Rabbi Elchanan Weinbach left Shalhevet, a Los Angeles Modern Orthodox day school, suddenly in 2010. Now he’s left another yeshiva suddenly.
Here’s the email that went out:
Dear Kohelet Yeshiva High School Parents:
On behalf of the Kohelet Yeshiva High School board of directors, I am sad to announce that Rabbi Elchanan Weinbach, for personal reasons, will no longer serve as head of school beginning this week. During his tenure, Kohelet Yeshiva has grown from 95 to 166 students, established a vibrant Beit Midrash, and embraced 21st century learning.
Rabbi Weinbach will continue to contribute his talents and vision to Jewish education through Project Kodachrome, a start-up organization focused on developing blended and online learning curricula. This initiative is funded largely by the Seligsohn family, who are also generous supporters of our school. We wish Rabbi Weinbach the best as he embarks on this new venture.
I am working closely with the executive committee of the school’s Board of Directors, with the entire board, and the professional administrative team during this transition time. We expect to announce an interim arrangement shortly for the management of the school. Over the coming months, we will conduct a thorough search for a new head of school to begin next fall. In the meantime, please know that I am impressed by and grateful to the school administrators for their commitment to maintaining the educational excellence and supportive environment that have become hallmarks of our school. We will keep you updated as information becomes available.
We know how important it is for parents to have a specific person to whom they can raise any questions or concerns they may have. Until a more formal organizational structure is identified, you should address any questions about Limudi Kodesh to Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky, our Rosh Beit Midrash. Rabbi Sinensky’s email address is rsinensky@koheletyeshiva.org. Any questions about secular subjects should be addressed to Barry Kirzner, currently the head of the History Department, and a teacher at the school since its founding. Mr. Kirzner’s email address bkirzner@koheletyeshiva.org. Any questions or concerns about any other matter should be addressed to Rabbi Rodney Feinerman, our Assistant Head of School, whose email address is rfeinerman@koheletyeshiva.org.
I want to close by emphasizing two things. First, changes in leadership can of course be stressful times for institutions. For Kohelet Yeshiva, however, we are fortunate to have a board of directors, a faculty and administration, and a community that are committed together to creating a school that teaches excellence in both Torah and Maddah , and to imbuing our students with a commitment to those values, and to Torat Yisrael, Am Yisrael, and Medinat Yisrael. As parents, you can be assured that the faculty, the board, as well as the search committee to be constituted in the coming weeks, are all committed to those values as well, and I am happy to be able to assure you that we will hold those convictions together as we move forward.
Lastly, I have been President of the board for the last year and a half, and I have worked closely with Rabbi Weinbach throughout that time. I am, personally, grateful to him for the great work he has done for our school, for the growth he has helped it experience both in size and in its fulfillment of its mission. I count him as a friend, and I am sorry to see him go. I am glad that he will remain in our community, working in Jewish education and with a venture that is itself directed toward the support of our school and its mission.
Thank you so much.
Jerome M. Marcus
President, Board of Directors
KOHELET YESHIVA HIGH SCHOOL
223 N. Highland Avenue
Merion Station, PA 19066
Tel: 610 667 2020
Jmarcus@koheletyeshiva.org
