A Matter Of When, Not If

Magazine

About a year ago, I observed the model lesson of a prospective middle school Gemara teacher at the school I lead, Westchester Day School. Being the week before Pesach, the teacher naturally focused the lesson on the chag. He began with the quote from Parshat Bo (13:14) that is the basis for the simple son’s question at the Seder: “Vihaya ki yishalcha bincha machar leimor ma zot…(And when your son asks you tomorrow what is this all about…)..” The context in the Torah of the simple son’s question is the mitzvah of Pidion Bechorim (redeeming the firstborn). His question, basically, seeks the reason for this mitzvah, and the answer given is that it is because the firstborn Jewish males were spared in the plague of Makat Bechorim (Ibn Ezra, among others).

AMIT Ramle: Dream Big, Joy And Happiness, Cooking With Love, Enjoy Every Moment

Magazine

It is hard not to come away from a visit to AMIT Ramle Technological High School without a sense of tremendous admiration for the educational work being carried out there. Reflecting the city’s mixed ethnic and low socioeconomic background, the student population consists entirely of young people with multiple needs – emotional, psychological, financial, and physical. “We do not accept good students,” affirms principal Yizhar Afgan, “we only accept students with special needs or difficulties.”