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Yeshivas Ner Aryeh’s Annual Melaveh Malkah Welcomes Chashuve Speaker

Brenda Goldstein

“Ner Aryeh is a family,” said Yeshivas Ner Aryeh executive assistant Debra Berman at the yeshiva’s annual melaveh malkah at Congregation Shaarey Zedek. “It’s a place where I work, but it’s really a family. We genuinely care about each boy…the rabbeim are really father figures to each one of the boys, and we’re really blessed to have them.” The February 29^th fundraising dinner, which featured Beth Medrash Govoha Rosh Yeshiva HaRav Dovid Tzvi Schustal, shlita, as guest speaker, marked the finale of his Shabbos speaking tour of Valley Village.

Mrs. Stella Wohlarth, who has two sons enrolled in Ner Aryeh, spoke of how the yeshiva gives the talmidim a strong learning environment to fortify against the negative influences surrounding us today. The students, she said, “truly bring the Torah they learn in the [yeshiva] and apply it to their daily lives. It is a privilege to…send my kids to Ner Aryeh.”

Impressed by the number of shuls, yeshivas, and kollelim here, Rav Schustal described Valley Village as “vibrant” with “mosdei Torah.” He called the yeshiva “a bayis that enhances in the talmidim a depth of understanding of Torah sheh b’al peh,” and exhorted all in attendance to “appreciate the mikdashim me’at I had the zechus to visit.”

After Rav Schustal’s speech, attendees enjoyed a delicious buffet-style dinner and then watched Ner Aryeh’s latest inspiring video. “Through our high-caliber chinuch and educational programs,” says Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yochanan Weiner in the video, “our students at Ner Aryeh will become happy, fulfilled, well-educated, successful bnei Torah with a firm foundation for their limitless future.” Adds 10^th grader Yaakov Wakslak: “The rebbeim are always eager to impart their knowledge and wisdom, their love for learning; they’re always willing to take your questions.”

English Principal Jason Strouse comments, “I think one of the most satisfying moments for myself and the other teachers is when we see a boy have that moment when everything makes sense, and he realizes that his hard work has paid off.”

Currently sharing quarters with the Valley Village Community Kollel and the past home of Congregation Toras Hashem, Ner Aryeh has begun construction on its long-awaited new building. “I hope that, with the new building…many families will realize the beauty of Ner Aryeh and be able to select [it] as a good choice for high school kids,” Mrs. Wohlfarth said.

Founded in 2001 and reestablished as a yeshiva and beis medrash in 2009, Ner Aryeh holds an affiliation with Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim of Queens. Rabbi Weiner, one of the founders of Ner Aryeh, serves as Menahel and Rosh Yeshiva of the high school. He and Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yechezkel Cohen also run Ner Aryeh’s three-year beis medrash program.

“The yeshiva,” said Rebbetzin Dassie Weiner, “aims to develop a real love for learning in the boys; a commitment to Torah learning, an involvement in Torah learning that will, b’ezras Hashem, remain with them the rest of their lives.”