On Friday night, June 28, thieves broke into two dormitory facilities of Yeshiva Bais Mattisyahu in Bnei Brak as the students were eating dinner, according to a report by Bichadrei Chareidim. Approximately NIS 10,000 in cash was stolen from dozens of students.
After Shabbat, students called the police, who arrived along with a forensics team.
According to one student, NIS 3,000 was stolen from a fund used for transporting students to weddings of their peers. Others complained that all their pocket money was taken, including cash they were relying on to get home.
This past Shabbat, during the day, the same thieves apparently returned to the yeshiva and stole hundreds of shekalim. It seems that the thieves know the yeshiva’s weekend schedule and were able to time their burglary perfectly so that they could enter the dormitories without fear of being caught.
Famed Educator Passes Away at Age 78
Rabbi Dovid Trenk, the beloved rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Moreshes Yehoshua in Lakewood, NJ, passed away last Sunday afternoon after an illness that lasted several months. He was 78 years old.
An emotional levaya was held Monday morning at Kahal Zichron Yaakov with thousands of bereft students, alumni, and acquaintances in attendance. He was laid to rest in Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Iselin, NJ.
Rabbi Trenk was a very successful rosh yeshiva with a one-of-a-kind approach to Torah education; he loved every student like a son, and students were able to feel that love and knew he cherished and believed in them.
His heart was so wide and warm that it encompassed every one of his thousands of students. He took difficult and troubled teenagers into his yeshiva and made successful graduates out of them. Many students have come forward after his death with amazing stories of his boundless love and sensitivity.
Rabbi Yaakov Bender, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Darchei Torah, said about Rabbi Trenk, “He was perhaps one in many generations. There was no Torah educator like him.”
Rabbi Shlomo Gissinger, rabbi of the synagogue in which the levaya was held and a long-time friend of the deceased, echoed this sentiment.
“He was a giant in many ways,” he said. “It was well-known that he was a giant in Torah education, as well as in ahavas Yisrael. A giant in love for his students. Simply stating that Reb Dovid is irreplaceable is an understatement. He has no equal even from many generations ago.”
Charedi Charity Named Winner of Competition
On Sunday, June 30, PresenTense Israel held an “Impact Night” in Jerusalem, the culmination of a charity efficiency course during which five not-for-profits − chosen out of dozens of applicants − were taught tactics and strategies to greatly improve their operations.
On Impact Night, the five organizations competed before a panel of judges. A representative of each group gave a three-minute pitch, describing the charity’s activities, annual budget, and development plan going forward. They were being judged for their accomplishments as well as for transparency. About 300 people attended the event.
At the end of the night, Tikvah For Parkinson’s – a charedi charity that provides aid and support for Jerusalemites suffering from Parkinson’s – was named the winner. Devorah Shapiro, founder of the organization and representative for the event, accepted the award of NIS 8,000 from the event’s organizers.
Shapiro shared her personal story with the spellbound crowd. Five years ago, she said, when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, no one explained to her how to cope. The doctor simply handed her a prescription and said, “Take these pills, and come back in three months.”
Shapiro began to read up on her condition. She discovered that the pills only help alleviate the symptoms and that there is no known cure for the debilitating neurological disease. She did learn, though, that exercise can slow down the disease’s progression and greatly impact the patient’s quality of life.
She decided to share this and other pertinent information with others who suffer from Parkinson’s – and that’s how Tikvah For Parkinson’s was born.