Winter Among Grads at Ohr Torah Stone Program

Ohr Torah Stone (OTS) recently celebrated its Annual Dinner, honoring Natan Sharansky and Robert M. Beren z”l, two figures whose leadership, courage, and generosity have strengthened Jewish communities around the world. They are the inaugural recipients of the Rabbi Shlomo Riskin Legacy Award, created to recognize individuals who embody Rabbi Riskin’s lifelong commitment to Jewish identity, education, and impact.

The evening also marked a significant milestone for Ohr Torah Stone’s International Halakhic Scholars Program, which celebrated the graduation of its first cohort – 19 graduates who completed four years of intensive halakhic study, chavruta learning, and rigorous exams in the laws of shabbat, kashrut, mourning, and niddah under the direction of program director, Rabbanit Dr. Hannah Hashkes, and senior faculty member, Rabbi David Brofsky. These extraordinary scholars are already strengthening Jewish communities around the world.

Dr. Rebecca Winter, one of the graduates, and currently the high school Judaics principal and teacher at Atlanta Jewish Academy, delivered the evening’s Dvar Torah after being introduced by Rabbanit Chamutal Shoval, director of OTS’s Susi Bradfield Women’s Institute of Halakhic Leadership (WIHL).

“I began this program as a way to bring organized, high-level Torah learning into my week,” Winter said. “The structure of weekly chevrutah learning, together with a Sunday shiur, framed my entire week around Torah. Now that we’ve finished, many of us feel both a deep sense of accomplishment and a real loss of that consistency. In fact, one cohort member has already organized a monthly halacha shiur so we can continue learning together.”

Winter continued about the impact the Halakhic Scholars Program has had on her.

“Studying halacha has truly been a gift,” she said. “I’m now better versed in the concepts and language of our halakhic system, and I have a much greater respect for its depth and nuance. Professionally, this learning has enabled me to engage more confidently with students and faculty when halakhic questions arise. Studying halacha has also sharpened my thinking. Even in my psychology practice, I find myself analyzing data and patterns with greater precision because the program strengthened my habits of close reading and structured reasoning.”

The dinner brought together lay leaders, educators, philanthropists, rabbis, and community members, including Eric Fingerhut, president & CEO of Jewish Federations of North America, and Eric Goldstein, CEO of UJA, who share OTS’s mission to strengthen Jewish identity, empower the next generation, and build vibrant Jewish communities in Israel and around the world.