This coming December when public school children are on winter break, something special is happening at Ben Porat Yosef in Paramus. All Jewish public school children in grades 1-5 with special needs are invited to join the BPY students on certain days they’re in session and the public schools are not. These particular days are called “Talmideinu Days” and everyone at BPY feels the excitement.
“The kids love having them; the teachers love having them,” said chevrat chesed chair at BPY and coordinator of the Talmideinu program Neshama Kutin, who is also a BPY parent. “The kids fight over who the [public school] kids get to sit with.” The visiting students are blended into the classroom of the same grade they attend in public school. All visiting students have shadows who meet them curbside at morning drop-off and remain with them in the classroom. The shadows are members of the BPY parent body who also have children with special needs, although a visiting student can bring his own shadow, too.
“The Talmideinu program allows children with special needs–like our daughter Leora–to come to BPY and spend a few days a year in the classroom with their typical peers. Leora counts down the days from one Talmideinu day to the next, so much so that she’s the first one dressed on those days,” said parents Chani and Laurent Bensimon. “Both the teachers and the students do an excellent job of accommodating her and making her feel like a part of the class, even if it’s just for a few hours.”
The Talmideinu program has been opening up the classroom to Jewish public school children for the past four years. In the beginning, only families who already sent to Ben Porat Yosef participated when their children with special needs who could not attend yeshiva were off from public school. This gave them a place to spend up to six of those days each school year and exposure to the yeshiva experience in a nurturing environment. Through word-of-mouth, as well as Yachad and the Friendship Circle, more and more families with children in other yeshivot learned about the program for their public school children. Ben Porat Yosef is currently looking to expand the program and the number of families it services.
“There doesn’t need to be any baseline knowledge of anything; they’ll work with the student where they are,” said Kutin. Even though public school students may not be able to daven (pray) at the same pace as the yeshiva students, the classroom is synchronized in such a way that it still works out. “After davening there is dancing and ruach,” added Kutin. Talmideinu days do not last the entire BPY school day, but take the visiting students up until lunchtime or until afterwards depending on each family’s preference. This gives the public school children exposure to the morning Judaics curriculum specifically because this is what they normally do not get during their regular schools days.
Rosh HaYeshiva of Ben Porat Yosef Rabbi Tomer Ronen added, “The Talmideinu program is an enrichment opportunity for our students. The children learn more about the world and how there are all kinds of people in it.” Rabbi Ronen continued, “And, for the Talmideinu children, many of whom are siblings of BPY students, it is a wonderful opportunity to be able to join their sibling in school and to experience limudei kodesh.”
The Talmideinu program is open to all Jewish public school children in grades 1-5 who have special needs. All programming is free of charge. For more information, please contact Neshama Kutin at [email protected]
Allyson Gur-Aryeh lives in Teaneck with her psychologist husband, two adorable daughters, and two sweet cats.
By Allyson Gur-Aryeh
