As part of the 37th Israel Film Festival in Los Angeles, I recently watched a film that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about: Eran Riklis’s adaptation of Reading Lolita in Tehran. Set in post-revolutionary Iran, it tells the story of a literature professor who secretly gathers seven students in her living room to read forbidden Western classics. As they remove their hijabs and open their books, they also open their hearts.

As a teacher of language and culture, this film spoke to me deeply. It reminded me that what happens in that private living room is exactly what we strive to do in every classroom. We aren’t just teaching words and grammar; we are opening windows to worlds beyond the familiar and the safe. Language and culture are the most profound tools for building empathy, overcoming ignorance, and fostering a shared human connection. Every language classroom is, in its essence, a space of freedom.

As an educator specializing in teaching Hebrew as a second language, I have come to realize that the most profound learning doesn’t happen when we follow a textbook page by page. This is why Pedagogical Freedom is so vital: it is the professional liberty to follow the heartbeat of our students and the world around us, allowing us to move beyond the technical lesson and build a bridge to another humanity. It is the secret ingredient that turns a difficult language lesson into a life-changing connection,........

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