H EADLINES
New Barrack Leader Discusses School’s Future
L OCA L
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
FOR RABBI MARSHALL
Lesack, who took over as
head of school at the Jack M.

Barrack Hebrew Academy in
Bryn Mawr on July 1, it’s a
dream job.

He graduated from the insti-
tution in 1997, when it was still
the Akiva Hebrew Academy
and located in Merion Station.

And, unlike many, the rabbi
loved high school. At Akiva, he
excelled in sports, got personal
attention from teachers and
learned to “live Jewishly,” as
he put it.

So when he saw the alumni
email announcing the job
opening last summer, he
applied almost right away.

Several months and interviews
Rabbi Marshall Lesack
Photo by Jordan Cassway
later, he returned home aft er
more than a decade working
in Jewish educational positions
down South.

Lesack’s most recent stop
was a six-year tenure as high
school principal at the Donna
Klein Jewish Academy in
Florida. Barrack is a grades
six-through-12 school.

institution. What questions
are you asking yourself as you
go about that process?
Educationally, who are we?
And who might we be moving
forward? Are our programs not
only excellent from a content
perspective, but are we meeting
the needs of students today?
We have a huge responsi-
bility to envision what a Jewish
world could look like and to
build it within our halls.

I want to build a place of
academic excellence, social and
emotional development, and
Jewish and spiritual develop-
Rabbi Marshall Lesack took over as Barrack’s head of school on July 1. ment. But I also want to create
Photo by Marcia Harwitz
an environment in which
Lesack explained how he young people are happy.

“I recognize the importance
and power of Jewish educa- plans to do that.

How are you going to do all
tion,” he said of his pitch to
Barrack offi cials. “Given my You told the Exponent that?
background, I’m the person to aft er your hiring that you
needed a year to evaluate the
move this school forward.”
See Barrack, Page 33
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