An Orthodox existence on the Hill

An Orthodox existence on the Hill By Andrew Gimson, the Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 05.03.2001 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-938778-an-orthodox-existence-on-the-hill.do Appeared in the Evening Standard: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-938778-an-orthodox-existence-on-the-hill.do Ita Symons arrived in England with 300 other Jewish children from Poland in 1946. She and her parents, who were able to follow her to London two years later, had survived the Holocaust by fleeing to Russia, but about 50 members of her family perished in it. She went to live with relatives in Stamford Hill, which over the last century has developed into the greatest stronghold of Orthodox Jewry in Britain, the men immediately recognisable from their beards, black hats and long, black coats. As Paul Lindsay has written in his book ‘The Synagogues of London’, "These Chasidic groups seem to create self-imposed ghettos and seek to maintain the kind of life which existed in the ‘shtetl’ of Eastern Europe. They speak Yiddish as well as English, and religious duties and practice are at the centre of their lives." ‘Shtetl’ is a Yiddish term for a small town or village. Mrs Symons is a restlessly energetic woman who has seven children, "well over 20" grandchildren and is chief executive of the Agudas Israel Housing Association, which provides 400 dwellings for Orthodox Jews, mostly in Stamford Hill but also in Manchester. Unlike many Orthodox Jews, she is not in the slightest bit shy of talking to the Press. When she received me in her office, she was helping a scribe to find a home for himself and his very large family: many members of the community have 10 or 12 children and she estimates that, including children, it now numbers 16,000 in Stamford Hill, with all its members living within walking distance of their small, informal synagogues, where they pray three times a day. "The average number of children in this community is about eight," Mrs Symons said. "The youngsters just have lots of children irrespective of their financial constraints. We look on children as blessings. God will provide. What is special about this community is its commitment to the religious way of life, not letting go of a way of life that has existed for over 3,000 years. Though we have a few rich members of the community, who are all in property, most of the children come from very poor families, but they are educated in a very rich culture.
"We educate them that this is the way of life. It's not negotiable. It gives the children a sense of security. The Ten Commandments are the framework. From the Ten Commandments spring 613 do's and don'ts. It's the acceptance, not just the observance, of these 613 commandments that describes an Orthodox Jew. What it means in practical terms is the acceptance of kosher food and the observance of the Sabbath." The children are educated at private schools, of which at least 25 are scattered across Stamford Hill. These are named after towns and rabbinical dynasties in Poland, Russia, Romania and Hungary. Boys and girls are educated separately. At the Belz school, 15 rabbis, or teachers, give instruction to 250 boys. I saw a lively class of 11-year-olds, wearing skull caps and sidelocks, learning the scriptures in Hebrew and Aramaic from their rabbi, with Yiddish as the medium of instruction. At the end of the day the boys do an hour of English and maths. Like most of the Jewish schools in Stamford Hill, the actual building, which also houses the Belz community's synagogue, is dilapidated far beyond what would be acceptable in even the most rundown state school. The presence just inside the front door of a peddler selling the sort of small items that might be found in an ironmonger's increased the feeling of stepping back into the 19th century. Menasche Scharf, a member of the Belz congregation, said: "We do not allow the children to have the influence of the television and the media." He added with a smile: "And we do not even allow them to read the Evening Standard. "Two-hundred years ago, we started in Belz, in Poland, and, under four generations of rabbis, people came from all over the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The hats we wear were fashionable 100 years ago. The Jews had to keep up with the fashion. We stay with what we came with from Poland. That's why you see different hats. The flat hat is from Hungary, the tall hat is from Poland, you have the one that is plain material from Russian Poland and the west European Jews go with one that is bent down at the front. But it doesn't have any religious significance. I wear a skull cap underneath so that when I take off the hat my head is still covered as a mark of respect towards God." It would be unimaginable to omit the Stamford Hill Jews from a survey of ethnic London, but one should note that many other Jews would be upset if this particular community were to be taken as typical of British Jewry in general, much of which is highly assimilated.

