עם דרך ארץ יפה תלמוד תורה

יפה תלמוד תורה

עם דרך ארץ
Preparing Students for
College and their Careers

General Studies

at heichal HaTorah

The general studies program, with its outstanding faculty, provides an excellent education in Math, English, Science, and History. It also offers electives and advanced placement courses. The teachers are invested in the growth and achievement of each student. We are thrilled with the stellar education our boys are receiving at Heichal.

RIVKA ZAUDERER, HEICHAL PARENT

The general studies program, with its outstanding faculty, provides an excellent education in Math, English, Science, and History. It also offers electives and advanced placement courses. The teachers are invested in the growth and achievement of each student. We are thrilled with the stellar education our boys are receiving at Heichal.

RIVKA ZAUDERER, HEICHAL PARENT

Dear Parents,

Your son can have it all. Following a best-in-class Torah learning program, your son will participate in a general studies program that is rigorous and college-preparatory. Heichal teaches the students the foundational skills they will need to succeed in college and their careers.

In science, your son will take biology, chemistry, and physics, with the option for AP sciences in his senior year. For those students more interested in pursuing a career in technology and engineering, we offer an additional science path that includes applied sciences, engineering principles, coding, and computer science.

“Our courses are taught in a way that our boys will discover the things they are passionate about today, which hopefully will lead to a lifelong career goal tomorrow.”

In math, your son will make his way through Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2. Then, based on his interest, he can follow a path to AP Calculus or AP statistics and Finance and Investing. For outstanding math students, we offer a Math Lab where, with the support of a math teacher, students can master their math skills at their own accelerated pace, sometimes completing two years of math in one year.

In English, your son will study American and British literature and also have an opportunity to improve his writing skills, especially his non-fiction writing, including writing for business. Your son will read and analyze poetry and classics such as Dickens, Shakespeare, and Steinbeck as well as more recent literary works.

In History, your son will explore the world’s great civilizations, study American history and then have an option to study Jewish history. For our most advanced students, we offer the Tikvah program which integrates intellectual history and classical literature into one course and has been recognized for its excellence in the Wall Street Journal.

We offer at least 4 levels (aka “tracks”) in each of our general studies classes to accommodate the learning readiness of all our students. We have regular classes, accelerated classes, honors and high-honors classes for every subject. Each track is small, often consisting of fewer than 15 students, with fewer than seven students in our AP and senior elective classes.

“If your son attends Heichal, he will leave here with an excellent foundation that prepares him to succeed in college, and a career.”

In short, at Heichal, your son will receive a first-rate general studies education comparable with the finest yeshiva day schools. He will be well-prepared for college and a successful career. Our courses are taught in a way that our boys will discover the things they are passionate about today, which hopefully will lead to a lifelong career goal tomorrow.
The success of our program speaks for itself. Over the last several years, numerous seniors were recognized by the College Board as Commended Students for their performance on the PSAT. Our boys regularly earn 5’s on their AP exams. Almost every single one of our students who has applied to the honors programs at YU and Lander College for Men in each of our graduating classes has been accepted, and our boys are earning the highest possible scholarships.
All of this is possible because of the outstanding faculty we have assembled over the years. Our teachers are veterans of the field, passionate about their subjects, and attuned to the needs of teenage boys. We have successfully recruited top-notch teachers, including many from New Jersey public schools through our partnership with Teach NJ, allowing us to expand the breadth of our program while bringing in professionals recognized for their high-quality teaching and enthusiasm.
If your son attends Heichal, he will leave here with an excellent foundation that prepares him to succeed in college, and a career. We hope your son will join us for his Heichal journey.
Sincerely,

Rabbi Maccabee Avishur

Rabbi Maccabee Avishur

Rabbi Maccabee Avishur has served as the Academic Dean and General Studies Principal of Heichal for numerous years. Prior to his role at Heichal, Rabbi Avishur served at Prizmah Center for Jewish Day Schools and the YU School Partnership where he served as a senior consultant to schools across North America. During that time, he gained field-wide experience and a deep understanding of the Jewish day school landscape including what works and what does not in schools.
Rabbi Avishur began his career as a high school math and science teacher at the Mesivta of Greater Los Angeles as well as a middle school rebbe at Emek Hebrew Academy, also in Los Angeles, where he was born and raised. From there, he served in senior leadership positions at schools in Texas and Michigan.
In those roles, Rabbi Avishur led and collaborated with colleagues on a variety of school improvement initiatives including creating a horizontally- and vertically-aligned curriculum scope and sequence, implementing standards-based unit design, revising assessment practices to enhance student learning, creating a teacher mentoring program, improving teacher instruction and student learning through growth-oriented supervision, and enhancing school culture through student-centered practices and design thinking.
Rabbi Avishur has been known throughout his career for the deep connections he formed with students, the care with which he included parents in their children’s education, and his knack for setting high expectations and helping students and teachers achieve them.

Our four-year, competitively designed, college-preparatory general studies program centers around a core curriculum that comprises English, History, Math, and Science. Our curriculum is designed to foster the development of crucial academic skills and to empower our students to acquire, analyze, synthesize, and articulate knowledge. As students progress through the grades and are guided by our award-winning faculty, they are exposed to increasingly sophisticated methods of organizing and applying their acquired knowledge.

Heichal’s educational philosophy dictates that our program meets the requirements of selective colleges and that our students are well-prepared for the standardized testing that is required for college admission. SAT preparation commences in the freshman year and is integrated into the curriculum so that our students have ample opportunity to hone their skills. An array of Advanced Placement courses are offered. Classes are tracked to meet the needs of different learning styles and abilities.
The skills that students learn in these classes will prepare them for their future careers in medicine, law, business and beyond. Most importantly, the goal of these dynamic and interesting classes is to provide our students exposure to various careers they can choose to pursue passionately. The contributions they will make to society through their professional successes and Torah-inspired conduct will undoubtedly serve as a Kiddush HaShem and bring nachas to Klal Yisroel. Heichal HaTorah is a fully accredited high school and licensed in the state of New Jersey.

