Chanukah spells chinuch
And as much as I am able
I’d like to give some accolades
To our Chinuch Roundtable
The power of mechanchim
To help all those who seek
Lighting up their lives
With wisdom every week
What do you do
With an issue
And you’re not sure where to turn
How to you help your children grow
To love? To thrive? To learn?
How can you ask the questions?
When you hardly have an ear
Maybe they’re too busy
It’s not that they don’t care
Each week Yated is filled with those
Who ask so sincerely
Who take the roles Hashem gave them
With great sincerity
They know the future lies with them
As rebbis, moros, mentors
Yeshivos, day schools, kollelim
And outreach learning centers
Parents, zaidies, bubbies too
Each and every week
Hearing all the voices
Adults and kids who speak
You’d like to review homework
But you don’t know how to learn
You want to push him harder
But bridges you may burn
Your daughter was not chosen
Not one part in a play
How do I deal with her poor tears
She sits and cries all day
My son, he’s getting bullied
A boy gave him a smack
Can I teach him karate
So he’ll know to fight back
The rebbi has a contest
But money is not there
He’d like to give great prizes
But the board don’t seem to care
Our twins are in the same class
But one is very smart
To separate them in 5th grade
Would really break my heart
My son learns day and night
At least in yeshiva then
But when he comes back home
Somehow he sleeps to ten?
His friend is off the derech
But he still wants to play
My son feels he can handle it
I don’t know what to say
We’d like to take vacation
Our son’s school just said no
We need it for our sanity
Should we obey? Or go?
Six hundred sixty-seven times
The column educated
Thoughtful answers offered
On issues you related
Why do I write about it now
So many years have passed
I know the questions that you pose
They will forever last
But as one behind the scenes
Who knows the other side
And writes his poems and sometimes prose
Behind a name he’ll hide
I read the questions, answers too
From every educator
They simply would not be understood
Without a moderator
To take the words of passion
Make them palpable to read
Articulating thoughts they wrote
So that the words they’ll heed
And thus I write with knowledge
I know it may be hard
To keep the level oh so high
With the changing of the guard
Indeed, Reb Sruly will move on
Reb Shmuly in his stead
I know he’ll be phenomenal
And the CR always read
So when you light menorahs
Oil or a candle
Think about mechanchim
And everything they handle
And drop a line of thanks to them
Maybe the CR crew
For all their insights and ideas
That I hope have helped you
