24 AV 5770 Community AUGUST 4, 2010 HAMODIA C10 B ais Yaakov of Denver has long been considered a pioneer in out-of-town chinuch habanos. Rabbi Meyer and Mrs. Bruria Schwab have been at the helm of this fine institution since it was estab- lished in 1968, paving roads that many have followed. We spoke with Rabbi Schwab to learn how he built Bais Yaakov of Denver and his view of chinuch habanos. Rabbi Schwab, can you tell us a bit about your background? I was born in Baltimore, where my father, Harav Shimon Schwab, zt”l, was Rav of Congregation Shearith Israel. My father was the second Rav of this kehillah. The first Rav had been niftar, and for many years the shul was without a Rav. In 1936, they imported my father from Germany. He remained in that position for over twenty years, when he assumed the Rabbanus of Khal Adas Yeshurun in Washington Heights. When I was eighteen, I learned under Harav Yitzchok Hutner, zt”l, of Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin, and later attend- ed the Gateshead Yeshivah, where my uncle, Rabbi Moshe Schwab, zt”l, was the Mashgiach. Subsequently, I traveled to Eretz Yisrael to learn in the yeshivah of Harav Elya Lopian, zt”l, in Kfar Chassidim, and after I married, I learned in the kollel headed by Harav Michel Feinstein, zt”l, in Tel Aviv. I gained much from all of my rebbeim, but I consider my father to be my rebbi muvhak. While in Eretz Yisrael, I mar- ried Bruria Chechik, daughter of Harav Moshe Chechik, zt”l. We returned to America in 1963, and I became the eighth- grade rebbi at the Yeshivah of Crown Heights. Later, I became a seventh-grade rebbi and assis- tant principal of Torah Vodaath of Flatbush, which subsequent- ly became Yeshivah Torah Temimah, and I was also teach- ing in Rika Breuer Teachers’ Seminary in Washington Heights in the evenings. How did you get to Denver? When Mr. Sheldon Beren, z”l, of Denver, married Mrs. Miriam Levitan in 1967, she only agreed to move to Denver if there would be chinuch for her four- teen-year-old daughter [Mrs. Cheryl Feldberger, a”h]. Mr. Beren got to work trying to establish a Bais Yaakov high school in Denver. He worked with community leaders Mr. and Mrs. Manny Feder, a”h, who subsequently became the first president of Bais Yaakov and the Ladies of Beth Jacob, respectively. Mr. Beren contacted Torah Umesorah for help in recruiting someone with some experience in chinuch habanos who would come to Denver to establish a school.There were not too many people in those days who fit the bill, and since I was a rebbi and had also been teaching girls in Breuer’s, I was recommended. Was it hard to make that move? It was an act of a pioneering spirit, which my wife had more than I did. She was very excited about the prospect of creating an institution, gathering girls from all over and being mechanech them. My father also encouraged me to try it — he liked the idea of being marbitz Torah in places besides New York. At that time there was very little in the way of Bais Yaakov high schools west of the Hudson River. I went with a return ticket in my pocket. I believed this would just be an attempt to create what had never existed. It was simply an experiment; if it could work al pi Torah, I would continue. What was Denver like when you arrived? If not for the Hillel Academy Day School which had been established ten years earlier, Yeshivah Toras Chaim, which had been started one year before we arrived, and our new Bais Yaakov High School, the kehillah would have died, just like so many other communities that had similar beginnings — places like Omaha, Nebraska, and Kansas City, which never developed into mekomos haTorah. Our mosdos saved the community. How did the school develop? We started the Bais Yaakov right away with ten girls; eight were local girls, one was from Phoenix, and the other was from San Francisco. Baruch Hashem, we experienced rapid growth and celebrated many major milestones. In 1977, we built our dormi- tory. Until then we housed our out-of-town girls with families. Today, we are the only Bais Yaakov with a dormitory cam- pus. The campus includes dorm rooms, housing for the dorm parents, a beautiful and spa- cious auditorium with dining facilities and a swimming pool. We have a lot of activities, and it provides a wonderful atmosphere for the girls. We have wonderful dorm parents; Mr. and Mrs. Feivel Gallard are the senior dorm parents, and they are assisted by Rabbi and Mrs. Yechiel Ehrlanger. In 1980, we built our current school building two blocks north of our dormitory campus. The Beren family remained very active in the school for many years. Rabbi Nathaniel Lauer served as vice principal from 1970 to 1994. Rabbi Avrohom Brownstein served as executive director from 1981-1989. Mr. Avrohom Grossman, the fourth and current president of the school, has served for 28 years, following the presidency of Mr. Manny Feder, a”h, Dr. Werner Prenzlau, a”h, and, ybl”c, Mr. Sam Burger. What is the school like today? We maintain an enrollment of sixty to seventy girls. For the coming year, twenty-one out-of- town girls will be in the dorm, and the balance will be from Denver. Our staff is very stable, baruch Hashem, and the mem- bers serve as extraordinary role models for the students. Our limudei kodesh classes are on the level of the finest Bais Yaakovs in the country. Our students have the good fortune to have Rebbetzin Bruria Schwab as their menaheles. Mrs. Schwab is a direct link to Sarah Schenirer through her teachers, who were students of the leg- endary founder of the Bais Yaakov movement. My wife is a mentor to the girls, teaching Chumash, Navi and Ivrit on the level of the early Bais Yaakov teachers. The subjects come alive and affect their thinking on a very profound level. She teaches with tremendous love, recognizing how the genera- tions have changed and under- standing that she must tailor her approach to the girls of the twenty-first century. The limudei chol staff are under the direction of Mrs. Esther Melamed, a graduate of Yavne in Cleveland. We are very lucky that several of its members are also able to inspire our talmidos with ahavas Hashem and yiras Shamayim. As an example, our science teacher, Miss Dasi Indich, points out nifla’os haBorei under the microscope, and the students walk out as inspired as they do from their limudei kodesh class- es. Though the secular studies occupy many hours of the day, the ruach of Bais Yaakov perme- ates all facets of the curriculum. Our students are motivated and inspired to be here. Our school is a happy place, a place with a mesorah, a place with standards and a high level of education. Our students can graduate with as many as forty- six college credits, and we encourage them to get degrees by spending as little time in col- lege as possible. In addition to the intense education, there are many extracurricular activities, including Shabbatons, trips to the Colorado Rocky Mountains, a yearly production and weekly melaveh malkahs in the winter. The school is a fun place, with tremendous simchas hachaim; there is music during the lunch hour and impromptu kumsitzes in the stairwells. At the dorm, there is frequent dancing dur- ing the evening programs. We have had students from thirty different cities in America and fifteen countries, including Russia, Ukraine, Moldavia, Italy, South Africa, Mexico and Panama. This year, we have a student from Costa Rica. We have many different languages in the dormitory, and it is amazing to see how it all comes together. In the begin- ning, there are always adjust- ments, and the new students are hesitant and not sure what to expect; but in the end, it is a wonderful coming together of cultures and languages. The girls become one happy family. We are currently upgrading our dormitory campus. Due to the development of the light rail that is going right past the dorm, we are building a security Community Connection / By Devorah Klein Rabbi Meyer Schwab (R) with his son, Rabbi Aron Yehuda Schwab, Rosh Kollel of Denver Community Kollel A Pioneer in Chinuch Habanos – An Interview With Rabbi Meyer Schwab of Denver, Colorado My father also encouraged me to try it — he liked the idea of being marbitz Torah in places besides New York. Bais Yaakov of Denver