Yakov Horowitz

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz “From the moment I began teaching, more than twenty-five years ago, I dreamed of creating a school where each and every child would look forward to attending each day; where children would be treated like the unique individuals that they are; where children would view the school—their school—as their second home, secure in the knowledge that their rabbis and teachers appreciate their individual talents and abilities. In the winter of 1997, I was approached by a group of parents who asked me to found a Yeshiva based on the principles that I instituted in my classroom; this became Darchei Noam, and it has given me the opportunity to realize my dream.”

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz was raised in Belle Harbor, New York and attended Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, where he developed a close relationship with his rebbi, the tzaddik Rabbi Avrohom Pam of blessed memory. Rabbi Horowitz served as an eighth-grade Talmud teacher for fifteen years—in Boro Park, Brooklyn and later in Monsey, New York—eagerly volunteering to teach the weaker track of students year after year. His hands-on experience with students who were unsuccessful in school led many parents with underachieving children to seek his counsel. Soon, word got out that a charedi rabbi was willing to work with at-risk adolescents at a time when the issue was not on the communal radar. These experiences led Rabbi Horowitz to publish his first column in the spring of 1996, a searing 4500-word essay imploring educators to address the needs of underachieving children.

In September 1997, Rabbi Horowitz founded Yeshiva Darchei Noam of Monsey, New York, to actualize the educational values that he promoted in that essay and throughout his life. Darchei Noam (where he serves as Dean to this day) has grown rapidly, from 39 children in the basement of a local synagogue at its inception to its current population of 270 students. This process of growth will reach an important milestone this fall, when Darchei Noam moves to a state-of-the-art facility. Rabbi Horowitz is also the National Director of Project Y.E.S. (Youth Enrichment Services), a program he created in 1997 to help Orthodox teens-at-risk lead productive and meaningful lives. His weekly columns on parenting, Jewish communal life, and Torah appear in more than half a dozen periodicals. Rabbi Horowitz recently published two books, “Torah Thoughts for Teens” and “Living and Parenting,” and his popular website (www.rabbihorowitz.com) has brought his progressive-yet-traditional worldview to many thousands of Jews worldwide each week. He has alsoproduced numerous tapes and CD’s on parenting, which have helped a generation of parents and educators hone their skills. Over the past eleven years, he has conducted more than three hundred parenting classes worldwide.

Rabbi Horowitz spent three summers in the late 1990’s as a Fellow at the Mandel Institute’s Senior Leadership Program and was awarded the 2002 Rockland Educator of the Year Award and the Grinspoon-Steinhart Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. He serves as a member of the Curriculum Advisory Committee of The Institute for Day School Management of the UJA-Federation of New York and is involved in a host of local and national educational endeavors.

Rabbi Horowitz is constantly seeking new ways to realize his dream: that each and every Jewish child succeed in school and become a proud, productive member of society.