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A Lasting Tribute to Rabbi Moshe Neuman, zt”l
The Jewish Home | MAY 12, 2022 A Lasting Tribute to the Unconditional Love of Rabbi Moshe Neuman, zt”l
By ShaBSie SaphirStein
The Queens community of today boasts an array of premier centers for Torah education for both boys and girls of all ages. In 1961, Rabbi Moshe Neuman, zt”l, sowed the budding landscape with the establishment of Bais Yaakov Academy of Queens (BYQ) in the community’s tender roots, instilling chinuch approaches in neighborhood girls for the next five decades. Walking through the doors of BYQ, one is hit with a unique and palpable warmth and energy.
In every conversation discussing the lasting impact of Rabbi Neuman, one can easily grasp how his positivity, dedication, professionalism, and ruchniyus added to a balanced and forward-thinking path to education. Throughout the generations, as the bnos Yisrael advanced through high school and beyond, they were each given strong character development instilled through an integral method of teaching middos tovos.
For 68 years, Rabbi Neuman and his eishes chayil, Rebbetzin Rivkah (Hollander), widely contributed to klal Yisrael as leaders and guides. While the Neuman family residence was in Boro Park, Rabbi Neuman had the special Queens pride that permeates the grid of Jewish neighborhoods.
Like countless Queens families, the connection to BYQ extends for generations. I saw firsthand the kindness of Rabbi Neuman in the education of my sister, Elisheva Saphirstein, in the ‘90s.
My aunt, Mrs. Henshe (Saphirstein) Schonbrun, now of Madison, Flatbush, has the fondest memories, “Rabbi Neuman was the nicest elementary school menhael one could have ever had. Although we only met a handful of times since, I felt that attending his levayah was my duty.”
Rebbetzin Rivkah, a longtime pre-1A teacher in Yeshiva Toras Emes Kaminetz of Brooklyn, lent her own mark in the Schonbrun family in the upbringing of my cousin Yehoshua. In 1977, together with fellow educator Mrs. Cheryle Knobel, Rebbetzin Rivkah created the widely popular “613 Torah Avenue” adventure series of audio and video albums starring Chaim, a boy that teaches youngsters about the parshah in a fun and humorous way.
Rabbi Neuman, who passed away at the age of 91, designed the school faithful to the ideologies of the Sara Schneirer Bais Yaakov movement and in the eye of his rebbeim, Rav Yitzchak Hutner, zt”l, at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin and Reb Mike Tress, zt”l.
Early on, he began a career in chinuch first in Detroit at Bais Yehuda and later in Allentown at the Jewish Community Center Day School. In the ‘60s, as BYQ took root, awe-inspiring hurdles required great persistence and mesiras nefesh leading to the BYQ of today as a crown jewel of girls’ chinuch in Queens. Rabbi Neuman’s graduates dot the globe, disseminating the mesorah they absorbed.
Rabbi Neuman, together with notable families including the Rosenbergs, Sukeniks, and Zimmers, and the rabbinic guidance of Rabbi Joseph Grunblatt zt”l, Rabbi Fabian Schonfeld zt”l, Rabbi Peretz Steinberg, shlit”a, and Rabbi Noach Isaac Oelbaum, shlit”a, brought in a new era of girls’ education.
Today, the presidium of BYQ, Mr. Bernie Shafran, together with Dr. Meyer Halberstam, have taken on the school’s achrayus. Mr. Shafran’s father-in-law, Mr. Yankel Zimmer, z”l, was an early board member, and his wife, Chaya, along with her sisters, are proud graduates. Mrs. Marylin Zimmer has been zoche to witness several great-grandchildren continue the family legacy of attending BYQ. Upon hearing of Rabbi Neuman’s pe-
tirah, Mrs. Zimmer spoke for all, exclaiming, “I loved that man.”
