תלמידים בעלי זהות יהודית וציונית, תחושת שייכות, ואחריות כלפי הקהילה והחברה.
כאשר התחלתי להוביל את תחום העברית בבית הספר, הבנתי שהשאלה איננה כמה שעות עברית נלמדות (למרות שאף זו שאלה חשובה), אלא איזה מעמד יש לעברית בתרבות הבית ספרית.
Shinshinim in Schools: An Insider View
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Jewish Educational Leadership: Many of our readers are familiar with what a shinshin is, but not all. Can you tell us briefly?
Shira Rafalovitz: Sure. Shinshin is short for shenat sherut, a year of service. It is a year of volunteer work that some Israelis do before they start the army. Most people do their sherut in Israel, volunteering in lots of different places, but some of us choose to go overseas to work in schools or Jewish communities where we think that we can help build bridges between Jewish communities around the world and Israel. I got placed in Detroit, where I did most of my work at Frankel Jewish Academy, the high school. I also did some teaching in a Sunday school with younger kids and with a synagogue.
Preparing Shelihim for Transformative Educational Leadership
Ben Porat Yosef (BPY) is an Early Childhood-8th grade Modern Orthodox yeshiva day school (Paramus, NJ). The school was founded 25 years ago, initially as a Sephardic educational institution, and shortly thereafter shifting to our current model as a dual-curriculum Sephardic and Ashkenazic school, where students who hail from either heritage and tradition are welcomed and celebrated. Moreover, the educational program trains our students in the laws, customs, and culture of the varied Sephardic and Ashkenazic traditions.
The other core element of our mission is to develop in our students a love for Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael, and Medinat Yisrael. This is executed in a variety of ways, and two central components are our Hebrew Immersion model and our shelihim program.
Many Diaspora day schools aspire to effectively teach Judaic Studies in Ivrit, for both philosophical and educational reasons. However, there are several significant challenges that have likely contributed to less-than-ideal implementation in the broader field.
Cafe Ivrit: Hebrew Conversation & Connection for Supplemental School Students
In supplemental school settings, there is so much for our students to learn in so little time. With a focus on learning Jewish traditions and preparing for Benei Mitzvah services, students often interact with Hebrew as an ancient language used in prayer and the Torah. It can be challenging for educators to allocate additional preparation and class time for students to experience Hebrew as a modern, spoken language.
Congregation Beth Elohim (Acton, Massachusetts) is an independent synagogue of about 200 families. We strive to foster a warm, welcoming, and inclusive environment that fulfills the ever-changing needs of our Jewish community. Our supplemental Religious School includes students from kindergarten through 10th Grade. We seek to create a learning environment that is warm and engaging, and to create a love of learning and a strong Jewish connection that will stay with our students throughout their lives.
Critical Conceptual Tools with Practical Application for Strengthening Hebrew Language Instruction and Learning
Over the past several years, I’ve found myself in the same conversation again and again with teachers, department chairs, and school leaders who care deeply about Hebrew but feel stuck. Not stuck because of a lack of passion, and not even because of a lack of resources, but because of something harder to name: a lack of shared clarity.
The questions come in different forms: What is the role of Hebrew in Jewish day schools today? Why teach Hebrew? Why learn Hebrew? What is Hebrew meant to accomplish? What should a graduate of a Jewish day school know and be able to do in Hebrew? Who is an effective Hebrew educator? What does effective Hebrew language teaching and learning actually look like?
At first, these questions may sound abstract. However, strong frameworks can help shape very real decisions: how time is used, how teaching is approached, which curricula are chosen, and how educators are supported.
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