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Beis Rivkah Students Express Support for Principal

About 200 Beis Rivkah High School students signed on to a petition thanking their principal Mrs. Shaina Tiechtel, and showing support for the school’s enforcement of the ban on Facebook after much of the national media picked up on the story we published here a week ago.

The following letter was sent around via email to Beis Rivkah students by a few concerned students:

Dear fellow BRHSers,

Most of you have probably heard about the Facebook thing. (Last week, girls in school were called out, handed slips of paper, and told to deactivate their Facebook accounts as well as pay a $100 fine, refundable upon graduating, for violating the school’s anti-FB rule and the contract they’d signed in the beginning of the year.) Some of you may not know that this story has somehow become a news sensation. The Huffington Post, CBS News, 1010 Wins and several other news sites and blogs, including international ones, have reported on the school banning its students from Facebook.

Right now, our school has caught the world’s attention – mostly because, as the articles covering this story have reported, students did not like to comply with the enforcement. Whether you agree with the policy or not, Bais Rivkah is our school. Maybe they should have done things differently. Maybe not.

You don’t have to like the rule – or the school, for that matter. But as a student in Bais Rivkah, which was founded by the Rebbe and whose letterheads still bear the name of his secretary, you do have to respect it. Besides the fact that the hundreds of comments on the the news sites are largely anti-Semitic, which is in itself an outright chilul Hashem (forget about chilul Lubavitch), they point out that the students themselves do not want to comply with the school rules.

The media loves to see dysfunctional Hasidism. They love to say that Hasidic females have no rights, that the schools shove religion down our throats, and that our Constitutional rights are being infringed upon. Why are we giving them leverage against us? You do not have to like your school. But you don’t have to let the whole world know that.

Whether or not you like the action Bais Rivkah has taken, you need to respect it. Show support of your school and of your principal by stating that you stand by the school’s decision – even though you may disagree with it. You are a student, and you don’t have to like what your school says. You have to simply listen.

We started with eleventh and twelfth grade and encouraged tenth graders, too. Ninth graders, you may not have been called out, but you’ll soon move up a grade. You’re old enough now to be leaders, too. Do the right thing.

The girls were given the opportunity to sign on to the following letter, which a vast majority of them promptly did:

To our esteemed principal Mrs. Tiechtel,

Recently, there has been much news coverage on Bais Rivkah’s Facebook ban. We would like you to know that whether or not we are happy about the policy, we stand behind you and your decision and behind our school one hundred percent.

Thank you for putting your heart and soul into taking care of us, our well-being, and our futures.

Signed,

Esther Gopin, Nechama Hecht, Mushky Wineberg, Shterny Grossbaum, Ady Fox, Sara Galperin, Mushkie Lerman, Shaindy Elgarten, Esther Rimler, Shterna Sara Brook, Mashee Wilhelm, Leah Hertz, Mushky Levertov, Nechami Robinson, Esti Kraz, Devorah Leah Malinas, Shternie Woolstone, Mushkie Andrusier, Chaya Muchnik, Geula Rina Nimni, Malka Kugel, Chaya Wolff, Rivky Avtzon, Tzaity Marasow, Shula Chein, Chassidah Woolstone, Mussie Raskin, Chani Wolff, Suki Turner, Batya Eisenbach, Leah Olidort, Chaya Zaltzman, Goldie Junik, Sheina Caplan, Shterna Lipsker, Leah Chein, Leah Borisute, Nechama Hecht, Shevy Vinisky, Chana Simpson, Taibele Levin, Mushkie Laine, Chana Leah Moscowitz, Ahuva Yomtov, Raizel Proccacia, Bella Lifshitz, Faigy Shemtov, Chanie Nemanow, Mushkie Junik. [And many more who don’t have email]

Mrs. Teichtel was deeply moved by her students’ gesture, and sent the following reply to each of the girls’ inbox:

To my dearest students. What a lovely surprise I am in Germany for a few days and opened my email and was greeted by your lovely letter. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.

Thank you much for the time and effort. I always believed in you and am so proud of each and everyone of you.

The rebbe once told us by yechidus your students are your children .

Today I see how true that is.

Gut Shabbos

Shana Tiechtel

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40 Comments

  • Impressed

    Beautiful!! So impressed at the high caliber of these girls. Truly mature and mentchlich, wow!

  • Rabbi Weinglass

    what horse-rubbish… they are pressuing girls to sign. Time to get rid of the 1960s administration and get real leaders/teachers who will inspire and lead our future generation by role model, not by being hypocritical and utilizing dictatorial methodology.

