NCFJE Marks 74th Year with Awards Dinner

Over 350 supporters, friends and government dignitaries gathered on Sunday evening, November 16, at The Edison Ballroom in mid-town Manhattan to celebrate the 74th Annual Awards Dinner of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE).  The evening hosts were Jerry, Allan and Jay Wartski.

Laura and Darren Wainer were feted as Guests of Honor, Congressman Chris Gibson was awarded the NCFJE Leadership Award; Mrs. Sorele Witkes received the Tikun Nefesh V’Olam Award and Rabbi Hanoch Hecht, the NCFJE Young Professional Leadership Award.

One of the memorable moments of the evening was the screening of the PBS documentary on Chabad Lubavitch featuring the Jonas and Sadie Rennert Ivy League Torah Study Experience, as well as a short film highlighting the Camp Emunah Special Need Program.

Esti Berger, Program Coordinator of Harmony, which supervised the stay of a dozen Special Needs girls at Emunah spoke about the incredible warmth and acceptance they all received when they spent the Month of July in Camp Emunah. She said, “Camp Emunah’s main goal was to make the girls feel included. To make them feel like they are just like everyone else-they are no different than anyone else. The Harmony girls are well aware that they are “different” and unfortunately, they are used to being secluded from events. But at Camp Emunah, Harmony bunk attended, enjoyed & felt included at every single activity, exciting event, concert or trip that Camp Emunah arranged for their own campers.”

NCFJE was founded in 1941 by the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, of sainted memory, to teach Torah to public school students through the Jewish Released Time Program. In 1953, Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht, of blessed memory, started Camp Emunah for girls under the NCFJE umbrella. Rebbetzin Chave Hecht continues to serve as Camp Director. Today the organization is also known for crisis intervention services and its work with at-risk youth. In recent years, the organization has turned its focus upon the needy families in its home community of Crown Heights.