{"id":21496,"date":"2021-06-09T14:52:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-09T14:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/?p=21496"},"modified":"2021-06-21T13:29:45","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T13:29:45","slug":"the-pandemic-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/cover-story\/the-pandemic-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"On Covid’s Jewish Frontlines: The Pandemic Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Rabbi Ari Schonfeld
\n<\/strong>By Steve Lipman<\/em><\/p>\n

Two days after Covid forced Yeshiva Beis Hillel of Passaic to close its doors, Rabbi Ari Schonfeld went online. His eighth-grade class at the northern New Jersey day school missed \u201cone day, maybe two,\u201d before he resumed teaching on Zoom. A week after the school closed, Rabbi Schonfeld went national.<\/p>\n

A native of the Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood of Queens, the rabbi, who has lived in the Passaic-Clifton area for several years, founded \u201cNight Seder America,\u201d an online program for boys in junior high school to\u00a0 enable them to learn gemara <\/em>in the evenings despite the pandemic. First, he reached out to his network of friends, former or current students, and one-time campers at the local day camp he runs, Camp Eeshay. Soon, word of mouth quickly expanded his program beyond his original modest expectations, all while he was still teaching his online day school classes to sixth, seventh and eighth-graders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never heard of Zoom,\u201d he says. He was a quick learner. He taught himself the intricacies of this Internet form of communication that became a lifeline for millions of people during the pandemic. During Night Seder America (NSA) sessions, he would sit in front of a pair of large monitors in his office, toggling among eighty galleries of faces that each contained twenty students. And he incorporated security measures to prevent NSA from being interrupted by hackers. \u201cI saw a need for an online Torah platform,\u201d says Rabbi Schonfeld, grandson of the late Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld and son of Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, who succeeded his father as rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills.<\/p>\n

Some 300 junior high school students, mostly from Passaic and a few communities and neighborhoods in nearby New York City, took part in Rabbi Schonfeld\u2019s first night on the program. The number of participants quickly grew to 1,500, hailing from across the United States, as well as from South Africa, England, Israel and other countries; a separate Night Seder Europe eventually developed. \u201cI exceeded my wildest dreams,\u201d says the rabbi. \u201cNSA went viral.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each hour-long NSA session featured a Gemara shiur<\/em> by Rabbi Schonfeld, beginning with Masechet Tamid<\/em>, as well as lectures by prominent rabbis and scholars, often prerecorded, about the then upcoming Pesach holiday. Quizzes and contests, such as an online version of \u201cSimon Says,\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s My Psak<\/em>,\u201d and \u201cBest Chol Hamoed Trip without Leaving Your House\u201d earned raffles and prizes to pique the students\u2019 interest. For Lag B\u2019Omer, he ran a virtual version of his camp\u2019s Neighborhood Day competition, pitting teams from New York City against \u201cout-of-town\u201d competitors.<\/p>\n

Wednesdays became \u201cPshetl<\/em> Night\u201d\u2014boys with a bar mitzvah that week reserved a slot, sending in recordings of their bar mitzvah speeches; even if their synagogues weren\u2019t closed, they had a bigger audience than they might have gotten normally.<\/p>\n

While NSA was among several popular online Torah study programs that flourished in this country during the height of the pandemic, Rabbi Schonfeld considers his initiative the only one of its scope aimed at filling the time and minds of pre-teen boys. Other online offerings were mostly \u201centertainment,\u201d like talent shows and singing competitions, says Rabbi Schonfeld; he wanted something more serious.\u00a0Some parents shared that their sons, who were often uninspired by traditional in-person Talmud classes, would get up early to prepare for that night\u2019s Zoom session.<\/p>\n

For Rabbi Schonfeld, NSA became a family affair, with his wife Esti, his sister Malki Goldberg and his children contributing various roles. He became a self-taught fundraiser for the program; the $40,000 he brought in paid for prizes and for NSA\u2019s high-tech requirements.<\/p>\n

The lesson he learned from NSA\u2019s success? Friends had told him he was \u201cnuts\u201d when he started. \u201cI learned that you don\u2019t sell yourself short when you\u2019re about to do something big.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Lipman is a frequent contributor to <\/em>Jewish Action. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rabbi Leonard Matanky
\n<\/strong>By Sandy Eller<\/em><\/p>\n

