News

Meet a Mentee

Every Ohr Somayach mentee has a story – and we’ll be sharing a different one with you, in every issue. Join us as we interview a participant in Mentors’ Mission. Learn what led him to Ohr Somayach, discover highlights of his journey, share the joy and inspiration!

Introducing:
Eli Reiman
Livingston, NJ
Ohio State University

“…the agent asked me, “What do you eat on Chanukah?” I looked straight at him and answered, “Um… challah?”

What led you to Ohr Somayach?

Up until now, I was an atheist. Today, I believe. The truth is, I may be the most changed guy on the trip.

Just to give you an idea of where I was at: When I arrived at the airport heading to Israel and had to answer the security questions, the agent asked me, “What do you eat on Chanukah?”

I looked straight at him and answered, “Um… challah?”

So yeah, it was quite a journey.

Chicago

Brrrr…ing on the warmth!

Chicago in January is frigid. So when college students from all over the US converge on the Windy City in the middle of a cold snap, you have to wonder what makes them come. It’s not like they’re getting a chance to hit the beach or soak up the sunshine.

The answer sounds counter-intuitive. They’re coming for the warmth!

Boca

Bottom Line (success) vs. Bottom Line (Torah priority)

Can success co-exist with Torah?

Can success and Yiddishkeit coexist? Could they lead Jewish lives yet still be “normal?”

East Boca Kehilla

Light Reflects Light

It takes a special light to kindle Jewish hearts – and the East Boca Kehilla, led by Rabbi Noah Light, has what it takes: it’s a very warm, friendly, and growth-oriented kehillah, and the Carlebach-style tefillos and weekly musical Havdalah are a boon to their mispallelim, including a large number of baalei teshuvah. Our mentees felt right at home!

Cross-section of a Nation

Toronto, Together

It looked like a kibbutz galuyos – an ingathering of every segment of the Jewish People:Ashkenazim and Sefardim; Chassidim and college students; businessmen and balebatim.

They gathered for an Ohr Somayach Shabbaton, and imbibed the Torah and achdus. The students were local college students who’d, for the most part, already been touched by Ohr Somayach. The mentors were Toronto locals who were mostly discovering Ohr Somayach for the first time. It was amazement at first sight. Incredibly, the son of a Chassidic rebbe was so enamored; he insisted that we do a Shabbaton in his Upstate New York community!

Beautiful Shabbos at Ohr Somayach

Lakewood Shabbaton Comes Full Circle

Toronto, Together

If there’s anyone who ‘gets’ the college students at Ohr Somayach events, it’s our very own alumni. They've walked in their shoes – strangers in a new world – and come out on the other side, frum, integrated, and often, the heads of their own beautiful families.

So it came as no surprise when alumnus Yaakov Cruz wanted to give back – not only by participating with his wife and baby in the very same program, with the very same host family who transformed his life and adopted him as their own; but also by easing the journey for newcomers. He wanted to provide them with the Artscroll transliterated, translated siddur.

Anachnu Echod – We Are One

A Wife’s Journal of Ohr Somayach’s Summer Mentors Mission

It happens twice each year: a group of frum businessmen drops everything to join Ohr Somayach’s Mentors Mission in Eretz Yisroel, where they spend 5 days learning with and mentoring secular American college students.

Mrs. Malka Leah Josephs, wife of a mentor, shares her journal of the trip with Sparks readers.

To’ameha: A Taste of Shabbos, a Taste of Yiddishkeit

It's the air.

Not just the crisp mountain air of the Catskill mountains, where tens of thousands of Jewish families spend the summer, but also the air of adventure and anticipation.

The place? Tamarack - An Upstate New York bungalow colony

The event? A Mentors Mission Shabbaton, hosted by super-hosts Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Wolfson, and co-host Rabbi and Mrs. Meir Kaplowitz.

Go West, my son!

Los Angeles Hosts Magnificent Mentors Mission Shabbaton

In 1854, at the height of the California Gold Rush, Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the NY Tribune, wrote, “Go West, young man, and grow up with the country”, this spurred on the great gold rush of the century. 170 years later, twenty young men indeed went west – and “struck gold.” The young men were secular Jewish college graduates and professionals, and their destination was the Mentors Mission in California, where they discovered the treasure of their Jewish heritage.

They also discovered a gold mine of a community, in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles, where local Jewish families opened their homes, and hosted the young men with unbelievable grace and warmth. Esteemed rabbonim and educators, too, welcomed the group, offering inspiration and Torah knowledge.

Yarchei Kallah brings Ohr Somayach online fans to our famous Beis Medrash

R to L: Harav Rockmill, z”l, and ybl”ch, Harav Nota Schiller and Harav Nachshon Schiller, shlita.

Thousands of viewers visit Ohr Somayach’s famous website each day, where they watch, hear and read shiurim from some of the world’s greatest Torah lecturers and kiruv professionals. But nothing can compare to the experience of learning Torah live, in the Ohr Somayach Yerushalayim campus.

This summer, the yeshiva held its first Yarchei Kallah, where forty American businessmen became Ohr Somayach talmidim for a week. The experience was exhilarating – and eye-opening.

Houston, we have a solution

Toronto to Miami

A Tale of Two Cities

Knotting tzitzis to knotty Gemaras

Ohr Somayach’s Wartime Mentor Mission:
More essential than ever

Just One Shabbos

It Started with a Car Ride

Delighting in Donuts

Who gained more? It’s hard to tell.

The price of Shabbos

“I’m not giving up the zechus!”

Jewish Professionals and Secular College Students Unite

Ohr Somayach’s Mentors Mission

On this Side of the Atlantic…

The Ohr Somayach Summer Retreat

Torah Meets Law School

Columbia University Mentor Mates Program

Bonding in Boston

Boston Jewish Community hosts Mentor Mission

We've got photos!