Jerusalem professor hailed as ‘baby whsperer’ after lecturing with crying kid
Photos of a Jerusalem professor lecturing while carrying a baby who’d been crying have gone viral as students around the world praised him for his approach.
Hebrew University’s Prof. Sydney Engelberg, 67, is being hailed as a “baby whisperer” after the picking up and calming the young child of a female student, then continuing the class with the infant in his arms.
“My dad just loves kids and loves babies, he has five grandchildren,” recalled his daughter Sarit. “He just takes the baby, he’s the one that’s in motion, he’s walking around the class and continues teaching, as if nothing had happened.”
South African native Engelberg, a social psychologist with 45 years’ teaching experience, knows the difficulties of getting child care and of studying while raising a family, so he encourages young mothers to attend with their children, said Sarit.
Photos of the professor appeared on Imgur, a website for visual stories, and has since been viewed over a million times, with positive feedback streaming in.
“This is a professor who truly cares about the education of his students,” wrote one, while another said of the young mother: “I can’t imagine how much that must have meant to her.”
The hope now is that fame does not go to Engelberg’s head, after his wife revealed that his exploits had even led to him being sent love letters in the post.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
