Shira Berkovitch was born in Israel. Her parents were on student visas and returned to the United States when she was nine months old. She feels like this truly shaped her identity. The oldest of five siblings, Berkovitch says, “There was something about me that was inherently Israeli.”
Her parents raised their children in a very Zionist and religious environment. From the time of her bat mitzvah, Berkovitch visited Israel often, sometimes working to pay for her trip.
“My dream was very clear,” she says. “I wanted to move to Israel, do meaningful service in the IDF, and become a doctor.”
Her education was eclectic. She went to a Montessori elementary school until fourth grade, and then to a very religious Chabad school in Monsey, New York.
At the age of 18, with her trademark confidence and organized style, she left her family and friends and moved to Israel on her own. Her parents supported her, and eventually all her siblings made aliyah and now live in Jerusalem. Her mother, a midwife with a thriving private practice, and her father, who is pursuing his passion as a personal trainer, live in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Berkovitch’s American-Israeli aunt ran Masa Israel’s Aardvark program, and she participated for a year, volunteering for Magen David Adom emergency ambulance service and working at Alyn Children’s Hospital in Jerusalem. It was a year of growth and change.
IDF service
Setting her sights on army service, Berkovitch was told she needed to wait a year until she was recruited. “I am not one to sit and wait,” she explains. “So I took matters into my own hands, went to the recruitment office, and begged them to draft me.” When they told her no, she asked to see the commander, and he told her to come back in a few months. Undeterred, Berkovitch says, “Two days later I was back in the recruitment office, and I was drafted.”
Berkovitch served in the first mixed-gender combat unit. She was a battalion medic, eventually in charge of an entire medical team. “This was an amazing time for me,” she says. “It made me so much more Israeli and gave me such purpose and connection.”
She almost joined the professional army, but medical school was calling. She had also met the love of her life, Yair [Berkovitch], and they were married in August 2021. The next day, Shira was accepted to medical school at Hebrew University.
“I always dreamed of being a doctor, and I love research. So I am now in a joint MD/PhD program to get my medical degree and my doctorate in research,” she says.
It is a nine-year program, and during her ongoing, very intensive studies, the Berkovitches had two children – Zohariya Lev, now three; and Gaia Neri, now one. “Both were born during finals week,” laughs Berkovitch.
The family lives in the Alon community in the Adumim region, south of Jerusalem. Yair worked in security, but their entire life changed after Oct. 7, 2023. Yair was called to reserve duty, and for over 400 days he has served his country.
“It is a very difficult time, emotionally, socially, and financially,” says Berkovitch. “Our entire life has been uprooted, and our entire nation has changed. The children feel this very deeply.”
Community vision
Amid these challenging times, the Berkovitches found a group of like-minded parents who have come together to create a new educational framework for their children. They are young families, most with husbands who have done an inordinate amount of reserve duty, who are actively establishing a new kindergarten for their children, Gan Dror, in the Judean desert near their homes.
“I feel that the idea for this innovative, nature-based, alternative kindergarten grew organically after Oct. 7. We had all experienced such scary things, and we decided to take this leap and build something meaningful for our children,” says Berkovitch passionately.
The families are working tirelessly to get this kindergarten, for children ages three to six, up and running by September. From bureaucratic hurdles to securing permits to raising funds, they are motivated to succeed.
“The incredible thing is that we said that we would open with 24 children, and we already have another 34 on a waiting list. Everything that seemed impossible is coming together, and the possible is happening,” she says.
She says that her motivation for joining the community of founders of this kindergarten is based on her early experience at the Montessori school. She feels that traditional frameworks do not speak to everyone and that what they are trying to create at Gan Dror will bring out their children’s highest potential.
“It will be a safe, healing, and empowering space for young children to thrive,” she says.
The new kindergarten is named for their dear friend Dror Alton. He served in a national counter-terrorism unit and fell in battle on Oct. 7 while courageously rushing to save the lives of citizens and soldiers in the South, some of the very men now helping to build this kindergarten.
Alton left behind a wife and infant son. His wife, one of Gan Dror’s founding mothers, says that Dror would have been the first to enroll their son in this gan, which reflects the values he lived by.
“We have come together as a community; and for the mothers and wives of reservists, it has become a source of strength and inspiration,” says Berkovitch.
“We want our children to grow up with a feeling of security and resilience, rooted in values and love of our land,” she continues. “This is about more than a kindergarten. It is about bringing change to our country from the ground up.
“We’re living through a time of tremendous change, and it is on us, the parents, to ensure that our children are given the education to be the leaders of the future.”
Shira Berkovitch, 27 From Teaneck, New Jersey to Jerusalem, 2015