Preparing Shelihim for Transformative Educational Leadership
Chagit Hadar is Principal of Judaic Studies at Ben Porat Yosef (Paramus, NJ). Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Hadar holds a B.Ed. from Talpiyot College, an M.S. from Clark University, and a Ph.D. in Education from Atlantic International University. Previously, she served as a Hebrew teacher and department director at Magen David Yeshivah High School.
Dov Emerson is Associate Head of School at Ben Porat Yosef (Paramus, NJ) and will assume the Head of School role in advance of the 2026–2027 school year. A veteran school leader and award-winning educator, Rabbi Emerson previously held leadership roles at DRS, YULA, and MTA. In addition to his work in school leadership, he mentors emerging leaders in the YOULead program.
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.
Hebrew Immersion and Shelihim: Hand in Hand, Challenges and Opportunities
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. Finding Diaspora-based staff who have appropriate pedagogical skills and experience, content knowledge, and, of course, the proficiency in spoken Hebrew is a real challenge, especially in an environment where it is already difficult to find quality teachers. Similarly, educators express valid concerns about student comprehension and potential tradeoffs in the depth and breadth of content when transmitted in a foreign language. As Dr. Alan Mintz pointed out, there are also the cultural biases of American society to content with, where foreign language study is less of a priority and a prevalent belief that “anything truly important will be given them in translation.”
To counter these challenges, we have adopted a Hebrew immersion model that relies heavily on a parallel shelihim program. While many institutions have thankfully incorporated shelihim into their school communities, our program is unique in both the size of the shelihim cohort as well as the degree to which they are deeply integrated into the educational structure of the school. With eight Israeli shelihim (four couples) joining the BPY family for three or four years and teaching across all grade levels, our approach views shelihut not simply as a staffing solution, but as a mission of identity formation, cultural bridge-building, and deep educational transformation.
Our guiding philosophy is clear: Am Yisrael (the Jewish people), Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel), and Torat Yisrael (the Torah of Israel) are inseparable. Hebrew is the living bridge that connects them. The goal is to move Hebrew from simply serving as a subject that is taught to something that is experienced, connecting our students to all aspects of Israel and the Torah.
Our approach to shelihim provides a number of very tangible benefits to the school, most notably the fact that the majority of our Judaic Studies classes in Grades 1-8 are taught by native Hebrew speakers who are proud emissaries of a Religious Zionist philosophy, and provide an authentic presence that naturally engages students with Hebrew language and with Israeli life on a daily basis. They are also religious role models, benei and benot Torah, who are products of some of the finest Religious Zionist yeshivot and seminaries in Israel.
There are, of course, challenges inherent in our model as well. Integrating shelihim into a Diaspora day school environment requires an adjustment to the cultural differences between the Israeli and American educational system, as well as different classroom management approaches and social norms. Shelihim who come to us are challenged with language and communication barriers, as well as what is often a struggle to understand community expectations and cultures.
Our approach in bringing our shelihim has been honed over the years through trial and error, and with an eye towards successfully integrating each shaliah so that they can not only do their job successfully, but can also feel a sense of fulfillment in accomplishing their lofty goals in educating fellow Jews in the Diaspora.
Selection Criteria: Educators First
The process begins well before we interview our first candidate for the coming year. We have developed a set of criteria and vision for what a successful BPY shaliah looks like. Our shelihim are first and foremost certified educators from Israel’s formal education system. Each holds a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Education and arrives with significant classroom experience. Many are selected as married couples, strengthening both family stability and long-term community integration.
Selection criteria extend beyond academic credentials. We seek educators who embody warmth, cultural pride, adaptability, and a deep understanding that they serve as role models, not only of language, but of Jewish identity and Israeli culture. The shaliah is not a visiting counselor; he or she is a professional teacher, cultural ambassador, and builder of Jewish identity.
Shelihut Preparation Program
Before arriving in the United States, each shaliah undergoes an intensive six-month preparation process implemented by school leadership designed to ensure professional excellence and cultural readiness.
1. Cultural orientation and expectation alignment
Israeli and American classrooms can be quite different. Israeli classrooms often operate with greater informality and direct communication while American classrooms may emphasize structured management systems, social-emotional awareness, differentiated instruction, and frequent parent communication.
Shelihim are trained to understand the nuances of American culture, Jewish day school structures, and the differences between Israeli and American communication styles. Particular emphasis is placed on parent communication and professionalism, the importance of collaborative teamwork within American school systems, cultural sensitivity and adaptability, and American classroom management expectations. This preparation ensures that the transition from an Israeli educational environment to an American Jewish day school is thoughtful and successful, and that shelihim feel like they understand the core elements of an American classroom.
2. Teaching Hebrew as a second language
Teaching Hebrew in Israel differs fundamentally from teaching Hebrew as a second language in the Diaspora. A central component of preparation is understanding the profound differences between teaching in Israel and teaching in American Jewish day schools.
In Israel, Hebrew is taught as a first language. The pace of instruction is faster, and the depth of textual analysis is typically more advanced. Students engage with complex texts at an earlier age because Hebrew surrounds them in every aspect of daily life. Vocabulary acquisition is organic, and grammar is internalized naturally through immersion.
