Yavneh Academy gan students celebrated Tu;Shis week. They learned that Tu B’Shevat is a holiday that celebrates the birthday of the trees in Israel. The students learned that Tu B’Shevat is the time when the trees stop absorbing water and nutrients from the soil via its roots since they have enough food stored up inside. Therefore, they begin to grow on their own. On Tu B’Shevat, the children planted their very own parsley, which they will take care of and grow until Pesach, when they can use it for karpas at the Seder.
Friday, February 9, 2018
Yavneh Academy Gan Students Learn About Tu B’Shevat
Yavneh Academy Gan Students Learn About Tu B’Shevat
Rabbi Yitzy Haber Speaks at Yavneh Academy
Rabbi Yitzy Haber Speaks at Yavneh Academy
Rabbi Yitzy Haber addressed the Yavneh Academy seventh graders as part of their advisory unit, “When Life Gives You Lemons—Coping With Adversity In Life.” Rabbi Haber shared his inspirational life story demonstrating through his humor how it is possible to cope and grow through life’s difficulties.
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Yavneh Academy Celebrates 75 Years
Yavneh Academy Celebrates 75 Years
(Courtesy of Yavneh Academy) On Saturday evening, January 13, over 800 attendees gathered at the Marriott Glenpointe in Teaneck for Yavneh Academy’s annual dinner celebrating Yavneh’s 75th anniversary.
Guests gathered to celebrate the school and to pay homage to this year’s honorees: Joel Kirschner—Guest of Honor, The Carmel/Zakheim Family—Legacy Award, and Judy Friedman—Faculty Recognition Award. Michael Wimpfheimer and Bonnie Silfen, Yavneh parents, co-chaired the event.
The funds raised through the dinner are critical in supporting Yavneh’s annual campaign, which enables the school to innovate, support families in need and utilize the very best educational tools and programs. The generosity of the school’s donors allows Yavneh to achieve its dual mandate of “affordable excellence.”
Author Patricia Polacco Visits Yavneh Academy
Author Patricia Polacco Visits Yavneh Academy
“The Keeping Quilt” is a beautifully written and illustrated saga about the family history of Yavneh Academy guest author Patricia Polacco, who shared this story and others with the students and faculty on Tuesday, January 9, 2018. She spoke of the quilt’s journey through countries and time, the family memories it represents and the special place it occupies in the hearts of one and all.
The Yavneh students were entranced by Polacco’s warmth and sincerity as she took them through some of her personal educational challenges while extolling the love and support of her family and teachers. She challenged the students to be good to each other, to try harder, to reach higher and to care about the world in which they live.
Patricia Polacco is a prolific author and powerful illustrator. Her books touch so many varied topics—wars, floods, friendship, learning disabilities, pets, presidents, siblings, the Holocaust and more. Read, enjoy and learn from her books—become a part of the exciting world of Patricia Polacco!!
Yavneh Academy Places First in Fall 2017 Stock Market Game
Yavneh Academy Places First in Fall 2017 Stock Market Game
Congratulations to Yavneh Academy seventh graders who came in first place in the Middle School Division of the Fall Stock Market Game hosted by the SIFMA Foundation.
Competing against 301 teams from across Northern New Jersey, the team, consisting of captain Yoni Bernath, Alex Falik, Yakira Klayn and Max Rabinowitz vaulted early into first place and kept that position for most of the 10 week competition. They turned $100,000 into $118,703, an almost 20% profit. Their top stock was XNET, a China cloud-based tech company. They will be hosted at a luncheon at the Pershing Center.
Congratulations to their coaches Howard Goldberg and Don Cutler.
75 Years On, Yavneh Celebrates Core Mission
75 Years On, Yavneh Celebrates Core Mission
This Motzei Shabbat, January 13, Yavneh Academy will host its 75th anniversary dinner, honoring Joel Kirschner, the Carmel/Zakheim Family and Judy Friedman. In addition to celebrating the achievements of these most deserving honorees, this year’s dinner will highlight the history of Yavneh Academy and the values that have consistently been a foundation of the yeshiva since its establishment.
