Like most Diaspora Jews, after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre, Talia Bernstein felt like she needed to do something to help the people of Israel. The early childhood teacher acknowledged that money helps, but she felt she needed to give something else – her time and her expertise.
And so Kesher was born.
“After October 7, like everyone, I had seen a lot on social media, heard and read a lot of what was going on,” Bernstein recalled. “But after about a week I needed to try to help in some way. I said to my mum, who is a Hebrew teacher, ‘I can’t cry anymore. I need to do something.’ She tapped me on the shoulder and said simply, ‘They need teachers.'”
So, she thought to herself, she’d start a school.
“Kesher means connection,” she said, explaining that she was also taught that it also means knot. “When you have a string and it breaks, you tie a knot and the string becomes stronger and closer. It’s really the connection that we have with these children”.
Bernstein, who won the Young Adult Volunteer Change Maker Award for 2024, wrote a post on the Sydney Jewish Mums Facebook group calling for volunteers. The aim was to teach Israeli children who were home from school because of the war, either having been displaced or because of lockdowns. Bernstein wasn’t asking for much – 30-45 minutes of a volunteer’s time to sit on Zoom and be there for the kids who needed them.
From the time Bernstein wrote the post to the time Kesher conducted its first lesson was six days.
“We were running at full speed. The community came out in full force. I was inundated with people wanting to help,” Bernstein explained. “It was a real way that people could connect and make a real difference, with minimal effort.”
But, as Bernstein explained, it makes a huge difference to the students, their families and their teachers in Israel.
Kesher started with around 40 volunteers in Sydney and Melbourne, and training sessions were provided to ensure everyone was upskilled and on the same page. Approximately 120 English-speaking families in Israel initially signed up.
Teachers – who Bernstein acknowledged had been in classrooms all day – would log on from 4pm until around 1am.
But Bernstein realised this model wasn’t sustainable. So she called in the community in Perth.
Now, the teams on the East Coast teach until 10pm and then the Perth team take over. It’s truly a full Aussie effort. While Bernstein is on every single class herself alongside the nominated teacher, it has also become a whole family affair, with her children jumping on Zoom to chat to the kids as well.
Bernstein created a timetable based on each teacher’s specialty.
“You’re a science teacher, great you teach that. You’re a maths teacher, great. Dance, art, sport, whatever you can do, you’re now on the timetable,” she said.
In addition to this, a learning support team with specialist teachers such as speech therapists and occupational therapists, as well as a Jewish studies team are initiating tailored lessons to address more specific needs based on feedback from parents.
But for Bernstein, reaching families wasn’t enough. She needed to help more. So, she made it her goal to get into the evacuation centres.
“Once the kids went back to school, I was like ok, our work is done, we’re good. I said to the teachers how much we enjoyed working with them and how excited we are that they’re back at school, and they said, ‘No, no, you’re coming with us,'” Bernstein smiled. “And so we became part of their timetables.”
Kesher now works with five primary schools in the south, three of which are made up of the children from the 33 kibbutzim and moshavim that were attacked on October 7.
“At one point, a little girl popped up on the Zoom in the evacuation centre and I jumped,” Bernstein recalled, saying she quickly called her husband over because she couldn’t believe her eyes. In front of her, was a former hostage who had recently been returned to Israel.
When Bernstein asked why no one had mentioned that the child was in the class, the teacher was surprised to hear that Bernstein even knew who she was.
“I said, the whole world knows her,” Bernstein said. “It was at that moment that I realised how connected all of us are to Israel, and how disconnected they were to us. We know every detail, every hostage, we know every story, we know all of their families. We know all of the kibbutzim and moshavim. We know where they’re from. We’re following their stories. We have photos of them in our home, in our shules, in our schools. We talk about them, we learn about them. And they don’t even know. So I realised that we have a lot more work to do.”
Bernstein explained that the role of Kesher is critical in the current environment, and she believes it will remain this way.
“We are now part of their timetable. We’re part of their everyday life,” she said, revealing that in one school there used to be five English teachers, but there’s now only one. “They left, they were displaced, they haven’t come back. Other things happen.”
Bernstein shared the story of one of the teachers who was killed with his wife in their home while protecting their son. She described visiting his classroom on one of her trips to Israel. It hasn’t been touched since October 6, 2023.
