Strengthening Torah Life. Advocating for the Community. Serving Each Individual. | | | December 20, 2022 - 26 Kislev 5783 News from the Agudah:
- Mazel Tov to the 50 graduates of the COPE CPA Accounting program! See below to read more.
- For the second year in a row Congress has opted to not mandate the registration of women for the Selective Service System's military draft. Agudath Israel will continue to do our utmost to demonstrate that fundamental religious freedoms of women in the Orthodox Jewish and other communities would be jeopardized were a draft to include women. See below for more details.
- The Midwest Agudas Yisroel Council of Synagogue Rabbonim is pleased to present Safah Berurah, on the halachos of Chanukah and Asara B'Teves. See below for more details and to download.
- YahalomNJ is excited to announce the opening of a new Grant Application Assistance Center! See below for more details.
- Attention Yeshiva administrators: Save the date for this year's Yeshiva Summit on January 12th! See below for more details and to register.
| | Educated, Inspired and Motivated, COPE CPA Graduates Ready to Make Their Mark in the Business World | | Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Executive Vice President, Agudath Israel of America | | Shlomo Yitzchok Wolcowitz, Graduate | | Rabbi Daniel Baumann – Director of CES – COPE Education Services | | Rabbi Yeruchim Silber, Director, New York Government Relations, Agudath Israel of America | | Dr. Sholom Schochet, Assistant Director, CES | | Leon Goldenberg, Member of the Board of Trustees, Agudath Israel | | Partial View of the Crowd | | Partial View of the Crowd | | | By: Sandy Eller
It was a milestone moment for the 50 students of the COPE CPA accounting program, as they gathered in Brooklyn to celebrate their graduations, taking advantage of an opportunity to reflect on their academic accomplishments as they take the next step towards a future filled with promise.
COPE, a division of Agudath Israel of America's Community Services, has been offering its highly regarded CPA track accounting program for the past 17 years. Hundreds of students have enrolled in the program since that time, with its men's and women's cohorts receiving a rigorous education in an uncompromising environment. With their successes in the fields of business and accounting built on the foundational skills acquired in the nearly two year long program, graduates have credited COPE and its highly sought after instructors for providing them with comprehensive knowledge and support in one of today's fastest growing and well-paying careers. COPE has also been offering its ever popular short-term Junior Accounting program for the past 30 years, which besides having prepared thousands of students for successful careers, has inspired many to aim even higher and continue on in the CPA-track program.
Addressing graduates at both the women's graduation on December 11th and the men's graduation on December 12th, COPE Education Services director Rabbi Daniel Baumann praised students for their unity despite coming from very diverse backgrounds particularly in the men's program, where this year's graduates included a significant number of students hailing from several different Chasidic communities. Rabbi Baumann also emphasized COPE's focus on providing culturally sensitive educational opportunities, setting students on a lucrative career path without exposing them to problematic influences.
"The hallmark of our program is on attaining marketable skills and maintaining the focus on the ultimate goal of earning a parnasa to help support a life of avodas Hashem," said Rabbi Baumann.
Graduates also heard words of encouragement from Agudath Israel of America executive vice president Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, COPE Education Services assistant director Dr. Sholom Schochet and renowned lecturer Rabbi Paysach Krohn, with the men's commencement also including remarks from Agudath Israel of America Board of Trustees member Leon Goldenberg.
Representing the women's cohort and its newly streamlined 18 month program was Matty Kleinberg, senior bookkeeper at Bernath & Rosenberg CPAs & Wealth Advisors, and Rivka Berliner, nee Goldstein, an accountant at LTC Consulting Services. Ms. Berliner praised COPE for its dynamic and knowledgeable professors and emphasized the importance of gratitude, thanking the program's professors for serving as role models even as they taught the many principles of accounting.
"The exceptional education we received in a variety of subjects, including taxes, economics, business management, auditing and much more has given us the knowledge and information we need to confidently and successfully go on to the next step, pursuing a CPA license," said Mrs. Berliner. "Each professor, with their unique style of teaching, has expertly and patiently taught us the valuable tools we need to grow successfully in our careers."
Three members of the men's program, Shlomo Yitzchok Wolcowitz, an accountant with Sander and Wolcowitz CPA P.A., Levi Rosenfeld, an accountant at Cedar Advance LLC, and Zvi Schwadel, controller at Bayrock Insurance Agency, spoke at the graduation. Mr. Schwadel noted that he was confident that he and his fellow graduates would make their mark in the world of accounting because of the CPA program's strong curriculum and the values imparted by its staff.
"Aside from the exceptional academic education we received from our professors, we have, and still have, professors and faculty who really care, who are here to help us every step of the way," observed Mr. Schwadel. "I hope that we, as graduates, can internalize this message that our professors taught us by example and apply this to whatever field of work that we enter." | | Religious Concerns Help Defeat Women's Draft Registration Mandate, Again | | | For the second year in a row Congress has opted to not mandate the registration of women for the Selective Service System's military draft.