YOM TEFILLAH

By C. S. Teitelbaum
   
Hundreds of local cheder boys joined an awe-inspiring gathering this Tuesday in the majestic Bobov Shul on Egerton Road.

Over twenty years ago gedolim in America initiated this special annual Yom Tefillah whereby yiddishe kinderlach assemble during the aseres yemei teshuva using the power of their innocence and purity as a means of praying on klal yisroel's behalf. Established seven years ago locally, the cheder boys came to the event en masse davening minchah and reciting chapters of tehillim and selichos. They were joined by many Rabbonim, fathers and rebbeim who were keen to join this rare opportunity of davening with the huge crowd of tinnokos shel beis rabon.

Rabbi Yeshaya Schlesinger, Rosh Kollel Chaim Ozer, opened the program with an emotionally charged address about tefillah, noting its significance especially during these days when even the individual tefillah is as valuable as with a tzibbur. He kept his young audience riveted with examples from the Gemara, how Reb Chiya and his sons managed to transform the weather dramatically with the intensity of their kavannah at the words mashiv horuach umorid hageshem and how the earth trembled before they reached the words mechayeh meisim for fear of the outcome. Rabbi Schlesinger further emphasized that the boys should daven for extra siyatta d'ishmaya in contending with today's great struggle against the infiltrating spiritual dangers.

Rabbi Ahron Fischel, menahel of Skver cheder, recited six kappitlech tehillim that have been singled out by the gedolim at the original founding decades ago. Emotions ran high as the boys' honeyed voices rang out, movingly chanting passuk by passuk, intermingled with the many adults who were lining the shul's circumference. Mincha was followed by a responsive recitation of Avinu Malkeinu led by Rabbi Betzalel Kamionka, before which Rabbi Osher Schapiro reminded the boys to beseech passionately at the words shelach refuah sheleima. Indeed, at the intensity of those words participants noted that they were assured the childrens' cries pierced right through the domed roof to the skies, where the shechina awaits them now more than ever.

Rabbi Eliezer Dovid Friedman was honoured with pesicha for selichos, which was then recited by Rabbi Avrohom Moshe Krausz, renowned baal Tefillah from America.

The event was organized by Rabbi Schapiro, Reb Menashe Scharf and Reb Aryeh Deutsch. The experience left the boys both humbled and emotionally uplifted, the inspiration of the moment making an everlasting impression. 

This article first appeared in the Jewish Tribune, 06 October 2011

Torah Way update Adar 5766

Torah Way North London Update, Adar 5766.

 

by Menasche Scharf

 

Listeners to the Torah Way North London programme on Kol Haloshon, as well as the regular visitors to the Biala Shtiebel in Castlewood Road in South Tottenham were treated to an extraordinary discourse on Emunoh, Bitochon and Divine Intervention (lit. Hashgocho Protis).

 

The speaker was octogenarian Rabbi Yitzchok Wiesenfeld, acting Rabbi and spiritual leader to the New Shul's Minyan at the Victoria Community Centre in Egerton Road.

 

Spiced with sayings of our sages from previous generations and punctuated with his own insights, he skilfully wove a chain through the Parshyios relating our Egyptian stay and subsequent sojourn in the wilderness.

 

Regular fans will notice the growing number of recorded Shiurim on the Kol HaLoshon system, which has now reached over thirty.   These include sessions on Sundays and Thursdays, mostly delivered by local Rabbonim on a one-off basis. 

 

Rabbi Yaakov Mordechai Gee will deliver the coming Sunday's drosho (05/03/2006), followed by Rabbi Yechiel Fogel on the Sunday after (12/03/2006).

 

A new system is G-D willing now being introduced whereby there will be a regular speaker on Thursdays, every three to four weeks.   Each contributor will focus on a particular area in the vast expanses of Torah: the weekly Parsha, History, Hashkofo etc. - all with the aim to enrich the lives of our ba'aley battim and enhance their day in a Torah-dige fashion.

