DINNER PREVIEW
Rabbi Joel Beritz
ARCHITECT OF JEWISH EDUCATION AWARD
Recognizing a Lifetime of Jewish
Educational Leadership in America
In his role as vice president of
the Gruss Life Monument Funds and
the Center for Initiatives in Jewish
Education, Rabbi Joel Beritz has
played an integral role in the contin-
ued development and growth of Torah
institutions throughout this country,
including Yeshiva Darchei Torah. He
has proven himself to be a dear friend
of and champion for thousands of
Jewish children.
Rabbi Beritz is a native of Malden,
Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston,
where his parents, Jack (Yaakov
Chaim) and Blanche (Baila) a”h were
pillars of the community and of their
shul, the Young Israel of Malden, under
the leadership of Rabbi Hershel Brazil.
Even after relocating to other cities on
the East Coast, Joel would return to the
Young Israel for many years to serve as
the ba’al tokeah on Rosh Hashana.
Joel attended Boston University
and received his graduate degree in
Linguistics from the University of
Pennsylvania, after which he became a
professor of Slavic Languages and Judaic
Studies at the State University of New
York at Stony Brook. Today, he resides
in Brooklyn, where he is a longtime, val-
ued member of Agudah of Avenue H,
now led by Rav Dovid Gibber. Rabbi
Beritz also maintains a close connec-
tion with the shul’s previous rav, Rav
Aharon Zuckerman. He particularly en-
joys traveling to Eretz Yisrael, where he
dedicated the Shuvu School in Rechovot
in memory of his mother.
Rabbi Beritz began his career of
dedicated service to the community in
his role as director of education servic-
es for Russians at the Board of Jewish
Education (BJE) in New York. He
later became director of the Division
of School Services at the BJE and ad-
ministrator of the Fund for Jewish
Education.
One of his most valuable and far- reaching endeavors in his post at the
BJE has been the kashrus program for
kosher commodities in the National
School Lunch Program. In conjunc-
tion with the ‘613’ vaad hakashrus,
kosher commodities are produced and
made available for Jewish schools na-
tionwide.
For over twenty-five years, Rabbi
Beritz has impacted the education of
Jewish children through his work
at the Gruss Life Monument Funds.
Yeshiva Darchei Torah in particular
has been a grateful beneficiary of the
Funds’ generosity many times over,
and Rabbi Beritz has been one of the
main catalysts behind our fruitful re-
lationship. He has always taken a
special interest in the Yeshiva’s suc-
cess and that of our talmidim. Some
of the developments made possible by
the Funds include new state-of-the-
art playgrounds; enhanced science
and technology labs; and annual sci-
ence and engineering curricula in the
eighth grade and high school. Yeshiva
Darchei Torah is continuously reap-
ing the benefits of Rabbi Beritz’s sage
counsel and efforts on its behalf.
It is an honor for the Yeshiva to
recognize Rabbi Beritz’s dedication and
impact on decades of growth in Jewish
education with the inaugural Architect
of Jewish Education award.
Mr. and Mrs. Carmi and
Katie Gruenbaum on his childhood as the inspiration
for his extensive community in-
volvement. His parents, Nathan and
Bernie Gruenbaum, encouraged his
chesed activities, including visits to
the nursing home and deliveries for
Tomchei Shabbos. After graduating
high school, he spent several years at
Yeshivas Neve Tzion in Eretz Yisrael
and later became a talmid of Sh’or
Yoshuv in Far Rockaway. There he
gained lifelong connections to the
rebbeim and to his longtime chavru-
sa, Rav Azi Bodner. He is also privi-
KESSER SHEM TOV AWARD
Carmi and Katie Gruenbaum are
known throughout the Five Towns
community as exemplars of chesed
and Torah values. How fitting it is
to crown them tonight with Yeshiva
Darchei Torah’s Kesser Shem Tov
Award.
Carmi is a native of Los Angeles,
where he attended Yavneh Hebrew
Academy and YULA. He looks back
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BEDARCHEI HATORAH
WINTER 5780/2020