LANDERS COLLEGE FOR MEN CREDITS IN HIGH SCHOOL

Heichal is proud to partner with Touro University’s Lander College for Men to provide our students with an opportunity to enroll in college classes during their senior year at Heichal. The business-focused courses are taught by popular Lander professors at a college level. Our students earn college credit while fulfilling their high school diploma requirements giving them an early start on their college careers.

16 General Studies credits required to earn a Heichal HaTorah High School Diploma:

English – 4 Courses
History – 3 Courses
Math – 3 Courses
Science – 3 Courses
Elective – 3 Courses

AP COURSES

AP Calculus
AP English Composition
AP English Literature
AP Government
AP Physics
AP Psychology
AP Statistics
AP US History
AP Computer Science

ELECTIVES

Computer Science
Finance and Investing
Jewish History
Journalism
Medical Ethics
Modern American History
History of Terrorism
Forensics

I have been nothing short of amazed with the quality of the education, the structure of the school, the care of the administration and the responsibility each member of staff takes to encourage and bring out the best from each Heichal Talmid. I have seen my son grow into a mature senior who is taking initiative, invested in developing himself in all of the best ways and continually growing by leaps and bounds. Thank you so much Heichal HaTorah.

ILAN DAVIDOVICI, HEICHAL PARENT

The goal of Heichal HaTorah’s partnership with the Tikvah Fund was to establish a new honors track that revived the classical education that elite Jewish students used to take for granted.

Tikvah, an educational foundation in New York, has helped the school develop and implement a neo-classical history and literature curriculum for grades 9 – 11. Based on centuries-old classical materials and methods used to teach elite Western students in “gymnasia,” this program focuses on the West’s greatest and most enduring works, those responsible for its greatest artistic, literary, mathematical and scientific achievements.

Poverty and persecution usually deprived Jews of classical education while it was the norm in general society, yet many Torah luminaries from Spain, Portugal, Holland, Italy, Germany and Poland studied Western classics. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Berlin’s top orthodox high school required six languages, including Greek and Latin. Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s school was less rigorous than a gymnasium because it only required four languages. As progressive educational reformers worked to replace classical education with pragmatic subjects, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik unsuccessfully tried to start gymnasia of their own, succumbing to resistance from parents who wanted easier and directly career-oriented subjects taught instead.

Heichal HaTorah, in partnership with The Tikvah Fund, is seeking to provide a rigorous and traditionalist alternative. “In seeking to provide the best possible secular studies program, Heichal came to believe that we need to look back to timeless texts if we want to find the best way forward,” said Rabbi Aryeh Stechler, Rosh Yeshiva of Heichal HaTorah.

The Tikvah Fund, an educational and philanthropic Jewish foundation in New York, has been offering classical seminars to young Jewish students and professionals for years. Its curriculum has ninth graders reading ancient mythology, Homer’s epics, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Cicero, Josephus, Tacitus, Augustine, Dante and Pico, all with a Jewish perspective in mind.

This “old-new” curriculum, as described by General Studies Principal Rabbi Maccabee Avishur, is meant not only to give students the best possible education, but “to religiously inspire them by showing how ideas from the Tanach and Jewish tradition are responsible for uniquely Western traditions that we value as Jews and Americans.” While there is a growing classical education movement across the US, Jewish schools have instead tended to adopt progressive trends in public education. Rabbi Dr. Mitchell Rocklin, Resident Research Fellow at the Tikvah Fund and one of the program’s instructors, noted that hundreds of American schools have adopted neo-classical curricula to recover educational excellence and traditionalist outlook.

“Classical education,” he says, “does not encourage students to arbitrarily choose their own values. It instills in them a love of timeless truths and an understanding that tradition is the foundation of reason itself. Jewish schools have been behind this trend for some time, but they need not be.”

As orthodoxy debates the relationship between tradition and progress, Rabbi Dr. Rocklin believes that the introduction of this course is well timed. “Too often,” he commented, “Orthodox discourse has portrayed religious Jews as needing to navigate between tradition and culture. But classical education allows us to see that true culture is not whatever happens to be in our surroundings. It helps us understand cultural greatness, the Jewish roots of that greatness, and how the Western tradition allows religion and culture to work together.”

Mr. Sandor Farkas

Mr. Sandor Farkas will be teaching English for ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. Mr. Farkas studied history and Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and wrote his Master’s thesis on the politics of Holocaust memory at the University of Vermont. In addition to teaching at Heichal, Lieutenant Farkas serves as a medical intelligence officer in the Vermont National Guard and has worked as a journalist. In between his studies and training, he has spent time in Israel volunteering on archeological digs and learning at Yeshivah Darché Noam. When he isn’t teaching, you can find Mr. Farkas collecting art and antiques, silversmithing, or reenacting (that is, performing in historical reenactments). Mr. Farkas wants to make sure his students know that, like Admiral Nelson signaled before his victory at Trafalgar, he expects every student to do his duty.

Mr. David Roher

History Department Chair

Mr. David Roher teaches the Humanities in the New York City public high school system. A veteran teacher, he comes to Heichal from Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, where he taught social studies to the seventh through eleventh grades. He received his B.A. from SUNY Purchase and his Master’s degree in Special Education from Long Island University. He was recently accepted to a Ph.D. program in History.

Mrs. Ora Penn

Mrs. Ora Penn will be teaching History at Heichal, including some new courses for our seniors. Ms. Penn studied Judaic Studies and Psychology at Stern College and earned an MA in Bible from Bernard Revel Graduate School. Ms. Penn has taught at YUHSG, Ramaz, and Frisch. In addition, Mrs. Penn has a degree in Interior Design and has used that training in her freelance work. Mrs. Penn is a huge NY Rangers and NY Giants fan and, when not following her teams with her husband and three sons, she also enjoys tennis, swimming, and kayaking. She wants her students to know that she is known for her in-class slideshows, which she strives to make highly visually appealing. She hopes her students will find that they really enhance their learning and experience.

