To most students, high school seems like an overload of homework and an endless amount of classroom lectures. To others, like the boys of Yeshivat Shaare Torah, high school is an opportunity to learn not only from teachers, but to give back and learn from peers as well.
Yeshivat Shaare Torah, located on Avenue P in Flatbush, initiated a chavrusa (study partner) program where high school boys pair up with OHEL Bait Ezra residents.
These residents, who are challenged by different developmental disabilities, welcomed the invitation to personal one-on-one learning with the boys. Led by their teacher Mr. Hillel Goldman, these young men meet weekly to delve into various Torah topics.
The program will continue throughout the remainder of the school year. Yeshivat Shaare Torah students, who attend one of a few schools that organize such chavrusa programs, feel they benefit from this integrated learning experience just as much, if not more than, the young men living in a OHEL Bait Ezra residence.
“The OHEL Bait Ezra/Shaare Torah Boys High School Chavrusah Program was a natural fit for us,” said Director of Student Activities, Hillel Goldman. “We teach our students how to learn and to love learning. Additionally, we have our students recognize that their learning is not only a gift, but a gift to be shared.”
There are currently 15 Shaare boys learning with members of the OHEL community and they expect this program to continue to grow.
