Y
eshiva Darchei Torah was privileged to
welcome the Hon. Betsy DeVos, the secre-
tary of education of the United States, for
a tour of its campus in May. Ms. DeVos
made history as the first-ever head of the
federal Department of Education to visit a yeshiva
since the cabinet-level post was created in 1980.
Secretary DeVos, a lifelong champion of school
choice, was led on a panoramic tour of the
Yeshiva’s 9-acre campus that showcased
several salient aspects of its world-renowned
educational experience. Accompanying her
were the Rosh HaYeshiva and faculty mem-
bers and lay leaders of the Yeshiva, as well
as Rabbis Chaim Dovid Zwiebel and Abba
Cohen of Agudath Israel of America.
The first stop was a third-grade class-
room, where Rav Yehuda Deutsch was in
the midst of a lesson on the shivas hamin-
im. Using props from plastic fruit to fresh-
ly baked cookies, the rebbi ensured that
the lesson came to life. The Secretary was
shown the room’s SMART Board, one of
many throughout the building, an example
of the Yeshiva’s successful integration of
technology in the classroom.
Further down the hallway, Ms. DeVos
visited the Willens Literacy Library, where
she joined the fourth grade boys in learning
about poetry.
The Secretary’s next stop was to one
of the crown jewels of the Yeshiva, the
Rabenstein Learning Center, where she wit-
nessed some of the 300 students with spe-
cial-education needs who regularly receive
tutoring, therapy and self-contained class-
room instruction within the school setting.
After stopping in on Rav Yossi Wieder’s
sixth grade class, the tour moved across the
campus to the Weiss Vocational Center, a
trailblazing program where a select cadre
of Mesivta students spend part of their af-
ternoons learning trades such as carpentry,
plumbing, electrical contracting and home
wiring—in addition to a core curriculum that includes
math, sciences and language arts. The Secretary saw a
fully-functioning bathroom built from top-to-bottom
by the students and watched as a talmid soldered an
iron pipe. Another talmid presented her with a gift: a
hand-crafted wooden cutting board with an American
flag motif.
At Mesivta Chaim Shlomo, Secretary DeVos
joined a class of high school bachurim for an enlight-
ening, hands-on chemistry lesson in the state-of-the-art
science laboratory.
Arriving at the Yeshiva’s 5,000-square-foot bais
hamedrash during first seder was an eye-opener for the
Secretary, as the hall reverberated with the sounds of
hundreds of bachurim and yungeleit learning at wood-
en shtenders. She approached one pair, who happily
explained to her the basics of studying Gemara with
Mefarshim and the efficacy of chavrusa learning. She
was also introduced to bachurim with physical dis-
abilities who, in typical Darchei fashion, are fully inte-
grated within the Yeshiva framework.
The delegation then walked across the campus
promenade, past the Yeshiva’s spacious ballfields
and playgrounds, for a brief visit to a classroom full
of precocious children at the Harriet Keilson Early
Childhood Center.
The tour was followed by a luncheon meeting
with a cross-section of Yeshiva Darchei Torah parents,
teachers, alumni and board members, who shared their
personal reflections with Secretary DeVos. Among the
issues discussed were the success of the Darchei edu-
cational model, including its dual curriculum of limu-
dei kodesh and limudei chol; the challenge of tuition
affordability; and government funding of programs
for children with special needs. Secretary DeVos lis-
tened attentively and offered her own perspective on
the need for continued advocacy on behalf of school
choice, on the federal and state levels.
The Secretary of Education was visibly moved by
her visit to the Yeshiva. “I thoroughly enjoyed my visit
with the young men of Yeshiva Darchei Torah,” she
remarked. “The teachers and entire faculty are prepar-
ing them to build successful and well-rounded futures
for themselves.” !
BEDARCHEI HATORAH
FALL 5779/2018
27