Golda Och Academy Presents A Taste of Torah Community Event

Golda Och Academy invites the community to an afternoon of celebration and learning for families, adults and children of all ages. A Taste of Torah at Golda Och Academy will take place from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Nov. 4, at the Eric F. Ross Upper School Campus, 1418 Pleasant Valley Way in West Orange.

This event will celebrate the start of the Sefer Torah Community Project. Linda Coppleson, a GOA faculty member and Torah scribe, will be writing a new Torah that will be housed at the newly renovated GOA Lower School and will be dedicated in memory of Golda Och, z”l.

Workshops led by GOA faculty members, community rabbis, and educators will include a special Children’s Workshop for children ages 4 - 7 with interactive storytelling, craft projects, and music. Other offerings will include drama and art workshops for elementary and middle school students, a family Shabbat workshop, parenting workshops, and adult Torah study sessions.

Workshops will be followed by a complimentary dinner and community Israeli dancing.

According to Rachel Scherzer, Sefer Torah Project Co-Chair, “Participation in the Sefer Torah Project is a wonderful way to bring our entire community together to honor Golda Och’s vision and subsequent legacy of a robust day school education, and to support the Building on Tradition campaign. This special Sefer Torah will be housed in the new Beit K’nesset, in the renovated Lower School. This has particular significance, as for many families, the Lower School is where Jewish education begins and is nurtured.”  

Golda Och Academy will be engaged in a year of special Torah activities with the school’s students and community. Torah sponsorship opportunities will be available for the community to be involved as part of the school’s Building on Tradition campaign.

Head of School Dr. Joyce Raynor said, “The Sefer Torah Community Project provides us the unique opportunity to fulfill the commandment to ‘write a new Torah’ together as a community for our students. It is fitting that we embark upon this project with a day of celebration, bringing together our own faculty, community rabbis and educators to celebrate as a learning community.”

The Sefer Torah Community Project is part of the Building on Tradition campaign, Golda Och Academy’s endowment and capital campaign to meet the Och Challenge - a $15 million matching gift by Daniel and Jane Och that led to the renaming of the school as Golda Och Academy. Building on tradition is focusing on the Lower School renovation, Endowment for Academic Excellence, and Endowment for Affordability. Donations to the campaign will be matched by the Dan and Jane Och Family Foundation.

For more information about the Sefer Torah Community Project, please visit www.GoldaOchAcademy.org. There is no charge to attend this program, however an RSVP is needed. To RSVP, please contact Abby Finkel at AFinkel@goldaochacademy.org at (973) 602-3798 or register online on the GOA website. For more information on Torah sponsorship opportunities, please contact Stephanie Bash-Soudry at sbashsoudry@goldaochacademy.org at (973) 612-3612.