| L’Dor
Vador — From Generation to Generation
Raising Children & Grandchildren Committed to Yiddishkeit
 American-Russian
Jewish leadership and FREE officers are very proud by what
they see developing in the second and third generation
of Russian-Jewish immigrants: Torah education and a commitment
to Yiddishkeit. As FREE marks its 36th anniversary, they
are encouraged by the continued progress.
Students at the FREE “Yeshiva Ohel Dovid” High
School are literally transformed from the kind of Judaically
empty life led by their grandparents in the former Soviet
Union into one of studying Torah and observing the mitzvoth.
They increasingly identify with Jewish history and Jewish
values.
The students spend
a good part of their days studying the Talmud, Jewish law,
Jewish history and the weekly Torah portion. They also
fortify themselves with the inner dimension of Judaism
by studying the Tanya and Chabad Chasidus. Graduates of
the yeshiva have testified about the profound effects their
yeshiva education has had in their growth as human beings
and as Jews.
Back in 1969 the Greenstein
family began sending their boys to the FREE Yeshiva right
after it was founded. At the time it was located in the
famous Yankel’s Shul at 711 Eastern
Parkway, lucky enough number. In the ensuing years both the
Greenstein boys and the yeshiva grew by leaps and bounds.
The Greenstein boys
grew into men and started their own families. David Greenstein,
second generation immigrant, wanted to impart the same
knowledge and experience he had so he sent his sons Rafi
and Benni to FREE’s Yeshivah, where they study now.
David Greenstein’s sister, who attended FREE’s
women’s seminary, sends her sons to Camp FREE-Gan Israel.
Many other FREE program alumni are enrolling their children
in FREE Camps, Schools and After-School Programs.
“This is the greatest 36th birthday present we can get,” remarked
Rabbi Mayer Okunov, Chairman of FREE, “to witness the
next generation of Russian-American Jews learning and benefiting
from our programs as children and now as parents. They are
reaping much nachas as are we.” 
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