Metro

Now They Teach

Inspired by FJA's Eric Grossman,
2 former students join the faculty.

WISHING OUR COMMUNITY
A HEALTHY AND
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

FROM,
MICHAEL LEVEY & THE STAFF AT
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As we ap • roach the

NewYear, 5771,

ewish Senior Life is joyous as we continue

together, to support Jewish older adults.

Thank you, community, for your support

and good wishes throughout the year

Rochelle
eidei executive Viceit

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.2),21ecioit,

qo,oscialia#:

qudvdek Necitstaa, P4,,iidesd

GiiiceA4 and Bowid

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Jewish Senior Life of Metropolitan Detroit

A. Alfred Taubman
Jewish Community Campus
15000 W. Ten Mile Road
Oak Park, MI 48237

Eugene & Marcia Applebaum
Jewish Community Campus
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One Number • One Door 248-661-1836

28

September 2 • 2010

iN

www.jslmi.org

Debra B. Darvick

Special to the Jewish News

W

hen I taught at the Gann
Academy in Boston:'
recalled Rabbi Eric
Grossman, head of school at Frankel
Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield,
"a colleague took me aside and said,
`I have this brilliant student in my
Tanach (Bible) class. One day, he will
be a great Bible teacher:
"'A ninth-grader?' I remember
thinking. She had to be kidding. But
then I had Jacob in 10th grade and I
realized she was right:'
"Jacob" is Jacob Merlin, who has
become, as predicted, a talented teach-
er in his own right.
A graduate of Brandeis and Tel Aviv
universities, Merlin joins FJNs Jewish
Studies Department to teach the very
Bible class he was first exposed to by
Grossman.
"Eric initiated me into a way of
approaching text that made me want
to pursue it in college said Merlin,
who also completed a two-year study
program in philosophy and Jewish
education at the Hartman Institute in
Jerusalem.
And if that weren't gratification
enough for a teacher, another of
Grossman's former students, Amira
Gaba, makes FJA history this fall as
the school's first teaching fellow and
the first Academy graduate to return
to the school in the role of teacher.
Gaba, who enrolled at the Academy
its first year and graduated in 2004,
will be teaching Bible and rabbinics,
subjects that inspired her to pursue a
career in Jewish education.
"As a teenager discovering my own
capacity of intellectual freedom:' she
recalled, "I felt empowered by my
learning. I was able to converse with
Judaism's great medieval commenta-
tors rather than passively listen:'
Gaba has just returned from Israel,
having completed the Hartman
Institute's Melamdim Educator
Program.
Merlin, like Gaba, will be teaching
biblical grammar using the same cur-
riculum developed by Grossman for
the Gann Academy and used at FJA.
"I visited a lot of schools:' Merlin

FJA teachers Jacob Merlin and Amira

Gaba flank their former teacher Rabbi

Eric Grossman, FJA head of school.

recalled, "and when all was said and
done, this approach is really what I
gravitate to.
"The Bible is one of my biggest pas-
sions because every facet of Jewish life
may be traced back, in some form or
other, to it. I am excited to be able to
share the Bible and its teachings with
another generation of students:"
"The beautiful thing about having
my students return': Grossman said,
"is not simply that they have become
teachers of Torah, but that they are
bringing their own creativity to it in
ways I never imagined possible. They
have made it their own and, in turn,
will inspire their students to claim it
as well.
"Being an 'active learner' had true
meaning with respect to both Amira
and Jacob. In class, I would watch their
faces as they listened and absorbed
the day's material. Amira had a way
of nodding as she began to grasp the
concepts and make connections for
herself:'
As FJA!s first alum in the classroom,
the last word belongs to Gaba.
"I feel indebted to my high school
and the Detroit Jewish community
for remaining dedicated to the dream
fulfilled 10 years ago.
"Returning to FJA is a way to give
back to my community while continu-
ing to grow within it." Cl

Debra B. Darvick works in communications

at Frankel Jewish Academy.