Interview by Rav Yonatan Udren
Translated by Hillel Fendel, edited by Dena Udren
Q. Where did you grow up?
A. At age 4 we moved to Karnei Shomron [a town in Samaria], which was only one year old when I first arrived. All I remember from then is a lot of sand, and then later on there were paths; our homes were just caravans [mobile homes without wheels].
 |
| Rav Benny Bamberger |
Q. Was that in the neighborhood where many Americans later moved to?
A. No, that is Nevei Aliza, which was built many years afterwards. In our neighborhood, it took a while before permanent homes were built. I remember that we lived exactly one building from the school, which was a great advantage: I could wake up at 7:55 and be on time! We started out as only one class, but the school grew very fast; by the time I finished 6th grade, we had one class for boys and one for girls.
This was a time when we were able to walk freely, go down to the wadi [valley], get wood from the trees for Lag BaOmer, take hikes in the Arab villages… We would do our shopping in the Arab villages, because at first we didn't have a grocery store in Karnei Shomron. The Arab shopkeeper even brought in kosher food for us. There was also a stalactite cave near us, which was kept locked. But as kids, we would go by ourselves - we would ask for the key, hike over there, and then come home, with no fears of intifada or the like. Of course, this period ended with the onset of the first intifada [late 1980's]…
Q. From where are your parents?
A. My paternal grandparents are from Germany, and from my mother's side they were Hassidim from Poland. My parents were born in Israel; they met in Kibbutz Shaalvim, where they married and lived for a while. We grew up in the religious-Zionist world, but were close with our Hassidic cousins as well.
Q. Tell me about your family, your siblings…
A. We are six children – five boys, and one girl. They all live here in Israel, except for one brother who lives in Germany; his wife is from there, and he is the chazzan and all-around gabbai [secton] of one of the synagogues there. Two live in Karnei Shomron, I'm in Bet El, one is in Psagot, right near here, and our sister lives in Maalot, in the north, outside the Green Line; her husband is a rabbi/teacher in the Yeshiva there. Maalot is now a city, but when they arrived, it was quite small, and real self-sacrifice was required to live there.
Q. Were your parents in education as well?
A. My mother was involved with special-ed kindergarten children, and retired only at age 79! My father did all sorts of jobs, in Carmel Mizrachi and the Rabbinate and elsewhere – he was also a shochet [ritual slaughterer] and a kashrut supervisor, including in Shechem [Nablus]! I remember going on a school trip to the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem; we got off in the city and ate there, and then we walked to the tomb, which was originally outside the city. Again, times were quite different then…
Q. So how did your connection with Bet El begin?
A. I came to learn in the Yeshiva here after high school, and I've been here ever since. I was married here as well, and I learned in the Yeshiva for about ten years. During that period I began to teach in the Yeshiva High School here, Bnei Tzvi, until I received the job of principal, at which point I stopped learning in the Higher Yeshiva. So I guess you could say I'm a product of the Bet El Yeshiva. I also worked for a period on the internet website of the Yeshiva, yeshiva.org.il; I was responsible for the questions-and-answers. I would have to bring the questions to the rabbis – before there was Whatsapp! – and we would email back the answers, and publish the interesting ones on the site.
Q. Any particularly interesting questions that you remember?
A. One person wanted to know where to buy a hat! He figured that if we're a yeshiva site, we must know where to buy yeshiva-type hats… Someone asked us once what to do about his wife whom he cannot trust because she lies to him. I brought this to one of the rabbis, who quoted a Gemara that says that if one's wife yells often, the husband must check his own behavior and see what he's doing to cause this. And the same for this questioner; if his wife doesn't tell the truth, he must check his own behavior to see how it might be causing her to lie. This was the case many times; our answer didn't address the question directly, but rather helped the questioner realize what he must do…
One time, a boy wrote that his class had just finished learning B'reshit [Genesis] and was now moving to Sh'mot [Exodus], and he doesn't have a volume of Sh'mot, so what should he do? This of course immediately lit up a red light for us: how can it be that he doesn't have a Sh'mot at home? So we sent someone to check into his story, and it turns out that his family was not religious, but he, after his Bar Mitzvah, began to go to the synagogue, where he heard classes, and he wanted to become observant. His parents weren't happy about this, and they refused to buy him a volume of Sh'mot! So this man sent him a Sh'mot by special delivery to his home, and began to make contact with his family – and the boy ended up going to a yeshiva high school, with his father's permission.
So sometimes you have to not only answer the questions, but also realize what lies behind them. There are, of course, straightforward questions in Halakhah, but those are less "exciting… "
It was really a privilege to be able to help people through these questions, such as some converts whom we were able to help. Many questions also come from outside Israel. Some know Hebrew, so they ask in Hebrew, and we also have English speakers who answer questions written in English.
Q. When the Bet El Yeshiva students get married, where do they live? Where did you live?
A. Some of them move into caravans, but I got married at a relatively older age – 25! – and so we moved directly into an apartment here. My wife is originally from the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, and she fit very easily into Bet El; we've been living here about 19 years and she likes it very much. Thank G-d, we have 8 children – four boys and four girls – and they all learn here in Bet El, including the two oldest in the Ulpanat Ra'ayah High School for Girls.
Q. What exactly is your job in Bnei Tzvi?
A. I'm the principal of the high school, which means that I'm in charge of all the studies for the Bagrut [matriculation exams]. I'm responsible for the tests themselves, and for the studies leading up to the tests, and I have to be in contact with the Ministry of Education and receive various certifications from them, etc. It's not only general studies; the Bagrut also includes exams in Talmud, and Tanakh [Bible], and Jewish Thought. Our Yeshiva concentrates mostly on Torah studies – only Talmud every day until 5 PM (as well as one hour of Jewish thought) – such that the Bagrut studies are only for three hours a day, until 8 PM.
Q. Wow, that sounds like a difficult schedule. Is it like this in other Yeshiva high schools?
A. We were the first to do this, that is, to have such a strong emphasis on Torah studies. Since then, some others have followed, though they do it slightly differently. It's really only for students who want, and are able, to study Talmud for so many hours – and all in the spirit of Rav Kook. That's why we're called a Yeshiva K'tanah High School, which means a high school that is almost like a Higher Yeshiva. At the same time, the Bagrut is on a high level.
Q. What do you like best about this job?
A. When we're able to succeed with a student who was having a problem. We had a student whose parents were both Americans, yet he himself had some kind of fear of English – all his siblings as well; they felt that they're in Israel and they want to speak only Hebrew. He could barely speak a single English word. Yet we worked with him for three years, and he worked hard, and at the end he succeeded and passed the Bagrut in English! This was a very good feeling for all of us. Any time you have a student who is having difficulties, and you work with him, and he reaches the goal - that's the best part of this job.
Q. To conclude, what message do you have for our readers abroad?
A. I would say that they must find ways to constantly strengthen their Jewish identity – both by connecting to their local Jewish school and synagogue and community, and by choosing a cause in Israel to contribute towards and thereby be a part of. I might be a bit prejudiced, but I think that one who connects with Bet El and its many educational institutions has a great opportunity to connect with the Land and State of Israel; the people here are very special, and very ideological. We truly feel blessed to live here and build up our country, and benefit in so many ways from the atmosphere provided by the Yeshiva.