YY YY CCCC AAAA Yachad YY YY CC AA AA Together YYYY AAAA CC HH HH AA AA DDDDD YY AA AA CC HH HH AAAAAAAA DD DD The Electronic YY AA AA CC HHHHHHH AA AA DD DD Alumni YY AAAAAAAA CCCC HHHHHHH AA AA DD DD Newsletter AA AA HH HH DD DD of AA AA HH HH DDDDD Ohr Somayach -------------------------------------------------------------------- 'Hinei ma tov u'ma na'im sheves achim gam 'Yachad' How good and pleasant it is for brothers to be 'Together' -------------------------------------------------------------------- Issue #3 Shevat 5755 -------------------------------------------------------------------- ->SPOTLIGHT on an ALUMNUS The Jewish Learning Exchange Winter Program in Israel not only gave an opportunity for a few dozen wonderful young men from North America to gain a great experience in learning about their Torah and their land. It also gave us an opportunity to meet with the alumnus who organized the program and accompanied its participants to Jerusalem. Zalman (Scott) Corlin, who grew up in Scarsdale, New York, is a graduate of Wesleyan College, where he majored in religion and English literature. He followed up his year (`80-'81) at Ohr Somayach with eight years of learning in Chaim Berlin in Brooklyn. During this period he did graduate work at NYU and received his MA in psychology. His work in the field included counseling of Jewish families whose children were victims of cults and missionaries under the auspices of the JCRC Task Force on Missions and Cults. In 1984 he married Laurie Bork from Philadelphia and they now live in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn with their two sons and three daughters. Since 1989 he has directed the Alumni Beis Medrash in Brooklyn and last year he also began to head the J.L.E. All the elements of Zalman's background -- his considerable achievements in Torah, his academic training and his counseling experience -- combine to make him such an effective director of programs dedicated to introducing young Jews to their tradition and providing a follow-up for those who return to the States after learning in Jerusalem. Ohr Somayach is in the process of making an Electroinc Alumni Directory. To be a part of it, send us your name, year(s) of study, and E-Mail address. Results will eventually be placed on the Jerusalem1 gopher. -------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Messages from Alumni Akiva Miller (`75 - `80) I discovered Ohr Somayach's weekly publications about a month ago on CompuServe, and they have really added learning to my day and kedusha to my Shabbat. I am not learning daf yomi, but Ask the Rabbi is quite interesting, and the Torah Weekly and Parsha Q&A have made it much easier to learn the parsha for myself, and more importantly, they help me find a good vort to say at the table. I am very proud and happy to see my yeshiva using these electronic media l'hagdil Torah u'l'haadira. Shmuel Goldstein (`83 - '85) I left OS in 1985 to finish my undergraduate degree in Engineering at the Jerusalem College of Technology, where a Ben Torah can participate in a morning seder of learning while studying toward an Engineering degree. JCT offers a full B.S. in a four year program in Electrical, Computer or Opto-Electric Engineering. Through my time at JCT, I kept in close contact with OS Jerusalem, spending many of my Shabbatot there. I married Kim Ehrlich of Neve (where else?) in 1987, and graduated JCT in 1988. We now live in Rechovot, which is severely underestimated as a place to which OS alum may emigrate after their tenure at Jerusalem. Very nice place, Rechovot. I work as a technical writer in Tel-Aviv, at Laser Industries. We have four descendants: Miriam, 6.5yrs, Aharon 4.5yrs, Minya 2.8yrs and Meir 1.0yr. Yehuda Albin (`85 - `93) Tanchum Bimyamin Albin just had his upshurin. Yonason Blumenthal who is currently in Baltimore was just here recently. In addition to my job for Ohr Somayach, I will be teaching public speaking at the Telshe Yeshiva High School starting next week. I learn regularly with Lyle Wexler and I'm in frequent contact with Yosef Graber and Steve Stone in Chicago. [Yehuda (Jonathan) Albin, who grew up in Scarsdale, New York, arrived at Ohr Somayach at the end of 1984, a short while after graduating with high honors from Bowdoin College where he majored in chemistry and economics, was Phi Beta Kappa member and winner of Merck Chemistry Prize. He came up through the ranks, reached the highest level of learning in the yeshiva, participated in the Ohr Lagolah Program and received his semicha. At the request of the yeshiva he moved with his family to Chicago where he serves as the Ohr Somayach representative for outreach and adult education - ed.] Daniel Olgin ( `89) I live in Cleveland, Ohio and am married with two daughters. I work in adult education in the community. It is good to see Ohr Somayach On Line. -------------------------------------------------------------------- -> News from Here & There *** Kosher Cuisine at Ohr Somayach Im ain kemach, ain Torah -- This famous talmudic statement that if there is "no bread" there can be "no Torah" has never been a description of Ohr Somayach. There has, thank G-d, always been food which is of course the one thing that people come to complain about, and have done so since the Manna in the desert. But students at OS aren't