Rabbi Avi Heller

Rabbi Heller teaches 9th grade Tikvah English at Heichal. Rabbi Heller attended Yeshivat Shaalvim and Yeshivat Har Etzion and then earned his BA from Boston University in Political Theory and International Relations, followed by an MA in Tanach from Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School and Semicha from RIETS. In addition to teaching, his professional experience includes time at Hillel International, the Boca Raton Community Kollel, Boston University Hillel, Manhattan Jewish Experience, and the Orthodox Union. When he was in Yeshiva, Rabbi Heller started two businesses, one selling cookies and the other (a remedy for the first, perhaps) offering Pesach cleaning services. Rabbi Heller stays fit by running and cycling and keeps his mind in shape through learning and researching nerdy topics. He also enjoys learning obscure niggunim and rooting for the Denver Broncos.

Mr. Frank Avella

Mr. Frank Avella teaches History at Heichal HaTorah. As an undergraduate, Mr. Avella studied Biology at William Paterson University and then earned a Masters degree in Special Education and Mathematics from NJCU. In addition to teaching at Heichal, Mr. Avella has been teaching at Hasbrouck Heights High School for the past 10 years. Prior to that he taught at both Central High School of Newark and Washington Academy in Cedar Grove. Prior to teaching, Mr. Avella also spent time working for the Parks Department in North Bergen. Mr. Avella is a certified Google Educator and has coached high school football and basketball for a decade.

Dear Prospective Parents,

A grand tour of the West is an essential part of the Heichal journey for our most elite students. This is because more than four years ago, Heichal partnered with the Tikvah Fund to help revive the sort of classical education that elite Jewish students used to take for granted. Our top honors students study a neo-classical history and literature curriculum from ninth through twelfth grade in the slots which, in a typical school, are devoted to History and English. Based on centuries-old classical materials and methods used to teach elite Western students, this program focuses on the West’s greatest and most enduring works.

“our curriculum differs from the norm insofar as it is not mere collections of works: it walks through Western intellectual history and culture from beginning to end, challenging students to consider not only what has gone wonderfully right, but what has gone catastrophically wrong.”

Poverty and persecution usually deprived Jews of classical education, yet many Torah luminaries from across Europe studied Western classics, and Western Europe’s top rabbis had to progress through a thorough classical curriculum in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Going against the grain of progressive education, which sought to replace the study of great works with merely practical skills, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook and Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik unsuccessfully tried to start gymnasia of their own. But they were unsuccessful.
We are trying to revive their legacy. Our curriculum has ninth graders reading ancient mythology, Homer’s epics, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Cicero, Josephus, Tacitus, Augustine, Dante, Pico, and an extraordinary range of modern writers through a Jewish lens. Our curriculum differs from the norm insofar as it is not mere collections of works: it walks through Western intellectual history and culture from beginning to end, challenging students to consider not only what has gone wonderfully right, but what has gone catastrophically wrong. Our students are challenged to be leaders in reviving the West. They learn how religion and culture are mutually interdependent. We teach students a truth so often missed or ignored: that the West is Greco-Roman culture reexamined through a Jewish lens, and that Jews should take responsibility for reviving it.

Our students do not seek to imitate or accommodate themselves to their surroundings, as is too often the case in assimilationist circles. Nor do they isolate themselves from culture, as often happens in particularly religious circles. And just as importantly, they do not seek some sort of compromise or negotiation, as is common in modern religious life. They recognize true religion – Judaism – as the source of the Western creative tradition that took Greco-Roman civilization and moved it forward in ways that could only be made possible by a covenantal G-d. They recognize its great achievements, as well as its destructive heresies. And they seek to help put our civilization back together, to learn from its errors, and to build a more glorious future for the Jewish people, the West, and humanity. I hope that you will join us in this quest.

Sincerely,


Rabbi Mitchell Rocklin, Ph.D.
Tikvah Humanities Program, Founder

TIKVAH BOOKS

Rabbi Mitchell Rocklin, Ph.D

Rabbi Mitchell Rocklin, Ph.D., is a research fellow at the Tikvah Fund, where he oversees the development and implementation of classical education curricula in Jewish schools. This effort has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, which covered Heichal HaTorah, Tikvah’s flagship school, in a feature about American religious life.

Rabbi Rocklin has held postdoctoral fellowships at Princeton University and Yeshiva University, following service as a synagogue rabbi in Connecticut. He is also a Chaplain in the Army National Guard with the rank of Major, as well as the President of the Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty.

Rabbi Rocklin holds a B.A. in History and Political Science from Yeshiva University, rabbinical ordination from Yeshiva University’s affiliated theological seminary, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in History from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His writings have appeared in a number of publications, including The Los Angeles Times, National Review Online, The Forward, and Mosaic.

Jerusalem Meets Athens in New Jersey

Heichal HaTorah teaches the great texts of both the Jewish and Western traditions.

Rabbi Mitch Rocklin and his students in Teaneck, N.J., June 3.
Rabbi Mitch Rocklin and his students in Teaneck, N.J., June 3.

By Elliot Kaufman
Originally published in the Wall Street Journal

Graduates of Heichal HaTorah should be “budding Talmud scholars,” says Rabbi Aryeh Stechler, headmaster of the all-boys Orthodox Jewish yeshiva high school. That’s not all. The boys should also appreciate “how unique this country’s values are, and how much America has done for the Jews.”

For two years, Heichal HaTorah has piloted the Tikvah Humanities Curriculum, a Great Books honors track for ninth- and 10th-graders studying Western history, literature and philosophy. The Tikvah Fund, the foundation behind the curriculum, believes Heichal is the only Jewish high school in America with a classical-education program.

At some Orthodox schools, subjects such as English, history and math take a back seat to the analysis of Jewish texts. Others, especially in Modern Orthodox communities, dial back the Judaic studies somewhat to provide rigorous all-around education. They usually do that, however, by aping top secular schools, adopting progressive curricula that can be hostile to traditional values.

Heichal HaTorah is evidence that there’s a better way, suggests Rabbi Mark Gottlieb, senior director of the Tikvah Fund. Better, he says, to “infuse the humanities with the Jewish spirit” than “look over one’s shoulder for the latest fad,” be it vulgar contemporary novels or revisionist history textbooks that Howard Zinn might applaud. Heichal HaTorah, which advertises a “classic yeshiva education and superior general studies program,” articulates a different vision of cutting-edge Jewish education.

