OU PRESIDENT STEPHEN J. SAVITSKY TO VISIT ST. LOUIS, SHABBAT WEEKEND OF NOVEMBER 30, AS HE CONTINUES NORTH AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL COMMUNITY TOUR
Following a successful visit to Congregation Schara Tzedeck in Vancouver last month, Orthodox Union President Stephen J. Savitsky will visit Nusach Hari B’nai Zion Synagogue, Young Israel of St. Louis and Agudat Israel in St. Louis the weekend of November 30, to attend services at the synagogues and to meet with their leadership and congregations. Mr. Savitsky will also speak on the topic of leadership during NCSY’s Leadership Training Shabbaton, taking place the same weekend. NCSY is the OU’s national youth program.
The St. Louis visit will be the second in a planned 10-city North American Presidential Community Tour in the upcoming months for the New York-based OU leader, as he brings the organization’s message far and wide, while at the same time receiving feedback from member congregations about their needs and how the OU can respond to them. The tour emphasizes smaller Jewish communities.
According to Mr. Savitsky, “Each trip will be an opportunity to meet fellow Jews in an OU community and to understand their needs, the particular areas of concern they have, and how we can be of service to them.” In addition, Mr. Savitsky said, the trip will “expand upon the concept of Kol Yisroel Arevim Zeh Bah Zeh – the teaching that all Jews are responsible for one another. We can’t have Jews who feel they are isolated, no matter how far they may be from New York.”
Finally, he added, he is coming to St. Louis “to spread the OU message and philosophy and our concept of Judaism revolving around living a Torah-true life while working and interfacing with the secular community.”
Upon his arrival Mr. Savitsky will hold meetings with donors and staff of NCSY. He will spend Friday night with the Young Israel community, where the services will be led by NCSYers, and on Saturday at the Nusach Hari B’nai Zion synagogue, he will give a discourse on Torah and speak during the synagogue’s Lunch and Learn program. Mr. Savitsky will also speak at the Agudat Israel synagogue before Shabbat ends.
In addition to speaking at the synagogues, Mr. Savitsky will address the NCSY Boards of the St. Louis and Kansas City chapters of the Mid-West Region.
According to Rabbi Michael Rovinsky, NCSY St. Louis Coordinator, “Mr. Savitsky is an individual who has achieved tremendous success in business and in his personal life and has used his talents to benefit the Jewish people. He represents the ideal of what we are trying to teach to our young leaders.”
For more information on Mr. Savitsky’s visit contact Rabbi Rovinsky at 314-498-6279.