Although many students in TABC are aware of Rabbi Yablok coming in as the new Head of School, many people still don’t know what to make of him. His plans for the school, as well as his character, are particularly shrouded in mystery. To clear the fog surrounding our new Head of School, we have taken the liberty of interviewing him.
DM: Why did you choose TABC over other schools?
R’ Y: That’s a great question. I’m going to answer in a number of different ways. Answer number one, because I think it is the best modern orthodox yeshiva in the country.
DM: What makes you think that?
R’ Y: Why do I think that? Because I think that the standards the school has and the type of things that our students expect of themselves and that our families expect from the school are extremely high and speak to the caliber of learning, of leadership, of worldliness. You guys are the next leaders of the Jewish community, and this school is preparing you for that.
DM: Those are all very broad…
R’ Y: You want specifics? Well I do think that the learning part is very specific. The type of learning in our shiurim that our students are used to, that our rebbeim are capable of presenting is of the highest quality. Hands down. Simply put, when I talked to the same people who came to my other schools to recruit and I talked to them about the type of learning they’re looking for, the caliber of learner they’re looking for, TABC student are the ones they’re looking for in terms of Chumash, Gemara...in terms of capability of analysis. Another specific example is I think the students understand what it means to be a Modern Orthodox Yeshiva high school graduate and take their studies seriously in their Judaic and General studies. They look beyond the classroom and bring our style of Jewish life to the basketball court, to the hockey games, to extracurriculars, on Shabbos, on trips… You see it. I’ve spent a Shabbaton together with our students. I’ve seen our graduates when I visited other places say, “Hey Rabbi Yablok I just got an email as an alumni that you’re going to be at TABC and I know the type of people that they are.”
DM: How do you want the school to go from here?
R’ Y: That’s interesting. What’s special about TABC is that we’re at a point of strength. Our students are successful. Our reputation is one that reflects that we’re smart about what we do and that our students have a positive experience here. I’ve interviewed at other places where they really wanted to change their image or reimagine the school and that’s not what I’m thinking about when it comes to TABC. What I’m thinking about is number one, strengthening and supporting our legacy, the types of things that we’re famous for, warmth and relationships with our teachers, the quality of learning, the sense of community, the sense of ruach in the school, both which is very obvious in athletics but not exclusively in athletics; the sense of school pride. Those are all things that we’re well known for, and that I want to strengthen and you’ll see us continue to look for ways to do that, along with Rabbi Adler, along with everyone in the building. I’ll speak more of areas that are more important to me as an educator. I’m not going to say what’s being done and what’s not being done, but planning for success... I want to see well thought out classes, classes that are focussed on students really learning and developing. Things that are important to me are different types of pedagogy in the classroom, creative ways to study material, whether that’s interdisciplinary or whether that’s offering courses in a different style, a different format. So that’s what I’m looking for. I’m looking to see if there’s new courses that I can bring to school that would enhance programs like engineering and other departments, like History, and English, and Math. Judaic studies included, maybe there are other courses that we haven’t offered in the past, we can develop further. I’m looking at cultivating new learning opportunities outside of the classroom, I made some decisions about tzurba and about night seder, but that’s just the beginning. These are programs that already existed and I’m going to see what’s the best way to roll out these opportunities. Students are very passionate about them and I want them to have access to them.
R’ Y: What are things important to me? Healthy communication. Student choice. I want to see students having the opportunity to pick from courses, not just the Seniors or upperclassmen. Having student choice in their learning and how they engage with material is important to me. Those are things I want to explore. Maybe they’re being done already, maybe not. I don’t know.
DM: Do you see specific problems with TABC?
R’ Y: Right now, I’m still listening, so I’m not prepared to say there’s a problem. I like to look for areas of growth, areas that we can strengthen, areas that we can further develop. I think areas that I just mentioned are areas that we can develop further in. Designing programs for students outside of class, perhaps more diverse course offerings or more diverse styles of learning. I think that communications are important to me, so I’m looking carefully about how we communicate, both student to teacher, students to students, and the school communicating with home. And if I see room for growth as we go along, then I’ll look to grow those areas. I think some of our programs need a bit of tweaking. I want to see that we’re doing a good balance between our commitment to excellent Torah study and also preparing students to thrive in college - not just get in, but be awesome. And if that means giving more support to our students, or offering different courses, then we’ll do it.
MG: What’s the advantage of being in all boys high school?
R’ Y: My experience with teaching at co-ed schools...whether we like it or not, the genders tend to approach certain material differently. Not better or worse, but differently. And so being an all boys school at times allows us to craft programs or create learning opportunities that will be best suited for our student population... I myself taught the same exact course for boys and girls and I saw that there were differences in the approach. And it was valuable differences...and so I think academically, there is benefits to that. Socially I think there are also other benefits. On the one hand, I want young Modern Orthodox boys to have a healthy relationship on how to relate to girls, and when I was in a co-ed school, that was a goal of ours. On the flip side, the social dynamics are different in a boys school and, taking the concern about how to properly relate to girls out of the mix allows us to focus on our studies, allows us to focus on developing as young men. There are benefits...you don’t have to brush your hair every morning if you don’t want to. I think those are the main benefits.
AL: What do you view as the most important contribution you have made to daily operations as of now?
R’ Y: My most important contribution? It’s hard to answer that fully, because believe it or not, we still miss Rabbi Adler, and Mr. P was out a little over the summer, so this summer was a little unusual in that area. So we’re still putting our team together in that regard and so I’m not prepared to say specifically. I think introducing the grade dean program is a valuable one. Having a dean that’s really committed to everyone and caring about that grade’s experience, a person to communicate with...That’s big. The next big piece I think, is just a fresh look. Asking important questions. Perhaps even not being afraid to ask a question. I know that it’s been great, but you know, why is it this way, and looking to work together with everyone to get the best answers on behalf of the students is a big contribution. That’s what this means [points to logo ‘Rethinking Everything’]. It’s not changing. It doesn't say changing. It says “thinking critically about ourselves”. What are we doing well, what are we not doing well, and why. And being self aware I think is a huge piece of being successful. So I’m giving a fresh look, asking some careful questions. Both myself to learn, and to see areas of growth. I’ve been welcomed by the faculty and the administration and it’s been a fun opportunity to really communicate and collaborate. I’m not the type of person to tell everyone what do to. I’m the type of person who’s going to want to include everyone in evaluating ourselves, looking at what we’ve done well and what we can continue to do. I’m excited. Students have come into my office to solve a specific problem, or sometimes just to say “It doesn’t affect me, but maybe you should think about this a little and consider doing differently”. That’s awesome. It helps me, and that’s the type of spirit that I want to continue.
With this insight into Rabbi Yablok’s personality and goals for TABC, going up to him to make suggestions, or just getting to know him a little more, should be that much easier. As the school goes forward under his direction, it will (hopefully) exceed his expectations and truly become a place where Modern Orthodox boys can excel both in their Judaism as well as in gaining the preparation needed to make a difference in the modern world.
This interview was conducted by Dovid Meiseles with the help of Mordechai Glatter and Aryeh Lejtman.