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HI-TECH page 148

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we highlighted different areas of
Jerusalem," Mr. Fachler said.
"We also have a beautiful in-
teractive story and game for chil-
dren titled An Afikomen Tale.
Crisp photos and video clips
accompany the stories making
the hands-on learning experience
fun. The teen version includes
"JeMM-TV," which featured mu-
sical clips and "Jewpardy" (a ver-
sion of the American television
game show "Jeopardy") where
teens sound off about topical is-
sues like their feelings during the
Christmas holidays.
The children's version uses ed-
ucational cartoon characters to
introduce Jewish holidays and
has employed Jewish super he-
roes like Driedel Maidel and
Menorah Man.
The adult version contains a
Hebrew ulpan, or class. Via a
video presentation, computer
users see an immigrant family
arriving at Ben-Gurion Airport
who hear Hebrew for the first

time. As new words are intro-
duced, a preprogrammed voice
explains their correct pronunci-
ation. The exercises provide
enough material to keep the user
busy until the next edition of the
magazine.
Each issue will add to the ul-
pan experience, Mr. Fachler said,
with lessons getting progres-
sively more difficult.
The program also contains "in-
fomercials" — presentations and
messages by Jewish organiza-
\_ tions such as AIPAC — as well
as actual commercials for, say,
El Al Airlines.
Since the technology is so
new, a consensus has not been

formed on the best approach for
reaching Diaspora Jews. "Not
everyone has a CD-ROM play-
er, and there are models for suc-
cess in different places," said
Shira Ackerman-Simchovitch,
a consultant in Jewish early
childhood education.
"The very bottom line is that
a good teacher really makes a
difference. If wishes were fish-
es, I would be putting my mon-
ey in teacher education."
While Mr. Fachler concurs in
theory with Ms. Ackerman-Sim-
chovitch, reality has proven that
Jewish education is often not a
top priority for commodities.
"I agree that vast amounts of
money are needed to train
teachers, but that is not
enough," he said. "It is only
when a community decides that
the education of its children is
of paramount importance that
it will start paying top dollars
for educators."
Mr. Fachler, too, is aware
that many places lack the com-
puter technology to use JeMM.

He is no less convinced, howev-
er, that it is the future.
"JeMM is not a substitute for
Jewish education, but should be
considered a resource which
could impact Jewish education,"
Mr. Fachler said. "We are not
confining ourselves to a class-
room or a synagogue, but are
looking for other areas to reach
Jews, including the home.
"JeMM crosses barriers and
brings Jewishness into people's
lives and makes them think
about it in a more significant
way." El
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`HERBATIVES' page 153

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