“I’ve taught for 50 years,” the seasoned educator said, “but I’ve never seen such students"

At the recent graduation in Lakewood, one professor revealed that his exposure to yeshivah students was a learning experience as much as it was a teaching one. Graduates of the Agudath Israel Professional Career Services Master’s in Accounting program through Fairleigh Dickinson University listened as FDU instructor and former department chairman Mr. Bob DePhillipes described the surprise of his first day teaching in Lakewood.

“I had no idea about the way yeshivah guys learned,” recalled the professor, remembering how he stood in front of a room full of calm, respectful students. “Then one student asked a question, and another guy from the back of the room jumped up and started yelling. I’m like ‘What in the world is going on?’ The whole class erupted in an argument, and I thought I lost control. But several minutes later, they all got it, and we moved on.”

Mr. DePhillipes continued that, in order to give him a better understanding of how yeshivah students learn, PCS director Mr. Daniel Soloff took him on a quick tour of the beis medrash. There he watched in real time the vociferous yelling, the forceful arguing, and the wild brandishing of hands as sevaros sliced through the air like dueling swords. But most importantly, he observed what happened in the immediate aftermath, how two battling chavrusas arrived at a mutual understanding and resumed learning in a unity that only seemed to be strengthened by their previous disagreement.

The experience left Mr. DePhillipes mystified, but with time he came to be grateful to be a part of it too. “I’ve taught for 50 years,” the seasoned educator said, “but I’ve never seen such students. They are bright and focused in life to work hard and support their families. They thank me all the time — and college students just don’t do that anymore. G-d clearly works in mysterious ways: He sent me, a Roman Catholic, to Lakewood to get this program going. I’m just G-d’s tool.”

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 903)