Yavneh Academy was founded as the Paterson Yavneh Yeshiva in 1942. Prior to its inception, there were Talmud Torahs to attend but no yeshiva day school. Eighteen people came together and decided it was time to form a yeshiva. Atop a deli in Paterson, with six kindergarten students enrolled, Yavneh Academy was born. In September 1950, the Paterson Talmud Torah was absorbed by Yavneh. At that time, Yavneh added an eighth grade and was now a complete elementary school with both Judaic and secular studies departments. In 1951, Yavneh graduated its first class of seven graduates (quite small in contrast to this year’s graduating class of 112).
To accommodate its growing enrollment, a new Yavneh Academy building was purchased on the estate of former Governor John W. Griggs and dedicated in 1954. As the ‘60s approached, Bergen County communities like Englewood and Teaneck began to flourish, prompting increased registrations. With its student population on the rise, in 1981 Yavneh purchased its current building in Paramus, adding a new cafeteria and more classrooms. Since that time they have added additional middle-school classrooms, a beit midrash, a gym, the recently completed Judah Marans Art and Music Center and a new technology center. Today, 64 of the families enrolled at Yavneh contain at least one alumni parent.
Judaism teaches us that it is important to remember our history and how it affects our lives today. Today, the halls at Yavneh Academy are filled with the noise of 750 children, not to mention those in early childhood. However, back when the school was being established, there were many challenges to overcome. It was difficult to find children, compelling the principal to go door-to-door to solicit students. Rabbi Jonathan Knapp, Yavneh’s head of school, recalls a story told by a former Yavneh student who remembers the principal knocking on her parents’ door asking if they had a child eligible for Jewish day school. They indeed did and her parents decided to pull her out of public school and enroll her in Yavneh.
Back in the post-World War II era of the 1940s and ‘50s it was not a mainstream decision to send children to yeshiva. Many families certainly could not afford the financial strain of a private education and therefore sent their kids to public school. It represented a leap of faith to enroll a student in yeshiva; it is important to recognize that today’s flourishing Jewish community in northern New Jersey would not be possible without the courageousness of those who came before. “We need to appreciate the sacrifices people made to give their kids a Jewish education,” said Rabbi Knapp.
While there has been a wide array of changes over the course of 75 years, many things at Yavneh have also stayed the same. “The core mission at Yavneh is and always has been to provide a superior academic program that is religiously inspiring and engaged with society in a warm nurturing school community,” said Rabbi Knapp. At Yavneh, the goal is to move ahead academically without sacrificing a cherished legacy, he explained. If the founders saw how Yavneh has evolved over the past 75 years they would be both shocked and elated, Rabbi Knapp believes. Shocked, because in the ‘40s they were struggling to succeed, yet elated that the core values implemented at the start are still the fundamentals of Yavneh Academy today.
The strength of the foundation that was provided to Yavneh is remarkable, said Pam Scheininger, president of the board of directors. That small group of people who had a revolutionary vision for Jewish education displayed courage and dedication that subsequently set the tone for Yavneh’s approach to education in the past, present and for the future. “Even though Yavneh has been around for 75 years, we are never complacent. There is a continuous effort to ensure that we are always changing in a way that is smart, and not change for change’s sake, but in a way that results in a more effective institution with a better way of teaching children,” added Scheininger.
A primary focus at Yavneh has always been to strengthen children’s commitment to Judaism. That said, engaging students with the broader community is also a priority, Rabbi Knapp explained. “We continue to emphasize to the children what it means to be a citizen of this country,” he conveyed. Yavneh works hard to maintain a top-level education while researching what is up and coming in secular education.
“We recognize the need to progress and challenge ourselves by providing more religious inspiration as well as advancements in the curriculum related to STEM, arts and music,” added Rabbi Knapp.
“We recognize the need to progress and challenge ourselves by providing more religious inspiration as well as advancements in the curriculum related to STEM, arts and music,” added Rabbi Knapp.
