On Sunday, January 26, NCSY’s Ben Zakkai Honor Society will be holding their 19th annual scholarship reception. This year’s event promises to be especially touching, as it salutes the legacy of Anne Samson a”h, whose untimely passing a few short months ago has deeply affected her friends and associates throughout the OU and NCSY. Anne, with her husband Lee (NCSY’s first full-time West Coast Regional Director), was instrumental in the formative years of both NCSY’s West Coast Region and NCSY’s first summer program, Camp NCSY West.

The event will be held at the Hudson Theatre of the Millenium Hotel in Manhattan. The Samsons’ son-in-law, Rabbi Natan Slifkin, will be delivering a shiur in Anne’s memory prior to the reception, at 4:00 p.m. Additionally, there will be a program in memory of Anne in the OU Israel Center in February. All of this adds up to a very fitting tribute to a truly rare individual. Anne is greatly missed.

A highlight of every Ben Zakkai Honor Society scholarship reception is the induction of new members into Ben Zakkai, which is NCSY’s alumni “hall of fame.” This year, Ben Zakkai inducts Shelley Israel, Bella Porter Smith, Dr. Kerri Davidove Lee (whose induction will actually be conducted at the West Coast Regional Convention of NCSY), Irwin Nachimson, Alyse Neumark Rozenberg and Levi Zeffren.

The Ben Zakkai Honor Society scholarship reception raises funds to enable NCSYers to continue their Jewish educations after high school, as well as to participate in a variety of NCSY Summer Programs and in NCSY’s Yarchei Kallah. We thank dinner chairs Vivian and Dr. David Luchins, tribute chairs Lynn and Marc Rohatiner, and the officers and trustees of Ben Zakkai for making all of this possible.