Page 64 THE JEWISH PRESS Friday, May 25, 2012 Community Currents Upcoming events… cob Ostreicher. Ostreicher, a Brooklyn resident and Hospice, also spoke, discussing the psychosocial im- U.S. citizen, has been held in a Bolivian prison for plications of end-of-life care and the social worker’s Chabad Neshama of West Brighton Beach is nearly one year without being charged with a crime. role in hospice care. holding a Grand Torah Parade celebrating the com- Ostreicher’s plight was recently covered by The conference, coordinated by Professor Bobick, pletion of a Sefer Torah on Sunday, June 3, at 12:30 “Nightline” on ABC News. The on-line petition is and held at Touro’s Lander College for Women - The p.m. at the Seabreeze Jewish Center, 311 Seabreeze available at www.FreeJacobNow.com. For those who Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School, concluded with Avenue. There will be entertainment, music, food lack access to the Internet, the following Brooklyn remarks from GSSW students, who spoke about the and more. For more information, visit www.chabad- locations (during business hours) have been set up rewards and challenges of working with end-of-life neshama.com. to sign the petition: Assembly Dov Hikind’s offi ce, issues during their fi eld internships. 1310 48th St.; Councilman David G. Greenfi eld’s of- * * * fi ce, 4424 16th Ave.; Councilman Stephen Levin’s of- Yeshiva Of Flatbush Student Wins The Annual Dinner and Alumni Reunion of fi ce, 410 Atlantic Ave.; United Jewish Organizations Second Place In Chidon HaTanach American Friends of Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh of Williamsburg (UJO), 32 Penn Street; Copy Cen- will take place in the Museum of Jewish Heritage, ter of Crown Heights, 418 Kingston Ave.; and Mid- Akiva Abramowitz, a12th grader in Yeshiva of 39 Battery Place in Lower Manhattan. This 42nd town Camera, 185 Lee Avenue. Flatbush, placed second in the world and fi rst among annual gala event will be held on Monday, June 4, Diaspora contestants in the 49th International Bi- at 6:15 p.m. Touro Holds Forum ble Contest for Jewish Youth (Chidon HaTanakh The guest of honor will be Rav Avraham Rivlin, On End-of-Life Care Ha-Olami). mashgiach ruchani of the yeshiva and dean of the Viewers throughout the world watched the in- overseas students, and Rabbi Chaim Poupko, asso- The Touro College Graduate School of Social tense competition as it played on television and ciate rabbi of Congregation Ahavath Torah of En- Work recently hosted a forum on “Planning for End- streamed on the Internet. glewood, N.J., will receive the Rabbinic Alumnus of-Life Care with Dignity and Compassion” in hon- Rabbi Dr. Raymond Harari, head of school of Award. or of its Spring 2012 Community Day. the YOF Joel Braverman High School proudly stat- For details visit www.kby.org or call Rabbi Marc Dr. Harvey Gross, chief physician in the Depart- ed, “Akiva’s hard work, commitment to learning To- S. Volk, executive director of American Friends of ment of Family Practice at Englewood Hospital in rah, and natural abilities enabled him to achieve this Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh, at 718-645-3130. New Jersey, served as keynote speaker. Dr. Gross unique distinction.” addressed ethical decision-making in end-of-life care The annual bible contest, which builds from local In recent news… and the integral role social workers play in helping to regional to national competitions before culminat- patients and their families make diffi cult decisions. ing in Israel, included competitors this year from 24 Brooklyn Offi cials Want More “All we can do is to be as precise as we can about countries. It was organized by the IDF Chief Educa- Signatures On Petition the diagnosis, provide the best support systems that tion Offi cer, IDF Rabbinate, Defense Ministry, Edu- we can, and hopefully provide end-of-life care so that cation Ministry, Jewish Agency, and JNF. The theme Local Brooklyn offi cials are asking community our patients, residents or clients can have a dignifi ed of this year’s contest was social justice. residents who have not already done so to sign an death or ‘a dignifi ed end-of-life journey,’ ” he said. on-line petition to President Obama urging his in- Phyllis Erlbaum-Zur, Ph.D., LCSW, director of Mayor Booker Discusses Faith tervention with the Bolivian government to free Ja- Metropolitan Jewish Health System – Kittay House At Yeshiva University On May 8, students, faculty, staff, alumni and Dining With Evelyn Haies members of the greater Yeshiva University commu- nity fi lled Lamport Auditorium to hear Cory Book- By Beth Sarafraz er, mayor of Newark, N.J., discuss “The Role