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RECALLING DR. WALTER ACKERMAN (1925–2003) No man stands so tall as when he stoops to lift up a child. —Folk saying On their many strolls together across the campus of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev or the campgrounds of Yavneh and Ramah, Daniel Margolis would often turn to his tall friend and mentor Walter Ackerman, expecting to look up—only to look down. There was Ackerman, bending to address a small youngster or remove a carelessly tossed piece of litter from the ground. "We'd be walking side by side, talking," says Dr. Margolis P'58, HC'63, executive director of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Boston. "And whenever he thought it necessary and important to do so, Ackie would stoop—for his love of children and for his own aesthetic sense of the world."
Ackerman's own career, spanning half a century and myriad cities, created a considerable legacy. He was a scholar who published widely in the United States and Israel on the subject of Jewish education; an administrator who conceived and implemented significant educational innovations adopted by the American Jewish community; an educator instrumental in building Ben-Gurion University into one of Israel's leading institutions; a pioneer in the movement to utilize American Jewish summer camps to further educational objectives; and an adviser who shaped the policies of Jewish educational institutions and communities in the United States, Israel and abroad. The skill with which Ackerman moved between these worlds, as a Jew and as an American, as sportsman and scholar, as a secular and religious thinker, made him a "living legend," said Dr. Ilan Troen P'58, BJEd'62, during his friend's eulogy, which he delivered in Beersheeva on August 17. Ackerman was also eminently approachable, remembers President David Gordis, with a quick wit and generous spirit that inspired devotion among his students. "The list of his achievements, for all their length and breadth, is inadequate in capturing Ackie's enormous presence," he says. Walter Ackerman's romance with Judaism and the Hebrew language, sparked during his youth in Dorchester's Jewish community, was cultivated in his years as a student at Prozdor and Hebrew College in the 1940s and 1950s. Studying alongside scholars who infused Jewish learning with aspirations for a Hebrew cultural revival, Ackerman acquired a clear sense of purpose as a Jewish educator. In 1943, the year he graduated from Prozdor and Boston Latin School, Ackerman interrupted his formal education to serve in the army during the Second World War. Returning to Boston in 1946, he pursued a dual course of study at Harvard University and Hebrew College, graduating cum laude from both with a BA and BJEd in 1950. Following a two-year fellowship at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, he enrolled in Hebrew College's graduate program, where he was among the first students to be conferred a Master of Hebrew Literature from the College. Simultaneously attending Harvard's School of Education, he received his EdM and EdD by 1956. He also joined Hebrew College's staff as a teaching fellow in 1954 and 1955 and as director of Camp Yavneh from 1953 to 1959.
In 1973, he made aliyah with his wife, Francis "Frannie" Ackerman z'l, and accepted the chairmanship of the Department of Education at Ben-Gurion. There he served until his retirement in 1998, acting as dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shane Family Professor of Education and founding director of the School of Continuing Education. While at Ben-Gurion, he also held visiting appointments with several American universities and served as a consultant to the Bureau of Jewish Education in Boston. Characterizing Ackerman as a man who "knew that life is comprised of small, but meaningful events," Dr. Arnold Band P'43, BJEd'49, MHL'51, HD'87, shares one such moment from his friend's days as camp director. "I was amazed that he knew the names of every camper he approached and could engage them all in some sort of conversation," he recalls. "In doing so, Ackie had an intriguing habit: he would loom over the camper and place his right hand with a pat on the nape of his or her neck. One evening I asked him if he was aware of this peculiar body language. He smiled and said, 'That's no pat. I'm simply turning over their laundry labels so I can address them by name. Did you really think I could remember all those names?'" No doubt, for the many generations of campers and students who found in him a teacher, friend and mentor, the name Walter Ackerman will not be forgotten. The Hebrew College community mourns the loss of Walter Ackerman and extends its deepest sympathies to his children—Shira, David, Miriam and Naomi—and 11 grandchildren. May his memory forever be a blessing. |
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A prominent Jewish educator who took a hands-on approach to meeting the needs of the community, Dr. Walter Ackerman z'l, P'43, BJEd'50, MHL'54, HD'87, was charismatic and giving, with a buoyant sense of humor. He dedicated his life to advancing the quality and accessibility of Jewish learning—and was famously persuasive in recruiting others to the cause. Margolis is a case in point: It was, he says, on one of those walks that Ackerman convinced him to pursue
a career in Jewish education.
Beginning in the mid-1950s, Ackerman held a series of senior teaching and administrative positions at educational institutions throughout the United States, including the Beth-El Day School in Belle Harbor, N.Y., where he was headmaster from 1955 to 1960, and the United Synagogue Commission of Jewish Education in New York, where he was director from 1962 to 1964. Moving across the country more than once, he was also director of Camp Ramah in California from 1960 to 1969, and again in 1973. He served as dean of the Teachers Institute and vice president of Academic Affairs at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles from 1964 to 1973.