Schooled On The Competition

The Five Towns area has been blessed with wonderful schools. Recently it was announced that possibly two new boys’ elementary schools may be opening in our neighborhood. I personally am happy and proud to be a Darchei parent. So, this news is not directly relevant to me, yet it does relate to the current mesechta learned in the daf yomi.

There is a well-known halachah that one may not encroach upon another individual’s livelihood. Is there any such restriction on establishing a school in a neighborhood that already has a school? Can the new school actively solicit attendance by children from the other schools?

The primary source for the answer to the first question is a Gemara in Bava Basra. There the Gemara states, “Ezra issued a decree for K’lal Yisrael that they should place teachers right next to other teachers.” In ancient times, the primary method of teaching Torah was to employ an individual teacher to educate children. This sole practitioner earned his livelihood from the tuition the parents paid him directly. There were no building funds, dinners, raffles, Chinese auctions, parallel classes, or principals. So when Ezra decreed that a teacher may set up shop right next to another teacher, he was in fact encouraging direct competition. These teachers would be directly competing for the same students and the same tuition dollars.

The Gemara continues, “Why aren’t we afraid that the teachers may become lax in their duties?” The Chasam Sofer explains the Gemara’s question to be predicated on the fact that the teachers may be too preoccupied with the stress of possibly losing their tuition dollars to the competition to teach effectively. The Gemara responds, “Kinas sofrim tarbeh chochmah”—the opposite is true. Each teacher will try to be as dynamic and effective as possible, to attract students. The result will be that the students will end up learning more, not less.

The text quoted above is based on Rabbeinu Yonah’s version of the Gemara. Tosfos maintain that the aforecited decree was not actually enacted by Ezra. However, there is seemingly no practical halachic dispute between Tosfos and Rabbeinu Yonah, merely a historical one.

We can conclude from the above that in Torah education, competition is a good thing. Each school will strive to constantly improve itself so that it doesn’t lose ground to the other schools. The result should be an improved learning experience for all the children. Therefore, halachah does permit a new school to open up where one already exists.

The Chazon Ish states that since it is an accepted halachah that one may open up a new school where one already exists, one who prevents a new school from opening is like one who sheds blood. The unlawful opposition is denying the employees of the new school their livelihood (Chazon Ish, Emunah U’Bitachon, third perek).

Active Recruitment

Now we come to the second question: May one school actively recruit children from another school? Tosfos address this question in Kiddushin (59a). Tosfos discuss a scenario where a parent already hired a rebbi to teach his children. Another rebbi may not present himself to the parent to try and replace the original rebbi. The Igros Moshe (C.M. 1:60) explains that the Gemara in Bava Basra only permitted a rebbi to establish his yeshiva in a place where there already was one. However, he is not allowed to actively recruit students that already have a yeshiva. Of course, the parents themselves may choose to switch their children to the new yeshiva. This is the exact distinction Tosfos make: The parent may choose to replace the rebbi that they already hired, but the rebbi may not offer his services without being solicited.

I have seen a recently authored commentary that states that the above only applies where both rebbeim are essentially equal in their pedagogical skills. If one school is educationally superior to the other, then the school or rebbi may in fact recruit children away from the other school or rebbi. If you were to follow this line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, you could argue that it is even a mitzvah to take the kids away from the other school. After all, aren’t you giving them a better Torah education?

This is false. All rebbeim and schools have a right to believe that the education they offer is superior. But that does not make it so! Perhaps their approach is not a fit for all children. Their assessment of themselves is obviously subjective. Therefore, it makes no difference if one school or rebbi feels that they are superior; they may not actively recruit children away from another school. I asked one of the leading poskim of our generation for his opinion on this issue, and he concurred with this assessment.

Tales Out Of School

When I was studying in an out-of-town yeshiva, word spread that a rav was gearing up to open a competing boys’ high school. The community already had two. The rosh yeshiva talked to us openly about it. It was very interesting for me as a bachur to be given a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes running of a yeshiva. Usually, bachurim are kept in the dark about such things.

The rosh yeshiva told us that the halachah is clear that this individual has every right to open up his yeshiva. He said that he contacted the rav and even offered to assist him provided that he abides by three conditions: (1) He cannot bad-mouth the other yeshivos; (2) he can’t recruit existing students away from other yeshivos; and (3) he can’t offer tuition discounts as an incentive to get students to enroll. ™