Six years ago, Mr. Shafran and some associates organized a lavish fundraiser for a g’mach. The organizers did not hold back and arranged for delicacies and cocktails. The mixologist, who had the obvious persona of a frum woman, inquired of the men where they resided. Upon hearing from Queens, she persisted, “Do you know Rabbi Neuman?” Once Mr. Shafran explained his connection, the woman gleamed with excitement and enlightened the men, noting that her strong Yiddishe ideals are due to her formative principal.
“I remember her like today,” recalled Rabbi Neuman in a follow up call with Mr. Shafran. “I recollect the story of her grandparents wanting to see her attend BYQ to get a frum education.” Rabbi Neuman was reminded of her first day when she was in tears and did not want to depart the school bus. And so, in his caring fashion, Rabbi Neuman boarded the bus to usher her into the first of many days at the school.
Mr. Shafran added, “Although Rabbi Neuman had not been involved at the school over the last decade – and despite our huge student body of over 700 girls – Rabbi Neuman’s warmth and personal touch that have been inculcated into generations of talmidos still permeates the spirit and love of BYQ. We like to believe that, at BYQ, above our academic excellence, we strive to offer a oneto-one connection of warmth and love to each talmidah.”
When my sister Elisheva was in fifth grade, she merited to have Rabbi Neuman’s daughter, Mrs. Brochie Kramer, teach Chumash. At sh’ivah, a woman now in her forties related to Mrs. Kramer a remarkable tale from her youth when she and her mother were unfortunately abandoned by her father.
“My mother had nothing but wanted me to receive an education woven with chinuch at BYQ,” the woman shared.
Rabbi Neuman took the situation to heart and insisted that the mother accept a job in mimeographing until she got back on her feet. The employment continued for five years until the mother was able to remarry and once again give her daughter a whole family, all thanks to Rabbi Neuman.
Mrs. Kramer continues Rabbi Neuman’s legacy at BYQ as she instills a love for Torah and Yiddishkeit in her young talmidos.
Mrs. Ora Love’s connection to BYQ began at the age of four as a student in the early childhood department and returned in 1997 when her oldest turned five and was ready for pre-1A. Today, a resident of Kew Gardens together with her husband Hillel and their esteemed family, she leads in BYQ as the preschool director; her daughter, Mrs. Adina Lieberman of Kew Gardens Hills, is a teacher.
“The loss of Rabbi Neuman is like losing my father all over again,” recounted Mrs. Love, whose father Mr. Phil Halbfinger, z”l, passed this past December. “Rabbi Neuman’s values in education were the same as my parents’ and that is the reason I am in chinuch today. I am inspired by being able to teach around some of the same educators who once taught me,” added Mrs. Love.
“Rabbi Neuman changed the face of Queens because he was both approachable and relatable and lived by his own mantra: ‘If you give a student your heart, they will give you their mind.’”
Rabbi Neuman’s connection to others allowed him to
leave lifelong impressions imbued with ahavas Yisrael that his talmidos have carried through as they moved out of the neighborhood to start their own families. The same principles of respect were displayed in his interaction with staff with whom many had no formal contract because of their complete trust in Rabbi Neuman. There was never negotiating on salary; Rabbi Neuman would tell you exactly what you would be getting paid.
If a child was brought in to be reprimanded, Rabbi Neuman desired to uncover what brought upon the difficulty and would find a way to use an anecdote and smile to make everyone feel safe and loved. The menahel knew each girl by name and their story. The youngest of girls would meet him around campus and say, “My mommy had a baby today,” and he would reply with true joy and sincerity to their good news.
The talmidos at BYQ were well prepared in both liumdei kodesh and chol.
“The greatness of Rabbi Neuman was his myriad and faceted ways of dealing with those with whom he interacted,” expressed Mrs. Nechama Jurkowitz who assumed the position of limudei kodesh principal eight years ago. “Rabbi Neuman was deeply invested in our lives and our success inside and outside of the classroom. He pushed his staff to coalesce as a family, setting the tone of interest and friendship with one another and gave us an electric connectivity where we wanted to come to school. This very warmth exuded to the children we were charged with educating.”
