Emet Outreach took the typical Shabbaton to new heights with its annual mid-winter retreat. Thirty-four students from area colleges spent a weekend of solidarity and spiritual connection. It all started early on a Friday morning when the group gathered at the Emet Center for breakfast. Rabbi Akiva Rutenberg, Emet’s Director and Co-Founder, gave an uplifting class to add a Torah perspective to the retreat, which was themed “Mind, Body, and Soul” to encompass all the religious and fun activities.

More than 25 mother-daughter teams from five Brooklyn yeshivos spent Thursday morning lobbying their local state legislators to fully fund STEM instruction in nonpublic schools. Organized by Teach NYS, a leading voice for nonpublic schools in New York State, the mother-daughter lobbying teams held 30-minute meetings with the legislators. During these meetings, the lobbying teams introduced the legislators to their STEM teachers, while also showcasing STEM projects from their schools, as a way to illustrate the impact of STEM education on young women and girls.

Chazaq, TorahAnytime, the Queens Jewish Link, and many other sponsors were part of a special half-time Torah learning program on Super Bowl Sunday. The first speaker, Mr. Charlie Harary, well-known inspirational speaker, began with the fact that everyone is looking for ways to be better. “We know we have the potential of being great.” He pointed out that many lessons in football apply to greatness across the board. One idea is to focus on the game and not the score. When Hashem called Moshe up to Har Sinai, the pasuk says, “Come up with Me to the mountains and be there.”

The Utopia Jewish Center in Hillcrest recently donated a Sefer Torah to Nachal Charedi in Eretz Yisroel - under the leadership of Rabbi Yonoson Hirtz and the efforts and success of Dr. Sana Bloch in obtaining funds for a brand new Sefer Torah from Mr. Paul Dick, whose relative Mr. Barrett Dick, A”H, a member of Utopia Jewish Center, passed away last January. Rabbi Hirtz and Dr. Bloch traveled to Israel and, together with several former members of Utopia who now live in Eretz Yisroel, participated in a celebration at the headquarters of Nachal Charedi in Yerushalayim.