Heichal’s honors students display impressive range in the classroom. Back in June, ninth-graders were reading Meister Eckhart, a German medieval theologian, and discussing the West’s evolving understanding of G-d and man. A question arose and a student shouted a relevant line from the Torah, quoting it in Hebrew. While I struggled to connect the dots, another student compared Eckhart’s view to an older one from myths about Hercules. A third cited Cicero.

“It’s like studying Talmud,” said Shaya Zimerman, 16. “Even on one tiny bit, there are so many different opinions. So you start at the beginning, go in depth, read the opinions and work through it.” Aggressive annotations in the margins of his source sheet attested to his training.

Few are better primed to appreciate great texts from long ago than yeshiva students. “Of course the old arguments of the Talmud shape the Jewish laws we follow,” said Tzvi Ginzberg, 16. “But Thomas Paine’s ‘Common Sense’ also influences how we live, right now, in America. It influences what we believe.”

I asked at random about the ideas of the French Revolution, which they studied earlier in the year. Quickly, a 10th-grader explained that the revolutionaries’ universalism sadly encouraged France to export its revolution by force. More broadly, TZvi said he disapproves of theorizing about politics from the “state of nature.” I asked if that means the American revolutionaries were wrong, too. “Not all of them were Lockeans,” he responded, rejecting my premise. “Many only claimed the traditional rights of Englishmen, which Britain was clearly violating.”

Rabbi Mitch Rocklin of the Tikvah Fund smiles with pride. He’s the principal instructor of the honors track at Heichal HaTorah, and he’s on a mission to revive Jewish classical education, once a requirement at several top Orthodox schools in prewar Europe. “It allows students to see themselves as part of a living Western tradition to which their Jewish faith is fundamental,” he maintains. Rabbi Rocklin highlights the connections by including contemporaneous Jewish texts in his lessons. “The students start to love their Jewish religion in a new way,” he says.

He tries to show Jews “what their religion has to do with their culture, and what their culture has to do with their religion.” It seems to be working. This year Heichal’s honors track will expand to the 11th grade and a new Tikvah program will launch at Bais Yaakov Machon Ora, an all-girls Orthodox Jewish school in Passaic, N.J.

Rabbi Rocklin, who is both a Princeton postdoc and a chaplain in the New Jersey Army National Guard, told his students the course he taught would be the hardest they’ve ever taken. He has worked equally hard, even volunteering to record a lesson while on duty in Erbil, Iraq. (The boys didn’t mind when the takeoff of a V-22 Osprey aircraft interrupted his lesson.) Finding people willing and able to teach such a wide-ranging curriculum may be an obstacle to the growth of Jewish classical education. Another is that many parents want their children prepared intensively for Advanced Placement exams. Rabbi Rocklin says his students will be ready, but insists he won’t “bow down at the altar of AP.”

No doubt some compromises will be necessary. But if traditional schools are going to teach secular subjects, it makes sense to teach them traditionally. Rabbi Rocklin’s students deserve to learn the best the West has thought and said. It’s their patrimony, too.

Mr. Kaufman is an assistant editorial features editor at the Journal. He has attended and helped select participants for Tikvah Fund educational programs.

Heichal’s mathematics program is designed to accommodate a range of mathematical abilities and backgrounds. All courses provide opportunities for students to work at a challenging level and cover all of the requirements necessary for success in college math and beyond. Freshmen commence with Algebra 1 or Geometry. After 9th grade, students take courses in Algebra II, Pre-Calculus, AP Calculus, and Accounting and Finance. Exceptional students in grades 10 through 12 may be admitted to the Math Lab, where, under the guidance of math teachers, they take online math courses. Students’ progress and work in these courses are closely monitored by Heichal math teachers. This affords advanced students the opportunity to learn at an advanced pace and study all areas of mathematics.

Every High School Math Course in the world is offered at Heichal HaTorah.

COURSES:

Accounting
Algebra 1
Algebra 1 Accelerated
Algebra 2
Algebra 2 Accelerated
Algebra 2 Honors
AP Calculus
Finance & Investing
Geometry Accelerated
Geometry Honors
Geometry Regular
Math Lab – Algebra
Math Lab Algebra 2
Math Lab Statistics
Math Lab Statistics AP
Math Lab Precalculus
Precalculus Accelerated
Precalculus Honors

"Heichal HaTorah is a fantastic Yeshiva! In just the few short months that our son has been part of Heichal, he’s been immersed in top notch learning, in both limudei kodesh and limudei chol. Looking forward to the years ahead!"

HEICHAL PARENT

Mrs. Jennifer Grom

Mrs. Jennifer Grom, who actually joined our team mid-year last year, is returning to teach Algebra 1 to our freshmen. Mrs. Grom attended Rutgers University, where she earned three degrees: a BA in Psychology, an MA in Education, and an MS in Mathematics. In addition to teaching at Heichal, Mrs. Grom, who has been teaching for 18 years, is a beloved member of the Mathematics faculty at Bogota High School as well as the legislative action chair for the Bogota Education Association where she works closely with local politicians to ensure the needs of her students are a top priority. Because she can never be too busy, Mrs. Grom also enriches her home community of Dumont as a youth recreation sports coach for three teams, a member of the parent-teacher association, the chair of the annual Read-a-Thon, and a committee member of her municipality’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She, her husband, and their three children enjoy being active outdoors, and Mrs. Grom is herself a triathlete who plans to run in the NYC Marathon this fall. She’s also a certified lifeguard and plays competitive chess. She wants her students to know that her classroom is a place where they can feel safe to share their ideas, thoughts, and questions, all of which will be appreciated and validated. The expectations in her class are high, but her students will also have fun because how can you NOT have fun in math class?!

Mr. Ken Chung

Mr. Ken Chung has been teaching for over 28 years. He taught for 21 years at different Teaneck High Schools and this is his second year at Heichal HaTorah. Mr. Chung completed his BS (Applied Mathematics and Economics), MA and MS in Mathematics Education with a specialty in Curriculum and Gifted Mathematics Education at Columbia University. He currently teaches AP Calculus AB and Precalculus Honors at Heical. He is thrilled to be instructing such a capable and curious collection of talmidim.

