OU Blogs

NCSY Public School Yarchei Kallah 2012

Rabbi Dave Felsenthal — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 06:02:17 +0000

Yarchei Kallah is one of those events that always blows me away. Once a year I get to learn and teach Public School NCSY’ers who have chosen to use their winter break to learn Torah. This year there are over 270 kids and it is now 1am on Friday morning and the Beis Medrash is still abuzz, the kumsitz is rocking and I know that Hashem is smiling. All is good with the Jewish people at least for tonight as Hashem’s children are loving his Torah, many for the first time and definitely for the rest of their lives. A handful of Alumni visited this year. Make sure to arrange with myself or Rabbi Marchuck to visit next year it will be the highlight of your year, I know it is mine!

September 20 Invocation at US House of Representatives

Rabbi Steven Weil — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 19:38:03 +0000

Click the following link to watch the clip: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/3950111

New Jersey NCSY at Great Adventure Chol Hamoed Sukkot

Rabbi Steven Weil — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:09:09 +0000

Each year on Chol Hamoed Sukkot, New Jersey NCSY hosts thousands of families at Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ. Responding to an increased demand for shorter lines and a more religious atmosphere, NCSY is renting out the entire park for an exclusive day on Thursday, October 4 from 1:00-8:00 pm.

Rabbi Yaakov Glasser, Regional Director of New Jersey NCSY, noted, “The opportunity to rent out the entire park enables us to create a true Chol Hamoed atmosphere.”

Tickets can be purchased through the New Jersey NCSY office by calling 201-862-0250 or through the website www.ncsygreatadventure.com. Tickets purchased in advance are $30 and all tickets purchased at the gate will be $35. A sukkah will be available inside the park and kosher food will be available for purchase. For further information, please contact Laura Abboudi at 201-862-0250.

Press Clippings

Rabbi Steven Weil — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:06:55 +0000

From The Jewish Press, about OU Torah’s new series on Talmud Yerushalmi, taught by Rabbi Yosef Grossman. Read here.

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Also from The Jewish Press, Hannah Kark’s winning entry from the 2012 OU Kosher Essay Contest. Read here.

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From The Jewish Week, the OU and PEJE team up on tuition affordability. Read here.

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From Baltimore Jewish Times, the OU Job Board works in collaboration with Jewish Community Services and Joblink of Maryland, Inc. Read here.

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And finally, from Hamodia, a review of the Harry H. Beren ASK OU Summer Programs that we discussed last week. Read here.

“Reflections on Teshuva”

Rabbi Steven Weil — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:05:12 +0000

Once again this year, some of the New York area’s most distinguished pulpit rabbis will exchange places on September 23, the Sunday before Yom Kippur, to provide their “Reflections on Teshuva,” an OU signature High Holy Day program. This year, for the first time, the program has been extended beyond the New York Metropolitan Area to include Harrisburg and Allentown in Pennsylvania, as well as another pairing in the Philadelphia suburbs; Denver; Chicago/Skokie; and in Canada, Toronto and Montreal.

Reflections on Teshuva is a program of the OU’s Department of Community Engagement, coordinated by Community Engagement Program Coordinator Hannah Farkas. According to Frank Buchweitz, OU National Director of Community Services and Special Projects, “This unique arrangement will allow these experienced and always stimulating rabbis to share profound thoughts on a profound subject – teshuva — with new audiences. The period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is a time of personal introspection and this OU program will present a unique opportunity for communities to hear from visiting rabbis to supplement what they have learned from their own shul’s Rav.” Read more here or in The Jewish Press‘ impressive full-page coverage of the event here.

Yachad/NJCD Counseling Center

Rabbi Steven Weil — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:29:48 +0000

Yachad, the National Jewish Council for Disabilities, announced the opening of the new Yachad/NJCD Counseling Center, an expansion of its existing clinical services. Counseling and support services will be available at two locations: Yachad/OU Headquarters at 11 Broadway in Manhattan, and at 1122 Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. Payment will be on a sliding scale and financial needs will be assessed before the start of services.

Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman, Director of Yachad/NJCD, stated, “To meet the Jewish community’s increasing demands for disability-specific counseling services, Yachad has dramatically increased the size of its clinical team…Our counseling program now includes thirty graduate-level social work and advanced psychology Ph.D.-level clinicians-in-training to work in conjunction with Yachad’s staff social workers, psychologists, and licensed psychotherapists.” See more here.

