It was fun to read Sunny Yudkoff’s farewell blog last week. It reminded me of all the terrific things she’s done since she first came on board as an intern four years ago and then later joined our staff. It was sad to read the blog because we’re sorry to lose Sunny, even if it’s to a Ph.D. program in Yiddish Literature at Harvard. And it reminded me of the integral part our internship program has come to play at Behrman House.
Since we started the program, we’ve been blessed with some wonderful college students who have enriched our work and our lives, and have helped bring engaging books and other materials into Jewish schools. Sunny was with us for two summers, then after obtaining a Masters degree at Oxford, joined our full-time staff until last week, when she left to return to academia.
Vardit Haimi-Cohen was our very first intern (at the time we weren’t even sure we’d have enough for her to do!); after graduation she crossed the Ivy League tracks, graduating from Yale to work in the Harvard Library’s Judaica Division. And we still keep in touch. In fact, Vardit will be the voice of Rahel in software that we will release in about a year.
Sam Weinreich, who like Sunny spent two summers with us, will finish at Williams this coming year, studying Classics (and Sanskrit). Lisa Bonnifield has graduated from Duke (with high honors, I’ll have you know!); she’s working with economically disadvantaged kids through the Teach for America program. And as I write this, Carrie Klapper is busily at work on our photo library of 14,000 images, doing photo research for upcoming early childhood materials and ensuring that we can continuing to include the most engaging and professional images in our books. Carrie will go back to the University of Pennsylvania in the Fall, and if experience is any guide we may continue to see the benefits of her talents for some time to come.
So why do I write this? It’s of course sad when someone who has become part of our family leaves us, and I write to acknowledge that and give testimony to Sunny’s particular talent and contribution. She’s a remarkable individual and deserves nothing less. And I also write to celebrate the strength of the program, and acknowledge all that it brings to us and to the educators we serve. We’ve come to count on this annual infusion of youth and imagination; we know that the program will continue to be important to us, to the work we do, and to our interns themselves.
And lastly, I write to say to you that when next summer grows a bit nearer (yes, it’s far away, though there’s no harm in planning), if you know of a talented college student who would like to make a tangible contribution to Jewish education, and learn about publishing in a hands-on environment, you know who to call.
Reflectively,
David
