“Shaya, But You Don’t Daven Ashkenaz”

By Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber

Teaching out of town affords an opportunity to teach a diverse class. Boys from different backgrounds come together over a blatt gemara. Where they are from or where they are headed doesn’t matter as they discuss the sugya in the gemara.

In Yeshiva K’tana of Waterbury we have Boruch Hashem, a large sixth grade class of boys from different backgrounds. Although their parents may have different rebbeim, these boys are a unit. It’s beautiful to see these boys learn and grow together.

24 years ago when the Yeshiva was founded, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Eisenbach had recently moved to begin the Chabad Lubavitch of Northwest Connecticut. Although the larger Chabad cities have their own mosdos HaTorah, Waterbury had only a few frum families at the time.

The Eisenbachs chose to send their children to the Yeshiva K’tana and have sent all their children through this “litvish” system until they joined a Chabad Yeshiva in the ninth grade. In the first year of the Yeshiva, the Eisenbachs sent two children making up twenty percent of the whole Yeshiva. Today the enrollment is in the many hundreds ka”h with a boys division, girls division and a preschool division.

For the boys in my class, it’s a glimpse into a world they have not had the opportunity to see first hand. This year I have Shaya Eisenbach in my sixth grade class. He is a proud Chabad Chasid and is involved like anyone else in our limudim.

Each week I raffle off prizes for those who daven with minyanim over Shabbos to be mechazek boys as they enter their bar mitzvah years. Last week Shaya won. The raffle choices were books on gedolim or a Pathway to Prayer (Ashkenaz) siddur. I looked at Shaya, wondering what he would choose. Shaya took the siddur. “Shaya” I said, “but you don’t daven Ashkenaz”? Without skipping a beat Shaya looked me in the eye and said “Each shabbos there is a modern Orthodox boy who comes to our Chabad Center. It’s for him.” I was speechless. A 12 year old, with a chinuch, is thinking of others. I saw first hand the chinuch of his home- to think about others!

Diversity is great, as there is so much to learn from everyone!

-Rabbi Moshe Dov Heber is presently a Middle School Rebbi in Yeshiva K’tana of Waterbury, CT, the Director of the Mishmar Evening Program in Waterbury and Division Head in Camp Romimu. He is a frequent contributor to various publications on areas related to education. Trained by his grandfather, Rabbi Paysach Krohn, he lectures widely on an array of topics. Rabbi Heber could be reached via email [email protected].