!Family Focus

Yeshivat Akiva's Rivkah Nachlas makes learning come alive.

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eshivat Akiva kindergarten teach-
er Rivkah Nachlas was recently
awarded the annual Grinspoon-
Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish
Education. The award recognizes outstand-
ing teachers who have demonstrated an
exemplary commitment to Jewish education.
In nominating Nachlas, Early Childhood
Director and Akiva parent Lisa Parshan
called her "a model Jewish educator who
epitomizes the image of a kindergarten
teacher. She is able, in a classroom full of
energetic young children, to instruct using
soft tones and is always equipped with an
arsenal of multiple instructional tricks so
she can reach every student with interactive
and engaging lessons."
Nachlas, who has taught at Akiva in
Southfield for 16 years, is known for her
creativity. Former students attest to keep-
ing their kindergarten projects on display
more than a decade after graduating from
her class and they still recall songs she

taught them.
Walk into her class on a given Friday,
when she teaches the weekly Torah portion,
and you might encounter a group of 5-year-
old Israelites crossing the Sea of Reeds or
you may find yourself an honored guest at
the wedding of Rebecca and Isaac.
In addition to bringing the weekly
Torah portion alive for students, Nachlas
teaches foundational skills for reading
and writing Hebrew, Hebrew vocabulary,
customs of Jewish holidays and the Jewish
calendar. Her lessons provide the critical
foundation upon which Judaic studies will
be taught in future grades.
Nachlas credits her mother for inspiring
her lifelong passion for Jewish education.
Her parents wanted to enroll Rivkah and her
siblings in a Jewish day school but, at the
time, this was a financial impossibility. Her
mother, at Nachlas' grandfather's suggestion,
opened her own Hebrew school, with Rivkah
and her brother as its first two students. Over

the next 16 years, the school grew to more
than 100 students with Rivkah's mother
serving as its volunteer director.
Nachlas was quick to follow in her
mother's footsteps.
"As soon as I became competent enough
to hold a piece of chalk, I applied for a job
for myself — teacher's assistant — and
more than 30 years later, I am proud to
still be a Jewish educator," she said.
Nachlas is married to Yisroel Nachlas
and together they have nine children
as well as a growing extended family of
grandchildren. Several of their children
are following in Rivkah's path, serving as
community educators in the United States,
Canada and Argentina as emissaries of
Chabad Lubavitch.
"This is the second consecutive year in
which an Akiva teacher has earned the
Grinspoon-Steinhardt award': said Mark
Nadel, Akiva parent and school past presi-
dent."The recognition attests to the caliber

. . 111

Teacher Rivkah Nachlas ushers in

"parents" Chaya Benjamin and Joseph

Korman who escort "bride" Hannah Klei

during a re-enactment of the biblical

wedding of Rebecca to Isaac.

of the educators teaching our children:'
Yeshivat Akiva will honor Nachlas at a cer-
emony in early fall.
"I experience great joy and fulfillment
from teaching;' Nachlas said. "Teaching for
me is a personal mission. I am charged with
the responsibility of instilling in my young
students a love of learning and a pride in
who they are — values I hope they will carry
with them into the future." ❑

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July 23 2009

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