Rabbi Dr. Aaron Ross, middle school assistant principal of Judaic Studies, has been at Yavneh for 19 years. As both an administrator and a parent of three graduates and two current students, Rabbi Ross has seen many changes at Yavneh, yet agrees with his colleagues that the ultimate mission of the school has always prevailed. “As much as certain things change educationally or physically, we always know what we are checking ourselves against,” Rabbi Ross noted. The goal is to do everything possible to educate the type of student they aim to produce upon graduation, he added. “Everything we do has to pass that test.”
The students also understand what the expectations are of them. “We teach our sports teams that it is equally important how they behave on the court as how they play on the court,” stressed Rabbi Ross. The same holds true for classroom etiquette and tefillah protocol. There is consistent messaging that has been seen throughout the history of the yeshiva. People who are affiliated with Yavneh have an innate understanding of the guiding principles on which the school was founded.
Yavneh Academy ‘Discover’ Yom Lachkor
Yavneh Academy ‘Discover’ Yom Lachkor
On the first day of Chanukah, Yavneh Academy fourth and fifth graders embarked on a day of discovery—Yom Lachkor. The students were divided into groups. Each was assigned a Chanukah theme and dove into discovering various elements of their theme. Each student investigated all about the history, science and Torah perspectives of gold, oil or fire. Some of the amazing highlights included discovering how much the menorah in the Beit Hamikdash would cost if purchased at today’s gold rates, creating lava lamps from oil, stories from America’s gold rush and fireworks in milk. Students came back and reported their discoveries in their classes while munching on themed snacks. What a great day!
On the first day of Chanukah, Yavneh Academy fourth and fifth graders embarked on a day of discovery—Yom Lachkor. The students were divided into groups. Each was assigned a Chanukah theme and dove into discovering various elements of their theme. Each student investigated all about the history, science and Torah perspectives of gold, oil or fire. Some of the amazing highlights included discovering how much the menorah in the Beit Hamikdash would cost if purchased at today’s gold rates, creating lava lamps from oil, stories from America’s gold rush and fireworks in milk. Students came back and reported their discoveries in their classes while munching on themed snacks. What a great day!
Yavneh Academy ECD Students Celebrate Sefer Bereishit
Yavneh Academy ECD Students Celebrate Sefer Bereishit
Yavneh Academy early childhood students joined together to celebrate the end of sefer Bereishit. Dressed in Shabbat clothing, they sang songs from each parsha and then had a special Bereishit kiddush. Chazak chazak v’nitchazek!
Yavneh Academy early childhood students joined together to celebrate the end of sefer Bereishit. Dressed in Shabbat clothing, they sang songs from each parsha and then had a special Bereishit kiddush. Chazak chazak v’nitchazek!
Yavneh Turns 75
Yavneh Turns 75
Paramus school celebrates its history as parents and administrators
remember where they’ve been
BY JOANNE PALMER
Successful institutions seem like they’ve always been there,
since the beginning of time. It’s somehow wrenching to think of a school that
seems so firmly a part of the landscape as once having been brand-new, a tiny
creation, made of hope and connection and door-to-door student solicitation, put
together in a small space above a deli. But the Yavneh Academy in Paramus
hasn’t always been there. It’s 75 years old, and is celebrating its origins
this year. It wasn’t created in a vacuum, of course — nothing is. The school’s
history is part of the history of the modern Orthodox Jewish community in
northern New Jersey, as it grew from its immigrant roots in the region’s small,
separate working-class cities to merge into the large, complicated, vibrant
world it is today. Yavneh is a prominent, brightly colored strand in that
tapestry. But Yavneh also is a school made of smaller, more intimate, personal
moments. Pamela Scheininger of Teaneck has seen some of them. Today, she is the
president of the school’s board of directors and the mother of one Yavneh
graduate and three Yavneh students — a 10th, eighth, and first grader. But 12
years ago, she was just the mother of a prospective student. She was school
shopping then, Ms. Scheininger remembers, so she made an appointment to talk to
Rabbi Jonathan Knapp, who is now the school’s head. “When I went to meet with
him, he wasn’t there,” she said. “He wasn’t in his office, and they told me to
look for him in the lunchroom. So I went to the lunchroom, and he was standing
there, and he said ‘Give me a minute, please. I like to spend some time in here
every day, to see who is talking to who, who is sitting with who, how they are
interacting with each other, to see who is smiling and who is not.’” And she
watched him watch the kids, seeing them as whole children, hoping to educate
them as people and as Jews as well as students. THE JEWISH STANDARD |
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http://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/yavneh-turns-75/ 2/8 It is that level
