Reaching Out to Alumni, RIETS Launches Elef L'Mateh Fundraising Campaign Yeshiva University-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) has launched a fundraising campaign called Elef L’Mateh, appealing to rabbinic alumni to make an annual gift of $1,000 to the school in an effort to raise $1 million to help support the institution and its programs. The brainchild of Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, the Joel and Maria Finkle Visiting Israeli Rosh Yeshiva, who gave the first donation, the campaign hopes to reach a goal of $360,000 by the upcoming Chag HaSemicha ceremony, which will be held on March 23, 2014. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CfNzm_HmcA “As one of the country’s only institutions of higher learning that does not charge tuition, we want to galvanize our 2,200 living alumni to give back to their alma mater,” said Rabbi Menachem Penner, acting dean of RIETS. “Usually it’s the rabbis who are raising the money, but RIETS alumni have a long history of supporting the University—beginning in 1890, preceding even Yeshiva College—and we want to build on that legacy by encouraging them to join the Elef L’Mateh Society and make a donation that will benefit other rabbis and the greater Jewish community.” Rabbi Ari Rockoff, associate dean of institutional advancement for YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration and the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, is spearheading the campaign with assistance from the Rabbinic Alumni Committee, rabbis from all over the country who are volunteering their time and resources to help in the fundraising efforts. For more information about the campaign or to make a donation, contact ElefTorah@yu.edu or call 646.592.4022.