FIRST REPORT: Yeshivah Bais Hatorah has been shut until further notice, sources tell TLS. The boys elementary school, with approximately 400 students, will not be opening, due the dire financial situation. The decision came in a short time ago following a meeting with the Yeshivah’s board.
The school was scheduled to begin the new school year tomorrow.
The school opened approximately 12 years ago with Reb Nechemia Gottlieb as the Menahel, until he left and was taken over by the current Menahel Reb Avrohom Luria.
The Mashgiach Reb Matisyahu Solomon Shlita, we are told, was a driving force behind the school for several years, with his grandchildren attending the school.
Stay with TLS for more on this developing story.
This is terrible news! This Yeshiva has been struggling financially for awhile already.
i thought things would straiten out after they put in a wonderfull menahel Rabbi luria
the parents have to band together and take achrais for the money at what ever cost
I guess since lakewood shut down a “modern” orthodox school last year (ie BYE) Mida coneged mida This school has to shut down, but i’m sure these young helega yingalah’s will not have any problems getting into other yeshivas.
What really is a pity is that in a place that prides itself as the Ihr HaTorah, that all the chessed institutions are well funded, while the real priorities – the yeshivos – are desperately struggling.
My advice we should take our children and learn with them ourselves.
That is what the Toira wants from us, to tach our own children.
Yes, I did that with some of mine.I made sure he was learning a full day.
Why do you think the chesed organizations are well funded?every organization including the chesed organizations are suffering!please don’t comment when you are unaware of the FACTS!!!!!
The yeshivos are struggling terribly. A Rebbe of a different mosad tols me he hasn’t been paid the last 5 checks. Yeshivos are owed hundreds of thousands of $$ in tuitions.
where are the kids being placed??
With an eighth grade rebbi like r hirschman its unfathomable
The school will remain open.
This is just a modern-day fundraising tactic. And it costs a lot less than a dinner!!
Reb Nechamya was the lifeblood of this mosad!
What’s going to be with all the students???????????? nebach
Fundraising tactic?! A chutzpa!!
What gives you the right to pay your electric bill and then ask for a deduction? You owe your kids’ rebbeim first!!
Let us recognize that we are a town which is struggling to fund our charitable and educational institutions. Let us just each do what ever we can on an individual basis to help as best as we can.
This does not surprise me at all, this town cannot sustain itself. A town like lakewood that has very little diversity (unlike cities like brooklyn, monsey etc) cannot support itself when a majority learns or earns a very small salary. How can a town explode in population expect to have services like schools, when many of the parents do not earn a sufficient income?
#10. Unfortunately you don’t know the situation.
While it might be that the chesed organizations of this town are not having it easy either, I think that we still have our priorities messed up. Why is it that organizations from Eretz Yisroel, Boro Park, Monsey and everywhere else come here and literally raise tens of thousands of dollars while our local mosdos are collapsing? Do you know that YOUR neighbor the Rebbe is not getting paid? Do we not need to start taking care of our own? Maybe it is much more cool to support international organizations. But it is really hurting us here. Am I wrong?
Unfortunately, this is not all about money. The school was started by a group of parents and never really had a owner/boss who felt responsible. The setup was wrong from the start and as the school grew the debt grew and noone was able to stop it. Reb Nechemia was a class A mechanech who left because of a small group of parents and rabbeim who were not interested in the mehalech that Reb Nechemia brought with him. A year ago he was willing to take over the debt but unfortunately others were smarter. They promised Rabbi Heineman that they will help with the finances. It lasted exactly a few weeks and they were gone. They left Rabbi Heineman with a very big bag to carry. He fell for them and now is suffering the consequences. Many people warned him but today we are left with the fact that over 400 kids are displaced.
to number 17 you are 100 percent correct every Mosed comes to Lakewood for moneyand of course for Parler meetings what about the local Mosdos. The Vad should stop giving out letters to out of town people.
Bring back reb nechamya!!
As long as every one has their brand new Avalons, Accords, Siennas, And Odysseys, don’t worry, things will work out.
Can we all chip in?