 

We now have the privilege of introducing some of the regular Maggidey Shiur for alternating Thursdays: Rabbi Mordechai Fine, Rabbi Gavriel Menashe Lamm, Rabbi Yechiel Fogel and Rabbi Yerachmiel Tzvi Halpert.

 

The beauty of Torah Way is that it becomes contagious; people tell their friends, who relate their new-found experience to family, who in turn make sure to bring along yet another newcomer-friend.   Indeed - regulars are being reminded to be generous, to share the joy and spread the word about the wonderful, uplifting words of wisdom they acquire in these short sessions with long ranging effect.

 

A special guest speaker is planned for Purim day - start it the Torah Way.  Watch out for more details on the Shul noticeboards and in the news. 

 

As has been previously reported, Yiddish-speaking listeners have not been left out - tune in on Kol HaLoshon and dial extension 3111 to hear the legendary Rabbi Hershel Eckstein every Thursday evening between 20:20 to 23:05 on the Mekadhsey Shevi'i channel.

 

Torah Way , the daily morning Shiur started two years ago in North Manchester and now operates in North and North West London.

 

We are now in the process of publishing a Torah Way Diary, an A4 flyer listing forthcoming Shiurim until Erev Rosh HaShana.   For further details, call Menasche Scharf on 07974 160 252.

 

Communicated:

                1 Adar 5766 (27/03/2006)

Activity Report

For immediate release:
London, 26/03/2009

Very Successful Event for Aish HaTorah in Stamford Hill

Q.  English speaking presentation on Kiruv in the heart of Ultra-Orthodox Stamford Hill? 

A.  In what can be described as a shift in public attitude, the Aish HaTorah evening proved just that!  The response from the attendants and enquiries that kept pouring in during the run-up to - and after the event, filed the organisers with confidence. 

The Aish HaTorah gathering was dedicated to the revered memory of its founding father and world renowned mentor to thousands of devoted Talmidim, the late Rabbi Noach Weinberg OB"M, who was Niftar recently. 

It was chaired by Rabbi Chazkel Dovid Halberstam who eloquently explained the theme of this symposium: Our generation's ignorant Jew can be likened to the fourth son in the Hagadda, who doesn't ever realise that there are questions that need asking; that there are answers to be had. 

Indeed, fourth-generation immigrants to countries outside of Eastern Europe have lost their centuries long hallowed ID somewhere between Hamburg and Ellis Island or in the choppy waves linking Gdansk with Hull. 

The main guest speaker Dayan Yonason Abraham Shlita, of the London Beth Din enthralled the assembled crowd with his masterly crafted appreciation of the "Noach" of our generation, who single-headedly established a global organisation dedicated to Kiruv. 

The Dayan mesmerised all present with his heartfelt plea to enlist in the mammoth task of helping to save precious Jewish souls from being left behind in their ignorant lifestyle. 

Explaining the meaning of VeOhavto - the first word in the second verse of the Shema, he read out the words of the Rambam: Your love of HaShem should reach such a level that it will compel you to constantly expound on HaShem's goodness, causing others to love Him too. 

In quoting the promise of the Torah "Kee Lo Yedach Memenoo Nedach" כי לא ידח ממנו ידח that in these words the Holy Creator has codified a message for generations to come, that come what may, no נשמה may be given up as lost to the Jewish people. 

When describing Rabbi Weinberg's virtues, he presented the words of the Chovos HaLevovos that: those who bring people nearer to HaShem are on a higher level than the Nevi'im (Prophets)!  Rabbi Weinberg Ztzl, was attuned to the voice emanating from Sinai, the cry to arms for every Jewish person: "woe to those who let the Torah lie on the sidelines in shame". 

He felt the heartbeat of the Jewish people as a whole, he listened to the spiritual cries of millions of our brethren who were born into an environment devoid of any vestige of Yiddishkeit. 

In closing, the Dayan impressed upon his audience to take the cue from Reb Noach, become synthesised to the metaphysical sound waves wafting through the Jewish world, to constantly be 'online' and pick up the silent, passionate appeals for meaningful attention form our non-frum co-religionists. 

