3 Generations of Hechts Prove Strong Mentors

ORANGE, CT — Rabbi Sheya Hecht always tells people he had “a better mentor” than his oldest son, Mendy, does, but that self-effacing view is part of what makes Sheya Hecht such a good father to his 10 children, 200 students and hundreds of congregants.

The “better mentor” to whom he refers, his own father, the late Rabbi Moshe Yitzchok Hecht, founded the New Haven Hebrew Day School in the 1940s beginning with a few students. Moshe Hecht also brought the Chabad movement to Greater New Haven; Chabad is a Hassidic movement in which a central theme is outreach to the community.

Sheya Hecht, who took over as headmaster of the school in 1992 when his father died, has since ushered in a new era, renaming the school Southern Connecticut Hebrew Academy to better reflect the geographic area it serves and leading what is now a school of about 200 students and one of the few Jewish high schools for girls nationwide. Nestled in a wooded area of Orange on Route 34 since about 1970, the school’s mission is still to educate Jewish children, but with all the necessary societal updates like 21st century technology.

And that kid of Sheya Hecht’s who supposedly hasn’t had as great a mentor as his dad?

At 23, Rabbi Mendy Hecht has traveled the world to the most remote sections of less developed countries and through his people skills and religious training has given hope, joy and in some cases renewed faith to Jews in isolated areas or who are home-bound in places where a synagogue or rabbi are virtually impossible to come by. As part of what some refer to as the “Jewish Peace Corps,” Mendy traveled to Peru, Romania, South Africa, Portugal. Some of his fondest memories are of those places where he conducted Seders, prayers and on a lighter side during Hanukkah, searched for Jewish people in need of menorahs. He wants to continue the global outreach.

“To find that one Jew and to see that excitement…” Mendy said, in awe of his experiences while traveling. “It’s rewarding to give people something they have a right to, but didn’t know what it is.”
In many ways Mendy is like his dad. Sheya Hecht also traveled the world with a similar mission before settling down in the New Haven area and working with his father, Moshe Hecht, at New Haven Hebrew Day School, first as a teaching assistant, then principal, then headmaster. Mendy doesn’t see himself leading the school or even making it his life’s work, but he’s learning administrative work and working with families in Chabad, the synagogue portion of the academy.

Mendy had various opportunities after high school and the idea to become a rabbi was always there, but he really made the decision when a bunch of friends decided on rabbinical school after high school. Mendy said there wasn’t pressure from his dad to become a rabbi, adding, “There are five boys, I didn’t have to be the one” to follow in dad and grandad’s footsteps.

Sheya Hecht gets a twinkle in his eye hearing Mendy talk about his adventures and recalling the delight of his own travels.

“It cements and completes the whole picture to add a dimension and perspective,” the elder Hecht, 49, said.

Mendy becomes noticeably more animated when talking about his inspirational experiences in other countries.

There was the time in Romania when Mendy and a rabbi partner had time to kill before a scheduled event and couldn’t decide whether to take a nap or a walk. They opted for a walk and came upon an elderly man who was wearing a religious garment that was visible and they struck up a conversation. It turned out the man, a retired professor, had been raised Jewish by his mother until he was six or seven, but she vanished during the Holocaust and he had escaped through his father’s family who were not Jewish. The religion had stayed in his heart, however, so to pray with Mendy and his partner was an emotional experience, Mendy said.

Then, Mendy recalls visiting a town in South Africa where a man who was depressed and bed ridden from a fall off a ladder accepted a visit from the rabbis.

In each place they visited, Mendy and a partner worked off a list of known Jews in those communities. By the time Mendy and his partner left, the man told them their conversation had given him a new outlook and “strength of understanding,” and that he was ready to take life on. He considered their visit a sign from heaven that he had to move on, Mendy said.

Mendy himself believes there was “divine intervention” during his travels because so many touching things happened during times when it was least expected.

What Mendy loves about the role of a rabbi is the ability “to create desire to change the world,” especially true in the Chabad movement.

A key part of the Chabad movement is to give back and help others. Chabad is also about increasing Jewish awareness, educating adults and creating a family environment. Anyone can go to Chabad services; no need to be a member or an actively observant Jew.

“Within every person there’s a soul, a life force and a way he or she connects; we want to ignite a soul,” Sheya said of the movement.

Mendy, the second oldest of 10 children, is well-suited to be a Chabad rabbi, his dad said.

“I think he’s a wonderful people person and can communicate well,” Sheya Hecht said of his oldest son. “He brings a breath of fresh air” to the school and Chabad of Orange.

Sheya’s great-grandfather came to U.S. in 1888 from Poland, brought up his three children, then one of them, Sheya’s grandfather had six boys, including Moshe. All six boys became rabbis, but that didn’t exactly delight Sheya’s grandfather, as he lamented there would be no one to carry on the family business. But his rabbi told Sheya Hecht’s grandfather his boys were “better suited for this.”

Moshe “Maurice” Hecht came to the New Haven area in 1946 at the direction of Lubavitcher Rebbe Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson, an Orthodox leader, to establish a Jewish day school. He also assumed leadership of Congregation Beth Israel in New Haven. Previously, most Hebrew school students went after regular school.

Moshe Hecht, remembered as a warm man who was loved on a personal level and also revered in the Orthodox Jewish community in Greater New Haven, was by all accounts successful beyond what was ever imagined in fulfilling the rebbe’s assignment.

How was it for Sheya working with his father?

“It was very interesting, I had a good mentor,” Sheya Hecht said. “I always say to people, ‘I had a better mentor than Mendy does.’”