I wonder how many families from the 400 children, sent to sleep away camps, or other costly expenses, b4 paying tiution??!!
why is it that we can raise close to half million dollars for rubashkin yet we fail to bail out our own children , our own mosdos? aneeyai eercha comes first
probably 85% of them
Should we not support any causes? Should we give all our extra $ to BMG or to Bais Ahron? How about to our relatives in town that are struggling?
Someone needs to train today’s yeshivas how to stay out of debts. I would run the school only if I had full control of tuition meaning the right to send a talmid home if tuitions are not received in a timely fashion. I would also need to control the Rabbaim’s and teachers salaries… With proper control the Yeshivah would be on its own feet!
Rabbi Heineman is a tzadik for single handily supporting this wonderful mossad up to this point. If it has come to the point that he can’t continue doing it that means that all his resources have been exhausted. We owe it to this man who gave up so much for the klal to not be left with the tremendous debt that surely can effect his remaining parnassa.
To #27. You obviously never ran a Mosad. Its easy to make things work on paper.
Its time for all yeshivas to lower the tuition and demand that all parents pay full tuition. And its up to every parent to raise the funds needed for there kids education.
Rabbi Heinemann does not have to become the cities shnorer.
To # 29 I actully do run a Mosad, and if you stick to your guns it works out.
For hundreds of years our kids have been learning in very simple rooms and managing just fine.
Also I think that tuitions should be split in half every month with half going to the yeshiva and half going directly to the Rebbe.
#31. Then you’re an echod mey’elef
If every single family in Lakewood would agree to donate $100 (or more if they can), that would be an amazing help and show such Achdus. What a zechus we could all share during Elul!
In a growing town, we are going through growing pains. Just as many individuals have had to go through with mortgage modifications and debt relief so do the Mosdos have to get mortgage modifications and debt relief.
lowering tuitions will not make a difference! where are you going to get tuition from if all you accept is yeshiva/kollel people. they are not earning the big bucks. but you all certainly have your lists of who to go to on Purim or before Yomim Tovim. why should they help you then if they are not even in your school?
If everyone would have been able to give their property tax increases to a general fund to help support Mosdos in town all Rebeim and teacher salaries would be fully paid up ON TIME.
I love how everyone in lakewood is complaining that tuition is too high, while my father who is still learning in kollel and supporting his married children is paying double the price for each child with a little discount. If it means you have to work, tutor a talmid, do something this is the chinuch of your child. chanoch lanaar, it is the responsibility of the parents to take the major debts on their shoulders. If it means knocking on every door in lakewood, go ahead, everyone give a dollar and guess what you may get a little, but please take the responsibility. it hurts to see such inyanim in the news
No one here seems to want to address the key issue. By every mosod in town is pursuing an elitist strategy where yenem’s kid is not good enough for our school it has created an atmosphere where no one feels any achrayus to any other institution in town. Even where you finally did get your kids accepted you typically do not feel good about the mosod.
By rejecting the working guy you have made him feel that if he has an extra couple of bucks he will give it quicker to the chesed mosod rather then to a school that treated him poorly. The bottom line is the relationship between parents and schools in town is for the most part not good. Cynicism and skepticism are the norm. Until this changes these financial problems are not going to go away.
OI vey is it due to budget cuts?
in hilchos tzedaka there is a order of how one distributes maaser first comes family then your city its crazy that people give to every ny chineese auction and every israeli collecter when our local charity needs are not being met the poskim need to clarity for the oylom what our obligations are to out towns needs.I know my sons yeshiva is also in some tough waters I try to help as much as I can but the first step is to keep our donations in town.
This is just another wake up call from Hashem. these kind of things happening & people being Niftar at young ages or in strange ways R”L are all wake up call to klal yisroel & to the people of that town, that we only care about ourselves, but when it comes to helping/caring for another yid then i cannot help you.
with that being the case, each time tragedy strikes Hashem has the same question-for each person separately-now you have woken up, now you are crying at this baby’s levaya R”L but when we hear of someone else in tragic cases… we dont care. hashem then wants to know if we will wake up now to help others or do we need another tragic WAKE-UP call from hashem C”V to care for one another?
