Nili Adler (1942-2014), a Hebrew teacher and educator, was born in Palestine. She earned a bachelor's degree in Hebrew and Arabic from Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel, and a master's degree from the University of Minnesota, where she also pursued doctoral studies. Adler's career as an educator in Hebrew language and culture included positions at Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota), the University of Minnesota, Oberlin College, Case Western Reserve University and, most notably, at the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies (after 2002, known as the Siegal College for Judaic Studies). Adler worked as head of the Hebrew Department for the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies. She also led Akiva High School, a supplementary educational program for Jewish high school students offering courses in Hebrew language and Jewish cultural programming.
Adler was known for her passionate advocacy of the Hebrew language and culture in the United States. She was significantly involved in Moreshet: The Hebrew Literacy Project, a joint venture of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland and the College of Jewish Studies. She worked to train teachers of Hebrew and she also helped to pioneer the teaching of Hebrew online. Adler was married to Rabbi Moshe Adler of Beth El-The Heights Synagogue. She died in February of 2014.
The Nili Adler Papers, 1983-2011 and undated, consist of agendas, booklets, contributions acknowledgments, correspondence, course listings, curriculum guidelines, evaluations, flyers, graduation programs, handbooks, lesson plans, lists, manuals, memoranda, minutes, newspaper clippings, notes, one photograph, proficiency tests, program descriptions and evaluations, proposals, reports, speeches, and syllabi.
Those interested in the teaching of Hebrew language and culture and Jewish institutions of secondary and higher education, specifically the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies (later, Siegal College of Judaic Studies) will find this collection of value. Materials in the collection address teaching both children and adults and the teaching of Hebrew at all levels. The collection is also important for those who wish to know more about the training of foreign language teachers and the beginnings of online education in the early twenty-first century. Researchers interested in the emigration of Israelis to the United States in the mid twentieth century may also find the collection of value.
The collection is arranged in two series.
Researchers should also consult MS 4826 Cleveland College of Jewish Studies Records and MS 5126 Laura and Alvin Siegal College of Judaic Studies Records.
Processed by Jordan Rothkopf in 2016.
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[Container __, Folder __ ] MS 5374 Nili Adler Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of Brian Amkraut, Siegal College of Judaic Studies in 2014.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.