On
Thursday evening, April 25th, approximately 65 people came
together at the Boulder JCC to celebrate Jewish education and educators.
They came to view creative ideas from outstanding educators, and they came
to hear who would be the winner of the first annual Chidush Award for
Innovation and Excellence in Jewish Education, awarded to an educator in the
greater Boulder area. The idea for the award originated with Fran Weaver,
whose Weaver Family Foundation sponsored the award in cooperation with the
Boulder Jewish Community Foundation and CAJE.
Hanalei Ableman was the
winner of this year’s award. She is a Hebrew tutor who works one-on-one
with Bar and Bat Mitzvah students from Congregation Har HaShem, the Jewish
Renewal Community, Bonai Shalom and Aish Kodesh, all located in Boulder.
Ableman has also been teaching an adult Biblical Hebrew class in her home
for the past six years, as well as teaching Hebrew to the pre-B’nai Mitzvah
classes at Har HaShem’s religious school. Ableman leads Shabbat children’s
services at Jewish Renewal, where she also chants Torah and can often be
found on the bimah as a cantorial soloist. On Purim, she dresses as Queen
Esther and chants the Megillah. She officiates at B’nei Mitzvah services and
life cycle rituals, and she will officiate at her first wedding this June.
As Fran Weaver presented the
award to Ableman, she noted that on her application, when asked the
question, “Why have you chosen a career in Jewish education?” Hanalei
replied, “I think it is more important to ask, ‘Why did a career in Jewish
education choose me?’ “My connections to and love for Judaism, Israel, and
Jewish values have always been strong. Over the years, I have experienced a
profound, undeniable, internal calling and love for teaching in a Jewish
setting and for leading Jewish services. “I feel radiant when I'm
communicating Jewish ideas in a creative, alive manner so that others feel
inspired.”
CAJE director Daniel Bennett
spoke with eloquence about the importance of Jewish education and deemed the
evening an historic event for Boulder. The real value of the award, he
noted, was not just the recognition of an individual, but the fact that it
enhances the value of all Jewish educators and raises the prestige of the
profession. Perhaps most importantly, this award firmly establishes Boulder
as a place where there are plenty of serious Jewish educators and where
Jewish education is flourishing. Bennett noted that this is just the
beginning for recognizing the professionalism and skill of Boulder’s many
educators.
The Chidush Award was
developed to support the professional development of Jewish educators in the
Boulder community by rewarding efforts to innovate and share outstanding
teaching ideas. The Weaver Family Foundation seeks programs that inspire
students’ commitment to Jewish values and love of Jewish learning. The
goals of the award dovetail nicely with CAJE’s Commission on Jewish School
Excellence, which has called for programs to mentor, train, and recognize
Jewish educators. All of these programs serve to raise the profile and
prestige of individuals and institutions that devote themselves to educating
the next generation of Colorado’s Jews.
Besides Ableman, finalists
for the award included Dorit Har, Debbie Garelick, Judy Moroshok, and Sue
Hartnett. Dorit Har teaches Biblical Hebrew to adults, teaching her
students to let the words speak to their souls, not just their minds.
Debbie Garelick teaches her very young students at Congregation Bonai Shalom
how to speak Hebrew and how special a language it is. Judy Moroshok is the
co-director of the Boulder JCC Preschool, and she has created ways to
integrate whatever the children are learning into their weekly Shabbat
preparations. Sue Hartnett integrates learning how to count with the
importance of tzedakah for her preschool children.
The finalists were led on to
the floor where the crowd circled them and danced around them – “Boulder
style,” as Weaver puts it. “It was important for the community to honor all
the finalists,” she told the Intermountain Jewish News the next day.
“Everyone who was nominated deserved recognition.”
Weaver announced that the first Chidush Award
winner will receive $1,000 as a personal prize. Also, she will receive
$1,000 to be used as a donation to the Jewish school or schools of her
choice as well as a round trip ticket to Israel or $850 to be used to help
pay for an approved designated learning experience within the next year. The
hope is that the Chidush award will create a ripple effect that will
continue to be felt in the Boulder Jewish community for years to come.
