By COLlive reporter
Photos: Kaykov Media
A new Jewish school campus spanning an entire block was inaugurated in the Five Towns on Thursday, marking a major expansion of the Ohr Avner educational network in the United States.
Lev Jewish Academy, located in Lawrence, New York, is expected to serve hundreds of Jewish students, with a focus on Torah education, academic excellence and strengthening Jewish identity. The Leviev Foundation and philanthropist Lev Leviev formed the school through a partnership.
Leviev and his wife, Olga, led the dedication ceremony, joined by their daughter Chagit and son-in-law Gabriel Sofiev-Leviev; members of the extended Leviev family who traveled from around the world; and Ohr Avner USA directors Rabbi Zalman Zvulunov, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok Volowik, and Rabbi Shmuel Kogan.
Also participating was Rabbi Zalman Wolowik, Head Shliach of the Five Towns, who recited the Rebbe’s Kapitel Tehillim during the ceremony. He was joined by area Shluchim Rabbi Anchelle Perl, Rabbi Meir Geisinsky, Rabbi Nochum Tennenbaum, and Rabbi Mendel Gordon.
Other guests included Rabbi Yehuda Blau, director of Ohr Avner in Israel; Rabbi Asher Vaknin, Ohr Avner Shliach to students in Queens; Rabbi Mendy Zvulunov; and numerous other Shluchim from the region.
Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky, Executive Director of Machne Israel, and son of the Rebbe’s secretary Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, addressed the gathering and praised the continued growth of the institutions.
Leviev met with Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky this past summer, when he pledged, in connection with his birthday, to significantly increase the Jewish educational and outreach activities he supports across the United States.
Republican candidate for New York governor Bruce Blakeman also attended the dedication. Blakeman put on Tefillin during his visit and toured the new institution.
A delegation representing veteran Crown Heights educational institutions traveled to the Five Towns to show support for the new school. They included Rabbi Yossi Langsam of the Lubavitcher Yeshiva, Rabbi Sholom Goldstein and R’ Mendy Gansburg of Bais Rivkah, and Rabbi Beri Spetizki of Keren Menachem.
Supporters of the institutions who attended included R’ Pini Althaus, R’ Dudi Farkash and R’ Sholom Feldman.
The new school joins the growing Ohr Avner USA network, which operates Jewish educational institutions serving Bukharian Jewish families and other Jewish communities across the region.
