Rabbi Daniel Greer: Award-Winning Efforts

Rabbi Daniel Greer, founder of Connecticut’s Yeshiva of New Haven School, is a compassionate man with immense civic interest. He has poured his efforts into improving the Edgewood neighborhood, where Yeshiva of New Haven resides, and in doing so he has received awards for his work.

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Long-neglected spots in Edgewood, in Rabbi Danial Greer’s eyes, were beautiful pockets of potential. Working alongside architects, designers and other volunteers, he brought life and positivity to the area and, in doing so, received recognition on two separate accounts from the New Haven Preservation Society.

“It is a great privilege to collaborate with the many craftsmen who devote hours of careful work to restoration,” said Greer. “Many times, vintage woods have to be reproduced, and intricate original plaster designs copied. Yeshiva is honored to have a part in these projects.”

Rabbi Daniel Greer is also a strong supporter of the local firehouse and of first res-ponders.

Daniel Greer: Charter and Founding Member of COLPA

Daniel Greer has been a part of the National Jewish Commission on Legal and Public Affairs (COLPA) since its inception in 1965. This organization, created to help advance the cause of Orthodox Jews around the United States, both from a legal and a legislative standpoint, worked out labor regulations for Sabbath observers, helping to end discrimination against Orthodox Jews.

Daniel Greer joined Reuben Gross and Marvin Schick in forming the group while Greer worked at Simpson, Thatcher, and Bartlett. Thanks to Greer and the co-founders of COLPA, the rights of Orthodox Jews in the United States could be protected.

COLPA won a series of victories in New York City concerning public and private employment rights. COLPA was credited with the passage of the Chananau Bill, which allows New York City Civil Service examinations to be taken on days other than the Sabbath day, Saturday.

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Daniel Greer continues to assist the Orthodox Jewish community, and the community of New Haven, Connecticut as well.

Daniel Greer: Longtime Advocate for New Haven, Connecticut

Daniel Greer has been an advocate for his community in the New Haven, Connecticut area for decades. As a leader in the Yeshiva of New Haven, Greer is as compelled as ever to help his community any way he can. One of the ways he has helped his community is by working to revitalize the Edgewood Park neighborhood, which was crippled by crime.

Greer established the Gan School in the heart of New Haven, where, according to a Gan School staffer, “the School’s daily and Shabbos services have helped attract students and young couples to the neighborhood.” In recognition for his great work in the community, Greer delivered the invocation at the inauguration ceremony of New Haven Mayor John Daniels.

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Daniel Greer was selected to deliver the invocation, a high honor, “because of his leadership role in New Haven’s Jewish community.” His work to establish the school and commit to a neighborhood revitalization effort in an area wracked by crime set an example for everyone in the community to follow. Because of Mayor Daniels’ proclaimed commitment to education, Greer’s work in founding the Gan School “exemplifies the commitment to education that will be a centerpiece of the Daniels’ administration.”

Daniel Greer remains committed to helping the community of New Haven with his continued support of his Yeshiva and all things the enrich the city as a whole.

Rabbi Daniel Greer: Award-Winning Community Cornerstone

Rabbi Daniel Greer founded Connecticut’s Yeshiva of New Haven Elementary, a primary school in the Edgewood neighborhood, in 1977. He has since earned a reputation for his diligent efforts to bring beauty and peace to Edgewood. His renovation and restoration efforts on dozens of neglected houses even earned him two awards from the New Haven Preservation Society.

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“If I am only for myself, then who am l?” said Rabbi Daniel Greer. “Think about what that means for a minute. All of us have a moral obligation to get involved in our communities.”

In addition to bringing much-needed life to a group of Victorian homes in the area, driving out drug dealers, he renovated what was once the Roger Sherman Elementary School. The historic brick building, over a century old, became the location for Yeshiva of New Haven. He transformed an unsightly asphalt jungle into an expanse of grass, trees and welcoming sitting areas, and in doing so, he inspired a renewed interest in maintaining Edgewood’s beauty in the community.

