The Zvi Dov Roth Academy of Yeshiva Rambam (ZDR) was created in 1997 to respond to the emergence of a pressing need in the Brooklyn community for a new and innovative yeshiva high school. Initiated by Dr. Don Well, the principal of Yeshiva Rambam Elementary School, the educators, directors and parents of Rambam decided the time had come to create a secondary school, building on their established 50-year reputation for Jewish education in the Brooklyn community.
Named after Mr. Zvi Dov Roth, of blessed memory, the grandfather of Yeshiva Rambam’s beloved and dedicated Co-President of the board, Mr. Alex Rovt, the school settled into its temporary home in the Young Israel of Midwood building. Mrs. Chana Schwarz, an experienced educator and administrator was brought aboard to develop and manage the enterprise. As principal of the new school, she hand-picked and recruited a remarkably talented staff of top-notch and experienced faculty, dedicated to Jewish children and Jewish education. The new school balances traditional Torah study with the pursuit of secular academic excellence, stressing Jewish observance, a love for the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Hebrew language.
ZDR offers both a girls’ division and a boys’ division. According to Rabbi Elliot Bienenstock, Executive Director, a large percentage of the student population is of Sephardic descent. The school boasts a full enrollment and has expanded to both ninth and tenth grades, and added an eleventh grade in 1999-2000. The program was enhanced by the appointment of a new Manhig Ruchani (spiritual advisor) for the Boys’ division, Rabbi Daniel Cohen, a noted educator and rabbi in the Sephardic community, formerly of Hillel Yeshiva, Deal, N.J.
In addition to its advanced computer and science laboratories, ZDR is particularly proud of its Hesed/Community Service Program and issue-oriented seminars. Mrs. Schwarz firmly believes that educational success is measured not only by what students learn but also by how that knowledge is put into practice. Toward this end, special assemblies are held to explore issues that affect the lives of Jewish teens and the Jewish community at large. Through this program, every student at ZDR is encouraged to become involved in the broader Jewish community, developing a caring feeling by helping the physically or spiritually needy. They have developed an especially close involvement in the activities of Sephardic Bikur Holim.
Mrs. Schwarz feels that ZDR’s orientation toward community involvement strengthens a student’s development into a well-rounded individual within a Torah way of life.
