38 Comments

• justme

  841 o.p

• confused

  Full yeshiva??

• hay it is about time

  What about fixing up ocean pkwy and turning it into a real yeshiva?

• Mendel W.

  send him to public school. Its FREE !

• yy

  wow! what would the rebbe rashab say if he read this about his yeshiva. our mosods are not a business but a ideological mosod. no one should be turned away.

• chr

  bsd
  dont u.stand, there is no such thing as full :(
  for one of our own??
  makes no sense….
  is there a problem here?
  a political one perhaps?
  and some innocent person should now get involved when we dont know
  what the perhaps real problem is?
  i pushed and got my children in….wherever….
  you have to be a mentsch
  do your best
  how about davening, giving tzedaka, tehillim, emunah, do something beyond your comfort zone

• Suggestions for you

  B“H

  There is a possible easy answer for your situation! There are two other wonderful Lubavitcher cheders in Crown Heights, and one other wonderful one in Queens. They are:

  1) Cheder Ohr Menachem
  1717 President St.
  (718) 778-8770
  [We’ve had our son there for 3 years now, and we are very happy with it! Forget the ”labels”; it’s a great cheder, and the classes do not exceed 18 students, by school policy, per the Rebbe’s horaos.
  I know of at least one other student who commutes daily to this cheder in Crown Heights, from Flatbush. If you want to discuss, call me at (718) 774-7021.]
  2) Yeshiva Darchei Menachem
  823 Eastern Parkway
  (718) 953-2919

  3) Cheder at the Ohel
  224-20 Francis Lewis Blvd.
  (718) 528-8989

  Good luck!
  (and do not hesitate to call me, as I indicated above — I want to hear how it all turned out!)

  Ksiva vachasima tova, l’shana tova u’m’suka!

  Mrs. Y. Weber,
  Crown Heights

• when did they apply etc

  they don’t give any dates. maybe they tried applying too late? how old is the child? etc. There is normally much more to stories like this.

• Just trying to help

  What about new alternative yeshivas? There are other options besides the classic two today, BH.

• want to help

  where can i send a check?

• shliach

  We are shluchim & encounterd the same problem – they tell us they are full and no room for our kids.

  B”H we sent our son to the Cheder at the Ohel and we have been thrilled!

  The chinuch was tops not only do they focus on learning but there is a big emphasis on Yiras Shamayim, Chasidishkiet & Mentchlichkiet.

  YOur child also won’t be one in many since the classes are kept smaller.

• moshe

  why do you have to send him to a lubavitcher yeshiva were the education is substanderd he whont go on shlichus any why so let him go to a school that teaches seculer subjects and get a parnosah

• chayal

  yes, there is a problem with yeshivas being full for one of our own. try it. call up and try to enroll your three year old son or daughter, and they will tell u they are full

• pushy

  il help him!! im pushy and will get this kid in! what is this guys number???

• Yehuda

  Moshe,
  I guess what the Rebbe said about education & parnosah mean nothing.
  The Rebbe said that if at all possible a chabad child must be educated in a Chabad mossad.
  The Rebbe also stressed many times that parnassah comes from Hashem. It does not matter if you have a degree or not. There are plent of people with degrees without jobs & plent without degrees that have good paying jobs.
  A child has time to learn a trade or certain professions once he has finished a few years in Zal.

• This, too, is chinuch!!!

  B“H

  Why do you want to ”push“ your way into the overcrowded classrooms of the ”Big 2“ yeshivahs anyway? Do you really want for your son to be just another sardine?

  In the long run, you’re better off at least for this year in one of the other cheders mentioned above. Your son can grow at any of them, and he’ll surely get more attention at these other cheders than he’d get at the ”Big 2″, as well!

  Believe me, when your son is going for semichah, it’ll be his ability, zitzfleish, performance, willingness to work hard with dedication, and his eidelkeit and mentschlichkeit that count (along with recommendations and connections and a little mazal), not the name of the cheder where he went for grades 1-8.

  Take this whole situation as the Hashgachah Pratis that it is, and make the most of your many other great options for a Lubavitch cheder for your son for this year!

  This, too, is chinuch!

• a big fan

  the online school vie shluchim office!

• RSD

  the other option is United Lubavitcher Yeshiva located at 841 Ocean Parkway. There he can get the Education and warmth he deserves.

