Kfar Zeitim Hamodia PDF

IInnyyaann MMaaggaazz iinnee Januar y 19 , 20116

WHEN THE PSYCHIATRISTuttered a certain combinationof four letters of the English

alphabet, everything suddenly madesense to the Rosenbergs: the sleeplessnights worrying about their dear sonMoishie; his countless journeys in and outof so many good yeshivos; his rapidlydecreasing enthusiasm for life andlearning; and his deteriorating mitzvahobservance. They always thought nextyear would be different. They blamed histeachers, his friends, his school — howelse could they explain Moishie’sconsistent academic failure? He was, afterall, a good boy with a good head.

It seemed like the Rosenbergs’ liveswere spiraling out of control … until theyfinally heard the psychiatrist’s diagnosis:ADHD. There was nothing wrong with theyeshivos or the rebbeim — Moishie needed

Farmingfor Diamonds

Nestled in the LowerGalilee lies a veritableparadise for a group ofboys who were unable tosucceed in learning untilHashem gave them asecond chance.

CultivatingOur Children’sPotential forSuccess

F E AT U R E I Kids at Risk

BY GAVRIEL HORAN

Below: Two students weeding a row ofonions in Kfar Zeitim’s vegetable garden.

Right: Rabbi Dov Frank

Feature011911p6-11.FS KFAR ZEITIM.qxd 1/14/2011 11:38 AM Page 6

IInnyyaann MMaaggaazz iinnee 14 Shevat 5771 7

a different type of learning environmentin which he could excel.

During his twenty-five years as themenahel of a Talmud Torah in Bnei Brak,veteran mechanech Rabbi Dov Frank —the grandson of the renowned Rav TzviPesach Frank, zt”l, renowned Rav ofJerusalem — recognized a certain void inthe mainstream yeshivah educationalsystem. “I noticed that there was a criticaltrack lacking in the chareidi yeshivahsystem. Our yeshivos

ketanos are very rigorous and demanding,reaching for the highest degree ofacademic excellence; unfortunately, notevery child can sit and learn a full day.”

He noticed that for a variety of reasons— biological, developmental, orpsychological — certain boys lack theability to learn Gemara for long periods oftime. These boys may suffer from aweaker intellectual capacity, an attentiondeficit, hyperactivity, impulsiveness,

emotional problems, or behavioralissues that prevent them from

excelling in learning.“They end up becoming

miserable because they’re notsucceeding in school. A child

like that could end up on thestreets and his life could be

finished if he isn’t giventhe proper help.”

A Natural Paradise For years, Rabbi Frank

dreamed of doingsomething to help theseunfortunate children

who could notsucceed in the

yeshivah

system. Finally, eight years ago, when allof his ten children were married and outof the home, he decided to do somethingabout it.

After taking a number of trips aroundIsrael in search of a suitable location, hewas introduced to a man who offered himhis family’s farm on the pastoral moshavKfar Zeitim, just a ten-minute drive fromTeveriah. Together with Rabbi AryehRubinfeld, a longtime mechanech fromBnei Brak, he opened Yeshivas Kfar Zeitimwith the brachos and encouragement ofHarav Aharon Leib Steinman, shlita, andthe guidance of Harav Yehudah Silman,shlita, of Bnei Brak; and Harav AvrahamDov Auerbach, shlita, Av Beis Din ofTeveriah. They immediately set to workbuilding an ideal environment for boyswho had never had a place to belong.

When I arrived in Kfar Zeitim to writethis feature, I was awestruck by its naturalbeauty. Situated on a fertile plateauoverlooking Mount Arbel, high above theKinneret, the location is a perfect settingfor helping boys to find themselves. Theexpansive sky, spreading out to themountain-filled horizon, speaks of endlesspossibilities and hope for boys who oncehad none. Yeshivas Kfar Zeitim opened itsdoors eight years ago with a handful ofteens from various chareidi communities.Today it has over fifty students

ages fourteen to eighteen,from Chassidic,

Litvish, and



Is the fact that so many boys are unable to make it in

the yeshivah system a new phenomenon?

The fact that modern society requires everyone to go to

school from ages six to eighteen is a new phenomenon. In the

past, a select few would stay in learning past adolescence and

the rest would go to work. In the secular world, a child with

learning disabilities only has to learn for six hours a day and can

then relax the rest of the time. The frum world, on the other

hand, has much higher expectations in regard to academic

demands, use of time, and entertainment options. A child who

has difficulty learning, for whatever reason, will have a very

hard time keeping up with the demands of the mainstream

yeshivah system. That’s why alternative programs are so

essential to enable a child to grow and develop in an

environment that is not exclusively academic.

