Adar 5772 - March 2012
Dear Talmid,
Remember Purim at Ohr Somayach?
Memories of the special sense of friendship you enjoyed while singing and dancing together with your chaverim and visiting your rabbeim are always revived when Purim comes around.
To revive that sense of belonging to the Ohr Somayach Family we regularly send you our Alumni Newsletter in an effort to share with you some ideas and some news about the Yeshiva.
Why is Purim particularly a time for expressing this sense of family togetherness?
"These days," we read in the Megillat Esther directive regarding Purim, "should be remembered and celebrated by every single generation and family."
One of the ways to strengthen this sense of family is the new feature we recently introduced in our weekly Ohrnet magazine which "spotlights" a former or present talmid. We would like to continue the feature and would appreciate having an alumnus assume responsibility for writing a weekly profile on people he remembers from his Yeshiva days and other alumni. This will certainly help to keep the Ohr Somayach Family together for the benefit of all its members and all of Klal Yisrael. If you are interested in helping us with this please email us - ohr@ohr.edu. Thank you.
Best wishes for a Happy Purim.
Rabbi Nota Schiller | Rabbi Mendel Weinbach
Roshei Yeshiva
Alumni Update
- JLE REUNION – The annual reunion of participants in the Winter JLE program, which took place on Shabbat Parshat Mishpatim in the Lakewood, New Jersey community, attracted a record number of about a hundred university students and Mentors whom they met in Yerushalayim. A team of rabbeim headed by the Rosh Hayeshiva and Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb helped make the reunion a truly unforgettable experience.
- TU BISHVAT TRADITION – In what has become an annual tradition, the talmidim of the Shoresh and Mechinah departments celebrated the "Rosh Hashanah of the Tree" with a lavish "Peirot Tish" and festive meal in a local hall sponsored by a professional tree surgeon in the US. A shiur on the halachot of brochot on fruits was given by the Yeshiva's possek, Rav Yonoson Wiener, and a talk about the significance of the day was given by the Rosh Hayeshiva.
- EXECUTIVE LEARNING PROGRAM continues to attract outstanding people who take a break from their busy schedule in order to spend days or weeks of serious learning at Ohr Somayach. One of the recent visitors was Dr. Danny Lanzer, who serves as president of the Kolel in Melbourne, Australia, in addition to his extensive medical practice.
- AN INNOVATIVE INCENTIVE for learning Torah is the brainchild of an Ohr Somayach, Yochai Shelli, who learned in the Yeshiva's Derech Program. While growing in Torah in Yerushalyaim he was so impressed with the importance of learning at meals that he decided to promote such an activity in the restaurant / café which he father owns in the Wesley Hills neighborhood of Monsey, NY. At the "Shelli's Too" eatery customers receive a 10% discount on the order if they spend ten minutes learning while dining.