of personal concern that makes the school what it is, Ms. Scheininger said. It
is teachers and administrators and even the head of school understanding that
educating isn’t only about teaching subject matter — although certainly it is
also and very much about that — but also about seeing each child as an
individual, and teaching each individual child. Yavneh began in 1942, during
World War II, with six children, its assistant principal, Rabbi Aaron Ross, who
has spent a great deal of time researching its history, said. Paterson, the
Silk City, was home to European textile workers, many of them Jews; in fact,
one of its mayors, Nathan Barnert, also was an active philanthropist both
inside and outside the Jewish community, giving his name (as well as large sums
of money) to both Barnert Hospital and Barnert Temple. But unlike Jersey City,
in Hudson County, which had a day school, and certainly unlike New York City,
which had many, Paterson had only Talmud Torahs, where children would go after
school. Basically, the Talmud Torah was the precursor of today’s Hebrew
schools. These Jewish leaders thought it was not enough. “So to ensure the
future of the Jewish community, a group of 18 people — not couples, 18
individual people — who really thought that something more was needed, put
tremendous effort in putting together a school. They’d go door to door,
canvassing the community, looking for kids.” The school opened with six
students. Rabbi Ross tells the story of a woman who reported that in October of
that first year, a month after school started, that “the principal came
knocking on her door, asking if she had or knew of a Jewish child who would be
eligible.” She did — her own child — and she was so impressed with the outreach
that she moved her daughter to Yavneh. It was of course hard for people in
Paterson to afford day school. It was on the whole not a wealthy town, and
public school is free. “But no one should be turned away for finances; they
weren’t then and they still aren’t now,” Rabbi Knapp said. “Admission was and remains
needblind.” Like many new schools, Yavneh started with just a kindergarten, and
then added grades until it reached the eighth, when it stopped; along the way
it also added preschool classes. Jerry Rubinowitz, who now lives in Little
Falls but then was in Paterson, was in one of those first classes; he began
kindergarten at Yavneh in 1943. His grandfather, Ruben Rubinowitz, owned
Carroll Bakery, a well-known place to go for kosher bread, rolls, and cake.
“When people who were organizing the Yavneh Academy were getting ready to open
it, they said that it would be very good if we could tell other parents that
Ruben Rubinowitz’s grandson was one of their students,” he said. He started
school when he was 3 1/2; “I always say that I am the smartest dumb kid,
because I flunked kindergarten,” he said. “They kept me there for a year and a
half.” It wasn’t that he was dumb, needless to say, but that he was young; “I
was the youngest kid in the school,” he added. Mr. Rubinowitz’s memories are
the memories of a very young child; in 1947, his family moved to Florida, “and
I was in the second graduating class of the Hebrew Academy of Greater 2/7/2018
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he does have memories. “I remember my teacher, Miss Sakis,” he said. “I
remember that we had nap time, and I remember that everyone brought their lunch
in a lunch pail. I remember that Mr. Silverberg used to pick us up in his brown
wooden-sided station wagon. “He wasn’t a teacher or a parent. I don’t know who
he was. I just know that he was Mr. Silverberg, and that he drove us to school.
“I remember one of the Hebrew teachers, Mr. Raichel, and that the rosh yeshiva
was Rabbi Harry Bornstein, who was also the rabbi of the Hebrew Free School,”
Mr. Rubinowitz continued. “And he always smoked a cigar. It was always in his
mouth.” He does not remember whether or not the cigar was lit during classes,
or just stayed cold in Rabbi Bornstein’s mouth, but “the teachers always smoked
in high school,” he said. “They didn’t smoke in class, but even in high school,
they all always smoked.” When Mr. Rubinowitz lived in Florida, he came back to
New Jersey for Yavneh’s first graduation, in 1952. It was the class that would
have been his. As an adult, he moved back to New Jersey in 1965; he lived in
Wayne for two years, and then in Elmwood Park for 40. He thought Yavneh’s
education was so good that he sent his own children there. “It was very
intense,” he said. “They made sure that you got as much of a secular education
as a religious one. And in the Hebrew division, they didn’t teach strictly from
the religious standpoint. And although this was pre-state of Israel, we still
were taught Hebrew as a modern language. We studied grammar and spelling. And
we also studied history and prophets, and all the additional part of a Jewish
education as opposed to what they do even today in a yeshiva, poring over the
books. “In Yavneh, we strictly spoke Hebrew in the Hebrew section, so we spoke
English half a day, Hebrew half a day. I went to school 60, 65 years ago, and I
have been to Israel twice and I was able to conduct a conversation there in
Hebrew, from what I remembered. “The education at Yavneh was phenomenal,” Mr.
