Under Rabbi Karmi Gross, Maimonides Academy moved from a small insignificant school to a large Torah institution that is loved by its students and respected by its community.
Through good education management, Rabbi Gross first commanded respect. The financial backing followed.
Now Rabbi Karmi Gross has moved to Israel. The new leader is Rabbi Aharon Wilk. I hear no fewer plaudits for the school.
“The problem with the model we have for education in Los Angeles,” says one community rabbi, “is that it all depends upon who your head of school is who’s doing all your hiring. If he’s good, he’ll get a good staff.
“By contrast, if you have a board of seasoned educators (no Jewish school in LA has this), you’re not dependent on one person.”
Ohr Eliyahu in Culver City is to the right of Maimonides Academy. The school is popular and respected in the community. It boasts solid secular and religious education and is the brainchild of Rabbi Shlomo Goldberg, formerly of the Pacific Jewish Center.