Mr. En-Tseh Wang

Mr. En-Tseh Wang will be teaching Geometry to our freshmen. Mr. Wang attended Lehigh University where he majored in mathematics and minored in music. He stayed on to earn a masters degree in secondary education. He is also doubly-certified as a teacher of mathematics and a teacher of students with disabilities. In addition to teaching at Heichal, Mr. Wang teaches at River Dell Regional High School and has taught at both Bergen Community College and Ramapo College. While he was at Lehigh, Mr. Wang served as a volunteer mentor for inner-city students. Mr. Wang is gastronomically inclined, so he likes to eat great food. He also likes to collect Funko Pops (parents, ask your kids). He wants his students to know that while they may be thinking to themselves, “Why do I have to learn this?” math is integrated in their daily lives and those who focus on developing their math skills will also develop strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Mr. Joseph Pitre

Mr. Joseph Pitre received his Bachelor’s Degree from Montclair State University and has been teaching for 11 years. He is also an adjunct professor and a Mymathlab supervisor at Bergen Community College. He has always enjoyed making learning fun, interactive, and engaging for all ages. His goal is to inspire students to complete educational pursuits both inside and outside the classroom.

Mr. Stephen Comanto

Mr. Stephen Comanto has been a member of the Heichal HaTorah STEM department since the spring of 2018. Mr. Comanto is a graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, PA where he studied Economics and Chemistry and was a four year varsity cross country and track runner. He continued his education at Rutgers University, earning a master’s degree in Biology. After completing his studies, Mr. Comanto began his teaching career by teaching Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus before moving into the sciences to teach Chemistry, where he has remained for the past 9 years. Mr. Comanto is an avid New York sports fan and loves using his free time to travel the world.

Mrs. Jennifer Grom

Mrs. Jennifer Grom, who actually joined our team mid-year last year, is returning to teach Algebra 1 to our freshmen. Mrs. Grom attended Rutgers University, where she earned three degrees: a BA in Psychology, an MA in Education, and an MS in Mathematics. In addition to teaching at Heichal, Mrs. Grom, who has been teaching for 18 years, is a beloved member of the Mathematics faculty at Bogota High School as well as the legislative action chair for the Bogota Education Association where she works closely with local politicians to ensure the needs of her students are a top priority. Because she can never be too busy, Mrs. Grom also enriches her home community of Dumont as a youth recreation sports coach for three teams, a member of the parent-teacher association, the chair of the annual Read-a-Thon, and a committee member of her municipality’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. She, her husband, and their three children enjoy being active outdoors, and Mrs. Grom is herself a triathlete who plans to run in the NYC Marathon this fall. She’s also a certified lifeguard and plays competitive chess. She wants her students to know that her classroom is a place where they can feel safe to share their ideas, thoughts, and questions, all of which will be appreciated and validated. The expectations in her class are high, but her students will also have fun because how can you NOT have fun in math class?!

Mr. En-Tseh Wang

Mr. En-Tseh Wang will be teaching Geometry to our freshmen. Mr. Wang attended Lehigh University where he majored in mathematics and minored in music. He stayed on to earn a masters degree in secondary education. He is also doubly-certified as a teacher of mathematics and a teacher of students with disabilities. In addition to teaching at Heichal, Mr. Wang teaches at River Dell Regional High School and has taught at both Bergen Community College and Ramapo College. While he was at Lehigh, Mr. Wang served as a volunteer mentor for inner-city students. Mr. Wang is gastronomically inclined, so he likes to eat great food. He also likes to collect Funko Pops (parents, ask your kids). He wants his students to know that while they may be thinking to themselves, “Why do I have to learn this?” math is integrated in their daily lives and those who focus on developing their math skills will also develop strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Mr. Charles Galligan

Mr. Charles Galligan teaches STEM at Heichal. Mr. Galligan holds several advanced degrees, including a Masters in Computer Science and a Masters in Teaching (Mathematics). Mr. Galligan began teaching after a career in finance, during which he worked for companies such as Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. In addition to teaching, Mr. Galligan is affiliated with several non-profit institutions.

Rav Dovid Komet

A close talmid of Rav Meir Twersky, Rav Dovid Komet also studied under the tutelage of Rav Hershel Schachter, and in the Kollel Elyon. Rav Komet received a B.A. in Mathematics from Yeshiva College. He later became a Meishiv at the RJJ Yeshiva of Edison. Over the past two decades, Rav Komet developed a stellar reputation as a master mechanech and talmid chacham. After many years as the tenth grade rebbe and pre-Calculus and Calculus teacher at Moshe Aaron Yeshiva High School, Rav Komet served as Menahel of MAYHS for three years. For many years, he has served as S’gan Menahel of Shaarei Tzion in Piscataway, NJ. Rav Komet is respected for his sincere and warm personality, coupled with a sharp sense of humor, which enables him to form life-long relationships with his talmidim. Rav Komet serves as our tenth grade rebbe and Honors Mathematics teacher at Heichal.

Mr. Ken Chung

Mr. Ken Chung has been teaching for over 28 years. He taught for 21 years at different Teaneck High Schools and this is his second year at Heichal HaTorah. Mr. Chung completed his BS (Applied Mathematics and Economics), MA and MS in Mathematics Education with a specialty in Curriculum and Gifted Mathematics Education at Columbia University. He currently teaches AP Calculus AB and Precalculus Honors at Heical. He is thrilled to be instructing such a capable and curious collection of talmidim.

Mr. Stephen Comanto

Mr. Stephen Comanto has been a member of the Heichal HaTorah STEM department since the spring of 2018. Mr. Comanto is a graduate of Lafayette College in Easton, PA where he studied Economics and Chemistry and was a four year varsity cross country and track runner. He continued his education at Rutgers University, earning a master’s degree in Biology. After completing his studies, Mr. Comanto began his teaching career by teaching Algebra 2 and Pre-Calculus before moving into the sciences to teach Chemistry, where he has remained for the past 9 years. Mr. Comanto is an avid New York sports fan and loves using his free time to travel the world.


