Customer Reviews

Teacha! Stories from a Yeshiva

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This book reminded me of another book about a teacher who was plunged into the chaos of an inner-city school, namely, "Dangerous Minds." The writing format is different ("Dangerous Minds" is a novel, this is a memoir) but the experiences are similar. Here is this new teacher, hired to teach English in a school where the culture and the kids are so totally different from what he is used to, that, as the rabbi who hired him says, "Think of it this way, you're going to Mars."

In this case, teacher Gerry Albarelli is hired to teach English in a Brooklyn yeshiva run by one of the most conservative of the Hasidic sects. (He never says which one, but, judging from various clues in the story, my guess would be Satmar.) Here, English is a second language and the boys are not the least bit interested in learning it. Everyone in their insular community speaks Yiddish anyway, and even the principal's English leaves much to be desired. Add to this the bewildering (to Albarelli, at least) world of Hasidic life and its rules. The experience becomes, if I may badly mix a metaphor, a true "baptism by fire."

The school days are long, from 6AM to 6PM -- the Hasidic world's solution to the daycare shortage. Religious classes are in the morning when the boys are rested. English classes? They come at the end of the day, when the kids are all bouncing off the walls with pent-up energy. The boys consider secular subjects to be time for recess -- and their classroom behavior shows it! It doesn't help that the stories in the textbooks are about suburban middle-class Gentile families whose lives have nothing to do with the Brooklyn world that these boys live in.

Eventually, Albarelli wins the respect of his students through storytelling and acting out little plays that they make up in class, in order to practice their English. He never becomes a Hasid (or even a Jew) but does learn enough about the culture to begin to understand and respect it. After five years, however, he moves on to another position, leaving behind forever the chaos and exhuberance of the boys in this school "on Mars."

My first reaction, upon reading this book, was embarrassment. Would it give a bad impression of Hasidism to the public? Then I remembered some of my own experiences as an Orthodox Jew teaching in the public schools in rural Minnesota. I, too, have had my share of spitballs, paper airplanes, flying pencils, kids who won't stay in their seats or even listen to what I say -- not to mention plenty of cross-cultural ignorance. (If I ever write my own equivalent of "Teacha!" it will be called "Why Do you Wear that Little Hat?") Albarelli's students regard him as less than a "real man" because he has no beard or sidecurls; my students consider me a wimp because I don't play sports. The rules may be different, but kids are all on the same basic search for identity and belonging. More than anything, Albarelli's book demonstrates that students are students everywhere. These boys may be Hasidim, but they are also kids growing up in the inner city. Anybody who has ever taught in a less-than-perfect school (And tell me, what school is perfect?) will relate to this book.

Although I am usually not a fan of the minimalist style used in this brief book, I thoroughly enjoyed these autobiographical sketches--which I read in one sitting--and found myself wanting more.

Albarelli presents colorful--if broad-stroked--portraits of some of the adults at the yeshiva and elsewhere in Brooklyn (the stick-wielding Rabbi Katz, the new teacher who can't overcome his shyness, the landlady who never seems to leave the luncheonette), but he never really presents his students as individuals. Indeed, Albarelli notes that, a couple of weeks into his teaching stint, all the students "still looked the same" to him. My only disappointment with the book (which barely qualifies as a complaint) is that, in the end, the students are similarly indistinguishable to the reader.

Still, anyone will laugh out loud at Albarelli's comic and moving (mis)adventures and will want to know more about the Hasidic community for which he worked as an English teacher.

In this short but sweet book, Albarelli, a non-Jew, ventures behind the walls of one of Brooklyn's many yeshivas, discovering the often-touching human face behind the stereotypes, and learning more about himself as a process.

Albarelli is clearly the hero of his own story, particularly in contrast to the other English "teachers" in the yeshiva, who treat the kids like animals. But the students, too, and the principals, come across as heroes, if heroes of a different kind. Albarelli paints the school's characters with crude strokes -- writing down their Brooklyn Yiddish accents almost syllable for syllable, for instance -- but the overall effect is surprisingly delicate.

Though Albarelli never fully becomes one of the chassidim, in the end, he is accepted and -- even more important -- he is beginning to understand their world and world-view. This book is a surprising gem, a sympathetic but realistic portrait of a universe most of us will never see for ourselves. I read it in an afternoon, but its sentences -- reading almost like self-conscious fiction -- and its message will likely stay with me for years.

Gerry Albarelli answered an "English Teacher Wanted" ad in a newspaper. It was for a Brooklyn yeshiva and directed applicants to call Rabbi Steiner. Gerry wasn't Jewish, but a cursory job interview won him the position nonetheless. As he prepared to step into a teaching job at a wild Hasidic yeshiva the Rabbi gave him one piece of advice: "Think of it this way, you're going to Mars." Teacha!: Stories From A Yeshiva is a fascinating collections of stories drawn from the life of a gentile teacher and his conservative Hasidic students.

A fresh and fascinating inside peek into an exotic subculture --A non Jewish teacher (Teacha!) enters the sequestered world of the Hasidic yeshiva with most entertaining results. An instant classic in the vein of the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Good bye Mr. Chips with a contemporary wit and absence of sentimentality. Brief, poetic descriptions of Brooklyn also turn this book into a true work of art. As brave as it is entertaining,this beautifully written book upturns religious[preconcieved ideas] and will give any reader pause to reflect while being entertained.

This is a wonderfully written, sensitive, and humorous account of a teacher dropped into what, to most of us, is a completely alien society. If you like reading about different cultures, read this! The author has a unique way of looking at, and getting us to look at, the world - certain sections made me laugh out loud (which I haven't done since reading Catcher in the Rye), and I found myself getting teary-eyed at the end. This is a really lovely book.

Teacha! is written with such humor and care, that the reader seamlessly becomes part of an absurd world -- a world of black-coated students, their teachers and the Rabbis that lord over a school like emperors. Teachers are chastised for bringing paper skeletons to class. Students munch on pretzels and oranges when the teachers aren't looking. There is a general sense of chaos and intrigue that makes this a hard book to put down.

Just a couple of months ago I had never heard of Mr. Albarelli. Now I find myself recommending his book to all my friends.

This book could only have been written by a non-Jew, and I say this with great appreciation. A Jewish writer would have either defended or more like disparaged the subject. Gerry Alberelli, has crafted an interesting and insightful look into the black hat world of orthodox Jews. He tells us of a world that few know of and teaches us about it without ever being pendantic or judgemental.
I liked this book, it was a joy to read and a joy to share. It's beauty lies in its simplicity. I reccomend it to anyone who wants to travel to far off places, next door.

The author of Teacha! does an admirable job of evoking a world unknown to most of us in a way that is thoughtful and respectful. Mr Albarelli's writing is spare yet filled with wistful imagery. His book gives glimpses into this rather closed society with anecdotes that will stay with you long after you are finished. This is a book to savor. I am looking forward to reading more from this author.

i highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to read about little hasidic boys crawling up the walls:
'teacha, i'm a janitor fixing the pipes!" one boy tells albarelli, from his perch on top of a closet.
his discriptions of brooklyn and the hasidim are unforgettable and humanistic...also great for learning how to say 'up yours' to your teacha in yiddish ;)