Eitz Chaim Schools
Eitz Chaim Schools | |
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Location | |
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Toronto, Ontario | |
Coordinates | 43°47′02″N 79°26′40″W / 43.78377°N 79.44434°W |
Information | |
Type | Elementary |
Established | 1915 |
Principal | Rabbi Shlomo Schwartz |
Grades | Nursery-8 |
Website | eitzchaim |
Eitz Chaim (Hebrew: ישיבת עץ חיים) is a private, Orthodox Jewish elementary school in Toronto and Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The school receives funding from the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto.
History
The school was first established in 1915, after the arrival from Poland of Rabbi Yehudah Yudel Rosenberg, under the name Poylishe Talmud Torah and was located at the Beth Jacob Congregation on Elm Street,[1] which had formerly been a church.[2] The school’s first building on Chestnut Street was inaugurated in August 1916, with additional classes held at a branch on Simcoe Street. Poylishe Talmud Torah was then renamed Talmud Torah Eitz Chaim because the name was more inclusive to all Orthodox Jews. In 1917, due to rapidly increasing enrollment, Eitz Chaim purchased the Italian Club at 68 D’Arcy St. In 1926, a separate girls’ class was formed and the first female teacher was hired; before then, the school had been all boys. In 1927, the building was destroyed by a fire, and a new, larger building was constructed on the same site. Th new building was dedicated on December 30, 1927.[3] After the dedication of the new building, enrollment increased dramatically. In 1929, the school had 300 students, and it grew to 400 in 1931, 503 in 1933, and 600 in 1938. In 1942, the school started a kindergarten. In 1956, the Torath Emeth Jewish Center was established on 1 Viewmount Avenue. By 1958, in response to the geographical shift of the Jewish population northward, the Tanenbaum Building was added to the complex, followed by the Korolnek Building in 1961, both at 1 Viewmount Avenue. One of Eitz Chaim's girls campuses still exists at that address today. In 1966, the Board of Directors purchased land at Patricia and Bathurst streets. Patricia and Bathurst Streets served as the temporary location for portable units until the large, permanent building was completed in 1970, and has been Eitz Chaim's business office and only boys' campus ever since. Upon graduating Eitz Chaim, the boys usually continued on to Jewish high schools, and the girls tended to move on to public high schools. Eitz Chaim's Spring Farm campus in Thornhill, named for the farm formerly on that site, opened its doors in 1988. In the campus's early days, many people were skeptical that it would be well-attended, but in 2016, enrollment was so high that they built mobile classroom units behind the building.
Curriculum
In 2005, Eitz Chaim implemented two tracks that boys have the option of choosing: Maharal or Traditional. The Maharal track follows the education style of the Maharal. During the time of the Maharal, children were taught subjects like Gemara from a very young age. The Maharal strongly believed that this was wrong and that children should only be taught according to their intellectual maturity, and only if the child is developmentally capable of fully comprehending what he is being taught. Therefore, boys in the Maharal track start learning Gemara in the beginning of grade six. Boys in the traditional track follow traditional Jewish education methods, for example, starting Gemara in the beginning of grade five.
In addition to the regular Ontario curriculum, the school teaches various Jewish-related topics including Chumash, Mishna, Gemara, and Dinim.[4] Some Hebrew language and Navi, is also taught, particularly with the girls.
Upon completing grade 8, the boys mostly feed into Yeshiva Darchei Torah, and the girls, Tiferes Beis Yaakov, however some go to other schools and yeshivos.
Congregation Minyan Sephard, a sephardi minyan, is housed in the Patricia campus on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays.
Notable alumni
- Abie Rotenberg
- Baruch Levine
- Moshe Tanenbaum (Uncle Moishy)
- Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetzky.[5]
- Aryeh Spiro
References
- ^ "History". Eitzchaim.com. Eitz Chaim Schools. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Gladstone, Bill (15 December 2011). "History scrapbook: Beth Jacob Congregation". billgladstone.ca. Bill Gladstone. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Eitz Chaim Schools [multiple media] – [ca.1936]-2012". search.ontariojewisharchives.org. Ontario Jewish Archives. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "Limudei Kodesh (Jewish Studies) Boy's Division". eitzchaim.com. Eitz Chaim Schools. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Klein, Devorah (24 May 2017). "Eitz Chaim Schools to Celebrate 100th anniversary". Community. Hamodia. p. 13.
Harav Shmuel Kamenetsky, shlita, an alumnus...
- Educational institutions established in 1915
- Thornhill, Ontario
- Elementary schools in Toronto
- Middle schools in Toronto
- Private schools in Toronto
- Jewish Canadian history
- Jewish day schools
- Elementary schools in York Region
- Jewish schools in Canada
- Jews and Judaism in Ontario
- Orthodox Judaism in Canada
- Orthodox Jewish educational institutions
- 1915 establishments in Ontario