New leaders at Netivot HaTorah excited to start the school year

Rabbi Jeffrey Rothman
Rabbi Jeffrey Rothman

TORONTO — Earlier this year, staff and students at Netivot HaTorah Day School said goodbye to two of their leaders who retired, but as of September, the school will be at the helm of Rabbi Jeffrey Rothman, the new head of school, and Sara Loewenthal, the new director of the gan (preschool).  

Rabbi Rothman, who replaced Reuven Stern following his 18 years of service as the head of school, comes to Netivot with an extensive background in Jewish education.

Employed for 11 years by the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach (HALB), a four- campus school with more than 1,600 students, Rabbi Rothman served as principal of academic initiatives and advanced learning. 

Before that, he graduated from Yeshiva University, where he earned his smichah, a bachelor’s in business administration, a master’s in secondary education, and a doctorate in educational administration from the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. 

“I have lived my entire life in a community and in institutions that embody the same values as Netivot – Torah, Israel and derech eretz. These are the very values my parents, rabbis, teachers and community have instilled in me and these are the same values that I have been trying to instil in my children and my students for the last 15 years,” Rabbi Rothman said in a speech to the school’s board of directors after he was hired in April.

In an interview with The CJN, Rabbi Rothman, a Woodmere, N.Y., native and a father of four, said he is prepared for his new role.

“I’ve been on the head-of-school track for quite some time. I have a pretty extensive academic background – I have two master’s, a doctorate, a smichah – and I guess you could say, in the Jewish world, I’ve tried to set myself apart in both the rabbinic part and the academic part.” 

As a self-proclaimed technology junkie, Rabbi Rothman said he has plans to implement technology further into the curriculum. “Technology will not be the answer to everything, but when implemented thoughtfully with a focus of enhancing the actual student learning, it will be a powerful vehicle towards our future growth and development,” he said.

Rabbi Rothman said another big part of his educational philosophy is the pursuit of excellence in both religious and general studies. 

“In my experience there are very few Jewish schools that really do that. A lot of them try to say that they do that but I don’t think a lot of them can,” he said.

“I’m really trying to take Netivot to that next level, promoting a real atmosphere for both staff and students, and striving for excellence in really everything we do, specific to both [general and religious] studies.”

He said he’s committed to the school’s mission of promoting Israel, Torah and derech eretz. “Taking the Torah aspect to the next level is something we’re talking about. In this day and age, it’s always a challenge for modern Orthodox kids in terms of the world we’re growing up in and how that presents challenges in how they view their religiosity and spirituality. We’re just trying to look for new innovative ways to reach the kids.”

The new gan director, taking over for Eileen Goldstein, is Ottawa-native Sara Loewenthal. Having studied and worked in New York, before moving to London, England where she worked as an early childhood consultant for more than a dozen Jewish preschools, Loewenthal moved back to Ottawa with her husband and children where she held her most recent position as the director of Hebrew studies at the Westboro Jewish Montessori Preschool.

When she and her family decided to move to Toronto after her husband’s acceptance to medical school at the University of Toronto, she applied to join the Netivot family. “Coming in as a new gan director, I’m going to build on the great energy that is here already and work with the great staff, and create an even better program,” she said.

“Right now, we already have the senior kindergarten class, which is at two classes, and a lot of our classes are capped, so we’re overflowing with registrations. I hope to continue that and create an environment that is safe, warm, educational and fun, and supports the children and helps them grow in all areas of development.”  

She said she’s excited for her new role.

“I feel like this is my calling. I’ve spent over 12 years in a preschool classroom so I’m excited to be able to implement all my ideas and all my experience. I have a varied and enriched background and I’ll be able to put it all in place and create an incredible gan for the children who come here.”