Many people knew Deborah either through her years of study, through her many professional endeavors, through her many acts of chesed or just personally, but few knew her in totality.

In terms of her own education, Deborah was a lifelong learner. After she earned a bachelor of arts degree. from Washington University, she attended JTS, where she received a master’s degree in Jewish education, and later was awarded an honorary doctorate there.

She went on to earn a master of science degree in media design and technology from Full Sail University, where not only was she an outstanding student in the program, but she helped many other students. As a result, Full Sail. for the first time ever, named a scholarship in her memory. She was awarded her doctorate in educational technology leadership from New Jersey City University. Her thesis, “A Phenomenological Study of Women’s Participation in Makerspace Communities of Practice,” broke ground on a practice not previously researched.

Her professional career began when she was still a college student. She taught the Hebrew high school class in her congregation and chaperoned a group of 14- and 15-year-olds on a summer program in Israel. She was the founding principal of the Gerrard Berman Day School. For several years, she was the principal of the congregational school at the Fort Lee Jewish Center, and for one of those years taught a second-grade class at Yavneh Academy.

She was then appointed director of Jewish educational services for the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey; and after several years, served in the same capacity for the Federation in MetroWest. She left MetroWest to accept a national position with Haddasah as the director of education and training.

Deborah also had several part-time positions. She was the manager of technology for distance learning while also teaching for Gratz College. She was the instructional designer for an online graduate program at HUC and its director, Cantor Ellen Dreskin, said: “I would not be the educator I am today without Deborah. She guided me through every technical aspect. She counseled me; she supported each and every student, and filled our conversations with insight, laughter and creative energy.”

Deborah taught technology courses at New Jersey City University, the University of Connecticut and Hebrew College in Boston. She worked with SIMNIC and helped develop an immersive 3D environment for Jewish studies and wrote numerous articles on technology.including “Virtual Reality in Jewish Education.”

In 2018, together with her coauthor, she wrote the book “Building a K-12 STEM Lab: A Step-by-Step Guide for School Leaders and Tech Coaches.” Before writing the book, she visited and interviewed many tech coaches in many schools, including several yeshivas in Bergen County, some of whom are quoted in the book.

During the last two academic years she was a long-term substitute for Moriah, teaching seventh- and eighth-grade science one year and STEM classes the next. Her approach in these two endeavors encapsulates the educator that she was, as Talia Pollard, formerly an eight grader in her science class, said in the Moriah yearbook: “Dr. Nagler was the nicest, most compassionate science teacher that I ever had … She made learning fun … She always had a warm smile on her face … She made a huge impact on our learning and who we are as people.”

The principal, Rabbi Daniel Alter, wrote: “She was a special person and a deeply sensitive, thoughtful, and caring individual. She was a brilliant master teacher who brought incredibly creative ideas to her teaching.”

Her professional accomplishments were many, but above all she was a “mensch.” She was one of the kindest, nicest, most caring individuals, ALWAYS with a smile for people she knew or for those she had never met before. She was a great friend, always making people feel good about themselves.

Deborah was the “go-to” person if you needed something done. If a family was going to Israel, she would set up a party; if someone wanted something special, she would go to the town council and get it; when the CAJE Conference needed someone to set up excursions in Israel for over 1,000 educators, she did it; and on and on.

Perhaps her most important gemilas chesed was as an advocate for breast cancer awareness. Predeceased by her mother, sister and aunt with either breast or ovarian cancer, she learned that she carried the BRCA gene. After surgery, she immediately called all her relatives on her mother’s side to suggest that they get tested. She spent hours finding lost relatives to make them aware. And before there were any national organizations like Sharsheret, she told doctors to have patients call her so that she could counsel them. Soon her advice and counseling to women went around the country as a national magazine picked up her story.

Personally, my marriage to Deborah was a godsend for my mother, z”l, who had moved into the Daughters of Miriam in Clifton. Deborah treated her like her own mother: She visited my mother two to three times each week; took her out for coffee or lunch; went shopping with her; and they both enjoyed each other’s company.

Deborah was a fantastic daughter, mother, sister, aunt, cousin, niece, in-law, and friend to so many. Most of all, she was my “Aishet Chayil.”

May her memory be for a blessing.

By Fred Nagler