Having a dream become reality is no small achievement. Yet forty-nine years ago, a dedicated group of community members recognized a need in the community and envisioned a solution. These individuals undertook the daunting task of establishing a school that would provide both Torah and secular studies in a warm, secure environment. And today Ahi Ezer Yeshiva is proud to educate approximately 300 students annually, imbuing each child with solid Torah values and middot.
Zvi Dov Roth Academy of Yeshiva Rambam (ZDR) was founded in 1997 with a class of 19 students and has grown into an outstanding spiritual and academic modern orthodox high school for students both Ashkenazi and Sephardic.
The Department of Education (DOE) is the government agency responsible for ensuring that all children receive an appropriate education. Parents sometimes view the DOE as an ally, and the law intended for it to be a collaborative process. The reality, however, is that the department is a governmental entity with competing interests and public policy concerns. Providing services for your particular child, therefore, is not always their top priority. If you are a parent of a child with special needs, you should be aware of your rights. The following example, based on a real-life case involving a community parent, illustrates this point.
Located in Israel’s Binyamin region near Modiin, Ulpanat Dolev was established in 1988 as a residential facility for girls at risk. Today it serves over 100 troubled girls who have been referred to the Ulpana by social workers.
For some, the back to school season means supply lists and trips to Target. For Barkai Yeshivah students, it means turning on barbecue grills. The usual festivities at the annual Barkai Family Fun Night took place, once again, at the home of Lawrence and Sherry Lynn Jemal, Barkai’s gracious hosts.
Organized by a group of determined young women, the Ohel Simha Bridal fundraiser perfectly expressed the selflessness of our generous community. Held at the home of Elliot and Valerie Betesh, the event was a day for women, by women. The day uniquely raised funds for less-fortunate brides, by offering attendees a full day of beauty which included hair and makeup applications. Guest speaker, Rabbi Mayer Yedid conveyed powerful words of spirituality and Torah to the ladies.
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The record keepers at the Guinness Book of World Records may not know it, but there is one married couple that has more than 2,000 children. Not only that, but their children live on every continent and speak different languages. They are not the biological parents of these children, but through their organization, Bonei Olam, Rabbi and Mrs. Schlomo Bochner have facilitated the births of these children and are building future generations of Am Yisrael.
For thousands of years, Jews have sanctified their married life by beginning it with a traditional Jewish wedding. The beauty, simplicity and nobility of the Jewish wedding ceremony is dictated to us by Talmudic tradition and rabbinic law. The ceremony is based on the name that the Talmud grants to the Jewish concept of betrothal and marriage—“kiddushin,” meaning sanctification and holiness. Though marriage is a contract between a man and a woman for living together, it is much more than that. At the root of the Jewish marriage ceremony is the understanding that a marriage is much greater than the sum of its individual parts.
Now in its third year, Yeshivat Magen Abraham is charting a new path in the field of high school education in Brooklyn’s Syrian community. Through innovative methods and strategies, they prepare the community’s youth for religious and financial success.
Brooklyn, NY – Today, New York City Councilman David Greenfield endorsed Congressman Michael McMahon in his re-election bid for New York’s 13th Congressional District. The endorsement took place in front of the Sephardic Multi Service Center in Gravesend, Brooklyn.
As a culmination of their year-long series of programs called The Jews of Spain: Past and Present, the American Sephardi Federation joined with Congregation Edmond J. Safra of Manhattan and Ramaz School/Kehillath Jeshurun for a nine-day heritage tour of Spain called Roots of Sefarad. Led by Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie and Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, the group of 51 Sephardim and Ashkenazim together explored the famous and infamous sites which exemplify the Jewish experience in Spain under Muslim and Christian rule.
Recently, several hundred people gathered at the Park East Synagogue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side for a most befitting tribute to the life and legacy of famed Zionist leader and visionary Vladimir Ze’ev Jabotinsky on the occasion of his 70th yahrzeit. Due to the geo-political realities of the age of terrorism, security was tight at the venue as attendees went through airport style checks as they entered.
Scotland is perhaps the only country in Europe to have no history of Jewish persecution. Indeed, Jews in Scotland have a rare uninterrupted history, starting in 1290, when Jews were expelled from England under the Edict of Expulsion. There is some history of Jews existing in Scotland prior to the Edict, but no definite record of Jewish communities.
The New York metro area has 2 million Jews, more than everywhere else, except Tel Aviv. But it’s a big drop after that. LA has 650,000. Philly, DC, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco each have about a quarter million. A few more American cities have between 50,000 and 100,000. But when you get down to the top 40 American cities, we’re talking less than 10,000 in a metro area.
