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F E AT U R E I Kids at Risk

Farming Cultivating
Our Children’s
Potential for
for Diamonds Success
Nestled in the Lower
Galilee lies a veritable Below: Two students weeding a row of
onions in Kfar Zeitim’s vegetable garden.
paradise for a group of Right: Rabbi Dov Frank

boys who were unable to

succeed in learning until
Hashem gave them a
second chance.
BY GAVRIEL HORAN

W
HEN THE PSYCHIATRIST
uttered a certain combination
of four letters of the English
alphabet, everything suddenly made
sense to the Rosenbergs: the sleepless
nights worrying about their dear son
Moishie; his countless journeys in and out
of so many good yeshivos; his rapidly
decreasing enthusiasm for life and
learning; and his deteriorating mitzvah
observance. They always thought next
year would be different. They blamed his
teachers, his friends, his school — how
else could they explain Moishie’s
consistent academic failure? He was, after
all, a good boy with a good head.
It seemed like the Rosenbergs’ lives
were spiraling out of control … until they
finally heard the psychiatrist’s diagnosis:
ADHD. There was nothing wrong with the
yeshivos or the rebbeim — Moishie needed

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a different type of learning environment
in which he could excel.
During his twenty-five years as the
menahel of a Talmud Torah in Bnei Brak,
veteran mechanech Rabbi Dov Frank —
the grandson of the renowned Rav Tzvi
Pesach Frank, zt”l, renowned Rav of
Jerusalem — recognized a certain void in
the mainstream yeshivah educational
system. “I noticed that there was a critical
track lacking in the chareidi yeshivah
system. Our yeshivos
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ketanos are very rigorous and demanding,
reaching for the highest degree of
academic excellence; unfortunately, not
every child can sit and learn a full day.”
He noticed that for a variety of reasons
— biological, developmental, or
psychological — certain boys lack the
ability to learn Gemara for long periods of
time. These boys may suffer from a
weaker intellectual capacity, an attention
deficit, hyperactivity, impulsiveness,
emotional problems, or behavioral
issues that prevent them from
excelling in learning.
“They end up becoming
miserable because they’re not
succeeding in school. A child
like that could end up on the
streets and his life could be
finished if he isn’t given
the proper help.”
A Natural Paradise
For years, Rabbi Frank
dreamed of doing
something to help these
unfortunate children
who could not
succeed in the
yeshivah
system. Finally, eight years ago, when all
of his ten children were married and out
of the home, he decided to do something
about it.
After taking a number of trips around
Israel in search of a suitable location, he
was introduced to a man who offered him
his family’s farm on the pastoral moshav
Kfar Zeitim, just a ten-minute drive from
Teveriah. Together with Rabbi Aryeh
Rubinfeld, a longtime mechanech from
Bnei Brak, he opened Yeshivas Kfar Zeitim
with the brachos and encouragement of
Harav Aharon Leib Steinman, shlita, and
the guidance of Harav Yehudah Silman,
shlita, of Bnei Brak; and Harav Avraham
Dov Auerbach, shlita, Av Beis Din of
Teveriah. They immediately set to work
building an ideal environment for boys
who had never had a place to belong.
When I arrived in Kfar Zeitim to write
this feature, I was awestruck by its natural
beauty. Situated on a fertile plateau
overlooking Mount Arbel, high above the
Kinneret, the location is a perfect setting
for helping boys to find themselves. The
expansive sky, spreading out to the
mountain-filled horizon, speaks of endless
possibilities and hope for boys who once
had none. Yeshivas Kfar Zeitim opened its
doors eight years ago with a handful of
teens from various chareidi communities.
Today it has over fifty students
ages fourteen to eighteen,
from Chassidic,
Litvish, and
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Preserving
the Olam HaTorah
O VER TWENTY YEARS AGO, renowned mechanech Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald was instrumental in founding one of the
first yeshivos to provide an alternative environment for high-school boys who were not successful in a regular
yeshivah setting. He opened Merkaz Chinuchi Darchei Shalom outside of Jerusalem, with the support of all the
Gedolim across the board, from Harav Shach, zt”l, to, ybl”c, the Belzer Rebbe and Harav Ovadia Yosef, shlita. The vast majority
of the boys went on to become successful members of society and many even returned to full-time learning. Rabbi Greenwald
graciously answered some questions about alternative chinuch.
Is the fact that so many boys are unable to make it in
the yeshivah system a new phenomenon?
The fact that modern society requires everyone to go to
school from ages six to eighteen is a new phenomenon. In the
past, a select few would stay in learning past adolescence and
the rest would go to work. In the secular world, a child with
learning disabilities only has to learn for six hours a day and can
then relax the rest of the time. The frum world, on the other
hand, has much higher expectations in regard to academic
demands, use of time, and entertainment options. A child who
has difficulty learning, for whatever reason, will have a very
hard time keeping up with the demands of the mainstream
yeshivah system. That’s why alternative programs are so
essential to enable a child to grow and develop in an
environment that is not exclusively academic.
I met with Harav Shach, zt”l, twenty-one years ago regarding
