Creating Shalom Bayit In The Classroom

The Classroom

The author, poses with two non-Jewish members of the English faculty at Ramaz, Joshua Gaylord and Thomas Kuck. “Having non-Jewish teachers in a Jewish school creates a great balance,” according to the author.

by Daphna Weinstock

It is almost a given that my English teacher, Thomas Kuck, will daily bring up some kind of Hebrew word or concept such as “Shalom Bayit ” in a class discussion or literary analysis. My English teacher’s Jewish knowledge and vocabulary is astounding considering Ramaz is one of his only connections to the Jewish world. At Ramaz (as well as other Jewish high schools) there are many faculty members who are not Jewish. I wondered about an outsider’s perspective on Judaism and yeshiva life. Do they enjoy teaching in a Jewish school?

A school’s primary role is to provide an education. “There are a lot of similarities between teenagers throughout the United States,” said Brett Barnes, a substitute chemistry teacher at Ramaz.

The educational experience should be the same regardless of religion; however there is more to a dual education than just the curriculum content.
There are lessons to be taught in the classroom aside from what is written in the lesson plan. By having a different kind of teacher, you can learn so many new things. For example, a non-Jewish teacher may open one’s eyes to what exists outside of a Jewish environment. In a place like Ramaz, secular integration happens by including these non-Jewish teachers in the faculty. But although we have non-Jewish teachers here how do we relate to them and how do they relate to us? Do they in any way feel alienated from the culture of the school?

As far as winding up in a Jewish school, most of the teachers I interviewed heard about this Jewish, private school through personal connections. There are some exceptions to that rule. When Joshua Gaylord, an English teacher at Ramaz, came to the school he had no idea that it was Jewish. “It was a total culture shock,” Gaylord said.

Barnes was also surprised by the Jewish culture. In his chemistry class there were no immediate differences. Outside of the classroom however was an aspect of life quite new to him namely the dual curriculum and the ubiquity of Hebrew in classes and in the hallways.

Kuck, on the other hand, has had 12 years to adjust. “At first I thought the students would whisper behind my back about me in Hebrew,” he said. As far as he can tell, no one has done that. In fact, Kuck tends to be the one to speak in Hebrew. He enjoys showing off his skills in mastering the Hebrew language and Jewish concepts. For example, in a poetry discussion Kuck brings up lashon horah or Hashem.

When it comes to his religion Kuck tends to be reserved. “I don’t discuss it [my religion] in class because I don’t feel the need... I always just thought it was a way for the students to distract me from my teaching,” he said. When students do ask him about his religion, Kuck tells them that he would be more than happy to discuss everything about Protestantism during lunch. Rarely, however, do students ever approach him to follow up on their curiosity.

Gaylord also tends to shy away from discussing his atheism in class. He feels it would be disrespectful in a Jewish school. If someone asks him, however, he will discuss it openly.
Even though they do not like to talk about their religions, these teachers enjoy working in a school whose ideology differs from their own. Kuck told me that he prefers teaching in a Jewish school. At a Protestant school, he feels he would have this constant judging and expectations about how he should act within Christian beliefs much like Jewish teachers may feel at the yeshivas. Gaylord is also happy to be teaching at a school that has never censored his beliefs or teachings and gives him freedom to speak. “I was concerned at first about editing what I said in terms of sexual references and homosexuality,” Gaylord said. “But I was never asked to edit my content.”

The non-Jewish teachers identify some disadvantages in teaching at a Jewish school. Kuck, for example, said that he feels the days are too long. “I thought I would learn Hebrew in my spare time but then I realized at Ramaz there is no spare time,” he said. The long day sometimes affects Kuck’s lesson plan. Students are tired and less alert in classes at the end of the day.

Something else for teachers to consider is their relationship with colleagues and students. Gaylord assured me that he in no way felt that he was treated different than any other teacher by the parents or students. When it comes to the student-teacher relationship Gaylord told me that being a non-Jew made it easier to build a relationship with some students and harder to build one with others. “The more religious students tend to bond with the more religious teachers and the more secular students tend to open up more to me,” he said.

Gaylord made an excellent point. The dividing line isn’t so much non-Jewish versus Jewish as it is secular versus religious. Indeed I always see the more religious students discussing any concerns they might have with their rabbis and other religious teachers in the hallways while I see the less religious students befriending teachers such as Gaylord and Kuck.

There is an assumption that because a teacher is not Jewish he or she will show you a different world and will give you more exposure to that world. While this may be true, Gaylord expressed his opinion that the exposure one can get is not based on religion, but rather based on how much insight the teacher shares with students. There are certainly some Jewish teachers who would teach concepts based on things outside of the safe, Jewish environment just as the non-Jewish teachers would. For example, there are teachers from all religious backgrounds who discuss and acknowledge evolution.
Having non-Jewish teachers in a Jewish school is anything but a negative experience for the students. “They bring something different to the school which I think we need,” said a sophomore at Ramaz who prefers to remain anonymous. “When we go off to college probably none of our teachers are going to be Jewish and a lot of our friends won’t be Jewish. If we’re living in this bubble of a 100 percent Jewish community, we won’t be prepared at all.”

The administration seems to agree. “I believe in diversity,” said Ira Miller, dean of Ramaz.

Having non-Jewish teachers in a Jewish school creates a great balance. Gaylord told me that what he has learned most by being in Ramaz was about the diversity within Judaism. “From the outside, it just looks like Judaism,” he said. Once he got to learn first-hand about Jewish cultural groups he realized that there are different types of Jews. He learned about the many Jewish holidays and rituals, strange as they may seem to an outsider. Kuck learned about the Hebrew language and a new way of life entirely.
At the end of the day, a teacher should be evaluated on his or her skills as an educator. “The teachers must know their fields and love teaching and working with teenagers—they must demonstrate their enjoyment for education,” Miller said. That’s what is important.

By integrating non-Jewish teachers into the school’s Jewish environment everyone learns to take a step outside of his or her own bubbles. We can all take pride in knowing that we appreciate people who are not exactly like us not only on an academic, but on a personal level as well. n

Daphna Weinstock is a sophomore at Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan.

Westchester Jewish Conference

Westchester’s Jewish Community Relations Organization