It was an emotional evening for the 400+ people at Yeshiva Ner Boruch/Passaic Torah Institute & Ateres Bracha Neve-PTI’s 23rd annual dinner recently. The celebration took place just a few days after the first yahrzeit of the rosh yeshiva’s wife, Rebbetzin Ita Singer, a”h, and you could hear a pin drop as Rabbi Shlomo Singer ascended the podium to speak. Tears of sadness mixed with tears of pride as Rabbi Singer dedicated this special event for the ever-growing yeshiva to both his rebbetzin and to his brother-in-law, Mr. Sy Bogarsky, a”h, who was niftar the same week as Rebbetzin Singer.

Indeed, the yeshiva did a major kickoff for its new building campaign at the dinner. As Rabbi Baruch Bodenheim, associate rosh yeshiva, put it, “This yeshiva for the working man and woman is unique, and the 200 men and women who attend each week are proof that this is the true legacy of Rebbetzin Singer. The plans for our new building are set and we’re reaching out to everyone to join in building this legacy that we all share in.”

The warm atmosphere was fitting for the outstanding 2018 honorees, Mr. and Mrs. Dmitry and Anna Kreslavskiy, Mr. and Mrs. Yitzchak and Sarah Schaffer, and Rabbi and Rebbetzin Avraham and Temima Shulman. A special award, the 1st Annual Rebbetzin Ita Singer Tribute Award, was given to Mrs. Alison Sage, who hosts many of Ateres Bracha Neve-PTI’s classes and who, for years, has been a community leader in women’s learning and Shabbos programs.

By Al Farrell and Alex Levy