In so many ways, Judaism feels innate. It’s a peoplehood, a culture, a religion, an identity.
It’s also a language, according to Sharon Levinson, a Lafayette Hill educator who teaches Hebrew to preschoolers.
Jews say prayers in Hebrew. And with the modern rise of Israel, Jews have also revived the language after 2,000 years.
“When we teach Hebrew, we are going to the very guts of Judaism,” said Levinson, who is Jewish herself.
That’s why the longtime educator is teaching it to preschoolers at Main Line Reform Temple-Beth Elohim in Wynnewood, Shir Ami in Newtown and many other synagogues around the Philadelphia area. It’s one of the languages in her Wee Play Language program, which implements a yearlong second-language curriculum for preschoolers.
Using playsets and other active methods, Levinson’s teachers “immerse” their students in Hebrew, Spanish, French or Mandarin, according to Levinson, who no longer teaches in the classroom herself. Schools can choose their language. Most synagogues select Hebrew, though some pick Spanish.
The goal is to teach kids more than 200 primary words in the language that their schools select, according to Levinson.
“They are playing in Hebrew,” said the educator, who taught religious school for 25 years at Beth Tikvah-B’nai Jeshurun in Glenside.
The program has grown to more than 100 schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, according to Levinson. But it started small.
Levinson, a Hebrew school teacher, used to tutor kids in Hebrew, often for their bar or bat mitzvahs. But one time, a parent asked her to tutor her 3-year-old in Hebrew. Levinson focused on immersive, play-based methods, and the girl started to pick up the words.
Around the same time, one of Levinson’s friends broke her foot, so Levinson began taking her son to preschool. At drop-off, she saw the kids playing in their classrooms each day.
It sparked an idea.
“I just thought, ‘I have to do something with preschoolers,’” she recalled. “I got the idea to do what I was doing with this little girl and scale it to the classroom level.”
When Levinson got started with her 3-year-old student, she had a realization. She had to ask herself, “How would this make sense to a 3-year-old?” The answer? Do it as naturally as possible.
“When you learn your first language, no one’s teaching it to you. You just pick it up from people talking,” Levinson said.
The same had to be true in the classrooms. Over time, she worked to implement that. In Hebrew lessons, for example, Levinson would bring in a barn. Each kid would get one, and the teacher would start asking questions and giving instructions.
“‘What color is it? Where are the legs? Let’s make the horse go to sleep. Say good morning, say goodnight, give a kiss,’” Levinson said.
This way, kids would begin playing in Hebrew without realizing they’re playing in Hebrew.
Of course, each year, it takes time to get to that point. Suzanne Kronstadt, a teacher at many of the synagogues that use Wee Play in the Philly area, said that the early weeks of the year are difficult because of all the time off due to Jewish holidays.
Once the weeks expand, though, the learning gets quicker. By December, “it’s starting to come together,” Kronstadt said.
“When they come back for winter break, they are completely different kids,” she added.
It took time for Levinson to realize what she had in this program. She started it in 2007, but it wasn’t until five years ago that it really started to grow.
Levinson was attending her son’s graduation from Tulane University, and her son, an economics major interested in going into business, said, “Mom, you have a gold mine on your hands.” At that point, she decided to focus on Wee Play Language full-time.
The educator wrote an elevator pitch and began cold-calling schools. The program expanded from about 20 schools to more than 100.
Levinson doesn’t find it hard to sell the program.
“I love languages; I love watching the kids apply it. It’s amazing to ask the preschoolers a question, and they answer me back in a foreign language,” she said.
She also doesn’t find it difficult to communicate this educational value to schools.
“It expands your neural pathways; it opens you up to new learning. It expands your brain. It’s expanding what your brain is able to do,” she said.
When Levinson gets a school to sign up for a sample lesson, she knows she’ll have a new client in short order.
“The kids are super engaged. They love it,” the educator said.
For the Jewish kids at synagogues, this excitement might even lead to a deeper connection with their peoplehood, culture, religion and identity later on.
“If you’re comfortable with Hebrew, everything in Judaism is going to feel easier and more connected,” Levinson said. “It means something in your soul. That’s what I feel like I’m giving them with Hebrew, the keys to your soul.”