HISKASHRUS AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL
February 18, 2016One of the special things about the Ohr Menachem school for girls in Tzfas is how they are taught to connect to the Rebbe through writing to him via the Igros Kodesh. This starts with the principal, Mrs. Nechama Navon, continues with the staff of supervisors and teachers, and on to the parents and students themselves. * How is this done? What positive influence does this have? How do the professionals from the Education Ministry react? * An interview with Mrs. Navon
An argument broke out between two girls in the Ohr Menachem girls’ school in Tzfas. Situations like this have happened, happen, and will happen between two girls who are trying to establish their social position in the classroom. A few days went by and to the surprise of all around them these two girls stopped their fight and became good friends. In a letter that the two of them sent to the principal, Mrs. Nechama Navon, they explained the reason for their renewed friendship.
They said that after a week of not talking to one another, one of the girls wrote to the Rebbe and opened to a letter which dealt entirely with the need to increase in Ahavas Yisroel. With that clear answer, she realized that the Rebbe was conveying to her a message about her fight. The next day she told the other girl about this. The other girl appreciated hearing about this letter from the Rebbe. The two forgave one another and became good friends.
This story is typical of what happens nearly every day in Ohr Menachem. We held this interview because of a recently published book called Ohr Menachem, which contains dozens of special stories that happened because of the Rebbe’s brachos. There are stories that happened to the girls themselves or with family members along with stories that the teachers and staff experienced. There are even amazing stories that happened to the supervisors, principals, administrative staff and suppliers who come in daily contact with the school. They have all come to realize that there is someone to turn to with a problem, request, or for advice.
Ohr Menachem is one of the biggest schools in Tzfas and has over 500 students. It has earned a number of national prizes. In 5768 it won the coveted educational prize of the northern district. The school was chosen out of hundreds of schools. The judging committee chose the staff of teachers and awarded it the title of “outstanding educational staff.”
In a letter sent to the principal of the school with the reasons cited by the committee that awarded the prize, it said, “In the school the students attain educational achievements and values thanks to the unlimited devotion on the part of the administration and staff. The teachers work with complete cooperation and display tremendous dedication and teach with a sense of mission. The educational approach is based on trust, a personal relationship, and strong communication between the members of the staff, the students and teachers. The teachers focus on teaching Torah knowledge, good character, and fear of heaven.”
The students are happy and the teachers have a sense of satisfaction in their work. More than half of the students come from families that are not Lubavitch. This is why we wanted to hear from Mrs. Navon about the extent to which the emphasis on hiskashrus and writing to the Rebbe guides their educational approach, and how the girls who are not from Lubavitch homes, and the supervisors and staff from the Education Ministry, many of whom are not yet religious, react to this.
How did you come up with the idea of publishing a book?
We at the school are very much in favor of writing to the Rebbe. There is nobody who has come in contact with the school who hasn’t heard from us about writing to the Rebbe through the Igros Kodesh. Our school has opened to countless answers from the Rebbe which serve as our guide. We see how brachos from the Rebbe accomplish wonders.
I should emphasize that of course the school is run by the hanhala ruchnis and gashmis, and a lot of professional educational work is done, but the Rebbe’s brachos and instructions often clarify our message and our approach, especially when we are unsure about something.
In recent years we have noticed that nearly every person of authority who visits the school, even those who are not Chabad and who sometimes are on the opposite end of the spectrum, will tell of an experience or story that he or a family member had with the Rebbe. The stories we hear from them are stories that happened long ago and even recent ones.
So when we thought of what gift we want to give the Rebbe, we came up with the idea of a book. In order to maximize the impact of the book, we included the girls and asked them to collect stories that happened to them or their families.
Tell us about how writing to the Rebbe affects the running of a school.
Writing to the Rebbe occurs on two planes; asking for a bracha before undertaking something, and when we face a dilemma and need to make a decision. I’ll give you an example of this that we had at the beginning of this school year.
We usually do not accept new students in higher grades. In the past we saw that if a student did not attend our school from the first grade, it was hard for her to adjust to the grade she entered and sometimes this adversely affected our students.
