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 […]

On April 27, Jewish Union Foundation, a non-profit organization that works closely with Yachad, was awarded a $2,000 grant from the MAXIMUS Foundation. The grant goes toward the vocational training program where JUF works with individuals who have developmental disabilities and trains them in job specific industries such as retail, construction, restaurant and office.  The […]

At the OU’s Kashrus conference this past week, there was palpable excitement as the Novominsker Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, addressed his captivated audience: “It’s a privilege for me to be here, because I know that this assembled tzibbur here today represents the community of people that makes it possible for so many thousands of yidden […]

New York, NY — The number of countries that produce kosher certified products has grown to 104, according to kashrus sources. The Orthodox Union (OU) operates in all of these countries and significantly now includes the Gulf states of Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Kashrus sources estimate that nearly 1500 mashgichim (kashrus supervisors) oversee the production of […]

In anticipation of Yom Yerushalayim, Nachum hosted Moishe Bane, President of the Orthodox Union (OU) to preview the great Torah programming that the OU has in store for this Yom Yerushalayim. Listen now

Over 1,000 people attended Yachad’s Northeast Family Shabbaton on May 5-7 at Crowne Plaza in Stamford, CT, from 120 families, and 140 volunteer staff helped to make the event a success. “Yachad takes great pride in being able to host a weekend devoted to families of individuals with disabilities, providing daycare, childcare and programming for […]

Rabbanit Chana Henkin, who heads the Nishmat Midrasha (institute of Torah study for women) in Jerusalem is to light a torch at the upcoming Israeli Independence Day ceremony. The Rabbanit is one of the pioneers of Torah study for women. At the midrasha that she founded, women and girls study Torah, and there is program […]