Insidethe a “Stuyvie” Reminisces by Chaim Goldberg
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Insidethe A “Stuyvie” Reminisces By Chaim Goldberg tuyvesant High seeds of Torah-true School has long Judaism, New York NCSY been regarded as assigned Rabbi Nisan Sthe jewel in the crown of Gertz, an inspiring twenty- the New York City pub- something kiruv profession- lic school system, famous al, to the Stuyvesant club. for its strong representa- Every Tuesday afternoon tion in such high-profile after school, JCC members competitions as the Intel would meet with the out- Science Talent Search. going and scholarly rabbi. Stuyvesant (just a fifteen- Dr. David Luchins, a vice president of the OU and former senior advisor (Although the club was off- minute walk from the to the late US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, addresses club members ically only an hour long, we offices of the Orthodox in a Senate chamber during the 1994 Washington, DC, Shabbaton. members usually ended up Union in downtown (Rabbi Jeffrey Greenberg, director of New York NCSY, is seated in the staying for at least two Manhattan) was the first background.) hours, kicking around to be recognized by the ideas.) The JCC and President’s Commission tion to Klal Yisrael through the Jewish “Nissy,” as he was known to on Excellence as one of the best schools Culture Club. The JCC at Stuyvesant, club members, were a perfect shidduch. in the country. The average SAT score sponsored by New York NCSY Nissy offered da’at Torah in a forthcom- at the school is over 1400, and its stu- ing, confident and non-judgemental dents frequently end up competing manner. Week in and week out, he against each other Nissy offered da’at Torah in showed us that the Torah really does for placement in the nation’s finest a forthcoming, confident and have the answers to the issues we con- universities. fronted. During the evenings, Nissy However, there is something spe- non-judgemental manner. He would spend hours on the phone offer- cial about the school that the staff and showed us that the Torah ing advice and chizuk to help us work most of the alumni are not aware of. really does have the answers through our individual challenges. In During the 1990s, scores of other- time, the club earned a reputation for wise unaffiliated Jewish youth at to the issues we confronted. being both cutting-edge and entertain- Stuyvesant reestablished their connec- ing, often causing attendence to exceed (National Conference of Synagogue fifty in a classroom designed to hold Rabbi Goldberg is a rabbinic coordinator Youth), saw some amazing results. thirty. in the Orthodox Union’s Kashrut Believing Stuyvesant’s fertile intel- How did the JCC become so suc- Division. lectual soil was ideal for sowing the cessful? First, Nissy would draw stu- 84 Fall 5766/2005 JEWISH ACTION dents by using provocative titles for club American Museum of Natural History. mately becoming one of the metzuyan- meetings such as “The Legacy of the We shared in Leo’s pidyon haben (which im of the Mir Yeshiva kollel in Jewish King from Bethlehem” (referring took place during a club meeting with Yerushalayim (and undoubtly left some- to David Hamelech, of course) and fellow club member Yosef HaCohen one in the admissions office in “Euthenasia: Mercy Killing or Murder?” Katz) and taught our non-Jewish class- Cambridge scratching his head). Two Jew and Gentile alike (yes, there club members went to Neve were several members who were not of Yerushalayim College in Jerusalem, the Jewish faith) left every meeting with The club earned a where they strengthened their commit- a sense of camaraderie. Then there was reputation for being both ment to Torah before continuing on to the food. Oh yes. Second factor. The Stern College for Women. In truth, kiruv movement has seen astronomic cutting-edge and entertaining, deciding to defer college in order to fur- growth—often achieved through gastro- often causing attendence to ther our Jewish education was the prop- nomic growth. er application of the Stuyvesant school Shabbatonim were another major exceed fifty in a classroom motto, “Pro scientia atque sapientia” draw. New York NCSY arranged for designed to hold thirty. (For knowledge and wisdom). special Shabbatonim and trips including Recently, my wife and I, who met an excursion to Washington, DC, exclu- as club members in 1994, arranged a sive to “Stuyvies” and their friends. mates about Yom HaShoah by passing ten-year club reunion. On a Sunday Club members took a tour of the out yellow Magen Davids marked with afternoon, about twenty men and Capitol, were introduced to the top- the word “Jude,” all the while growing women and their families from across ranking Orthodox Jew in the military at closer to each other and to Judaism. the New York area showed up at the time, and enjoyed the “Jewish hos- Many club members ended up Dougies Restaurant in Brooklyn to eat Buffalo wings and reminisce. During our reunion, we reaffirmed our still- strong connection. Today, members of our group are computer program- mers, psychologists and graduate and kollel students. Not one of the Jewish members married outside the faith. At the end of the evening, I reminded club members of a mish- nah in Avot that I quoted in the 1995 New York NCSY yearbook. Rabbi Yochanan Hasandler says, “Any assembly whose purpose is for the sake of Heaven will eventually endure, and any assembly whose purpose is not for the sake of Heaven will not endure.” I asked club members to judge for them- selves if this berachah was, and Havdalah after a fall 1995 club Shabbaton at Rabbi Nisan “Nissy” Gertz’s apartment maybe continues to be, fulfilled by in Kew Gardens Hills, New York. (The author is pictured second from the left.) our group. pitality” of the NCSY chapter in Silver turning down the finest universities in Unfortunately, due to changes in Spring, Maryland. the nation, including Harvard, Johns the security policy of the school (located The club’s electricity alone drew Hopkins, Boston University, Brandeis, five minutes away from Ground Zero), many of us to Torah-true Judaism. Club New York University and other NCSY is no longer able to sponsor the members put tefillin on fellow class- esteemed institutions of higher learning Stuyvesant club. NCSY has over one hun- mates who had never worn them before, in order to engage in some genuine dred public high school clubs across North shared fears and advice with each other “higher learning.” Some of us went to America. To support this effort, please call regarding growing in religious obser- study at Ohr Somayach or Kol Yaakov Rabbi David Felsenthal at 973-818- vance, held Sunday barbecues and took in Monsey, New York. One member 2484. JA motzei Shabbat excursions to the deferred Harvard for a few years, ulti- Fall 5766/2005 JEWISH ACTION 85.