It was on the morning of March 13, 2020, that Rabbi Leonard Matanky, dean of Chicago\u2019s Ida Crown Jewish Academy, informed his parent body that while the yeshivah would be remaining open until further notice, he had taken the precaution of having Zoom installed on every student\u2019s iPad, just to be safe. Little did he know that just hours later, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker would issue a surprise announcement closing down all schools statewide.<\/p>\n

Rabbi Matanky was driving home from school when someone called to tell him that Ida Crown was officially closed, news that he was sure at first was a joke. But a text a few minutes later from another person telling him to turn on the TV and watch the governor\u2019s press conference had him realizing that the situation was anything but funny.<\/p>\n

With Shabbat coming shortly, Rabbi Matanky sent his second email of the day to the parent body, apprising parents of the latest developments and explaining that additional information would be forthcoming. Wasting no time, he arranged a Motzaei Shabbat<\/em> Zoom meeting with his staff, and by Sunday, a remote schooling plan was in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had an in-service day on Monday for teachers to review the technology and discuss strategies for successful distance learning,\u201d recalls Rabbi Matanky. \u201cWe did it in shifts so that we could limit the number of people and invited students to come pick up their textbooks and other belongings.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Tuesday morning, less than ninety-six hours after Governor Pritzker\u2019s bombshell announcement, Ida Crown\u2019s high schoolers were learning on Zoom. The modified academic schedule had shortened days Monday through Thursday, with Friday classes held only on alternate weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the challenges our teachers faced was determining what skills were absolutely necessary for students to move on to the next level,\u201d says Rabbi Matanky. \u201cThere was a lot of trimming, but we did it and were able to complete the core curriculum.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it became clear in mid-April that school would remain closed for the year, special programming was added to the calendar including a Yom Ha\u2019atzmaut concert with Ishay Ribo, town hall meetings for students and parents, and mental health workshops to address the stresses of the pandemic. With Covid numbers rising as the school year went on, graduation was postponed until August and held on the school\u2019s soccer field.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the graduates came with their family pods and were able to march down the aisle, walk across the stage and get their diplomas,\u201d says Rabbi Matanky. \u201cIt was somewhat regular, although the biplane carrying a message \u2018ICJA Class of 2020\u2019 was a little fancier than graduations of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just days later Ida Crown reopened for the new academic year. Because the school building is only five years old, it has an updated HVAC system, MERV 13 air filters and 75 percent outside air coming into the building. Strict protocols included mandatory social distancing and one-way traffic in the hallways, with students permitted to remove their masks only for fifteen minutes during their lunch period, based on CDC guidelines. Having been ahead of the curve when it came to remote schooling, Rabbi Matanky was grateful for the opportunity to be able to share information with other heads of school, giving them the security of knowing that education could continue, even during a pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur teachers are heroes. Our students are heroes,\u201d says Rabbi Matanky. \u201cThings are slowly opening up, and to our great joy, we haven\u2019t been closed a single day and, please God, we won\u2019t be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandy Eller is a freelance writer who writes for numerous websites, newspapers, magazines and private clients.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sarena Schwartz
\n<\/strong>By Steve Lipman<\/em><\/p>\n

Like many day schools in the United States, Bais Yaakov of Baltimore stopped in-person classes shortly after the pandemic began. For most of the teachers at the 1,500-student, K-12 school, this largely meant education via Zoom.<\/p>\n

For Sarena Schwartz, a decade-long instructor in computer programming and STEM, this meant Zoom classes, Skype, phone calls and other creative approaches to her work. Before Covid arrived, her schedule had always been predictable\u2014a few classes each week with a total of some fifty students in tenth through twelfth grades. After Covid arrived, her schedule was completely unpredictable. \u201cWe teachers were on call all the time\u201d\u2014including constant questions from students by phone, email or text, she says, sometimes even after midnight.<\/p>\n

Schwartz says she and her fellow teachers faced similar challenges when the school\u2014which reopened this past September\u2014initially closed its doors: Zoom fatigue, attention issues and limited Internet access in students\u2019 homes. Schwartz, who teaches students about innovation, had to be innovative. To sustain the students\u2019 interest, she created a series of twenty-minute videos that students could view online at their convenience. She reduced the amount of material she normally tried to cover and taught her lessons more slowly. She also reduced the homework load. In order to physically get some of the curriculum requirements to the girls without compromising their safety, she\u2019d leave material for assignments in the trunk of her car for students to pick up. Sometimes she worked in her pantry. \u201cIt was the only place I could find that offered quiet and privacy.\u201d Her efforts bore fruit, she says. Considering the inherent limitations of the unfamiliar virtual environment, students continued to learn and to submit assignments.<\/p>\n

