Kushner High names insider Moshe Brand as principal

by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

Rabbi Moshe Brand, vice principal of the middle school at the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston, has been tapped to become principal of the affiliated Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, effective immediately. He succeeds Rabbi Abraham Warhaftig, who served one year as interim acting principal until his death on June 28 after an illness.

Brand’s appointment was approved at a board meeting on June 27. While the appointment is effective July 1, Brand began work in the role immediately, while continuing to wrap up his projects in the middle school.

“We felt he was well qualified for two reasons. First he knows the school and understands its potential as well as the challenges it faces. And we think he’s a top notch professional with significant high school experience,” said Jeff Lichtman of West Orange, head of the Kushner board of education, pointing to Brand’s previous experience as vice principal at the Westchester Hebrew High School in Mamaroneck, NY.

Lichtman also acknowledged that Warhaftig’s illness made the 2004-2005 year “difficult,” particularly toward the end of the year. “We’re saddened at his loss and that he didn’t have time to do the great things we thought he would.”

Because of the rocky year, Lichtman added, the board chose not to launch a broader search. “We wanted someone who would not only be excellent and comfortable in the role immediately, but who would also provide stability.” He also said that after last year’s recruitment effort, the board had a pretty good feel for the kind of people they would find and preferred Brand. “Frankly, there are not as many phenomenal candidates for positions of leadership in Jewish education as one might hope.”

As vice principal of JKHA, Brand regularly works 12-hour days, and many supporters comment on his enthusiasm. In fact, when a visitor dropped in unannounced at the end of a long day, young children in tow, he could not have been more pleased to see them, take time to respond to their needs, even engage the children with markers and paper. And before their conversation was through, the children’s artwork was hanging on his bulletin board. “I love children at every age,” he said, and added, “You’ve got to be positive.”

Perhaps that’s easy when you’re convinced that the career you’ve selected is the “most noble profession” of all. In fact, said Brand, “My job is what gets me out of bed in the morning.”

Brand hopes to make Kushner the “premier” school in the area, he said, where students can get into any university, and where everyone will reach their potential in both the Jewish and secular worlds. But he acknowledged that the student body faces some challenges, from the competitiveness of colleges today to social and emotional issues, particularly drinking and smoking. “Today’s high school students are in a difficult position. They are forced to grow up more rapidly. They’re under tremendous pressure.”

He does not believe teens in the Jewish world, even the yeshiva world, are immune from the challenges confronting their secular counterparts, and quotes a Yiddish saying that translates roughly as “As it is in the secular world, so it is in the Jewish world.”

He plans to address their needs by bringing in “dramatic” speakers. “They will be people who have gone through the challenges these kids face. They will teach them to make the correct choices and to refer them to places that can assist them. They will make them aware that these people and places are there for them.”

He has other changes planned as well, including “tightening up” the curriculum, bringing more Zionism to the school, and adding more Jewish philosophy to the curriculum. He is reevaluating the disciplinary system currently in place, and hopes to create more ruah, or spirit, for the school.

Acknowledging the challenges Kushner has faced, from the arrest of high school students at an unchaperoned party in the fall to the jailing of the school’s benefactor Charles Kushner earlier this year after he pleaded guilty to federal obstruction of justice charges, Brand said his tenure would “zero in on the positive. We have good people here and a bright future and I would like to build on that.”

Brand, 51, holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Brooklyn College, a master’s degree in history from City College of New York, and a master’s degree in rabbinic studies from Baltimore Hebrew University. Currently a doctoral candidate at Yeshiva University’s Azrieli School of Education, he received rabbinic ordination from the now defunct Yeshivat Eretz Yisrael, which was located in Brooklyn.

A resident of Staten Island with six children of his own ranging in age from eight to 30, Brand began his career teaching history in the New York public school system, and moved into the yeshiva world after a 10 year stint living in Israel. He joined Kushner in 1996 as vice principal of its lower school.

“This gives me the opportunity to do something I feel like I’ve trained a long time for, and I’m looking forward to doing whatever I can to help kids,” said Brand. “I want to have some kind of impact on the lives of people, and you can’t get more satisfaction than doing this job.”

Johanna Ginsberg can be reached at jginsberg@njjewishnews.com.