ABOUT US
Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim Talmudical Academy with its over 800 students is a school rich in heritage and tradition where much has been accomplished over the last ninety years. Our students have become world renowned Torah scholars, accomplished professionals, business leaders, and leaders in Jewish communities throughout the world. The Yeshiva has kept pace with technological advances, the information age, changes in family structure and life, financial realities and educational changes, all while staying true and steadfast to Torah values and Limud Hatorah. These accomplishments can be credited to the foundations set on bedrock by Torah giants Rabbi Avraham Nachman Schwartz Z”L, and Rabbi Hyman Samson Z”L.
Today, the institution is capably headed by Rabbi Yehuda Lefkovitz (President), Rabbi Nachman Kahana (menahel, elementary school), Rabbi Norman Lowenthal (general studies principal, elementary school), Mrs. Beily Rosen (preschool coordinator), Rabbi Yaakov Schwartz (principal, middle school), Rabbi Yisroel Fuchs (interim menahel, high school), Rabbi Shimshon Steinberg (general studies principal, middle/high school), Rabbi Shraga Herskowitz (Mashgiach), Rabbi Ben Zion Mellman (Rosh Bais Medrash). The development staff of the yeshiva includes Rabbi Joseph Greenfield, Rabbi Yaakov Lefkovitz, and Rabbi Yehuda Zelinger.
Supporting the educational staff is the Va’ad HaChinuch, led for over two decades by Rabbi Moshe Hauer. The Va’ad tackles educational issues, liaises with the Board to find funding for special projects and urgent needs, and in general works with the educational leadership to forge the future direction of TA’s educational programs.
In Talmudical Academy’s excellent preschool program, the three- and four year- old nursery classes focus on developing social, emotional, and fine and gross motor skills in a fun and loving environment. The Pre-1-A classes work on pre-reading, kriah,
and handwriting skills while maintaining a warm, interactive atmosphere. The science curriculum is augmented by trips to a farm, the aquarium, and science center as well as a five senses “discovery night” for the children and their parents. New developments include the addition of a music and movement program and two three and four year-old Montessori classes, which are in great demand.The elementary school, while striving to meet the educational needs of all its students, places an emphasis middos and derech eretz. Aides practice kriah individually with each child in grades 1 through 5 for up to five minutes a day. Students with special educational needs are serviced by Weinberg Academy staff for both limudei kodesh and limudei chol as well as by English language resources provided through the yeshiva. English and math enrichment are provided after school through a Johns Hopkins University-run program called the Center for Talented Youth. The most recent large-scale innovation in the elementary program has been the initiation of a Zilberman track class in 2004. There are now second, third, fourth, and fifth grade classes implementing a modified form of this method, which stresses repetition of Chumash pesukim with the tropp, constant review, and mastery of the pshat. Parents can choose whether they would like their sons to be placed in the Zilberman class; it has become so popular that a lottery must be used to select children to be included. Elementary school extracurricular activities include the Chemdas program, instituted in the 1970s, which encourages children to learn extra Mishnayos (fourth and fifth grades) and other designated topics (second and third grades) in their free time. The program culminates with a full-day grand trip (formerly a Shabbos) that includes a recreational activity and a meeting with a Rebbe or Rosh Yeshiva. Elementary school Rosh Chodesh assemblies, which began in the 1980s, include musical entertainment and singing as well as guest speakers who engage the children with various interesting topics. In nearly thirty years teaching at Talmudical Academy Elementary School, Rabbi Boruch Brull says that the defining characteristic of the school has been the talent of the staff members, who are ehrlich, close-knit, and dedicated to the students. The close relationship between the rebbeim, he believes, has a trickle-down effect on the children and how they get along with others. He has had particular nachas from seeing his former second or fourth grade students join him as colleagues at the yeshiva.
As the school has grown, the Middle School has developed its own personality. The Bar Mitzvah dinner for seventh graders is a yearly event during which the boys are presented with a book in with each has written something special about his family history. In addition to the yearly seventh grade science fair, there is a Pirkei Avos fair for which the boys prepare demonstrations of mishnayos. Several times a year, each grade has a Sunday morning Father-Son Bais Medrash program during which boys learn a specific topic with their fathers in preparation for a shiur by a speaker. This year, for the first time, thanks to a Federal grant via the State of Maryland, there is a
self-contained classroom in the afternoons for about a dozen sixth and seventh grade students whose special educational needs cannot be met in the regular classroom.
In the High School, many excellent rebbeim and teachers have engaged the hearts and minds of the students with their dynamic lessons. High school classes, both limudei kodesh and secular, prepare the students for whatever path they choose; graduates usually advance to Torah study either in Israel or elsewhere for a year or so, then to the next steps in their lives. Many TA graduates have gone on to graduate level yeshivos and kollelim or to professional careers. The high school day continues into the evenings, with nightly Bais Medrash learning that is stimulating for the students in terms of their learning as well as their sense of achdus with fellow classmates and with the Beis Medrash members.
The Beis Medrash under the leadership of Harav Bentzion Mellman Shlit"a, is making a tremendous impact on our Yeshiva. From early in the morning to late at night, the beautiful Kol Torah of our Bochurim can be heard and no doubt affects all the Talmidim of this Mokom Torah. In addition, each of them act as Chavrusos for our Ninth Graders during Night Seder. The presence of the young dynamic members of the Bais Medrash enhances the Mesivta program. Devoting much of their day to Limud HaTorah in the Mesivta Bais Medrash, the Bais Medrash members inspire the Mesivta students’ learning, strengthening it and bringing it to new levels. They learn with the high school students during night seder; they get to know them and forge close relationships with them. To the Mesivta student, the Bais Medrash member is both a friend and role model: someone who will guide him in his difficult journey through adolescence and who will direct him in his quest for Torah and Yiras Shomayim.
CONTACT US
4445 Old Court Road
Baltimore, Maryland 21208
Main number:
410-484-6600
Weather hotline:
410-484-0636
Directory: Ext.9
Business office: Ext.301
Contributions: Ext. 304
Car donations: Ext. 320
Elementary: Ext. 311
Middle School/
High School: Ext.312
Camp: 327
Email address: TA@Talmudicalacademy.org