Yehudit Kanfer

Yehudit has been a faculty member at the Columbus Jewish Day School for twenty-five years, variously teaching Hebrew and Judaic Studies to Grades K, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. Columbus’ “Jewish Educator of the Year'' for 1996, she has been working with students from kindergarten through high school since 1977, teaching in supplementary schools in Toronto, Canada, in Patchogue, Hauppauge, and Smithtown, New York, as well as Religious School and Junior Congregation here at Agudas Achim Synagogue in Columbus. Her day school credentials include over nine years at the Columbus Torah Academy, before a stint as Teacher Leader at CJDS. Yehudit received a Bachelor of Hebrew Literature and a Master of Arts in Talmud from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and also completed coursework for a Ph.D. Concurrently, she earned a B.A. in Classical Languages from New York University, and spent a year at Hebrew University’s Center for Jewish Education in the Diaspora.

Though she initially envisioned herself as a college teacher, Yehudit believes today that the education of young children is a “sacred” enterprise upon whom the future of the Jewish people hinges. She was drawn to CJDS because of her understanding of its mission: To teach children to connect their Jewish identity with (in Heschel's words) "the art of asking the right questions" and to empower them to act upon their responses to those questions.

When she is not teaching, you can find Yehudit volunteering with MetroParks, hiking, or biking along the streets of Bexley. She enjoys spending time with her far-flung family, including three grown children, two grandchildren, and extended family from coast to coast.