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| Fall 2006 | |
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Looking through the CAJE 2005
program book, I tripped over a session
about Behrman House’s Hineni program.
I had heard rumblings about its
success, and decided to go see for
myself.
Temple Beth Tikvah, where I grew up, then taught, and now direct, is a small Reform school about an hour south of Los Angeles. We are one of the few Reform schools in the area that still offers three hours of Hebrew weekly, allowing me the freedom to enrich the Hebrew curriculum with both prayer and modern language.
I had heard rumblings about Hineni’s success Within a short time of entering the session led by Jeremy Poisson, I was hooked! The program was irresistible. I immediately emailed my Level Bet Hebrew teacher to let her know that I was bringing back a new Hebrew program that would make her students love doing their homework. My teacher, a young Israeli woman, was open to the idea of trying something new, and let me know that she would be happy to implement the program for her new class. I demonstrated the program to Morah Elli upon my return, and we both agreed that this would be a positive addition to the second-year Hebrew curriculum. |
They took over my computer with excitement and laughter Since there was no computer in the classroom, I invited the students to my office on the first day of class. They stood behind me as I started the first lesson. Before I knew it, they had moved in, sat in my seat, and taken over my computer with excitement and laughter. Emily Boliver, one of the students in the class, is the daughter of our education vice president. After a couple of weeks using the program, Emily’s mom, Dolly, told me that her daughter loved the program and enjoyed her homework time using Hineni. At the next synagogue board meeting, Dolly reported to the entire board that we had a wonderful new addition to the Hebrew program that would encourage home study and Hebrew proficiency.  |
I told my Hebrew teacher her students would love doing homework Last January, after seeing the success of Hineni 1, we introduced Hineni 2 into the third-year Hebrew class. Again the reviews were outstanding.
 Miriam Van Raalte is Director of Education at Temple Beth Tikvah, Fullerton, CA. She can be reached at miriamtbt@aol.com |
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