Brooklyn Yeshivos and Schools Coordinate to Rectify Elul Schedule

By YS Gold

A long-overdue change is finally being made to the school schedule by some yeshivos and schools in Brooklyn who have finally come together to address the matter of schools starting extremely close to Rosh Hashanah on some years. This issue was the subject of a recent “Readers Write” column on BoroPark24, decrying the loss of Elul for our children amid a diminishing reason for doing so.  

A statement by Torah Umesorah lauded these efforts, saying, “Over the past few months, the Brooklyn Yeshivos and Beis Yaakov’s worked together, and at long last reached a consensus, confirming an earlier start date for the ’23-’24 school year.” 

It went on to encourage other schools to follow suit. “We understand that it may be difficult to implement at this late date, but it is important to initiate this new schedule sooner rather than later. The plan is for yeshivas to start the school year on Tuesday, August 29-12 Elul, and the Beis Yaakovs to start the school year on Thursday, August 21- 14 Elul.” 

Askonim who have been involved with this issue for months now—at the behest of Gedolei Yisroel—spoke with BoroPark24 on the background. They explained that it is widely understood that this change causes some inconvenience to some families who have a bungalow and will need to return earlier. “It is hoped that our community will slowly acclimate to this new reality and eventually shift to a schedule that adheres to the Jewish calendar, finishing the school year earlier, and starting earlier, with no loss of any vacation time,” they said.