Photo Caption: JACOB ZVI NEUMARK OF MANHATTAN DONATES AN ENDOWMENT IN EXCESS OF $18,000 FROM BAR MITZVAH GIFTS TO OU’S NCSY SCHOLARSHIP FUND; HIS GIFT WILL ENABLE A TEENAGER WITH DISABILITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN NCSY SUMMER PROGRAM IN ISRAEL
At the Twelfth Annual Scholarship Reception for NCSY’s Ben Zakkai Honor Society for alumni, Jacob Zvi Neumark donated a check for $18,000 to the scholarship fund on Sunday, January 6 at the Sheraton Meadowlands Hotel and Conference Center, in East Rutherford, NJ.
When Jacob became Bar Mitzvah in December at Congregation Shearith Israel in Manhattan, he was not interested in enriching his bank account with gifts. Rather, he was interested in doing good works. As a result, he and his parents, Susan and Avery Neumark, made a special contribution to the Edward M. Adler Memorial Scholarship Fund, established in memory of Jacob’s uncle by the OU‘s NCSY youth program, an organization that Mr. Adler generously supported. Avery Neumark is a past Chair of the Ben Zakkai Honor Society.
Jacob also asked his guests to make a contribution to the Fund, which resulted in the check he presented at the Ben Zakkai reception to create an endowment fund. Donations are still coming in, bringing the total of his gift to over $20,000.
The endowment proceeds will be used to enable a teenager with disabilities – a participant in the OU’s Yachad program for the learning and developmentally disabled – to attend an NCSY summer program in Israel. Thus, two of the OU’s significant programs for youth — NCSY and Yachad — combine their efforts, with a big assist from the Neumark family.
According to Isabelle Novak, Chair of the Ben Zakkai Honor Society, “Jacob’s decision to donate his Bar Mitzvah money to help disabled teenagers should inspire all of us to do more to help others with the gifts that Hashem gives us.”
Jacob Zvi Neumark and Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU Executive Vice President, hold a check for $ 18,000 that will create an endowment to send a teenager with developmental disabilities to Israel.