New Teacher At Heschel: Eliot Safier By Eli Buchdahl ELIOT SAFIER IS a new math teacher at Heschel. Heschel Herald: Where did you teach before you came to Heschel? Eliot: I taught at the Stephen Gaynor School. HH: Did you teach math at the Stephen Gaynor School? Eliot: I did, and other subjects as well. HH: What other subjects? Eliot: In addition to math, I taught writing, literature, current events, social studies. I also coached basketball as well as, track and field. HH: You teach sixth, seventh, and eighth grades here. Did you teach the same grades there? Eliot:. My first year there I taught seventh and eighth grades, and during my second year, I taught fifth and sixth grades. HH: How did you get into teaching? Eliot: Good question. My first career was in finance for a couple of years; then I read a book called, Walking With The Wind, by John Lewis. It was a book on the Civil Rights Movement. I was so moved by his story that I ultimately made the decision to “do the right thing,” and I felt the right thing for me -- was to become a teacher. HH: Where are you from? Eliot: I am from the Holy Land… HH: Israel? Eliot: Memphis, Tennessee. (laughs) I threw a little monkey wrench in there. HH: Did you grow up there your whole life? Eliot: Yes, until I went to college. HH: Where did you go to college? Eliot: I did a gap year in Israel; I did a program there. I then went to Yeshiva University for my undergraduate degree
in finance, and then I did my master’s at St. Johns University. HH: How did you end up at Heschel? Eliot: The actual process was I went online to the New York City private school website and there was a posting for it. That’s how I found out about the job opening for the math department. I was familiar with the school because I had coached against Heschel for basketball and track. That’s how I ultimately found the school and knew that it existed. HH: There are some Heschel teachers who learned about the school because they sat next to Linda at a dinner... Eliot: Oh, I’ll tell you a crazy story though. I actually heard about Heschel before all of this happened. Remember
packed in a church. John Lewis is sitting there, watching as a friend. And in walks this gentleman, with big white hair and a big white beard. And in the book John Lewis describes that it felt like G-d just walked in the church.. And who was this individual that attended the funeral? Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. That was the first I had ever heard of his name, is in this book, Walking With The Wind. And I always laughed, like hey, here’s this Jewish guy, down in the South to participate in the Civil Rights Movement. That was the first time I heard the name Heschel. And then, I met one of the founders of the school Peter Geffen, and I have a mutual friend with his daughter. And when I first thought about going into
t h e book I told you about, Walking With The Wind? I read this book in 2011. In the book, there is a story about John Lewis, who is a Congressional representative for Georgia. He was an activist in the Civil Rights Movement when he was about 18 years old. There had been quite a few people killed in the course of the Civil Rights movement, and the book describes a funeral that John Lewis attended at the time.. So he’s in this big church, and the reverend is in front, giving his sermon. Imagine this scene. Hundreds of people,
education, I asked to talk to him, Peter Geffen. I wanted to hear his story with the Civil Rights Movement and how it connected with Heschel. So before I even finished my master’s I met with Peter Geffen at his home and we talked about the Civil Rights Movement. We spoke about education, this was before I was even a teacher. And then fast forward three to four years, and it’s all come full circle. I’m now teaching at Heschel, whose namesake was mentioned in the book that inspired me to teach in the first place.
The Alan B. Slifka Middle School!
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November, 2014 Volume 5, Issue 1