Rubinowitz concluded. Rabbi Eugene Kwalwasser worked at Yavneh from 1977 until
2008; during most of that time he was the head of school, although he did not
begin at that level and he ended his career there as a consultant. After he
retired, he and his wife, Edna, made aliyah, but from Israel he remembers
Yavneh with great love (and he is coming back for the school’s gala dinner). “I
loved going to school every morning,” he said. “It was a pleasure jumping out
of bed and getting ready to go to Yavneh. I look back at my professional life
there with only the fondest of memories. I don’t think there are many people in
the position I was in, as head of school, who feel as I do. Many of them
couldn’t wait for the day they retired. It was enough. But for me, it was
wonderful. They were wonderful years. It was under Rabbi Kwalwasser’s
leadership that the school both expanded and moved; in 1981, after having been
in a three buildings in Paterson, Yavneh followed most of its students 2/7/2018
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4/8 to Bergen County. Rabbi Kwalwasser grew up in Chicago, as some of his
vowels still make clear. “I left for Yeshiva University when I was 17, and I
never looked back,” he said. He had grown up in Hollywood Park, a neighborhood
that once had been Jewish but had become increasingly less so during his
childhood and adolescence. During his undergraduate career and then as he
studied for smicha, Rabbi Kwalwasser wasn’t sure about the direction he wanted
to take. Did he want pulpit work? Youth work? Full-on education work? He and
Edna moved to the Taylor Road Synagogue in Cleveland in 1969, where “I created
and built up NCSY” — the National Council of Synagogue Youth — “which in those
days was just in its infancy,” he said. “We were there for three years, and
then it was time to move on. That was not the end of where we wanted to be.” He
realized that he wanted education; a short series of jobs led him from
California to Long Island and then to an interview in Paterson. Although he,
his wife, and their growing family were living in Far Rockaway, on Long
Island’s south shore, and Paterson was basically the back of beyond from there,
Rabbi Kwalwasser was tempted into going to Yavneh for an interview. And that was
it. He fell in love with the school — and the feeling was mutual. For the first
six years, Rabbi Kwalwasser lived in Far Rockaway. “Edna and I made a critical
decision,” he said. “We didn’t know how it would work out, and our kids were
settled there. I didn’t want to hopscotch all over the map, so I said that I
would commute, and if need be I will find a place to stay overnight if there
are meetings.” In 1983, his children at easily movable points in their
education, his wife working in Manhattan, and his love for Yavneh in full
bloom, the family moved to Fair Lawn. The Kwalwassers now live in Beit Shemesh,
“not the neighborhood in the news, but in a wonderful Anglo Jewish community,”
he said. “We have fantastic friends. Everyone supports everyone. It has been
wonderful.” Rabbi Kwalwasser looks back at his earliest years at Yavneh, when
the school was in Paterson, and draws some comparisons with his adolescence in
Chicago. “The Jewish community in Paterson was dwindling quickly,” he said.
