Lilmod U’lilamed: A Three-Part Training Program for New Rebbeim

Rabbi Zecharia Weitz

Schools out of town struggle with finding (and retaining) rebbeim, reflecting a very limited pool of applicants for limudei kodesh positions. One resource that many communities can tap to fill this need is their community kollel, which brings families to town for a stint of two or three years. Recruiting these kollel members and their wives to stay in the community as mechanchim after their kollel commitment is an obvious possibility, but transitioning from full-time learning to being a teacher can be challenging. If things don’t start off well, it’s likely that the new mechanech will choose to leave the school (and perhaps, the community) after the first year or two. Even for those who take to teaching naturally, this professional path means that the new rebbeim have no formal career preparation or training, and the resources available in school for this type of training are often limited.

This was my story. I joined an out-of-town kollel with the intent of just a two-year stay in the community. Afterward, I was invited to join the local school as a rebbi, and our two-year commitment became over a decade in that city and a long-term commitment to a career in chinuch. When I later joined the Caskey Torah Academy in the Philadelphia area as an administrator, I got to experience acutely the challenge that out-of-town schools have in attracting quality rebbeim and morahs. Recalling my kollel-to-the-classroom experience, I had a vision to develop a training program that would draw candidates from the out-of-town kollelim to stay in their communities as mechanchim. Together with Rabbi Heshy Glass at the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools (CoJDS), we designed a program to make the leap from the bais medrash to the classroom manageable and to avoid the attrition that can be common amongst new educators.

Program Design

The Lilmod U’Lilamed program consists of three key components: mentorship, training webinars, and site visits. Mentorship is a proven way to help new teachers develop the skills they need to become effective teachers. The one-on-one format gives novice teachers the personal attention and time they need to implement new practices and get personal professional feedback.

The mentors and mentees work together throughout the year, meeting weekly, observing each other’s classes, and collaborating on implementation of ideas from the training sessions. The mentor teachers grow from this relationship as well by participating in the training, engaging in reflective practice, and gaining experience in teacher supervision.
Ideally, the mentor teacher is an experienced mechanech from the same school as the new teacher. In this way, the mentor can see the big picture of the new teacher’s professional experience, in the classroom and out. When a local mentor is not available, Lilmod U’Lilamed can assign a mentor from another school or even another city.

The second program component is a series of 12 training webinars over the course of the year. Instead of live instruction, which can present scheduling challenges to participants from different time zones, these video sessions are pre-recorded, and participants and mentors complete the session within a two-week window. This part of the program was designed by a panel of school leaders, who recommended a course of study based on Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching (FFT). This framework has four domains: planning and preparation, learning environments, learning experiences, and principled teaching.

The presenters are hand-picked school leaders who address topics of their expertise. For example, Mrs. Miriam Gettinger recently presented on the topic of assessment for learning, Rabbi Yehuda Fogel gave a two-part series on lesson planning, and Mr. Josh Gold led a session on learning targets and questioning and discussion techniques. Other presenters have included Rabbi Yaakov Sadigh, Rabbi Simcha Dessler, Rabbi Dovid Engel, and Rabbi Isaac Entin. Each year, Rav Ahron Lopiansky kicks off this training component by giving a charge to the participants in the first session.
After each session, Lilmod U’Lilamed participants and their mentors meet and plan to implement what they learned. There is a log that participants fill out to distill what they have learned into actionable steps which serves as a means to communicate with Lilmod U’Lilamed staff, presenters, and participants about an idea they found insightful or helpful.

The third major component of the program is four site visits over the course of the year. Participants travel to a school, usually one that is led by one of the training presenters, to spend a day meeting with the school administration, observing classes and expert teachers, and seeing in person some of the things they learned about in the Lilmod program. Mentors are invited to join, too. Often, these site visits are scheduled to allow participants to stay for a second day of training such as one of the CoJDS regional conferences. Participants have also had the opportunity to meet with Torah leaders such as Rav Ahron Lopiansky or Rav Sholom Kamenetsky on these trips. All expenses are paid, making the site visits one of the highlights of the program.

Participants in the program are 1st-12th grade rebbeim nominated by their schools for acceptance into the program, and between 20 and 30 participants are selected each year. The school provides a stipend for the rebbi. In this way, the rebbi’s participation in the intensive program, including many hours of training and several days away for the site visits, is supported by the school. The mentors are paid, as well, in recognition of the time they devote to helping their mentee throughout the year.

Outcome

Now entering its fifth year, Lilmod U’Lilamed has trained over 65 rebbeim from 30 different schools in over 20 cities. Rabbi Avraham Zuckerman, a rebbi in Dallas, said about his Lilmod U’Lilamed experience,

“I might have never seen myself as a classroom teacher, but now I don’t see myself doing anything else.”

Rabbi Aryeh Birnhack, a rebbi from Indianapolis who has segued into school administration, shared,

“I’ve been able to connect with similarly motivated chaverim, as well as world-class mechanchim who have lit the path for a promising career in chinuch.”

The program is perhaps best judged by the rate of attrition among the mechanchim who participate, one of the challenges it sought to address, and by this metric it has been a success. It is commonly reported that 44% of new teachers leave the profession within five years. In contrast, every Lilmod U’Lilamed participant has continued in Jewish education, with many graduates moving into school administration as well. Training in the Danielson Framework, mentoring with an experienced teacher, and having the opportunity to visit other schools, seems to be a winning formula for inducting new rebbeim into the world of chinuch and setting them on the path to success. 

Rabbi Zecharia Weitz serves as the Director of CoJDS’s Lilmod U’Lilamed program. In addition, he is the Assistant Principal for Limudei Kodesh at Caskey Torah Academy. Prior to moving to the Philadelphia area, Rabbi Weitz spent over a decade in Columbus, Ohio, serving as the Coordinator of Judaic Studies at Columbus Torah Academy as well as the Director of In-reach at Beth Jacob Congregation.

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