Mr. Joseph Pitre

Mr Joseph Pitre received his Bachelor’s Degree from Montclair State University and has been teaching for 11 years. He is also an adjunct professor and a Mymathlab supervisor at Bergen Community College. He has always enjoyed making learning fun, interactive, and engaging for all ages. His goal is to inspire students to complete educational pursuits both inside and outside the classroom.

Life Sciences Track

Students in the science department at Heichal HaTorah gain an in- depth understanding of the world around them through hands-on interactive courses in biology, chemistry, physics and engineering.  Students will learn to gain a mastery of the subject matter, interpret scientific evidence, engage in scientific inquiry, and gain reasoning skills in the context of scientific data. The goal across all the sciences is to engage our students in an in-depth analysis of crosscutting concepts in all subject matters.

BIOLOGY

In ninth grade, students are enrolled in a track-based biology course with exposure to a wide range of topics from Biochemistry, Cellular Structure and Organization, Energy and Cell Metabolism, Genetics and Modern Technology, Animal Form and Function, Ecology and Taxonomy. Students will explore the use of laboratory techniques to examine the many different areas covered in the classroom through experiential learning and hands-on interactive opportunities. They will think critically and work collaboratively to analyze the practical application of complex concepts. Research projects will provide students with the most current analysis of topics covered in the classroom, often utilizing technology and online resources. Students will engage in Educational Technology incorporating some of the most up to date edtech tools into the lessons.

CHEMISTRY

In year two, students will become immersed in a year-long chemistry course with the expectation of certain math fundamentals. Topics include Atomic Configuration, Molarity, Kinetic Gas Theory, Molecular Orbital Theory and much more. Regular labs, collaborative group work and demonstrations are incorporated into this rigorous course. Tracking includes Accelerated and Honors Chemistry.

PHYSICS

In year three, students will take either Accelerated or Honors Physics in either an Algebra I, II, or Calculus based course with an emphasis on labs, lab reports, group work, and demonstrations. Topics include Mathematical Methods, Newtonian Mechanics, Light, Modern Physics and Relativity, Optics, Thermodynamics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Quantum Mechanics. Students in senior year have the option of taking AP Physics. All levels and courses in Physics prepare the students for college-level learning.

COURSES

Concepts in Biology
Biology Accelerated
Biology Honors
Chemistry Accelerated
Chemistry Honors
Physics Accelerated
Physics Honors
Physics AP

RABBI DR. JOEL BERMAN

Assistant Principal for STEM A former IDF officer, Dr. Berman received his PhD from Rutgers University in Chemical Physics and today is Heichal’s Assistant Principal of STEM. He teaches a number of advanced courses in Physics and runs our popular engineering club. He is responsible for a series of exciting upgrades to Heichal’s state-of-the-art STEM laboratory, including the installation of a 3D printer, tesla coil,vacuum chamber, optics bench, and spectrophotometer. Dr. Berman also works with Heichal students who compete in Touro College’s annual Science Olympiad and the Jerusalem Science Contest, an international competition coordinated by the Machon Lev School of Technology in Israel. Dr. Berman is always available to answer your questions.

Mrs. Deniera Goldenberg

Sciences Department Chair

Mrs. Deniera Goldenberg teaches Biology and Medical Ethics at Heichal. Mrs. Goldenberg studied Genetics and Genetic Counseling at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, majored in Biology at Stern College, and learned at Michlalah Seminary in her year abroad. Prior to joining Heichal, Mrs. Goldenberg worked at Torah Academy of Bergen County for seventeen years teaching sciences, running the Distinguished Scholars program, mentoring teachers through JNTP, and most recently serving as Chair of TABC’s Science Department. She also tutors for the Biology subject test and NYS Regents in her spare time. When she isn’t teaching, you can find Mrs. Goldenberg busy with her children, including two current Heichal Students.

MR. OLIVER DOBRICH

Mr. Oliver Dobrich will be teaching Chemistry at Heichal. Mr. Dobrich studied philosophy and psychology at Rutgers University in addition to completing all of the pre-medical requirements for medical school admission. After graduating college, Mr. Dobrich completed a year of medical school at Rutgers – New Jersey Medical School before deciding to not continue on in medicine. Since 2018, he has been a member of the faculty at Bergen County Academies in Hackensack, NJ where he teaches a variety of courses in science including chemistry, advanced chemistry, and a medicinal chemistry elective course. Prior to working in education, Mr. Dobrich worked in clinical neuroscience research at Mount Sinai and Hunter College and also worked as a case manager/service coordinator for adults with neurodevelopmental/neuropsychiatric disabilities in New York City. When he isn’t teaching, Mr. Dobrich enjoys spending time with his wife and family and reading historical non-fiction.

Applied Sciences Track

Applied Science

Applied Science is a discipline that is used to apply existing scientific knowledge to develop more practical applications including, for example, technology or inventions. Students in this applied science course will use information learned from the basic sciences like biology, chemistry, and physics, for practical endeavors. Students will learn concepts of engineering, technology, coding, and robotics, among others. Students will explore the dialogue between basic science and applied science and discuss careers in applied science as well.

Physical Science

Physical Science is the study of matter and energy and includes chemistry and physics. Topics that will be studied include: matter, the periodic table, elements, mixtures, compounds, chemical reactions, light and electromagnetic spectrum, energy, heat, motion, Newton’s laws and momentum.

Computer Science

Computer Science introduces students to concepts such as computer architecture, networks, and the Internet. Students use object-oriented programming, event-driven processes, modular computer programming, and data manipulation algorithms to produce finished software programs. They use the design process to create many programs by determining specifications, designing the software, and testing and improving the product until it meets the specifications. By the end of this course, students will have a solid foundation for further study in computer science and careers that utilize computer science.

Heichal is a yeshiva with a strong limudei kodesh and general studies curriculum. The hanhala, rebbeim, teachers and staff go above and beyond in creating a kesher and individual learning plan for each child. Our son is thriving because he feels successful AND appreciated in Heichal. The Yeshiva has exceeded our expectations.

