Rabbi and Mrs. Avrohom Nusbaum Excellence in Chinuch Award Rav and Mrs. Avrohom Nusbaum have been immersed in the world of chinuch their entire lives. Rav Nusbaum is a son of Rav Nosson Nusbaum, a veteran maggid shiur at Yeshivas Ner Yisrael of Baltimore. Mrs. Tamar Nusbaum is a daughter of Reb Yisroel Bloom, a”h, the legendary founder of Yeshiva Darchei Torah. Together, the Nusbaums have built a distinguished mishpacha, while spending a large portion of their time devoted to chinuch. Rav Nusbaum serves as a 10th grade maggid shiur in Mesivta Chaim Shlomo, a position he has held since the 10th grade was first created in 1996. It was the second year of the Mesivta’s existence, and Rav Nusbaum taught both parallel classes – one in the morning and one for bekius seder in the early afternoon. Hundreds of talmidim have benefited from his unique brand of chinuch, which was forged between the walls of the Philadelphia Yeshiva, Yeshivas Brisk and Beth Medrash Govoha, where he learned, and at Mesivta Keser Torah of Belmar, New
Jersey, where he taught prior to Mesivta Chaim Shlomo. With the explosive growth of the Mesivta, its menahel, Rav Zevi Trenk, sought the assistance of another menahel who would work alongside him and share the leadership role. He found a fitting partner in Rav Nusbaum, who, despite his additional responsibilities, continued to devote himself to his tenth grade talmidim with the same energy and care as before. The difference was that now the entire Mesivta would benefit from Rav Nusbaum’s daily involvement. In regard to his goals in chinuch, Rav Nusbaum describes them as “to be able to bring out the best in every bachur. I want to do what’s right for each bachur. In class I have one type of goal, to help develop a geshmak in learning. As for the yeshiva as a whole, I want them all to grow into b’nei Torah – each one [in a manner] that is fitting for himself. ‘Globally’ I seek to help keep the Yeshiva running in the best possible way, in making it the best that it can be for the talmidim.” Rav Nusbaum reflects on the development of the Yeshiva that he has witnessed and, indeed, been an integral part of. “The growth is beyond anything I expected both in kamus (quantity) and eychus (quality),” he says. “It started as a fledgling yeshiva and is now the largest litvishe mesivta in the United States. It is a serious makom Torah, and the boys know what we stand for. Yes, we have a variation of levels, but our mission is clear: to develop b’nei Torah.” Mrs. Nusbaum is a Chumash coordinator for COJDS, the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools. In that capacity, she develops Chumash curricula and related materials for the lower elementary grades of 90 yeshivos and day schools across America. For more than two decades she taught in local mosdos: the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach, Torah Academy for Girls and Shulamith School for Girls. “Rav Nusbaum is a talmid chacham muflag,” declares Rav Yaakov Bender, Rosh HaYeshiva. “He has raised the ramah (level) of
Community
Mesivta Chaim Shlomo over the years and he succeeds in pushing the boys to work hard and enjoy their learning. He is the glue that keeps the place together. “Who better to honor than Reb Avrohom and his eishes chayil, who are enhancing the chinuch in this yeshiva – and indeed the greater chinuch world – on a constant basis?”
On a June afternoon in 1999, they gathered in the cavernous beis hamedrash with the soaring, arched windows, celebrating a milestone: their gradua-
After graduation, each talmid followed his own path. For many, they remained in place to help establish another, new institution: Beis Medrash Heichal Dovid, devoted to full-time Torah scholarship. For others, a 6,000-mile journey to the great yeshivos of Eretz Yisrael was their next step. What each talmid had in common was that he left the Mesivta equipped with a chinuch that had prepared him for life: a Darchei Torah chinuch. Nearly fifteen years later, the Yeshiva has grown by leaps and bounds; the Beis Medrash has spawned a Kollel and the Mesivta has developed into a worldclass, magnet institution. The Yeshiva has experienced growth in both quality and quantity. And the pioneers? Those
tion from Mesivta Chaim Shlomo, the Maurice and Edith Lowinger Mesivta High School. Four years earlier, these 40 talmidim formed the inaugural class of the Mesivta, when Yeshiva Darchei Torah, founded in 1972 as an elementary school, had launched this grand experiment: to establish a yeshiva that would adhere faithfully to the millennia-old mesorah, that would build a robust General Studies program and that would continue the unique foundational philosophy for which Darchei Torah was gaining renown: that an inclusive yeshiva can succeed – that brilliant bachurim could grow and learn alongside their motivated but weaker peers and that all would gain from the arrangement. Four years later, the experiment had worked. Thanks to the seriousness and effort that those pioneers invested in their learning; guided by their loving parents and distinguished rabbeim and teachers; in a building dedicated by the Yeshiva’s visionary president, Mr. Ronald Lowinger, who ensured that a proper structure would be erected to house this promising makom Torah; Mesivta Chaim Shlomo had come of age.
graduates, who not only survived the experiment called Mesivta Chaim Shlomo but thrived – where are they? Many are married with children today; some are in Kollel or teaching students of their own, others are practicing law or medicine or engaged in business pursuits. And they are everywhere: in locales such as Lakewood and Florida, Illinois and Yerushalayim – and Far Rockaway and the Five Towns. Several have entrusted their own children’s chinuch to Yeshiva Darchei Torah, the very same venue where they were prepared for life. Come December 29th, they will gather again in the very same beis hamedrash with the soaring, arched windows, as the Yeshiva that is their alma mater salutes them and recognizes their 15 years of accomplishments. These talmidim took a foundation of chinuch and expanded on it, building families, careers and lives that are tributes to their parents, their rabbeim and the Yeshiva that they believed in and believed in them. Most of all, what they have achieved serves as a tribute to their own perseverance and hard work, their own commitment to take the chinuch that prepared them for life and make something worthy of it.
The Pioneer Class of Mesivta Chaim Shlomo Celebrating 15 Years of Accomplishment
D e c e m b e r 1 2 , 2013
Feiner says. “He loves everything that revolves around Torah and mitzvos. Imagine our pain when he turned three, and we realized that there was no appropriate schooling for him in our area that would provide a Yiddishe environment.” Their dilemma was resolved when Rabbi Bender invited them to send Shaya to the Yeshiva, assuring them he would be warmly welcomed and his special needs would be accommodated in full measure. “This was no small undertaking,” says Rabbi Feiner. “Shaya is wheelchair-bound and is under constant nursing and therapeutic care. But nothing deterred Rabbi Bender. In his dream to feed the thirsty neshama of this child, he tackled every obstacle, putting all the school’s resources at our disposal.” “The way Rabbi Bender embraced Shaya and the challenge of integrating him into the school set the tone for his entire wonderful staff and for the students as well. Everyone is Shaya’s friend. That is the unparalleled beauty and kedusha of the Darchei Torah chinuch.” The Yeshiva welcomes the opportunity to honor the Feiners as exceptional marbitzei Torah, inspiring role models and pillars of the community.
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