If there is a Nobel Prize for Jews – the Genesis Prize – it seems only right that there should be an Oscar for teachers.
Last week, the first annual Tzemach David Award ceremony was held at the Bible Lands Museum. The award is given to teachers who demonstrate excellence and innovations in education in six different categories.
It is one of the first initiatives of the Tzemach David Foundation, which was established last year with the aim of helping to improve education in Israel. It chose its initial focus to be the National Religious education system (Hemed). Over 800 teachers from that system were nominated for the prize, which was administered by four judges – leaders in Israeli education – who reviewed the applications on an anonymous basis and chose the six winners.
Who won the Tzemach David Awards?
In her opening remarks, Tamar Krieger Kalev, executive director of Tzemach David, said: “When we visited schools and studied success stories, we identified two common factors: a courageous principal and a group of inspiring teachers. You are the inspiring teachers!” she said to the six winners.
On the principal side, Tzemach David gives grants to schools in which principals create programs to better integrate olim – another initial focus of the foundation. That, in turn, helps the entire school community.
David Magerman, founder and president of Tzemach David, is an American philanthropist who has been focusing on education for many years, recently pulling funding away from the University of Pennsylvania and redirecting it to Israeli universities and colleges.
He clarified in his remarks: “We don’t want to reshape American education in Israel. What we want is to provide resources for educators so they can do things they want to do. The system needs to have excited, engaged, and energized teachers.”
The award was indeed given to such teachers: Ilana Azoulai of Talmud Torah Mitzpe Yeriho, for excellence in leadership development; Yifat Amakias from Ulpana Hadera, for excellence in interdisciplinary integration; Tehila Yitzhakhi from Pisgat David, for excellence in real-world learning; Rachel Cohen from Hemed Meron, for excellence in learning environment; Sagit Sarosi from the Netaim Technical School, for excellence in differentiated instructions; and Rivka Rabinovits from Ulpana Alma, for excellence in developing critical and/or creative thinking.
Magerman stressed that in addition to recognizing the achievements of those teachers, the award is meant to inspire other teachers to innovate. Therefore, the curriculum of those teachers and the 50 other finalists will be featured on a new platform that would allow teachers from all over Israel to learn from one another and collaborate.
Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon, president of World Mizrachi and admired by all sectors of the Israeli population, encouraged the teachers to think big. “Israel is the best place in the world. We have lots of creative ideas, but we need to make them real.”
Rimon underscored that most of the nation is in unity, and this is especially true with the young generation. “People dismissed this generation as a generation of screens and iPhones, but [since Oct. 7] we have seen powers we have not seen for thousands of years. This young generation is amazing. God is with us, and we are going to win [the war].”
Addressing the teachers, he noted, “With the education that you are providing and the [innovative] thinking you are initiating, you enable the next generation to be even better than this one.”
This was already seen as guests were walking into the festive garden reception at the Bible Lands Museum. Unlike the Oscars, where the guests march down the red carpet wearing glamorous attire, here the guests marched in wearing military uniforms and carrying machine guns – sons, daughters, and husbands of the winners, who got a brief leave from their military service for the momentous occasion.
“In parshat Shelah, Joshua and Caleb proclaimed: ‘This land is very, very good,’” Krieger Kalev concluded her remarks. “This land is even more good because of such amazing teachers like you, and we are honored to be in your presence and to play our small role in making the education system better, and our country even more good.”■
For information on the award: www.tzemachdavid.org