the opening of parnassah centers for kollel yungeleit. The Rosh
Yeshivah explained that when Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman,
zt”l, opened the kollel in Ponevezh, there was an internal debate
about whom the kollel should cater to. Rav Shmuel Rozovsky,
zt”l, said that the kollel should be for the metzuyanim alone, as it
had been in Europe.
The Ponevezher Rav, on the other hand, held that in order to
rebuild Klal Yisrael after the Holocaust, learning in kollel had to
become the societal norm for everyone. At the time, few women
would dream of marrying a man who learned in kollel and Torah
was often pushed to the side by the modern-day work ethic. He
reasoned that the first priority was to rebuild the olam haTorah
— learning full time had to become the default position. This
approach might lead to casualties for those who couldn’t learn,
but the alternative meant the end of Klal Yisrael.
Now that the olam haTorah is firmly established for the klal,
we can begin to deal with the individuals who can’t make it in
the system.
Rav Shach understood that full-time learning wasn’t for
everyone. One just has to know that the beis medrash is a Yid’s
default activity; it is where he returns after work.
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Do alternative yeshivos represent a threat to
mainstream yeshivos?
Not in the slightest. Most boys will still want to be in the best
yeshivos — that’s where it’s at for kids in chareidi society. We’re
fighting City Hall to get the kids who need to be in these special
programs to enroll. Halevai everyone who needed it would have the
opportunity! Even if there is only a small percentage of kids in this
category, that is still thousands of boys — and we don’t have more
than a handful of alternative programs out there.
Are the yeshivos doing enough to prepare people to
earn parnassah?
The job of yeshivos isn’t to prepare boys for parnassah. It’s to teach
people Torah and build fortitude in ruchniyus to give people the ability
to lead the next generation. Yeshivos equal Shechinah, and the purpose
of yeshivos is to keep the Shechinah with Klal Yisrael.
There are countless stories of Gedolim throughout the
ages who overcame difficulties in learning to become
great. Shouldn’t these children be encouraged to do the
same?
When someone makes the decision on his own to learn, he can
achieve greatness beyond the ordinary, but you can’t force him to do
that. If he wants it with all his heart, there’s tremendous siyatta
diShmaya and there’s no end to where he can go. When a person has
motivation, dedication and commitment, not even the sky’s the limit to
what he can accomplish with his life. You can encourage and inspire, but
you can’t make that decision for him. The goal is to make him into an
ehrlich, well-adjusted person so that he will be motivated and excited
about his life as a frum, ehrliche Yid. An unhappy, bitter person cannot
make good decisions.
Keeping boys in standard yeshivos when they are unsuccessful,
frustrated, angry and resentful does not bring them closer or give
them a better chance of finding themselves in learning. First you have
to put them in a positive, supportive environment where Torah is
taught with love. Then, when they feel capable and important, they
can indeed choose to learn. Only then can you help them achieve their
highest potential in learning.
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Sephardic homes. The boys are primarily come to learn with the boys one on one. energy in a healthy way.
from Jerusalem, Bnei Brak and Tzefas, In addition to the vocational classes, The yeshivah offers horseback riding,
although there are also bachurim from the the yeshivah offers numerous creative an activity that has been shown to be
United States and England. and therapeutic activities. There is a extremely therapeutic for a wide variety of
Together with a hand-picked staff of brand-new music room that the boys developmental and behavioral problems
warm, talented rebbeim, social workers, built themselves, complete with guitars, including ADD and ADHD, and the boys
therapists and teachers, Kfar Zeitim offers keyboards, drums and high-quality take turns caring for the horses, sheep,
students a chance to develop in a recording equipment. The students goats and chickens on the moshav. They
supportive and therapeutic environment. formed their own band and play at are also involved in almost all of the
After participating a serious morning seder yeshivah events such as mesibos and construction and maintenance jobs on the
adapted to their unique learning needs, siyumim. They also go on bimonthly campus and grounds, including cleaning
students choose from among four hikes in the pristine wilderness of the the dorms and classrooms. Boys in the
vocational tracks: electrical engineering, Galilee, expending their abundant carpentry track build most of the furniture
carpentry, agriculture and animal
husbandry, and computer science. By the
end of three to four years in the yeshivah,
students are fully certified to begin
working in their field of choice, armed
with self-confidence, direction in life and a
career. Incidentally, many of the boys even
develop the skills and confidence to return
to regular yeshivos and continue learning
full time.
Rosh Yeshivah Rabbi Rubinfeld instills a
love of learning in the students — often for
the very first time, and he also helps them
find the direction that suits each student’s
needs. Boys learn in small groups, divided
by skill level. Each class has its own maggid
shiur in addition to two avreichim who

