Torah Umesorah - National Society for Hebrew Day Schools
Encyclopedia
Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools (or Torah Umesorah תורה ומסורה) is an Orthodox Jewish
organization that fosters and promotes Torah
-based Jewish religious education in North America
by supporting and developing a loosely affiliated network of 760 independent
private
Jewish day school
s catering to more than 250,000 children, yeshiva
s and kollel
im in every city with a significant population of Jews. The previous executive vice-president of Torah Umesorah was Rabbi Joshua Fishman, a disciple of Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner
(1906–1980). Rabbi Fishman retired in June 2007, and the current Menahel is Rabbi Dovid Nojowitz, who returned to the U.S., after serving as Rosh Kollel in Melbourne, Australia for a quarter century.
, which was founded by the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson in 1942. Following his success the organization was established in New York City
in 1944 at a time when the United States was at war with the Axis Powers
and Europe's Jews were facing the genocide
of the Holocaust
by the Nazis
. Yet it was precisely at that time that the call went out, challenging the prevailing mood of the times, to establish a totally new network of Jewish day schools across North America. Torah Umesorah was founded by Rabbi
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
and Rabbi
Aaron Kotler.
The originator and leading personality of this new idea was the Hungarian
-born Rabbi
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
(who insisted in being addressed as "Mr. Mendlowitz") who was then serving as the head of the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
in Brooklyn. He was supported, encouraged and guided by a group of colleagues (mostly leading Eastern Europe
an-born and educated rosh yeshiva
s ["deans"]), and aided greatly Rabbi Aharon Kotler
(1890–1962) the rosh yeshiva of the Lakewood yeshiva in New Jersey
.
or Talmud Torah
-type Jewishly-run schools as had once been done in Europe—but which now in the modern New World were failing to transmit Judaism
in a compelling and lasting manner to students who arrived tired in the afternoons, and who were also subjected to the secularizing forces in general American society and culture in public school, on the street, and at home.
Thus the rabbis envisioned the birth of dual-curriculum
Jewish day school
s that would provide both a Judaic (Jewish or Torah religious) education for half the day and a good secular education all under one roof in one building or complex. Ideally, each new school was to be guided by an ordained
rabbi who would serve as the headmaster or principal and who would also recruit a "general studies" associate principal (also known as the "English principal"), preferably someone who was also loyal to the traditions of Judaism, who would then recruit, assist, supervise and guide teachers who would be teaching the same secular subjects taught in the public schools.
(of World War II
) set in and since over half a million United States Jews had served in the US armed forces
and witnessed the horrors of anti-Semitism
for themselves many were sympathetic to the rabbis' calls for a moderate Jewish education, at least until the Bar Mitzvah age (12-13) of their children.
Another important factor at the time was the highly emotional Jewish pride that was felt by many Jews following the establishment of the new State of Israel
with the United States being the first to recognize the new Jewish state. Many American Jews now felt that they needed to provide the means for their children to learn the Hebrew language
connected with the core of Judaism
, that would connect the children and their families with pride in being Jewish, and simultaneously promote secular education as well.
The new Jewish days schools were seen as the perfect means to serve as the educational vehicles to accomplish the new goals of all-day Jewish schooling—or, all-day schooling under Jewish religious auspices—whereas in the past the Cheders and Talmud Torahs were judged to be failures because they did not manage to adequately inspire and prepare the Jewish children who attended them for Jewish religious adulthood. (Once Torah Umesorah was established, and its affiliated schools were attracting students, the same criticism would be leveled at parents who withdrew their children as they reached adolescence and were then sent to government-run public school high schools rather than making the sacrifices of attending Jewish high schools.)
-New Jersey
metropolitan area, particularly in many areas of Brooklyn
, various Hasidic and Haredi groups (such as Satmar
, Bobov, Vizhnitz
and many others) attracted many new supporters for yeshiva
education that was more intensive than the Jewish day school model being promoted by Torah Umesorah to the American heartland.
