Lonely at the Top: The conversation continues

Last week’s panel discussing the vacuum in the vital fields of education, outreach, and askanus touched on practical concerns and lack of motivation. Here are some thoughtful responses

Gratitude Matters — Richard Altabe

I read the series “Lonely at the Top” with great interest. Though the article touches on the challenges of finding quality candidates for open positions in chinuch, it misses the core of the issue.

I am opposed to the formal declaration of a new crisis in Klal Yisrael. Every previous crisis spawned many articles and led to the formation of multiple organizations, but unfortunately the “crisis du jour” was never solved. Why? Because by creating organizations to “fix” the crisis, the burden was taken off the individual member of the klal. New crisis? New askanim, new organizations. Solved? Not really. (Case in point: If every member of Klal Yisrael worked to find shidduchim for singles, would there still be a shidduch crisis?)

So before making the teacher shortage into a crisis, I ask the following: How many readers of this magazine with children in yeshivah this past year took the time to write a note of appreciation to their child’s rebbi, morah, or teacher? In a year when teachers were asked to do more than ever before, how many received even verbal accolades or a small end-of-year gift? (Rebbeim I know say that the number of thank-yous from parents has decreased from years past. This statistic is bolstered by recent articles in secular media that decry the lack of gratitude people have for their children’s teachers.)