New Hebrew teacher Morah Inbal Phacher’s goal is to take down any barriers to help students connect with the language, and show them through games, songs, and culture that it is “very friendly.”

Morah Phacher was born and raised in Raanana, Israel. She served for five years in the Israel Defense Forces and as a commander in the military police. During her military service, she studied social studies through the Open University in Tel Aviv (Universita Haptucha) and completed the Hebrew Teaching Program at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles.

Going from the army to teaching is “actually not a big jump,” she said.

“There are a lot of common aspects when you are a commander in the Army as a young person,” she said. “[…]In education, you always need to lead something or someone. You always need to inspire someone. You always need to be meaningful to somebody. So for me, [teaching] was just a very natural continuation from my military service.”

Morah Phacher moved to Los Angeles at age 23 and has now been living here for 26 years.

“I thought, America will give me the chance to open up and explore and meet new people and culture,” she said. “I have some family here that I visited just to get to know them better, and I found myself staying here.”

Before Morah Phacher came to Shalhevet, she worked at Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy for 10 years.

She also wants Jewish kids who live in Los Angeles “to always remember that Israel is their home, and that the IDF are fighting to make this home safe for everybody.” 

Particularly after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, it’s more important than ever to be connected to Hebrew as a shared language, Morah Phacher said. 

“The main idea is to have something in common, between all the Jewish people in the world,” she said. “We have the Torah, we have a country, we have a flag and now we should have a language.” 

A few months into her time at Shalhevet, Morah Phacher said that she is still adjusting to the new school.

“But always in the back of my head,” she said, “I remember that this is what I’m here to do, to make students grow, learn, to inspire them, to make good connections with them and be the bridge to the Israeli culture.”