Hope Blecher, at The Blogs

Aug 8, 2023, 5:59 AM

Daffodils, Hadassah and Holocaust Education

The Daffodil Project. Image courtesy of the author.

It started with a walk around my old neighborhood. As I continued along a busy main street, I passed by a small group of yellow flowers. Something was tugging at me to backtrack. This time, I listened to my...

Apr 5, 2023, 7:25 AM

Connecting Henrietta, Golda and Margaret: Who Would Dare to Censor Them?

Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher. Photo courtesy of Hadassah.

Can you imagine censoring Golda Meir or Margaret Thatcher? Oh, I would have liked to have been in the room if such a conversation had actually happened. Which makes me wonder, did these two leaders, these two women, these...

Apr 4, 2023, 1:49 AM

From Sweet Dessert to Desert

Plant Plant-based Plant-based butter Bought Dark Dark chocolate Dark chocolate chips Found Flour Flour and water Unleavened flour and water Boxed Pan Pan and parchment paper Pan, parchment paper and oven mitts Ready Bubbling Bubbling toffee Bubbling toffee flowing Poured Flowing Flowing voices Flowing voices of joy Heard Streaming Streaming lines Streaming lines of people Seen Seeing Seeing straight Seeing straight ahead and back again To watch To watch out To watch...

Jan 31, 2023, 9:58 PM

Hadassah ‘Women Who Do’: Educator Hope Blecher Tells Her Story

Once upon a time, a college student took an elective with her friend thinking it would be fun to be classmates. They took a few other courses together, too. While one of them graduated a year before the other,...

Dec 30, 2022, 5:18 AM

This Little Piggy Blanket Gets Donated

This is me keeping my promise. I promised myself that I would make a blanket. That is a first for me, making a “no sew” flannel blanket. It is going to be hard to give this away. It is a...

Dec 15, 2022, 10:48 PM

How a Menorah in the Catskills Lights the Way for an Entire Community

The author with the Parksville, NY Community Menorah. Photo courtesy of the author.

I know exactly where I will be in the hour prior to Havdalah this Saturday (December 17th) and that is exciting and nerve wracking. There are a few other emotions in the mix, too. You are invited to keep reading...

Nov 29, 2022, 10:04 PM

Just ask me: Inside America’s great teacher resignation

In response to The New York Times, Opinion Video, Nov. 18, 2022: Empty Classrooms, Abandoned Kids: Inside America's Great Teacher Resignation. Room 222, Welcome Back Kotter, and The Secret Life of an American Teenager were among the television shows I watched...

Nov 18, 2022, 7:12 PM

How One Can Can Make a Difference for Thanksgiving

This trio of books, The Can-Do Thanksgiving, Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen, and What Do You Do with An Idea? are written and illustrated by different people and published by different presses. What unites these stories is the theme...

Sep 29, 2022, 6:28 AM

How Volunteering Makes My Life Sustainable

At least once a week I feel compelled to defend why I volunteer. Has that happened to you, too? Yes, I work and yes, I volunteer. The two, working and volunteering, are not mutually exclusive and the two can...

Aug 30, 2022, 9:16 AM

Hadassah Membership Has Its Advantages And Privileges

Author Hope Blecher, Ed. D with her Bruce Springsteen memorabilia and her Hadassah Certificate of Achievement. Photo courtesy of the author.

Hadassah members hail from all around the globe. There are many reasons people become members of Hadassah and yes, it is open to you, too. My membership began with a friend’s gift. Over the years, I did not attend meetings...

About Me

Dr. Hope Blecher has been working in the field of education for 37 years. Currently, she serves as an English as a Second Language teacher for an adult education program in NJ. Recently, she became the founder of hope4education.com. Previously, Hope served in capacities from being the first Middle School Curriculum Coordinator and Humanities teacher for a yeshiva in Teaneck, NJ, to serving in public schools as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and the Supervisor of English Literacy, Social Studies and Media Services. Dr. Hope Blecher holds multiple standard NJDOE issued certifications that she has used by serving as an adjunct professor, a teacher of high school students with special needs, English Language Learners K-adult, and those in the elementary age level classrooms. Along with friends and colleagues, Hope co-authored educational books and articles. She earned a BA in Sociology, an MA in Early Childhood Education, and an Ed.D. in Teacher Leadership. She has been a member of Hadassah for over a decade, first in the Southern NJ chapter and currently in the Lower New York State chapter.

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