When travelling, shopping or going about your life in general, know that whomever you meet has the potential to become Torah observant - without you as much opening your mouth! Your actions speak more than you could ever imagine. 

By encouraging each and every one attending this auspicious meeting to become an ambassador for the Torah and its relevant-to-life teachings, the speaker then closed with an emotionally charged story, which brought home the concept that you don't have to be a Kiruv Professional to be Mekarev the Children to their Forefathers. 

Rabbi Shimshon Silkin of Aish HaTorah UK took the floor for the remainder of the evening. 

He welcomed the esteemed guest, Rabbi Yosef Dov Babad Shlita, Rav of the Belz Kehilla in London, who took time off his busy schedule to encourage such important cause. 

Rabbi Silkin then launched in a Halachic discourse, proficiently demonstrating the many Halachic sources one can find that point to this important life-saving act of leading Jews who are astray onto the right path of Torah and Mitzvos. 

He stressed the many Mitzvos and Chiyuvim DeOraisoh involved in Kiruv Rechokim – including the Rambam (Mitzvas Ahavas HaShem based on Gemoroh in Yuma and the Sifri) that to properly fulfil Ahavas HaShem one must demonstrate it by making Him beloved amongst the people. 

He also quoted the Rambam that the mitzvah of Kiddush HaShem means to spread awareness of HaShem amongst the people and to strengthen their Emunoh. 

Also the Chofetz Chaim in Chizuk HaDas says someone who wants to be respected in the next world will be asked if he was concerned for HaShem's Kovod in this world by disseminating the reality of His Metzius. 

Furthermore, Rabbi Silkin mentioned the Gemoroh in Rosh HaShana that a person can make Kiddush for another person even if already made Kiddush, because the responsibility of Kol Yisroel Areivim Zeh LoZeh goes so far as to say that if one person has not fulfilled the mitzvah then in a sense neither have I - even if a person has one Esrog but he knows of another town that does not, according to the Mogen Avrohom he must send his Esrog to them and borrow someone else's. 

Also the Shelo"h in Kedoshim says "Lo Sa'amod Al Dam Re'echoh" – "do not stand idly by when another Yid is dying", all the more so applies to saving his Neshomoh from Aveiroh; the Minchas Chinuch agrees to this and adds that if there is a Chiyuv DeOraisoh of returning a lost item, how much more so a lost soul; also the Chofetz Chaim quotes the Rambam that if one does NOT prevent a fellow Jew from sin when he could have, he is considered to have committed that very sin himself and according to the Ramban he falls into the category of Orrur, Chas VeSholom. 

Rabbi Silkin finished this part of his presentation with the Pituchei Chosom of the Chasam Sofer who says that Avrohom Ovinu did not manage to achieve the spiritual heights he would have liked because he was too busy being Mekarev Rechokim. 

So HaShem said "Hamechaseh Ani MeAvrohom?" Should Avrohom lose out? He was saving my children!" therefore HaShem gave him special Siyata DiShmaya to achieve those heights as a gift - so too, anyone 'losing out' their own learning or Shteiging by doing Kiruv, will be guaranteed by HaShem to achieve those levels anyway – he cannot lose out. 

Rabbi Silkin then went on to describe practical methods for getting more involved based on the acronym I-N-S-P-I-R-E.  I- he said, stood for Impress.  The most important thing is to be a Kiddush HaShem, make a good impression; N- nurture – make sure to take care of Talmidim, they are not scientific specimens but rather people deserving real Ahavas Yisroel; S- Shabbos, there is nothing like a Geshmakeh Shabbos meal. 

For those people reluctant to invite secular people into their homes for Shabbos, Rabbi Silkin suggested inviting them over during the week after the children are asleep; P- publications, give them books to read and inspirational CD's to listen to; send them something inspiring before Yom Tov; I- interest, take genuine interest in their lives; hear the questioner behind the question, try to understand what their lives are like and what they are going through; R- relationships; demonstrate to them how a Torah lifestyle is the answer to the broken world of relationships – and perhaps try and help them with theirs, E- email; a constant contact medium that's not too invasive and gives time for them to learn without being put on spot. 