Back in the classroom for much of this past academic year, Schwartz says she was able to introduce some of her online teaching successes into her in-person classes. \u201cThere are lots of [new] techniques that I\u2019ve been able to incorporate.\u201d These include increasing her flexibility when it comes to students\u2019 ability to concentrate and other individual needs, and truncating the length of learning units.<\/p>\n

What prepared Schwartz for her new role? \u201cNothing could have prepared me,\u201d she says simply.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe
\n<\/strong>By Barbara Bensoussan<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you told us last summer our school would be able to stay open\u00a0in person without a single shutdown\u00a0from September to Thanksgiving, we would have been happy,\u201d says Rabbi Dr. Yaakov Jaffe, dean of Jewish studies at the Maimonides School in Brookline, Massachusetts.\u00a0\u201cIf you told us we\u2019d keep going through the end of December, we would have been overjoyed.\u00a0But if you told us we\u2019d still be in school\u00a0in person\u00a0by Purim\u00a0without a single shutdown, we would never have believed you!\u201d<\/p>\n

As of March 2021, when this article was being prepared, the school had logged over a thousand hours of\u00a0in-person\u00a0class time, and not a single student had gotten ill with Covid\u00a0at school.\u00a0Rabbi Jaffe attributes this to guidance by physicians, the collaboration among the Jewish schools in Boston, the diligence of parents in following school guidelines, and\u00a0<\/em>siyata d\u2019Shmaya<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoston was lucky\u00a0in March [2020],\u201d Rabbi Jaffe says. \u201cThe earliest Covid clusters were in New York, not here.\u201d\u00a0But a number of concerned physicians\u00a0affiliated with the major Boston medical schools and hospitals\u00a0appealed to the Jewish community to close schools and shuls as a precaution\u00a0before a big spike in cases last spring, and they made themselves available to advise all Jewish day schools\u00a0for the twelve months following.<\/p>\n

Since the Jewish schools closed earlier than the public schools, they needed to communicate their rationale to the town of Brookline.\u00a0Fortunately, a doctor affiliated with Harvard Medical School stepped up to the plate and served as a liaison.\u00a0The Jewish Federations of Boston\u00a0(CJP)\u00a0convened a medical advisory board\u00a0as part of their day school initiative.\u00a0The board worked with all of the day schools\u00a0in the area, giving advice on the latest guidelines to families from every stripe of Judaism.<\/p>\n

Since the Covid rate dropped during the summer (with some day camps operating but Modern Orthodox sleepaway camps mostly canceled), Boston\u2019s day schools decided jointly to open in the fall.\u00a0Many schools opened up even before Labor Day\u00a0to increase the days when outdoor instruction was possible.\u00a0While the public schools remained closed to\u00a0in-person instruction, the Jewish schools and\u00a0non-Jewish\u00a0parochial schools needed to establish close communication\u00a0with the township to once again explain\u00a0that they were imposing slightly different guidelines that would allow them to be open in person even if the public schools were not. For example,\u00a0even though\u00a0the desks would be slightly less spaced apart\u00a0than the six-feet standard,\u00a0the day schools imposed a stricter policy about waiting to send children back to school if the family had traveled anywhere\u00a0out of state.\u00a0Parents were asked to keep children with fever home, and each day, parents had to attest that their children had no Covid symptoms. If a child developed fever at school, the parent was expected to immediately come pick up the child.<\/p>\n

Parents were also asked to sign a \u201cSchool Community Covid-19 Commitment,\u201d created in collaboration with other day schools, in which they promised to wear masks outside the home, socially distance, wash their hands, sanitize responsibly and follow state guidelines.<\/p>\n

The end result was that the day schools stayed open with 90 percent of the children in attendance, and the remaining 10 percent (for example, students with family members suffering from autoimmune conditions) learning remotely.\u00a0\u201cMaimonides\u2019 CEO, Scott Mattoon, invested incredible hours in creating transparent, clear communication between the schools and our advising physicians,\u201d says Rabbi Jaffe.\u00a0\u201cOur parents have been super careful, and in the end\u2014here truth really is stranger than fiction!\u2014we\u2019re still open after all these months.\u201d<\/p>\n