“People were just leaving. By the time we moved the school, in 1981, I would
park my car inside the gates of the school. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sure that
it would still be there, if I would leave on a winter’s night, when it was dark
outside.” It wasn’t a frightening environment, he said, just a poor one, but
the dangers were real. “You never stayed alone in the building,” he said. “If
you stayed for a meeting, the last ones out would be me, the president, and the
chair of the board. We put the chains on and locked the gates. You never went
out alone.” But that was a dangerous time in many cities. “Paterson wasn’t the
only place where we would have been afraid of being mugged,” he said. “And we
were already looking to move. We knew we had to get out of there.” Another
impetus for moving was the need to attract families. “The recruitment was
getting tough when we were in Paterson,” Rabbi Kwalwasser said. “There were
Jewish families then living in 2/7/2018 Yavneh turns 75 | The Jewish Standard
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Lawn, in places like Wyckoff and Wayne and Franklin Lakes, and they wanted some
form of Jewish education for their children. And Yavneh was there to provide
it. We even recruited in places like West Orange and Passaic and Clifton. And
the moment we announced that we were actively looking to move, we became more
desirable. It was very important for people to know that we were leaving that
geographic area.” Yavneh was about much more than geography, however. “My vision
and mission was to put together a faculty that shared my approach to Jewish
education,” Rabbi Kwalwasser said. “That approach was an education that would
be dynamic, conceptual as well as textural, filled with warmth and love and
understanding. It would know that Judaic studies and general studies need to be
integrated, and it would know and teach the importance of the state of Israel.
It would be an outstanding academic institution, with tremendous concern for
the individual child. “That was my mission and my mantra throughout all my 31
years. It took on different forms as time went on, but it was very important to
me that I never lost the mission and vision that I set out to achieve.” He is
enormously proud of the school’s reputation. “We were seen as the school where
graduates would have the textural skills, the thinking skills, the conceptual
skills, so that high schools really vied for them. I believe that is still the
case. “I see sometimes when graduates come to Israel and I see for myself, and
I say to myself that I feel very personally fulfilled because of what we
achieved at the Yavneh Academy.” When you talk to Rabbi Kwalwasser, you often
hear the words warmth and love. “Those are very important to me,” he said. “And
it is terribly important for children to be seen as individuals. “In the same
way, my wife and I have three children. They come from the same genetic pool.
But they are very different from each other. Each child must be seen as an
individual. “One thing that always made me shudder would be when I would hear
someone say something like ‘I know your brother’ or ‘I know your sister’ or
‘You are like him’ or ‘You are not like her’ or ‘You are better at’ or ‘You are
not as good at.’ That is unacceptable to me. “Each child has to be seen as that
child and only that child. Jake was Jake and Donna was Donna and Elie wasn’t
Jake and Jake wasn’t Donna.” Another subject about which Rabbi Kwalwasser is
passionate is the school’s co-educational structure; all its classes are open
equally to boys and girls. “That’s a part of my belief system,” he said. “There
are not many schools in the modern Orthodox educational movement that are. I am
a very big believer in God having created male and female, and there is no
reason to separate them in the educational system, because they will learn to
understand each other, to respect each other, and to appreciate each other. “If
you do separate them, you see the results when you walk the streets in Israel.
In the ultraOrthodox world, they do not know how to relate to each other. They
create a wall between the 2/7/2018 Yavneh turns 75 | The Jewish Standard
http://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/yavneh-turns-75/ 6/8 genders. I do not
want to do that. “That was one of the biggest battles I had to fight, because
in the traditional Jewish world, girls never learned Talmud. I will tell you
that I had some female students who would be able to put male students into
their back pockets, without even trying. That is how bright they are. “There
was no way that Dean Kwal-wasser would deny those girls a Talmud education,” he
said. Pamela Scheininger, the school board president, also is struck by the way
that each child is treated as an individual, a separate person, his or her own
person. “The most spectacular thing about Yavneh is that they are truly
committed to finding a way in which individual children will succeed, in the
context of their family, their specific upbringing, and their specific
personality,” she said. “Yavneh tries to identify not only how each child will
learn, but also how each one will succeed emotionally, intellectually, and in
terms of ensuring their physical health, so each of the children will be at
their very best. “They do it by committing resources in a very smart way,” she
continued. “That’s by hiring the best teachers, with the best training, so they
can respond to each child.” Technology is used carefully, as a means rather
than an end; “we use money in a smart way, to make sure that every penny is
spent to further our larger goals,” she said. “And the goals are the emotional,
social, religious, academic, and physical development of each child.” Since
2013, the Yavneh Academy has been accredited by the Middle States Association
of Colleges and Schools. The school has continued to grow since it moved to Paramus;
it’s added wings to the excessed public school building at its core. It now
teaches about 750 children. “It’s larger than it ever has been,” Rabbi Knapp
said. “We are at capacity.” Most of the students come from Teaneck,
Bergenfield, New Milford, Fair Lawn, Paramus, Tenafly, and Englewood.
