This year, Ms. Racheli Taubes joined the Tanakh department as a new biblical studies teacher. After teaching at several other yeshiva day schools and spending time as an educator at the University of Pennsylvania Hillel in Philadelphia, she returned to the Big Apple to teach freshmen and juniors at Ramaz. Hailing from Brooklyn, Ms. Tauber had fun anecdotes to share about her own high school years and some deeper ones about the meaning of Tanakh and how it relates to the world today.

William Kremer: Where are you originally from?

Ms. Racheli Taubes: I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY

WK: Is Ramaz the first school where you have taught?

RT: Not at all! While I was in college, I taught at a few schools including the SAR Academy and the Heschel High School. I also taught at Yeshivat Noam middle school and Torah Academy of Philadelphia. Most recently, I was an educator at the University of Pennsylvania Hillel.

WK: Which subject do you find the most interesting to teach?

RT: Oooh, this is a hard question! I love to learn and teach a lot of things! My primary passion is Tanakh, although I did also major in chemistry in college. I dream about teaching a class that would combine the 2 subjects. Wouldn’t it be cool to learn about the chemistry of dyeing while learning about Yosef’s ketonet pasim, or tekhehet on tzitzit?! 

WK: How does Tanach help us understand the world outside, and what do you see as the most interesting applications of Tanach in our society today?

RT: My father has a sign in his study with a quote from the Rogochover Gaon (Rabbi Yosef Rosen, a prominent Torah scholar in the early 20th century in Poland) that says, “When I pray I talk to God, and when I learn Torah, God talks to me.” I think studying Tanakh is God’s most direct way of telling us how to understand and act in this world. For example, in my 11th-grade class we are studying Sefer Yonah, which teaches us an invaluable lesson about teshuva. Repentance is not only a topic relevant to the upcoming holidays, but it is a lifelong process. In my 9th-grade class we are studying Bereishit. Right now, we are learning the story of Kayin and Hevel and have discussed (and continue to discuss) how their age and birth order might have affected those characters, and at the same time, we reflect on our families and how our birth order has affected us.

WK: Can you share with us a few interesting anecdotes about your high school experience?

RT: When I was in 9th grade, I dissected a frog in class and took home the body parts in a Ziploc bag. When my mother found it in the freezer she freaked out! 

WK: What is your favorite app?

RT: Pinterest.

WK: What do you think are the challenges faced by students today?

RT: I think that high school students are too obsessive about going to college and do not spend enough time enjoying all the fun experiences and opportunities that high school has to offer.

WK: How do you enjoy spending your time outside of Ramaz?

RT: I recently had a baby girl and have not had much free time to myself. I enjoy taking my three kids to parks and baking with them.