Beloved ‘morah’ at Miami Beach synagogue taught 2 generations of children

It is an extremely difficult task to clean out a cherished friend’s apartment after they die. But when Alice Miller was going through the belongings of her close friend Shula Ben-David, she found something to share.

Ben-David, who died at 83 on Nov. 14, was director of Bar/Bat Mitzvah Emerita at Temple Beth Sholom, a Reform Judaism synagogue at 4144 Chase Ave. in Miami Beach. She retired 10 years ago as a beloved teacher.

What Miller found was a booklet presented by a grateful student at her bat mitzvah.

“You are an incredible morah [professor], someone I will always look up to as a wonderful role model and enthusiastic teacher,” Eleni Andris said in her 2013 letter. You made my bat mitzvah the best day of my life.”

Miller, who retired in 2013 as executive director of Temple Beth Sholom, knew Shula Ben-David for 22 years. She helped by driving Ben-David to temple, to get her hair done, grocery shopping, and so much more.

“I called her every day to check up on her. Shula was a wise, stubborn, loving woman. She really could call thousands of kids her children, even though she didn’t have any of her own,” Miller said.

She said the letters she found from Eleni and also from Eleni’s grandmother, Tamara Nixon, best describe the impact this one woman had on so many lives.

“You have taught me so much more than just how to read Torah, you’ve taught me how to be a good Jew, but even more importantly a good person,” wrote Eleni, who is now 25 and working with NPR in Washington, D.C.

The sentiments are echoed by a great many others now that Ben-David has died.

Called “truly remarkable” and “an impact on so many lives,” Ben-David prepared two generations of Jewish children for their bar and bat mitzvahs.

Former student Max Kirkpatrick, 30, studied for his bar mitzvah with Ben-David in 2004 and is now a software engineer in Google’s New York office. His brother Jesse, 28, also studied with her and is in medical school at Harvard.

“Morah Shula taught me what it means to rise to an expectation,” he said.

“We had no choice but to be our best, which helped a lot of us realize what we were capable of.

“When it came to managing a room full of hyperactive 12-year-olds, she was direct.She once made an exasperated comment that still makes me laugh: “If I wanted clowns, I would have hired professionals.”

A ‘love of tradition’

It was 1964 when Rabbi Leon Kronish added Shula Ben-David, a young Israeli, to the Temple Beth Sholom teaching staff.

In a directory, her biography includes the heritage of having a father who was a scholar of Talmud, Zohar and Kaballah.

“His wonderful and enlightened teaching nourished her love of tradition. In turn Shula was able to pass this beauty of Judaism to our children.

“Once in Miami, she continued her learning with three great men who were her teachers, her mentors, and her spiritual advisors: Ruchama Marshak Redberg, Dr. Shlomo Kodesh and Rabbi Leon Kronish. It is important to acknowledge their presence in her life because of the influence they exerted upon her.”

Ben-David was involved with every level of Jewish education, from early childhood through adulthood when she was principal of the Hebrew School of Beth Sholom, and as a teacher for adults and future Hebrew teachers.

She especially loved teaching her bar and bat mitzvah students.

The directory describes her as “the key in a student’s feeling of accomplishment and understanding of Torah and pride in their heritage and tradition.”

In her words, “A Jew without Hebrew is like a body without a soul.”

In the discovered letters, Nixon, Eleni’s grandmother, included her own memories and gratitude. Her family members have belonged to Temple Beth Sholom since 1946.

“There is no one who is more deserving of the title ‘Master Teacher’ than you, Shula,” Nixon wrote. “You teach not just in the classroom but by example.”

She also included her memories of Ben-David from 40 years ago when she wrote, “I saw you teaching the horah, your tiny feet dancing in high buttoned high heeled boots.”

Nixon and friends also learned from Ben-David, and she wrote, “When the five of us started our studies, none of us could read, write or speak Hebrew. In your gentle way, you encouraged us to learn a line at a time, all together.

“And how did you ever convince me to relearn Hebrew and chant an Aliyah for Eleni’s bat mitzvah?

“Not only did you enhance the quality of my voice as I listened over and over to the tape and copied your beautiful chanting, but you helped me understand the subtler meaning of the Torah portion, the importance of pronouncing each word correctly and the joy and honor in being able to participate in this special family milestone,” Nixon wrote.

‘She demanded perfection’

Close friend Miller said Ben-David loved calls from her former students.

“She demanded perfection and worked tirelessly with her students. They were beaming at their bar and bat Mitzvahs.

“It was the highlight of her day when anyone would call her and talk about the past. She knew everybody, and everybody knew her on the Beach.”

Miller said Ben-David walked with a limp since 1977 after being hit by a car, but she still danced even though she walked with a cane and later, a walker.

Mark Baranek, director of Congregational Engagement at Temple Beth Sholom, worked with her for over 20 years and saw her dancing many times.

“We would travel to teaching conferences across the country together and she had the energy of a teenager. She would stay up dancing and singing with them. Everybody knew Shula.

“She might have been small in stature but she could have 40 kids in a classroom and you wouldn’t hear a sound. We would all be a little afraid to interrupt her if we had a question,” Baranek said.

“Her dedication, her commitment to Jewish education, everything really that she did was incredible. And we were lucky enough to have her at Temple Beth Sholom.”

Write to ChristinaMMayo@gmail.com with news for this column.