(Courtesy of CBY) The Adult Education Committees of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun and Congregation Shaare Tefillah invite the community to an evening with Chava Kleinman, “Israel at War: The Homefront Challenge.” Thursday, February 29 at 8:15 p.m. at Congregation Bnai Yeshurun, 641 West Englewood Avenue, Teaneck. Advanced registration requested at www.bnaiyeshurun.org/adult-education.
Kleinman is a social worker with 25 years of experience working with individuals, families and communities, as well as an educator and writer. As director of Community Services of Shiloh, a community of 450 families in the Shomron, she manages emergency and crisis intervention for the community. Since October 7, they have been working around the clock to provide services and develop projects to deal with trauma now and after the war—for the entire community and especially for children. The current war has touched each of them: Soldiers from the community have fallen in combat; a young man from the community has been taken hostage and is still being held by Hamas; they have been helping 130 families to cope while their husbands/fathers are away from home in reserve army service; as well as many of their young people who are in regular army service. On a personal note, Kleinman’s 25-year-old son was called to reserve duty at the start of the war and has been serving in Gaza, leaving his wife and two young children worried and burdened. Her husband has also been serving in reserve duty in the Shiloh area. She speaks about the challenges the community has faced from both a personal and professional perspective.
The following Shabbat, Congregation Bnai Yeshurun’s Adult Education Committee presents Scholar in Residence Raizi Chechik, Shabbat, March 1-2/Parshat Ki Tisa. At the Friday night oneg at 8:30 p.m., Chechik will speak on: The Scholar, The Printer and the Partisan: A Story of Jewish Survival
Shabbat morning following the conclusion of the 9:00 a.m. minyan, the topic will be: Reaching Toward the Infinite: A Conversation on Cultivating Spirituality in our Children (and Ourselves!)
Chechik will also speak Shabbat afternoon at 4:25 p.m. on the topic of: Finding Faith Within Darkness: A Medieval Story of Love, Loss and Rebuilding.
Chechik, a community scholar at the Jewish Center of Manhattan, is a creative and dynamic educator who has over two decades of school and community leadership experience and a passion for learning and teaching. She studied Tanach and counseling at Michlala Jerusalem Teacher’s College, holds a master’s in Jewish History, and has done doctoral work in both education and Jewish studies.
Chechik is a recipient of numerous professional and academic awards, among them the national Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. A graduate of the Intensive Training Program for Day School Leaders at Yeshiva University, Chechik served as a mentor to new school leaders through their Principal’s Partnership program and continues to support veteran principals and heads of school through Herzog College and the Israel Ministry of Education. She also serves as an educational consultant for World Mizrachi.
In her tenure as head of school at Manhattan Day School and Ilan High School, principal of SKA, and assistant principal of Manhattan High School for Girls, Chechik earned a reputation as a warm, caring and innovative educational leader with high standards of scholarship. She is a gifted speaker and thinker who has lectured internationally on topics of education and Jewish studies.
Congregation Bnai Yeshurun is located at 641 West Englewood Avenue, Teaneck.
