Santa Cruz, California. Jacksonville Florida. These are unlikely places for yungeleit learning in the kollel of Bais Medrash Govohah to be found, yet it is exactly where two very special couples from Lakewood were sent by Torah Umesorah’s Project Seed program. The impact they made in those respective communities is incalculable.
At the upcoming 66th Annual Torah Umesorah Dinner, to be held on Sunday, 28 Adar/March 14, at The Palace hall in Brooklyn, Rabbi and Mrs. Shalom Augenbaum and Rabbi and Mrs. Aharon and Goldie Grossman will be the Project Seed Eitz Chaim honorees.
An unlikely place for a yarchei kallah, Santa Cruz is exactly where Rabbi Aharon and Goldie Grossman have touched a community of Jews who thirst for Torah. The Grossmans have provided many Santa Cruz Jews with in-depth Torah learning combined with an enhanced understanding of Torah, mitzvos and their contemporary relevance.
The Torah Umesorah Seed Program in Santa Cruz has transformed a large group of Jews in the community, Jews whose spiritual lives – whose connection to Hashem and His Torah – have been immeasurably enriched by the Grossmans.
The work of Rabbi and Mrs. Grossman is representative of a new dynamic in outreach. The Grossmans, young people rooted in Torah learning and Torah living, have gone on to share their knowledge and idealism with their fellow Jews who have not been blessed with a Torah education. They have spent five summers in Santa Cruz.
Said the Grossmans, “Agreeing to accept the Project Seed Eitz Chaim Award is our way of thanking Torah Umesorah for the tools they have given us, enabling us to positively impact and impart Torah to our fellow Jews. It is because of Torah Umersorah and our experience in Santa Cruz that we have undertaken to impart the greatest gift possible – to share the gift of Torah.”
Just as the Grossmans have impacted Santa Cruz, Rabbi and Mrs. Shalom Augenbaum have profoundly impacted the Jewish community of Jacksonville, Florida.
Rabbi Augenbaum’s engaging classes, lectures and enthusiasm for imparting Jewish knowledge inspired many to attain higher levels of knowledge, understanding and observance. Additionally, his ability to present complex topics in a simple, uncomplicated fashion affords even those unschooled in Jewish texts a clarity and understanding of the subject matter.
The Seed Program in Jacksonville, referred to as a “Summer Kollel,” succeeded in giving community members a sampling of the spiritual energy supplied by hosting a community kollel.
“My experience with Torah Umesorah Seed really opened my eyes. As a person who was raised and has spent all his life in established frum communities, being in Jacksonville opened new vistas for me. It connected me with Jews who had never enjoyed a Jewish education, enabling me to experience and be moved by their strong sense of Jewish identity, their thirst for Torah and their tremendous mesirus nefesh in making small, incremental lifestyle changes in their pursuit of a closer relationship with Hashem. It is an experience that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
Rabbi Zev Dunner, Torah Umesorah’s Director of Project Seed, was amazed by the direct impact on the community that the Augenbaums have had during their time in Jacksonville. “Reb Shalom is a magnet, and as a team, he and his wife are magnetic. Everyone came in droves to spend time with this wonderful couple,” said Rabbi Dunner.
On Sunday, 28 Adar/March 14, join Torah Umesorah at their 66th Anniversary Dinner, where these two remarkable young couples will be honored with well deserved public recognition for their dedication to the continuity of Yiddishkeit.
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