A new fellowship from 4G NCSY and the OU Women’s Initiative is preparing young women to make a lasting impact across the Jewish world
The Jewish community has no shortage of talented young women eager to make a difference. What has often been missing is a clear pathway for those pursuing careers outside formal Jewish education to remain deeply engaged in communal leadership.
A chance conversation between Suzanne Rabinovitch, director of 4G NCSY, the Orthodox Union’s premier leadership program for Jewish teenage girls, and one of the program’s advisors inspired a new initiative.
”Our college-age 4G advisors serve as critical role models for our high schoolers,” Rabinovitch explains. “One advisor, deeply committed to chinuch and informal education, lamented that her involvement would end when her time at 4G was over. It struck me that, other than becoming a professional educator, there isn’t always an obvious path for women to remain involved in Torah-based education and communal life. Yet communities could truly benefit from their involvement, and they, in turn, could benefit from developing the skills and confidence to continue giving back.”
That conversation became the catalyst for the TORCH Fellowship, a joint program of 4G NCSY and the OU Women’s Initiative that equips women through Torah learning, leadership development, and community engagement to take on meaningful communal leadership roles alongside their careers, whether as kallah teachers, shiur presenters, chaburah leaders, or organizers of chesed initiatives, for example.
Thirty-three women from communities across California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ontario, and Pennsylvania have been selected for the inaugural cohort and will receive mentorship, education, and informal leadership opportunities to prepare them for a lifetime of service.
For OU Women’s Initiative Founding Director Rebbetzin Dr. Adina Shmidman, the partnership was a natural fit.
“We saw a clear need to invest in talented young women at a formative stage of leadership development and to help create meaningful spaces for them within Jewish communal life,” she says. “The TORCH Fellowship reflects our commitment to elevating emerging leaders by providing mentorship, guidance, and opportunities for their talents, perspectives, and strengths to come to the fore. It is especially exciting to partner with 4G NCSY, a space dedicated to furthering young women’s connection to, and engagement with, Yiddishkeit.”
Women’s Initiative Community Programs Coordinator Rebbetzin Emma Katz sees the fellowship as an investment not only in its participants but also in the communities they will one day serve.
“A decade from now, these are the women who will attend our leadership summits and adult-education initiatives, and lead shiurim and community programs in their own communities,” she notes.
Beginning in October fellows will participate in monthly Zoom sessions led by master educators covering informal chinuch, relationship building, public speaking, and adult education, culminating in a closing summit in New York City.
Each fellow will be paired with a mentor and complete a capstone project focused on one of four areas: community education, institutional involvement, chesed, or community programming.
“The goal is for fellows to see how these skills translate into real-world impact,” says Rebbetzin Katz. “Whether it’s running a chaburah, planning a chesed initiative, or becoming involved in community programming, we want them to take ownership of what they learn and immediately put it into practice. The fellowship gives them the tools and confidence to step into meaningful leadership roles while also benefiting from the mentorship, connections, and opportunities the program provides.” Beyond developing individual leaders, Rebbetzin Katz hopes the fellowship will spark a broader communal conversation.
“We all want to benefit from Torah learning, mentorship, and community programming, but are we doing enough to cultivate the people who will provide those things in the future?” she asks. “Are we creating enough pathways for younger women to become involved in communal leadership? If the fellowship inspires communities to create more opportunities for these women to contribute, it will make a lasting impact on Klal Yisrael.”
For the inaugural fellows, that vision is already beginning to take shape.
Inspired by the example set by her mother and grandparents, who have long been involved in communal service, Allie Hartman, 21, of Chicago, hopes to carry that legacy into the next generation.
A senior at Touro University majoring in psychology and minoring in education, Hartman teaches kindergarten and helps run the high school enrichment program and summer camp at Upward Community, which supports the emotional, social, and spiritual well-being of adolescents, young adults, and their families. She sees the TORCH Fellowship as a natural opportunity to deepen her commitment to Jewish communal service.
“Like my incredible mother and grandparents, I hope to be involved in Klal work throughout my life,” Hartman says. “I think it’s so important today not only to help the current generation, but also to invest in the next one. I want to help bring ideas to life, strengthen communities with others, and make a real contribution to Klal Yisrael.”
Hartman believes the fellowship will equip her with the knowledge, relationships, and mentorship to make an even greater impact in whatever path she pursues.
