Yeshivat Eretz HaTzvi, which attracts students from the United States, Canada, England, Australia and South Africa to study Talmud in Yerushalayim, will hold a gala dinner on Sunday evening, March 13, at Congregation Mt. Sinai in Washington Heights, New York. Among the alumni are young men from Teaneck, Englewood and other New Jersey communities who enjoyed their year in Israel at Eretz HaTzvi.
Alumni have a powerful record of being committed to mitzvah observance and becoming leaders and supporters of shuls, yeshivot and all community endeavors. One reason for its success is the preparation given during the year in Israel for what the challenges will be when they return to university in their native countries. Another reason is the extraordinary staff at the school.
Rabbi Dr. David Ebner, who is rosh yeshiva (together with Rabbi Yehuda Sussman), and his wife, Mrs. Shulamith Teitz Ebner, the administrator, exemplify the intelligence, the generosity and the Torah values that create the atmosphere of the school. A Shabbat meal at the Ebners’ home includes divrei Torah, singing zemirot, delicious food and meaningful conversation leavened with a sense of humor. Mrs. Ebner’s kindness is legendary. A student who has to cope with a restricted diet, an allergy or other needs will find all his requirements cared for efficiently and without fanfare by Mrs. Ebner. Students return during winter break and summer vacation to learn at the yeshiva.
Rabbi Ebner earned his smicha and his undergraduate and graduate degrees at Yeshiva University. He taught in yeshiva high school and college in America, and in Israel at Yeshivat Hamivtar and Torat Shraga, which he co-founded and served as mashgiach ruchani. Mrs. Ebner is a graduate of Barnard and NYU law school. After working in corporate law she became the executive director of the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth, NJ, where she served with distinction before making aliyah. Everyone associated with the yeshiva is delighted that they are the honorees.
An additional attraction in line with the yeshiva’s forward thinking will be a panel discussion at 7:30 on “The Future of Modern Orthodoxy.” Panelists will be Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, Mrs. Bracha Rutner, Dr. Rivka Schwartz and Rabbi Jeremy Wieder. For more inofrmation, go to www.yehatzvi.org/NYC2016.
