Years ago, Rabbi Aaron Steinig saw a problem with Jewish education.
For most students, it did a great job at preparing them for the world and helping them grow in their Judaism. But for special needs students, the accommodations weren’t always good enough.
“I was speaking to a number of people either in my neighborhood [when exploring potential specialties in education] or around, and everyone had the same issue,” Steinig said. “It really seemed to be that if you were a standard student, you’d be fine. But anyone who was struggling with dyslexia, or ADD, or processing, or any other type of learning development that would impair them, all of a sudden it didn’t seem like there were any schools for them.”
Steinig spoke to Jewish adults who said that they realized later on in their lives that things could have gone differently for them if they had been given more personalized educational opportunities. So when Steinig learned last year that Abrams Hebrew Academy in Yardley was opening a new program for students with learning differences, he jumped at the chance to be involved. Now, he is the Judaic Studies teacher at the Abrams Hebrew Academy Learning Center, the wing of the school for students who learn differently.
“We have students from different backgrounds, some coming from Orthodox shuls and some even from my own neighborhood. I see some of my students on Shabbat, and it’s amazing,” Steinig said. “We all come from different backgrounds, but when we come to Abrams, it’s a way of uniting.”
The Abrams Learning Center opened at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year and has a number of approaches that help those with learning differences reach their full potential. The handful of teachers who make up the full-time Learning Center staff are certified in differentiated instruction. They teach in small groups and often lead one-on-one activities. In addition to academics, the Learning Center teaches self-advocacy and builds confidence in students who might have a hard time doing so in traditional classrooms.
“Sometimes, there will be a learning challenge that we thought [a student] had, but it’s like, ‘Wait a minute, they really [understood] this,’ and then we share that with their mainstream teacher, and the teacher comes to me and says, ‘Wow, how did they know that?’ And I can tell them that we practiced it and reviewed it, and they studied it at home,” Steinig said. “It really all just comes together.”
Steinig got into this field to help students become the best versions of themselves. He said that there is nothing better than when a child has a realization after struggling through a concept.
“Sometimes, it can be hard and challenging, but eventually, when that student gets it, it’s the most rewarding thing. And whether it took an hour, a day or a week just to solve a problem, once they see it, you see the smile on their face, and you see just like how everyone in the class got it, they got it, too. It took a little longer, but eventually they got it. When they smile, it’s the most rewarding thing,” he said.
Since starting at the Learning Center at Abrams at the beginning of the school year, Steinig said that he has grown to love the team he works with. It takes a team effort to make sure that every student reaches their full potential, he said.
“Everyone’s really supportive of one another, no matter what the situation is,” he said. “Whenever everyone works together, everyone understands [each other’s] challenges.”
Steinig and his family moved to Philadelphia in 2024 after stints in New York and Michigan. They live in Rhawnhurst and belong to Beth Midrash Harav B’nai Jacob, B’nai Israel Ohev Zedek and Ahavas Torah. He said that he thinks the community feel at Abrams exists across the Philly area, too.
“It really feels like everyone, in the sense of community in Abrams, but [also] in Philadelphia as a whole, everybody, not just in the want of kindness, but is really celebrating and appreciating what everyone has, as opposed to everyone, as the expression goes, ‘keeping up with the Joneses,’” Steinig said. “[In other places] everyone tries to outdo each other. I feel like in Philadelphia, it’s much less of that.”
My son is doing great under his leadership. I’m so happy this program is available to our children. I was very vocal about my son’s special needs when we came to Abrams in 2022. It was a time we didn’t know if Abrams would be able to support his needs. However the staff quickly rolled out 1:1 sessions with my son in 3rd grade. I feel strongly that piloting so to speak, that your of approach with my son and a few other students really helped jump start this broader effort that has bloomed into this wonderful program. As a Maghrebi Jew, I wanted my son to experience Torah + Academics. So it was important to find a pathway to that goal. Thank you Abrams for all your support!