Yeshivah of Flatbush

"YOF" redirects here. For the chemical formula YOF, see Yttrium oxyfluoride.

Yeshivah of Flatbush ישיבת פלטבוש‎
Elementary school
Address
919 East 10th Street (elementary) 1609 Avenue J (high school) Brooklyn, New York United States
Coordinates	40°37′32″N 73°57′36″W
Information
Type	Private, Jewish day school, College-prep
Motto	אם אין קמח אין תורה ‎ Im ein kemach ein Torah (Without work (literally: flour) there is no Torah, "The Standard of Excellence.")
Religious affiliation(s)	Modern Orthodox Judaism
Established	1927
Founder	Joel Braverman
Principal	Joseph Beyda Yahel Tsaidi
Rosh Yeshivah	Raymond Harari
Grades	Atidenu (preschool)–12
Number of students	10,644
Color(s)	Maroon and gold
Mascot	Freddy the Falcon
Team name	Falcons
Newspaper	The Phoenix
Yearbook	Summit
Website	www.flatbush.org

The Yeshivah of Flatbush is a Modern Orthodox private Jewish day school located in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, New York. It educates students from age 2 to age 18 and includes an early childhood center, an elementary school and a secondary school.

History

The Yeshivah of Flatbush was founded in 1927 by Joel Braverman, among others. The institution, located on East 10th Street in Midwood, Brooklyn (a neighborhood sometimes identified with nearby Flatbush) at first consisted of an early childhood program, an elementary school and a middle school.^[1] The high school, founded in 1950 to complement the elementary school, was originally housed in an adjoining building. In 1962, the high school moved into a new building on nearby Avenue J, and the elementary school expanded into what was formerly the high school building.

Teaching philosophy

The institution combines a Torah education and a secular education for both boys and girls. The school's philosophy is a synthesis of Judaic studies (Bible, Talmud, Jewish Thought) and the liberal arts.

One of the Yeshivah of Flatbush's fundamental tenets is its "Ivrit b'Ivrit" (literally, "Hebrew in Hebrew") philosophy of teaching Judaics. This means that the school strives to incorporate Hebrew into Judaic Studies to an extent students an understand.^[2] With this technique, the Yeshivah aims to enable its students to achieve fluency in the Hebrew language.^[3]

Student demographics

The Yeshivah of Flatbush comprises Jewish students and teachers from a variety of backgrounds. In the past, more than half of the students were Ashkenazi Jews whose families originated from communities in Germany, Poland, Eastern Europe and Russia. In recent years, the majority has shifted to students of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish descent. The overwhelming number of Sephardic students can be attributed to the growth of the Syrian Jews Syrian Jewish communities of the United States Syrian Jewish community in Flatbush, and the decline in Ashkenazi enrollment can be attributed to the movement of Modern Orthodox communities to Long Island and New Jersey, with a concomitant increase in the number and quality of Jewish day schools and yeshivot in those areas.^[4] In 2022, the lower school consisted of 1,400 students.^[1]

Post-high school

High school on Avenue J

Many graduates participate in year-long programs at yeshivot and seminaries in Israel. Afterwards, some continue their studies in similar institutions, enroll in university or enlist in the Israel Defense Forces for another year or more. However, most come back to the United States for university. Graduates of the Yeshivah of Flatbush have studied at universities and colleges across the country, from Tulane to the University of Maryland and Boston University to Yale. Some of the most popular universities among Flatbush's alumni, including Yeshiva University and the City University of New York, grant as much as a year's worth of credit to students who study in Israel for a year, allowing them to apply these credits to their undergraduate degree. A large number of students graduate with college credit due to the many Advanced Placement Program (AP) courses offered in the Junior, Senior, and more recently Sophomore years of high school.

Leadership

David Eliach was the principal emeritus, following a decades-long tenure as principal of the high school.^[5] In later years, Raymond Harari, an alumnus of Yeshivah of Flatbush High School, served as the "head of school" of the high school, followed by Joseph Beyda.^[6]

The Elementary School was formerly led by Lawrence Schwed.^[4]

Student government

Each spring, the student body of the Yeshivah of Flatbush High School elects four juniors to positions in the Student Government Organization (SGO). These students assume their respective positions the following fall. The SGO plans various trips and other activities for students throughout the year. The SGO also organizes and plans Color War, which occurred recently for the first time, two years in a row.

