Dov Chastain

2005-2011    dov.chastain@gmail.com

Tell us a bit about yourself. (E.G. job, family, hobby, where you live)

I am currently serving as the Menahel of Derech HaTorah of Rochester, a K-8th Torah Day School in Rochester, NY. I also work as a Rabbinic Field Representative for the Kof-K. I moved to Rochester in 2017 after having lived in Portland, OR, and serving as a youth director, Rebbe, school administrator, and kashrus administrator in my time there.

What is one of your favorite memories, Shiurim, Rebbeim, or events while attending Bais?

There are so many good memories from Bais, that it is very hard to choose just one, but I can relive the one that fills me with the most ha’karas ha’tov. My most meaningful memory of my time in Bais revolves around how much the Rabbeim and Avreichim showed their care. It really came out so clearly when they all banded together their resources to make my chasunah in 2007. Without the help of the Rosh Ha’Yeshiva, Rabbi Nachliel Friedman, and my other Rabbeim, it would not have been possible for me to get married and start my life in Eretz Yisrael.

How has your time at Bais influenced or helped you in your life?

I look back on the time I spent in Bais very fondly. I made some of my closest friends in the yeshiva, developed a mehalech ha’limud in the yeshiva, and made Rabbeim for life in the yeshiva. Lessons I learned in Bais about chinuch play out on a daily basis, and the yeshiva’s semicha program prepared me well with the halchic background I needed to be a kashrus administrator.

What advice would you give a fellow Bais Alumni?

Listen to the eitza of your Rabbeim, write it down, and record it for future chazara. Keep in touch with your Rabbeim and your friends from yeshiva. The bonds formed in yeshiva are powerful, and the special individuals you met there will stand by you through thick and thin.