David Shitrai - Teacher and Educator in the Hebrew Gymnasia in Jerusalem

David Shitrai (Waxelman) was born in 1902 in Dubova, Ukraine. His parents were Rabbi Yosef and Breine Waxelman. In his youth, he studied in the" cheder". After the death of his brother, Zvi Hershel, who drowned on Tisha B'Av, his father passed away from a broken heart. His mother, Breine, moved, with her five children, to a different town closer to her family. With the outbreak of the First World War (1914) David had to help support the family. He taught Hebrew to children and prepared them for their bar-mitzvah. Even then, he found great satisfaction in teaching. He moved to Israel, by himself, in 1922. His sister, Jenia, followed in his footsteps and in 1937 his mother moved as well. David lived in Jerusalem and studied at the David Yellin Teacher's Seminary. He gave private lessons to make a living. At first, he lived in a tent with a few friends. Mr. Zuta, the Bible teacher used to recommend to student to change their foreign family name to a Hebrew name, and on his recommendation David Waxelman ( Waxel= bill and man= man)took the name Shitrai. It is based on the sentence in the Book of Chronicles I, Chapter 27, Sentence 29: "And over the oxen pasturing in Saron Satrai the Saronite". In 1927 he married Miriam Tebchnik, the daughter of Hava and Kalman Tebchnik (one of the founders on the Mizrachi Movement in Odessa). The two mothers, Hava Tebchnik and Beine Waxelman knew each other from Dubova. The Tebchnik family moved to Israel, from Odessa, because of the wide-spread Pitlura pogroms (1919) in the Ukraine. Hava's father, Rabbi Aharon Moshe Bardichevsky, who was the Rabbi of Dubova for many years, was brutally murdered in the pogrom, as was his son, Mendel. The family moved to Israel and the end of 1921 and settled in Tel-Aviv. They ran the hotel and pensions 'Eshel'. David and Miriam moved to the Zichron Moshe neighborhood in Jerusalem. After they married, David started teaching in the Hebrew Gymnasia Elementary School in 1930. He taught second, third and fourth grades, along with Yosef; Cohen-Zedek, Miriam Carmon and Hava Ya'ari, thus fulfilling his dream to become a teacher in the Land of Israel. In addition to his work as a teacher, he initiated other social activities. He started a dramatics club in school (the professional advisor was the producer Zvi Freidlander, one of the founders of Habima Theater). One of his students was the actor Yossi Dayan. He organized the holiday ceremonies that took place at school- the major one being that of Shavuot. In addition to his work at school he volunteered in a number of organizations: he was active in the Hagana, in the Teacher's Union and more. David and Miriam moved to the Rehavia neighborhood in 1933, joining a group of people who decided to found a community, "The First Worker's Housing", on Even Shaprut Street, which was run communally, as was customary at those times. They moved with their son, Yossi (1929) and their daughter Raya (Gutfruend) was born there in 1935. In order to help to support the family and pay the mortgage, Miriam rented out rooms to students (as did most of the people in the neighborhood) and in the summertime to people from the center of the country who came to Jerusalem for a vacation. In 1937 the directorate of the youth movement, "Jerusalem Scouts" along with the Elementary School Teacher's Association decided to establish a division of the Scouts called "Mazazda". David Shitrai was given the job of organizing and heading the club. A small hut was placed in the school yard to house the club's activities until 1947 when they moved to Beit Phillips and later to Beit Noa (in memory of Noa Tan-Pey). David Shitrai very much wanted to continue his studies, so he went to the US in 1939 and studied at Yeshiva University in New York. His wife Miriam and his children moved in with her parents at the Eshel Hotel in Tel-Aviv. With the outbreak of the Second World War he was forced to stop his studies and return to Israel. He sailed back on one of the last boats that passed throu8ghthe Mediterranean Sea. His daughter, Raya tells about her childhood in the 'Worker's Housing' during the British Mandate period: "The children used to play in the club room that our parents set up for us. We did not know that behind one of the walls there was a 'slick' of weapons that belonged to the Hagana. The British soldiers, whom we nicknamed 'Kalanit', used to search the area from time to time, never suspecting that what they were looking for was to be found were we were playing". During the siege on Jerusalem, during War of Independence (1948), the Shitrai family suffered many hardships and challenges, as did many other residents of Jerusalem. David was a welfare sergeant . He worked as the liaison between the soldiers and their families. His son, Yossi, was drafted into the third division of the Palmach and fought in the difficult battles in the Galilee and later on the road to Jerusalem. His family, who were trapped in Jerusalem, knew nothing about his whereabouts until a break in the fighting in July 1948. Raya, their daughter, who at the time was a seventh grade student, tells: "We all helped each other. The schools were closed and the children helped to fill sand bags to protect the homes. Every day the residents stood in line for food and water". At the end of the war, David returned to New York to complete his Master's degree. His wife Miriam divided her time between being with her husband in New York and living in Israel with Raya who was in 12th grade in the Gymnasia Ha'Ivrit. After his return to Israel, David served as the substitute principal in the Ge'ulim school in Jerusalem and after a number of years he was appointed as the Educational Director of the Kfar Galim Youth Village in Haifa. However, after one year he returned to teach in the Gymnasia until his retirement in 1965. David continued with his educational-cultural activities. Along with his friend, Yosef Cohen-Tzedek, he wrote a teaching manual for teaching Hebrew to children in the Diaspora. He also chose some stories of the well know Hebrew writers, especially Shalom Aleichem, and transcribed them into 'simple' Hebrew to make them accessible to new immigrants and children in the Diaspora. David Shitrai passed away in March 1982 at the age of 80. David and Miriam had 5 grandchildren. Their grandson, Yuval, served in Golani and was killed during his army service, six months after the death of his grandfather. This photo collection was given to the Photo Archives at Yad Ben-Zvi by Raya Gutfruend, the daughter of David and Miriam Shitrai. The collection includes personal and family photographs, as well as pictures of Shavuot ceremonies at the Elementary Hebrew Gymnasia in Rehavia in Jerusalem and activities of the Mazada Scouts which he headed for many years. David Shitrai's teacher's notebook is part of the collection. Read more