The Senior Council is similarly chosen every year. Juniors elect four of their peers to lead them into and during their last year in the high school. The council's responsibilities include collecting senior dues and planning the wintertime Senior Ski Trip, the springtime Senior Trip, and the year-ending Senior Dinner.

Community interaction

Each year, the Yeshivah holds events that cater to the New York Jewish community. The largest ones include the annual Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance day) and Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israel Independence Day) programs, which traditionally feature performances by the high school's Choir and Chamber Choir, now under the direction of Brian Gelfand. In addition to this a 9/11 memorial program is held annually.

Each month, there is the Sunday Morning Learning program where students, faculty, and alumni get together for prayers, breakfast, and a faculty-prepared presentation of given texts. In addition to this there are also many alumni and members of the community come to help at programs.

Music and the arts

Since the early 1990s, the yeshivah has gained acclaim through its high school and chamber choirs. Under the direction of Daniel Henkin until the year 2007, the choral program at the yeshivah has been featured at venues including New York's city hall, Brooklyn's city hall, The Jewish Heritage Museum, and others. Their repertoire spans across genres which include arrangements of both secular and religious pieces. In 2008, Daniel Henkin resigned as choir director and assumed a position at the Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan. Henkin was replaced by Brian Gelfand, and was eventually replaced by Mordy Weinstein and finally Ricky Sasson, who directs the elementary and high school choirs to date.^{[citation needed]} The school also has a production of musicals performed in Hebrew each year by a select amount of talented students. The students write these plays and translate them from English to Hebrew, as well as star in them each year.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to this, Flatbush High School has an Expressive Arts class during 9th grade, which includes a music class and an acting/improv course, as well as a full-year 10th grade art class class- both of which are built into the school curriculum.

Sports

The Flatbush Falcons compete in a number of sports: the hockey, basketball and volleyball, and bowling teams compete in the fall, while the softball, pickleball, soccer, and boys varsity volleyball squads play in the spring; the swim, badminton, and tennis teams compete year-round. In most cases, teams are members of the Metropolitan Yeshiva High School Athletic League, which represents many of the Jewish day schools in the New York area.

The Flatbush Varsity Tennis Team won their first championship ever in June, 2017 beating Heschel 3–2. Players like Meyer Tawil, Joe Benhaim, and Meyer Kassin led the team to victory.

Two basketball tournaments are held every year. The Thomas Hausdorff Memorial Basketball Tournament in November brings the male junior varsity teams of three American Jewish high schools to Brooklyn for a weekend of competition and solidarity. At the Marc Sackin Memorial Basketball Tournament in December, the varsity team competes against other New York-area Jewish high schools. Hausdorff was a former principal of the school; Sackin was a student killed just days before his scheduled graduation in 1973.

Academic teams

The Yeshivah of Flatbush's academic teams compete in a wide range of areas. Some of the teams include: debate, Mock Trial, Model Congress, the Yeshiva University National Model United Nations, Envirothon, chess, mathematics, College Bowl and Torah Bowl.

Publications

• The Phoenix – Student newspaper
• Imrei Shefer – A D'var Torah weekly (Hebrew)first initiated in 1974 by Marc Lichtenthal ז’ל a member of the Class of 1975.
• Haaretz V'haam – An Israel-affairs newspaper
• Summit – Senior yearbook
• "Pegasus" – A liberal arts pamphlet

