The 84th annual dinner and chag hasemicha of the Rabbinical Seminary of America/Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim will take place on December 3 at Terrace on the Park in Queens. The dinner is the major fundraising event supporting the vibrant Torah center, which is home to nearly 400 students. The yeshiva is renowned for producing talmidim who are imbued with an overwhelming desire to be spread Torah across America.

This year’s dinner features tributes to two northern New Jersey families, Dr. and Mrs. Ira Kukin, z”l, who lived in West Orange, and Rabbi and Mrs. Neal Turk, who reside in Teaneck.

The yeshiva takes great pride in dedicating this year’s dinner in memory of Dr. and Mrs. Ira Kukin, z”l. Dr. Kukin served as the yeshiva’s chairman of the board for decades, most recently as chairman emeritus. Ira and his wife, Doris, both passed away in the past 20 months. The Kukins were instrumental in working with the rosh hayeshiva, Rav Henoch Leibowitz, zt”l, in building RSA’s Kew Gardens Hills Campus.

Dr. Kukin was the founding chairman of the RSA board and remained as chairman emeritus until his passing. The Kukins provided the lead gift for the yeshiva’s new campus and were influential in gathering support from many others from the surrounding communities. In appreciation, the yeshiva named their new campus “The Dr. Ira and Doris Kukin Campus.” The campus serves as the international center for the network of schools, synagogues and outreach centers that have been created and staffed by graduates of RSA.

Dr. Kukin was a founder and first president of B’nai David in West Orange, which later became Congregation Ahawas Achim B’nai Jacob and David, and was known as a generous philanthropist and pioneer in manufacturing air-pollution-control technology. He was an anchor of local and national Jewish communities and a benefactor of Jewish and secular institutions, including Harvard University and Yeshiva University.

The story is told that when Dr. Kukin first met Rabbi Leibowitz, he asked, “What do you teach the boys here?” He was told, “Dr. Kukin, we teach menschlichkeit.” That began a warm and storied relationship between the two men.

Dr. Kukin was known at board meetings to encourage action from other lay leaders. He would often say, “There are two equally important contributions to make to the yeshiva: to serve as a volunteer and to support it financially, and it’s best if you can do both.”

Doris was a true partner to her husband in all of his endeavors. She was a board member of Stern College for Women, Re’uth and several Israeli institutions. The international, national and local causes to which Ira and Doris lent their support span the spectrum of institutions of Torah study and communal service.

The yeshiva will be honoring Rabbi and Mrs. Neal Turk of Teaneck as parents of the year. Rabbi and Mrs. Turk have been members of the parent body of the yeshiva for over 20 years, first at RSA’s affiliate Yeshiva Toras Emes/Toras Chaim in Miami, Florida, and in recent years at RSA’s Kukin Campus in Kew Gardens Hills.

Rabbi Neal Turk studied in Beit Midrash L’Torah and at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh in Eretz Yisrael. He subsequently attended Yeshiva University, where he was privileged to serve as personal shamash to HaRav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik, zt”l, eventually receiving semicha from Y.U.’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Rabbi Turk also holds a master’s degree in education from Yeshiva College.

Rabbi Turk has served as rav in Syracuse, Fair Lawn and Miami Beach and is currently mashgiach in the RIETS semicha program.

Laura Turk, a graduate of Queens College and Michlala in Jerusalem, holds master’s degrees in school psychology and in marriage and family therapy. She served as school psychologist in Toras Emes Academy of Miami, and currently maintains a private practice in marriage and family therapy in Teaneck.

In conjunction with the annual dinner, the yeshiva celebrates its chag hasemicha, which will recognize the achievements of 19 new musmachim. Semicha is the culmination of many years of intense Torah learning, mussar and self-improvement. The yeshiva embraces their noble achievements as they begin a new chapter in their lives, primed for sharing the beauty of Torah with klal Yisrael.

With over 600 alumni in harbatzat Torah and communal administration, the impact RSA has had on North America is immeasurable. Talmidim of Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim are renowned for their mesirat nefesh for harbatzat Torah and for using their in-depth understanding of Torah and mussar to reach out to our less-privileged brothers and sisters. The neshama of a Jew thirsts for Torah and ruchniut, and Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim produces talmidim who look to quench that thirst. The yeshiva invites all to participate in the upcoming dinner on December 3. For more information about the dinner, please contact the yeshiva at 718-268-4700 or [email protected].