The project:

On June 14, 2022, our Hillel community lost a one-of-a-kind friend, mentor, teacher, and mother. Morah Alison Hendeles a”h was a pillar in our Early Childhood Center with a deep passion for sensory play and hands-on learning experiences. She was training to grow the sensory program at Hillel Hebrew Academy through new curriculum and equipment.

To continue Alison’s important work, the Hendeles family along with Hillel has spearheaded the Alison Hendeles Living Legacy Project to enhance the sensory spaces at Hillel. A new notable sensory station will be inaugurated to encourage interactive play and exploration.

Additionally, the Hendeles family along with Hillel has commissioned artist Joel Amit to create a beautiful art installation featuring hundreds of individual, hand-painted butterflies that come together to create a larger image. The wall sculpture will be proudly displayed in the newly renovated Morah Alison Hendeles Family Welcome Center (Doheny Lobby), where Alison’s memory and legacy will shine brightly each day on all students and families entering campus. It will be visible from Doheny where passersby will enjoy this lively and engaging artwork and be able to bask in Alison’s continuing warmth and energy.

This unique project allows anyone connected to Alison to have the opportunity to continue her vibrant legacy, share memories, and pay tribute to an amazing woman.

We invite you to participate by dedicating a butterfly in Alison's honor.

The funds raised through this project will directly support the renovation of The Morah Alison Hendeles Family Welcome Center and will continue Alison’s legacy by bettering the lives of children in ways that were meaningful to her.

Please also consider sharing a memory (or two) including a video and/or photo to help continue Alison’s legacy in a communal space.

Your memories can be shared at alisonslegacy@hillelhebrew.org or on the final page upon completion of selecting your butterfly.

All gifts will be listed adjacent to the artwork by level, on a plaque in The Morah Alison Hendeles Family Welcome Center.

Upon completion of the Morah Alison Hendeles Family Welcome Center remodel, there will be a community-wide event, announced at a later date.

With your help, Alison’s memory will shine brightly for generations to come.

Thank you in advance,

The Hendeles Family & Hillel Hebrew Academy

About Alison Hendeles:

Morah Alison Hendeles a”h, a devoted preschool teacher, was dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children. During her 12+ years at Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy, Morah Alison went beyond teaching the standard curriculum. She encouraged her students to take chances, get messy and make mistakes inside and outside of the classroom.

Morah Alison had a unique ability to recognize and nurture each child's individual learning style. She met her students where they were at and helped them accomplish their best learning through hands-on, sensory play.

Hundreds of families in our community will always have a piece of Morah Alison in their households. She embedded her joy and midos into each of her students. As they grow to become young adults filled with kindness and confidence, Morah Alison’s legacy will live on.

About Joel Amit, the Artist:

Joel Amit is an artist, designer, and architect based in Israel. After his military service, Amit left for the Negev desert to join the pioneer Ayalim Association, which was building new student and artist villages in the periphery. During this time, Amit completed a B.A. in psychology and was on the course of continuing to further studies and practice in rehabilitation neuropsychology. However, his engagement with the creative and technical process of planning and building villages affected him deeply and he decided to change course, and begin architecture studies at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.

Amit works mostly with laser-cut metal, creating domestic-scale wall sculptures, as well as large-scale public installations. Influenced by nature and its coexistence with the computerized world, Amit developed his way of representing the beauty and spontaneity of life in a way relevant to the digital, plastic, age.

Amit finds an intriguing contrast in the process of forming heavy, cold steel into graceful, flowing works of art. A contrast that is “liberating” and exciting. Today, his art is present in galleries and Museums on five different continents and he continues to create for private as well as public spaces.

A digital rendering of the beautiful artwork in production to be displayed in the Morah Alison Hendeles Family Welcome Center, by Joel Amit.

Remembering Morah Alison Hendeles

By Hillel Hebrew Academy

Remembering Morah Alison Hendeles

Honor Alison by sharing your memories and participating in this meaningful project