The impetus came largely from Holocaust survivors who arrived in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s (such as the Lithuanian
Mir yeshiva
) who had no wish to emulate the educational goals of secular (Jewish) society. They therefore responded to calls to send their children to yeshiva
s (for the boys) and Beis Yaakovs (for the girls) that provided less intense secular education with most of the time devoted entirely to Talmud
and rabbinical literature (for the boys) and study of Tanakh
and Jewish laws and customs (for the girls) all combined with fervent and intense Jewish worship
. The new institutions thrived in their own right and mostly followed the guidelines of their own rosh yeshiva
s and rebbe
s who did not necessarily look to Torah Umesorah for any curricular guidance.
Towards the latter part of the twentieth century, Torah Umesorah had teachers and rabbis from the Haredi and Hasidic schools beginning to look to it for training in improving classroom management
, enhancing classroom discipline
and learning up-to-date teaching
skills and techniques that they may not have formally received during their yeshiva training.
who was given the mandate to fulfill the vision of the founding rabbis.
When Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky became the professional head of Torah Umesorah, the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools there were very few Jewish day school
s let alone authentic yeshiva
s or Beis Yaakov schools in North America. Whereas by the end of the twentieth century there were over 600 yeshivas and day schools in the United States and Canada with over 170,000 Jewish students.
communities pushed for the establishment of day-school type high schools. However Torah Umesorah's rabbinical board of advisers who are also the core of the Haredi
Agudath Israel of America
rabbinic leadership, does not condone coeducation
beyond the beginning of adolescence (or earlier). Thus, since most Jewish day schools consist of both boys and girls as students, with some, but not all, classes conducted separately, the rabbis could therefore not give their approval to co-ed high schools. The desired model for the rabbis and the rosh yeshiva
s who guide them is for boys who graduate eighth grade to continue in all-male traditional yeshiva
s ("Talmud
ical academies") and for the girls to study at Beis Yaakov ("Beth Jacob") type schools. Some Modern Orthodox parents and communal leaders rejected this position and chose instead to create a network of Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools known as Association of Day Schools and Yeshiva High Schools.
. Partners in Torah matches day school educated Jews for study with less learned study partners in distant communities over the phone and, if possible, in person.
To date, this international organization has over 30,000 members, as documented in their new book, released in 2009.
In 2004 a division of Partners in Torah was launched in the United Kingdom - PaL (Phone and Learn) matches Jews who want to learn more about their heritage with a friendly, knowledgeable tutor for an hour a week of Jewish learning and discussion over the phone.
Torah Umesorah has taken a leading role in breaking ground and finding the funding for the establishment of out-of-town kollel
im ("post-graduate" Talmud
ic schools) in any community that is willing to set up the infrastructure and host such efforts. Some of the young rabbis and rebbetzin
s (their wives) have then subsequently taken full- and part-time positions as Jewish educators in the local day schools, as well as opting to serve in local Orthodox synagogue
s as "pulpit rabbis" and in some instances even founding and developing new Jewish day schools and synagogues of their own.
students (boys and girls in their teens and early 20's) are recruited and sent on two to six-week summer trips to far-flung smaller Jewish communities, where they teach classes or supervise children in summer day-camps, which may or not be accredited by a third party association such as the Western Association of Independent Camps or the American Camping Association. The experience is meant to benefit all participants by providing a Torah oriented experience in an environment where the campers and counselors are strictly separated by gender.
Most participants are paid a stipend to defray much (but not all) of the cost of their stay at their destination, air-fare, room and board, trips and transportation.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
organization that fosters and promotes Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
-based Jewish religious education in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by supporting and developing a loosely affiliated network of 760 independent
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
private
Private school
Private schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
Jewish day school
Jewish day school
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide Jewish children with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full time basis, hence its name of "day school" meaning a school that the students attend for an entire day and not on a part time...
s catering to more than 250,000 children, yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s and kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
im in every city with a significant population of Jews. The previous executive vice-president of Torah Umesorah was Rabbi Joshua Fishman, a disciple of Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner
Yitzchok Hutner
Yitzchok Hutner was an Orthodox rabbi and American rosh yeshiva.-Early years:Yitchok Hutner was born in Warsaw, Poland, to a family with both Ger Hasidic and non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jewish roots. As a child he received private instruction in Torah and Talmud...
