Home

Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva, Edison, held its 29th annual Scholarship Breakfast to culminate a year of fundraising for its financial aid program Dec. 20.

Parents and friends of the pre-nursery through 8th grade elementary school heard addresses from PTA members, the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County, Principal Rabbi Shraga Gross, scholarship breakfast coordinators, and Penny Kaplan, a reading teacher at the yeshiva who received the educator excellence award, given annually at the breakfast.

"Certainly, there are many people in our community that need help subsidizing education," said Steve Mayer, breakfast campaign co-chair and a member of RPRY's executive committee. "What an amazing mitzvah for us to do during those difficult times."

So far, the scholarship campaign raised $105,000, around 4 percent less than last year's total, suggesting that it is possible that this year's raised amount will surpass last year's.

"Every dollar we received is used for scholarships," Abe Schwartzbard, past RPRY president and current committee member, told The Jewish State. "We asked for donations from our parents and from non-parents. [Members of the community] get a mailing, the rabbis of synagogues get up on Shabbos and talk about it... there's a real commitment and a great cross-section of the community here. This is a cause that really brings together the entire community."

RPRY was founded in 1945 with 10 students in New Brunswick and made the move to Edison in 1970, according to Hillel Raymon, the son of school founder Rabbi Pesach Raymon. The school has since grown to more than 450 students, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial aid distributed to them each year.

"The yeshiva was founded on the principle that no Jewish child would ever be turned away from a Jewish education," Mayer continued to tell the crowd as they enjoyed a breakfast sponsored by community members Philip and Gila Pfeffer. "RPRY students are always recruited by area high schools, [Principal] Rabbi Gross always gets calls from lay leadership, and they always want to see more of our graduates."

"Rabbi Raymon believed that one of the hallmarks of RPRY was that no Jewish child should be deprived of Jewish education," Schwartzbard added.

Jeffrey Korbman, the breakfast campaign co-chair, announced that the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County pledged to increase their assistance to RPRY to $140,000.

"Our own Iva Dyckman was the coordinator for this year's Super Sunday effort," Korbman said about the Nov. 22 federation fundraising event. "Numerous RPRY parents who were volunteers and community leaders for years were present. I don't think it's much of a stretch when the federation and RPRY do things for each other, it is truly 'all of Israel is responsible for helping one another'."

It was also announced at the breakfast that the PTA will contribute $2,500 of its money to the scholarship program.

Rabbi Shraga Gross, the principal of RPRY, introduced Kaplan to the audience and presented her with the educator excellence award. He described Kaplan as a "flame that inspires confidence and builds self-esteem" in her students. He specifically noted her dedication to the "Hidden Sparks" program, a national Jewish teacher's program that designs individual programs to accommodate children with disabilities, fine tuning their learning experience to fit each child's needs.

"Today is about Penny and what she means to our yeshiva," Gross said. "Penny Kaplan is a teacher who is passionate about her students and dedicated to identifying and igniting the spark within the pure neshama, soul, of each and every child.... Penny seeks out the pintele yid, that hidden spark within the child, and does not rest until she unleashes that potential and that neshama is engulfed in the flame of her love of Torah and learning, and then is able to burn ever bright with confidence and a true sense of security."

"In the world of finance, it takes 100 pennies to make 1 dollar," Gross added. "However, in the world of RPRY, it takes one Penny to light up the lives and brighten the futures of hundreds of students. Today, we honor you, dear Penny, for being that beautiful flame that lights up the... students of RPRY."

Kaplan's acceptance speech centered on her love of teaching and respect for her colleagues; she refers to the students as her "kids" and to her colleagues as "friends."

"This is truly an honor I treasure greatly," Kaplan said. "I have been privileged to be a part of RPRY for a dozen years... but my growth here has been both professional and personal. I work with colleagues and parents that I call my friends, I work with leaders that I call my heroes, and I work with children that I call my kids."

"I was pleasantly surprised," Kaplan told The Jewish State about her award. "I was hesitant to accept it at first... the amount of things I learned here as a person, a teacher, and an educator are insurmountable, and I love that I am able to transfer them to the children."