Gift for Rebbe - above and beyond

amother

Outerspace

Wed, May 22 2024, 7:15 am

TR91 wrote:

What about $400 cash and a $100 gift?

I did similar and he was very appreciative.
I did a $500 check with a nice card, as well as a gift for the family that was fully exchangeable. It was erev yom tov so I did a tablecloth from a tablecloth/linen/towel kind of store.

amother

Green

Wed, May 22 2024, 8:09 am

They will certainly remember the large cash bonus.
I have that same situation.
I was the staff member.
And while there's no "challah board" that serves as a reminder, I'm reminded if it often. When I hear of someone with the last name, whenever the topic of tips come up, etc. (A lot!)

Def go with cash and they WILL remember.

amother

Whitewash

Wed, May 22 2024, 12:27 pm

WOW OP you are so generous.
As the wife of a Rebbi, I would say to go with cash.
Yes the schools have tried to put salaries up a little, but it's not keeping up with inflation.
As a family, we both teach in schools. even with tuition breaks, its very tight.

Personally, we have not even signed our kids up for camp yet this summer because we just made a bar mitzvah (low key, but still even the cheapest simchas cost money, and tefillin of course) and neither of us get paid in the summer. And we are going to eat into our meager savings over this summer. If somebody gave us a $500 tip, we would immediately sign up one of our kids for camp (the kid who needs it the most...) and would be so grateful.
Tips make a huge difference. Most of the time Rebbeim dont get tips for end of the school year, and dh only once in his life got a tip of more than $180. That tip for $613 was given to him about ten years ago, and you can bet we have never forgotten that family!

I wish I could give a huge tip to my sons amazing Rebbi (7th grade) but dont have the money for that.
If you have the money to tip, do it!