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Shalhevet news online: When we know it, you'll know it

The Boiling Point

Shalhevet news online: When we know it, you'll know it

The Boiling Point

Shalhevet news online: When we know it, you'll know it

The Boiling Point

Rabbi Weinbach resigns

Rabbi+Weinbach+resigns

At four minutes to midnight last Thursday, April 29, the Shalhevet Board announced via e-mail that Head of School Rabbi Elchanan Weinbach would “be leaving the school, effective immediately.”

No explanation was given, but Principal of General Studies Mr. Tranchi ran a 15-minute assembly Friday at the end of Period E assuring the students that everything would function normally.  Then after school, the board distributed a letter from Rabbi Weinbach saying he was leaving for family reasons. It also announced that longtime president Mrs. Esther Feder would become chairman of the Shalhevet board, with Mr. Larry Gill becoming president.

Rabbi Weinbach also sent a separate e-mail to parents, also distributed by the board, apologizing for the effect his resignation would have on the community and pledging to do his part to ease Shalhevet’s transition period.

“Unfortunately, at this time, it is clear that returning to the New York area is in the best interest of my family,” Rabbi Weinbach wrote in the email. ”I will do my best to work with the administration and faculty during this transition period to minimize the effect on our students.”

The multiple emails and the information Mr. Tranchi gave in the assembly were not very straightforward, and Shalhevet was oozing confusion and uncertainty on Friday as both students and teachers tried to figure out what exactly had happened and was going to happen.

Board member David Nimmer, asked to explain the discrepancy as to whether Rabbi Weinbach was leaving immediately or at the end of the school year, told The Boiling Point that there is “a certain confidentiality.”

“Everything’s too fresh now to tell you more,” added Mr. Nimmer, in a telephone interview.

The announcements were all unexpected and students struggled to understand.

“I have been told different reasons for the sudden decision by different, reliable sources, and am, more than anything else, confused.” senior Trevor Brandt-Sarif said. “I know there might be legal limits to what I can know, but I would like a consistent story.”

At the assembly, Mr. Tranchi assured the Shalhevet community that this change would not compromise the education of the students in any way and told the junior class that “everything we talked about [in the junior class meeting yesterday about next year]–it’s on”. He also said that he and Jewish Philosophy and Law teacher Rabbi Leubitz would split Rabbi Weinbach’s responsibilities until the end of the school year.

There will also be a Rabbinic Advisory Committee to help Shalhevet implement the new Judaic Studies Curriculum designed by Rabbi Leubitz, Jewish History and Middle East Studies teacher Mr. Jason Feld and Gemara teacher Mr. Noam Weissman, according to Mr. Larry Gill, incoming president of the Board.

Meanwhile, the Board of Director’s reestablished “search team” will work on finding and hiring a new Head of School for the 2011-2012 academic year.

“We are going to make a thorough search,” Mr. Gill told The Boiling Point. “We’re not going to rush into such an important decision.”

The school hasn’t decided who will take over Rabbi Weinbach’s responsibilities next year yet, Mr. Gill said.
At the end of Friday’s assembly, Mr. Tranchi stressed the importance of unity, and instructed faculty and students to go about business as usual.

“We will continue to move the school forward,” he said. “I’m here for you, the faculty and teachers are here for you, and you will continue to be the strong, exemplary, wonderful, polite students that you are.”

This story is part of the coverage that was named 2010 Multimedia Story of the Year by the National Scholastic Press Association and American Society of News Editors.

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