Today, decades after founding Yeshiva of New Haven and starting his community cleanup efforts, Rabbi Daniel Greer continues to give back to the community of Edgewood.

Rabbi Daniel Greer: Softening the Community

Rabbi Daniel Greer is the founder of Yeshiva of New Haven, a school located in the Edgewood Park neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut. There, his efforts extend beyond his school and to the community of Edgewood Park.

In effort to enrich the lives of residents and to soften the community, Rabbi Daniel Greer developed a vision for Yeshiva of New Haven. It would be a welcoming, inspiring location for people of all ages, providing respite from the concrete jungle all around. Today, the beautiful grounds do just that.

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A community favorite is the sitting area in the play yard. This “park within a park” is complete with an antique-styled lamp and bench. With a stand of white birch to one side, wisteria on another and lush greenery all around, the spot provides a quiet place to talk, contemplate, study or simply enjoy the deeply spiritual experience of the grounds.

Rabbi Daniel Greer’s vision and dedication to improving the community around Yeshiva of New Haven has earned him awards and much-deserved thanks from countless happy students and New Haven residents.

Rabbi Daniel Greer: Yale Law School

In 1961, Rabbi Daniel Greer entered Yale Law School following his education at Princeton in the 1950s, beginning what would be a fruitful period of his life.

Then, Yale’s kosher kitchen was located at the Young Israel Synagogue, serving four weekday dinners to eight attending students. The kitchen was under the direction of Rabbi Aaron Gelman and headed by Herby Gold. Rabbi Daniel Greer soon learned that students attending the kitchen were at a disadvantage. Not only was the kitchen inconveniently-located, but students who dined there were still expected to pay Yale university board fees, even if they did not eat at the non-kosher facilities on campus.

In 1962, Greer moved the kitchen to quarters that were close to the Yale gym. Food offerings expanded to weekday lunches and dinners, including Sunday lunch. Though the progress was undeniable, the kitchen still needed additional participants to be financially stable.

Rabbi Daniel Greer soon met two observant Jewish freshmen, Carl Fiet and Carl Posy, who could participate in the program if they were released from paying Yale board fees. He spoke on their behalf and, in time, the case prevailed. Not long after, the Young Israel House at Yale began to succeed, and it is now located on campus.

Daniel Greer: A Founding Member of COLPA

Daniel Greer was a founding member of the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA), a voluntary association of attorneys who represent observant Jews on public affairs, legislative, and legal issues. Greer helped Dr. Marvin Schick found the organization in 1965, and received help from the organization in defense of the New Haven Yeshiva, of which he is still a leader, in the early 1980s.

At the time, Daniel Greer and the New Haven Yeshiva agreed to purchase the Roger Sherman School for $30,000. Enrollment for elementary school students at the time had fallen, leaving several schools in New Haven vacant. New Haven had decided to close four schools because of the falling enrollment. After New Haven and the City Council accepted the pricing bid by Greer’s Yeshiva, they dropped the asking price to one dollar, so more investment could be made in renovations to the school. The American Civil Liberties Union of the area challenged the sale in federal court, but thanks in part to the COLPA, Greer and his community were able to purchase the building and expand their Jewish education programs.

Daniel Greer is the Chairman of New Haven Yeshiva and still sees the benefits to the children of his Yeshiva attending the Gan School where the Roger Sherman School once stood.

Yeshiva of New Haven: Observance and Education

At Yeshiva of New Haven Elementary, the curricular focus is on fundamental academic skills which range across all Judaic and General studies. Yeshiva of New Haven Elementary, founded by Rabbi Daniel Greer, is primarily a community of student-scholars, where questions, and thoughtful comments are always welcome.

A highlight of the year is the annual School Shabbos, for which the students prepare intensively. Each student submits a ‘question’, something which has caught that child’s imagination, and remains a puzzlement. It can be a query about a specific religious practice, it can be wonderment about the universe, it might be a targeted textual problem. The teachers then review the questions and help the child select the one which is given to a response. For even at a young age, children understand that while all questions are ‘good’ — we are not necessarily equipped to discover the answer to each.

