The Tifferes Girls School hosted a dinner at the Hendon Hall
Hotel last Monday night, at which Rabbi Zev Leff, rov of
Moshav Mattisyahu and a regular columnist in these pages, was
the guest speaker.
Speaking as a parent and an educator, the Chairman Rabbi
Jonathan Dove gave praise to the work of Rabbi Yoel
Rabinowitz, Tifferes' headmaster, who has put an incredible
program into place, both in terms of kodesh and
chol.
Rabbi Gershon Hager, the principal, quoted an article of R'
Hutner zt"l on chinuch, wherein he explains
that each generation experiences yeridas hadoros, even
within the area of teaching children. In our generation, the
difficulties of transmitting mesora and Torah have
given a greater role to the teachers, and therefore -- more
than ever -- mechanchim have the responsibility of not
only passing down information, but actually acting as role
models themselves.
Rabbi Leff started out by thanking the kehilla at large for
the warm welcome they had extended to him over his eight days
in London. He then explained what the walls of a bayis
represent in terms of ruchniyus. On the one hand,
they create a reshus hayochid and enable a family to
develop a sense of privacy and sholom, yet they also
stand as mechitzos to prevent outside influences. He
tied this in to certain mitzvos which devolve upon the house
and not the individual, such as mezuza which serves as
a protection, and neiros Shabbos which create
harmony.
Earlier that day, Rabbi Leff had spoken at length in school
to the girls of Tifferes, and he praised the quality of both
its pupils and staff. Tifferes has now completed a class of
years 7 and 8, and as of September will have 50 pupils on its
roll.
The school also provided for Rabbi Leff to speak in various
venues during his stay, including the Jewish Learning
Exchange (JLE) on Friday night and seuda shelishis,
Dayan Ehrentreu's beis hamedrash and the Hasmonean
Boys & Girls schools.
