This month, I sat down with Dr. Susan Bornstein-Forst of Bader Hillel High. Known as “Doc” by her students, Bornstein-Forst has been teaching at Bader Hillel High for four years. While she is currently teaching biology, Bornstein-Forst is no stranger to Jewish education.
Bornstein-Forst was raised in a traditional Orthodox home in Mount Vernon, New York, where she attended an Orthodox Hebrew school. During her middle school years, her family moved to Harrison, New York, to be closer to her father’s business. In Harrison, Bornstein-Forst attended Hebrew school at the Harrison Jewish Community Center. After her confirmation at age 16, the Rabbi expressed that it was her time to do service and asked if she would be willing to teach the kindergarten class. Bornstein-Forst happily accepted, but shortly after, moved to the Community Synagogue of Rye, where she taught throughout her undergraduate schooling. When Bornstein-Forst made the decision to study for her master’s degree at Columbia University, she knew she wanted to continue teaching religious school and chose to teach at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City. She taught there for many years while acquiring her doctorate and post-doctorate degrees.
Bornstein-Forst attended NYU, Manhattanville, Columbia, Hebrew Union College and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Among her degrees, Forst also obtained a Religious School Teaching license and permanent teaching certification in Secondary School Biology and Broadfield Science.
Bornstein-Forst met her husband, Steve Forst, at a Hanukkah party she organized while she was completing her doctorate at New York University Medical Center. In 1991, Steve came home and announced they were moving to Milwaukee, “I didn’t know a soul, and my parents were horrified; they told me there were polar bears in Milwaukee!”
Still, Bornstein-Forst moved her family halfway across the country and never looked back. She admits it was lonely at first, but only until she met her first Milwaukee friend, Michael Fefferman of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, who told her, “You’re going to work for me and I’m going to keep you out of trouble.” And she did, for the next 24 years! During this time, Bornstein-Forst also taught every manner of biology at Marian University in Fond du Lac.
As she was winding down her career at Marian University, Rabbi Menachem Rappaport, Bornstein-Forst’s teacher, rabbi and friend approached her with a teaching opportunity at Bader Hillel High. “It has been a very rewarding experience, and I feel very appreciated. They recognize the value of a secular education alongside Judaic studies,” she said.
Bornstein-Forst said she loves teaching and being a lifelong learner. She said that the best part about being a teacher is the ability to learn something new every day: “Education evolves just the way organisms evolve. Kids have access to so much information today that they are learning differently, and it’s important to keep up with them.”
Bornstein-Forst lives in Glendale with Steven, her husband of 42 years, and cat, Casius. They have two grown children, Emily and Danny. Emily lives in London and Danny in Brooklyn. In her free time, Bornstein-Forst loves to garden, travel, read, go hiking and visit her children.
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MEET AN EDUCATOR
Writer Nicole Boico is the associate director of the Coalition for Jewish Learning of Milwaukee Jewish Federation. This regular feature, from the Coalition for Jewish Learning, is to celebrate local educators. To suggest someone for coverage, contact Boico at NicoleB@MilwaukeeJewish.org.
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