|
|
July 23, 2004
VHA lures new principal
Rabbi Don Pacht likes the community's enthusiasm.
KYLE BERGER SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
Vancouver, known as one of the most beautiful cities in the world,
has gotten used to attracting a wide range of professionals who
fall in love with the great outdoors. Even the Jewish community
has benefited from community leaders whose spiritual feelings have
been amplified by surroundings of green mountains and blue seas.
Recently, however, the Vancouver Jewish community has been able
to draw a young professional leader whose main attraction to the
city isn't the ability to water ski and snow ski in the same day.
It is positive educational growth and enthusiasm.
Rabbi Don Pacht, his wife, Meira, and their three young children
will be moving to Vancouver later this summer when Pacht will become
the new principal of Vancouver Hebrew Academy (VHA).
The Pachts, who grew up in larger Jewish communities in the New
York area, admitted that they looked forward to enjoying Vancouver's
beauty. But it was the enthusiasm they felt in the community, especially
in terms of education, that lured them from their home in Rochester,
N.Y.
"We were just very impressed with the quality of the community,"
Pacht said. "We were impressed by the fact that people are
so friendly and the fact that everyone seems to be so interested
in seeing the community grow and build in various areas of Jewish
life.
"Other locations may have infrastructure that far exceeds what
Vancouver currently has, but the idea of being part of the building
process was something that my wife and I are very excited to include
ourselves in."
Pacht said that one of the signs of the community's growth was the
success that Vancouver's new yeshivah has had in its first year.
"The one thing [a thriving yeshivah] certainly indicates is
that there is significant growth potential when you have that sort
of institution in a city," he said. "It shows that there
is a very strong commitment to a very traditional Jewish education.
Being from a yeshivah background myself, it made me much more comfortable
about [moving to Vancouver]."
Pacht, 29, received his semichah (ordination) in 1999 from
Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt. He has spent the past two years as the
principal of secular studies at the Talmudical Institute of Rochester.
He was also the adjunct professor of Talmud for the school's post
high school and rabbinic program. Over the past several years he
has also taught in various other capacities at the elementary level.
Pacht said that when he and his wife were looking for a community
in which to settle, they were looking for a place with which they
hoped they could grow.
That is a similar goal he has for VHA, especially when it comes
to community influence.
"Hebrew Academy grew out of a very small group of dedicated
people who wanted a very specific approach to education for their
children," he said. "What I think has happened to the
school over the years is that there has been a wider influence and
they have grown. I want to make sure that continues.
"They provide a wonderful service, they have a wonderful approach
in terms of their educational philosophy and they are accepting
of all families that choose the education Hebrew Academy has to
offer."
Pacht, who considers himself to be both student and parent friendly,
said that his style of leadership is based on an all-inclusive format.
"There are certain instances in which a principal may have
to make a unilateral decision," he said. "But generally
speaking my goal is to make decisions that will benefit the students
in a way that will be amiable to the staff and everyone else the
decision affects. Whenever possible, no one should feel that they
have been excluded from the process."
Pacht said that a lot of his ongoing training would also come from
his own children: six-year-old daughter Ora, two-year-old son Aharon
and newborn daughter Shoshana.
Kyle Berger is a freelance journalist and graphic designer
living in Richmond.
^TOP
|
|