Right: Rabbi Frank with a student.

Below: Rabbi Rubinfeld in class.

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Carpentry at Kfar Zeitim.
for the dorms, including wooden mezuzah
covers, deck chairs and shelves. Students
in the agriculture track plant and harvest
their own wheat and vegetables — all of
which are either used in the kitchen or
sold.
“We hope to provide each boy with the
best activities to fulfill his needs now and
in the future,” Rabbi Rubinfeld said. “The
boys do all the work themselves. This gives
them a sense of accomplishment. They are
actively involved in building this place
and therefore become attached to it, [and
this] engenders a sense of internal calm.”
Motti Dotan, mayor of the Regional
Council of the Lower Galilee, expressed his
great excitement at seeing boys speaking
Yiddish while doing farm work.
Tools for Success
Rabbi Frank explains that one of the
primary goals of chinuch is to help nourish
a student’s sense of accomplishment and
capability. “A person’s awareness of his
own potential is his main motivating
factor in life. Someone who feels that he’s
not capable of doing anything with his life
begins to think that he has no purpose in
this world,” he said. “His life basically
ends. Anyone without a vision in life,
without dreams for the future, has
nothing.
“You have to understand that if you put
a child with learning disabilities in a
regular full-time yeshivah, he feels that
he’s being mistreated and he becomes our
greatest enemy,” Rabbi Frank continued.
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Students learn to build a variety of items in the carpentry workshop, ranging from mezuzos to furniture
that is used in the dormitories. The students have plans to sell their products to the public.
“It is as if you asked a person without legs
to walk all day long. You’re asking him to
use something he doesn’t have. He
becomes full of bitterness.”
Hours of sitting in class without
comprehending what is being taught is
more than anyone can bear. And if that
isn’t enough, such children are often given
tutors to try to bring their learning up to
par, resulting in even more hours a day
engaged in something they cannot
accomplish.
“Such a boy is hanging in limbo. In the
end he will connect Hakadosh Baruch Hu
with the learning and the rabbis, and he
will think that Hakadosh Baruch Hu hates
him. From there it’s easy for him to go on
to hate the Torah, the rabbis and, G-d
forbid, Hashem Himself. We have to ask
ourselves if we ever looked at the child and
tried to find his unique and special
abilities. What resources have we given
him for success?”
Yissachar and Zevulun
When boys come to Kfar Zeitim, they
suddenly discover a world of talent and
potential that had been lying dormant
within them their entire lives. For the first
time, they are given hope for the future, a
possibility of finding success in life by
getting a good job and raising a frum
family.
“If we could only help more children to
develop their potential as good, working
Jews, they could be the next ‘Zevuluns’ for
the ‘Yissachars’ of the next generation,”
A
a
o
Rabbi Frank said. “If we want to
strengthen the Yissachar, we cannot
neglect the Zevulun. They will go out and
work and bring in parnassah and be
ehrliche Yidden, but we need to invest a lot
in them.”
The staff emphasizes the fact that
Hashem loves the boys for who they are.
They can still become tzaddikim, put on
tefillin and daven like mentchen; they can
be kovei’a itim laTorah; they can become
baalei tzedakah and support yeshivos; they
can raise children who become talmidei
chachamim — their future is infinite.
“That’s how you keep these boys
connected,” international director Reb
Yonah David said. “We catch them before
they check out completely from their
families, communities, and even
Yiddishkeit. We help them develop an
individual identity and give them the tools
to succeed as adults. They graduate the
yeshivah connected to Torah Judaism,
mitzvos, and themselves.”
Seclusion and Solitude
Seventeen-year-old Yehudah learned in
the yeshivah for three years. Today he is a
counselor in the yeshivah and is about to
get his electrician’s certificate.
“Since I came here, I might be
considered less spiritual than my friends
who learn Gemara all day. But in my eyes
I became much stronger in my spirituality
since I arrived at Kfar Zeitim. It is the best
thing that could have happened to me in
my life. At the yeshivah I found myself
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A chassidishe bachur caring for one of the yeshivah’s many
