On Friday morning, November 11, the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison was honored to welcome Leslie Hirsch, CEO of the St. Peter’s Healthcare System based in New Brunswick, who came to the school with two members of his senior staff. Hirsch looked in on a seventh-grade girls’ STEM class, then visited the school library to present a $15,000 grant from St. Peter’s to Rabbi Michael Ribalt, head of school of RPRY. The grant is designated for financial aid at the school.

In his speech welcoming Hirsch, Rabbi Ribalt stated: “As we know, the St. Peter’s Healthcare System believes that a strong education is an important determinant of long-term health and success. This gift will help us ensure that needy families in our community will be afforded a strong education—an education that embraces diverse learning styles, an education that gives our students the necessary 21st-century skills to excel and an education that allows students to be faithful servants of Hashem.”

Rabbi Ribalt also thanked Arkady Broder, MD, chief of the division of gastroenterology and hepatology and program director of the gastroenterology fellowship at Saint Peter’s University Hospital, who nominated RPRY to apply for this grant opportunity at St. Peter’s.

Hirsch spoke movingly of his own Jewish upbringing in Nutley, New Jersey; his career in hospital administration; the deep commitment of the St. Peter’s Healthcare System to the local community; and his appreciation of the educational efforts at RPRY.