(1906–1980). Rabbi Fishman retired in June 2007, and the current Menahel is Rabbi Dovid Nojowitz, who returned to the U.S., after serving as Rosh Kollel in Melbourne, Australia for a quarter century.
History
The first national Jewish organization that pioneered Jewish day schools in the US was Merkos L'inyonei ChinuchMerkos L'Inyonei Chinuch
Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch is the central educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Founded by the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, in 1943, the organization was initially directed by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who would later become the seventh Rebbe...
, which was founded by the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson in 1942. Following his success the organization was established in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1944 at a time when the United States was at war with the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
and Europe's Jews were facing the genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
of the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. Yet it was precisely at that time that the call went out, challenging the prevailing mood of the times, to establish a totally new network of Jewish day schools across North America. Torah Umesorah was founded by Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz was an early leader of American Orthodoxy and founder of key institutions such as Torah Vodaath, a Yeshiva in Brooklyn, and Torah U'Mesorah, an outreach and educational organization. He is credited by many to have pioneered authentic Jewish education in the United...
and Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Aaron Kotler.
The originator and leading personality of this new idea was the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
-born Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz was an early leader of American Orthodoxy and founder of key institutions such as Torah Vodaath, a Yeshiva in Brooklyn, and Torah U'Mesorah, an outreach and educational organization. He is credited by many to have pioneered authentic Jewish education in the United...
(who insisted in being addressed as "Mr. Mendlowitz") who was then serving as the head of the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva located in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.- History :...
in Brooklyn. He was supported, encouraged and guided by a group of colleagues (mostly leading Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an-born and educated rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
s ["deans"]), and aided greatly Rabbi Aharon Kotler
Aharon Kotler
Aharon Kotler was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania, and later the United States, where he built Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.- Early life :...
(1890–1962) the rosh yeshiva of the Lakewood yeshiva in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Planning Torah Umesorah's contributions to Jewish education
The founders of Torah Umesorah wanted to establish a different model of education that was not based on the up-till-then accepted practice whereby Jewish parents sent their children to government non-sectarian public schools during the day and then in the afternoons or on Sundays would send their children to ChederCheder
A Cheder is a traditional elementary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language.-History:...
or Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of public primary school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary education in Hebrew, the Scriptures , and the Talmud...
-type Jewishly-run schools as had once been done in Europe—but which now in the modern New World were failing to transmit Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
in a compelling and lasting manner to students who arrived tired in the afternoons, and who were also subjected to the secularizing forces in general American society and culture in public school, on the street, and at home.
Thus the rabbis envisioned the birth of dual-curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
Jewish day school
Jewish day school
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide Jewish children with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full time basis, hence its name of "day school" meaning a school that the students attend for an entire day and not on a part time...
s that would provide both a Judaic (Jewish or Torah religious) education for half the day and a good secular education all under one roof in one building or complex. Ideally, each new school was to be guided by an ordained
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
rabbi who would serve as the headmaster or principal and who would also recruit a "general studies" associate principal (also known as the "English principal"), preferably someone who was also loyal to the traditions of Judaism, who would then recruit, assist, supervise and guide teachers who would be teaching the same secular subjects taught in the public schools.
Factors favoring Torah Umesorah's establishment
However, there were enough parents who were sold on the idea particularly as the shock of the enormity of the HolocaustThe Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
(of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
) set in and since over half a million United States Jews had served in the US armed forces
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
and witnessed the horrors of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
for themselves many were sympathetic to the rabbis' calls for a moderate Jewish education, at least until the Bar Mitzvah age (12-13) of their children.