Mrs. Jurkowitz, who had spent the 25 years prior as an educator under Rabbi Neuman, witnessed the profundity of her superior, “At the levaya, I sat next to a woman who was probably a grandmother. Her unbelievable reaction was, ‘He was my Rabbi Neuman!’ Where can you find a parent body and student body with such a feeling to one man? This transcends the realm of a regular person.
“He knew how to build a building and even taller people. His students forever viewed themselves as an outgrowth of his nurturing.”
On the evening of Friday, April 15, Rabbi Neuman took a fall in shul before returning home for the first seder. Earlier that day, Mrs. Jurkowitz decided to call Rabbi Neuman to wish him a good yom tov.
“Like all conversations when you spoke to Rabbi Neuman, he was always focused on you as the only one present in his life and often touched back on subjects. That final discussion was as vibrant and engaging as any. We spoke of challenges at the school and of an upcoming opportunity to talk about the Holocaust in memory of his own father Reb Yehuda Yitzchok, z”l, with whom he was deeply connected.”
This past Friday, Mrs. Jurkowitz memorialized Rabbi Neuman during her lesson on Parshas Kedoshim discussing how the Yidden are different than non-Jews as we achieve holiness through v’ahavta l’rayecha kamocha, loving your neighbor as yourself. Mrs. Jurkowitz clutched her journal and explained that it was filled with expressions of love that were the epitome of Rabbi Neu-
man who showered his fellow Jew with love and that their chinuch was because of his accomplishments.
Rabbi Neuman was always eager to perpetuate the message and lessons from the Shoah for the children who loved to hear him speak. His inspiring talks on the Holocaust always delivered a feeling of those who rose above their unfathomable trials. In the early years, Rabbi Neuman would discuss his own experiences of Kristallnacht with the girls, giving an impromptu Yom HaShoah message to the girls in the hallways, first to the fifth and sixth graders and next to the seventh and eighth.
Rabbi Neuman always wanted the girls to be connected to yesteryear. Students fondly remember hearing Rabbi Neuman take to the intercom each erev Shabbos, “Ask your parents if you can call your grandparents, in the vicinity or not, to wish them a good Shabbos.” Today, the program has evolved into CSS, Call Someone Special for Shabbos, a direct perpetuation of the initiative that was started by the former school leader.
Another instance of a continuation of his legacy takes place around Shabbos Shirah. Rabbi Neuman would go classroom hopping, singing a song about putting out breadcrumbs to show hakaras hatov to the birds. This past year, Mrs. Jurkowitz phoned Rabbi and Rebbetzin Neuman and arranged for them to again address the girls on the loudspeaker with a Shabbos Shirah message. That call ended with, “Rabbi Neuman, you are still here.”
Rabbi Neuman taught derech eretz with his signature compassion. Mrs. Jurkowitz recollected a particular group of eighth graders that wanted to abandon their school uniform for a day shortly before graduation. Rabbi Neuman with great reverence would not allow this line to be crossed and explained that such actions were not allowed and would result in the girls not receiving their diplomas. Suffice it to say, the girls remained in their uniforms.
Rabbi Neuman, who was raised in Germany, was extremely careful with the school’s funds – from shutting the lights and windows to ensuring the floors were clean of refuse. In his method of giving mussar and being a mensch, Rabbi Neuman would admonish, “If you do not pick it up, who will? Your mother?”
Often, it was the small things that stood out like the notes in his shirt pocket, seeing him shlep in milk cartons from his car following the close of the Balsam Farm on Cross Bay Boulevard, big bundles of newspapers being brought in, teaching a classroom if no substitute teacher could be secured, or when he joined Agudath Israel’s Legislative Commission as the Queens representative to advance election principles back in 1973.
