In recent years, I have always been reminded of the saying that behind every successful man stands a great woman. When I met Chavi Ehrenfeld, I realized that the tables had turned - and behind every successful woman stands a great man, who supports, pushes, and helps her strive and succeed.
Chavi Ehrenfeld, 35, from the city of Beit Shemesh, is married to Moishe, who works as a manager at Partner, and is the mother of three charming sons - Daniel, Uri, and Yehuda.
She is a graduate of Rabbi Wolf Seminary, studied teaching at the Haifa Teachers' School, and at the age of 19 she got engaged to the first guy she met through a matchmaking. Only five meetings were enough for her to realize that he was the guy she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
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After marriage, she worked as a first-grade teacher for two years, barely supporting her new family, along with the salary of her husband, who was a kollel avrech.
The financial expenses weighed heavily on the small family. A small ad published in one of the Haredi newspapers caused them to make a sharp turn in their lives: to leave the country and travel to Moscow on a mission on behalf of the Ministry of Education and the Migdal Or School.
For four whole years they worked together with the Jewish community in Moscow. Chavi, who held a teaching certificate, taught children at the city's Jewish school, and her husband worked to bring the hearts of those people who were so far from Judaism and religion closer together.
After four years of service in Moscow, they returned to Israel and moved to Beit Shemesh. Chavi began working as a project manager at the Nava Association, an organization that helps victims of hostilities and bereaved families, and later worked as a regular visiting officer (Kabasit) for the Beit Shemesh Municipality in schools throughout the city.
During these years, she began her undergraduate studies at the Haredi College in Jerusalem, with Ms. Adina Bar Shalom.
When she finished her undergraduate studies, several friends approached her and asked for advice and guidance on the process, and how to apply for a master's degree. Chavi, who saw the girls' need for a detailed explanation, and the plight of Haredi girls for academic studies, about all the ways of studying, sources of funding, and other necessary things associated with graduate studies, recognized the potential inherent in the subject, and started a group of Haredi girls to complete a master's degree in educational counseling.
She was amazed by the volume of enrollment and the demand for degree studies, and so she began opening classes for undergraduate and graduate studies at colleges across the country.
Why isn't a teaching certificate enough?
Women who graduate from teaching studies in Haredi schools receive an equivalent certificate - a certificate equivalent to the salary grade of a BA. The girls wave their certificate as if it were a BA, and want to go to study for a master's degree with this certificate. In practice, this is absolutely not true! The Minister of Education at the time, who saw the plight of Haredi women, passed a law that a woman who studied teaching and has an equivalent certificate will be treated as the same salary grade as those who hold a BA, but this is not a substitute for a BA, which must be studied and completed.
So you actually opened colleges for ultra-Orthodox women?
At first, I tried to open college branches in ultra-Orthodox cities, but I encountered tough and difficult bureaucracy, and I realized that it would take a good few years before I would receive approval from the Council for Higher Education (CHE) to open classes.
From the first year, which was the most difficult in gathering and opening a class, I did not give up, despite all the difficulty, and I realized that if we can't bring the college to the girls, then we will bring the girls to the college.
In these colleges, most of which are purely secular, the Haredi girls who study there convey the most important message: that the Haredim are not as threatening as many secularists perceive them to be. In many cases, they become an important source of information, and in the eyes of the Haredi girls who enroll in the studies, from all circles of the Haredi public, they perform a great act of sanctification of God.
What are the advantages of these colleges?
The girls are in separate classes. They receive the best professional platform, the best lecturers in the country are in these colleges, an advanced library, and in general everything that a professional college offers to the entire population, and the girls benefit from the benefits of professionalism.
Personally, I make sure that they incorporate as many courses as possible in order to prepare them for their master's degree, and in this way I pave their way to further studies.
Isn't it difficult for an ultra-Orthodox woman who is both a mother and a teacher to combine studies?
Yes, it's definitely harder, and I make sure the girls are taken into consideration and adjust the lessons according to the teachers' vacations. I reduce the load during the year and during the holidays I put more pressure on them, so that it will be easier every day.
I also have an agreement with the lecturers to plan in advance so that they can handle the pressure of assignments and tests between Purim and Passover, because that is when the pressure is at its peak in Haredi homes. A student with a newborn baby, up to 14 weeks after birth, is allowed to be in class, and this is of course on the condition that they do not disrupt the proper course of the class.