• dr. israel

  to yehuda
  you say that the Rebbe wants a chabad child being educated in chabad school
  what’s about if He hear that His mosdos are not taking in this child(for whatever reason-financially, no space etc etc.) and cannot make space for another child and the parents have no choices but to send him to a litvish or belzer yeshiva-cheder????
  you say thath the Rebbe stressed that parnossoh comes from Hashem,and the SAME REBBE says that no child should be refused to come to yeshiva because of ( any reason)!!!!!!!!!

• parent

  Turn ULY OP into a real Yeshiva? Supposedly it is LOL!! I believe the pre school is quite good. As for 1st grade up…let’s just say we pulled our kids out mid-year & home schooled one. One went to the Cheder @ the Ohel & like the Shliach, we were delighted! I can’t praise them enough! Our son is now in ZAL, very Chassidish B“H & it’s due to parents and school working as a team. (The others turned out very well too, much to the disappointment of ULY OP!)

  Pre-schools for some reason seem very hard to get into, probably because they try to keep the classes small. As my friend says, there’s always room for one more. If there are too many ”one mores”, start another class. Hire another teacher & make a room available.

• same old story

  I can vouch for the smaller Yeshivahs like Ohr Menachem and Darchei Menachem as very good alterntives (maybe even better). I say this from personal experience in both schools. by the same token the difference between sending a child to OUR Lubavitcher mosad as opposed to other ‘HIGHER’ standard schools is the difference between heaven and earth with the positive in our favor. I have seen too many edumicated people with all kinds of decrees (aka degrees) after their names who’ve sent their children to “other” schools because the “standard” was so much better… and the children turned out with very much to be desired. earning the holy buck is not and should not be the criterea as that is truly in Hashems hands, and if he doesn’t want you to have then all your edumication “vet helfen ah toiten bankes”
  It is an absolute disgrace that a moisad of the REbbe’s will and does refuse students for all kinds of idiotic reasons. The Rebbe must have a lot of Nachas from this. All I can say to these poor parents is Hatslacha raba in your quest. If only you were GESHE you would have no problem, even if you walked into school a week after it started…..

• Chan

  We can learn a thing or two from Lakewood! The Rabbonim there will not allow any schools to open until every child has a place in one of the schools. Thats community!

• Yeshiva parent

  To Chan: And Lakewood REFUSES to allow children in, without tuition being paid of $3,500 and up, even with their Rabbonim. They mamash do that.

• aim

  First of all, if your son does not know Yiddish, you should not be sending him to Oholei Torah or Lubavitch Yeshiva on Crown St.-he would be very behind. Also, his knowledge of Hebrew for learning should be very well.
  Second, some of the yeshivas mentioned do not follow halacha. They do not believe in saying mishyanos on a yahrzeit, for example.
  Also, “man’s steps are established by G-d” and wherever your son turns out learning he should realize it is hashgocho protis and make the best of it.
  K’sivah V”chasima Tova.

• Seen this all before

  There’s *always* more to this! story! Someone calls one week before school starts, never filled out one form, never put down a deposit and then expects to welcomed with open arms. Plan ahead people.

• mendy

  to same old story
  you 100% right my father is a geshe and has money and ALL my brothers got in( also once after the beginning of the zman)
  even to yeshivos where some of my friend try to get in around Purim
  one thing I’ll shall tell you I’m not proud of it

• nos

  To Aim
  Which yeshivas are you talking about don’t follow halachah, and what is your proof to your allegations

• Some answers please

  I suppose the community and the schools cannot count. The community is growing Boruch Hashem, but the schools remain the same size. Should people have less children so that the schools can handle the amount of three year old kids that enter into the school system each year. Is the population explosion to much for the schools to handle? Should the community down size by having less children? If we have less children then the burden on the schools will be less. Is that what the schools want? I mean what is the message they are trying to portray. Schools are full? That is no excuse. Our community is Boruch Hashem growing and it is the responsibility of the community and the schools alike to make space for our children! You have a beautiful Yiddishe child and the schools have a responsibility to you. Jewish education is not a business it is the core of our community.

• do more good

  wow so lakewood makes sure their own has a place? Interesting and Lubavitch doesnt. Seems like a new trend in the Lubavitcher Mosdos. Montreal seems to be having the same problem.
  What are the Rebbeim saying right now?

• Unconventional approach

  The author of the article writes, “There is no way we can send him to a non-Chabad yeshiva.” Assuming for the moment that he cannot get his son into a Chabad yeshiva there appear to be a few alternatives:

  1. Send him to a non-Chabad yeshiva.
  2. Send him to public school.
  3. Send him to a non-Jewish private school.
  4. Home-school him.