Harry H. Beren ASK OU Kashrus Summer Programs

Rabbi Steven Weil — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 15:54:02 +0000

70 students came from as far away as Houston and Israel to participate in the 11th cycle of the three- and one-week Harry H. Beren ASK OU Kashrus Summer Programs, offered by the OU every other summer.

The intensive program covered fish, the kosher contract, cheese and whey, machinery, fermentation, cake, food-service protocols and kashering, hashgacha, enzymes and emulsifiers, hafroshas challah, yoshon, Yoreh Deah and non-Jewish factories, kosher birds and eggs, unauthorized OU hechshers, baking, OU certification in India, Turkey and Egypt, Pesach all-year round, and many, many other topics.

The participants visited OU Kosher restaurants, factories and hotel kitchens. They learned how to perform an audit review of a restaurant. They reviewed the halachos of kashrus with OU Kosher posek Rav Hershel Schachter of Yeshiva University, and participated in an “Ask the OU Rabbonim” session led by Rabbi Moshe Elefant, Chief Operating Officer of OU Kosher, who was joined by several rabbinic coordinators.

The complex program was organized, as always, by Rabbi Yosef Grossman, OU Kosher Senior Educational Rabbinic Coordinator, who puts together a variety of ASK OU initiatives sponsored by the Harry H. Beren Foundation of Lakewood, NJ. Read more here.

“Using Quantitative Data to Lead Qualitative Conversations”

Rabbi Steven Weil — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:09:39 +0000

Dan Hazony, Director of Information Systems for NCSY, has an op-ed in eJewish Philanthropy entitled “Using Quantitative Data to Lead Qualitative Conversations.” In it, he discusses figuring out what needs to be measured, setting up an infrastructure to support the measurements, overcoming staff reluctance to data-gathering, and more. This is especially vital in what he calls our “hyper-connected world.” You can read it here.

Fall 2012 Jewish Action Now Available

Rabbi Steven Weil — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:41:13 +0000

The Fall 2012 issue of Jewish Action is now out. Features include: The Social Media Revolution: What Does It Mean for Our Children?; What do Orthodox educators-across the spectrum-have to say about Facebook?; Another Year, Another Chance: Special Rosh Hashanah Section; A Conversation with Rabbi Itay Meushar of Peru; Weighing in Obesity in the Frum Community; and more!

Kudos to Chairman Gerald Schreck and the entire staff of Jewish Action, including Editor Nechama Carmel, Assistant Editor Rashel Zywica, Literary Editor Matis Greenblatt, and Advertising Coordinator Carrie Beylus.

On Being a Dad not afraid to cry

Rabbi Dave Felsenthal — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 21:45:50 +0000

Yesterday, I went to the funeral of one of my Jewish heroes, Zev Wolfson. His accomplishments are immense in all areas of Jewish life especially in reaching out to our unaffiliated brothers and sisters. I’m not exaggerating when I say he is probably the most important supporter of informal Jewish education of the past century. All that being said, the one thing that most impressed me was when his son Aaron talked about how he was sent away to Yeshiva and did not want to leave home. A lot was going on his life at the time and he said his father probably felt he needed a little toughening up. When he got there, he ended up in the Mashgiach’s office crying when the phone rang and it was his father. The Mashgiach had him keep quiet as he father proceeded to express his concern over the hard time his son was going through and made sure he received the attention and warmth he needed. Aaron gave this as an example of how his father went the extra distance to make sure each of his kids had exactly what they needed and the love and emotion towards his children was a recurring theme as each child spoke.

Later that afternoon, I found myself at the airport saying good bye to my son Avromie as he leaves to study in Israel for a year. Avromie has been very nervous about this new step in his life and we have pushed very hard to make sure he is in the best place for him. As I got closer and closer to the airport my stomach started doing somersaults. When I finally got there, I took Avromie aside and I shared with him all the sage advice that I had been given when I left to Israel to study in Yeshiva. My year in Israel was a life shaping experience for me and I started to cry as I kissed him good bye. All night I continued to be nauseous and could not function (today I am back at full speed, don’t worry). A friend asked me if I’m pregnant. My brother in law called me some other non manly words. But I’m proud to say that just like Zev Wolfson of blessed memory I am not afraid to do what is right for my children even when it appears tough and at the same time let them see how much I care for them.