Batsheva Zigdon, z”l, beloved AMIT teacher, wife, mother and friend, tragically passed away on October 9, 2020, the eve of Simchat Torah. A victim of COVID-19, she was 55 years old.
Batsheva was on the faculty of AMIT Karmiel Jr. and Sr. High School for nearly 25 years, during which she taught Hebrew, Oral Law, literature, and computers (mastering cutting-edge technology was also part of her unique personality). She served as homeroom teacher for the olim (immigrants) classes. She was also the school’s computer communications coordinator and contributed a great deal to advancing the subject at the school in recent years and especially during the coronavirus period in the past year.
“For Batsheva, being a teacher and an educator was a mission,” says fellow teacher Esti Grossman. “She passed her strength onto others in a calm and quiet manner.”
“Batsheva was a true eshet chayil. She was the “mother” of the teachers’ room at Amit Karmiel,” according to fellow teacher Miriam Engelman. “She devoted every minute of her time in the teachers’ room to upgrading the website, assisting teachers with tasks, and continuing to work at home in the evenings answering urgent questions by email and promising to help the next day.”
Batsheva Zigdon was born in 1965 in Jerusalem to Iza and Avraham Hazan. She was the middle child of one brother and five sisters. She studied at Beit Hanna High School in Jerusalem and continued her education at Bayit VeGan College in Jerusalem, where she studied Education.
Batsheva met Danny Zigdon while working in a supermarket in Jerusalem. They married in 1987 at the age of 22 and moved to Safed. They have a daughter, Batya, who is 28 years old.
Family, teachers and students deeply mourn her loss, and all remember her for her passion, commitment, and calm demeanor.
“Batsheva was a wholehearted woman and teacher. With great sensitivity, she was attentive to everyone’s needs and made sure to be there to help and foster her students. Her work was professional and accompanied by sensitivity and a great deal of kindness. We are shocked and hurting by Batsheva’s untimely passing,” says Guy Dekel, principal of AMIT Karmiel Jr. and Sr. High School.
Teacher Esti Grossman remembers Batsheva for her “diligence, creativity, chesed, humble kindness and more.”
Her students also offer praise. “Batsheva was an amazing educator and homeroom teacher. She cared about each student as if we were her children,” says Hodaya Buchbut, AMIT Karmiel student.
Adds student Shira Yerushalmi, “Batsheva was very significant to me. She gave me confidence and was always there when I needed her help. She would always smile at me, she always made me feel good, always lifted my spirits and was there for any problem I had. Batsheva has a place in my heart for all her help, compassion, and kindness.”
“I never had such as good a teacher as Batsheva, and there will never be another like her,” another of the students concluded in tears.