“Rabbi Neuman was one of few people in chinuch loved by students, cared for by teachers, respected by parents, and who got along with the board,” offered Mrs. Zehava Somerstein née Berkowitz who began her fifty years of service to BYQ at 18 years of age in 1964. “Rabbi Neuman was a champion of the underdog and felt for those who needed help, often taking in girls of all backgrounds, many who had problems at home, and who today lead productive frum lives.”
The essence of Rabbi Neuman glowed at weddings when students would follow in his path. At sh’ivah, Mrs. Somerstein met women who had Rabbi Neuman some fifty years ago.
Once, during a year when a few girls had become yesomos, Mrs. Somerstein went looking for Rabbi Neuman. Eventually she located the caring principal in the back stairwell teaching three young girls the particulars of saying Yizkor. He also became the teacher for parents, often holding special sessions with almanos and g’rushos to help guide them in their situations.
There was always a tangible joy for students and teachers when Rabbi Neuman entered a classroom. Be-
fore Rosh Hashana, Rabbi Neuman would enter each classroom to blow shofar. Rabbi Neuman, a stellar ba’al tefillah, was well versed in Shulchan Aruch and had a special appreciation for halacha and hashkafa.
When Mrs. Somerstein had her own children, she felt it was time to break from BYQ. Rabbi Neuman would not have it and arranged for her to become his own assistant to come in twice weekly, tasked with supervising the staff, implementing the curriculum, and writing dikduk workbooks.
Mrs. Karen Deutsch was a BYQ student whose family was greatly impacted by Rabbi Neuman.
“Besides for my own sisters and children who were zoche to have Rabbi Neuman, my husband Duvi developed a kesher with him over the years as his head counselor in Camp Torah Vodaas, later exchanging words of Torah and playing ball,” Mrs. Deutsch shared. “Their relationship was so close that Duvi was able to visit Rabbi Neuman in the hospital before his petirah.
“On the day of his passing, Rabbi Neuman seemingly called many people to give out brachos. My father who grew up knowing Rabbi Neuman in Brooklyn and spent
many years together with the Neumans at the Twin Bridges bungalow colony, merited to be one of those final calls. We all felt treasured; he was like everyone’s father that you wanted to please and were afraid to disappoint.”
Mrs. Sarah Bergman, general studies principal, explained, “Rabbi Neuman looked, listened, comforted, and heard you when you spoke; you were the heartfelt central point of his life and he made you feel with undivided attention that your burdens were his own. He was the shoulder for so many to cry upon for both moments of simcha, when a joyous expression would fill his face, and those of grief, when he knew how to reflect with solemn compassion and exhibit a demeanor of pain within his eyes.”
Mrs. Bergman began teaching in January of 1979. “Rabbi Neuman molded my philosophy of teaching and underscores all we do at BYQ; we do not teach a subject or curriculum – we teach individual children how to learn with acceleration or remediation when required. There was no ‘bad’ child to Rabbi Neuman, only a child in pain with a problem for him to solve with a new teaching method. Rabbi Neuman believed in the core of today’s BYQ that we are here to help every child transition into life. Every child is good and has a desire to behave and be part of greater good.”
Mrs. Bergman explained that the essence of chinuch is chein, to find the positive that allows every child to shine. “At BYQ, we indoctrinate new teachers with the mindset of teaching children to find their voice, not simply the subjects required.”
Rabbi Neuman recently called into BYQ and spoke with Mrs. Bergman about the welfare of the Bergman family, “He remembered the smallest details of what was discussed long ago.”
Rabbi Neuman’s tenure was followed by that of his son Rabbi Nosson Neuman (now at the helm of Bais Yaakov Ateres Miriam in Far Rockaway), then Rabbi Mordechai Gewirtz, and now Rabbi Mordechai Ginsparg. We wish heartfelt nechama to the family and students of Rabbi Neuman and arichas yomim v’shanim tovim to Rebbetzin Rivkah.
