Nacha Rivkin

(1900 - 1988)

Born in Poland, Rivkin and her family moved to Russia during World War I. Already knowledgeable in Hebrew, French, German, art and music, Rivkin then moved with her husband - who was a protege of the Lubavitcher Rebbe - to Palestine, where she studied Hebrew and began studying early childhood education.  In 1929, the couple and their two sons moved to Brooklyn.  Upset that there was no girls' yeshiva for her daughter, Rivkin co-founded the Shulamith School for Girls in Borough Park, Brooklyn, where she headed curriculum development and taught kindergarten and first grade.  She employed progressive pedagogy and integrated music and art into her curriculum. Her primer and workbook for the teaching of Hebrew have had 19 printings. After her death, a group of educators founded the Machon Nacha Rivkin Seminary for Advanced Torah Studies for women in Jerusalem.

Sources: Jewish Women's Archive