United Lubavitch Yeshiva

Recently, a longtime friend of mine, Rabbi Sholom Avtzon, invited me to see the yeshiva where he teaches: the United Lubavitch Yeshiva.

The rabbi and I have been friends for over 20 years; we met while he was a shaliah and visited my retail store every Friday with his Torah messages.

Upon my arrival to his yeshiva, I was pleased to see hundreds of children thriving in their Jewish education. I must admit that, when I headed to the school, I had the predetermined misconception that the students were mostly going to be of  Ashkenazi descent. I certainly didn’t expect to see our very own Sephardic community members’ children studying at this warm, wonderful place.

To my amazement Rabbi Avtzon began naming children from our Syrian and Sephardic community who were in his class and graduated from the elementary division. There were over 60 students who were of Syrian and Sephardic descent.

The rabbi  explained that many of the students come to the United  Lubavitch Yeshiva because of their high standards of education and warm enviornement. After all, this is what the yeshiva and the Lubavitch are known for.

“And some,” Rabbi Avtzon said, “Come because of the fairly priced tuition of our yeshiva. Not all parents are able to pay the recent skyrocketing prices of other yeshivahs—Sephardic institutions included. It’s understandable if a parent cannot afford the tuition. In fact, last year we took a Syrian child out of public school and granted him a full scholarship.”

The Lubavitch Yeshiva continues to follow the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s ZT”L policy that no Jewish child be denied an education, even if it’s because of a parent’s difficult financial situation. Because of their compassionate guiding principles, the yeshiva needs the support of our community in order to help them meet their financial budget.

We are indeed fortunate to have the United Lubavitch Yeshiva as a neighbor and partner in our children’s education. They are right here in our own neighborhood, at 841 Ocean Parkway (between Avenues H and I). And they definitely deserve our support.
________________
Ben-Gurion Matsas is the publisher of IMAGE Magazine and president of the Sephardic National Alliance.