by Shiela Steinman Wallace

Louisville's Partnership with Israel program enriches both our Partnership region, the Western Galilee, and our own community. How much Louisville benefits was evident earlier this month when Efrat Serbo, the master teacher and director of the Musical Kindergarten in Acco came to Louisville to work with young children and teachers, sharing her love for children and music, and her extraordinary talents.

Participants in Louisville's first Solidarity Mission to the Western Galilee last December visited the Musical Kindergarten, and Kathy Karr made a special connection, playing her flute for the children.
"I joined the Partnership because I think we are one people here in the U.S. and in Israel and I think everyone should make efforts to make the connection much stronger," Serbo said. "Early childhood is the best time to expose children to the fact that we have friends overseas and to try to make it meaningful for them." And that is just what she did during her time here.

While in Louisville October 10-15, Serbo's days were filled from dawn until dusk. On Thursday, she taught four groups of preschoolers at the Adath Jeshurun and Keneseth Israel preschools. Then she hurried off to Bellarmine University where she spoke to an early childhood education class. From there, she went to Eliahu Academy, where she worked first with kindergarteners and first graders and then with second and third graders.

Still her day was not complete. That evening, she conducted a teachers seminar, Music That Counts!, for all the teachers in Louisville's Jewish schools. About 25 teachers from Eliahu Academy, Torah Academy, all synagogue and temple Sunday Schools, the Louisville Hebrew School and Kehila.
Friday was just as busy as she taught preschoolers at the Jewish Community Center and The Temple Preschool in the morning and returned to Eliahu in the afternoon where she worked with students who then presented a program for their parents.

On Saturday, after Shabbat, Serbo met with the Federation's Partnership with Israel Committee;
and on Sunday morning, kindergarteners
enrolled in the

Adath Jeshu-run, The Temple and KITS (Keneseth Israel Temple Shalom) Sunday Schools all met at Adath Jeshurun for the entire morning. There, working with Serbo, they put together a program that they performed for their parents at the end of the morning.

Before leaving for Indianapolis, another member of the Partnership with Israel Midwest Consortium, Serbo conducted another program at Neighborhood House.

Serbo's approach to music is unique. Using simple instruments like rhythm sticks, drums and finger cymbals, she teaches even the youngest children to follow a simple chart, playing their instruments only when the chart says and sitting quietly while others take their turn.

But Serbo takes her instruction further, introducing the mathematical concepts of whole, half and quarter notes so even the youngest child understands that four quarter notes fit into the same time as one whole note.

She also combines multiple approaches so children with different learning styles all benefit. Then she expands her program to teach other subjects, like science, through music.
"I just love music," Serbo said, and she wants to share that love with as many people as possible. She also believes "it's important that people see the other face of Israel - not just politics and war. We are people, and we can do things together."

Serbo earned a conservatory diploma in accordion from Haifa Conservatory, a teaching certificate in music for early childhood from the University of Massachusetts, and a teaching certificate for kindergarten to high school, a B.A. in counseling in education and a B.A. in Arabic, all from the University of Haifa. She also holds a Master's degree in integrating the arts in learning from Lesley University in Israel.

For 15 years, she taught music at 15 kindergarten classes in Acco, and since 1995, she has been the manager of an Early Childhood Musical Education Center in Acco. She has also taught courses and workshops on integrating music into other curricula in Haifa, Nepal, Thailand and in several U.S. communities that are members of the Midwest Consortium for Partnership with Israel, including Canton, OH, Walsh University in Ohio.

She has also published numerous articles in academic journals.
Serbo fulfilled her military service obligation by serving as a teacher at the Army Boarding School. She is married and has three children.

Partnership with Israel, a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), is designed to foster individual relationships between Israelis and American Jews. The Louisville Jewish Community Federation has been an active participant in the program since its inception.

The Federation is part of a consortium of Midwestern Federations partnered with the Western Galilee region of Israel. The Western Galilee is located along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and extends to Israel's northern border with Lebanon.

Through Partnership programs, Louisville has benefited from numerous exchanges in medicine, art, music, education and business.

The program is flexible, so if a Louisvillian has a specific interest he/she would like to pursue with counterparts in the Western Galilee, it is often possible to develop a suitable program.
Dr. Ralph Green is the Louisville Federation's Partnership with Israel chair. For more information, contact Shlicha Alexandra Shklar, 618-5325 or alexandras@jcfl.com.

If you are interested in establishing an endowment to provide financial support for Kefiada or any other Partnership program, contact Foundation for Planned Giving Director Frances Skolnick, 618-5326 or francess@jcfl.com.