OU’s Rabbi Weil to Visit Israel on Whirlwind Three-Day Tour

14 Jul 2011

OU’S RABBI WEIL TO VISIT ISRAEL ON WHIRLWIND THREE-DAY TOUR: FOCUS ON OU ISRAEL AND NCSY PROGRAM VISITS, SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, AND COMFORTING FAMILIES OF RECENT TERROR VICTIMS

In a whirlwind three-day visit, OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Steven Weil will be travelling to Israel for the beginning of the Three Weeks period, from Monday, July 18-Wednesday, July 20. During this time, Rabbi Weil will focus on visiting OU Israel programs, in addition to speaking at the Seymour J. Abrams OU Israel Jerusalem World Center and at various NCSY | Jewish Youth Leadership summer programs. Rabbi Weil will also visit communities and families of recent terror attacks.

Rabbi Weil’s first day will focus on site visits of OU Israel programs, and visiting NCSY’s Kollel program for boys, who will be joined by participants of NCSY’s The Jerusalem Journey Ambassadors (TJJA) program.

Tuesday morning, on the 17 of Tammuz, a fast day marking the breech of Jerusalem’s ancient walls by the Romans and beginning of the three weeks leading to Tisha B’Av, Rabbi Weil will speak at NCSY’s Michlelet program for girls on “The Seventh Million: The Survivors Unspoken Tragedy: An Analysis of the 23rd Kinah” (kinot are eulogies recited on Tisha B’Av). His next stop will bring him back to address the NCSY Kollel program on “The One Man who Could’ve Stopped the Churban: An Analysis of the 11th Kinah.”

By early afternoon, Rabbi Weil will travel to the community of Itamar, where five members of the Fogel family were killed in a terrorist attack. There, he will visit Mayor Moshe Goldsmith, who came to the OU Headquarters with his wife, Leah, shortly after the massacre in March, on their North American tour to educate about life in their community.

Rabbi Weil will return to Jerusalem on Tuesday evening, to discuss “The Millennial Generation: A Watershed Moment in Ashkenazic Jewry – An Analysis of the 22nd and 25th Kinah.” The presentation will take place at 5:30 p.m. at the OU Israel Center, 22 Keren HaYesod. The event is free and open to everyone. That evening, Rabbi Weil will break his fast by joining TJJA.

Wednesday morning, Rabbi Weil will be menachem avel (comforting the mourners) the Fogel family, and to mchazek (give strength to) the Assulin family, whose daughter Odelia has been in a coma for the past few months since a bus bombing. At this time, he will also be presenting the families with donations collected by the OU Victim’s of Terror Fund, created in March.

Rabbi Weil will continue the day with visits to OU Israel programs before returning to Jerusalem, and flying back to New York that evening.

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