A long-time\u00a0Jewish Action contributor, Barbara Bensoussan is the author of <\/em>Pride and Preference, a novel re-imagining Austen\u2019s classic in today\u2019s Orthodox world.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rabbi Yerachmiel Garfield
\n<\/strong>By Leah Lightman<\/em><\/p>\n

How does a head of school described as an \u201cinspired and optimistic educational leader\u201d navigate the challenges of Covid?<\/p>\n

Head of school at Houston\u2019s Yeshiva Torat Emet (YTE) since 2010, Rabbi Yerachmiel Garfield, Ed.D, handled Covid as he handles many other decisions that he needs to make on a daily, weekly and monthly basis: he conducts research and consults experts. Often there are conflicting sources of information. Together with his board, faculty and administration, as well as the parent and student bodies, he makes decisions knowing that each one will be pleasing to some while unsatisfying to others. Lots of communication to the school community follows. If some disagree with a particular decision, dialogue within an atmosphere of total respect for the other person\u2019s point of view ensues.<\/p>\n

\u201cShalom<\/em> is a core Torah value that we have instilled into the foundation of everything YTE does,\u201d Rabbi Garfield explains. \u201cNot everyone is going to agree about everything, including Covid. Because of shalom<\/em>, we make room for individuals to voice opinions without judgment or character assassination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born and raised in the Philadelphia area, Rabbi Garfield explains that Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Levin, grandson of Rabbi Aryeh Levin, zt\u201dl<\/em>, impressed upon the Garfield family that shalom <\/em>precedes everything else in life. Rabbi Garfield still consults with him for advice.<\/p>\n

A few of the endless issues generated by Covid were: To mask or not to mask? To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? If vaccinating, which vaccine? And so on. \u201cThe spectrum of opinions about Covid and other issues is limitless,\u201d Rabbi Garfield explains, \u201cand that\u2019s okay. As long as there is communication, we can address and solve anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several YTE faculty members preferred not to come to school at different points during Covid. After discussing their concerns, arrangements were made for teaching remotely. YTE staffed the classroom so students could best focus on learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a child at home with Covid who was disconnected from Zoom and missed some\u00a0schoolwork. The parent called because the student was agitated about falling behind. We talked it through, and I wrote a letter on official school letterhead, exempting the student from schoolwork and tests for one week.\u00a0The child\u00a0calmed down.\u00a0The\u00a0parent\u00a0calmed down.\u00a0Our\u00a0teachers did all this b\u2019shalom,<\/em>\u00a0fully supporting the child,\u201d says Rabbi Garfield.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe communicate openly about doing what\u2019s best for our students, and we explain how<\/em> we do it. This has created a culture of trust, and within this culture, we adapt as much as possible to each individual situation,\u201d Rabbi Garfield says. \u201cCovid has not been an easy journey, but our teachers are dedicated and ready to do anything to foster a child\u2019s development. YTE celebrates its teachers in many ways\u2014car washes, appreciation luncheons, gift certificates. Our parents value our teachers and step up to express it. Hakarat hatov<\/em> goes a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, Covid will cast a shadow for years to come. Yet the culture of shalom<\/em> that Rabbi Garfield has built will certainly carry YTE and its family members far.<\/p>\n

Leah Lightman is a freelance writer living in Lawrence, New York, with her family.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More in this Section:<\/h3>\n

Leadership During Covid<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Of Rabbis and Rebbetzins<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Women Who Took Charge<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

From the Medical Trenches<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Final Chesed<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rabbi Ari Schonfeld By Steve Lipman Two days after Covid forced Yeshiva Beis Hillel of Passaic to close its doors, Rabbi Ari Schonfeld went online. His eighth-grade class at the northern New Jersey day school missed \u201cone day, maybe two,\u201d before he resumed teaching on Zoom. A week after the school closed, Rabbi Schonfeld went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":21586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-story","category-jewish-living","issues-summer-20215781"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOn Covid's Jewish Frontlines: The Pandemic Classroom - Jewish Action<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rabbi Ari Schonfeld By Steve Lipman Two days after Covid forced Yeshiva Beis Hillel of Passaic to close its doors, Rabbi Ari Schonfeld went online. 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