  • to #2

    When was the last time you were considered normal? Ur comment makes zero sense!

  • to #2

    um excuse me no one was pressured to sign anything it was emailed to us by girls in our school nothing to do with administration and you didnt have to sign if you didnt want to
    everyone did it cuz they wanted to not cuz they were forced to

  • To #4

    Because your part of a cult. you actually believe that you live in a cool community, and you go to an awesome school. Btw the spelling of brhs who commented on this website for the last few days were atrocious; your school can’t even give you an education that they promise to deliver.

  • brhs

    first you have a lot of nerve to say anything about what the bais rivkah girls did for their principal being that YOU ch.info started this whole thing and blew it up if not for you we wouldnt of needed to sign anything. and to comment number two girls in the 12th grade decided to do this to show support for our school

  • Pinchos

    lets us continue to strive to make the Rebbe zy”a proud of his Mosdos and all his children.
    May the Abishter have Rachmonus on Kol Bnei Yisroel un shik Moshiach Now Mamash

  • Mother of 11th grade student

    As a mother of a BRHS 11th grader who was fined, I am disappointed that this letter did not make it to all of the e-mail accounts of all of the girls in 11th grade, as they were the ones who received fines. I only heard of this letter after seeing it on one of these websites 2 days ago! I did tell my daughter that if it makes it way to her that she must sign it! She asked me why and I told her we must support the school and all of the wonderful things Bais Rivkah has done for her this year – and they are MANY!!! Unfortunately, the letter did not reach her, she only heard of it from me!

    To alleged ‘Rabbi Weinglass’ – In no way is this horse-rubbish, it is a reality of the world we live in today! While facebook has it’s advantages, the disadvantages do far out way it! In the 1060’s television was just making it’s way around the world, no one ever dreamed of Facebook and the perils it would cause in the years to come! The leaders and teachers working in Bais Rivkah are extremely real and extrmely wonderful! As I have already said, Bais Rivkah has given my daughter a tremendous amount! I hope every mother can say the same thing, especially those of us from out-of-town! As other girls said, no-one forced them to sign, they did it of their own free will.

    To #6, not being able to spell properly is a G-d given trait, for better or for worse, and has absolutely nothing to do with the school!!!

  • to 6

    Before you mock the writing of others, just notice you wrote your instead of you’re, you uneducated fool.

  • to #6

    Let’s not even get started on your grammar – or rather, lack thereof.

  • Mother of 11th grader without FB

    Sounds like peer pressure to me. My daughter will not sign it and nor would I. It does not mean I do not support the school for its wonderful attributes and programs.

  • mother of ex-BRHS student

    i remember when my daughter’s friends were confronted with their myspace pages. the way they were treated was against anything the Rebbe taught us about Chinnuch. it was a clear indication that the administration had no respect for their students.

  • Clarification

    Mrs teichtel didnt email it to every girl. She emailed her reply to the email that had sent the petition to her.(which is the email of the br grapevine , whose editors came up with the idea of this petition in the first place)

  • the power of sight

    audiences to public speakers focus on the visual as much as the audio. in other words, Mrs Teichtel’s audience in this picture is focusing as much on how she looks as they are focusing on what she says. come to think of it, high schools girls are probably an even more visually influenced audience than most. Mrs. Tiechtel’s wig surely had her audience’s attention. blonde, flowing, attractive. fun. its a fun wig to wear. there is a message in her wig. and it speaks louder than her words.

  • insulation not isolation

    FaceBook is part of life… until it is replaced by the next social website.
    Chabad has always shown how we do not shun technology, we use it in a Kosher way.
    would it be so bad if BRHS taught the girls how to use FaceBook responsibly? FaceBook has incredible features that most people are not aware of.
    i think that teaching how to use it responsibly and in addition, show how you can use it to spread Chassidus… that the school will be more successful at influencing their students to act properly. it will show that BRHS respects and trusts their students.
    threats and fines are a quick fixes with a guaranteed backfire as soon as the student is beyond the firing range from where the threats and fines are coming from.

  • to #15

    im sorry but there was no pressure to sign so i dont know what you are talking about..

  • To # 9, and then everyone else...

    Oh, so you told your daughter that if it gets to her she MUST sign it yet you disagree with # 2 for calling it peer pressure? Hello?? Are you BLIND? “It’s not a forced thing. Girls only sign it if they want to. But oh, daughter of mine, if this gets to you you HAVE TO sign it” Are you serious? You’re totally contradicting yourself! If it’s really something that girls only sign based on free-will then you should not be telling your daughter that she has no choice but to sign the petition in supporting her school. Because seriously, that totally defeats the purpose of the petition. If all the signatures are on there because “girls mommies forced them to sign it”, then the whole thing is totally a joke. Is this what you want to teach your child? “oh just sign, honey, even though you disagree..” How cult like.

