By: Ido Aharonowitz
Taking over the reins at AMIT Yud, a state religious comprehensive high school of 800 students and 105 teachers is 32-yearold Ido Aharonowitz, himself an AMIT high school graduate. Aharonowitz grew up in Rishon LeZion, but because his family wanted him to receive a good academic and religious education, they sent him to the AMIT high school in Rehovot. “I had to take two buses and travel 45 minutes each way but it was worth it,” recalls Aharonowitz. “I studied in a school that imparted moral-religious values and scholastic excellence and I can say today that I am proud to be a graduate of AMIT.”
Aharonowitz’ taste for education began in the army when he was appointed head of the IDF’s religious boarding school in Or Etzion. “Working with youth made me realize that I wanted to educate the next generation.” After gaining a BA and MA in education and history, he helped found the Masa Israel Bereshit program for Israeli students and taught history in a secular high school in Rishon LeZion. When the position of principal at AMIT Yud in Ashdod came up, Aharonowitz jumped at the chance of returning to the state religious network and to his home territory – AMIT. “My goal,” he says. “is to raise the standard of the school, bring in a new spirit and attract more students.”
While AMIT will contribute to a general renovation of the school, its main contribution will be at the management and pedagogic levels. To improve the level of studies, Aharonowitz has assigned additional study hours to religious studies, math, English and physics and he himself will be mentored throughout the year by an experienced AMIT educator. With an increase already in registration at the school, all the signs are that he will achieve his goal of raising the school population to 1,200 students within three years.
Boaz Chen Zion
At the other end of the city, at AMIT Bet, 48-year-old Boaz Chen Zion is grappling with the twin task of transforming a school physically and qualitatively. As Chen Zion surveys the renovations being carried out on the antiquated structure in which the school is housed, he explains the challenges involved. “Currently there is little demand for this school. Families only send their children here when they have no other choice because the level of studies is so low.” With an attendance of 900 students from a low socioeconomic population, the challenge, he says, is to turn the school into a “bet hinuch” (educational institution) that will impart the values of Torah, Zionism and academic excellence.
With his 25-year army background, no one seems better placed to take up this challenge than Chen Zion. After studying in a yeshiva high school, Chen Zion pursued an army career in the air force, during which time he gained a BA in political science and an MBA from Ben Gurion University. When it was time to leave the army, he opted for education. “My colleagues laughed at me at the time, because the pay is so low in education. ButAt AMIT Bet, Chen Zion aims to raise standards by giving students greater attention and offering them a range of possibilities in which they can develop their potential. “I want to make education meaningful for every student.” He admits he has no expectations of quick results. “I am looking at a six-year plan, starting from one 7th grade class and taking it through junior and senior high school. Only then will I be able to say whether we have succeeded.”today, when we meet up, they are jealous because they see how rewarding a career in education can be.”
Rav Eliahu Eidelberg
In another neighborhood of Ashdod,43-year-old Rav Eliahu Eidelberg is facing an entirely different challenge. Working out of two rooms in an old school building, Rav Eidelberg is building a school from scratch – he is establishing the city’s first yeshiva high school to cater to the growing demand for academic studies combined with a high level of Torah studies.
The new school will begin with one 7th grade class and will add a new grade each year until it reaches the full six-grade complement. The curriculum is a heavy one – 23 hours of secular studies and 22 hours of religious studies a week. The establishment of a yeshiva high school in Ashdod is part of the city’s overall attempt to keep religious students within the centrist religious Zionist school network. For Rav Eidelberg, it is also an opportunity to apply his vision of an ideal education. “My ideal is to impart the values of Torah, academic studies, army and work. I want all my students to fulfill their individual talents, whether this means becoming an officer, a doctor or rabbi… the important thing is for them to be leaders of their community and people of the Torah.”
After serving in the hesder program, which combines military service with yeshiva studies, Rav Eidelberg pursued rabbinical studies, obtained a BA in education and a teaching certificate and served as a Jewish Agency educator at the Silver Spring Hebrew Academy in the United States. Back in Israel, he completed his rabbinical studies and received an MA in Talmud from the Hebrew University. As head of the new Yeshivat AMIT Ashdod, Rabbi Eidelberg has set high standards for the school. As in the other two schools, AMIT is contributing to the school’s management, computerization, renovation and pedagogic programs. “Without AMIT,” says Eidelberg, “I wouldn’t be able to run this school.”
Helga Abraham is a freelance journalist and translator based in Jerusalem. Before making aliyah to Israel, she worked as a radio producer for CBC in London and Toronto.
