Growing up, and throughout my schooling, the values of Torah U’Maddah were constantly reinforced. I saw examples of people who excelled in the working world and their fields while also carving out time for Torah study. Even those, like our rabbis and educators, whose professions centered around the teaching of Torah, were professional and worldly. As a second career teacher trained in Mathematics as well as a rabbi, I was drawn to the idea of modeling and supporting excellence in Judaic and general studies. Initially, I taught only Judaics, but after a couple of years I began teaching math as well. For a number of years I taught freshmen Judaics while also teaching an advanced placement Calculus class.
There was always a point at which the freshmen would become acclimated enough to start noticing what other grades and classes were doing and I looked forward to this day. It usually was one or two students coming in just before the bell rang. They would rush over and ask wide-eyed, “Rabbi, you teach math?†When I answered in the affirmative they would press on. “But, Calculus?! Rabbi, you teach Calculus?!†I would tell them that indeed I was a math major in college and enjoyed teaching Calculus in addition to Judaics. They would then sit down and we would explore Jewish texts together.
I started to get more involved in administration and realized that my broader background and experience on both sides of the faculty gave me an important perspective. As I looked for a senior administrative position I expected schools to embrace the fact that I embodied the stated goal of Modern Orthodox schools, striving for rigor in both general studies and Judaics. It seemed logical that schools would see a rabbi who also was able to teach on the general studies side as a boon to an institution and an ideal face for a Modern Orthodox school. Although I did find this sentiment, it was tempered by another feeling.
In terms of managing the general studies side, there seemed to be a pressure to prove myself. It was as if being a rabbi somehow lessened my expertise on the general studies side of the curriculum. My two areas of expertise were seen to be in conflict rather than supporting one another. Sometimes the bias was unconscious. Community members would introduce me as Judaic Studies principal despite the fact that I was the only principal. Even when my role was to oversee general studies and not Judaics, I was still introduced by some as the principal of Judaics.
In one interview I was asked how I could possibly supervise an English teacher since I had no background in this area. I pointed out that any principal usually begins as a teacher who is an expert in a specific content area, especially in high school, so supervising teachers of other subject areas is part of the challenge for every candidate. The question seemed to stem from the fact that I had shown the ability to teach math but, as a rabbi, I still needed to prove my general studies chops. In another instance, before applying for a general studies principal position I reached out informally to the head of school asking if he thought his community would accept the idea of a rabbi with my credentials for the position. He admitted that he wasn’t sure the community was there yet but he thought it was an important conversation to have. He had experienced the same unease with the idea that a rabbi could oversee general studies.
I was just as guilty in terms of feeling I needed to prove myself as an educator and expert in general studies and not “just a rabbi.†I gave a session at an area conference for day school educators on some of the latest trends in educational thought. Although there were plenty of Torah sources which would have complimented the presentation, I left them all out. I made sure it was all research and no Torah. Even in my current position, I find value in teaching an Advanced Placement class as one of my few teaching responsibilities. In some ways, it is a concession to the pressure of needing to prove that I can teach general studies on a high level.
Reflecting on these experiences I am struck by a deep irony. Really, the attitude which troubles me as an administrator was the same incredulousness I had enjoyed so much from my students. In adults, it is far less endearing. I am left feeling that as a Modern Orthodox community we need to take a realistic look at what biases we might have when we see the title “rabbi.†How confident are we that we can produce school leaders who can be experts in both sides of our curriculum, and will we know them when we see them?
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Rabbi Maury Grebenau earned a BA in mathematics, a MS in Jewish Education and rabbinic ordination all from Yeshiva University. He is currently the principal of Yavneh Academy of Dallas, a Modern Orthodox high school. He was previously the principal at South Peninsula Hebrew Day School, a Modern Orthodox day school in Northern California’s Silicon Valley.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2016 11:35AM by mlb.