    The point of the petition was to show Mrs Teichtel how many students actually care and support the school. So basically you’re just lying to Mrs Teichtel by forcing your daughter to sign. The whole thing was stupid, actually. I do think it’s a nice idea for girls to show their support, but when an email comes telling us that “whether or not you like it or agree, you must respect it and show your support” …. Um I don’t know about you folks but to me that pretty much sounds like “sign if you know what’s good for you, or else”. The petition was an open document. Everyone was able to see how many people signed it, and even more so who actually signed. Gosh, the peer pressure! Also, I strongly believe (after actually reading the list of girls who signed) that many who signed it did so to “help clear their name” after the whole FB thing. Yes, I do believe that some girls signed it agreeing from the bottom of their hearts, but I also believe that a big percentage did so only to clear their name, or perhaps because they didn’t want to be asked why they never signed. I happen to be a BRHS student and I did NOT sign the petition, although it did make its way to me.

    So number 9, I am REALLY happy that I’m not your daughter. In fact, i kinda feel bad for her, and I’m pleased that she was lucky enough that the petition never made its way to her. I’m glad that she wasn’t forced into signing something that she didn’t necessarilly agree to. But hey, maybe she did get it, and didn’t tell you, because she didn’t want to be forced to sign. Ha. Ha. Ha. That would be really funny!

    On a different note, despite everything that I just said to bash the whole petition thing, I do have one thing I’d like to add that’s not anti-BRHS. A lot of you made comments about how the school doesn’t teach proper English spelling/grammar. I’m sorry but clearly that’s not the school’s fault, with myself being exhibit A. I am in BRHS and I think I just made it very obvious that not every girl comes out of that place spelling horrifically. And I know many many more girls in my school who know how to properly spell and use grammar correctly. It’s not a Bais Rivkah thing, you know. I know girls who don’t go to BR, who spell horrifically anyways. But I totally am on your side with how annoying and unprofessional it looks. However, don’t you DARE blame Bais Rivkah for that! I might not like my school very much, and I might not back them up on any of this FB business, but don’t you say that girls come out of there writing-disabled. Teenagers tend to comment or post or whatever as if they’re texting, or whatever. I personally think that proper spelling should at least be attempted, especially when you want people to take you seriously. But honestly, I believe that it’s the choice of the person. One who wants to spell correctly will, and one who doesn’t wish to won’t. I believe in proper usage of spelling, yet a girl who sits right near me in class might not. So seriously just stop blaming BR on that issue. Again, I may not love the school, but you can’t blame them if kids have problems spelling.
    (by the way, I’ve seen the occasional adult spell worse. And hey, maybe if you buy all teenagers phones with auto-correct, we wouldn’t have this problem ;) )

    – A BRHS gal who doesn’t have FB, and knows how to spell :)

  • to 18

    You are either ignorant or spinning facts. Chabad didn’t shun the technologies benefits such as broadcasting the Rebbe’s sichos to the world on TV, yet at the same time the Rebbe was 101% against TVs in people’s homes. Likewise a web presence solely used to promote Yiddishkeit the Rebbe would and did support. But the way facebook is used by 99.9% of teenagers are to promote themselves. I’m sure if a girl made a mivtzoim facebook page, BRHS wouldn’t tell them to deactivate it. It was the personal facebook pages that they were instructed to deactivate.

  • no respect

    Trust me…The girls who signed this letter are the “chasidush” girls who don’t have their own opinions and thoughts on anything. You treated this matter as you always do…without any regard for the feelings of the students. Keep treating them without any respect and then wonder why so many go off the derech. Good job guys!! As usual…

  • to br student

    what a lie?! pressured into signing?! AFRAID?! there was no pressure at all! a real pity you did not take your name off because it really should not be on that letter!!

  • To #10

    Lol! If you’re going to attack me get your English straight. It’s “your school” not “you’re school”.

  • to #15

    maybe you’re kidding and u just wanna drive everyone nuts and make a little joke but what u did is VERY NOT OKAY.
    people believe what you write on these sites and you know as well as the other BR girls who signed that no one even spoke about signing, because this only started once vacation did.
    So SHUT your mouth when it comes to these things – you dont realize what you can do. This is one good thing about this whole story and you want to ruin it?!