“I hope to better understand how I can help strengthen communities, whether in the Diaspora or in Israel,” she says. “I’m excited to meet like-minded people, build lasting relationships, and learn from mentors who are deeply committed to communal leadership. I’m so grateful to be part of this fellowship and thankful to the OU for believing in me and giving me this opportunity.”
For Yonah Pretsfelder, 23, of Riverdale, New York, the TORCH Fellowship offers an opportunity to combine her passion for community service with her long-term professional goals.
A graduate of the Sy Syms School of Business with a bachelor’s degree in data analytics, Pretsfelder is now completing prerequisite dentistry courses at Touro University while teaching tenth-grade Navi at Frisch and working in a dental office. She has also held leadership roles in NCSY’s GIVE program and volunteers with 4G, Chai Lifeline, and Bikur Cholim.
For Pretsfelder, dentistry is not a departure from communal involvement but a career that will allow her to continue giving back to the Jewish community.
“Having been involved in both formal and informal education, I decided to pursue dentistry because it offers the flexibility to remain involved in communal and chinuch-oriented initiatives,” she says. “When I heard about the TORCH Fellowship, I thought, ‘This is perfect for me.’ Even though I won’t be working in chinuch full time, I still want to be deeply involved in the community, whether through education or other forms of communal service.”
Pretsfelder hopes the fellowship will connect her with others who share her passion and commitment.
”I hope to learn from my peers and mentors, gain practical communal leadership skills, and discover the many ways I can make a meaningful contribution to the community,” she says. “I see myself becoming involved in chesed, schools, or serving as a kallah teacher, but I’m also excited to explore opportunities I haven’t considered yet. I’m especially looking forward to being part of a group of people who are truly oskim b’tzarchei tzibbur and learning from such an inspiring community.”
Hartman and Pretsfelder exemplify the kind of young women the fellowship hopes to cultivate: leaders who see communal service not as a profession reserved for a few, but as a lifelong responsibility and opportunity to serve Klal Yisrael.
Helping turn the vision into reality is sponsor and community advocate Vivian Bloch of Skokie, Illinois, whose longstanding commitment to Jewish education and women’s leadership made the initiative possible.
Deeply invested in Jewish education, Bloch has volunteered as a docent at the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center for 17 years and founded a chavruta program for eighth-grade girls at the local Hillel Torah Day School, which ran for 13 years. The initiative paired female volunteers with students to learn Jewish texts twice monthly, inspiring girls to learn Torah lishmah through female role modeling.
Reflecting on Bloch’s support, Rabinovitch says, “We could not be more grateful for Vivian’s generosity and sincere investment in the future of women’s communal involvement and Torah leadership. Her deep belief in the potential of our communities and the next generation of women leaders has been incredibly inspiring. Her vision, partnership, and genuine excitement for this mission have given us so much chizuk to continue dreaming big and building programs that respond to the needs we see in our communities.”
Bloch hopes fellows will emerge with the confidence, skills, and resources to make lifelong contributions as informal educators and community builders, and that more young women will be inspired to assume meaningful roles across the Jewish communal landscape, including within nonprofit organizations.
“I strongly believe that investing in Jewish women’s education and leadership strengthens Klal Yisrael and inspires the next generation to love Torah learning and observe mitzvot,” she says. “The TORCH Fellowship is a wonderful way to cultivate that passion early in their lives.”
About the OU Women’s Initiative
The OU Women’s Initiative creates and promotes programming in the areas of Torah study, community leadership, spiritual, personal and professional growth for women.
About NCSY
NCSY connects with Jewish teens through innovative, cutting-edge social and recreational programs to develop a positive Jewish identity. NCSY inspires Jewish teens and their connection to Israel through informal Jewish education, retreats and summer programs. NCSY empowers teens through leadership development and guidance to become passionately committed leaders of the Jewish community and instruments for positive change and renewal.
About the Orthodox Union
Founded in 1898, the Orthodox Union (OU), or Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, serves as the voice of American Orthodox Jewry, with over 400 congregations in its synagogue network. As the umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, the OU is at the forefront of advocacy work on both state and federal levels, outreach to Jewish teens and young professionals through NCSY, Israel Free Spirit Birthright, Yachad and OU Press, among many other divisions and programs.