“Admission is inclusive,” he continued. “The goal is to stretch ourselves and
to accommodate as many types of learners as possible. We’re also needs blind,
and we take everyone we can, as long as we can meet that child’s needs. “We
constantly reevaluate what we are doing, to make sure we are using best
practices, and staying on top of theory as it changes,” Rabbi Knapp said.
“Every school navigates the fine line between holding on to what’s working and
investigating what’s new. And we too have changed. We have incorporated many
cutting-edge programs in the areas of social and emotional growth, character
development, and sensitivity to diversity. “As the population has shifted to
reflect the broader Bergen County Jewish population, at this stage the majority
of our families would identify as being observant,” he said; Rabbi Kwalwasser
had said that in the early years, that was not necessarily the case. “When we
moved, Teaneck had two shuls. Now it has 22.” 2/7/2018 Yavneh turns 75 | The
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Another value dear to the school is its American-ness. “We want to deepen our
children’s commitment to Judaism,” Rabbi Knapp said. “That is our primary goal.
At the same time, our unique engagement with the broader community is important
as well. We continue to emphasize to the children what it means to be a citizen
of this country. There is a tendency to be insular,” but the school does not
give into it, valuing pride and knowledge over knee-jerk tribalism. Barbara
Frohlich of Teaneck loves Yavneh. She sits on its board, she has sent her
children there, and she has watched it change and grow. “I have been active in
the forefront of Yavneh for just about 40 years,” she said. When her oldest
daughter began at the school, when she was 3 1/2, Ms. Frohlich, who was 24,
quickly became involved. That was due mainly to Irving Gelman, a man whose name
is mentioned, with reverence, by many people who talk about Yavneh. He was one
of those men who formed the institutions that now are so natural a part of our
surroundings that it is hard to imagine that they have not existed since
creation. “There was a group of men in their 60s, who created so many
institutions, including the JCC, and including Yavneh,” she said. “And then
there was a big gap. Irving — who was a legend, and an inspiration — saw that
gap and realized it had to be filled, if we were to have any kind of future. So
he took people like me, in our 20s — I became a vice president right away, at
24.” It was Mr. Gelman who taught her to fund-raise, she said. “When we decided
we were going to buy the building, we raised all the money,” she said. “We’d go
out to two or three families a night, and ask them for money personally.” The
school was different then, she said. It was less professionalized. “Lay leaders
really had to do everything. When we moved, we lay leaders physically moved
things. We’d literally put things on the truck. There was food in the freezer,
and we knew that it would be a while before there would be a freezer in the new
school, so we put the food in our own freezer. “People say I bleed Yavneh, I am
so committed to the school,” Ms. Frohlich continued. “I truly feel that we have
an obligation to give back — and what better or more appropriate place to give
our energy than the institution that is providing our children with the
foundation they need for the future?” When it comes to giving back, she
continued, no matter what school your child goes to, “that child’s schools
should be your first and top priority. I have four children — Gayle, Elana,
Michael, and Daniel — and they are each in different places, educationally and
religiously, but the education they received at Yavneh was second to none. “It
gave them the foundation to accomplish anything they wanted. I am a very proud
former parent of Yavneh, and I would choose Yavneh again if I were at that
crossroad.”
Yavneh Academy Choir Sings at Devils Game
Yavneh Academy Choir Sings at Devils Game
In a match with a nail biting
finish, the Devils beat the Anaheim Ducks on December 18, the seventh night of
Chanukah. For Yavneh Academy, the energy was felt both on and off the ice. For
the second year in a row, a group of Yavneh concert choir members, plus two
devoted concert choir alumni, had the honor of performing the “Star Spangled
Banner” on the ice, pre-game. Then the crowd had a chance to hear the Yavneh
choirs in between periods of play on the main concourse. As a grand finale to
Yavneh night at the New Jersey Devils, the combined choirs performed their
signature Chanukah song “Chanukah in Santa Monica” as an opening to a
performance by the renowned Maccabeats. The Maccabeats high-fived our singers
as they came off stage. The night was a win for both the Devils AND the Yavneh
choir family!