FEIGE KOEGEL, HEICHAL PARENT

COURSES

  • Applied Sciences
  • Physical Sciences
  • Physical Sciences

Mr. Michael Binazeski

Mr. Michael Binazeski teaches Applied Science and STEM at Heichal. Mr. Binazeski has been teaching Science for over 20 years in New Jersey. Mr. Binazeski holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and Analytical Chemistry and Masters of Science in Environmental Science. Mr. Binazeski is married with two children.

Mr. Charles Galligan

Mr. Charles Galligan teaches STEM at Heichal. Mr. Galligan holds several advanced degrees, including a Masters in Computer Science and a Masters in Teaching (Mathematics). Mr. Galligan began teaching after a career in finance, during which he worked for companies such as Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns. In addition to teaching, Mr. Galligan is affiliated with several non-profit institutions.

Mr. Or Mossaiov

It’s the return of Mr. Or Mossaiov! Mr. Mossaiov returns to Heichal after a couple of years away, and he will be teaching Science, Math, and Computer Science. Mr. Mossaiov studied Biology at Yeshiva University. He is particularly excited to begin a Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary STEM education at the Citadel College of South Carolina. In addition to teaching at Heichal, Or teaches Science and Computer Science at Naaleh High School for Girls. He has additionally been mentoring pre-med students with their MCAT exam and medical school applications as a Leading Educator at MCAT-King, a private education company. Additionally, Mr. Mossaiov loves learning Torah, spending time with his family, and cooking. Mr. Mossaiov wants to make sure his students know that learning in his classes is not about memorizing information (which is certainly important to gain content mastery), but also about learning how to study in a more efficient, holistic way. Hashem has created the world with incredible chochmah, and Mr. Mossaiov loves to reveal bits of it in his classes.
Effective communication is essential for every aspect of life, and Heichal’s primary focus in the English department is to ensure mastery of language and communication skills for all of our students.
Students develop critical, analytical reading and writing skills empowering them to communicate effectively. Students are exposed to classical and contemporary British, American, and world literature, as well as non-fiction articles and works, which they analyze, both in class discussions and written work.
Freshmen are introduced to a smorgasbord of writers and genres in order to establish a foundation of literary terms and symbolism. Freshmen start at the basics of persuasive essay paragraphs, starting from the topic sentence and learning how to build a one-four paragraph essay over the course of the year. Literature that freshmen have studied over the past few years include short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Kate Chopin, O’Henry, and Washington Irving, and novels including All My Sons, Julius Caesar, Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, A Separate Peace, 1984, Night, The Odyssey and To Kill a Mockingbird.

WORLD LITERATURE

Freshmen study a World Literature curriculum including Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, Sophocles’ Antigone, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine, Monzaemon’s Love Suicides at Sonezaki, Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac and many short stories and poems from around the world. Students begin the year by writing their “mock” personal essays for college, and spend the rest of the year working on doing research for essays and fine-tuning their writing skills to bring them up to college level standards. Students who have been in the honors track may opt for AP English Literature and Composition, for which they may receive college credit upon successful completion of the AP English exam administered by the College Board.

BRITISH LITERATURE

The Sophomore curriculum is a traditional British Literature curriculum. The writing program bumps up the requirements to 4-5 paragraph essays, requiring students to learn how to incorporate direct quotations into their work, and to learn how to extrapolate the information in those quotations into analysis of the posed question. They also learn how to cite their references into an MLA approved “Work Cited” page. Some of the literature that we have studied over the past few years in this course have included Beowulf, “The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales”, Macbeth, Frankenstein, Alice in Wonderland, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Pygmalion, and The Importance of Being Earnest.

AMERICAN LITERATURE

The Juniors study a traditional American Literature curriculum tracking the important literary movements starting from Hawthorne and his romanticism, to the realism of Mark Twain, William Dean Howells and Henry James. We also study the naturalism of Stephen Crane and Edith Wharton, the transcendentalism of Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson and Frost, and we end the year with the social criticism of Steinbeck, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams. At this point, students are expected to write persuasive essays of 6-8 paragraphs, incorporating the argumentation and viewpoints of one to two secondary sources in addition to the primary sources about which they are writing.

COURSES

  • English 9 Writing and Literature Seminar
  • English 9 Writing and Literature Seminar Accelerated
  • English 9 Writing and Literature Seminar Honors
  • Tikvah Ancient History and Literature High Honors
  • English 10 Writing and Literature Seminar
  • English 10 Writing and Literature Seminar Accelerated
  • English 10 Writing and Literature Seminar Honors
  • Tikvah European History and Literature High Honors
  • English 11 Writing and Literature Seminar
  • English 11 Writing and Literature Seminar Accelerated
  • English 11 Writing and Literature Seminar Honors
  • Tikvah United States History and Literature High Honors
  • English 12 Writing and Literature Seminar
  • English 12 Writing and Literature Seminar Accelerated
  • English 12 Writing and Literature Seminar Honors
  • Tikvah Jewish History and Literature High Honors Journalism
  • AP English Language
  • AP English Literature

Mrs. Esther Bertram-Herzfeld

English Department Chair Mrs. Esther Herzfeld begins her 38th year as a high school English teacher this year. Mrs. Herzfeld earned a B.A. and M.A. in English and American Literature from NYU. She is licensed to teach middle school through high school English. Prior to joining Heichal’s faculty, Mrs. Herzfeld taught English and was chair of the English department at both Yeshiva University H.S. for Girls and Ma’ayanot Yeshiva H.S. for Girls. Mrs. Herzfeld has taught all grades of high school as well as all academic levels, including Advanced Placement. In 1987, she received the prestigious New York State Principal’s Master Teacher Award. Mrs. Esther Bertram – Herzfeld is always available to answer your questions.

Mr. Sandor Farkas

Mr. Sandor Farkas will be teaching English for ninth, tenth, and eleventh grades. Mr. Farkas studied history and Jewish studies at Dartmouth College and wrote his Master’s thesis on the politics of Holocaust memory at the University of Vermont.

In addition to teaching at Heichal, Lieutenant Farkas serves as a medical intelligence officer in the Vermont National Guard and has worked as a journalist. In between his studies and training, he has spent time in Israel volunteering on archeological digs and learning at Yeshivah Darché Noam. When he isn’t teaching, you can find Mr. Farkas collecting art and antiques, silversmithing, or reenacting (that is, performing in historical reenactments).

