Earlier this month, six students from Yachad’s IVDU Elementary Girls School in Brooklyn took a trip to the OU Kosher headquarters in downtown Manhattan to learn about kosher meat, fish and vegetables. As part of the Harry H. Beren ASK OU – VISIT OU program, Rabbi Akiva Tendler, OU Kosher rabbinic coordinator, gave the eager children demonstrations on salting meat, differentiating between kosher and non-kosher fish, and checking lettuce for bugs. After the presentation, Yachad’s Joel Daner Communal Fellows Amanda Parker and Yossi Szpigiel led the group on a special tour of the OU.
Harry H. Beren ASK OU – VISIT OU receives many requests throughout the year from elementary and high schools to visit the OU.
Rabbi Yosef Grossman, Senior Rabbinic Coordinator at the OU and Director of its Kosher Education Department, said, “It was my pleasure to be part of an inter department program at the OU whereby OU Kosher’s Harry H. Beren VISIT OU program partnered with Yachad for the benefit of these wonderful girls.”
Yachad is the Orthodox Union agency dedicated to enhancing the opportunities of individuals with disabilities; promoting Inclusion and independence through a full array of integrated activities; and ensuring their full participation in mainstream Jewish life. Yachad’s Individualized Vocational Development Unit (IVDU) Schools offer Jewish students with special needs a comprehensive and nurturing educational environment.
One of the students wrote, “Today I went on a trip to the OU building. We met Rabbi Tendler. He taught all of us the different textures of the chicken. I like to learn all the different parts of the chicken. I checked all the lettuce for bugs. Amanda and Yossi gave us a tour of the OU building, Amanda gave us a gift. Afterwards we saw the Statue of Liberty. I had a great time.”