What fuels a rebbi when the year is long and the achrayus never takes a break?

Torah Umesorah brought its signature Shabbos of Chizuk to two of North America’s most vibrant Torah communities, gathering mechanchim and their wives for an experience that stepped outside the classroom rhythm and into the bigger picture.

This past Shabbos, Parshas Behar-Bechukosai, the 16th Annual Lakewood Shabbos, under the direction of Rabbi Shea Ryback, hosted close to 300 mechanchim and mechanchos at the Armon Hotel in Stamford, CT.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, the inaugural Shabbos, under the direction of Rabbi Chaim Minder, Director of the Los Angeles Teacher Center, Men’s Division, hosted 100 dedicated mechanchim and their wives. In both cities, as Shabbos arrived, the same shared sentiment settled quietly over the crowd: we are not alone in our avodas hakodesh, and the work we do is not ordinary.

The mainstay of both Shabbosim is Torah Umesorah’s ultimate goal – to place the voices of gedolei Yisroel at the center of a mechanech’s world. Members of the Torah Umesorah Vaad Roshei Yeshiva, including HaRav Yaakov Bender, shlita, HaRav Elya Brudny, shlita, HaRav Malkiel Kotler, shlita, and HaRav Chaim Yehoshua Hoberman, shlita, amongst chashuva rabbanim, delivered the kind of addresses that not only inspire – they build mindsets.

Lakewood

HaRav Malkiel Kotler, shlita, reminded the room that a rebbi’s own ameilus in Torah is never his alone; it radiates outward, becoming the living model his talmidim carry throughout their lives. HaRav Bender, shlita, brought it closer to home: talmidim forget content, he said – but they never forget how their rebbi made them feel. HaRav Brudny, shlita, highlighted a mission both challenging and liberating – a rebbi’s simcha in the classroom is foundational. Sometimes teaching less and schmoozing more leaves a deeper lesson.

Leil Shabbos brought the much-anticipated shailos u’teshuvos sessions, where Roshei Yeshiva fielded loaded chinuch questions with answers bearing the depth and clarity of true da’as Torah. Panel sessions of veteran menahalim followed, working through real-life dilemmas.

The women’s program, featuring addresses from Mrs. Ayala Berney, ran parallel with its own track of chizuk for the women who faithfully support the lofty mission of melamdei tinokos alongside their husbands.

Rabbi Shlomo Usher Tauber brought a fresh perspective when he read a fictional letter written in the voice of the struggling student – a reminder, at once painful and clarifying, that their challenges are not a choice, and that the rebbi who understands this changes everything.

At the Shalosh Seudos women’s keynote address, Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Klein addressed the dedicated n’shei chayil of the rebbeim. His message: ameilus means engaging life’s struggles l’shem Shamayim, and the home a rebbi’s wife builds is the ground from which that avodah grows.

A dedicated mental health panel rounded out the programming, tackling the real-time struggle of guiding resistant parents toward intervention and navigating the sensitive terrain of rebbi-parent communication.

Los Angeles

HaRav Chaim Yehoshua Hoberman, shlita, reframed the rebbi of today: to so many of his talmidim, he must be both father and mother. The role has shifted, and the mechanech who understands that leads differently.

Rabbi Gershon Miller challenged rebbeim to re-create Har Sinai for every talmid – deeply rooting the distinction that separates great mechanchim from good ones: Are you teaching for the talmid, or for your own hatzlacha?

Sought-after maggid Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Malach urged each rebbi to find the “commandant” within every child – the place where he can shine – and build from there.

The women’s sessions were true eye-openers. A frank discussion on guilt reframed something mechanchos carry quietly: “oib ich hub gevalt ich hub gekent” [if I’d only want to, then I’d be able to] borders on apikorsus. Bechirah ends at the moment of choice. After that, events unfold exactly as Hashem intended. Mrs. Revah spoke about bitachon and the truth that a Yid operates entirely above teva.

Reb Nechemia Brodt and his choir led tefilos and zemiros with a beauty that elevated the entire Shabbos. One attendee said it plainly: it was worth coming just to hear that Mussaf.

Mrs. Chaya Ullman, the event coordinator, ensured that every guest felt the ambience – personalized challah covers, stunning florals, tables set with unmistakable care. This time, it was the mechanchim’s turn to be taken care of.

What both Shabbosim created, beyond any single session, was time – focused time. Time away from the 8 AM bell. Time to sit with a rebbi from another school and realize your classroom faces the same challenges his does. Time to think, to connect, to appreciate what a mechanech does. As one wife put it simply: “This Shabbos was hatzalas nefashos.”

A rebbi attending this year’s Shabbos of Chizuk spoke before leaving.

“What keeps drawing you back?”

“It’s a tremendous opportunity to feel uplifted, be in an environment where everybody is trying to get chizuk in their avodah. Meeting other rebbeim, networking, and sharing ideas is incredible. Hearing from our Gedolim and rabbanim, being able to ask them questions b’inyanei chinuch, learning from them how to reach each talmid is life-changing.

“I feel that I come back refreshed, rejuvenated, and with a renewed sense of purpose every time.”

“What did you take home this time?”

“I’m leaving infused with chizuk!

“I’m going back into my classroom and looking at my talmidim in a different way. They’re each an olam malei, these talmidim. We do this all year, and it’s so easy to forget that. I come to this Shabbos – and take it all back to my talmidim, each talmid like a living Sefer Torah.”

One menahel shared:

“I meet the rebbeim after the Shabbos, and they’re entirely rejuvenated. They look forward to it for weeks beforehand, and they’re talking about it for the next couple of weeks afterward. That alone brings excitement into the classroom.

“For me, the highlight of this beautiful Shabbos we experienced was seeing the willpower, the energy, and the devotion of all these special rebbeim. Their powerful questions and the way they are so open and willing to learn to better, to be better, to understand the children better – that is something you don’t see anywhere else.”

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)