complaining these days. Things have significantly improved over the last seven months, ever since the Yeshiva hired Reb Mayer Deutch -- the new chef of OS. Reb Mayer is a 5th generation Yerushalmi; his grandfather's great-grandfather, Reb Shimon Deutch, was the talmid muvhak of the Chasam Sofer. After cooking in several yeshivot, Reb Mayer worked for two years as a head chef at The Jerusalem Hilton, but left that position and came to Ohr Somayach because he "wanted more Ruchniyus" (spirituality). On Shabbat, students are actually electing to stay in rather than go to families, in order to enjoy Reb Mayer's soups, cholent, kishke, kugels, and other Shabbat treats. He is often seen working alone late Thursday nights in order to prepare his various Shabbat dishes. During the week Reb Mayer and his crew work hard to make satisfying and tasty meals for the hundreds of students at Ohr Somayach. So when you're next in town, make sure to stop by for a heimish Yerushalmi meal at Ohr Somayach. *** New Publications Rabbi Mordechai Becher and Rabbi Moshe Newman came out with a new book "After The Return" -- a practical guide to the newly observant in meeting the many challenges to their newly adopted set of beliefs. Contemporary and classic halachic rulings, relating specifically to the numerous potentially explosive situations ba'alei teshuva are likely to encounter, are presented along with thoughtful advice on finding the right shidduch, attending university, and other dilemmas with which newcomers to Orthodox Judaism must grapple. It is published and distributed by Feldheim Publishers. -------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Simchas & Announcements Lev Seltzer (Jerusalem `93-'95), our InterNet Advisor and Production Designer, became engaged to Ella Sheldon (Neve Yerushalayim `94-'95). Ella is the sister of Dovid Sheldon (Jerusalem `93), who is to be married, IY''H, on January 12th in London. Ze'ev (Warren) Kahn, Madrich for the Shoresh and J.L.E. Programs, became engaged to Hillary Alpert from Los Angeles. Jonathan Mintz became engaged to Chana Passy. Joey Felsen married Sara Wolfson December 28th. Dovid Alexander, Pesach Feldman and Tuvia Katzman are proud new fathers of baby boys BE"H. Rabbi Aryeh Burnham's son celebrated his Bar Mitzvah. Rabbi Dovid Gottleib's son became engaged. Rabbi Shlomo Zweig's daughter became engaged. Mazel Tov to all! -------------------------------------------------------------------- -> Topic of the Month: `Prayer' The Service of the Heart. (Ta'anit 2a) o What is the purpose of Prayer? o Who established formal prayers? o Do we need to express our prayers in a prescribed manner or can we just speak to Hashem in our own language? Select quotations on this topic: o The prayers of someone who prays just by habit are not considered supplications. (Berachot 26a) o If your heart was set to the proper kavana you will be assured that your prayers were heard. (Yerushalmi Berachot 5:4) o After the Anshei Knesset Hagdolah (The Great Assembly) established for us a fixed formula for prayer and it became a mitzvah of deed, nonetheless it is still necessarily a mitzvah of thought. If one does not perform this mitzvah with his heart, nothing is accomplished by his deed. (Chazon Ish) o Through prayer, every person, even the simplest can establish direct communication with Hashem. The heart, through proper devotion, can reach realms which are unattainable through intellect alone. Prayer is the essence of Man's free will, while all else is determined by Hashem. (Michtav MeEliyahu vol. 3, p. 68.) We'd appreciate your sharing with us other sources or your own thoughts on this topic. -------------------------------------------------------------------- How to Contribute to YACHAD: The only way we can have up-to-date information is if YOU provide it. Please send us your comments, suggestions, announcements, and ideas via one of the following methods: E-Mail: address your message to: ohr@jer1.co.il set the subject to "Yachad" Fax: 972-2-812-890, Att: YACHAD Poste: Yeshiva Ohr Somayach, ATT: YACHAD, 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103, Jerusalem 91180, Israel -------------------------------------------------------------------- How to Subscribe: To receive "Yachad" via E-Mail, send the message: sub os-alum {your full name} to: listproc@jer1.co.il Issues are also posted on Compuserve's Religion Forum Judaism Library and the Jerusalem1 Gopher -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ohr Somayach Representatives Worldwide: Jerusalem, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Miami, Monsey, London, Toronto, Montreal, Johannesburg. For information about contacting your regional representative see the Jerusalem1 Gopher or E-Mail us your request. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Jewish L EEEEEEEE Prepared by Ohr Somayach Institutions J L E 22 Shimon Hatzadik Street, POB 18103 J L Exchange Jerusalem 91180, Israel J J L E Tel: 972-2-810315 Fax: 972-2-812890 JJJJ Learning EEEEEEEE Internet:ohr@jer1.co.il -------------------------------------------------------------------- General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman Production Design: Lev Seltzer -------------------------------------------------------------------- (C) 1995 Ohr Somayach International - All rights reserved.