Notable alumni

• Arlene Agus (1949-2024), feminist and activist^[7]
• Howard Apfel, rabbi and noted expert on medical halacha and ethics^[8]
• Robert J. Avrech, Emmy Award-winning screenwriter^[9]
• David Berger, academic, expert in medieval Jewish history
• David Bernstein (born 1967), Professor, George Mason University School of Law and author
• Lee Bienstock (born 1983), finalist on The Apprentice 5.^[10]
• Baruch Samuel Blumberg (1925–2011), recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, identified the Hepatitis B virus^[11]
• Chaim Brovender, rosh yeshivah of Yeshivat HaMivtar
• Abraham Foxman (born 1940), former director (1987–2015) of the Anti-Defamation League.^[12]
• Gideon Gartner (born 1936), founder of the Gartner Group
• Baruch Goldstein, perpetrator of the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre.^[13]
• Judith Hauptman (born 1943), feminist Talmudic scholar and professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
• Neal Hendel, Israeli Supreme Court Justice
• Yehuda Henkin (1945–2020), noted Israeli posek
• Meir Kahane (1932–1990) (Elementary school graduate), founder of the Jewish Defense League and former Israeli Knesset member. Head of the Kach party
• Eric Kandel (born 1929), 2000 Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine^[14]
• Elihu Katz (born 1926), American sociologist and founder of Israeli television
• Ira Katznelson (born 1944), American political scientist and historian, currently Ruggles Professor at Columbia University, and previously president of the Social Science Research Council and the American Political Science Association. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
• Ezra Labaton (1950–2013), Modern Orthodox Rabbi, Philosopher, Educator, and Founding Rabbi of Congregation Magen David of West Deal^[15]
• Naomi Levy, member of the first class of women to enter the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, bestselling author and founder of Nashuva, The Jewish Spiritual Outreach Movement
• Isaac Mizrahi (born 1961), fashion designer^[16][17]
• Bertram L. Podell (1925–2005), former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York^[18]
• Dennis Prager (born 1948), public speaker and radio talk show host.^[19]
• Kenneth Prager, physician
• Samuel Schafler (1929–1991), rabbi, historian, editor and Jewish educator^{[citation needed]}
• Charlie Shrem,^[20] American entrepreneur, bitcoin advocate, and convicted felon
• Daniel Sperber, professor of Talmud at Bar-Ilan University and winner of the Israel Prize in 1992
• Joseph Telushkin (born 1948), author and speaker on Jewish topics^[19][21]
• Elana Maryles Sztokman (born 1969), author, researcher and feminist activist^[22]
• Joe Tacopina (born 1966), lawyer, media personality and professional sports executive^[23]
• Bruce Wasserstein (1947–2009), investment banker, businessman, and writer^[24]
• Wendy Wasserstein (1950–2006), playwright^[25]
• Larry Weinberg (1926–2019), former president of AIPAC and former owner of the Portland Trail Blazers^[26]
• Leon Wieseltier (born 1952), writer, editor of The New Republic^[27]
• Joel B. Wolowelsky, author and former Dean of the Faculty at the Yeshivah of Flatbush High School
• Alan Zelenetz (former Principal), co-founder of Ovie Entertainment, and comic book writer for Marvel Comics
• Efraim Zuroff (born 1948), Director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Israel

