FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FRESH EDUCATIONAL VENTURE AIMS TO RAISE HEBREW LITERACY AMONG YOUNG AND OLD
MEET ‘SARAH AND DAVID,’ THE ‘DICK AND JANE’ OF HEBREW SCHOOL, IN THE PAGES OF NEW SERIES IDEAL FOR HOLIDAY GIFT-GIVING
CONTACT: Lily Yacobi
(201) 227-6161
lyacobi@sarahdavid.com

ENGLEWOOD, NJ, NOVEMBER 1, 2005 – Anyone old enough to remember learning how to read with ‘Dick and Jane’ will easily recognize the appeal of Sarah and David, fictional characters in a new learning series designed to promote Hebrew literacy. The line is offered by an innovative educational publisher, Sarah and David Interactive, based in this Bergen County city.

The great news about Sarah, David and their friends, Rachel and Ben, also featured in this innovative educational system, is that they are sure to engage young and old alike – anyone with an interest in learning how to read, write and speak Hebrew, say their creators, Diana and Lily Yacobi, a mother-daughter team of educator-marketers. And, unlike Dick and Jane, who required a real live teacher to unlock the secrets of phonetics, in this approach, the Hebrew letters are fully accessible through the whimsical descriptions, adventures of Sarah and David, the colorful illustrations and mnemonic devices employed throughout the pages of The Aleph Bet Story.  In addition, co-author Lily Yacobi brings the storybook to life on their CD introducing a hip new song, Aleph Bet Rock. Once students know the letters they can learn to read using the new reading curriculum and picture book that introduces conversational Hebrew. Taken together, the authors have created new and original methods and materials for learners and teachers of Hebrew reading.

Affordably priced, the entire series, plus sterling silver Hebrew letter necklaces they import from Israel, are perfect as Hanukkah and Christmas presents for Jews and non-Jews, young and old, according to Lily Yacobi, 27, the marketing factor in the family business equation.

Products may be purchased through the company’s website, http://www.sarahdavid.com, at selected Judaica shops nation-wide and in Canada and at Hudson Booksellers at New York’s Penn Station and major U.S. airports. A comprehensive list of store locations, along with detailed product information, is provided on the Sarah and David Interactive website.

The Yacobis identify their target audience as everyone “from 5 to 95.” Their teaching methods and materials, already introduced in a number of congregational schools and other Jewish educational venues, formal and informal, have met with great success. Testimonials on their website include one from no less eminent a scholar than Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg, as well as from Jewish educators, adult learners and parents. “We have bubbies teaching their grandchildren and bubbies teaching each other, as well as parents learning to read as they work with their children,” enthused Lily Yacobi. “Everyone can learn through our approach because we make the first Hebrew reading experience interesting, fun and memorable.”
           
The Aleph Bet Story, the pair’s initial foray into the field of educational publishing, reflects originality, from its beginning to end. The 56-page book with CD, introduces readers to the Hebrew alphabet. The fun begins with a whimsical story and colorful picture surrounding each letter.  The letter story continues with an analysis of each letter’s shape and concludes with helpful sound associations. Readers are instructed to note corners, curves, openings, closings, relationships to lines, and – here’s where it gets really fun – a letter’s “arms, legs, toes or tails.” Bet and vet, for example, are both said to have “a little tail,” but “be careful,” students are warned, bet also has “a belly button,” which indicates the letter’s ‘b’ sound. Gimel, the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, reminds Sarah of high-heeled shoes because of a “gap” in its shape; the “gap” reminds readers that gimel sounds like a hard ‘g.’  Sarah, David, Ben and Rachel continue their adventures in the reading curriculum and picture book language primer.
           
Another reason for the Yacobis’ success in teaching Hebrew to native English-speakers lies in their choice of images. Said Diana Yacobi, “Often, material used to teach Hebrew is developed in Israel and so utilizes Hebrew words in forming letter and word associations. These can be either confusing or unfamiliar to American students. We’ve, therefore, made a conscious effort to re-direct the language association to create connections between Jewish learning and American pop culture, images and experiences they will recognize.” References include baseball, hula dancing and Broadway musicals.

For additional information, and to interview Lily or Diana Yacobi, please call Lily Yacobi at (201) 227-6161 or email lyacobi@sarahdavid.com
 
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER TEAM UP TO CREATE
SARAH AND DAVID INTERACTIVE

Sarah and David Interactive is an educational media company whose goals are building Hebrew reading skills and making Jewish learning fun.

Sarah and David Interactive was conceived by Lily Yacobi in the winter of 2004 after she spent two years tutoring children (and their siblings and parents) to prepare them for bar/bat mitzvah.  During a lunch date with the mother of one of her students, Lily mentioned the idea of sharing her teaching method with children everywhere.  The mother’s eyes lit up…and Lily knew she was on to something.

As Lily began work on writing the Sarah and David series of bar/bat mitzvah preparation books, her mother, Diana, soon jumped on board, becoming Lily’s collaborator, partner and cheerleader.  In time, their focus shifted to the Aleph-Bet and Hebrew reading as a precursor to bar/bat mitzvah preparation.

Diana Yacobi
With a master’s in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, Diana Yacobi is the co-creator of Sarah and David Interactive’s materials. Following her graduation from JTS, she became an educational director of a congregational school, developing curricula for the supplementary school setting and publishing a number of articles in professional journals on various topics in the field. Teaching Hebrew reading has been among her primary scholarly interests, and she has spent the past several years focusing attention on that area of curriculum development. In her many years as a Jewish educator, Diana has had opportunity to utilize her own approach to Hebrew reading and field-tested the curricular materials she has created.

Currently Educational Director of the Religious School at Temple Emanu-el in Closter, New Jersey, she is a member of the Jewish Educators Assembly (JEA), The Network for Research in Jewish Education, and the Coalition for Advancement in Jewish Education (CAJE) and has served as a presenter at several CAJE conferences. 

Lily Yacobi
Lily Yacobi earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She had been working as an event planner in Manhattan, when her mother, a Jewish educator, asked Lily to tutor one of her students, a dyslexic girl, for her bat mitzvah. “One student became two, then many,” recalled Lily, who ultimately abandoned her career in event planning and her New York City address to turn the successful tutoring formula into a business, with her mother as partner. She also relocated to northern New Jersey, where Sarah and David Interactive is now headquartered.

During her years as a bar/bat mitzvah tutor, Lily developed what she called the “Lily Method,” a systematic approach that eliminates memorization, thus making preparation for the simkha more fun and less stressful. Her success was evident by the fact that in ten months of study, some youngsters under her direction invariably progressed from a complete lack of Hebrew reading skill to a point where they felt entirely comfortable chanting haftarah and reciting other prayers associated with bar/bat mitzvah. She also became experienced teaching younger children to read Hebrew and parents to chant Torah at their childrens’ bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies.
 
In working with students of varying ages, abilities and learning styles, Lily took note of the kinds of difficulties people often encounter in learning to read Hebrew. Her observations became the foundation for The Aleph Bet Story, the company’s introduction to the Hebrew alphabet and early reading skills.