To whom it may concern. I am a longtime Rebbi in a Brooklyn Yeshiva. I never in a million years thought I would have to be writing such a letter, but I am left without a choice. A few weeks ago, hundreds of Rabbeiyim and Morah’s were informed – via a letter on YWN – that our summer vacations would be shortened, and that the Yeshivas would be starting earlier than it had been for the past 60 years. The letter was released by Torah Umesorah, and signed by the Vaad Roshei Yeshiva, all of whom I have the utmost Kavod for. Yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs in Brooklyn have reached an unprecedented “consensus” to begin the 2023-2024 school year around the start of Elul, rather than with the secular start date of Labor Day. I thought it was only myself who was troubled by this decision, but after talking to dozens upon dozens of Rabbeiyim and teachers, I found that I was far from the only one perplexed. To begin with, every single one of them was highly insulted. Not one of us was consulted with before this massive decision was made. Now, to be very clear, we all know that Gedolei Olam can make decisions as they see fit, but at the very least the Rabbeyim and teachers should have had a say in the matter — especially if the driving force behind this decision was one or two Baalei Batim. If the are going to listen to Baalei Batim, then there is no reason why we – the Mechanchim – should not have a voice. The list is very long. The reasons are many. And we should have been given a voice at the table. Here are just a few thoughts to ponder: Is the Yeshiva I am employed in going to increase my salary for an extra week of work? We have yet to be told anything of the sort. Will yeshivas increase the tuitions for parents due to an extra week and a half of Yeshiva? Do these Baalei batim who have never inn their lives driven a child to Yeshiva in their lives know that there is no bussing for most schools since it is before Labor Day? That means that working parents (which is around 99.5% of all parents) will have to drive their children to school and be late for work. Was this taken into consideration? Do the people who made this decision understand that nearly every single one of us work all summer both days and night to make ends meet, and we literally had this week and a half between camp ending and yeshiva starting to get ourselves together so we don’t walk into a classroom looking and feeling like a “Shmata”? This was our only vacation to rest up and be able to walk into a classroom refreshed. We diodn’t sit a swimming pool all summer. We ran from camp to camp, bungalow colony to bungalow colony, house to house, teaching, tutoring, and doing everything we can to pay our bills. Don’t you think our employers should have the decency to talk to us first? Finally, it should be noted that the letter was sent out before every girls school was on board even thought the letter says that they […]
The post MAILBAG: A Yeshiva Rebbi’s Thoughts On The Decision To End Summer Vacation Early appeared first on The Yeshiva World.