  • #9 responding to #20

    HELLO?? HELLO?? HELLO??
    I told her what I felt! I was not standing over her, I went to work for the day, and had it by some slim chance come to her, I had no intention of forcing her with a horse whip! I simply told her how I felt, and still feel! Note that I wrote ‘must’, it was you who wrote ‘MUST’!! There is a difference!!! The school has supported us, we must support them! I’m sorry you didn’t see that in what I wrote! And yes, I am serious! WE MUST SUPPORT THE SCHOOL! Do you listen to your parents?!?! HELLO?? HELLO??
    I am totally unaware of anyone being forced to sign it, as I said, or certainly meant to, we never saw the petition, I only heard of it on one of these websites, it NEVER came here, it sounds like to me, it went from friend to friend, as I understand there are not 200 girls in year 11 alone, it appears to be a mixture of grades who signed!

    I see nothing in #2’s words relating to peer pressure, I see ‘Rabbi Weinglass” mocking the school administration and teachers, ‘Time to get rid of the 1960s administration and get real leaders/teachers who will inspire and lead our future generation by role model, not by being hypocritical and utilizing dictatorial methodology.’ I see this person as having no derech eretz at all, and on that point, chinuch begins at home!!!
    BTW, I am not blind and I am also glad you are not my daughter, she does not have the chutzpa you have and does not vent it on public forums!!!
    As for spelling mistakes, ask Dan Quayle how to spell ‘potato’!!! He made it to the Vice-Presidency, I’m sure others out there will go somewhere too!!!

  • To 14. mother of ex-BRHS student wrote:

    One of the reasons my daughter was asked to leave BRHS (her school since Pre-1A) was because I didn’t support their MySpace ban. My daughter only had female friends but they accused her otherwise even though there was a printout of her page right on the table!

  • to number 21

    your comment to me about my being ignorant or spinning facts is based on your assumption: I’m sure if a girl made a mivtzoim facebook page, BRHS wouldn’t tell them to deactivate it.
    do you want to double check and see if your assumption is accurate?
    because if your assumption is wrong… you are the one who is ignorant and spinning facts.

    number 18

  • to 24

    Hey fool, when you wrote “Because your part of a cult”, you should have written “you’re”, so those in a glass home shouldn’t throw stones. Get a life and get educated.

  • to #22

    ok firstly, im desgusted at the way everyone fights so much. i am a BR student and i am PROUD of it. i must admit that i am not the chassidish type and i signed it because i knew it was right. i actually had FB! i love my school and i dread the day when i will graduate and leave it forever

  • to # 28

    thank you for the validation. i hope all this discussion will make BRHS examine their deeds and make changes for the better in the way they handle relating to the internet.
    the admin seems to enjoy being super-sleuth. i don’t think it is becoming for a Chassidishe school to act that way. they want the girls to think that the admin knows everything. its creepy and does not achieve the goal they should be working towards.

    number 14

  • to #31

    i am in exactly the same position as you and i was even fined the $100!!!

  • to #20

    This is what it said in the letter:

    Whether or not you like the action Bais Rivkah has taken, you need to respect it. Show support of your school and of your principal by stating that you stand by the school’s decision – even though you may disagree with it. You are a student, and you don’t have to like what your school says. You have to simply listen.

    PLEASE DO NOT DISTORT IT. NOWHERE DOES IT SAY THAT THE STUDENTS WERE FORCED TO SIGN IT. NOWHERE! IT MERELY *ENCOURAGES* THE GIRLS TO SIGN IT!

    The fact that something so personal landed on a NEWS SITE DISGUSTS ME!

    Where are the good Jewish values (im not even talking Chassidishkeit- im talking about middos) that we as yidden are supposed to have!
    WHERE?!

  • to # 31

    BRHS is one giant failure!! Look @ all the young mothers bringing their kids to school…most of them don’t even look frum! These mothers were BRHS students!!!It’s time for a new generation to run BRHS…

  • BRHS 11th Grader

    There was no force or preassure to sign this i don’t know why people are making these things up. Obviously you don’t know what you’re talking about. Crownheights.inof if you’re gonna post something post the whole things there are a ton more names on the petition than that!

  • Most rediculous thing ever

    Haha. Next the school won’t let you go outside because you may see Pritzus
    And why the 100 dollar fine
    It is one thing to make a new rule to forbid something (nomatter how ridiculous the prohibition may be, but why fine them for something that was previously allowed
    Hmmmm maybe it one of those do-anything-to-get-money places
    Just saying