“They are extremely strong. They are extremely resilient,” she said. “They were lacking in teachers before, but they’re definitely lacking in teachers now. But we go in and we teach as part of their timetable. It’s not perfect. It is a bit of a balagan. Sometimes they’ll come, sometimes they’ll come 15 minutes late, and sometimes they might not come at all. Sometimes they won’t have a connection, or all of them will come at the same time. But my team are extremely accommodating, dedicated and hard working. They come from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. They look after our children, and they are also looking after these families in Israel. They come online after their long day, when they have reports, when they have parent/teacher, when they have family things on, they show up every week, do their 45 minutes with the children, and often, I’ll have to say ‘guys, the time’s up’, but the kids don’t want to go and the teacher doesn’t either.”
Ultimately, it’s about being there for the kids if and when they need.
“We were running at full speed. The community came out in full force. I was inundated with people wanting to help. It was a real way that people could connect and make a real difference, with minimal effort.”
Kesher focuses on years four, five and six and within each school, there’s a different offering. In some cases, there’s a class of between 20 and 30 students all sitting in the one classroom with an Australian teacher on the screen. In other schools, Kesher provides support for the kids who need to be extended or who need a bit of help. Or, as Bernstein explains, sometimes Kesher is there as a little treat for the children who have had a good week or who have had a particularly tough morning. In one school, there is just one English teacher running multiple classes at once, so the teacher will send children to Kesher to look after.
“Sometimes you don’t know if it’s going to be grade four, five or six. You don’t know if it’s going to be the excellent (extension) students, or if it’s going to be the lower kids,” Bernstein explained. “We act as their support.”
And, the Australian teachers are prepared for everything and anything.
“We have teachers who are fluent in Hebrew, and we have teachers who don’t speak a word of Hebrew,” Bernstein explained, saying sometimes the teachers with minimal Hebrew actually give the children even more confidence. “They see how limited our Hebrew is and they feel confident to give English a go,” she laughed.
Bernstein described one situation where a child was falling behind in their Hebrew lessons. Explaining that his father is in miluim and his mother is actually English speaking, Bernstein said one particular teacher from Perth has taken on the child personally, helping him improve his work ten-fold. “She has brought him up to the same level as his class and continues to work with him. In turn, she supports this family, this mother of four whose husband is in and out of miluim, and ensures he doesn’t fall behind.”
So why the name, Kesher? Bernstein explained that there’s a lot of meaning behind the word.
“Kesher means connection,” she said, explaining that she was also taught that it also means knot. “When you have a string and it breaks, you tie a knot and the string becomes stronger and closer. It’s really the connection that we have with these children”.
Bernstein harnesses this connection between Australia and Israel. In 2024, she was invited to present at the Zionist Federation of Australia’s Educators’ Conference alongside Sigal whom Bernstein brought over from Israel. Sigal was the main teacher Bernstein started Kesher with, and not only did the pair present at the Educators’ Conference but they also addressed teachers and students at every Jewish day school in Australia. To foster even closer connections, Kesher is also running a volunteers program in Israel for current and future volunteers.
From the Israeli families, the appreciation is clear. But what about the feedback from the volunteers in Australia? Bernstein says they all say the same thing.
“Everybody is very appreciative of the opportunity to be part of this, as am I, to be part of their schools, to be able to contribute in this way. Everybody here definitely is extremely dedicated and feel it’s their duty,” she said. “It’s not a lot to ask. It’s 45 minutes once a week, and occasionally a bit extra when they go into lockdown.”
And she said, the volunteers are still here, so it’s clearly making a mark on them. But, they always need more help.
There’s so much more Bernstein wants to do with Kesher. There are more schools hoping to join, an informal curriculum that needs to be written, there’s funding that’s being sought.
“Amongst other plans, we would like to get funding for resources and new computers in their classrooms with headphones and software, because a lot of the time you’ll have a group of children huddling around a phone outside because they don’t have a place or enough resources to fully participate in a lesson,” she said.
While at the moment, the funding will hopefully be directed at providing devices for the students in Israel, there are much bigger plans for Kesher. The devices, Bernstein said, are just the beginning.
Ultimately, Bernstein’s aim is to continue doing what she’s doing, but with a lot more help. The need for more volunteers is crucial.
“This is so much bigger than I ever imagined it would be,” she said. “[It’s so] necessary to continue, and it’s an incredible opportunity for us to continue making a direct and fulfilling impact in their lives”
Anyone interested in joining the Kesher team can email kesherotef@gmail.com. Follow the Kesher journey on Instagram.
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