An Interview with Jodi Werner Greenwald
Dr. Michael Libenson
P'53, BJEd'58, has been a member of the Hebrew College community for most of his life. One year after arriving in America from Israel in 1947, he enrolled in Prozdor at the age of 11. Prozdor led to Hebrew College, Boston University, Columbia University and eventually, in 1969, a doctorate from Boston University in counseling and guidance. His career included directing Camp Yavneh, serving on the faculty of Boston University and maintaining a clinical practice as a psychotherapist. "Dr. Mike" (as he's affectionately called by students) was the Director of Prozdor for close to twenty years and has served as Hebrew College Dean of Administration. Upon his retirement from Hebrew College in 2001, he joined a group practice specializing in geriatric therapy. Mike and his wife, Lois, have two daughters, Shari and Laurie, and five grandchildren.
We recently spoke with Mike—who once again is back to his first love, teaching at Prozdor. In July, he and Lois will relocate to New Hampshire to live down the block from their two granddaughters. Sharing with us his unique perspective on the high school program, Mike states, "The further I move away in age from my students, the more clearly I understand the context of their experiences."
One of the courses you're teaching is called Who Am I? It sounds fascinating. What does it entail?
The course is an attempt to connect the issues of day-to-day behavior—the moral choices that young people make as they mature—with guideposts from Jewish teachings. It questions modesty in behavior and in dress, sexuality from a Jewish perspective, and sibling and family relations. Throughout the year there's an attempt to create an environment where students feel comfortable expressing personal issues and talking about real-life challenges. I constantly search for new, interesting, fresh information from current thinking, from the Jewish world and from the world of adolescent life. The Internet is a tremendous resource, as are the kids themselves. What they bring from their own awarenesses about other people and about themselves is also part of the process.
What surprises you about your current students?
I'm extraordinarily encouraged by the quality of the kids in Prozdor. They have amazingly positive identities as Jews. I asked them in class to confidentially rate how they feel about being Jewish, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being extremely positive. The class average was an 8. I was surprised that it was that high, and when we talked about it, they said, "We choose to be here. We know other people who aren't here and who wouldn't score as high."
One of the changes that have happened in the last thirty or forty years is that many kids now bring with them a Jewish identity that is not necessarily the old Jewish identity of Jewish family—with everyone being Jewish. Many of our students come from blended families. Many come from a family where one parent has converted to Judaism, or where one is Jewish and one is not. We're also going to be dealing more with parents who are gay or lesbian, with situations of one-parent families where one woman chooses to make a family via in vitro fertilization, late-life adoption and other single parent options not yet clearly visible.
"What Prozdor over time has become is a multifaceted school with almost limitless options for students.where all are welcome."
Looking back at your more than thirty-year career at Prozdor, what memories stand out the most?
First thing would be a teacher, Rose Bronstein, whom I am extremely fond of because of her commitment to excellence. As an administrator, it is an extraordinary joy to find an extraordinary teacher. Rose was like the Babe Ruth of Jewish education, with the rest of us trying to swing just as hard.
As far as when I think of the kids, what I've realized is that those students who appear at the time not to be focused or involved, more often than not are very much involved. Many kids come up to me twenty years later and they tell me things they remember that I don't even remember, which I didn't think they were tuned into at the time. I'm still trying to learn to give students the benefit of the doubt. It's hard to do in the moment, but over the years you find out—an awful lot goes on the classroom that the teacher is just not aware of.
Please complete the following statement: "From my vantage point, Prozdor is _______."
Prozdor is or Prozdor was? Prozdor was an elitist institution through whose door it was difficult to enter. In those days, Prozdor was entirely conducted in Hebrew. So in order to enter, one had to have a Hebrew proficiency level, which is very difficult to obtain. All subjects—history, Bible, Talmud, literature—were taught in Hebrew. Kids who didn't have an aptitude for language, who were smart in other ways, simply couldn't cut it. In the old days there was a feeder system. All the Hebrew schools had intensive and nonintensive classes. The intensive classes prepared students for the Prozdor. Over time that changed. If it didn't, Prozdor would have only one-tenth of the population it has today. So we opened the gate for the Hebrew proficient and the not. It was a very smart move by Prozdor to adapt to the realities of what's happening now.
"What Prozdor over time has become is a multifaceted school with almost limitless options for students.where all are welcome."
I should also underscore that today's Prozdor has very high standards in all the classes. The administration has increased in numbers, the faculty has increased tremendously, to now fifty or so people, and the communication between the faculty and the administration is extraordinary. If there is one thing, an observation in working with Prozdor today, it is that it has extraordinary energy. It is very much alive; it bubbles. And if the kids in my class and how much they value being Jewish is an expression of how the Prozdor community feels, then it is one incredibly healthy school.
What Prozdor over time has become is a multifaceted school with almost limitless options for students, some who want total immersion, and some who are happy with a lot less, but where all are welcome. Also, Prozdor has become a gateway to the entire Jewish world, not only to Greater Boston. In April, we're going to Eastern Europe. There are groups that are going to England, to New York. This is new, an extension of Margie Berkowitz's view of Prozdor and the Jewish world. Kids have gone to Haifa, Boston's sister city, and to Canada. It has not only opened the door more than it used to, but it has removed the door. But that is Margie's style, and I don't think there is another Jewish educator who would have been able to pull off the current Prozdor "miracle." She has created a sense of joy, energy, adventure, excitement and, quite frankly, she has made it "cool" to be a student at the Prozdor. She changed the school's body but kept its soul.
Is the rumor true? Is this your last year at Prozdor?
Next year I'm making some changes, moving to Bow, N.H., four houses away from my daughter Shari [
P'83,] and her two girls. We will be there during most of the year, and we bought a house in Florida, where we will be four months a year. I will make myself available when I'm here in Boston on Sundays, as a substitute to the school that literally feeds my soul. I can't imagine life without Prozdor entirely. I have another daughter in Portland, Oregon, with my three grandsons. I'm looking forward to trying to pass on some meaningful Jewish content to them and to staying connected to Prozdor part-time as much as possible.
As a member of the President's Circle and a donor to the Capital Campaign, why do you think it's important for alumni to give to Hebrew College?
I literally get goose bumps when I see the names of kids I knew who contributed to Hebrew College. And believe me, many of these graduates are still in their late twenties, thirties and forties, just trying to provide sustenance for their families. I know it isn't easy. When these graduates remember us by sending $25, $50, $100 dollars a year, it is a statement of validation. It tells us they recognize Hebrew College as unique among Jewish educational institutions in America, and that they, as graduates, are major leaguers of American Jewish life.
Eventually, I would like to think that every single graduate will find the means, large or small, to connect once again. I hope they realize how much they mean to this institution, of course to me, personally, and how much we want this Hebrew College of ours to continue to thrive in good health and pass on the knowledge of our Jewish civilization to their children and grandchildren. I wish that for them, and for us. I wish to see a rainfall of little gifts, because these little gifts will enable kids who need scholarships to continue their Jewish quest here—just as they did in the "good old days."
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Shalom Haverim
