At the festive Annual Dinner in June, OTS paid tribute to Mrs. Maria Finkle for her leadership and vision in endowing the overseas program at Midreshet Lindenbaum. The important and popular program, now to be called the Maria and Joel Finkle Overseas Program, comprises a year of intensive Jewish study for over 100 post-high-school women from countries all over the world.

At the Dinner, OTS also announced the George Weinstein Memorial Semicha-University Program, which will provide the proper educational venue for the extraordinary, bridge-building OTS rabbis who serve as emissaries in Jewish communities around the globe. The program will continue Mr. Weinstein’s legacy of spreading Torah throughout the world.

Finally, the Dinner heralded the announcement of the Robert M. Beren College and the Israel Henry Beren Academic Center of Beit Morasha, a university accredited by Bar Ilan in affiliation with OTS and housed in a magnificent Jerusalem campus. “It is this university component which truly enables OTS to express our vision of Judaism to the 21^st Century,” said Rabbi Riskin.

Dr. Jonathan Javitt (left) and his aunt, Mrs. Joan Jakubovitz	Rabbi Riskin bestows the title of “Chaver” on longtime friend and supporter Mr. Paul Guggenheim (left)
Londoners Henry (center) and Renata (right) Knobil traversed the Atlantic to share in the tribute to their dear friends, Maria (left) and the late Joel Finkle	Rabbi Riskin (left) with two generations of the Weinstein family (left to right): Mr. Stanley Weinstein, Mrs. Judy Weinstein, Mr. Jerry Weinstein, Jay Weinstein, Dov Weinstein
OTS Board of Directors member Mr. Warren Weiss (right) and his wife, Jane (center), drink a l’chaim with Rabbi Riskin	Robert M. Beren (right) accepts a tallit techlet from Rabbi Riskin