The evening culminated with the screening of the audio-visual presentation "Inspired Too" which brought home the message that every observant Jew is capable of sparking interest in unaffiliated, seemingly uninterested people. 

The video described numerous examples of "chance" encounters which led to incredible results, demonstrating how easy it is to make a difference. 

People out there are just waiting for someone to talk to them in a friendly way. 

A few minutes conversation with a fellow passenger on a plane can change his life and that of his descendants LeDoros, earning the catalyst untold Zechusim. 

That plane trip might turn out to be a passport to more unexpected places than either had imagined. 

Special thanks were expressed to the many contributors: the shopkeepers who graciously spared precious window space, the cake and refreshments were likewise donated by Renbake and Carmel respectively, the management of the Shul who hosted the event and at last: the selfless volunteers who tirelessly helped with the logistics! 

The organisers are now preparing the sequel to this successful endeavour. 

You may have seen the above press release before, still we need urgent input as there are many concerned people who will put in many hours in order to help further this cause.

Menasche Scharf

00447974 160 252

What nails?

 

http://www.haaretz.com/israeli-convert-from-judaism-named-to-catholic-church-s-highest-court-1.365676

 

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/experts-question-claims-of-crucifixion-nails-discovery-1.359256

 

I think both news item converge to remind me of the story I heard about the retired builders merchant, Mark Steinberger whose son decided to expand the business.  Whilst his father reclined in Miami, he went on an advertising spreee, putting up huge billboards in all airports across the united states.  The posters depicted yoshkee on the x, with a message emblazoned underneath: "he's still ahnging on there, because they used Steinberger's nails".  A huge rucus breaks out, condemning Steinberger Builders Merchants for insulting the "hooley fate" Steinberger senior gets a call from his stockbroker, requesting him to jump on the first plane to N. Y., to sort out the mess. Descending from the plane, his face turns ashen as he realises what his boytchik has done to him.  Storming into the CEO's office he forces his son tor order a complete recall of the advert IMMEDIATELY!  His son complied and the father returned to his hole in California hoping to put the fiasco down to his son's lack of tarining.  Now that his son got the message he looks forward to a restful summer, only to be calledback again.  This time his trusted advisor begs him in a hoarse voice to please come back and try to explain to his son why the new advert is even worse than the original one.  Before he has a chance to ask about it, the 'phone at the other end is terminated and he's left booking a return ticket to N.Y., where upon arrival he manages to read the following message whilest the plane is slowly taxiing to the terminal: "he's not hanging anymore, because they didn't use Steinberger's nails".  This time though the x is empty and yoshkee's crumpled body is seen, lying on the ground, face down . . .

Beis Yaakov Girls School - A Milestone to Remember

Date: 20 June 2011 17:52

By: Menasche Scharf

The newly formed Beis Yaakov Girls School in Stamford Hill will be holding its first reception on Sunday Parshas Chukas 26^th June.  The Bays Yaakov Maydel Schule, as it is fondly called by the locals, has gained its sterling reputation in no small part because Yiddish is part of the curriculum.  The recent Ofsted inspection vindicated the schools' founders and supporters  when the inspectors gave the school a resounding thumbs up 

The school was founded by a group of young askanim who felt the acute pain and heartbreak of many a parent in our midst whose child could not be placed in a Jewish school, as an attempt to address  the lack of space in all the girls' schools.

This much needed facility is now turning to the community for help in ensuring the material requirements are met for both  the long and short term future.

A fund raising evening will be held at  the home of Mr Shlomo Sinitsky,  who is a trustee of this new school, in addition to his other communal commitments.

Dayan Padwa, shlita, the nasi of the school, will be in attendance to promote the core values of the school, which are being staunchly upheld by the staff and Acceptance Committee. The financial burden is carried by the school's finance committee whose tireless efforts have kept the school afloat, while the disproportionate expenses versus pupil ratio are currently unsustainable, due to the small number of children enrolled.

