The Baalei Musar tell us that in order for a person to grow, he must have the basic humility to realize that he is lacking. Even the best athletes continue to train and hone their skills, constantly looking for new ideas to make them slightly better.
This is why, when I got an email from Rabbi Yerachmiel Garfield inviting me to be part of the L2L program, I jumped at the opportunity. Rabbi Garfield is the Head of School of Yeshiva Torat Emet in Houston, as well as the founder of Yeshiva Leadership Group, an organization created to help school administrators grow professionally. The idea behind the L2L (Leader to Leader) program was to pair school administrators with administrators from similar schools. The leaders would meet with each other online, as well as each taking a trip to the other’s city to visit their school.
I had the zechus of being paired with Rabbi Yosef Bondi, the S’gan Menahel of Yeshivas Ohr Eliyahu in Los Angeles. After meeting with Rabbi Bondi over zoom in December, I went to visit their school for a day in January. Spending the day in Ohr Eliyahu allowed me to view the work that we do from a new perspective and with new possibilities. A document projector could be used to help boys who struggle to follow along to keep their place by just looking up at the board and finding the place. The endless possibilities of what we could accomplish if we had a bigger campus - including things like: a gym, an auditorium, a music room to name a few! An independent study room where students go when they are sent out of class, instead of being sent to a principal (YES PLEASE!).
I benefited so much from my time in Ohr Eliyahu that it was obvious to me why Rabbi Cohen suggested a few weeks later that all of the Rebbeim take a trip to LA to see the school in action.
After waking up at 5:00am, we headed to PHX to catch our 7:00am flight into Burbank. We arrived at Ohr Eliyahu on time for 8:15am shacharis and got a chance to see their middle school minyan in action. After shacharis, the dvar halacha is given by none other than our very own Rabbi Moshe Wolin’s uncle, Rabbi Eidlitz. The Rebbeim had a quick breakfast in the Yeshiva and hurried off to their individual classes that they would be observing. Each TDSP Rebbe got a chance to observe the Rebbe of his grade, as well as a few others. In the second half of the morning, the Rebbeim had a Q&A session with Rabbi Shlomo Goldberg. Rabbi Goldberg has been the Menahel of Ohr Eliyahu for the past 30 years, and is a highly sought out annual presenter at the Torah Umesorah Convention. We then concluded the morning with a message from Rabbi Bondi.
After a quick trip out for pizza, we were back in Yeshiva. Each TDSP Rebbe had the opportunity to take time to speak with the Rebbe whom he had been observing that morning. They could ask them questions about why they taught things a certain way, or even work together to strategize on best practices for giving over material to the students who struggle. Rabbi Bondi then took us around for an official tour of the campus. The Rebbeim received special presentations from both the music and art teachers, who each passionately described their programs. We davened mincha and headed back to the airport. It was a long and exhausting day, but highly rewarding and most importantly, one that will surely pay off for our talmidim!