Community Magazine March 2016

28 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE YESHIVAT LEV TORAH Sponsors Grand Siyum and Special Lag Ba'omer Event Yeshivat Lev Torah was founded with the goal of producing the next generation of community members who are committed to Torah study and practice, and who conduct themselves with sterling character, integrity and responsibility. The yeshiva, which serves community children from nursery through eighth grade, strives to provide its students with a first rate religious studies program alongside an outstanding general studies curriculum, laying the foundation for a life of Torah devotion and professional success. One of the credos that characterize the culture and mindset of the yeshiva’s administration and staff is that standing still means falling backwards. And so the yeshiva constantly searches for ways to improve and build upon its success, rather than sit on its laurels and complacently maintain the status quo. The curriculum, performance standards and extracurricular activities are always being evaluated, reevaluated and enhanced, to ensure that the students of Lev Torah are receiving the absolute best Jewish education has to offer. Educate, Not Dictate Under the direction of its dynamic menahel , Rabbi Yitzchak Greenblatt, the devoted faculty excites and inspires its students with a love for learning, both in and out of the classroom. The Rosh Yeshivah of Lev Torah is Rabbi Raymond Beyda, a renowned scholar, educator and leader who is recognized throughout our community and well beyond for his knowledge of Torah and unique ability to teach it. Rabbi Beyda spends six days a week in the school, working tirelessly to expand the programs and to teach the students, both one-on-one and in small groups. “We try to educate, not to dictate,” Rabbi Beyda explains. “Yes, we have rules and discipline, but we try to instill in our boys the desire to do well and to learn to love the gift of the ages – our holy Torah.” Yeshivat Lev Torah is proud and fortunate that Rabbi Beyda’s talents and energies are being channeled towards its continued success.  General Studies Principal Mr. Leonard Zeplin, speaks with pride about Lev Torah’s outstanding academic standards – while humbly omitting the fact that it is his experience and knowledge that have helped to make the yeshiva a premier community institution. “Our unique current events program, Science Fair, and especially our newcomputer labnowequal standards onparwith thebest community schools,” he enthuses. The result, he says, has been competition for enrollment in the best community high schools, On the topic of competition, Lev Torah strongly believes that students should be prepared already at an early age for the kind of competition theywill encounterwhenseekingentry intothe increasinglycompetitive workforce.  They enjoy healthy competition in exciting programs such as the parashah bee, a spelling bee, and a berachah bee, and participate in numerous challenging educational projects throughout the year. Participation in the yeshiva’s new afterschool basketball/phys- ed program is likewise incentive-based, offering students yet another opportunity to develop healthy and wholesome competition skills.