WITH NOT CARING FOR BAIS YAAKOV THIS IS SADLY R”L WHAT HASHEM NEEDS TO DO, TO GET EACH PERSON TO WAKE UP & START CARING FOR ONE ANOTHER
#26 what does Bais Aaron have to do with this?
Dr. Richie Roberts predictions of that financial tsunami are starting.
The perfect storm is coming tahora rabbosai.
its the tuition on top of the property tax that’s killing us why can’t we All take our kids to public school the 1st wk show them how many kids we have and refuse to leave unless we get 50% of out taxes sent to our schools to pay for tuition
The schools don’t like the idea -anybody knows why?
To #31 you must be a genius or just arrogant. Do a little research,YBH has the smallest classes ( 20per)than any school in lakewood they also charge the second highest tuition(4200)avg.of $84,000.If you include rabbeim ,teacher, executive , secretaries, maintenance personal salaries, office and cleaning supplies mortgage the number will be around 105,000 per class with all that being said even if every one pays tuition they will be around $20,000 dollars short per class and around $440,000 per year for the school don’t make it sound as if some one missed the boat
Maybe its time this town did some real planning, as they do in the Chassidishe villages, like New Square. Until then, things will likely just deteriorate as we become more and more selective, as the society slips lower and lower.
How can a society of people who for the most part have no money, hope to survive?
This may or may not be the issue in this specific instance, but it is surely a contributing factor.
Do all these private schools fall under the board of education?
If they do receive money from school budgets ( local tax dollars ) how can they be in debt?
how r’ kanaereks school stay afloat? answer: good management.
Time to take over a public school in town and make it kosher……why not your paying taxes right.
I have to comment here. While everyone is knocking the schools for not taking in the “non so popular”. Do you have any idea how many Mosdos in this town try to and get hammered by the parents for ( and I quote an actual parent) ” taking in the weaker element with my child”!!! Its the parents who are causing this NOT the schools!!
In order to prevent this the Yeshivas should consolidate and move into a centralized zone.
Careful about instituting bans on donating to out-of-town organizations. There is far more money flowing into Lakewood than out of it. Ruin that dynamic, and you’ll be in real trouble.
This is a tragedy!
did’nt bais yaakov of boro park do this last year, they advertised that they won’t be opening for financial reasons, and they ended up opening, but I assume they used this “not opening” as a way to collect much needed money for the school. As far as Bais hatorah being the second to highest for tuition at $4200, I don’t think thats true, plenty of schools charge over $ 5,000.
This is the one school in town, who took in every kid, didn’t judge the parents. The kid was a Yid there was an open door policy. The fact that they are closing the doors proves that they were the best, & the most Emesdik. The Steipler tol R’ Yaakov Galinksky, the reason Nevardok is gone is because it was Emes, & the world can’t be Soivel Emes.
ICould someone post who’m we could call to restart a new Moisad for these Tzoin Kodoshim, & the Melamdim, of course we could exclude a few melamdin who are ready to retire.
Let this be a new moisad with new books & the same open door policy, a new board.
This school knowingly took the kids that couldn’t & the parents that wouldn’t pay, we must see a way to get it moving again.
Please post who I could call.
YTT – over $5,000
At the meeting, Rav (moderated) on impulse jumped up and volunteered to take achrayus for a new school. He said so long as we can get 28 children per class, and one class per grade, he will see to it that it gets rolling.
He has no perosnal vested interest, he is strictly emesdik, and has a strogn ratson to keep the same sort of system running. He took down names of all who would join him and the response was overwhelming.
#39 I fully agree this is caused by a lack of achdus in our town. If all schools would allow all children into their schools AS LONG AS THEY FOLLOW THAT SCHOOLS GUIDLINE than everybody would have a better feeling towards the mosdos and the financial situation would be a lot better. People feel that why should they give money to schools that look down at them or wouldn’t accept their kids.
The people that cannot afford tuition is not the whole problem we cannot force people to pay what they don’t have.
