For the first 23 years of its existence, Darchei was
an elementary school, sending its graduates
to mesivtos throughout the country. All that
changed when Rav Bender welcomed Mr. and
Mrs. Ronald Lowinger’s autistic son, Chaim
Shlomo, into the fifth grade. The Lowingers had
tried many schools and options for their son,
and were thrilled when he seemed to finally find
The Darchei hashkafah
continues to be all
about inclusion and
bein adam lachaveiro,
within a context of
Torah learning on
the highest level and
academic excellence.
his place at Darchei. They even subsequently
moved their family to the neighboring village of Lawrence. But where
could they send their son when he finished eighth grade?
With Mr. Lowinger’s encouragement and support, Rav Bender opened
Mesivta Chaim Shlomo – the Maurice and Edith Lowinger Mesivta High
School - in 1995, and it was comprised of two classrooms adjoining the
Yeshiva’s gymnasium. One year later, Chaim Shlomo Lowinger was
welcomed as a talmid of its second ninth grade. Shortly afterward, the
Mesivta moved into its own, newly constructed building.
Mesivta Chaim Shlomo began with two parallel classes but grew in leaps
and bounds after that. Success breeds success, and a few years later, as the