I met with Harav Shach, zt”l, twenty-one years ago regarding

the opening of parnassah centers for kollel yungeleit. The Rosh

Yeshivah explained that when Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman,

zt”l, opened the kollel in Ponevezh, there was an internal debate

about whom the kollel should cater to. Rav Shmuel Rozovsky,

zt”l, said that the kollel should be for the metzuyanim alone, as it

had been in Europe.

The Ponevezher Rav, on the other hand, held that in order to

rebuild Klal Yisrael after the Holocaust, learning in kollel had to

become the societal norm for everyone. At the time, few women

would dream of marrying a man who learned in kollel and Torah

was often pushed to the side by the modern-day work ethic. He

reasoned that the first priority was to rebuild the olam haTorah

— learning full time had to become the default position. This

approach might lead to casualties for those who couldn’t learn,

but the alternative meant the end of Klal Yisrael.

Now that the olam haTorah is firmly established for the klal,

we can begin to deal with the individuals who can’t make it in

the system.

Rav Shach understood that full-time learning wasn’t for

everyone. One just has to know that the beis medrash is a Yid’s

default activity; it is where he returns after work.

Do alternative yeshivos represent a threat to

mainstream yeshivos?

Not in the slightest. Most boys will still want to be in the best

yeshivos — that’s where it’s at for kids in chareidi society. We’re

fighting City Hall to get the kids who need to be in these special

programs to enroll. Halevai everyone who needed it would have the

opportunity! Even if there is only a small percentage of kids in this

category, that is still thousands of boys — and we don’t have more

than a handful of alternative programs out there.

Are the yeshivos doing enough to prepare people to

earn parnassah?

The job of yeshivos isn’t to prepare boys for parnassah. It’s to teach

people Torah and build fortitude in ruchniyus to give people the ability

to lead the next generation. Yeshivos equal Shechinah, and the purpose

of yeshivos is to keep the Shechinah with Klal Yisrael.

There are countless stories of Gedolim throughout the

ages who overcame difficulties in learning to become

great. Shouldn’t these children be encouraged to do the

same?

When someone makes the decision on his own to learn, he can

achieve greatness beyond the ordinary, but you can’t force him to do

that. If he wants it with all his heart, there’s tremendous siyatta

diShmaya and there’s no end to where he can go. When a person has

motivation, dedication and commitment, not even the sky’s the limit to

what he can accomplish with his life. You can encourage and inspire, but

you can’t make that decision for him. The goal is to make him into an

ehrlich, well-adjusted person so that he will be motivated and excited

about his life as a frum, ehrliche Yid. An unhappy, bitter person cannot

make good decisions.

Keeping boys in standard yeshivos when they are unsuccessful,

frustrated, angry and resentful does not bring them closer or give

them a better chance of finding themselves in learning. First you have

to put them in a positive, supportive environment where Torah is

taught with love. Then, when they feel capable and important, they

can indeed choose to learn. Only then can you help them achieve their

highest potential in learning.

Preservingthe Olam HaTorah

OVER TWENTY YEARS AGO, renowned mechanech Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald was instrumental in founding one of the

first yeshivos to provide an alternative environment for high-school boys who were not successful in a regular

yeshivah setting. He opened Merkaz Chinuchi Darchei Shalom outside of Jerusalem, with the support of all the

Gedolim across the board, from Harav Shach, zt”l, to, ybl”c, the Belzer Rebbe and Harav Ovadia Yosef, shlita. The vast majority

of the boys went on to become successful members of society and many even returned to full-time learning. Rabbi Greenwald

graciously answered some questions about alternative chinuch.



Sephardic homes. The boys are primarilyfrom Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Tzefas,although there are also bachurim from theUnited States and England.

Together with a hand-picked staff ofwarm, talented rebbeim, social workers,therapists and teachers, Kfar Zeitim offersstudents a chance to develop in asupportive and therapeutic environment.After participating a serious morning sederadapted to their unique learning needs,students choose from among fourvocational tracks: electrical engineering,carpentry, agriculture and animalhusbandry, and computer science. By theend of three to four years in the yeshivah,students are fully certified to beginworking in their field of choice, armedwith self-confidence, direction in life and acareer. Incidentally, many of the boys evendevelop the skills and confidence to returnto regular yeshivos and continue learningfull time.

