Editor's Letter

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Akiva's Soul

eshivat Akiva is a better school because of Shulamit
and Rabbi Yigal Tsaidi. And isn't elevating the cali-
ber of learning where they lead and teach a defining
standard for educators?
When the school year ends, they'll return to Israel to make
their permanent home. Their legacy will be nine years of
devoted service to kids and parents at the Southfield yeshivah
— he as educational director and she
as a teacher and music director. The
larger Jewish community also has ben-
efited from their spiritual and celebra-
tory outreach.
The years have been rich with many
successes and some failures rooted in
an unswerving mission: to create an
environment that instills in students
not only a passion for learning, but
also a commitment to Jewish identity
as it plays out in the modern world.
As Stuart Teger, a past president,
presented the Tsaidis with the Ahavat Torah Award at Akiva's
45th annual banquet on April 26 in Livonia, I reflected on how
special this couple is. Akiva is as much a mini community
as it is a day school. Expansive pride in Akiva is back. And
the Tsaidis, educators across North
America for 30 years, have been a
catalyst.

Inner Bounty

Teger said, "Rabbi Tsaidi has been an ambassador for Akiva in
his speaking and teaching activities outside of the school."
The Tsaidis have been a perfect fit at Akiva and its embrace
of Religious Zionism — a love of the land, spirit and people
of Israel. Akiva's Yom HaAtzmaut celebration welcomes the
community on Israeli Independence Day. And the school
has been a force in the State of Israel's Hidon HaTanach, the
International Bible Contest founded by David Ben-Gurion in
1949.
Also a Tsaidi teaching priority is the value of midot, or
character traits. The Tsaidis have never wavered from Jewish
unity; from encouraging students to being considerate toward
all Jews, to tolerating our differences and to never viewing
Judaism as a caste system.
"When Akiva students attend basketball tournaments and
educational programs out of state Teger said, "the organizers
and other schools always comment favorably on the midot of
our students. It is a good thing to hear."
It sure is. It elevates the Detroit Jewish community.
Family is central to the Tsaidis' orbit. They have four
grown children and two grandkids. Rabbi Yahel Tsaidi of
Los Angeles told the Akiva banquet audience that his par-
ents' most penetrating trait has been "their unending and
overwhelming selflessness!'
"We try our best to emulate it:'
he said.
He stressed how his father was
never too tired to help his sons
learn at 10:30 each night, despite
fulfilling but long days of teach-
ing and evenings of Torah study,
parental enrichment and board
meetings. "My father always
showed us that a spare moment
was never that; it was always a
moment to learn," Yahel said.

Integrity is a pillar of the Tsaidis'
character. But there's more to who
they are. They're approachable, car-
ing and learned. The Tsaidis' sensi-
tivity to each student having distinc-
tive abilities and interests resonates
in the school's soul.
Before a rapt crowd of 525 Akiva
Budget Task
supporters, Teger said: "I would like
Akiva's operating budget is $3.5
to tell you about the hours of worry
million. Federation's allocation
and effort invested in the students
Shulamit and Rabbi Tsaidi
covers about 14 percent. It's a
and how the Tsaidis have gone above
shoestring budget with more than 40 percent of the stu-
and beyond the call of duty, not just for the students at Akiva,
dents drawing financial aid. Tuition ranges from $6,000
but also for others in the community — about stories that
to $10,975. Enrollment wavers; it's down 14 students from
you have not heard and will not hear because the Tsaidis did
last year, 296 from 310. Still, Akiva enthusiasm remains
what they did quietly and without fanfare."
fervent.
Based on feedback from the toughest critics, the parents
Rocky stretches evoke opportunity, not fear.
and alumni, Akiva's Judaic and general studies programs have
Over the years, Akiva has lost some high school students
improved measurably in the Tsaidi era. The school became
to Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield, but also has
the first Jewish day school to earn accreditation from the
attracted some FJA students. Over the past 10 years, Akiva's
Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools. Each year offers
high school enrollment has stabilized between 45 and 57
at least two Advanced Placement tracks.
each year. Currently, Akiva has 51 high school students, 17
Almost all of Akiva's graduates go on to study in Israel at
percent of the entire enrollment. Since the Tsaidis arrived,
yeshivot and seminaries. Almost all also go on to college, with
America's most prestigious universities among the choices. Some enrollment has grown 25 percent.
Akiva relies on tuition for up to 65 percent of its annual
alumni grasp their ancestral reins and attend Hebrew University,
revenue. Parental support is heartening, but the school
Bar-Ilan University or the Technion, all in Israel. Some do more,
must find other revenue streams to stay affordable amid
making aliyah and serving in the Israeli military.
harsh economic times. A noble new source is the Inside/Out
Program; students hold events to benefit the scholarship
Coming Together
fund. So far, $3,000 has been raised.
In building a better Akiva, Rabbi Tsaidi has made the school
more of a community center. Adult education and other eve-
ning activities have given the campus a richer texture."And,"
Akiva on page A6

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