Rebecca Shahmoon Shanok ז״ל‎
(served 1982-1990)

Shira Nadich Levin, the 5th President of the Board of Trustees, described Rebecca and that first Board this way: “There were dreamers on that Board from the beginning up until today. People listened, and they came up with ideas that, literally, were kind of crazy for a newborn school. But they were beautiful and wonderful and had to be achieved. I’m looking back at Rebecca Shahmoon Shanok, who was the first president--whom, I have to say, I miss terribly--who was president for 8 years. She would cry at every other Board meeting because she was so moved by what was happening.” (Shira Nadich Levin, November 16, 2022)

Ronald C. Summer ז״ל‎
(served 1990-1993)

...[Ron] said, ‘I know people are nervous, but I think it's going to be great. And we should buy the extra space because we don't know when we’ll want to use it.’...Those are the things I remember that were most important to him…It was very visionary, let’s say…amazing. But it seems to me that the path that those first people [like Ron] started to look toward, that same path has just continued. I don’t see that it has stopped.”

(Ellen Summer, January 12, 2023)

Virginia Bayer
(served 1993-1996)

“You don't have to be one way in order to be a part of the community…We all got to know each other, to work together, to learn to respect each other… . And we really functioned--all of us--as a team. And everybody was rowing the boat in the same direction. I think that was a tremendously unique opportunity to have had in one's life--to be part of a community like that. But to have a place like this for students now, in the world the way it is today, I think, is even more of a gift.”

Terry Krulwich
(served 1996-2000)

“I've known Terry for a long time…She's a scientist, and…she was revered in her professional life…and she was an ace Torah reader. Amazing! She could read the longest Torah portion without an error. And she enjoyed it so much. I know that her love of the Heschel school was so deep, …and I think some of her love of this place is just such a deep love of egalitarian Jewish spaces. As a very competent, smart woman, knowing that there was room here for girls and young women to be themselves, to be full participants in the school, was hugely important. I also think it reflected her sense of what Jewish education should be. And she was the person under whose leadership we embarked on this first growth spurt, the first part of what was a really ambitious (and actually, if you think about it, totally crazy) idea of building a high school division in Manhattan… . It took huge courage. And she had it.” (Alisa Doctoroff, November 21, 2022)

Shira Nadich Levin
(served 2000-2003)

“If you get a chance to play a role in something that's going to change people's lives… . Heschel is going to take--in my view--such an important place in the Jewish community and the community at large. We create better human beings. And with all of these pioneers, and with the professionals, and with Roanna, and with Ariela, and with the faculty, and the staff that does such perfect work…it's just a work of art on every level… . I've never been in a place where every person is as committed to that place as [people] are in this school. [People] do their work beautifully and with heart and…with passion. And that's the story. I think that's the root of how this miraculous institution has flourished. 40 years may seem like a long time. 40 years is a nanosecond.”

Alisa Doctoroff
(served 2003-2008)

“For the next 40 years, I hope that Heschel stays true to its mission. I think one of the beautiful things about Heschel to date is that it has, and I think that's its strength. I hope [Heschel] continues to find ways to express [the mission] that are appropriate for the moment. Everybody has to grow and evolve. Unless you evolve, you die. And I think Heschel has done that brilliantly over the last 40 years, while staying true to the tenets of the mission that was created when the school first started… . I see this place as a place that seeks…to think about how we can actually be together, how we can appreciate each other, how we can see our common humanity, how we can understand why people make different choices. I think that’s always been something that [the world has] needed, but I think [we need it] now more than ever.”

Barry Winograd
(served 2008-2011)

“I remember our tour guide said, ‘Let me tell you something: You're going to find out that Heschel is special.’ And those words stuck with us because Heschel is a warm, nurturing place. I think Heschel embodies…our philosophy about being accommodating and inclusive and respectful to all, and not being judgmental towards anyone. I think that that's an important lesson that the world should learn… . Wherever you go in the country, people know about the Heschel School from New York. And it's very gratifying to have been a part of that and to continue to be part of the Heschel community.”

Joel Citron
(served 2011-2015)

“If we're able to…teach the next couple of generations, then hopefully the values and the enthusiasm and the pride of these individuals will generate…good people who can make a difference… . And we can educate several thousand over the next 40 years… . There will be, I'm sure, …extraordinary people who will have an impact on what lies ahead here in New York and in the United States and hopefully the world. Institutionally, I think Heschel's people have worked hard, but we've also been lucky. We've been lucky to have extraordinary [school leaders] and lay leaders, …and we have extraordinary faculty members and staff. And timing is also part of that luck. [When we toured Heschel], after the tour, Ulrika said to me, ‘well, that's it. We're sending our kids here!’ So that was it. Both Ulrika and I stayed involved for many years.”

Steve Shapiro
(served 2015-2019)

“The part of the mission that resonates the most with us is the idea that you need to raise engaged, mature, thoughtful children in this society, and with a set of values that comes from Judaism. But people also have to go out and live in the larger world and bring those values to the world. We, [at Heschel] are very dedicated to tikkun olam. The rabbis always understood that tikkun olam helps the world, but it also does a hell of a lot for the person doing the act itself. And one of the ideas that resonated most with me over the years was the notion that I think Heschel--in a way that other institutions don't necessarily do, especially today--inculcates a sense not only of ‘what are my rights and my entitlements,’ but also ‘what are my obligations? What is expected of me?’”

David Hess
(served 2019-Present)

“I think inherent in the mission and inherent in everything we do at Heschel is the coexistence of excellence and mission-based community. I think we view those things as being very much in concert and never at odds. So I have no question about the rigor of the education our kids are getting. And at the same time, I am entirely convinced that they are turning into better, more fully-formed people than they would have if they’d had an education somewhere else. And I couldn't be more proud of the generations that I've observed of Heschel graduates…that come out of this place not just with a great formal education, but with a real self-awareness and sense of the world around them.”