Rosh Yeshivah Rabbi Rubinfeld instills alove of learning in the students — often forthe very first time, and he also helps themfind the direction that suits each student’sneeds. Boys learn in small groups, dividedby skill level. Each class has its own maggidshiur in addition to two avreichim who

come to learn with the boys one on one. In addition to the vocational classes,

the yeshivah offers numerous creativeand therapeutic activities. There is abrand-new music room that the boysbuilt themselves, complete with guitars,keyboards, drums and high-qualityrecording equipment. The studentsformed their own band and play atyeshivah events such as mesibos andsiyumim. They also go on bimonthlyhikes in the pristine wilderness of theGalilee, expending their abundant

energy in a healthy way. The yeshivah offers horseback riding,

an activity that has been shown to beextremely therapeutic for a wide variety ofdevelopmental and behavioral problemsincluding ADD and ADHD, and the boystake turns caring for the horses, sheep,goats and chickens on the moshav. Theyare also involved in almost all of theconstruction and maintenance jobs on thecampus and grounds, including cleaningthe dorms and classrooms. Boys in thecarpentry track build most of the furniture

Right: Rabbi Frank with a student.Below: Rabbi Rubinfeld in class.



for the dorms, including wooden mezuzahcovers, deck chairs and shelves. Studentsin the agriculture track plant and harvesttheir own wheat and vegetables — all ofwhich are either used in the kitchen orsold.

“We hope to provide each boy with thebest activities to fulfill his needs now andin the future,” Rabbi Rubinfeld said. “Theboys do all the work themselves. This givesthem a sense of accomplishment. They areactively involved in building this placeand therefore become attached to it, [andthis] engenders a sense of internal calm.”

Motti Dotan, mayor of the RegionalCouncil of the Lower Galilee, expressed hisgreat excitement at seeing boys speakingYiddish while doing farm work.

Tools for Success Rabbi Frank explains that one of the

primary goals of chinuch is to help nourisha student’s sense of accomplishment andcapability. “A person’s awareness of hisown potential is his main motivatingfactor in life. Someone who feels that he’snot capable of doing anything with his lifebegins to think that he has no purpose inthis world,” he said. “His life basicallyends. Anyone without a vision in life,without dreams for the future, hasnothing.

“You have to understand that if you puta child with learning disabilities in aregular full-time yeshivah, he feels thathe’s being mistreated and he becomes ourgreatest enemy,” Rabbi Frank continued.

“It is as if you asked a person without legsto walk all day long. You’re asking him touse something he doesn’t have. Hebecomes full of bitterness.”

Hours of sitting in class withoutcomprehending what is being taught ismore than anyone can bear. And if thatisn’t enough, such children are often giventutors to try to bring their learning up topar, resulting in even more hours a dayengaged in something they cannotaccomplish.

“Such a boy is hanging in limbo. In theend he will connect Hakadosh Baruch Huwith the learning and the rabbis, and hewill think that Hakadosh Baruch Hu hateshim. From there it’s easy for him to go onto hate the Torah, the rabbis and, G-dforbid, Hashem Himself. We have to askourselves if we ever looked at the child andtried to find his unique and specialabilities. What resources have we givenhim for success?”

Yissachar and ZevulunWhen boys come to Kfar Zeitim, they

suddenly discover a world of talent andpotential that had been lying dormantwithin them their entire lives. For the firsttime, they are given hope for the future, apossibility of finding success in life bygetting a good job and raising a frumfamily.

“If we could only help more children todevelop their potential as good, workingJews, they could be the next ‘Zevuluns’ forthe ‘Yissachars’ of the next generation,”

Rabbi Frank said. “If we want tostrengthen the Yissachar, we cannotneglect the Zevulun. They will go out andwork and bring in parnassah and beehrliche Yidden, but we need to invest a lotin them.”

The staff emphasizes the fact thatHashem loves the boys for who they are.They can still become tzaddikim, put ontefillin and daven like mentchen; they canbe kovei’a itim laTorah; they can becomebaalei tzedakah and support yeshivos; theycan raise children who become talmideichachamim — their future is infinite.

“That’s how you keep these boysconnected,” international director RebYonah David said. “We catch them beforethey check out completely from theirfamilies, communities, and evenYiddishkeit. We help them develop anindividual identity and give them the toolsto succeed as adults. They graduate theyeshivah connected to Torah Judaism,mitzvos, and themselves.”

Seclusion and SolitudeSeventeen-year-old Yehudah learned in

the yeshivah for three years. Today he is acounselor in the yeshivah and is about toget his electrician’s certificate.