Mr. Farkas wants to make sure his students know that, like Admiral Nelson signaled before his victory at Trafalgar, he expects every student to do his duty.

Mr. Herbert Plummer

Mr. Herbert Plummer will be teaching English as well as serving as the founding instructor in our new Heichal Writing Center. Mr. Plummer studied Mass Communications and Media Technologies with a minor in English Literature during his undergraduate years at Kings College in Wilkes-Barre, PA and continued his studies at Hunter College where he earned an MA in British and American Literature. Prior to joining Heichal, Mr. Plummer taught at both Xavier High School in Manhattan and TABC here in Teaneck. Since we love runners on our General Studies team, we’re pleased to report that Mr. Plummer is an avid runner who has also previously coached cross country. He was a volunteer for NYC Cares and also enjoys photography, film, poetry, chess, and traveling. Mr. Plummer wants his students to know that the seeds of genius exist in every mind. He will help you tap into yours!
Students in the History Department at Heichal HaTorah benefit from a multi- model approach to learning through an inquiry-based approach that combines technology with a conceptual understanding of both the world of the past as well as the world the students have inherited. Courses include World History, US History and Jewish History.
History students focus on key ideas by examining perspectives, trends, and issues of people of historical periods. History students develop questions; apply disciplinary tools and concepts; evaluate sources and use evidence; communicate conclusions and take informed action.

WORLD HISTORY

In ninth grade, students study World History. The students learn about the beginning of civilization in the four river valleys, the Cradle of Civilization. They encounter the classical world of ancient Greece and Rome, followed by the Byzantines, the Muslims, and the Mongols, then the Dark Ages, the Age of Enlightenment, and the Age of Exploration, and culminates with the social, political, and economic forces that set the stage for the creation of the State of Israel.

US HISTORY

In tenth grade, students study US History from 1609 with the settlement of Jamestown through the American Revolution, the creation of the Constitution through Manifest Destiny, the Civil War, and the conclusion of the Reconstruction of the South in 1877.
In eleventh grade, students study US History from the beginning of the Gilded Age in 1877 through the Spanish American War, World War One and World War Two. Students examine the post World War Two decades through the critical social, political and economic lenses from the dropping of the Atomic Bomb in 1945 until the collapse of the housing market in 2008.

JEWISH HISTORY

Students in the twelfth grade study Jewish History starting from the Babylonian exile. Students learn about the Persian, Greek and Roman periods of Jewish history. Students learn about major Torah personalities and the communities they lived in. Students identify key social, political and economic forces that culminated in the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

COURSES

  • World History 9
  • World History 9 Accelerated
  • World History 9 Honors
  • Tikvah Ancient History and Literature
  • World History 10
  • US History 10 Accelerated
  • US History 10 Honors
  • Tikvah European History and Literature
  • US History 11
  • US History 11 Accelerated
  • US History 11 Honors
  • Tikvah US History and Literature
  • Jewish History
  • Tikvah Jewish History and Literature
  • AP US History

Mr. David Roher

History Department Chair Mr. David Roher teaches the Humanities in the New York City public high school system. A veteran teacher, he comes to Heichal from Yeshiva Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, where he taught social studies to the seventh through eleventh grades. He received his B.A. from SUNY Purchase and his Master’s degree in Special Education from Long Island University. He was recently accepted to a Ph.D. program in History. Mr. David Roher is always available to answer your questions.

Mr. Eli Katz

Mr. Eli Katz teaches History at Heichal as well as serving as the College Guidance Coordinator. Mr. Katz learned at Yeshivat HaKotel for 2 years and then studied History at Yeshiva University with a minor in Judaic Studies. Mr. Katz began his teaching career in Philadelphia where he served as a member of the history faculty, religious guidance advisor, varsity boys’ basketball coach, and assistant athletic director at Kohelet Yeshiva High School. A few years ago, he moved to the New York area where he served as the upper school athletic director and boys’ baseball and basketball coach at Ramaz and taught at TABC. For the past five years, Mr. Katz has served as the assistant basketball coach for the YU men’s team. Mr. Katz’s commitment to children and Jewish education began early. As a college student, he was an advisor and program coordinator for NCSY, tutored public school students in Washington Heights, and served as president of YU’s aspiring educators club, Al Pi Darko. When Mr. Katz isn’t working, you can find him running or baking, two activities which may seem designed to offset one another. Mr. Eli Katz is always available to answer your questions.

Mrs. Liz McGinty

Mrs. Liz McGinty will be teaching US History to 10th and 11th graders this year. Mrs. McGinty earned her BA in History from New Jersey City University, her MEd in Educational Leadership from the College of New Jersey, and is doubly-certified in the state of New Jersey. In addition, Mrs. McGinty received the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Recognition Award as teacher of the year at Hasbrouck Heights High School, where she has been teaching for 18 years. She has been an advisor to a variety of school clubs including the National Honor Society and the Academic Decathlon Team. Prior to entering the teaching profession full time, Mrs. McGinty had a chance to see the world while she was a flight attendant in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. In the summer, the McGinty family hosts children from underserved communities in NYC as part of the Fresh Air Fund program. Mrs. McGinty enjoys spending time with her family (as especially her dog, Finley) traveling this beautiful country, cooking, reading, researching her genealogy, and making quilts. She wants her students to know that she is passionate about learning and enthusiastic about teaching. Every class brings an opportunity for her to learn from her students, and she is eager to meet all of you.

Mrs. Ora Penn

Mrs. Ora Penn will be teaching History at Heichal, including some new courses for our seniors. Ms. Penn studied Judaic Studies and Psychology at Stern College and earned an MA in Bible from Bernard Revel Graduate School. Ms. Penn has taught at YUHSG, Ramaz, and Frisch. In addition, Mrs. Penn has a degree in Interior Design and has used that training in her freelance work. Mrs. Penn is a huge NY Rangers and NY Giants fan and, when not following her teams with her husband and three sons, she also enjoys tennis, swimming, and kayaking. She wants her students to know that she is known for her in-class slideshows, which she strives to make highly visually appealing. She hopes her students will find that they really enhance their learning and experience.