A COMMITMENT TO DAILY LEARNING
Chazal instructs us to fortify areas of perceived weakness, i.e. applying stricter muktza rules on yom tov than on Shabbos. This guides us to strengthen and raise, rather than lower expectations in areas of weakness.
At cheder chabad, our Sundays are exclusive to limmudei kodesh learning. Keeping in mind that some parents have Sundays off and would like to spend it with their children, cheder ends earlier accommodating this valuable connection. The cheder recognizes this connection between parents and children and contributing to children’s well-being thereby improving students’ ability to succeed in learning.
Our experience is that parents being home and other factors, lead to weakened Sunday attendance. Weak attendance on one day reduces the value of learning in the students eyes and shifts the students' mindset from learning to babysitting, thus hindering the cheder’s overall ability to lead in education.
A Rebbi sitting in a half empty classroom, reflecting on what to teach the disgruntled half remains in a jeopardized state going forward.
Consider what it is like for a student to sit in a half empty classroom reflecting on his friends who must be out having fun, and thinking that whatever is learned today, will be repeated tomorrow. Is what they are learning a filler rather than learning a key part of the ongoing subjects.
Our Rebbis structures their week in a way that Sundays are a critical part of the week, a key part that if missed is difficult to make up. Sundays are filled with special programming, tests, new beginnings in added tefilos, rules of dikduk, Chumash, Mishnayos and Gemoro.
We are proud of the parents who go the extra mile and make sure their children attend every Sunday despite living far away and despite having Sunday school programming which makes it an extra hectic day. We encourage every parent to make this commitment and strengthen the Torah learning for all our students. Your commitment will benefit your child on a daily basis, instilling in them the value and critical importance of every day.
A day of absence is a missing building block in the wall that we erect for Hashem. The Midrash in Shir Hashirim 8:9 explains: “אני חומה” – the Yidden say to Hashem “We will stand firm in mitzvot and good deeds like a wall”.