That championship season - Maimonides School

Continued from Page 166. “Not as issuing rulings fromon high.”Shapiro and his wife, Miriam,are moving from Brighton toJerusalem next month to spendmore time with their childrenand grandchildren. Shapiro alsoplans to prepare for publicationhis notes on the lectures of TalnerRabbi Yitzhak Twersky, the manwho first drew him to Boston.After graduating from YeshivaUniversity in New York, where hetook classes with RabbiSoloveitchik, Shapiro and his wifemoved to Boston so he couldstudy Jewish history at Harvardwith Rabbi Twersky, who waswell-known both as the Hasidicleader of the Talner shul inBrighton and as a scholar. RabbiTwersky’s wife, Dr. Atarah Twersky,is a daughter of RabbiSoloveitchik.To earn money, Shapiro taughtJudaic studies part-time at Maimonides.Soon, he said, “I fell inlove with what I was doing here.”He abandoned his doctoralstudies – though he stayed closewith Rabbi Twersky as a congregantat the Talner shul – and becameassociate principal at Maimonidesin 1974. Four yearslater, he was promoted to principal,a job he held until 1999. Hethen returned to teaching Jewishhistory, Jewish thought, Talmudand Bible classes. He also focusedon his writing, publishing in 2004the book “Rabbi Joseph B.Soloveitchik on Pesach, Sefiratha-Omer and Shavu’ot.”Shapiro became Maimonides’first rosh yeshiva in 2006. He saidlay leaders created the positionout of concern that there was avacuum in religious leadership atthe 74-year-old school.In the past, he said, RabbiSoloveitchik and then RabbiTwersky had always provided thereligious guidance for the school.Rabbi Soloveitchik’s wife, Dr.Tonya Soloveitchik, first headedthe School Committee. In 1967,she was succeeded by her daughterDr. Twersky, who resigned in2004.“[Lay leaders] said to me,‘Somebody has to now take responsibilityfor the nerve centerof the school, for the religious decisionsthat have to be made,’”Shapiro recalled.But he was hesitant about takingthe job. He knew he wouldtake a lot of heat for his decisions,and he was a little uncomfortablewith the title, which thelay leaders insisted would commandrespect. In the end, hetold them: “I will take the responsibility,but understand thatI am not an oracle.”Shapiro said he frequentlyconsulted with day school leadersat other Modern Orthodoxschools and other rabbis, particularlythose at the four synagoguesthat serve nearly 90 percent ofMaimonides students: Young Israelof Brookline; Young Israel ofSharon; and Beth El-Atereth Israeland Shaarei Tefillah, whichare both in Newton.Shortly after his appointment,Shapiro learned that, for severalyears, a political student club hadattended a convention for the JuniorStatesmen of America anddebated political issues duringShabbat. After consulting withrabbis and other day school leaders,he called off the annual trip.While the students observed halachaby not using microphonesor taking notes, Shapiro toldthem that the convention was notin the spirit of Shabbat.Even as rosh yeshiva, Shapirodidn’t always get the final word inreligious and moral matters. Heremembered once having a discussionwith his juniors abouttheir use of a word that he andhis generation considered vulgarbecause it originated as a sexualterm. The students counteredthat it no longer had that connotation,and that language evolvesthrough usage. “I lost that debate,”Shapiro admitted.He recalled another juniorwho came to him upset over asexually explicit scene in RalphEllison’s “Invisible Man,” whichwas assigned reading. “Why arewe reading this?” the studentasked. “Why should we be subjectedto these images of nakedwomen being thrown around bymen?”Shapiro told the student hewould discuss the matter withthe English faculty to see if theycould find a different book thatcould express the same messagein a more appropriate way.“Rabbi Shapiro’s collaborativenature, and his tirelessness inbuilding consensus, even inthose areas where he could havethe undisputed last word, makeshis leadership that much morepowerful,” said Nathan Katz, theschool’s executive director.Hearing students talk abouttheir lapses in halachic observancefrustrated Shapiro, but hesaid he knew many became moreobservant after high schoolthrough a Hillel rabbi on campus,or through a seminary orJUNE 24, 2011 THE JEWISH ADVOCATERabbi Shapiro moving to IsraelRabbi David Shapiro congratulates new Maimonides graduates,from left, Aaron Zwiebach, Noah Swartz and Seth Katzman.‘I see my job as aneducator, as areligious gadfly, notas issuing rulingsfrom on high.’Rabbi David Shapiroyeshiva teacher in Israel. His roleat Maimonides included helpingstudents find yeshiva and seminaryprograms in Israel.Dr. Kalman Stein, whoworked with Shapiro from 1978to 1997, first as an associate principal,and then as a co-principal,said Shapiro’s most importantcontribution to the school washelping it maintain the ideologyof its founder. Stein said Shapirowas able to influence teachersand students in the school becausethey felt comfortable talkingwith him. “He is someonewho is a real people person,”said Stein, now principal at theFrisch School in New Jersey. “Hebecame very much involved withthe lives of the kids and the families.”Mike Rosenberg, Maimonidesdirector of alumni and communityrelations, said Shapiro wasable to connect with students inconversations about prayer andother religious matters.“He is able to convey, at a kid’slevel, that they are part of achain, that they are part of a traditionthat goes back thousandsof years,” he said. “He tries toreach them at the level of justmaking an effort. Don’t get frustrated,don’t give up, you won’tget an answer, you won’t have anepiphany, but think of it as an opportunity.”In Israel, Shapiro will beworking on a book based onRabbi Twersky’s lectures at theTalner shul, Congregation BethDavid. For 20 years Shapiro attendedthese lectures and tooknotes. When the lectures wereon Shabbos, he held the rabbi’swords in his head, and wrotethem down after Havdalah. AfterRabbi Twersky died in 1997,Shapiro began giving his owntalks at the shul based on the laterabbi’s lectures. He also helpedto lead Beth David, which relocatedto New York this spring.Shapiro said he is confidentthe teachers and administratorshe hired over they years will continueto make decisions in linewith the teachings of RabbisTwersky and Soloveitchik. Middleand Upper School principalRabbi Yaakov Jaffe, for example,is a student of a student of RabbiAharon Lichtenstein, RabbiSoloveitchik’s son-in-law.“I am comfortable that I amleaving the school in very capablehands,” Shapiro said.