of Re- ligion in Education and Public Life.” The event was I am sitting next to Evelyn Haies as she puts glass cage for soldiers, in order to photograph the the fi nal installment of this year’s Great Conversa- the fi nishing touches on her speech thanking Emu- house just below, the house she bought for the tion Series of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Cen- nah of America for honoring her this night with Jewish people. She recalls walking through the ter for Torah and Western Thought. its Distinguished Service Award. The organiza- street there and being surrounded by three vi- The conversation – led by Straus Center Direc- tion’s Annual Supperette, held at The Kings Ter- cious looking dogs and having the idea that she tor Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik –covered such topics race, has attracted an overfl owing crowd of mem- could command them to leave her alone, if only as the impact of Booker’s personal faith on his dai- bers and admirers from the Jewish community in she knew which language they understood. So ly life, the importance of improving education, and formal attire, men in yarmulkes and black hats, she took a chance and called out “Lo!” which is the nature of faith in the public square in America. women in sheitels and hats, suits and gowns. Ev- Hebrew for “No!” It was a lucky guess; the dogs Booker said his faith “is the core of my being.” “It ery table is full. turned and left. is how I orient myself to all things. Faith can help us “I’ve been doing this work about 17 years,” In 2001, Hamas moved into the area, but so fi nd ways to help and inspire other people,” he said. she says, while handing me a copy of the month- did the Israel Defense Forces. The house Haies He exhorted the crowd: “Go out and be ethical peo- ly newsletter from the Rachel’s Children Recla- bought was a renovated three-story structure with ple. Teach and live your faith.” mation Foundation, which she founded in 1995. the IDF utilizing the building as an army base un- That was the year that Haies, a grandmother liv- til a security wall was completed. There are now Lander College For Men Hires ing in Brooklyn, began to think it was time to start women learning groups on the main fl oor, a Beit New Rosh Yeshiva a new career. Medrash for learning Torah, a museum of Jewish “It was the time of the Oslo Accords when I de- aliyah, history and biblical art displays. From up- Rabbi Yonason Sacks has been appointed rosh cided to make a foundation to twin with Kever Ra- stairs, one can still view the original dome of Kev- yeshiva of Beis Medrash L’Talmud at Lander Col- chel,” she recollects. “The Israeli government was er Rachel. lege for Men (LCM). Rabbi Sacks will be joining Rab- considering giving away or even moving the site, Haies is called to the podium to receive her bi Doniel Lander, who also leads Yeshivas Ohr Ha- so as Rabbi Menachem Porush and Chanan Po- award. Her speech is brief, making mention of chaim and serves as chancellor of Touro. rat cried, I made writing contests, wrote a song the upcoming Mother’s Day holiday and how our A leading posek and author of 18 sefarim, Rabbi ‘We Are Rachel’s Children,’ gathered thousands matriarch, Rachel, the role model for all Jewish Sacks descends from a long line of illustrious rabbin- of petitions and started fundraising to motivate mothers, the Eshet Chayil for our people, placed ic personalities. His great-grandfather, the legend- people to join me in the fi ght to save our third ho- Torah, morality, honesty and kindness fi rst. Her ary Rabbi Zvi Pesach Frank, served as chief rabbi of liest Jewish site. Later, I bought a house – sight burial site has comforted the suffering Jewish na- Yerushalayim for more than 50 years. His grandfa- unseen – almost adjacent to the Kever.” tion down through the millennia of exile. Haies ther, Rabbi Menachem Sacks, was a leader of Jew- The seller was a Christian Arab who feared he thanks everyone who contributed – Emunah for ish education in Chicago for nearly six decades, and would be murdered by other Arabs for choosing honoring her and the guests who have traveled his father, Rabbi Louis L. Sacks, was rabbi of Con- to sell the house to a Jew. So great was his terror to the Kings Terrace on a rainy Tuesday night gregation Anshe Emunah in Delray Beach, Florida. that the paperwork closing the deal had to be com- to see her receive an award for 17 years worth For the last two decades, Rabbi Sacks has served pleted on another continent – in Central America. of impassioned striving and work and accom- as rav of Agudas Yisroel Bircas Yaakov in Passaic, Other Christians in Bethlehem fl ed without sell- plishment.