Dvorah Smolensky Heckelman

Dvorah Smolensky Heckelman was born in Calgary, Canada. Her grandfather, Rabbi Shimon Smolensky, was Calgary’s rabbi, shochet, mohel, chazan, and Hebrew school principal. Starting at the age of five, she attended the Calgary Talmud Torah every day after public school. After graduating from high school, she and nine other students from their small Jewish community were sent to study at the Teachers’ Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. In 1949 she received a bachelor of religious education from JTS as well as a bachelor of arts in philosophy from New York University. She later earned a master of education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and subsequently began a teaching career that has lasted more than forty years. She was first associated with the Early Childhood Center of Brooklyn College, the experimental Beth Hayeled Foundation School, and the East Midwood Hebrew School in Brooklyn, New York.

Moving with her family to Albany, New York, she taught at Agudat Achim Hebrew School and at Temple Israel. In 1963 she worked with Shraga Arian, Joseph Lorch, and other dedicated leaders to form what was to become the Beth Shraga Hebrew Academy of the Capital District. She made significant contributions in many areas – as a board member, teacher, parent, curriculum coordinator, and ultimately, principal – of a school that grew from 19 children to one that currently educates almost 300 children from the Albany, Schenectady, and Troy areas of upstate New York.

Now retired as principal of Beth Shraga, Dvorah Heckelman continues to teach Hebrew language and literature there. She also teaches Hebrew in the modern languages department of Union College in Schenectady and serves as a consultant to the Kesher Jewish Resource Center of the Capital District. She is an active member of the United Synagogue Commission on Jewish Education, the Capital District Board of Jewish Education, and the Task Force for Children and Youth of the Albany Federation. This year Mrs. Heckelman was honored with a doctorate of pedagogy, honoris causa, from the Jewish Theological Seminary.