At the beginning of the year, some mothers wanted to take their daughters out of a different school and put them in our school. We struggled with this decision. Some of the girls were daughters of women who are in chinuch and whom we know well. It was hard to turn them away, but we remained consistent in our policy and said no. On the first day of the schoolyear, one of the mothers met me and said, “Nechama, before you turn us down, write to the Rebbe. You are always preaching about it … and we will do whatever the Rebbe says.” What could I say? Obviously, I agreed.
That night I sat down to write and from the Rebbe’s answer it was clear that we should accept the girls. The Rebbe mentioned in the letter that the fruits of educational endeavors are not always seen in the short term.
I called a meeting of the hanhala and we decided to be flexible and accept the group of girls. What can I tell you… Our fears were proven false. The girls adjusted beautifully, the teachers are satisfied, and so are the mothers and myself.
THE DRUZE PRINCIPAL WHO WANTED TO WRITE TO THE REBBE
I can guess how the Lubavitcher teachers and staff react, but how do the rest of the school’s professionals who are not Lubavitch react?
I do not hide how important writing to the Rebbe is to us from anyone. In every encounter with any group of staff, they already know that I will tell them about an answer I opened to from the Rebbe as a preparation for the meeting. I speak openly and without a shred of defensiveness. And people accept it, especially after being exposed to the impressive educational successes of the school.
A few years ago I was part of an exclusive committee formed by the Education Ministry that dealt with some important educational issues. Outstanding educators were invited to this forum from all sectors in the north of the country, including principals of schools from the kibbutzim and even non-Jewish principals. When it was my turn to speak, I told them about writing to the Rebbe and read to them an answer I had opened to before the meeting.
During the break, the principal of a big Druze school came over to me, wanting to hear whether he could write too, even though he is not Jewish. I told him he could and he asked me to bring one of the volumes of Igros Kodesh with me the next time.
I brought a volume with me to the next meeting and during the break I directed him how to write. He wrote a letter, and the answer he opened to had to do with a question about whether to go abroad. At the end of the letter the Rebbe writes that he will mention the person, his wife and daughter at the gravesite.
The Druze principal heard this line and was on the verge of tears, as he had asked the Rebbe about his daughter. He and his wife were wondering whether it paid for her to go and learn outside of the village where they lived. From the Rebbe’s answer he understood what they needed to do and the Rebbe’s blessing was greatly encouraging to him.
When I met the principal some years later, he reminded me of the answer he opened to from the Rebbe and thanked me. He said he received strength from the Rebbe to make the right decision regarding his daughter.
It happens sometimes that when I read and explain an answer from the Rebbe that I opened to before a meeting, whether on the national level or local level, I get enthusiastic responses. “Just for this it was worth meeting,” they say.
How do you know whether people are really appreciative? Maybe they are just being polite.
I will tell you another story which will answer your question. A few years ago there was a special educational gathering that was formed, for which principals from all over the north of the country were chosen to participate. The theme of the gathering was developing a universal approach to dealing with the needs of individual students. The supervisor of our school told me that I was chosen to attend these meetings and I had to travel every week to the Education Ministry in Natzrat Ilit.
I was unsure about whether to attend these meetings. I was skeptical how much I could contribute to the conclusions that would be arrived at there and I thought there were better ways to spend my time.
I wrote to the Rebbe the night before and explained my hesitation. When I opened the Igros Kodesh, I saw a letter addressed to the mayor of Natzrat Ilit. From what I heard, this was the only time in all the Rebbe’s letters that the Rebbe refers to the full name of this northern city. The letter was incredible. The Rebbe explains in that letter the proper way to be mekarev Jews and the content was most applicable to the theme of the meeting – concern for the individual and the group.
Before the emcee began, I asked for permission to speak and told everyone how I had had doubts about coming and about the letter I had opened to the night before from the Rebbe.
I read and explained the letter and the principals were amazed.
But that’s not the end of the story. At the meeting itself a lot of the discussion dealt with what the Rebbe said, and during the break the organizer of the meeting came over to me and asked for the letter. I did not know what she wanted to do with it but when we came back, I was surprised to see that she had made copies for everyone.