animals. Except for the white shirt that wouldn’t last long
on the farm, he maintains his regular Chassidic garb.
progressing in everything — in my
learning, in my way of thinking, in my
middos, and in my perception of life,
because here I could think with peace of
mind, without pressure. If you have
questions, you have someone to turn to. In
many regular yeshivos you don’t always
have someone to talk to, and with three
hundred bachurim, you’re lucky if you can
find yourself, let alone a staff member!”
Rabbi Frank felt it necessary to open the
yeshivah in an isolated location in order
to distance children from their former
social framework — a place where they
can develop far away from the critical eyes
of their peers.
“These boys have very strong senses.
They know that some people in their
communities think less of them because
they aren’t successful in learning. They
feel it in shul, at home, and of course in
school, and they begin to believe it. In the
street, we measure a person according to
what he can do. If you can do it, you’re
worth something; if not, you’re not worth
anything. Here you’re a neshamah, a
person; even if you can’t succeed [at
something], you are worthy, as long as
you tried your best.”
Kfar Zeitim is the ideal environment.
There are no distractions, no negative
influences, and very few people passing by
in the street.
“This place is full of good energy and
activity,” Rabbi Frank said. “After a while
they fall in love with the environment,
with the breathtaking view, the silence, the
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Vocational workshops help the boys develop positive self-esteem while learning valuable job skills.
peace. It is one of the most beautiful places
in Eretz Yisrael. The beauty is soothing and
opens the heart. In that atmosphere, a
child is ready to come to the classes and
follow the guidelines.”
A Yeshivah With a Heart
According to menahel Rabbi David
Bloch, one of the main ingredients in the
yeshivah’s success is the intimate, warm
environment. “It’s a home for these boys,
not an institution. We work very hard to
connect to each kid. The students realize
that the staff doesn’t come in the morning
and leave at night just to stamp their time
cards. Everyone here is like a father to
them — perhaps more than a father. We
genuinely give them our hearts.”
Yossi, from Beit Shemesh, seconds that
notion. “It’s a family. It’s not a place where
you come and learn and then leave. The
staff really cares.”
The boys spend every other Shabbos
together in the yeshivah, and many even
choose to stay during bein hazmanim.
The staff works overtime to try to
discover each boy’s unique talents. “We
believe that everyone has [his] own talents
— we only need to find them and allow
them to emerge,” Rabbi Bloch continued.
“When they succeed at something small,
they realize that they can succeed at
bigger things as well. They realize that
they are worth something, and it restores
their faith in themselves [and their sense]
that they are truly able to succeed in life.”
One boy with severe learning
disabilities came to the yeshivah with a
terrible stutter and was barely able to
speak. He eventually opened up to the
staff and shared his tragic story. He had
grown up in a strict yeshivah setting, and
his rebbeim had berated him for years for
his lack of comprehension. Instead of
getting the compassion he so desperately
needed at home, his father would punish
him further.
“I felt like I was in jail all those years,”
he recounted. “I felt like an utter failure.”
When he came to Kfar Zeitim, he
started to relax and his stutter began to
subside. He signed up for the computer
track and discovered an amazing talent
for editing digital video. Today, he has
even improved in his Gemara learning.
“This is a true case of techias hameisim,”
Rabbi Frank said with inexpressible
nachas.
Another boy had been told that he
needed to take an antidepressant. Today
he is managing a construction project on
the yeshivah grounds and feels like a
million dollars — without medication.
“When the child gets satisfaction from
succeeding in a parnassah, he begins
striving for something in life,” Rabbi Frank
said. “Once he’s calm and happy, his
heart opens up, and only then can you try
to teach him about emunah and what it
means to be a Jew. Without the vision, you
don’t even have a chance of influencing
him... Here we build their self-esteem and
character so that they have keilim for more
in life.” ❚I
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