The school's management committee is full of hope that the community will take up this chance to help a new school with small beginnings which is set to grow into an award-winning educational powerhouse, producing real Yiddishe Mammes to shine forth in Klal Yisrael.

The planned September intake will reach the legal space limitation of the currently premises and the Building Committee is actively looking for larger premises for possible purchase in the near future.

Appeared in HaModia & The Jewish Tribune Parshas Chukas 5751 Edition

Below is a letter that I penned to Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald, following his article in KINYAN - the HaModia supplement,under the rubric "Ask the Mechanech":

Dear Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald

Re:  Solving the Acceptance Debacle (16 April 2015)

Your proposal for a new central database is an excellent idea, but it will not address the root cause of this debilitating illness.

We had the merit to start a new school for girls, which addressed the urgent need for more learning places in our town.

The acceptance process is pretty much the same as other - more established - schools, with the exception that we give parents space to grow with their child: most of the education committee's time goes towards ensuring that parents become more involved in Yiddishkeit.

What you write about the endemic problem with seminary age girls is applicable to any age group.

Menasche Scharf

BYGS Fundraising Evening

  -  DRAFT  - 

For immediate release

London, 14/06/2011

BYGS Fundraising Evening

Beis Yaakov School growing by leaps and bounds

The newly formed Beis Yaakov Girls School will be holding its first reception on Sunday Parshas Chukas (26/06/2011)

The Bays Yaakov Maydel Schule, as it is fondly called by the locals, has gained its sterling reputation in no small part because Yiddish is part of the curriculum.  The recent OfstEd isnpection vindicated the most convicted cynics, when their inspectors gave the school a resounding thumbs up with 104 out of 108 points gained.

The school was founded by a group of young askonim who felt the acute pain and heartbreak of many a parent in our midst whose child could not be placed in a Jewish school. 

This Much needed facility is now turning to the community for help in ensuring the material requirements are met for the short and long future.

A fund raising evening will be held at Mr Shlomo Sinitski's home who has agreed to become a trustee of this new school, in addition to his other communal commitments

Dayan Padwa, the Nossy of the school will be in attendance to promote the core values of the school, which are being staunchly upheld by the staff and Acceptance Committee.

The Financial burden is carried by Yitzchok Stern and Shmuel Yitzchok Salzman whose tireless efforts have kept afloat the school, whose disproportionate expenses versus pupil ratio are currently unattainable, due to the small number of children enrolled.

The school's management committee is full of hope that the community will take up this chance to help a new school with small beginnings which is set to grow into a award-winning educational powerhouse producing real Yiddishe mommes to shine forth in Kelal Yisroel.

The planned September intake is to reach the legal space limitation of the currently premises and the Building Committee is actively looking for larger premises for possible purchase in the near future.

  -  DRAFT  - 

Menasche Scharf

Chanukas HaBayis for Beis Yaakov Girls School in Stamford Hill

Beis Yaakov Girls School celebrated a chanukas habayis on Sunday. It is the first non-affiliated school to open in Stamford Hill since Beis Chinuch Lebonos opened some twenty-five years ago. The Chairman, Mr Shia Chaim Grussgott greeted everyone on behalf of the committee, He began by observing that the school had been blessed with tremendous siyatta di’shmaya, and continued with a tefilla that this would should continue enabling the school to flourish. He said a vort on the very appropriate pasuk “Ko somar lebeis Yaakov vesaged livney Yisrael”

He then invited the Nasi of the school, Rabbi Yosef Padwa, shlita, Dayan of the UOHC to address the assembly.

Dayan Padwa expressed his appreciation for the committee members and especially the ladies’ committee, who have invested so much their time and effort in setting up the school as an excellent place to have our children grow up into Jewish women of worth.

