52
MAY 26, 2016 | The Jewish Home
Around the Community
Honorees Highlight Decades of Service to Klal Yisrael at Upcoming Forty-Ninth Annual Dinner for Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv By Liba Lieberman
T
he excitement is mounting as the forty-ninth Annual Dinner for Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv beckons the yeshiva’s family of members, supporters, and friends to come together at the yeshiva on June 6 in celebration of its unswerving commitment to offering deep and inspired limud haTorah to Klal Yisrael. The yeshiva has never veered from its founding principle, when it was under the leadership of its founder and legendary Rosh Yeshiva, Horav Shlomo Freifeld, zt”l, that a yeshiva must “educate a young man according to his way, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Guided by Rosh HaYeshiva Horav Naftali Jaeger, Shlita, Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv stays firmly committed to its original mission of offering the path of learning Torah to anyone who walks through its doors and expresses a desire to learn. To honor that sacred purpose, the theme of this year’s dinner is “The Legacy Lives On,” in commemoration of the twenty-fifth yarzheit of Rav Shlomo Freifeld. A special memorial tribute will be given by Rabbi Avrohom Fruchthandler. The honorees for this year’s dinner reflect the yeshiva’s long and beloved history not only in Far Rockaway and the Five Towns, but in Eretz Yisrael as well. The dinner’s Mesores HaTorah Award is being presented to Rabbi Avraham Mordechai and Rebbitzen Aviva Freifeld, representatives of the Freifeld mishpocho’s legacy of transmitting Hashem’s holy Torah in Eretz Yisrael. The son of Rav Freifeld, Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Freifeld continues to follow the yeshiva’s heartfelt mandate as the Rosh Kollel of Yeshiva Cheshek Shlomo in Yerushalayim. Raised in Far Rockaway, Rav Freifeld learned in the yeshiva before making aliya to Bayit Vegan in Yerushalayim, where he and his family have been living for more than twenty years. His Rebbitzen was born and raised in Cedarhurst, and spends her time taking care of their ever growing family of children and grandchildren. Rabbi Freifeld acknowledges the yeshiva’s great work, and its commitment to upholding his saintly father’s vision. “As the son of the founding Rosh Yeshiva, Horav Shlomo Freif-
Horav Shlomo Freifeld, zt”l
Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Freifeld
Mr. Andy Gladstone
Rabbi Zev Bald
eld, I was raised within the walls of the yeshiva and saw firsthand how my father was able to truly see the strengths of all his talmidim and inspire their growth with his love of and appreciation for their individuality,” Rabbi Freifeld explains. “The yeshiva, under the leadership of my brother-in-law, Horav Naftali Jaeger, has successfully continued the legacy of my father and continues to build strong, Torah-committed Jews by celebrating their individuality and inspiring them to fulfill their potentials.” It is a great honor for the yeshiva to present the Mesores HaTorah Award to Rabbi Freifeld and his Rebbitzen. The Kesser Shem Tov Award will be given to Mr. and Mrs. Andy Gladstone, longtime members of the yeshiva. Currently the Global Director of Technical Operations at Curvature, a global third party IT services company based out of Santa Barbara, CA, Andy (Chaim Meir) learned in the yeshiva for six years, one year in the Bais Medrash program and five years in the Kollel. Andy sees his family as part of a greater Shor Yoshuv family, often being sustained by the support of the yeshiva’s close-knit community. “At each stage of life, we think that the friends we have made and connections we have forged will be the ones that take us through life - high
school, learning in Eretz Yisrael. But in truth, it has been the friendships we have formed over the past seventeen years as part of the Shor Yoshuv family that have sustained us through every important life event – our marriage, the births of each of our children, the Bar Mitzvah of our oldest son, sickness, and health. It’s a testament to the uniqueness of the yeshiva to be not only a yeshiva, but a home to each of us.” Andy was also instrumental in the yeshiva’s move from Central Avenue to One Cedarlawn Avenue, setting up the classification system for all seforim in the bais medrash as well as initially setting up the yeshiva’s Otzar Seforim. He has been one of the Shabbos gabbaim for more than fourteen years, serving every Shabbos, YomTov, and Yomim Noraim, of which he states, “I cherish the opportunity to have served as one of the gabbaim in Shor Yoshuv for so many years. It made the transition from full time learning to the workplace easier knowing that I never really left. It helped us maintain a strong connection with the Rosh Yeshiva, one that has made an indelible impression in our lives and the lives of our children.” He currently learns in night seder with a small chaburah in the yeshiva, and has maintained a
Shabbos Chavrusah before Shachris with Rabbi Azi Bodner for the past eighteen years. Yael, his devoted wife, has worked as a Special Educationl Itinerant Teacher (SEIT) in local schools for the past fourteen years, and both parents are active in their five children’s schools. They conclude, “We have always felt that the many purposes that Shor Yoshuv serves – as a Bais Medrash, Kehillah and Community Center – are all leaves of a single stem, the yeshiva and bochurim themselves.” As the recipient of the dinner’s Harbotzas Torah Award, Rabbi and Mrs. Zev and Leah Bald possess a keen understanding that Torah chinuch is the primary factor for the future of Klal Yisrael. That truth lies behind Rabbi Bald’s great success as Director of Development at Yeshiva Darchei Torah, where he has played a crucial role in the yeshiva’s historic building campaign which has nearly doubled the size of the yeshiva campus. He is a well respected askan in the Far Rockaway community, and has been a talmid of Rabbi Yeruchum Shain for over thirty years. Davening and learning in the yeshiva, Rabbi Bald shares the following observation about Shor Yoshuv: “Shor Yoshuv is open to anyone who wants to grow in Torah learning. Its mantra is that Torah belongs to all Jews, regardless of their level of learning.” His wife, Leah, is a Far Rockaway native, whose dedication to Torah, chessed, and community involvement was shaped by the example she saw in her own parents’ home. She hosts weekly Tehillim groups and is active in the PTA’s of her children’s schools. Together, the Balds give of themselves to help Torah institutions such as Bais Medrash Gevoha, Torah U’Mesorah, Achiezer, Bikur Cholim, and Yeshiva Darchei Torah. They have built a home for their four children on the concepts of Torah and chessed. Yeshiva Shor Yoshuv is proud to honor such exemplary members of its community, and looks forward to sharing future accomplishments as the yeshiva continues its mission into new and challenging times. To make a reservation or place an ad, please call 516-239-9002, ext. 102, or e-mail admin@shoryoshuv.org