Yeshiva New Haven Elementary students are quite comfortable using Hebrew texts and original sources. They may not be able to translate the entire source, but from quite a young age they can discern whether or not their particular ‘question’ is even discussed. Once helpful sources are located, an older student, or teacher will study the relevant sentences or passages with the youngster. For example, these sources may include (and always in the original Hebrew) midrash, Torah commentary, aggaditah, Biblical concordance, various maps and the like.

At this point in the process, the child is required to write a rough draft summarizing the collected ‘answers’. This rudimentary essay will undergo numerous drafts, all of which are done in class to ensure that this writing belongs exclusively to the student. As the Torah essay (the d’var Torah) takes shape, the writer will, inevitably find himself/herself drawn to particular approaches in the commentaries which resonate more strongly than others with the young student-author.

As Yeshiva of New Haven Elementary school is purposefully technology-free, the final stage in the crafting of a d’var Torah, is for the student to handwrite this essay for inclusion in the annual ‘booklet’. Young students may print their essays. Older students are required to use cursive writing; and must present their very best penmanship.

These wonderful compositions are then delivered in public. The boys Of Yeshiva of New Haven Elementary, read their papers in the synagogue during the School Shabbos; the girls, present theirs to classmates, faculty and invited guests at the Shabbos meals.

Also Check out Yeshiva New Haven CrunchBase profile

Daniel Greer: A Charter COLPA Member

Reuben Gross and Marvin Schick of Agudath Israel of America invited Daniel Greer to become a charter member of COLPA at its formation, In a letter they sent to Greer dated August 23, 1965, they wrote, in part: “We are asking your assistance and offering you an opportunity to participate in a development of historical importance in American-Jewish life… , We invite you to become a charter member of this newly-formed Commission on Law and public Affairs, and to attend the first meeting which will take place on Wednesday September 15th, 8:00 P.M. in the Village Room of the Statler Hilton Hotel, New York City.”

In explanation of COLPA’s work, Daniel Greer wrote, shortly afterward: COLPA was formed in September, 1965, by a group of Orthodox Jewish lawyers and social scientists, to represent the Orthodox Jewish community on legislative and legal matters. It is our policy to become involved only where substantial unity exists In the Orthodox Jewish community. COLPA’s members include individuals from “limit to limit” of Orthodoxy. This broad base is important to try to accurately represent community sentiments, for, an important consideration in COLPNs creation, is the avoidance of unnecessary duplication. COLPA’s two major areas of concern since its formation have been that of government aid to parochial schools and equal employment opportunities for Sabbath observers.”

Also read: Daniel Greer: COLPA Co-Founder

When Daniel Greer was asked to join the original cohort of COLPA members he was an attorney at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.

Rabbi Daniel Greer: An Appreciation

Rabbi Daniel Greer was in Jerusalem during the Yom Kippur war of October 1973, and reported on the Situation in a letter dated October 15 of that year to Mayor John V. Lindsay Of New York:

“Yesterday evening, the voice of Israel gave extensive coverage to the rally in New York City. The broadcaster quoted from your warm address in support of Israel. You recall, as I do, that it was just four
years ago during Sukkot that you tendered, on behalf of the City of New York, a gala dinner for Golda Meir. A photograph of that joyous occasion taken in the sukkah we constructed in her honor, faces me as I write this letter. It always brings to mind the memorable ultimate sentence of your toast that evening to the guest of honor — ‘Madam prime Minister, we stand with Israel’. And now, four years later, this time during a serious and sober occasion, you have once again clearly stated that you stand with Israel…. [and continuing his report, Rabbi Daniel Greer wrote:] Through it all, a spirit of fairness and decency prevails. The lives Of Arabs in the West Bank and other Israeli administered territories continue unhampered by curfews or emergency restrictions. Arab workers work and mingle as usual in the streets of Jerusalem.”

Rabbi Daniel Greer concluded with appreciation for Mayor Lindsay’s encouragement which came: ” … on the radio last night in a Jerusalem darkened by blackout…”