Another important factor at the time was the highly emotional Jewish pride that was felt by many Jews following the establishment of the new State of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
with the United States being the first to recognize the new Jewish state. Many American Jews now felt that they needed to provide the means for their children to learn the Hebrew language
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
connected with the core of Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
, that would connect the children and their families with pride in being Jewish, and simultaneously promote secular education as well.
The new Jewish days schools were seen as the perfect means to serve as the educational vehicles to accomplish the new goals of all-day Jewish schooling—or, all-day schooling under Jewish religious auspices—whereas in the past the Cheders and Talmud Torahs were judged to be failures because they did not manage to adequately inspire and prepare the Jewish children who attended them for Jewish religious adulthood. (Once Torah Umesorah was established, and its affiliated schools were attracting students, the same criticism would be leveled at parents who withdrew their children as they reached adolescence and were then sent to government-run public school high schools rather than making the sacrifices of attending Jewish high schools.)
Other Orthodox efforts
The pioneer of Jewish Day Schools in the US was Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson who founded the launched his efforts in 1940 creating a national network of schools. In the New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
-New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
metropolitan area, particularly in many areas of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, various Hasidic and Haredi groups (such as Satmar
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)
Satmar is a Hasidic movement comprising mostly Hungarian and Romanian Hasidic Jewish Holocaust survivors and their descendants. It was founded and led by the late Hungarian-born Grand Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum , who was the rabbi of Szatmárnémeti, Hungary...
, Bobov, Vizhnitz
Vizhnitz (Hasidic dynasty)
Vizhnitz is the name of a Hasidic dynasty founded by Rebbe Menachem Mendel Hager. Vizhnitz is the Yiddish name of Vyzhnytsia, a village in present-day Ukraine.Followers of the rebbes of Vizhnitz are called Vizhnitzer chasidim....
and many others) attracted many new supporters for yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
education that was more intensive than the Jewish day school model being promoted by Torah Umesorah to the American heartland.
The impetus came largely from Holocaust survivors who arrived in the United States during the 1940s and 1950s (such as the Lithuanian
Lithuanian Jews
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:...
Mir yeshiva
Mir yeshiva
Mir Yeshiva or Mirrer Yeshiva may refer to:* Mir yeshiva * Mir yeshiva * Mir yeshiva...
) who had no wish to emulate the educational goals of secular (Jewish) society. They therefore responded to calls to send their children to yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s (for the boys) and Beis Yaakovs (for the girls) that provided less intense secular education with most of the time devoted entirely to Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
and rabbinical literature (for the boys) and study of Tanakh
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
and Jewish laws and customs (for the girls) all combined with fervent and intense Jewish worship
Jewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
. The new institutions thrived in their own right and mostly followed the guidelines of their own rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
s and rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
s who did not necessarily look to Torah Umesorah for any curricular guidance.
Towards the latter part of the twentieth century, Torah Umesorah had teachers and rabbis from the Haredi and Hasidic schools beginning to look to it for training in improving classroom management
Classroom management
Classroom management is a term used by teachers to describe the process of ensuring that classroom lessons run smoothly despite disruptive behavior by students. The term also implies the prevention of disruptive behavior. It is possibly the most difficult aspect of teaching for many teachers;...
, enhancing classroom discipline
Discipline
In its original sense, discipline is referred to systematic instruction given to disciples to train them as students in a craft or trade, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order". Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order –...
and learning up-to-date teaching
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
skills and techniques that they may not have formally received during their yeshiva training.
First director and building Jewish day schools and Community Development
After its founding, Torah Mesorah appointed a full time Director in 1946, someone with an academic degree, Dr. Joseph KaminetskyJoseph Kaminetsky
Joseph Kaminetsky was an American Orthodox rabbi who became the pioneering first director of Torah Umesorah - National Society for Hebrew Day Schools of North America, based in New York City...
who was given the mandate to fulfill the vision of the founding rabbis.
When Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky became the professional head of Torah Umesorah, the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools there were very few Jewish day school
Jewish day school
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide Jewish children with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full time basis, hence its name of "day school" meaning a school that the students attend for an entire day and not on a part time...
s let alone authentic yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s or Beis Yaakov schools in North America. Whereas by the end of the twentieth century there were over 600 yeshivas and day schools in the United States and Canada with over 170,000 Jewish students.
With the Modern Orthodox
By the 1980s and 1990s there was a trend whereby some Modern OrthodoxModern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
communities pushed for the establishment of day-school type high schools. However Torah Umesorah's rabbinical board of advisers who are also the core of the Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America , is a Haredi Jewish communal organization in the United States loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel.-Functions:...
rabbinic leadership, does not condone coeducation
Coeducation
Mixed-sex education, also known as coeducation or co-education, is the integrated education of male and female persons in the same institution. It is the opposite of single-sex education...
beyond the beginning of adolescence (or earlier). Thus, since most Jewish day schools consist of both boys and girls as students, with some, but not all, classes conducted separately, the rabbis could therefore not give their approval to co-ed high schools. The desired model for the rabbis and the rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
s who guide them is for boys who graduate eighth grade to continue in all-male traditional yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s ("Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ical academies") and for the girls to study at Beis Yaakov ("Beth Jacob") type schools. Some Modern Orthodox parents and communal leaders rejected this position and chose instead to create a network of Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools known as Association of Day Schools and Yeshiva High Schools.
Partners in Torah
In response to new challenges, Torah Umesorah under the guidance of Rabbi Eli Gewirtz, began to look toward other means to achieve its ends and adopted a strategy of encouraging adult educationAdult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
. Partners in Torah matches day school educated Jews for study with less learned study partners in distant communities over the phone and, if possible, in person.
To date, this international organization has over 30,000 members, as documented in their new book, released in 2009.
In 2004 a division of Partners in Torah was launched in the United Kingdom - PaL (Phone and Learn) matches Jews who want to learn more about their heritage with a friendly, knowledgeable tutor for an hour a week of Jewish learning and discussion over the phone.
Torah Umesorah has taken a leading role in breaking ground and finding the funding for the establishment of out-of-town kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
im ("post-graduate" Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic schools) in any community that is willing to set up the infrastructure and host such efforts. Some of the young rabbis and rebbetzin
Rebbetzin
Rebbitzin or Rabbanit is the title used for the wife of a rabbi, typically from the Orthodox, or Haredi, and Hasidic Jewish groups...
s (their wives) have then subsequently taken full- and part-time positions as Jewish educators in the local day schools, as well as opting to serve in local Orthodox synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s as "pulpit rabbis" and in some instances even founding and developing new Jewish day schools and synagogues of their own.
Project SEED
Under Project SEED yeshivaYeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
students (boys and girls in their teens and early 20's) are recruited and sent on two to six-week summer trips to far-flung smaller Jewish communities, where they teach classes or supervise children in summer day-camps, which may or not be accredited by a third party association such as the Western Association of Independent Camps or the American Camping Association. The experience is meant to benefit all participants by providing a Torah oriented experience in an environment where the campers and counselors are strictly separated by gender.
Most participants are paid a stipend to defray much (but not all) of the cost of their stay at their destination, air-fare, room and board, trips and transportation.
Services
- Publications for students, teachers, administrators, and principals
- Counseling for students and families
- Teacher training
- Annual conventions for rabbis who teach or are principals
- Job placement for rabbis and Jewish studies teachers.
- Teacher on-the-job training
- Principals organization, with professional training for outstanding candidates
- Beth dinBeth dinA beth din, bet din, beit din or beis din is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel...
("Jewish court of law") to resolve disputes - Enrichment programs
- Financial assistance for some students
- Adult education via the Summer SEED program and Partners-in-Torah
- Help with establishing kollelKollelA kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
s ("post-graduate Talmudic schools") and new Jewish day schools and yeshivas where called upon - Tutoring services