The problem is the schools attitude towards the people. They label people, to working, blue shirt, ok but no money, what does this person do for my school. Let’s face it in lakewood 99% of people can send their kids together to school with each other. They have created labels to make their school different (not always better) more prestigious.
CHINUCH SHOULD NOT BE A BUSINESS
39 rocks!
Wonder if they were rejecting many kids or there was the politics and pull game playing a roll to often, if yes,hashem is showing a clear example to all, except my kids to your schools, treat them with dignity,otherwise better no to have schools than kids bein embarrased!!
#56
do research they didnt take “EVERYBODY” myself and a i know of a few others who were rejected . i dont have internet at home nor do i have a tv but i was not accepted cuz i didnt fit the schools “criterea” so im happy the school is going thru pain
You cant have a school with only kollel people and expect to be financially stable. When Orchos Chaim opened up R Shmuel Kamenetzky told R Yaakov Mandelbaum to make sure to take in some Baale Batims kids. Its really very simple, A Yungerman may have a better kid (Debateable), But a baal habus who gives money also helps out. You need both.
#62
You may not be so Yeshivshe but do you have so little Yiras Shomayim as to be happy a Yeshiva (and it’s student body) is going thru pain?
P.S. I sure understand why they didn’t accept your child
Before all of give oorah money for kiruv let’s try to keep our own Mossad open
Recently someone wrote to TLS, “should I pay my tuition or go on vacation?”. This is what happens when you choose not to pay your childs tuition and go on vacation. And then you whine?
#64
who are you to judge me? Have you ever been rejected by a school? i am “kovea eitim” hardly muss a tefilah btzibur and never chated anybody out of a dime ? can you say the same? Besides why do i suffer because of ‘HOLIER THEN THOU” people as yourself .
# 64 is right.
A scholl with (almost) all children of kollel families is almost impossible to be sustained, unless there are some heavy duty fundraising projects in place, and even then….
Maybe some of the parents (fathers) need to get a job, even part-time. Something tells me Rav Elya zt”l or ybl”c bcl”c Rav Shmuel shli’ta would agree with me….
I know children at Bais Hatora. Wondeful , wonderful masmidim. Wonderful parents.
I agree with one of the posts above that Oorah and other mosdos that collect for non frum children to go to school should be required to give some of that money to help frum schools. Remember, many of the donors come from Lakewood, or have grandchildren in lakewood. They certainly want that some of that money should pay for frum tuition as well. Whether that would help for this crisis – don’t know, but certainly going forward, the next year Oorah raffle should be devoted partially to frum schools. They have big Talmidei chachomim on their staff that can guide them to what the percentage should be.
As sad as this story is you do see the yad Hashem. Not long ago a different school was forced to close and a number of parents relocated
to different communities. People didnt care to much. Now they do.
What comes round goes round.
…rather what goes around comes around.
It is time that the town establish a general communal scholarship fund to help all schools… If there was a fund to cover the children that don’t pay full tuition, all schools will have more of a chance to survive. After all isn’t the schools and education in town a communal responsibility?
Rabbosai Evryone is foregetting who supports who……..
the township cannot give public money to religious schools
My earlier comment, #68, referred to # 64. It should have been #63.
To #65, that is probably not allowed al pi halacha. But certainly parents of Bais HaTorah children need to reevaluate their tzedakah priorities/givings. I once heard from a prominent poisaik that people who need scholarships for tuition are potur from ma’aser.
# 21 right on the money.we need to stop with the new cars it is causing alot of unneccesary kinnah in our midts.many individuals that are struggling financialy are still driving around brand new cars because thay are under an extreme ammount of peer pressure to do so
people in Lakewood live beyond their means. for people that don’t have the money – too many people arespending more than they should on their must have newer minivan, eating out or take out food, many hours of cleaning help beyond the few hours a week, and large houses just to name a few. Yes-these things may be necessary on a case by case situation, but the peer pressure for everyone to have them is too great for most people to overcome. Tuition comes lastfor most people
parents had choice to live in $400,000-$500,000 house, spend tens of thousands of $$/year on their cloth, new kitchens, decks, cars, bangolo colonies, vacations, landscaping, etc. or pay full tuitions. They made their choice lound and clear.
