Dr. Bracha Orgad, the legendary chemistry teacher, has passed away

Dr. Bracha Orgad, who taught chemistry for decades at Municipal School C in Haifa and was a very significant figure for her students, passed away at the age of 97.

Orgad's daughter, Ruti Sela, the youngest of 4 children, tells about her mother: "My mother was born in Argentina in Buenos Aires and was the daughter of immigrants from Ukraine. My grandfather retired from the army. They fled Ukraine and came to Argentina, where my grandfather worked as a watchmaker and opened a watch store. Mother Shelly was an only child and was brought up in the Argentinian and Jewish education.

When she was 15, mother already started teaching Hebrew at the Bialik school in Argentina. She also worked at the Hebrew school and at the same time started studying chemistry at the university and finished her doctorate in Buenos Aires. She married my father, who was an engineer. While studying, she also translated books from Hebrew to Spanish.

My eldest sister, Rachel, was born in Argentina and in 1954 her parents boarded a ship with her to Israel, and in January 1955 they arrived in Haifa. My sister Ziva was born in April 1955. My mother's first job was at Ma'ala School. My brother Dror was born in 1959 and I was born in 1962.

"After my mother taught at the Ma'ale school, she moved to Kiryat Haim High School, where she taught until I was born. After that, she was accepted to Ironi C. School. That day, the principal fired the chemistry teacher and my mother replaced him.

I feel that I grew up in C. My mother used to work much longer than the usual working hours. She was responsible for the ceremonies, for special evenings, she would make presentations of Purim and poetry in public, and was also responsible for the relationship with the graduates. Everything she did, she did in a very high quality way. I remember walking through the lab of Eruni C when I was 6 years old, I broke my arm and my mother was in the middle of a private lesson, and I had to wait until the end of the lesson. The part of the students was integral in our house."

She was in contact with the students until the last hour"

"After my mother retired, she went to Moscow and taught chemistry at the embassy there. Until the age of 90, she continued to teach private lessons. She also taught at all kinds of colleges and gave many training courses at the Biological Institute, the Oranim Seminary, the University of Haifa, the Technion, and Ohel Sarah College near the Sea of ​​Galilee."

At the age of 65 she retired from school and started painting. Her house has lots of beautiful paintings. Two years ago she wanted to reconnect with the students and said that those who come to visit will receive a painting. She didn't want the paintings to be thrown away, so she tried to distribute them. There are still hundreds of paintings and anyone who wants to come and take them is welcome."

"Until the last hour of her life, she was still in contact with the students. She also played the piano, did Pilates 5 times a week, which I transmitted to her via Zoom. She sent her graduates a video when she got her 15th granddaughter, when my brother became a grandfather. The next day there was a seder and she participated in it and read the Haggadah . And a day after the attack, another granddaughter of hers got engaged, and that was the end of it. You can tell a lot about her."

A rare woman and a rare teacher

"In her life, she taught everyone who wanted to. She taught Arab and Jewish teachers, taught in libraries and traveled all the way to Russia to teach chemistry. She truly accepted everyone as they are, regardless of religion, race or gender. She was a rare woman and a rare teacher. We had 200 people at her funeral , it was crazy. We keep getting WhatsApp messages about how significant she was in the lives of lots of students. She passed away happily."

"Baraka was a figure to be appreciated and admired"

Ofri Becker was Orgad's student at the C City School: "Baraka Orgad was the teacher of my class from 1982th to 1985th grade, from XNUMX to XNUMX, and taught chemistry at the same time. Already when she taught me, she was the older bumpkin, and there was always something special about her. She had a pleasant sense of humor, responsibility, the love of education and the love of students."

"I was privileged to be one of those who called you 'the teacher'"

At the funeral, Becker spoke in her memory:
"I was privileged, I was privileged to be one of thousands for whom, at some point in their lives, you were called "the teacher". "The teacher" is such a simple and routine word, but contains so much within it. How significant you were in my life cannot be quantified. I can only say that I learned So much from you, and that's without even mentioning chemistry. I learned from you the way of the land, modesty, humor, caring, personal attitude, as well as Avogadro's number. Every person I met in my life and by chance was also (or she was, of course) your student, says Similar things about you. You were a beloved educator, a figure to be appreciated and admired, a life teacher. So Bracha Orgad, I get to say to you here for the last time, hello teacher."

"Following her, I went to teach chemistry"

Monica Lev-Cohen says that she chose to teach chemistry following Orgad. "Barache taught me at Urban High School C in grades 1987-1988, in the years 12-5. "I was in a minority group, one of XNUMX students who chose to study chemistry XNUMX credits. It took courage to choose such an abstract subject, not everything 'Explosions' in the laboratory. There is no doubt that this motivation came from the person who led the chemistry studies - Dr. Bracha Orgad.

"She taught chemistry as if it were a Grimm Brothers fairy tale"

"Barache knew how to breathe life into the dry formulas and tell about Schrödinger the cat and Avogadro's number, as if they were the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm," says Lev Cohen. "Humour was always by her side and her soft look silenced any student who tried to interrupt. 'Really? Yes or no?', she would turn to us with a question, to make sure we were with her. We were a small group and a lot of the studies were outside the classroom, on a tour she organized for us in the industry and in the living room of her home. While we were Engrossed in writing assignments in class or in tests, Bracha would sit and draw. This talent continued with her until the day she died. She had a phenomenal memory and remembered each of us and even our parents. Years after graduating from high school, she would meet my mother on the street and ask how I was doing and how my husband was doing.

Following a blessing, I continued to the Technion and found myself in her shoes. I taught high school chemistry for several years, and more than once found myself quoting her sayings and using the methods she created, passing on her legacy.

"Inspiration for educators"

Bracha is an inspiration to educators. Her whole life was dedicated to doing good and promoting her students. She saw the people we built and came to work with a sense of mission. Two years ago she called me and invited me to choose a painting from her collection, as a gift. I came with my mother and won two! This was her will, to distribute what was left to her beloved students.

The paintings are framed and hang in a prominent place and are for me a daily souvenir of doing good, of a huge soul that left a mark on many hearts.
R.I.P".