Yeshiva University High School For Boys - Elchanite Yearbook (New York, NY)

Page 20 text:

MOST POPULAR TEACHER IN RECOGNITION OF MANY YEARS OF SERVICE AND UNEOUALED DEVOTION TO HIS STUDENTS, THE SENIOR CLASS OF JUNE I940 HAS VOTED DOCTOR BENJAMIN D. SHAPIRO OUR MOST POPULAR TEACHER. Eighfeen ELCHANITE

Page 22 text:

GOODBYE MR. SOYER By Harold Uriel Ribalow lalumnusl The deaTh OT Abraham Soyer deeply grieved his hundreds OT sTudenTs, who loved him, admired him, and imiTaTed him wiTh aTTecTion. They will never TOrgeT him, Though They have leTT his class Tor The lasT Time. ThaT he was an old-Tashioned pedagogue maTTered nOT To sTudenTs who cherished warmTh emanaTing Trom a Teacher raTher Than eTTicienT discipline. To all his sTudenTs l'Mr. SOyer lalways Mr. l was The ideal Teacher, alThough They admiTTed wryly ThaT he was a biT Too exciTable. A liTTle man, neaT and kindly, Mr. Soyer won The love OT all his sTudenTs. His inTense and whOlehearTed inTeresT in Teaching awed Those sTudenTs who had noT yeT Taken seriously The business OT sTudy, and made him asymbol OT Jewish wisdom TO Those who undersTood knowledge and iTs value. The rewards OT a Teacher, especially a Hebrew Teacher, are noT greaT. BUT The Tinal reward OT Abraham Soyer is one OT which any man mighT iusTiTiably be proud. He leTT behind him warm memories, sTudenTs who loved every ThoughT OT him, boys who came To him TrighTened wiTh The ThoughT OT delving inTo The mysTeries OT Jewish cuITure, and leTT wiTh The knowledge OT Jewish ideals deeply imbedded wiThin Their souls. The monumenT OT Abraham Soyer is a living one. lT is alive and young, iT lives in hundreds OT young men, and old men, who sTudied and peered inTo The books OT Jewish lore. Yes, Mr. Soyer's monumenT is carven in living Tlesh, noT a cold high slab OT marble. IT is wiThin The souls OT Jewish men, men who laughed aT his jokes, who nudged each oTher when he looked droll, as he whimsically explained The meaning OT a Hebrew word Through picTures on The blackboard, who smiled wiTh aTTecTion when he kissed an embarrassed sTudenT who had answered a quesTion brillianTly. His sTudenTs gained more Than mere knowledge, They caughT a brieT glimpse inTo a noble soul. ln The monumenT OT Abraham Soyer lies Israel iTselT. So long as a sTudenT OT his lives To Tell his son OT This man, who gave his liTeblood To Teachingg so long as anyone who saT in his class can Teel sharp pangs OT regreT now ThaT he no longer graces This earTh - so long shall Abraham Soyer live. Those OT you who knew him and read These lines, do you remember Those unTOrgeTTable liTTle TraiTs OT his? l know They are deeply eTched on The slaTe OT my own memory. Do you remember how he walked inTO class, dapper, well-dressed, how he saT on The desk, liTTle TeeT dangling over The edge, how he leaned Torward and said, in his curious inTonaTion which we all mimicked, Shalom Y'Ladim He called all his sTudenTs Y'ladim lchildrenj, no maTTer whaf Their age. He behaved Toward all his sTudenTs like a Triend who sympaThized wiTh all Their Troubles, like a TaTher who undersTood Their woes. TWG-My ELCHANITE