An AMIT Educator Who Goes Above and Beyond

Rabbi Zev Shandalov — aka “Rav Zev”

BY ABIGAIL KLEIN LEICHMAN

The AMIT network has successfully helped two generations of immigrants from Ethiopia and the countries of the former Soviet Union overcome linguistic, cultural, socioeconomic, and academic hurdles on the path to becoming fully contributing members of Israeli society.

Although newcomers from Western countries generally arrive with greater resources, children in an unfamiliar land always face challenges. At AMIT Eitan Jr. and Sr. High School for Boys in Ma’ale Adumim, students from English-speaking homes fi nd warm support during their transition and beyond – no less than those students from more disadvantaged backgrounds.

“When we started gaining the trust of immigrant families from 13 diff erent states and countries –

including French, Ethiopian, American, Canadian, Portuguese and Russian immigrants – to educate their sons, we tried to give every immigrant group proper guidance beyond what the Education Ministry provides,” said Daniel Be’eri, now entering his sixth year as principal of the award-winning school.

AMIT Eitan gives these boys a boost in the person of Rabbi Zev Shandalov — aka “Rav Zev” — who made aliyah 12 years ago from Chicago following a career in business, education, and the pulpit.

In fact, in one of those “small world” coincidences so common in Israel, Be’eri’s father was good friends with Shandalov’s late father-in-law in Chicago. “I was teaching in a classroom at AMIT Eitan for three and a half years and then I proposed to Daniel that I work with the immigrant kids — a couple of Ethiopians, a Russian, and many English speakers,” he said. “They need handholding for the language, for the culture, for whatever it may be.”

Be’eri readily agreed. During his 12 years at AMIT Eitan he’d seen a large uptick of English-speakers in the school’s population, and particularly an infl ux of Americans about seven years ago, before he became principal.

“We understood that what we need is Rav Zev to work with them and be with them during all or most of their classes and help them understand what’s going on, to study with them and help them prepare for bagrut,” the matriculation exams leading to an academic diploma.

“Rav Zev is the rabbi for many Anglo families in his neighborhood,” continued Be’eri. “When we bring students or parents of these families for meetings, he knows their background and can give guidance. Sometimes he works with the whole family. It’s really unique how community and school life come together here.”

There’s no job description in the Education Ministry for Shandalov’s position at AMIT Eitan, the principal emphasized. “We made it up. We hire people for special jobs that have a big infl uence in their community.” Which helps explain why AMIT Eitan won the prize for best national religious school in Israel in the 2020-2021 school year. Having taught for seven years at the school so far, Shandalov declared that he’s never encountered fi ner people.

“It’s the best staff I’ve worked with in any position in my life, from business to the rabbinate. Truly the school is for the kids. Daniel Be’eri’s administration is very encouraging to the faculty and students to come up with new approaches, new ideas, new innovations.”

Shandalov’s work with immigrants was one of those innovations. Among other boys he has assisted, he accompanied a core group of four students from seventh through 12th grade, assisting them through coursework, projects, and matriculation exams.

“It was a lifesaver that Rav Zev was there,” said Yonatan Reiff man, now a 19-year-old hesder yeshiva student at Sha’alvim and still a weekly study partner of his mentor.

“We made aliyah from Wisconsin in 2014, when I was going into seventh grade. I was a little nervous knowing no Hebrew and coming into a classroom full of Israelis,” he related.

“It was extremely crazy not knowing a word that was being said. Language is a big barrier both academically and socially. I didn’t retain information as well because I was spending so much energy trying to understand what the teacher was saying,” he recalled.

“But from the fi rst day of school, Rav Zev was there, translating and helping me understand. In the beginning, he would come into class and help translate. He’d explain word by word and whole ideas. Later he would sometimes pull us out of class. I remember that 10th grade history was hard for the new immigrants, so he’d do a private kind of class going over the material with us and translating what was in the textbook.”

As they began understanding Hebrew better, the group of Americans continued relying on Shandalov as a teacher, study partner, and confi dante. “When we learned with him, he’d joke and tell funny stories, so our learning was fi lled with laughter. He did so much for me and all my friends that no matter what I say about it won’t do it justice,” said Reiff man.

“Even for things not connected to school, he was there for us. We could text or call him, and he’d always happily help us with any problem. In the later years he helped us prepare for the bagrut in school and on his own time he’d invite us to his house to go over the material. He said a bunch of times that his goal was to make sure every one of us graduated with a teudat bagrut [academic diploma] and he is the main reason we all did that.”

Indeed, said Be’eri, “These were kids who hardly knew Hebrew when they started, and they fi nished with good grades on their bagrut.”

Reiff man said that looking back at his overall experience at AMIT Eitan, “I made a lot of nice friends, the school was warm, and the teachers were extremely nice. I heard from friends at other schools that this was not necessarily the usual experience.”

Rabbi Zev Shandalov recently published a

book of Hebrew piyyutim – short liturgical poems – that he composed with the inspiration and support of AMIT Eitan. “The book came about because I was helping some boys in a Hebrew literature class and the fi rst topic that came up was piyyutim,” he explained.

“I’ve been reading piyyutim for a number of years. While I was translating for the boys, I learned about the amazing structure and how piyyutim are built. After about a month of just listening along with the students, I tried my hand at one. And that was it. I’ve written about 50 so far. The book has 16; there will be a second edition soon.”

The school helped fund the printing and contributed a tremendous amount of encouragement, he says. “Three teachers helped me along the way in aspects from linguistics to structure: Yael Lazarovich, Eliyahu Pahima, and Hadas Kimhi.”

Principal Daniel Be’eri says that encouraging teachers in pursuing their individual interests is a central value in the AMIT network. “Rav Zev found this fountain of creativity coming out of him from the classes in our school, and we supported that because we want to show our whole staff that when you have something unique to develop, the school wants to be part of it,” he said.

Shandalov has been doing book launch talks in various parts of Israel. “My goal was never to make money on this project,” he emphasized. “I just found there is something in me that I can bring out. It took me until I was 60 years old to discover it.”

What do AMIT Eitan students think of the piyyutim? “The students who are aware of the book think it’s the coolest thing that we have a payytan in the school,” Shandalov replied. “It’s not just some names from the Middle Ages – that’s the style I write in. It’s from a guy they know!”