Mrs. Sara Pinson
In the summer of 1968, the only Jewish girls’ high school in the Bronx closed. My parents, Rabbi Mordechai and Rachel Altein, who served as Chabad emissaries there since the 1940s, decided that my sister and I would attend the Chabad high school for girls, Beth Rivkah, and board with our grandparents in Crown Heights. To say the least, this option was definitely not my choice, but that is what we did.
I had a lot of difficulty adjusting to a big boisterous school. It was hard to make friends, hard to “belong,” and hard to get used to the students’ behavior, which was very different from what I was accustomed to. I called home often to complain.
By the end of tenth grade, I had had enough and was determined to leave. My father decided to take me with him for a private audience with the Rebbe.
The Rebbe advised that I should not quit something in the middle and that I should stay in Beth Rivkah until the end of high school. I replied that I did not want to do that. But the Rebbe said that while he understood that I did not want to do it, that was what I had to do.
Looking back, I realize that the Rebbe was giving me two very important life lessons: When you start something, you have to see it through to the end. You have to finish and honor your commitment. Secondly, we do not always want to do what has to be done, but that is not a reason not to do it.
Once I got into twelfth grade, I was convinced that soon I would be out of my misery. I had many ideas of what I wanted to do next, including college, and any seminary besides Beth Rivkah.
I decided to write to the Rebbe, as my father had always told me to do, as a best friend and as a loving father. But the Rebbe did not answer my very long letter, in which I had literally poured out my heart and shared my dreams for the future. (more…)