  Given the state of public schools we can safely say that is not an option. I do not believe non-Jewish private schools are any better. The only practical choices are home-schooling him and sending him to a non-Chabad (though halachically acceptable) yeshiva. Not everyone is capable of home-schooling their children, as it requires patience, time, and some training. So, do you provide chinuch to your children yourself, with a good chance of botching the job, or do you send him to a non-Chabad yeshiva where he will learn Gemara, halacha, etc., among mentchen?

• DallasJew

  the one who pointed out about Yiddish is correct – if your son(s) in all honesty don’t understand/speak Yiddish don’t waste time with the big 2 Yeshivas’s – your kids will do better in the smaller two mentioned above (labels not-withstanding oy what to do ;).
  hatzlocho!

• ch mom

  we applied for school in the begining of the school year. a lot of children in my son’s class didn’t have a place to send their sons. some of the parents pushed in ,maybe there is room for 1 or 2 more but you can’t push in another full class. they don’t have space in the building. i wish that they could start another branch in ch b/c b’h ch is growing. ohelei torah is having less classes. they are also running out of space. we had to look into one of the smaller yeshivas like ohr menachem or cheder at the ohel.

• Been there too

  I wish we could get this huge group of parents together and storm the public school system. Perhaps we would wind up with a public yeshiva. Wouldn’t that be great?! BTW yeshivas saying that they are full is BULL if you are a certain name…or come to them with cash in hand…. they miraculously have an opening!

• wake up yidden

  I have to tell you all that the best Yeshiva’s in Boro Park all have the best Chabad children. These parents went to a Chabad Rov who told them to send their children there. It would be nice if people stop holding up a Picture of the Rebbe inorder to get away from doing their job! How many Yeshivas the Rebbe told to take the Rebbe’s name off the Yeshiva? Yiddish is not hard for any child to learn but try teach a Father and Mother or a Yeshiva to do right by a child! There is a new group of Young Guy’s in CH who do seem to have a head for doing the right thing. I just hope you are open to the change that is comming.

• A Yekke Lubavitcher

  I don’t know the particulars here, but I personally began the process of looking for a school for my three year olds when they are two year olds. You can call ANY school in JANUARY and tell them you want to register your child for September and while they may not be ready (most headstart programs are actually ready at that point) they will all write your name down.

  This is one of my biggest pet peeves about being a Lubavitcher; the communal mindset that we don’t have to do anything in advance, things can always wait until the last minute. I mean it’s almost as if people think, “Why plan? Moshiach is going to be here any minute and all those plans will be a waste!”

• Yiddish; also some more ideas

  B“H

  We do not know if the writer of the OP-ED’s child has enough training in Yiddish to transfer to a Chabad cheder, but we should not assume the child does NOT, unless the parent said so.

  All of this being said, if the child is older than about Pre 1-A, if he is behind in learning Yiddish, he not only won’t be ready for the rigorous standards of Oholei Torah and Lubavitch Yeshiva Crown Street, he also won’t be ready for the rigorous standards of Cheder Ohr Menachem, which pretty much has Yiddish immersion from the pre-upsherin class on up.

  In fact, because Ohr Menachem’s preschool is NOT a ”Head Start” school — thus not bound by the Federal rules that sometimes are not in total harmony with principles of chinuch — its Yiddish program is probably the strongest of all the preschools for boys in Crown Heights.

  Yet another alternative for this family would be some of the Chabad-House-based dayschools in the metropolitan area. The one at Port Washington (Nassau County — not much farther away than Cheder at the Ohel) comes to mind.

  There are probably also some other very fine ones, as well.

  Plus, there are always tutors — probably better than any cheder. Home schooling does not HAVE to be completely done by the parents.

• AIm

  nos wrote:
  “To Aim
  Which yeshivas are you talking about don’t follow halachah, and what is your proof to your allegations”

  The halacha of observing customs on a yahrzeit like the Rebbe said to do with the Friediker Rebbe’s yahrzeit. Some yeshivas do not believe this has to be done on gimel Tamuz.

• To Yehuda

  ‘The Rebbe also stressed many times that parnassah comes from Hashem. It does not matter if you have a degree or not. There are plent of people with degrees without jobs & plent without degrees that have good paying jobs.’

  Try telling this to the adminstration and see how far it gets you. I know of one Chabad school who squeezed parents to make huge tuition commitments last year ($5k+ per child) and now are stuck with tuition blaances. They will not let those kids into class untill the balance is paid off. s’vet zein freilach comes the first day of school next week……

  I BH have a degree and am not stuck in this situtation (paying over $8k per child which is financially difficult for me but at least I am meeting my commitments) but my heart goes out to those parents.