This summer, OU Israel Free Spirit is sending more participants to Israel than ever before in its 18 year history, with over 1350 participants. Israel Free Spirit, the OU’s Birthright Israel trip organizer, attributes this growth to its diverse trip selection. In addition to the standard Birthright Israel trips, the trip options also include specialized […]

July 13, 2017 New York, NY — The Orthodox Union announced its launch of a speakers’ bureau, featuring a roster of dozens of the Torah community’s greatest thinkers, leaders, and scholars, now available to all synagogues, with discounts and special opportunities for OU member synagogues. Compiled over the past few months, the bureau will be […]

Yachad’s 2017-2018 Daner Fellows Announced Six young adults were recently selected as Daner Fellows for 2017-2018. The year-long fellowship, in the intersection of the Jewish community and the disability inclusion movement, supports the fellows’ development in working as part of a dynamic, multidisciplinary team aimed to meet the social and inclusion needs of Jewish individuals with diverse disabilities. […]

History has produced only a small selection of Jews whose impact on the breadth of Torah study significantly transcended that which is achievable by a single individual. Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, z”l, is a member of that rarified group. As the Twentieth Century introduced the combined destructive storms of assimilation and disaffection, Torah study became particularly […]

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 […]