Yavneh Academy Seventh Graders Visit Hackensack Homeless Shelter
Yavneh Academy Seventh Graders Visit Hackensack Homeless Shelter
Yavneh Academy seventh graders visited the Hackensack Homeless shelter as part of their advisory class and their unit on Operation Respect, where they learned and implemented the skills of empathy. First, they were met by County Executive James Tedesco, who came especially to meet the students and praise them for their kindness. Julia Orlando, director of the shelter, then met with the students, who asked numerous insightful questions which demonstrated how much they were impacted by this visit.
The students proceeded to the cafeteria where the “guests” at the shelter were waiting. They were led in the song “One Day” by Azi Steiner. The exuberance the students demonstrated as they sang was truly inspirational. The students then gave out gift bags containing the hats, gloves and scarves they collected, as they conversed with the recipients. As they sat and engaged the guests in conversation, they demonstrated what it means to truly care for others. The directors and employees of the shelter were impressed with their maturity and sensitivity. It was a true kiddush Hashem.
Yavneh Academy Chanukah Pajamakah Was a Lot of Funaka
Yavneh Academy Chanukah Pajamakah Was a Lot of Funaka
Fuzzy-footed Power Rangers, fleecy fairies and flannel-clad princesses could be seen prancing down the halls of the Yavneh Academy early childhood wing during one of the most anticipated days of the year. That’s right, it was Chanukah Pajamakah! What better way to celebrate the first day of Chanukah than by coming to school in our comfy pjs! The yeladim enjoyed a story about “Latke, the Lucky Dog” read by Morah Shani Norman, while snuggling under a cozy blanket and sipping hot chocolate. The students then treated themselves to a delicious doughnut bar with a multitude of delectable toppings. The amazing day ended with a special performance and candle lighting ceremony by the Yavneh Junior Chorus. The smiles on the children’s faces truly captured the joy felt this entire day!
Chanukah Is in the Air at Yavneh Academy
Chanukah Is in the Air at Yavneh Academy
The first few days of Chanukah at Yavneh Academy were truly filled with the spirit of the chag. Early childhood students participated in a glow dance party. Lower grades had fun at the glow carnival which featured many Chanukah themed activities. Older and younger students learned together with games created by fifth graders on JITap. Of course, there were also lots of sufganiyot at the Yavneh Academy doughnut bar!
The first few days of Chanukah at Yavneh Academy were truly filled with the spirit of the chag. Early childhood students participated in a glow dance party. Lower grades had fun at the glow carnival which featured many Chanukah themed activities. Older and younger students learned together with games created by fifth graders on JITap. Of course, there were also lots of sufganiyot at the Yavneh Academy doughnut bar!
Yavneh Academy Ganon Students Learn About the Senses
Yavneh Academy Ganon Students Learn About the Senses
Yavneh Academy Ganon students had a great time exploring their five senses. The children began by testing their sense of sight. They had the opportunity to walk across a three foot line of tape while blindfolded— which was quite difficult! To explore the sense of hearing, the children listened to an audio of various everyday sounds. They had a lot of fun as they identified car horns, running water, doorbells ringing and much more. The teachers then passed around several spices in order to test the sense of smell. Everyone was able to identify the cinnamon but many of the other spices such as nutmeg and onion powder were more difficult. Next, the children were given three spoonfuls of unidentified soft white foods. Because they all appeared so similar the children needed to use their sense of taste to identify them. After tasting each one, they determined that the sweet one was whipped cream, the tart one was vanilla yogurt and the sour food was sour cream.
Finally, a question was posed to the children, “Can a blind person read?” Understandably, the children thought the answer was no. However, they then examined a book written in Braille and taught that a blind person uses their sense of touch in the way a sighted person uses their sense of sight. The children concluded that senses are amazing!
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