Her Life, Our Classroom

BE PREPARED “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail” Mrs. Jaffe would say. She was very particular not only that we prepare a lesson thoroughly but that we practice it in front of our peers and tutor before entering the classroom. At all hours of the evening she would go to sem to watch the girls role-play the lessons they were due to deliver the next day

“M y students are her students.” It’s a sentiment shared by thousands of teachers world over alumnae of the teacher-training program in Gateshead seminary developed and headed by Mrs. Yehudis Jaffe a”h. Committed to instilling each and every child with the sweetness and yashrus of Torah Mrs. Jaffe’s principles of education were a remarkable fusion of authentic mesorah and cutting-edge technique. Former students reflect on the lessons of her life.

Each morning the legendary founder of the Gateshead seminary Rabbi Avrohom Kohn ztz”l would wake up his children. He’d lean down and say “V’hiskadishtem v’hiskadishtem!” an imperative to spend the day sanctifying Hashem’s name in this world.

To Mrs. Jaffe this became more than an unusual morning wish. Its message infused her life’s work. Because Mrs. Jaffe did not simply stand at the front of the classroom of 50 Bewick Road. Through the thousands of teachers she trained she stood behind the teachers’ desk of innumerable classrooms.