Besides a degree in education, what else does the college have to offer ultra-Orthodox women to study?
First of all, complete a bachelor's degree in education to obtain a senior teacher certificate.
And the master's degree tracks are:
- Master's degree in educational counseling at Orot College in Elkana.
- Master's degree in management and organization of the educational system, at Orot College in Rehovot
- Master's degree in early childhood education - at Levinsky College in Tel Aviv.
- Master's degree in organizational consulting in the academic track of the College of Management in Rishon LeZion.
What is the difference between college studies and university studies?
The Haredi college is a platform for university programs, except that the university is more focused on research and statistics, while the colleges place more emphasis on theories and practical tools, which was actually the basis of the first group's idea.
Tell me how you combine work with family?
I am the biggest believer in prioritizing what to invest in and what to give up and get help with. I have a cleaner a few times a week, so that in the afternoons I can be completely free for the children. And this is at the expense of other luxuries that I give up. Besides that, my amazing and charming husband, without whom I would not have survived a single day, invests in everything in the house, especially in the field of cooking. He is the chef of the house, making sure that every day there is a varied and indulgent hot meal on the table. He is incredibly connected to the boys, he supports, cares, pushes and invests in the family and supports me non-stop.
What are your pleasures in life?
Once a week I'm a student, studying for a master's degree in organizational consulting in Rishon LeZion. And on Shabbat afternoon for a Torah class for the soul.
I definitely know how to take a break when I need to and enjoy myself with my husband and family. Every once in a while, when I feel a little suffocated, I go out with friends to relax and clear my head. The last time I was with some friends in Eilat and we were fine. This break is very important for me to regain strength.
What message would you like to convey to women reading the article?
There is no age at which you can't start learning. It is very important to me to note that many women feel a sense of loss after they have raised their children, worked all these years, married and started taking care of their grandchildren. Suddenly they find themselves without employment, regretting that they didn't have time to learn. I actually believe very strongly that there is no expiration date for learning, and that it is precisely at an older age that you need to learn and put yourself at the forefront.
I have several mothers in my curriculum who enrolled their daughters in school, and that's amazing to me.
What is your iron rule?
Not being afraid, making an effort, working hard, in my opinion, achieving success means starting from the bottom, and not hesitating to seek help from professionals in every personal and business area.
I first discovered my ambition when I was 16. We lived in Kiryat Sefer, and all the girls in the neighborhood, which was tiny at the time, wanted to go on a trip to the Golan Heights. I approached the head of the council at the time, Yossi Schwinger, and asked him to help finance a bus on behalf of the council, with a guide to the Golan Heights, and I couldn't believe he would agree to me.
To my surprise, he agreed and even subsidized the trip from the council's budget. My job was to bring the girls, and within three days, 50 girls had registered to join the trip.
Is there an important message you are conveying?
No one has a honeymoon. I will share with you a personal story: One of my family members needed complex medical treatment at Schneider on Hanukkah. It is true that I did not spend many months in the hospital, but a few difficult weeks were definitely enough for me to understand and appreciate life and the gifts I received. Since that treatment, we have come to Schneider Hospital with our three children every year to the same ward, and we hand out chocolates, donuts and light Hanukkah candles with them.
It is very important to me to convey the message of giving to my children and myself, and for them to see that nothing is taken for granted. In addition, I also volunteer at the Nava organization, and once a year I organize a Seder for bereaved families.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
It's no secret that more colleges have opened and competition is increasing, and that's why women's consciousness is also opening up more. This serves the field and makes it more dynamic and competitive. My dream is to open a guidance center for counseling and guidance for academic studies for the Haredi public, to succeed in educating my children and building a home, which is the basis for everything, and to always remember that I am a small part of a complete puzzle that God is directing even when a door closes and a window opens.
And the most important thing for me is to be at peace with myself and my path.
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We parted ways. Studying has never been my strong suit. But still, the conversation made me feel a small, magical longing to return to school with a notebook and pen in my bag, to learn, listen, grow wiser, and discover a new world.
Currently, finishing a degree is not in sight, but who knows.
Maybe when my daughter gets a little older and decides to go to school, I'll join her, and for the first time in my life I'll be happy to sit in a classroom and learn.