When we moved to Lakewood a few years ago we were turned away from both boys and girls school. We are a normal frum family but were caused much pain and suffering. When we get requests for money from the places that turned us down, they go straight into the garbage. Maybe nothing to do with main topic, but still in pain.
for all you new car people enviers… many times it cost far less to lease a new car than it does to buy a cheap car for 7 or 8 thousand go ask around and you’ll see, (you also might not have to be over so much bitul torah and zman by hanging out at the repair shop)
Wake up and smell the coffee. It’s not the yungerleit that can’t pay tuition. It’s many, many working families too. People work very hard and can’t make ends meet despite all their efforts. It’s not only this yeshiva’s problem – it’s every mosad – girls & boys. Plus, even if paid in full, tuitions are not enough to cover the budget and schools don’t have the who to fall back on. There are no easy answers.
Its sad that while certain schools build extravagant eye poping buildings, and spend money ‘un a shiur’ in the same town, other moisdas can’t stay afloat.
I’m sorry, but I don’t feel achroi when a local mossad has trouble. I don’t feel like “chipping in” to help them. After all, they’re so selective of who they accept and don’t accept, and suddenly, because they’re in my town, I have to bail them out? Let their selected parent body foot the bill.
It would be the town’s responsibility if they would be responsible for anyone in the town.
“rukidding? says:
August 16, 2010 at 5:29 pm
for all you new car people enviers… many times it cost far less to lease a new car than it does to buy a cheap car for 7 or 8 thousand go ask around and you’ll see, (you also might not have to be over so much bitul torah and zman by hanging out at the repair shop)”
You may be right. But it makes a VERY bad impression to anyone from whom you are asking support from. Whay should I support a mossad that is driving around in 2011 cars when I myself can only afford a used cheap car? Somehow our mesorah doesn’t agree with you. Do you think that Lakewood cars of 20 years ago weren’t in the shop so much? But the car wasn’t a social statement, it was a machine that took you from point a to b. So it had a few leaks, nu, at least my sons Rebbi was paid what was due to him on time.
It is time for the schools that that built extravagant buildings and the schools that run around busting that they are a “lexis” to help out this poor Yeshivah that goes above and beyound.
oy vavoy!!! dis is mamash nisht a pushitta zachen. Reboynoy Shel Oylam Helf de gantz klall yisroel…….AMEN
Once the schools learn to take responsiblity on all of our children, we will then feel responsible for them.
up until this year i was B”H able to pay all of my tuition for the year before school statered or totaly by January. This year with the economy I dont know if I will be able to do what I have done in the past. Hopefully I will be able to pay on a monthly basis.
PS I rent. yes I could have used the money and purchased a house but the first bills i feel must be paid before anything is Sechar lemud…
So many mosdos are in toruble because parents dont have the means to pay tuition like in the past. We just may have ot sign all our kids into the Public school system and bankcrupt it in a single day. Could you imagine 95 percent orthdox student sin a public school system. We would have sperate classes for boys and girls like they oublic schools used to have.
Then maybe we would get funding to stay on our own schools.
To #79 I feel your pain and certainly understand your perspective. The reality is that not only you are not alone in feeling this way but many people in town who have grown up in Lakewood have had the same experience as you and feel like you when it come to helping these struggling moisdos. The other issue holding people back from helping the schools is the so called owners system. The feeling is that these schools are a private business and since the owner is running it as such why should I help him out. Most schools in Lakewood are managed this way. If there was a true community school that took in every child and was viewed as the entire Klals school it would not have a hard time raising $.
THE TOWN HAS GROWN TOO LARGE, the classrooms are getting overloaded, and some parents cannot afford to have any schools close, they must try and ask for help from those who have been living in a lifestyle where the children ARE not financially disadvantaged, HELP ONE ANOTHER, , if not, teach your children at home,
Mosdos all over are struggling terribly, in balabatishe communities as well as Yeshivish ones. And it’s mosdos of Torah and mosdos of kiruv and mosdos of chesed.
