18 | JANUARY 5 • 2023 

O

n Jan. 15, Hebrew Day School 
of Ann Arbor will host a brunch 
in honor of its founders.
The Marlene Gitelman HDS Founders 
Memorial Brunch will pay tribute to the 
small group of dedicated Jewish community 
members who founded the school in 1974.
Marlene Gitelman, who passed away 
earlier this year at age 74, was vital to the 
creation of the school and developing its 
mission.
“The school was founded by a group 
of folks who had a lot in common, but 
also whose Judaism looked different from 

one another in noticeable and significant 
ways,
” explains HDS head of school Rabbi 
Will Keller. “When they came 
together, they envisioned a 
school that had their values 
overlap — and those values 
ended up aligning.
”
Together, Keller says, the 
founders built a school that 
was student-centered, had a 
high level of pedagogy and engaged stu-
dents at their own learning levels.
“The values, hopes and dreams that the 
founders were all hoping for continue to be 

the hopes and dreams that are on the minds 
of our current families,
” Keller says.

A ‘SMALL, BUT MIGHTY’ COMMUNITY
The brunch will pay tribute to the lasting 
impact the school’s founders had and is 
named in honor of Gitelman’s memory. 
Yet, although nearly 50 years have passed 
since the school’s founding, Keller says its 
approach to learning remains constant.
“Living in the nurturing shadow of the 
University of Michigan, which has a strong 
Jewish population, Ann Arbor’s Jewish 
population mirrors that in a lot of ways,
” he 
says.
While the Ann Arbor Jewish com-
munity is “small, but mighty,” as Keller 
describes, it’s a vibrant group of indi-
viduals dedicated to creating the same 
opportunities for their children and future 
generations as the school’s founders hoped 
for back in 1974. 
“Having vibrant Judaism here in Ann 
Arbor is a priority for the school,
” Keller 
continues, “and that’s what you can see 
reflected in our students.
”
Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor has 
60 students and 20 staff on faculty. While 
there’s some debate as to the numbers of 
Ann Arbor’s Jewish community, the esti-
mate is between 7,000-10,000, with Jewish 
Federation of Greater Ann Arbor currently 
conducting a community study to bet-
ter understand how many Jews reside in 
Washtenaw County.
Yet, as a small group, education at school 
is much inspired by the students them-
selves. 
“We often say that every class at Hebrew 
Day School provides differentiated instruc-
tion, so we’re always tweaking our lessons 
to best spark our students’ curiosity,
” Keller 

OUR COMMUNITY

Hebrew Day School 
of Ann Arbor Honors 
Founders with a 
Memorial Brunch

Rabbi Will 
Keller

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Students at 
Hebrew Day 
School of 
Ann Arbor

