Around The Community
61
Yedid Hatorah Award This year’s Yedid Hatorah Award is appropriately being given this year to someone who truly represents the name of the award. Ken (“Kenny”) Fliegelman is someone who embodies a love and thirst for Torah learning. His early morning chavrusa at the Yeshiva, followed by his participation in its early morning minyan, are indicative of his dedication to learning and davening. He is very often the last one to finish davening and inspires those around him. Ken and his wife, Debra, have a strong appreciation for the Yeshiva’s role in their lives and in our community. They often, as a family, make the walk to the Yeshiva on Shabbos or Yom Tov for davening, learning, events and other occasions. Ken and his son Shmuel are regulars at the Yeshiva’s Avos U’Banim Program. Ken was raised on Staten Island. After high school he studied at Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim in Eretz Yisrael; at Yeshivat Torah Mitzion in Great Neck;
and at Yeshivat B’nei Torah in Far Rockaway. Today he works for the Raynor Group, a furniture manufacturer in West Hempstead, New York. Debra grew up in Lawrence, attended Stern College for Women, and later graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Pediatric Occupational Therapy. Today the couple lives in Cedarhurst where they are active members of Kehillas Bais Yehuda Tzvi, whose Mora D’asra is Rav Yaakov Feitman, shlita. In addition to being the Fliegelmans’ rav, Rav Feitman was also Ken’s menahel in elementary school, at Yeshivas Rabbi Jacob Joseph on Staten Island. They are known by friends and family to be amongst the most generous and selfless people, always looking to do for and help others. They truly represent a love for Torah and its values. Ken’s close connection and active participation makes him a well-deserving recipient of this award. We are grateful that he has agreed to let us recognize his connection to the Yeshiva. Amud HaTorah Award To receive an award as a pillar of Torah, one has to represent the very foundations of what Torah means. Yakov Lowinger is just that, a paradigm of Torah learning and example of the effect Torah should have on those who learn it and cling to it. His time for learning, especially his seder with Rav Moshe Miller, shlita, is an integral part of his day. He has indeed made use of the new building and provided his own contribution to the kol Torah that emanates from it daily.
Yakov moved to the Five Towns area with his family in 2009 after completing several years of involvement in both chinuch (mainly his own) and secular education all over the world. He immediately set out to find a makom Torah that would suit his desire for learning b’iyun, limited attention span, and very random schedule. He decided to settle for one out of three and b”H the other two have (mostly) worked out. Apart from learning with Rav Miller shlita and benefitting from his incredible hislamdus, and having previously attended the shiurim of Rav Goodman shlita, he is the founder of e-commerce platform Cartonomy and a former professor at Yeshiva University. He is married to Rachel who is a licensed clinical psychologist in the community (but not, never, under any circumstances at home) and lives in Lawrence where is a member of Congregation Heichal Dovid and various mailing lists. He accepted the Amud HaTorah award thinking he was getting a free shtender but graciously agreed to be honored once the concept of metaphor was explained to him. He now realizes that he is like a shtender and hopes to live up to that by spending more time in the beis medrash. Event Details It is our hope to greet you personally at the upcoming breakfast on June 21 at 9:15 so we can collectively show our appreciation for the efforts of the Yeshiva and the Roshei Yeshiva for implanting this makom Torah in our lives as well as our admiration for the accomplishments and admiration of this special slate of honorees.
JUNE 11 , 2015
Ateres Zekainim Award While he is young at heart, Chazan Yitzchol Friedman is someone we can all learn from. He is a shining example of perseverance and steadfast belief in Hashem. A survivor of the Holocaust, Chazan Friedman grew up in Studena, Czechoslovakia, and is the only surviving member of 7 children. He moved to America after being liberated in 1949. Upon moving here, he obtained a job
as a spot remover for a silk company, but quit after being mandated to work on Shabbos. Using his powerful voice, he was able to get a position as a Chazan at the Fox Street Shul in the Bronx. From there, he moved to several different shuls, where he inspired many with his beautiful tefillos. Other jobs were hard to come by as he refused to work on Shabbos, under any circumstances. Regardless, he managed to put all of his children through Yeshiva, raising a beautiful, frum family. After two of his children moved to Woodmere, he followed them almost 15 years ago. Over the past few years, he has been spending an increasing amount of time in Israel, with children, grandchildren and great children, as well as in Florida. He met his current wife, Esther, in the Poconos 10 years ago, and you can often see them taking walks. He still receives constant inspiration from his father, who comes to him in dreams to ask if he davened that day. As it pertains specifically to the Yeshiva, Chazan Friedman has inspired all of us with his countless tefillos for the amud as well as his smile and warm demeanor. His very presence is meaningful to all who daven with us. His grandson, Yehoshua Arvele, was one of the original talmidim of the Yeshiva. He has since moved to Eretz Yisroel to raise his beautiful family. It goes without saying that we are delighted to be able to recognize this amazing individual at this year’s breakfast.
On Sunday, June 21st at 9:15, Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns will be hosting its 13th Annual Breakfast recognizing some of its dearest friends. Chazan Yitzchak Friedman will be receiving the Ateres Zekainim Award, Ken Fliegelman will be awarded the Yedid Hatorah Award, and Yakov Lowinger will be recognized with the Amud Hatorah Award. After years of hospitality from the Young Israel of Woodmere, the Yeshiva is now able to host this important even in its own facility, for the second consecutive year. Having been in our new home now more than a year, the breakfast will provide a momentary pause to consider what the Yeshiva’s powerful influence means to our community. The spiritual peaks attained on a Shavuos night, learning b’chavrusa in the expansive beis medrash, or at a Yomim Noraim tefillah, punctuated by the kol tefillah, can only be achieved due to the consistent, unwavering support the community has invested in its yeshiva and the yeshiva has reciprocated to the community. When the Yeshiva Gedolah opened the doors of its humble beis medrash to less than 20 bochurim thirteen years ago, the objectives of its chashuve Roshei Yeshiva, Rav Yitzchak Knobel, shlita, and Rav Moshe Zev Katzenstein, shlita, were rather grand. Plant an institution which can serve as an example of Torah, yiras shamayim and midos tovos to take root in the heart of the Five Towns community. And, as the community has flourished around it, the Yeshiva has blossomed into a model for the entire olam haTorah to admire. But the story is not complete. Indeed, the Yeshiva continues to grow and expand its role in the lives of the bochurim, kollel yungerleit and baal habatim who choose to seek spiritual nourishment from it. The Yeshiva realizes this critical, ongoing responsibility requires the continued time and investment from the community. It is in that spirit that the Yeshiva requests your presence in recognizing its special honorees and the Yeshiva itself at this upcoming event.
THE JEWISH HOME
Yeshiva Gedolah of the Five Towns Hosts its 13th Annual Breakfast