The Ben Zakkai Honor Society (BZHS) of NCSY, the international youth program of the Orthodox Union, will induct Rabbi Shalom Schlagman of Upstate New York as a new member at the 14th Annual Ben Zakkai Honor Society Scholarship Reception, Sunday, January 10 at the Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York. The evening will also pay tribute to the legendary legacy of Moses I. Feuerstein, z”l, honor three individuals and induct four other new members.
BZHS is an alumni “Hall of Fame” whose new members are nominated by, and voted on, by its current members based on the nominees’ service to NCSY and the Jewish community. The Society’s main function is to raise funds for scholarships for high school NCSYers for summer programs in North America and Israel. The Society has helped pay tribute for more than forty years to esteemed NCSY alumni and community leaders who have demonstrated their dedication to Torah and their service to the Jewish people. Isabel Novak of Los Angeles serves as Chair of the BZHS.
Dinner proceeds go towards direct scholarships for NCSY members to continue their Jewish education after high school, or to participate in national NCSY programs, such as Camp Sports for Boys, National Yarchei Kallah, and Summer Experience for Girls.
Rabbi Shalom Schlagman is a fourth year semicha student at REITS, and a middle school rebbe at SAR. Shalom the advisor became Shalom the Regional Junior NCSY Coordinator, then Shalom the Associate Regional Director and now, Shalom the Regional Director.
He is an NCSYer who grew up in the Har Sinai Region of upstate New York and simply never left. And that is the secret of Har Sinai. In no region do the alumni return with as much vigor to continue the legacy that goes back to 1961 when the region was first forged against all odds and logic in dying mill towns and struggling cities along the Erie Canal.
Rabbi Schlagman also served for two years as Vice President of Education and then spent a year-and-a-half learning in Yeshivat Lev HaTorah in Israel. He returned to Yeshiva University, where he earned his BA and MA, while majoring in NCSY.
He is married to Mahala, who is also actively involved in NCSY.