Parent Spotlight Mrs. Baruchel

I have five children. A few years ago, three of my children were in public school, and my heart was broken. I hated it. I grew up in New York, and I never thought I would put my kids in public school. When I came to Florida, it was very hard for me to put them in public school. My children also hated it in public school, especially the younger one. She would go to parties, and since we keep Glatt Kosher she wouldn’t be able to eat anything. No one understood my daughter because she is Jewish, so she always felt like the outsider. My older daughter and son also got anti-semitic remarks in school. My son was in a Jewish charter run by the public school system. He had a Muslim teacher, who ripped up one of his classmate’s projects because it included a Magen David. She told them to take off their kippot, and the children weren’t allowed to wear them in class.

We always wanted to put our children in yeshiva, but it just wasn’t affordable. I knew Rabbi Kornfeld, the head of The Jewish Academy, when we moved to Florida, and he helped us a lot. He put us in touch with Rabbi Bernstein, and they made it possible for my children to go to the Jewish schools. It was a battle, and we had to go through loops to make it happen. The rabbis became like my family, and we really love them.

When they switched, my girls absolutely loved it. It was harder for my son, because he had to work to catch up in Torah learning. Even with that, he was happy to be in a Jewish setting with Jewish friends. Now my children know about the chagim coming up, and they don’t talk about Christmas or Thanksgiving anymore. They learn the halacha, and they know what to do for every holiday. They know Jewish songs, and they would come home and tell us about the stories behind the chagim. For me, that was a big deal.

I don’t live in the Jewish community, which is why it’s so important that my children are in a Jewish school. Every time Rabbi Bernstein comes, we go to listen to him lecture. He really knows children, and my husband and I really enjoy his lectures. Thank you Chinuch Yehudi for helping me give my kids a Jewish education and a Jewish identity!