March 6, 2006
Letter From TA
As I mentioned on Friday, TA sent out a letter addressing R. Teichman as well as the school's philosophy. I've included the complete text of the letter below, if you'd like to offer your comments.
My thoughts: the letter is clearly disassociating R. Teichman's possible departure with any change in the school's philosophy. That says, to me, that R. Teichman was not sufficiently guiding the school in the direction it wanted to go. So where does the school want to go that R. Teichman is not taking it? Also, although the letter states no underlying philosophical change is taking place, the philosophy outlined is vague and flexible enough to accomdate any number of interpretations, including some incarnations that, although certainly accessible to all students in the community, represent a non-ideal educational environment to many families.
The complete text of the letter is below.
Dear Parents & Friends:
We are writing to you with regard to the recent discussion of Rabbi Teichman’s possible resignation from his position as Rosh Mesivta at the conclusion of the current school year. Rabbi Teichman has led our Yeshiva for the past eight years, and it has been his leadership that accomplished the remarkable development and improvement of our High School. Rabbi Teichman’s sparkling personality has energized the school; his Torah and his vision have raised the school to a fundamentally different level; and his personal warmth and educational wisdom have changed the lives of so many of our individual Talmidim. We are – and will forever be – extremely indebted to Rabbi Teichman for everything he has done for us.
It is imperative that we make clear that Rabbi Teichman’s possible departure does not in any way represent a philosophical shift in the school. We remain steadfastly committed to two core principles that have motivated the development of our High School since we engaged Rabbi Teichman as Rosh Mesivta. First, we recognize that the Yeshiva must be a place that seeks to inspire, nurture and educate all of our children. Second, we recognize that for the High School to be successful at this mission, it must serve as an attractive option for our strongest students. These two core principles have motivated all of us through the difficult journey of the development of the High School.
It is understood that these two principles often may seem to contradict each other. Indeed it is a constant effort to properly resolve the difficult decisions that maintaining both these principles present. It would be far easier for us as an institution to choose to meet only one or the other of these principles; to either dedicate ourselves to serve students not being served by other Yeshivos, or to make our school exclusively for the best students. We will not make that choice. We remain committed to the shared vision of both TA and Rabbi Teichman of a yeshiva that can attract the strongest students at the same time as it serves and develops students who would not be served elsewhere.
Countless expressions of appreciation and support for Rabbi Teichman have been shared over the past week, from students, parents and community members. These have been helpful in encouraging the intense efforts to address and resolve the complex issues that motivated Rabbi Teichman’s original decision. Rabbi Teichman and members of the school’s lay and professional leadership continue to engage in this process. We do not know if these issues will be resolved to satisfaction. We do know that whatever the outcome we will remain indebted to Rabbi Teichman for what he has done for us, and we will spare no effort in working together to continue with a consistent vision and direction.
