Ambassador Friedman Visits
the Weiss Vocational Center
THE HONORABLE DAVID M. FRIEDMAN, the United States
Ambassador to Israel, visited the Yeshiva in the spring. He
was on hand for the siddur play of his grandson, a Pre-1A
talmid at the Yeshiva, and “shepped nachas” along with
all the other assembled parents and grandparents as the
boys received their very first, personalized siddurim.
The ambassador was publicly recognized by Rav
U.S. AMBASSADOR TO
Yaakov Bender, the Rosh HaYeshiva, who called upon
ISRAEL DAVID M. FRIEDMAN
him to bless the talmidim who were gathered on stage.
AT THE WEISS VOCATIONAL
CENTER WITH, FROM LEFT,
The ambassador, who is a Kohein, blessed the talmidim
RABBI BARUCH ROTHMAN,
DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL
with Birkas Kohanim.
ADVANCEMENT; RABBI
After the event, Ambassador Friedman was led on a
MOSHE LUBART, INSTRUCTOR
AT THE CENTER; AND
brief tour of the Melohn Campus, including a comprehen-
RABBI ELI BIEGELEISEN,
sive visit to the trailblazing Weiss Vocational Center, where
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT.
a select group of Mesivta Chaim Shlomo talmidim spend
part of each afternoon learning marketable skills such as
carpentry, electrical construction, plumbing, home wir-
ing, and photography. Graduates of the Center, which was
founded in 1995, have gone on to see remarkable success in
all areas of their lives, often using the skills and knowledge gained there to
build successful and lucrative careers.
“I’m just blown away by the Weiss Vocational Center,” said the am-
bassador at the conclusion of his visit. “It’s a brilliant idea…an incred-
ible program for kids. If I were back in high school I’d be rushing to this
program. It’s really a tremendous Kiddush Hashem.”
The Ambassador also visited the main, cavernous bais hamed–rash
of Mesivta Chaim Shlomo, where hundreds of bachurim and kollel
yungeleit learn each day, from morning until late at night.
Ambassador David Melech Friedman, a native of North Woodmere,
NY, was the first bilateral ambassador to be confirmed in the early days
of the Trump Administration. !
View a video about this visit at darchei.org/video
RABBI LLOYD KEILSON, CO-CHAIRMAN
OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, WITH
AMBASSADOR DAVID M. FRIEDMAN
New Photography Training Center Established
A new course was recently introduced at the Weiss Vocational Center: photog-
raphy. The Phillip Leonian and Edith Rosenbaum Leonian Photography Training
Center has been endowed by the eponymous foundation that the Leonians
established. Phillip Leonian (1927-2016) was an innovative photographer who
specialized in advertising and editorial work in New York City from the 1950s
through the 1980s. Thanks to the generosity and vision of the Foundation’s
leaders, Jacques Aaron Preis and Evelyne Salama of Chicago, countless current
and future students will be offered an exciting new pathway to lucrative careers
in professional photography.
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BEDARCHEI HATORAH
WINTER 5780/2020
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