Before we left, we were given a calendar with the dates of future meetings along with the letter of the Rebbe on which was the emblem of the Education Ministry and underneath it said: The letter that the participants of the meeting received from the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
I hope this story answers your question and there are many more stories like this one. Only a few of them will make it into the book because there are so many and we can’t possibly include them all in one book.
RAIN AND THE
AMUSEMENT PARK
How do you promote the idea of writing to the Rebbe?
A year ago, one of the teachers asked me to be interviewed and videotaped for the dinner. The theme at the dinner was hiskashrus to the Rebbe through writing via the Igros Kodesh. In the interview I recalled a story that happened a few years after Gimmel Tammuz. We decided to take the grade six girls to an amusement park. Back then, twenty years ago, this required a lot of effort to coordinate, as we had to arrange the trip with other schools so we would have a large enough number of people which would enable us to have the park to ourselves.
On the morning of the trip the girls were very excited, of course, but what put a damper on things was that unexpectedly, the sky darkened and the forecast was for heavy rain.
We did not know what to do. Should we go and risk it raining and the girls would not get to enjoy the park, or cancel the trip which would upset the girls and make us lose a lot of money. It reached a point where the girls and teachers were waiting on the buses while we were still deciding.
I wrote to the Rebbe and everyone waited tensely to hear what the Rebbe’s answer would be. From the answer I opened to it sounded like we should go and not cancel. I boarded each bus and told the girls the answer and the buses left. As they left Tzfas, the clouds dissipated and the sun came out.
I chose to tell this story in the video. When I finished, I noticed that the teacher filming me seemed very excited. She told me an amazing detail I had not remembered. She said that that year she was a sixth grader and she had been one of the girls waiting on the bus. When she saw me get on the bus and confidently say, “Girls, you are going because that is what the Rebbe writes,” she saw what hiskashrus to the Rebbe is. Outside it can be wintry and rainy but if the Rebbe gives a bracha, that is what you do, no questions asked. She said this experience has been with her ever since.
THERE IS A PROPHET
IN OUR TIME
To conclude, there is a debate between Chassidim and non-Chassidim about whether a story has real educational value or is simply “Chassidic wasteful chatter.” How do you, as a principal, see it?
Of course it depends on what kind of stories are being told. Not every story makes an impact, but G-d forbid to say about all stories that they are in the category of “wasteful chatter.”
Fantasy stories will not necessarily impact a child since he will think the story has nothing to do with him. But when we tell stories about our Rebbeim and stories about miracles that came about through brachos from the Rebbe, they impact the listeners and guide them how to live and how to behave.
There are other guidelines and limitations that the Rebbe established for stories, for example, that they be accurate and detailed. In our book we were very particular about that. We omitted stories that seemed not completely accurate and chose only stories with names. We also tried to record the dates. Stories that happened through brachos from the Rebbe in the Igros Kodesh, we cited the source and quoted from the letter.
I’d like to point something out about the Igros Kodesh that many may not appreciate. Previously, during the time of the Beis HaMikdash, for example, if someone wanted to ask a question, he would go to the Urim V’Tumim in the Beis HaMikdash and even then, the answer was only a hint.
In our generation too, before Gimmel Tammuz you had to send a letter to the Rebbe and answers were sometimes delayed. But nowadays, within the darkness that we live, we have merited a tremendous G-dly revelation that provides us with the strength to deal with the darkness and concealment; a person can ask and receive an answer on the spot. Every person has access to the Prophet who shows the way, directs him, and blesses him.
PROJECTS WITH THE REBBE’S BRACHA
Many projects at the school took off with the Rebbe’s brachos.
“We have something we call ‘Rosh Chodesh B’Taam Shoneh,’ in which mothers of students are invited to the school and take part in an educational activity. This takes place every Rosh Chodesh and it is a fascinating, special program. This project got underway following a letter from the Rebbe about the need to work with the parents of the students.
“The same is true for the extra month of learning we have during summer vacation. In recent years, even the Education Ministry has come to realize how educationally destructive it is to have two months of summer vacation, but we have been running this program for about twenty years now, since we received the Rebbe’s bracha. Whenever I tried asking the Rebbe to take this load off of me, he responded about the need to work with students in the summer too. We see that everyone ends up benefiting from this program.”
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