LINK Kollel Celebrates Its 17th Anniversary with Gala Dinner/Concert Featuring Baruch Levine

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LINK Kollel Celebrates Its 17th Anniversary with Gala Dinner/Concert Featuring Baruch Levine

Rabbi Eli Stern

The LINK Kollel in Los Angeles celebrated its 17th anniversary with a gala dinner and a festive concert featuring the renowned singer and composer, Baruch Levine. The event—which attracted a standing room only crowd of over 400 guests, some from as far away as New York—was held in the banquet hall of the Nessah Synagogue in Beverly Hills, on Monday evening, June 3rd (Rosh Chodesh Sivan). This was LINK’s most successful dinner to date, both in terms of attendance and of fundraising.

Photos: Manny Saltiel

The guests of honor were Mr. and Mrs. Avy and Sandra Azeroual, who received the prestigious Community Leadership Award. Mr. Azeroual, a well-known supporter of Torah institutions, is a successful real estate investor and developer in several cities world-wide. Besides his generous support for LINK, he was honored for being such a worthy role model for limud haTorah, spending nearly two hours at LINK everyday learning with the avreichim. In introducing him, Rabbi Mordechai Lebhar, LINK’s Rosh Kollel, highlighted the century-old ties between the Azeroual family in Morocco and support for Torah learning (including the yeshiva of Rav Yaakov Abuchatzeirah, the Babe Sali’s grandfather).

In his own remarks, Avy spoke of the fortuitous circumstances of how he met Rabbi Lebhar some three and a half years ago. He related how his daily Torah study has transformed his life and those of his family. He thanked his wife Sandra for her steadfast and unwavering support for the all the time that he spends in the beis medrash.

Rabbi Asher Brander, LINK’s founder and rav, focused on the unique contributions of countless individuals in making the LINK Kollel and Shul the special community that it is. At the same time, he challenged his listeners to reach out to all those Jews, both frum and non-observant, who are not yet tasting the sweetness of Torah in their lives.

To top off the evening, Baruch Levine sang some of his well-known compositions (many dealing with the theme of Torah and educating our children). The concert culminated in spirited dancing—many in the audience enthusiastically joining in.