In a year plagued with uncertainty and doubt, when challenges mounted, livelihoods and schedules were thrown off-kilter, and instability was the only rule, little took priority over preserving the solid chinuch of our children, our very future.  

As we mark a full year since Covid-19 swept unexpectedly into our lives, upending the world as we knew it, it is time to reflect upon the struggles and challenges, lessons and values that we gained individually, communally, and globally, and consider how we can utilize them for future growth and development.  In a rare interview, Rosh Yeshivas Nishmas HaTorah, a prominent mechanech with decades of chinuch under his belt,  shares his reflections upon a tumultuous year, the challenges and accomplishments that it wrought in chinuch, and tips for implementing the lessons gained in the future.

Located in Givat Shaul, Yerushalayim, Yeshivas Nishmas HaTorah is a yeshivah-high school geared to young charedi bachurim who aspire to achieve greatness in Torah while earning their high school diplomas. The Rosh Yeshivah and majority of staff are Anglo-Saxon, and the student body encompasses native Israelis, American and European olim.

“The name Nishmas HaTorah symbolizes our chinuch model and goal which is imbuing the essence, the soul and spirit of Torah, into each bachur. Our vision is to watch our bachurim flourish into talmidei chachamim and yirei Shamayim,” expresses the Rosh Yeshivah.

The Yeshivah features a rigorous learning program with gemara iyun in the morning and bekius and mussar in the late afternoons. In the interim, the bachurim follow an advanced limudei chol program that meets all government standards, distinguishing it from many charedi yeshivos ketanos in Eretz Yisrael.

“Occasionally, when Israeli parents ask why we introduce general studies and sports into our mainstream yeshivah curriculum, I explain that Harav Moshe Feinstein, Harav Yitzchak Hutner and most previous and contemporary gedolim in America, along with nearly every Brisk, Mir, Lakewood and Philadelphia bachur today, all graduate with high school diplomas. The knowledge and skills that they gain from the added education broadens their horizons now and opens up opportunities later in life.”

Nishmas HaTorah places a strong emphasis on middos tovos, offering a weekly Life Skills program that teaches the bachurim to interact with others, appreciate themselves, express empathy, and overcome negative traits like jealousy, resentment, competition, and anger. “In addition to mussar from the sefarim, this is mussar with practical life application, and it’s proven extremely effective.”

Like yeshivos and schools the world over, Nishmas HaTorah was forced to contend this past year with the myriad challenges of corona and maintain a strong learning regimen despite constantly-shifting restrictions and repeated lockdowns.

“Our policy was that we followed the rules, but that didn’t stop us from a full year of rigorous, enthusiastic learning notwithstanding,” asserts the Rosh Yeshivah. “We employed a highly-advanced system to enable our maggidei shiurim and teachers to teach on Zoom, and then chavrusos to learn together on Zoom with the maggid shiur mediating the entire operation. Whenever we had the opportunity to assemble in open settings, we did, and it was heartwarming to witness the joy and anticipation leading up to and shared at these meetings. Since we’re a small yeshivah, the bachurim are very close to each other and to the faculty, who keep their fingers on the pulse constantly.”

In fact, notes the Rosh Yeshivah, while this year was far from normal, there were simultaneously lessons to be learned that can—and should—be applied by mechanchim, parents and adolescents in the future. Three primary points he highlights are creative chinuch, cooperation between yeshivah and home, and application of mussar to daily life.

“Despite our efforts to preserve a traditional learning regimen, there was no denying the change from routine.  When blessed with routine, we stick naturally to the tried-and-true. Yet the forced switch away from regular schedule taught us to implement new ideas and concepts. Corona was a matchless opportunity for creative chinuch, for introducing new programs to stimulate and excite the bachurim in conventional and unconventional ways that allowed every bachur to gain.” Aside from faculty-sponsored contests and online chidonim, every bachur in Nishmas HaTorah was assigned to inscribe his own chiddushei Torah and then present them to his classmates. While unusual perhaps for yeshivah ketanah bachurim, unusual times call for unusual measures, and both the Yeshivah’s talmidim and faculty discovered how much they gained from this program.

A second lesson he emphasizes is the link between yeshivah and home. “Today, many consign the role of chinuch upon schools or yeshivos, but the fact is that a child’s fundamental chinuch begins and continues at home. One’s character, middos, values and aspirations are products of the education and values that one’s parents espouse, which is why cooperation and a mutually-respectful relationship between the yeshivah and home are so vital. While we always endeavor to keep parents engaged and apprised of their child’s progress, we ramped up these efforts during corona. Every maggid shiur called every parent weekly; we kept tabs on who appeared on Zoom, and if a bachur was absent, we found out why.  This home-yeshivah relationship is something that we plan to continue even after corona.”

The third aspect is a derivative of the above and regards taking mussar learned and applying it immediately to daily life. “Usually when I give a shmuess and discuss middos or values with the bachurim, there’s a natural division between yeshivah and real life. During corona, we repeatedly stressed the priceless opportunity to take everything they gained and put it into immediate practice.”