|
Much of the work that sustains TVT happens beyond the classroom. Today we honor Shmoolie Leventhal, our Controller, whose care for this community extends beyond his work in Finance. Through him, we recognize the staff members whose work behind the scenes makes school life possible each day.
What is one TVT moment, relationship, or experience that has stayed with you?
Judging the Moot Beit Din competition, where students act as a group of Jewish judges, adjudicating a mock case according to Jewish law. These kids were passionate about what they had learned for this case and how they applied it. At that moment, I woke up to the realization that you don’t have to be Orthodox to commit to Jewish values and practices.
Who or what at TVT has made a lasting impact on you?
One of the instructors came up to me and informed me that, because I wore my tzitzit, the fringes on my undershirt, on the outside, it encouraged a student to do the same, despite possible teasing from his peers. That student has since made aliyah, served in the IDF and is now married as an Orthodox Jew.
That moment taught me that influence at TVT does not come only from the classroom. Even as an accountant, simply living my Judaism openly could encourage a student to express their own. It made me realize that my presence here could matter in ways I had never anticipated.
What is your hope for TVT's next 36 years?
Thanks to its leadership and the strength of its Judaic faculty, TVT is in the uniquely wonderful position of treating its Jewish values-driven education as every bit as important as its secular education, both inside and outside the classroom, in a balance that, in my opinion, is quite hard to strike and maintain. My hope for TVT is that it constantly and successfully strives to maintain that balance and that it consistently produces leaders and self-assured followers of tomorrow who comfortably weave their Judaism into the fabric of their lives while making the world a better place to live.
| 
