The Orthodox Union’s Women’s Affinity group is excited to announce its next speaker, the Honorable Rachel (Ruchie) Freier, speaking at the OU’s New York Headquarters (11 Broadway, 14th floor) on Wednesday, June 28th. Ruchie Freier is the first Hasidic Jewish woman to be elected as a civil court judge in New York State, and the first to serve in public […]

Baltimore, MD – Eighteen Jewish Deaf-blind adults from across the United States, Canada, and Israel joined together for a fully-accessible Shabbat to socialize and learn about their shared heritage at the Pearlstone Retreat Center this past weekend, June 16-18, 2017, as part of Our Way, a division of Yachad.   The 5th biennial Deaf-blind Shabbaton is a unique endeavor. […]

More than 125 lay and rabbinic leaders of Orthodox Jewish communities from across the country convened on Capitol Hill and at the White House June 15 for the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center’s annual Leadership Mission to Washington, D.C. Orthodox Union President Mark Bane stated: “The Orthodox Union Advocacy Center works year-round to advocate for the values and interests of the Orthodox […]

Rina grew up in New Jersey and lived in Cedarhurst for thirteen years, before moving to LA four years ago with her husband, Rabbi Dov Emerson, who became head of YULA Boys High School. They will be moving back to the tri-state area in the summer where Rina will begin her new role as CEO […]

Shari Dym, Director of Development at the Silver Academy in Harrisburg, PA, remembers acutely what she felt on February 28, 2017. On an unusually warm Tuesday morning, alarm bells rang throughout the Jewish Community Center in which this Jewish day school is housed. The students, figuring this was a regular drill, nonchalantly followed the rehearsed […]

Rabbi Elie Schwartz and his wife, Miriam, will arrive at Maryland Hillel this August to serve as the new Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus couple, but they won’t be alone – baby Schwartz No. 1 will be with them, too. After news that one of the JLIC couples, Alex and Ahuva Tsykin, would be leaving […]

AGE: 18 HIGH SCHOOL: Valley Torah High School GAP YEAR: Midreshet HaRova in Jerusalem GOING TO: Harvard University Under Soviet rule in Odessa, Rivka Schusterman’s grandfather was barred from attending college. Instead, he educated himself, staying up nights, reading. One morning, after a long night of studying, he arrived at his job late — and […]

West Coast NCSY Connect, an initiative for NCSY alumni, partnered with Israel Free Spirit, the OU’s Birthright Israel trip organizer, to launch a new partnership this year – providing free Israel trips catering to the NCSY alumni community. The program received an overwhelming response, with forty alumni attending the winter trip and another eighty going this […]

Q: Why should people in New York’s Jewish communities care about what happens in the New York budget? A: The fact is the New York State budget provides tens of millions of dollars in funding that can be accessed by yeshivot and day schools. State and local budgets impact nearly every facet of our daily […]

Ask anyone who was involved– there came a moment, just before our deadline, where we wondered: are we going to have to return nearly $2 million in donations? Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. This week, NCSY pulled off an incredible fundraising feat – collecting $2.1 Million in donations over a 24-hour period in an […]