The Dayan then gave a historical overview of the Torah-view on opening schools for girls, an element of Chinuch that – whilst nearly unheard of until WWI– became a necessity after WWII. Whereas there was vehement opposition to the Beis Yaakov school movement in the years between the two world wars, the idea took root after the great churban of Europe, when it was unanimously agreed that having a girls’ school is a necessity for the upkeep of Yiddishkeit – as much as opening chadorim for the boys. Indeed, the hashkafah of our Gedolim was that if we want to merit Yiddishe kinderlach, we must invest in the future mothers of Klal Yisrael.

The Dayan then explained that although much of the child’s formal Jewish education comes from the school, ultimately it is a shutfus – a partnership between the school and the parents. There is a well known maamar Chazal: “Ein adam moyrish sheker levonov” – a person does not want his children to live their life with a false legacy. Even though we may sometimes look the other way when tending to our own spiritual needs, no normal parents would knowingly teach a child the wrong way of life.

It is this message that parents should remember: be part of the education which the girls receive throughout the day and augment it with ideas of your own.

In closing the Dayan benched the school that it should flourish from small beginnings into a large and beautiful stronghold of Torah and chinuch al taharas hakodesh to benefit the Klal.

The mara de’asra, Harav Efrayim Padwa, shlita, then spoke, quoting the pasuk “Ko somar lebeis Yaakov vesaged livney Yisrael.” He cited the famous Rashi quoting the maamar Chazal that Beis Yaakov refers to the womenfolk and Bnei Yisrael means the men. In line with the day’s agenda the Rav quipped that the simplest explanation to this seemingly anomaly – of giving the men second mention – is to emphasise the importance of our new Beis Yaakov School.

The apparent difficulty – of placing the ladies before the men – can be explained by the idea that when we want to have ehrliche generations of youngsters following the path of the Torah, it is the Eym BeYisral who looks after her children, nurturing their neshamos with the stamina required to grow up Jewishly. To understand this better the Rav discussed the story of Kimchis, quoted in the Gemara, who merited to bring up seven sons all of whom served as Kohein Godol in the Beis HaMikdaosh. When asked what her secret was, she answered: the walls of my house never saw the hair of my head – alluding to the fact that she was extremely modest – even within the confines of her own home. Whilst we could accept this explanation as a valid trait to become worthy of such prodigious sons, the question that begs an answer is this: why was she approached in the first place, when there was a father involved; wasn’t her husband involved in the success of their seven holy sons? Apparently – the Ravad concluded – as the meforshim explain: when it comes to seeking the cause of holy children, the source will generally be the mother. She is the one who looks after their well-being in and around the home, whose tears and prayers are observed from the child’s first days until he walks to Shul holding his father’s hand.

The Rav thanked the originator of the whole idea, Reb Shea Yaakov Lipchitz, saying that without him we would not be standing here. His invaluable input and astute foresight enhanced our Kehillah with another holy mosad.

Before leaving the Rabbi Padwa affixed a mezuza that was removed by the decorators.

The Chairman thanked the Vaad Hachinuch who spent countless hours preparing the schools ethos. He concluded the event by thanking his fellow committee members Messrs Mordechei Bodner, Mordechei Grosskopf, Shmuel Saltzman, Menasche Scharf and Yitzchok Stern.

A grateful grandfather of a pupil in the school commented that the warm atmosphere made him feel as though he was at a family simcha and that the event was a real Kiddush Hashem.

New Premises for Beis Yaakov in Stamford Hill

The Beis Yaakov Girls’ School in Stamford Hill has moved to new premises. The school opened after Sukkos, hoping to ease the current pressure for places in local primary schools and caters for girls from across the spectrum of the local kehillah. It has the backing of local rabbanim including Rabbi Yosef Padwa, shlita, who is actively involved in deciding on issues which require daas Torah.

The school is now housed in a beautiful building with a garden and great potential to develop as the school itself grows. The dedicated staff are working together with the parents to create a warm and friendly atmosphere, combined with an excellent standard of education in both Kodesh and chol. Beis Yaakov parents have formed both a men’s and ladies’ committee who are all working hard for the benefit of the school. The school will, iy”H, be marking its move with a chanukas habayis in the very near future.