Schaap Transfers To Yeshivah In New Jersey

Michael Schaap, who was among the students of the Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf (HSD) interviewed for an article on the Seminary in a previous issue of JDCC News, has informed JDCC that he has decided to leave HSD. “I most definitely still want to become a Rabbi for the Deaf, I just want to get educated by a different school. For the next nine months I am going to be studying at a Yeshivah in Morristown, NJ. I feel confident that I will learn a lot.” Among the reasons given for this change, Schaap feels that HSD does not understand the needs of the Deaf as well as the Deaf student. Schaap, who is deaf, also feels that HSD did not have a sound and complete education plan. While he says Rabbi Goldhammer is “an incredible teacher,” he explains that Goldhammer’s schedule is so hectic that the class at first met monthly, then later it was changed to a single meeting. He also feels that HSD misrepresented themselves in saying that they would be accredited by The Jewish Theological Seminary by the time Schaap is ordained. Schaap has learned “through various means including Rabbi Lebeau, Vice Chancellor of The Jewish Theological Seminary, that this is not in fact true.”