References

1. Gergely, Julia (March 16, 2022) "Yeshivah of Flatbush Students Do Talk About Haman in Their Purim 'Encanto' Spoof", Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
2. Ivrit B’Ivrit: A Discussion in Ten Da’at Archived April 23, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, Ten Da’at, Volume IV, Number 2, Spring 1990.
3. Message from the President, Jack Rahmey Archived August 13, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, accessed February 25, 2007.
4. Hootnick, Alexandra (July 26, 2011) "A Rising Tide of Sephardic Jews Brings Change To The Yeshivah of Flatbush", The Brooklyn Ink. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
5. "David Eliach, beloved educator who led Yeshivah of Flatbush for decades, dies at 99". October 2021.
6. (November 8, 2021) "Yeshivah of Flatbush Remembers Rabbi Dr. David Eliach Zt'l", Jewish Image. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
7. Antler, Joyce (2020-04-14). Jewish Radical Feminism: Voices from the Women’s Liberation Movement. NYU Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-1-4798-0254-8.
8. "Passover Thoughts", Yeshivah of Flatbush. Accessed December 24, 2023. "Rabbi Dr. Howard Apfel (HS ‘80) is a board certified pediatric cardiologist at Columbia University Medical Center."
9. "To Repair An Unhinged Heart", The Jewish Press, December 1, 2004. Accessed December 24, 2023. "Karen and I have journeyed a lifetime together. I first fell in love with her when I was ten years old and we were students at Yeshivah of Flatbush."
10. Resnick, Elliot. "The Almost Apprentice: An Interview With Lee Bienstock" Archived December 13, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, The Jewish Press, June 14, 2006, accessed April 29, 2007. "The Jewish Press: What’s your background? Bienstock: I grew up in Brooklyn and went to Yeshivah of Flatbush as a kid. Then when my family moved out to Long Island, I went to HAFTR."
11. SEGELKEN, H. ROGER (6 April 2011). "Baruch Blumberg, Who Discovered and Tackled Hepatitis B, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
12. Rosner's Guest: Abraham H. Foxman Archived February 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Haaretz, February 28, 2006. "He arrived in America in 1950 with his parents, graduating from the Yeshiva of Flatbush, in Brooklyn, NY, and later earning degrees in political science and law. "
13. Precker, Michael. "Brooklyn's image as extremist hotbed disputed by some Borough defenders say ties to Israel cherished, but radical groups aren't"^{[permanent dead link‍]}, The Dallas Morning News, March 20, 1994. Accessed August 6, 2007. "'This is not what we are teaching,' said Rabbi David Eliach, principal at the Yeshiva of Flatbush, where Dr. Goldstein attended high school."
14. Eric R. Kandel: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2000 Archived May 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Nobel Foundation. Accessed September 20, 2007. "My grandfather and I liked each other a great deal, and he readily convinced me that he should tutor me in Hebrew during the summer of 1939 so that I might be eligible for a scholarship at the Yeshiva of Flatbush, an excellent Hebrew parochial school that offered both secular and religious studies at a very high level. With his tutelage I entered the Yeshiva in the fall of 1939. By the time I graduated in 1944 I spoke Hebrew almost as well as English, had read through the five books of Moses, the books of Kings, the Prophets and the Judges in Hebrew, and also learned a smattering of the Talmud."
15. "R. Ezra Labaton, a 'bright star,' dies at 63". New Jersey Jewish News | NJJN. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
16. Nachman, Barbara. "Mizrahi"^{[permanent dead link‍]}, The Journal News, November 1, 2001. Accessed August 6, 2007. "Though she encouraged his creativity, Sarah Mizrahi enrolled her reluctant son in Yeshiva Flatbush, where he spent his days honing a repertoire of rabbi impersonations."
17. Gottschalk, Mary. "Fashion is sure to catch up with Isaac Mizrahi"^{[permanent dead link‍]}, St. Petersburg Times. October 18, 1998. Accessed August 6, 2007. "Fashion is and always has been an integral part of Mizrahi's life. He often recounts his eight years at Yeshiva Flatbush in his native Brooklyn, where his habit of drawing fashion sketches in the Old Testament regularly got him expelled. Just as regularly, he says, his mother, Sarah, would discard her couture clothes, makeup and accessories, change into a dowdy dress and go to the school to plead for her son's reinstatement. Then the two would celebrate by going shopping."
18. "State of Israel Bonds will honor former Rep. Podell". Real Estate Weekly. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24.
19. Portrait of Joseph Telushkin, Hadassah Magazine, April 2000
20. "Message from Head of School | Yeshivah of Flatbush". Archived from the original on 2016-12-04. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
21. Books: 'Holy' Ethically Speaking -- Rabbi Joseph Telushkin Covers It All Archived December 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles by Sandee Brawarsky, October 27, 2006. "Telushkin cites Prager as one of his rebbes -- the people he turns to with ethical questions. The two have been close friends since their sophomore year at Brooklyn's Yeshivah of Flatbush."
22. Weizman, Janice. "An Abusive System", The Tel Aviv Review of Books, Summer 2021. Accessed December 24, 2023. "Dr. Elana Maryles Sztokman was once an Orthodox religious Jew. Growing up in Brooklyn, she attended the Yeshiva of Flatbush, where she received an education that schooled her in the requirements and practices of Orthodox women."
23. Leibovich, Mark. "A-Rod’s Defender Knows How to Tap Dance", The New York Times, September 20, 2013. Accessed December 24, 2023. "[Q] You grew up in Sheepshead Bay, and yet you went to Yeshiva of Flatbush for elementary school. [A] My mother and father quickly determined that the best education I was going to get as a young child was at Yeshiva, instead of getting beat up at P.S. 12. I still have my yarmulke."
24. "Bruce Wasserstein's Last Surprise". Vanity Fair. March 29, 2010.
25. Bleyer, Jennifer. "The Real Lady of the Canyons" Archived January 15, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, February 5, 2006. Accessed August 6, 2007. "Perhaps it was because, at the yeshiva in Flatbush, we never studied the religious aspects of Christmas, the holiday seemed to me spectacular, truly magical."
26. "Former AIPAC President Larry Weinberg, 92", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, January 9, 2019. Accessed December 24, 2023. "He attended the Yeshivah of Flatbush, and later went on to study chemistry at Cornell University under a special U.S. government program for gifted math and science students."
27. The Annual Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Lecture: Fall 2005: "Law and Patience: Unenthusiastic Reflections on Jewish Messianism" Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, New York University. Accessed November 15, 2007. "Educated at the Yeshiva of Flatbush, Columbia College, Balliol College, Oxford, and Harvard University."

External links

• Official website