Metro
New Leadership At Akiva
Education director is the first half of administrative change at the school.
Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer
F
ollowing an 18-month search
and 10 candidate interviews,
Yeshivat Akiva has hired Chaye
Kohl as the Southfield-based school's
new education director.
A search committee, headed by Dr. Phil
Goldmeier, unanimously recommended
the hiring, which was approved by the
executive and general board.
With a two-year contract, Kohl will
begin her new post on Aug. 1. She comes
to Akiva as Rabbi Yigal Tsaidi, who
served as the school's education direc-
tor for nine years, returns home to Israel
with his wife, Shulamit, an Akiva teacher
and musical director, and their family.
Kohl holds a bachelor's degree in
English, a master's degree in Judaic
studies and has completed Ph.D. work
in history and coursework at Matan:
The Sadie Rennert Women's Institute for
Torah Studies in Jerusalem and Drisha
Institute for Jewish Education in New
York. She has a certificate in day school
administration from Yeshiva University
in New York.
With more than 30 years experience
as an educator in Jewish day schools,
Kohl taught at Yeshivah of Flatbush
High School in New York for 19 years.
She spent the past 10 as an administra-
tor, serving as assistant principal at the
Frisch School in New Jersey, high school
principal at Hillel Community Day
School in North Miami Beach and prin-
cipal at Yavneh Academy of Dallas.
"Ms. Kohl brings a wealth of experi-
ence, wisdom and maturity, both inside
and outside the classroom," wrote
Goldmeier and Akiva President Dr.
Howard J. Korman in a July 3 letter to
the school's families. "A key addition to
our strong administrative staff, she will
update our current educational practic-
es, thereby creating a model school for
the 21st century, using the best of cur-
rent educational research in the spirit
of Torah U'Mada (Torah and secular
knowledge)."
However, the letter stressed, "While
Ms. Kohl will be charged with running
the school, she will not be in charge of
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July 9 . 2009
halachic (Jewish law) decisions related
to the school. At her suggestion, the
board has created and budgeted for a
new position, the rabbinic dean, who,
in addition to other administrative
and teaching roles, will be responsible
for halachic decisions relating to the
school."
Working Together
"This is the first time we will have both
an education director and rabbinic
dean," Korman said. "Rabbinic dean is a
new position we created?'
In the past, Tsaidi filled both of these
roles. "He was the education direc-
tor who also took care of the rabbinic
oversight for the school:' Korman said.
"The new rabbinic dean, when hired,
will report to Ms. Kohl on all education
issues. For halachic issues, the rabbinic
dean has a dual report directly to the
executive board."
The search for an education direc-
tor included interviews with nine men
— all rabbis — and Kohl. During the
process, the committee decided instead
of hiring one person who was both a
rabbi and administrator, they would
search for two individuals with separate
job descriptions.
"This is a trend across the country
Dr. Phillip Goldmeier
tions across the country, strengthens
our current administrative structure.
Our rabbinic dean will work directly
with students, serve as a role model for
our high school students in particular,
preserve our hashkafa (Jewish thought
and philosophy), and provide the criti-
cal Torah leadership that makes Yeshivat
Akiva Michigan's crown jewel of mod-
ern Orthodoxy. At the same time, Ms.
Kohl will be free to concentrate on the
day-to-day administrative issues of run-
ning the school."
Other administrative staff at Akiva
will continue in their current posts.
A. New Level
Kohl expects her position and that
of rabbinic dean to complement one
another. "The rabbinic dean will be the
halachic authority to whom I will turn
when halachic questions arise at Akiva,"
she said. "In searching for a rabbinic
dean, we will hire someone who will
teach and be a strong hashkafic pres-
ence in the school for students and
faculty?'
The same committee that sought out
Kohl has already implemented a search
for a modern Orthodox rabbi to serve as
rabbinic dean.
The search will continue with her
"Ms. Kohl brings a
wealth of experience,
wisdom and maturity,
both inside and outside
the classroom."
— to get a great administrator and a
great rabbi to serve together, but in dif-
ferent capacities," Korman said. "And
we've started with the administrator.
She is a crackerjack teacher with great
organizational skills and pragmatism.
From the first time we spoke, I thought
she was fabulous:'
According to the parent letter, "This
innovative model, which has been
employed at other educational institu-
Dr. Howard Korman
input. In the interim, a rabbinic adviso-
ry committee has been formed to over-
see halachic decisions until a rabbinic
dean is hired. Headed by Rabbi Yechiel
Morris of Young Israel of Southfield,
who also will be teaching at Akiva, the
committee also includes Rabbis Eliezer
Durden, Joseph Krupnik and Aviad
Sanders.
"We recognize that the path we are
embarking on is different than many
Education Director Chaye Kohl
are accustomed to:' wrote Korman and
Goldmeier in the parent letter. "We feel
confident, however, that Ms. Chaye Kohl
has the skill set to lead Yeshivat Akiva to
the next level:'
Kohl, the mother of three married
children and the grandmother of five,
is also a writer and lecturer. She has
already met with the administration
and board of the school. "They all com-
plement one another well:' Korman said.
During a visit to Detroit this week,
Kohl plans to meet again with staff
and lay leaders of the approximately
300-student school. Having never been
to the Detroit area prior to her three
visits to Akiva, she looks forward to her
upcoming move and delving into learn-
ing about the school.
"My discussions with faculty, admin-
istrators and board members helped
me hone my questions, but I still need
more information before I can begin to
work with them regarding educational
practices at Akiva," she said. "The first
months will be an important time for
me to get to know the school culture
and build relationships with the con-
stituents."
During her visits and conversations,
Kohl said, "I was impressed by the pas-
sion of the parents, administrators,
faculty and students at Yeshivat Akiva.
They all feel connected to the school
and to each other.
"I look forward to being part of the
Akiva family."