by Margaret Mitchell

Rabbi Yissachar Ginsberg and MTJ students during recess

he Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem was always referred to by Lower East Siders as simply the Yeshiva. Chartered in 1907, the MTJ attained great distinction beginning in the mid-1940s, as its head, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, became one of the most important Talmud sages in America. Feinstein's readiness to address many controversial legal questions made his opinion crucial to Orthodox Jews in an increasingly technological world. He governed the yeshiva until his passing, in 1986, when both his sons, Rabbi David and Rabbi Reuven Feinstein became heads, respectively, of the Lower East Side and of the MTJ Staten Island campus.

The principal of the LES facility, Rabbi Yissachar Ginsberg, is a good-natured and shy man, as likely to be out with his students in the school's playground as in his tiny, second floor office.

A unique aspect of the MTJ, Rabbi Ginsberg points out, is its tradition of continuing-education, with a study hall for older scholars next-door to the K through 12th grade program—"from age five to ninety."

"Our school has produced lawyers, judges, doctors, scientists, teachers, public servants, and, of course, Torah scholars," says Rabbi Ginsberg. The high school attracts students from all over the city. The lower grades, starting at age five, are the focus of Rabbi Ginsberg's attention, with the influx of new, young families.

"We get many of our younger students from the Educational Alliance Torah Tot program for 4-year olds, and the Delancey Street Synagogue pre-school program," says Ginsberg, who adds that children from homes with all levels of religious observance are welcome, including the "unaffiliated."

Another aspect of this very traditional Jewish school is a dedication to excellence on a par with the most innovative facilities. "Ninety percent of Jewish day schools begin deciphering the Rashi script - a unique alphabet associated with a great medieval Jewish commentator - only in the third grade," says Rabbi Ginsberg. "We begin in the first grade." And all the children start reading and writing both English and Hebrew in kindergarten.

The MTJ combines its traditional method of starting children early with an ongoing program of teacher education, taking advantage of the best in modern teaching techniques. With an average of ten boys to a classroom, students and teachers are able to reach academic excellence under sane and pleasant conditions.

And everybody gets to play ball and run around and exercise, in the school's own backyard and at the Educational Alliance's great new indoor gym.

Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem private Jewish school for boys, K-12, 145 East Broadway, 212-964-2830