“Since I came here, I might beconsidered less spiritual than my friendswho learn Gemara all day. But in my eyesI became much stronger in my spiritualitysince I arrived at Kfar Zeitim. It is the bestthing that could have happened to me inmy life. At the yeshivah I found myself

Carpentry at Kfar Zeitim. Students learn to build a variety of items in the carpentry workshop, ranging from mezuzos to furniturethat is used in the dormitories. The students have plans to sell their products to the public.

Aao



progressing in everything — in mylearning, in my way of thinking, in mymiddos, and in my perception of life,because here I could think with peace ofmind, without pressure. If you havequestions, you have someone to turn to. Inmany regular yeshivos you don’t alwayshave someone to talk to, and with threehundred bachurim, you’re lucky if you canfind yourself, let alone a staff member!”

Rabbi Frank felt it necessary to open theyeshivah in an isolated location in orderto distance children from their formersocial framework — a place where theycan develop far away from the critical eyesof their peers.

“These boys have very strong senses.They know that some people in theircommunities think less of them becausethey aren’t successful in learning. Theyfeel it in shul, at home, and of course inschool, and they begin to believe it. In thestreet, we measure a person according towhat he can do. If you can do it, you’reworth something; if not, you’re not worthanything. Here you’re a neshamah, aperson; even if you can’t succeed [atsomething], you are worthy, as long asyou tried your best.”

Kfar Zeitim is the ideal environment.There are no distractions, no negativeinfluences, and very few people passing byin the street.

“This place is full of good energy andactivity,” Rabbi Frank said. “After a whilethey fall in love with the environment,with the breathtaking view, the silence, the

peace. It is one of the most beautiful placesin Eretz Yisrael. The beauty is soothing andopens the heart. In that atmosphere, achild is ready to come to the classes andfollow the guidelines.”

A Yeshivah With a HeartAccording to menahel Rabbi David

Bloch, one of the main ingredients in theyeshivah’s success is the intimate, warmenvironment. “It’s a home for these boys,not an institution. We work very hard toconnect to each kid. The students realizethat the staff doesn’t come in the morningand leave at night just to stamp their timecards. Everyone here is like a father tothem — perhaps more than a father. Wegenuinely give them our hearts.”

Yossi, from Beit Shemesh, seconds thatnotion. “It’s a family. It’s not a place whereyou come and learn and then leave. Thestaff really cares.”

The boys spend every other Shabbostogether in the yeshivah, and many evenchoose to stay during bein hazmanim.

The staff works overtime to try todiscover each boy’s unique talents. “Webelieve that everyone has [his] own talents— we only need to find them and allowthem to emerge,” Rabbi Bloch continued.“When they succeed at something small,they realize that they can succeed atbigger things as well. They realize thatthey are worth something, and it restorestheir faith in themselves [and their sense]that they are truly able to succeed in life.”

One boy with severe learning

disabilities came to the yeshivah with aterrible stutter and was barely able tospeak. He eventually opened up to thestaff and shared his tragic story. He hadgrown up in a strict yeshivah setting, andhis rebbeim had berated him for years forhis lack of comprehension. Instead ofgetting the compassion he so desperatelyneeded at home, his father would punishhim further.

“I felt like I was in jail all those years,”he recounted. “I felt like an utter failure.”

When he came to Kfar Zeitim, hestarted to relax and his stutter began tosubside. He signed up for the computertrack and discovered an amazing talentfor editing digital video. Today, he haseven improved in his Gemara learning.“This is a true case of techias hameisim,”Rabbi Frank said with inexpressiblenachas.

Another boy had been told that heneeded to take an antidepressant. Todayhe is managing a construction project onthe yeshivah grounds and feels like amillion dollars — without medication.

“When the child gets satisfaction fromsucceeding in a parnassah, he beginsstriving for something in life,” Rabbi Franksaid. “Once he’s calm and happy, hisheart opens up, and only then can you tryto teach him about emunah and what itmeans to be a Jew. Without the vision, youdon’t even have a chance of influencinghim... Here we build their self-esteem andcharacter so that they have keilim for morein life.”❚II

A chassidishe bachur caring for one of the yeshivah’s manyanimals. Except for the white shirt that wouldn’t last longon the farm, he maintains his regular Chassidic garb.

Vocational workshops help the boys develop positive self-esteem while learning valuable job skills.


Documents

Kfar Zeitim Hamodia PDF