Teaneck—At last count, 33 educational organizations have come together to help sponsor the June 29 Teaneck Community Collaborative Conference, which is subtitled, “Educating and Inspiring Our Children Together.” The event will be held at Teaneck’s Congregation B’nai Yeshurun, beginning with shacharis at 8:00 a.m., followed by breakfast and a morning keynote speech from Rabbi Dr. Meir Y. Soloveichik. His talk is entitled “The Yeshiva Shel Ma’alah and the Ivy League.” After five breakout sessions, an afternoon keynote, given right before mincha, will be presented by Mrs. Shani Taragin. Her speech is entitled, “Home Schooling our Children.”
The conference is the brainchild of Rabbi Reuven Taragin, who is the dean of overseas students at the Yeshivat HaKotel, where he has worked for the past 18 years.
“This should become a forum on how to better educate our children, and has three main goals,” he told JLBC. The first goal is that by doing a communal event like this, numerous organizations come together, and therefore “it makes a statement about the centrality of education, the importance of it,” he said. Second, the conference will have numerous speakers, therefore giving parents the opportunity to hear from many different kinds of educators. Third, he said, the speakers will be “highlighting what they share as opposed to what divides them,” Taragin said.
In addition to the two keynotes, the conference includes five breakout sessions, each a half hour in length, with a choice of many speakers, so that parents can choose to hear speakers who relate to their particular educational concerns and interests. Speakers represent a range of educational perspectives, including those from the pulpit rabbinate, elementary schools, high schools, and post-high school yeshivas and seminaries. Several speakers will also present on general parenting topics. Shul rabbanim speaking include Rabbis Baum, Sobolofsky, Neuburger, and Rothwachs, as well as elementary school experts such as Dr. Sarah Feit, Dr. Elliot Prager, Rabbi Chaim Hagler, Rabbi Tomer Ronen, and Dr. Jonathan Frolich. High school representatives include Rabbi Yosef Adler, Rabbi Joseph Oratz, Dr. Rivka Schwartz, Rabbi Michael Taubes, and Ms. Elana Flaumenhaft. On behalf of seminaries and yeshivas in Israel, speakers include Rabbi Binny Friedman, Mrs. Nataly Weiss, Rabbi Yamin Goldsmith, Rabbi Yehoshua Hartman, Rebbetzin Peshi Neuburger, Rabbi Yedidya Berzon, Rabbi David Milston, Rabbi Reuven Taragin, Rabbi Howard Apfel, and Rabbi Jesse Horn. The speakers addressing general parenting topics include Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, Dr. Shoshana and Dr. Yitzy Schechter, Rabbi Shaul Feldman, Rabbi Yisrael Rothwachs, and Rabbi J.J. Schacter.
Taragin explained that as part of the annual process of acquiring new students and spreading awareness of Israeli yeshivas, representatives repeatedly come to major Jewish centers throughout the world. “It becomes scattered and splintered and we all receive an email every five minutes. The thought was to bring together yeshivas and at the same time to partner with schools and shuls,” working together toward the same goal, Taragin said. “So, instead of getting 30 flyers from 30 organizations, this year you’re getting one flyer with 30 organizations on it,” Taragin said.
A small steering committee “on the ground” in Teaneck includes Suzy Schwartz, who is chair of the committee, along with Dena Felsen, David Schiff, Brian Gopin, and Ari Wieder.
“Our community gets to regularly enjoy the presence of so many outstanding educators and rabbanim in our midst,” said Schwartz. “This exciting program allows participants to benefit from the wisdom and scholarship that these wonderful speakers have to offer, as well as from other talented educators from the greater NY/NJ Jewish community and from yeshivot in Israel.”
Similar programs have been spearheaded by Rabbi Taragin and are being run around the world, including one in the Five Towns also on June 29. Other conferences are planned in Chicago, Toronto, London, and Israel.
A growing list of collaborators for the Teaneck Community Collaborative Conference includes B’nei Akiva, Ben Porat Yosef, Beth Aaron, Beth Abraham, Bnai Yeshurun, Bruriah, Frisch, Hakotel, HaRova, Heichal HaTorah, He’Atid, Keter Torah, M’ Lindenbaum, Ma’ayanot, Michlalah, MMY, Morasha, Moriah, Moshava (I.O.), MTA, Noam, Ohr HaTorah, RCBC, Rinat Yisrael, RYNJ, SINAI, SFW, TABC, Torat Shraga, Yavneh, Project YES, Yeshiva University, and Zichron Mordechai.
The event is free of charge. Register for the conference at http://bit.ly.teaneckhakotel.
By Elizabeth Kratz
