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SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
OHR TORAH STONE'S BRITISH EMPIRE
There's a new English channel connecting Ohr Torah Stone to the United Kingdom these days: the growing number of alumni who are changing the face of synagogues, education and communities across the spectrum of Jewish life. In the words of Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who addressed a recent ordination ceremony at the Joseph Straus Rabbinical Seminary, "Ohr Torah Stone-trained rabbis and educators are making a profound impact on Anglo-Jewry by infusing us with young, dynamic and sensitive leaders who are capable of inspiring both affiliated and unaffiliated Jews."
More than 10 UK synagogues are led by rabbis who studied at Yeshivat Hamivtar-Orot Lev and the Straus Seminary; other graduates hold teaching and leadership posts across the country.
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Rabbi Saul Zneimer is spiritual leader of the Kenton Synagogue. He has established a Torah education program for adults and directs the Jewish Outreach Network, which runs Jewish encounter programs for all ages. "There's a wonderful support system among the Ohr Torah Stone-educated rabbis in England, because we share the same vision and goals," he says.
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Rabbi Gideon Sylvester serves the new, rapidly-growing Radlett Synagogue, where he's recently opened a pre-school program for 80 youngsters and initiated informal "Coke and Chat" sessions for teenagers. Sylvester teaches a full schedule of shiurim that include classes in Talmud and Jewish philosophy at several London law firms and university campuses. He credits Hamivtar-Orot Lev and the Joseph Straus Rabbinical Seminary with "the depth of learning and the open-minded approach that carry over into all aspects of my work."
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Women at the Radlett Synagogue have their own link to Ohr Torah Stone: former Bruria Scholar Lindsay Simmonds, who teaches a popular morning shiur there. Simmonds' husband, alumnus Rabbi Jeremy Rosten, is involved in teaching and outreach on campuses and schools across London, in addition to his position as rabbi of the Watford Synagogue.
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Many of the young rabbis made their first impact in England on college and university campuses. Rabbi Shaul Robinson served as student chaplain in Cambridge before assuming his current position at the Barnett Synagogue in North London. Robinson, whose teaching schedule includes the City Centre "Lunch and Learn" program, has found "tremendous interest in Jewish learning, on campus and in the community."
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"Our challenge is sparking that interest, in Jews of all backgrounds, and then giving them the tools that will support a lifetime of Jewish involvement," adds
Robinson's wife, Sarah. The Midreshet Lindenbaum alumna and former Bruria Scholar teaches in the Midrasha, the women's learning program founded by Rabbi Chaim Brovender in London in September 1998, and leads a Mothers and Daughters Bat Mitzvah learning program.
- The campus connection continues to grow. Alumnus Rabbi Julian Sinclair currently serves as chaplain of the Cambridge campus. Law student Ashley Hirst, 22, spent a year at Yeshivat Hamivtar-Orot Lev before he was elected chairperson of the 8000-member Union of Jewish Students in the UK. "Our biggest challenge is keeping Jewish students Jewish," he declares. "I'm working to ensure that every student in Britain has the opportunity to strengthen his or her Jewish identity."
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Darren Kleinberg shares that mission. Kleinberg, who became UJS Education Director upon returning from Yeshivat Hamivtar-Orot Lev this year, follows in the footsteps of Marcus Freed who held the post in 1997-98 and Jeremy Bruce, the Education Director in 1995-96. Bruce has now returned to the yeshiva where he is studying for semicha at the Straus Seminary.
Rabbi Chaim Brovender, rosh yeshiva of Hamivtar-Orot Lev, has been closely involved in and supportive of his students' work throughout Great Britain. He explains, "Our ideal in Ohr Torah Stone is that the entire Jewish world deserves to enter the Bet Medrash, and those of us who have been privileged to do so must surely attempt to bring the world of the Bet Medrash, the sense of friendship and love, to those who have not been privy to this feeling. We are very proud to see this dream being realized by our alumni in England."
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