In American day schools, even within an immersion framework, Hebrew is often a second language. Students will likely not speak Hebrew at home. Our teacher training focuses on several key items that will help them reach the American student. Something as basic as an understanding of the pacing of instruction may seem simple but is critically important for shelihim to master. Additionally, we focus our training on scaffolding complex texts and explicitly on building vocabulary.
Our goal is for the shelihim to incorporate more structured language-building strategies, including: breaking down shorashim, analyzing word structures and patterns, teaching prefixes and suffixes, and explicit sentence structure work. Combining the educational experiences and native Hebrew abilities of our shelihim with this formal second-language acquisition training has resulted in much success in reaching our students where they are, and in helping them move from decoding, to comprehension, to confident expression.
3. Experiential learning
One of the challenges of learning in a foreign language is that engagement can be more difficult. This places an even greater need on making the Immersive Hebrew Judaic Studies program experiential and deeply engaging. Shelihim are trained to transform Humash, Navi, Mishnah, Gemara, Halakha, and Ivrit into living experiences which allow students to feel the text, analyze it, and apply it to their own lives.
For example:
- In Navi, when students begin learning about Benei Yisrael crossing the Jordan River, they do not simply read the verses. Students physically go outside, create a symbolic “river,” and reenact the crossing. They experience the movement, uncertainty, and faith of the Jewish people stepping into the water. The narrative becomes embodied learning.
- In Gemara, when studying the structure of the Beit Din and the foundations of Jewish law, the classroom becomes a courtroom. Students assume roles as judges, litigants, and witnesses. They analyze real-life scenarios relevant to their own experiences, such as friendship conflicts, property questions, fairness issues, and apply the Gemara’s principles to modern situations. They see how ancient texts structure contemporary Jewish life.
- In Ivrit classes, students use costumes, dramatizations, songs, and hand motions to internalize vocabulary and grammar. Language becomes active rather than passive.
- In Mishnah classes, students may use rhythm, repetition, and movement to memorize and understand key passages, turning oral tradition into an embodied practice.
Preparing the Whole Family for Shelihut
Another key element that lays the groundwork for successful integration of shelihim is the appreciation that a school is not simply hiring educators. They are bringing a family into the school community. This family has not only uprooted their personal lives and placed their own professional lives on hold, but they are coming, with children, into a completely foreign culture. Helping the family integrate is both a major undertaking that utilizes significant institutional bandwidth, as well as something that each shaliah family deserves.
This process begins with a heavy emphasis on logistics, ensuring that the appropriate travel documents are in order, coordinating on the right neighborhood that the family will live in, and identifying housing and furnishings.
Once the family arrives in the summer prior to the school year, our focus expands to include guidance on cultural adjustment, language adaptation, navigating American bureaucracy, school placement for the children, and social integration and community building within the BPY family. Each arriving family is paired with a host family within the community, often Hebrew-speaking, who provide mentorship, guidance, and practical support during the critical early months. This relational model ensures stability, belonging, and success. When our shelihim families return to Israel, we hold extensive exit interviews soliciting their feedback on the process so that we can incorporate their insights into future integration efforts.
Centering Eretz Yisrael
Besides the classroom, there are several other key areas where Hebrew immersion impacts the education and culture of our school. Our shelihim serve as key partners in the implementation of these programs as well. All celebrations, ceremonies, and commemorations are conducted in Hebrew, including: pre-hagim events, an immersive and powerful Yom HaZikaron ceremony and production, a community-wide Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration and performance, our milestone events such as Mesibat Humash for 2nd grade and Mesibat Siddur for 1st grade, and all school assemblies.
Operating a school with a focus on Hebrew immersion and the integration of a large shelihim cohort is challenging. It has also shown, time and time again, to be a worthy and valuable investment. While the school is a self-contained community, through our programs and the presence and teaching of our shelihim and staff, our students see themselves as active members of a global Am Yisrael.
Chagit Hadar is Principal of Judaic Studies at Ben Porat Yosef (Paramus, NJ). Born and raised in Israel, Dr. Hadar holds a B.Ed. from Talpiyot College, an M.S. from Clark University, and a Ph.D. in Education from Atlantic International University. Previously, she served as a Hebrew teacher and department director at Magen David Yeshivah High School.
Dov Emerson is Associate Head of School at Ben Porat Yosef (Paramus, NJ) and will assume the Head of School role in advance of the 2026–2027 school year. A veteran school leader and award-winning educator, Rabbi Emerson previously held leadership roles at DRS, YULA, and MTA. In addition to his work in school leadership, he mentors emerging leaders in the YOULead program.
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.
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.
Hebrew 2.0- A Language that Shapes Reality: Hebrew as a Catalyst for Developing Thoughtful, Engaged an Influential Youth
The transformations of the 21st century bring with them fundamental changes in the way we understand second language acquisition processes. Social, cultural, and economic shifts are creating a reality in which intercultural and multilingual interactions are becoming central to our daily lives. In this reality, researchers and educators who teach languages are called upon to be attentive and open to change, and to adapt instruction to evolving contexts, to prepare learners to navigate a complex and unpredictable world. Accordingly, there is a growing need to adopt an updated perspective on second language acquisition, one that is suited to a dynamic reality and reflects the broad cultural and identity-related contexts within which language learning takes place.
Many education systems are now aware of the need for reforms and the renewal of content and teaching methods, so that these may incorporate, as an inherent part of the learning process, the new skills that students require in the 21st century: communication skills, creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration.
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