AUGUST 20 • 2020 | 15

of remarkable,
” Katz said. “I knew it was 
happening but seeing it in person is a totally 
different experience. When I walked around 
the building, I saw what we had been plan-
ning on doing for months.
”
As for Hillel’
s reopening plan for this fall, 
it plans to welcome back all students for 
in-person instruction. In addition to the pre-
cautions it has taken for the students’
 return, 
Hillel has also revamped its virtual learning, 
in case of a shutdown, and also provides par-
ents a choice to keep their students enrolled 
in virtual learning if they are not ready to 
send their kids back or if there are underly-
ing health concerns.
“We began planning for the 2020-2021 
school year back in early May. Two task 
forces have met weekly since then and [have] 
devoted hundreds, if not thousands, of hours 
on every aspect of our path to reopening,
” 
Katz said. “We have the blessing of a large 
building with flexible spaces that allows us to 
bring all students back to campus safely five 
days a week this year. We have left no stone 
unturned and will employ the most stringent 
of safety protocols to minimize the spread of 
COVID-19 in our school community.
”
The plans for Hillel also include the wear-
ing of masks, physical distancing in class by 
keeping small class sizes and spreading out 
desks, daily screening for parents and faculty, 
daily cleaning and more.
“I consider myself to be a decisive person 
who is not afraid to make a hard decision 
and take responsibility for it. Having said 
that, I am blessed to have the best leadership 
team of any school in the country who helps 
me to solve problems,
” Katz said. “I believe 
resilience is one of the most important 
social-emotional competencies that an indi-
vidual can have.
”

FARBER’
S DR. JOSH LEVISOHN
On March 13, Farber Hebrew Day School 
announced the hiring of Dr. Josh Levisohn 
as its new head of school, 
replacing Rabbi Scot A. Berman, 
who made aliyah to Israel 
with his family this summer. 
Levisohn’
s term officially began 
on July 1, but he’
s been involved 
with school decisions since the 
announcement in March.
Although Levisohn’
s term has officially 
begun, he will continue to reside in his cur-
rent home of Silver Spring, Maryland, until 
next summer after his daughter Yonina grad-

uates from high school. He plans to spend 
time with his family but make trips to Farber 
each month. The Levisohns will relocate to 
Michigan at the end of the 2020-2021 aca-
demic year. 
Throughout his younger years, Levisohn 
attended Jewish day schools from kindergar-
ten all the way to his senior year. Levisohn 
earned his bachelor’
s degree from Harvard 
University, and his Ph.D. in Jewish studies 
from Harvard as well.

Levisohn began his career teaching Jewish 
history at Maimonides School in Boston 
and served as principal of Jewish Studies 
at Akiba Hebrew Academy (now Barrack 
Hebrew Academy) in Merion, Pennsylvania, 
for eight years. Beginning in 2006, Levisohn 
was recruited and became the head of school 
at Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, 
Maryland. He served in that position for 12 
years. 
“
As soon as I started, I fell in love with it. I 
love the environment, and I love being with 
kids and developing relationships with them 
and watching them grow,
” Levisohn told the 
JN. “It is such a dynamic environment.
”
In 2018, he stepped away from school 
administration to work as an educational 
consultant with EduCannon Consulting, 
which works with schools to advise and 
support sustainable changes, where he was 
involved in a number of projects, including 
leading the merger of two day schools in 
West Hartford, building the new Coaching 
Institute for Prizmah, the network for 
Jewish day schools across North America, to 
support day school leaders, and providing 
advice and consulting to other schools.
But, after two years of educational con-
sulting, Levisohn was ready and eager to 

return to day school leadership. As he began 
his search for a new position in day schools, 
Levisohn focused heavily on finding an area 
with a warm and welcoming environment.
“We were looking for a place that has the 
right environment, and someone said, in one 
of the interviews here, that this area is a great 
place to raise kids. That’
s exactly what my 
wife and I were looking for,
” Levisohn said. 
“
Although all our kids are older, we are both 
heavily involved with children. Detroit is 
also a resurgent community and offers a lot 
of growth opportunities.
”
Levisohn and his wife, Dr. Lisi, who is a 
developmental neuropsychologist, have three 
children: Ari, 23, Tani, 20, and Yonina, 17. 
Not only is Levisohn tasked with the 
transitional phase of becoming a new head 
of school, he has also been heavily involved 
with determining plans for this upcoming 
school year in response to the coronavirus.
“I have been involved in a lot of deci-
sion making and planning from March 
on, partially due to Rabbi Berman’
s credit,
” 
Levisohn said. “Obviously, being someone 
who is new to the Farber team, someone 
who is new to the community and someone 
who is not even physically there yet has been 
a significant challenge. 
“But, the truth of the matter is that it has 
been a challenge for everyone in the day 
school world. Everyone is trying to prepare 
for an extremely unusual year in person, 
with all the requirements, restrictions and 
guidelines that we are putting into the place, 
which are very extensive. At the same time, 
also trying to prepare for the eventuality of 
the possibility that we will end up going vir-
tual at some point.
”
As far as Farber’
s plan, it will welcome stu-
dents for in-person education Aug. 24. It has 
put all the precautions in place, including 
the wearing of masks, hand sanitizers, hand 
washing, limiting the number of people in 
spaces and keeping class sizes small. Farber 
is a smaller school, normally averaging 13 
middle schoolers in a classroom and gradu-
ating only eight seniors in the 2020 class.
“We are trying to do this as best as pos-
sible. But obviously, this makes for a new 
start in a new place quite different than I 
was anticipating,
” Levisohn said. “If the gov-
ernor’
s orders change or the situation in the 
community changes, obviously we will need 
to reconsider our plan based on what is best 
for the public’
s health and what is best for 
the safety of our kids and our staff.
” 

J. LEVISOHN

Josh 
Levisohn

COURTESY OF JOSH LEVISOHN

Ari, Yonina, Dr. Lisi Levisohn, 
Dr. Josh Levisohn and Tani

“As soon as I started,
I fell in love with it.”

— DR. JOSH LEVISOHN