The Electronic Alumni Newsletter of Ohr Somayach B Yachad Sivan 5758 1998 TOGETHER Bringing You the Count From Ohr Somayach By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach n the way from Pesach to rent broader facilities for it on Rechov graduates in rabbinic, educational and Shavuous, Jews the world Shmuel Hanavi, but we are quickly outreach positions. Zev Kahn, who OOover count out the fifty running out of room there as well. was a coordinator while in the days of Sefiras HaOmer, (The old Mi Li building is occupied Program, is joining Yehoshua Karsh in hopefully moving upwards everyday by our Russian Ohr-Dessa High outreach for the Chicago Community towards Kabalas HaTorah, with new School for the products of our highly Kollel, and Yisroel Koval is taking an growth to new heights. successful program in Odessa serving outreach position in the Chicago com- This year at Ohr Somayach also some 700 kids!) munity of Buffalo Grove. finds us growing to new heights. We Former talmidim are playing Speaking of reaching out, the are counting upwards both numerical- important educational roles in our Internet outreach program led by ly and qualitatively, with more constantly expanding Hebrew, Moshe Newman, and enjoying the tal- talmidim in new programs and new Russian and Spanish-speaking depart- ents of Reuven Lauffer, Mordechai facilities. ments. Becher and Reuven Subar, is setting The numbers are, baruch Hashem, This is the continual march forward new records each month with its growing in all departments. In our at Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem Ohrnet service. (Getting close to English-speaking section this has com- talmidim joining the ranks of their 600,000 hits a month!) The newest pelled us to break down the Beis rabbeim. addition is a university-style course in Medrish level to several focused com- But not only in Jerusalem. Chumash now in its second semester ponents in which former talmidim are In London, the new Jewish with plans for a Jewish Holiday playing important roles : Learning Exchange center in Golders Handbook series in the fall. Dovid Speyer and Avrohom Green, headed by Danny Kirsch, These are but a few of the latest Connack on the Advanced Level; received an important boost for its leaps and bounds that Ohr Somayach Avrohom Rockmill and Aaron Brodie explosive expansion of activities with and its alumni have taken this year. on the new Intermediate Level; the arrival of Brian Rubenstein. Gary We hope that this zman of Sefiras Shlomo Wiener, Saul Mandel and Gilbert is the newest addition to the HaOmer is a zman of Aliyas HaTorah Yacov Asher Sinclair in the one-year great Johannesburg team led by Larry for you and for all the Ohr Somayach Center Program; and Nachie Shain. A major dinner for our Miami family. Brickman in the Derech Program branch highlighted the great work for high school graduates scheduled being done in Florida by Shmuel Kol Tuv, to begin in the fall. Kalos, Jonathan Ried and Yacov Zier. The population explosion in the Our Ohr Lagolah Leadership Rabbi Mendel Weinbach Israeli Department has forced us to Training Program has placed a score of met his wife, with whom he now has four SPOTLIGHT lovely children, aged 3 to 10. Shortly after the wedding Seth on an Alumnus returned to Ohr Somayach to enter the Ohr Lagolah Program, simultaneously receiving his Smicha. These two in combi- RABBI SETH MANDEL nation took him and his family back to the States, where he served a 2-year term at abbi Seth Mandel, one of the more In 1981, Seth and another O.S. alum- Penn State University as Hillel Director, colorful alumni with one of the nus started up a magazine for a small pub- and five more at the University of RR Maryland. longest running relationships with lishing firm, called Stay Kosher in Israel. Ohr Somayach, has filled a variety of dif- Seth later took over as Managing Editor, One and a half years ago, they ferent roles actively serving Klal Yisrael. and kept the presses rolling for two years. returned to Israel. R Mandel raised funds In 1976, after graduating from the From there he was sent by Ohr Somayach for Ohr Somayach for many months, and University of Connecticut and writing for to help build the Jewish Learning last September became a recruiter for the a small daily paper for several years, Seth Exchange network back in America. JLE programs in the East Coast and here found himself in Israel, taking a kibbutz Every three months in America, however, at Hebrew University. Often he can be ulpan and working in a community center he flew back to Israel to learn for a seen in the early afternoon in the Ohr in Afula for six months. When spring month, and eventually he decided just to Somayach Beis Medrash, a place obvious- came, Seth packed up to head back to the cut out the three month trips to America ly dear to his heart, learning with boys States before entering the Peace Corps in and stay in Israel. from Hebrew University and elsewhere. the fall. He and a friend decided to drive Next, R Mandel took a position as the Through the years and the many positions south to a beach town near Eilat for a few Public Relations Director for Porat he has capably filled, R Mandel has proven last days in Israel. Yoseph, a Sephardi Israeli yeshiva in the himself to be both a dedicated servant of On the way south they decided to stop Old City. During this phase of his life, he Klal Yisroel and a big fan of Ohr in Jerusalem for a visit to the Kotel. There Somayach. Seth met none other than Rabbi Meir Schuster, who brought them to Ohr Somayach. After meeting Rabbi Schiller, Mazel Tov to... Rabbi Weinbach and Rabbi Bulman, they did eventually make it to the beach, but Seth soon decided to return to Ohr MR. AND MRS. SHMUEL KATZ MR. AND MRS. SHLOMO LEVINE Somayach and learn. He stayed for on their wedding on the birth of a son almost four months, and finally took a MR. AND MRS. MOISHE LEVINSON MR. AND MRS. YONI TEREBELO flight home. on their wedding on the birth of a girl Back in America, Seth began preparing SHMUEL BLALOCK RABBI AND MRS. for the Peace Corps. He met Ohr on his engagement NACHUM BERGOS Somayach staff in the US, and through ARI KATZ on the birth of a girl them re-encountered Rabbi Schiller. To on his engagement MR. AND MRS. KALMAN WOLFE make a long story short, when fall came, RABBI AND MRS. on the birth of a son Seth didnt go to Africa, but back to Ohr MICHAEL ROVINSKY MR. AND MRS. LYLE WEXLER Somayach to learn full time. on the birth of a son on the birth of a girl MR. AND MRS. JOSEPH ZAHAVI ZALMAN ROBINSON on the birth of a son on his engagement The Electronic Alumni Newsletter of Ohr Somayach B Yachad OHR SOMAYACH ALUMNI ASSOCIATION NON-PROFIT ORG. TOGETHER c/o SILBERMAN BULK RATE 1743-57th Street, Brroklyn, NY 11204 US POSTAGE PUBLISHED BY OHR SOMAYACH INSTITUTIONS Tanenbaum College PAID POB 18103, Jerusalem 91180 Israel Address Service Requested PERMIT NO. 70 Tel:02-581-0315 Fax: 02-581-2890 MONSEY, NY 10952 General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman Associate Editor: Raphael S. Leban Web & Production Advisor: Rabbi Robin Lauffer Produced by the Office of Communications Rabbi Eliezer Shapiro, Director This publication along with over 2 gigabytes of Torah literature is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.ohr.org.il. To receive docu- ments like this via E-Mail as soon as they are published, subscribe to the Ohr Somayach BYachad list: Just send the message subscribe os-alum {your name} to [email protected]. To send comments to Ohr Somayach, address your E-maiI to [email protected] © 5758 1998.