The dean of a Brooklyn yeshiva that was severely damaged by a fire attributed to vandals last Thanksgiving Day described today how a “kitchen dollar” campaign started by the mother of two students has mushroomed into a nationwide drive to help the school rebuild its damaged classrooms and other facilities.
According to Rabbi Meilich Silber of the Yeshiva of Eastern Parkway, more than $4,000 was raised in the first ten days of the campaign. The yeshiva is seeking $200,000 to restore its building. He said that the mother, a New York public school teacher, approached fellow teachers with the request, “Give me a dollar – just one dollar” to rebuild the school. Teachers – Jewish and non-Jewish, white and black – responded, Rabbi Silber said. The campaign was taken up by the Association of Orthodox Jewish Teachers in New York and later by the principals of a half dozen schools who organized Chanukah campaigns to raise funds for repairs. Through Dr. Joseph Kaminetsky, director of Torah Umesorah, the national society for Hebrew day schools, the fund-raising campaign was extended to other states and to Canada, Rabbi Silber said. He said that in many instances kindergarten children have joined in.
The Yeshiva of Eastern Parkway is one of three Orthodox Jewish day schools damaged by suspicious fires in recent months that are beneficiaries of a special $200,000 grant from the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York.
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