We’ve become very comfortable and a bit spoiled. Some of us have been hit by the economy or made reasonable errors that have set us back financially.
People should ask sh’eilos about how to allocate their tzedakah – and what they may give if they aren’t paying full tuition.
On the other hand, kiruv groups are no different than Bikur Cholims in terms of having been given money for a specific purpose. Klal Yisroel has many needs, and they must all be met. If someone wants to direct money toward this yeshiva, they should send their money there, not to some other communal need.
May Hashem give the parents siyata dishmaya in finding the right yeshivos for their children, and may He send the complete yeshuah, bkarov.
Imagine you have a choice of two schools. both have trust accounts and are financially sound. the only information you have about either school is that one has only talmidim whose fathers are working, and the other has only talmidim whose fathers are learning in kollel. You know no other information about neither the school, the talmidim, or the parent body. For some reason, you may send your son to either school. In this purely hypothetical situation, to which school would you send ?
to #89…You are right on target. Do I ask a mosdos to help out in my business?? As long as theres no community schl, ppl will not feel obligated to donate any money to any schl in this town.
GREAT points. People live WAY beyond their means in this town. Yes, there are people who can afford the luxuries they have but most people cannot, but feel they have to keep up with the neighbors and have those “affordable” $500k houses, not to mention the $800 european strollers! Whats wrong with a $60 graco? I mean comon, $800 FOR A STROLLER? the priorities are out of wack.
I propose everyone in town sell their $800 strollers, $3,000 wigs, $10,000 granite counter tops and then use that money to keep the schools afloat. trust me there will be more than enough to ensure solvency for every school in town!
Let’s line up all the towns 50000 kids to enroll in the public school system!
The Governor will be here within an hour with vouchers!!
To all those complaining that the schools are very selective and that is why no one wants to support them; that is pure lies!!
Rabbi Storch in Nesivos Ohr took in all kids and look where that got him.He had to bail because the financial strain was affecting his hhealth. Did anyone send in a donation because he took in all kids?
How about Shalom that has a busload of yiddishe neshamos from Lakewood everyday; did you send in a donation because they were not selective about whom they accepted? and trust me they have taken in frum yeshivishe kids who were not accepted ANYWHERE ELSE!
So unless you are sending in a check to the wonderful orginazations that live by these principles just remember that an excuse is just an excuse!
#84, if you were really here 20 years ago (with your leaking car) you would remember that rebbeim and teachers were far more poorly paid and never on time. BH as the town has grown, many mosdos have been able to compensate these wonderful people with better pay and timely pay. The issue of the (new leased or old bought) car is a tiny one compared to the other issues raised here – private ownership vs community school. No one has the courage to say it, but we are elitists and we like it that way. So there is a business in providing us pleasure in even how we school our kids – by excluding other innocents so we can feel “better” than them. Whatever happens with this mosad, remember this on Yom Kippur and maybe we can all be saved from ourselves.
#67-not so yeshishe
To answer your questions:
#64
who are you to judge me?
I judged you? I express horror that one can say s/he is happy a Yeshiva is going thru pain.
Have you ever been rejected by a school?
Yes.Both personally and my children have been rejected as well.
Besides why do i suffer because of ‘HOLIER THEN THOU” people as yourself .
Huh?How do I cause you to suffer? And you are the one calling names and labeling here not me.
Chazal say the reason Churban Beitar was so horrible was because when Yerushalyim was destroyed some of the people in Beiter were secretly happy that the ‘snobs in yerushalyim’ were going thru pain.Please don’t follow their example
lets unite says:
Let’s line up all the towns 50000 kids to enroll in the public school system!
The Governor will be here within an hour with vouchers!!
Thats it put the cost on someone else ~~ the whole problem with the current state of affairs no one wants to be responsible for themselves ~ let the Government take care of it ~ this will be our ultimate downfall I can proudly say I have never expected anyone else to pick the cost of my personal choice in life
#64, where is this chzal?