Meet YU High School for Girls’ Ariella Freedman and Rivka Abbe

One is the newly elected international president of an organization with thousands of members; the other is welcomed on Capitol Hill to speak her mind to government leaders and is about launch her own weekly radio program. Perhaps most extraordinary, is that both young woman, Ariella Freedman and Rivka Abbe, are still in high school at the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (YUHSG), known as “Central”.

Ariella Freedman, a YUHSG senior, has recently been elected international president of NCSY.

Freedman, of Lawrence, NY, was recently elected to a one-year term as international president of the Orthodox Union’s National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY). Her new responsibilities are in addition to her previous post as vice president of the organization’s New York region. Freedman, 17, is a senior and a member of ARISTA, the national honor society, and in addition to schoolwork, most weekends find her on the road, travelling to NCSY Shabbatons and other events.

“Most people mistake Ariella for a collegiate because she is so poised and full of passion that she gives off the impression of being much older,” said Rabbi Steven Burg, managing director of the OU and international director of NCSY. “Yet, she’s very down to earth and can speak to teens of any background and relate to them. Those are the qualities that we look for in a leader.” Read the rest of this entry…

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