Agudath Israel of America is hailing Capitol Hill leadership and key members of both the House and Senate for withstanding enormous pressure and holding firm on dropping the measure from the National Defense Authorization Act, which has been sent to President Biden for signing. The registration framework will be utilized in the event that the draft is reinstated and there is need to mobilize the armed forces for military conflict or national emergency.
Over the years, many issues have been raised in regard to manpower, management and morale of the military in the event that women would be required to serve alongside men in service to their country. In Agudath Israel's view, these concerns are real and independently justify opposition to the women's draft mandate. But in addition to these general concerns, Agudath Israel has highlighted to lawmakers the very compelling issue of how the draft registration requirement would infringe upon the religious liberty of women in the Orthodox Jewish community and others who have religious objection to such military service.
In two years of communications with the White House, Congressional leadership, members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee, and other groups, Agudath Israel's Vice President for Government Affairs and Washington Director, Rabbi Abba Cohen, explained the religious imperative at stake here. "Clearly, an in-depth survey of religious traditions relating to women's participation in warfare and defense was beyond the scope of legislative discussion," noted Rabbi Cohen. "But there is no question that a generalized requirement for all women to register for the draft for the purpose of serving in some unknown military capacity in the future would be highly objectionable to many religiously-observant women. Indeed, it is likely that large numbers of these women will resist registration."
The proposed mandate would have included no exceptions for women's registration or service. Nor are the law's existing exemptions or deferments necessarily applicable to all women with religious objections to any form of military or civilian service. "Simply put, women would have no idea what they were signing up for, and both rabbinic leaders and families in the community contacted our office expressing much worry and disquiet over the prospect."
This is not the first time that women's draft registration has been on Agudath Israel's agenda. In 1979, Agudath Israel urged President Jimmy Carter to withstand pressure at the time and reject attempts to register women if the draft were reinstated, noting the threat to First Amendment rights and traditional family values.
Since that time, societal pressure to include women in the draft has only increased. In 2013, the Department of Defense lifted its bans on women in combat. Three years later, the National Commission on Military, National and Public Service – a creation of Congress – recommended draft registration for men and women. And last year, the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to rule on the issue, a request that was declined in deference to the fact that the issue was being considered at the time in Congress. In light of the mounting bipartisan popularity of the notion of women being part of any future draft, the hard-won victory these past two years by Agudath Israel and its allies on Capitol Hill is all the more impressive.
On the Senate side, Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mike Lee (R-UT), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz, (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), James Lankford (R-OK), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Steve Daines (R-MT), and John Boozman (AR), led the opposition to the women's draft registration mandate. In the House, Representatives Chip Roy (R-TX) and Vicki Hartzler (R-MO) were among those who opposed the measure.
"The issue of the women's draft may continue to rear its head in Congress and the Supreme Court, but we will be vigilant," concluded Rabbi Cohen. "We will do our utmost to demonstrate that fundamental freedoms of women in the Orthodox Jewish and other communities would be jeopardized were a draft to include women. That should be cause for concern among all who cherish religious liberty." | | | The Midwest Agudas Yisroel Council of Synagogue Rabbonim is pleased to present a sefer that discusses the halachos of Chanukah and Asara B'Teves. The sefer, Safah Berurah: The Halachos of Chanukah and Asara B'Teves. was compiled and written by Rabbi Yaakov Robinson, executive director of the Midwest Agudas Yisroel Council of Synagogue Rabbanim, and reviewed by Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst, Dayan, Agudas Yisroel of Illinois.
Click here to download. | | Yahalom NJ Opens a Grant Application Assistance Center | | | Yahalom NJ is excited to announce the opening of a grant application assistance center. The center will be open for parents of children with special needs, who can come to Agudath Israel's New Jersey office to find out which non-governmental grants may be available for them and receive any assistance that they may need in applying for the grants. Computers are set up so that the parents can complete the application process with ease. Yahalom NJ looks forward to being able to provide this resource to our families.
For more information go to agudah.org/grant-assistance-center, call 732.806.9019 ext. 304, or email yahalomnj@agudah.org.
Yahalom, a division of Agudath Israel, helps parents of special needs children obtain the appropriate resources by guiding, educating and empowering parents to ensure they have the help and support they need. Yahalom is there for parents at all times, holding their hands, guiding them in whatever areas they need. Whether it's government programs, chesed organizations, or emotional support, Yahalom is there to ease the way. | | | Save the date for this year's Yeshiva Summit!
The event will take place January 12th at Terrace on the Park geared towards yeshiva administrators. There will be a legislative lunch and political panel, a keynote Q&A with Rabbi Chaim Yehoshua Hoberman, and concurrent sessions.
For more information, click here or the image above. | | | | |
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