Looking back, I see the power of the past

B

ais Yaakov Esther Schoenfeld was the high school I attended. Located at 142 Broome Street on the Lower East Side, the building was a renovated former public school, a huge improvement on the ancient and inadequate elementary and high school buildings on East Broadway that had previously housed the school.

I don’t know who Esther Schoenfeld was, but there was a picture of her in the lobby near the financial office. I liked looking at that picture, found it comforting. She looked very regal and serene, as if to say: the past and present you know, and the future will take care of itself. Not bad for a black-and-white portrait.

Many of us waited in the lobby when we were called in because our parents owed tuition, and sometimes our report cards or diplomas were put on hold pending payment. We took it in stride; there was plenty of company waiting on line at the office. Many of us were children of survivors; our parents came to this country penniless and unable to speak the language. It was a miracle they were able to pay tuitions at all.

Rabbi Yisroel Garber ztz”l was the dean. He also had the monumental responsibility of making sure the school had the backing and the funds it needed to operate. It seemed as if everyone was involved in fundraising from the administration to the G.O. There were also organizations and benevolent individuals connected to and supportive of the institution. Above all, Rav Moshe Feinstein ztz”l was the rabbinic authority, and I don’t believe that a girl was ever sent away from the school.