This is the time of year where parents of graduating students consider where their children will go next. When it comes to high school, there is one school that all parents should look at no matter what their Hashkafa is. And that is the Fasman Yeshiva High School of the Hebrew Theological college. There are many great things going on there. But there is one primary reason for considering this school that supersedes all others. His name is Rabbi Avraham Freidman, the Rosh HaYeshiva.
There are many Mechnchim who are spiritual giants. They are people of great learning and humility. They are not just giants in Torah, they are giants in Midos. And they are exemplars of what Chinuch is all about. Chinuch is not only about pumping a student’s mind full of knowledge. It is about character development. And it is mostly about caring for each and every student as though they were their own children.
One such individual is Rabbi Freidman. He has spent his entire adult life teaching students Torah and indeed - treating them as though they were his own children. He has never abandoned a single student no matter what kind of problems they had. Even those that were expelled.
Rabbi Friedman had good role models in his own Rebbeim. Gedolim like Rav Aharon Soloveichik, and the Roshei Yeshiva in the Mir of his era - people like Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz, Rav Beinsh and Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel. And many other Gedolim of that era who populated the halls of Mir. My hat is off to Rabbi Friedman. He is a contemporary of mine. We were in the same high school Shiur. But he has grown miles high in stature in my eyes and the eyes of his many students over the course of his illustrious career in Chinuch. And I honor him.
It is because of him that I recommend the HTC high school experience to students of all Hashkafic persuasions. It doesn’t matter if you are Modern Orthodox or Charedi. Parents will not be disappointed with the result if Rabbi Friedman has anything to do with them. And as a ‘hands on’ Rosh HaYeshiva, I can almost guarantee that he will have a lot to do with them.
