Scholarship to Aid HANC Graduates Attend Yeshiva University

A new, need-based scholarship has been created, allocated specifically to Hebrew Academy of Nassau County (HANC) graduates who are applying to Yeshiva University, in the amount of $80,500. The scholarship fortifies the relationship between HANC and Yeshiva, which is of vital importance to the gift donors, Beryl and Doreen Eckstein. “The gift is significant because it follows a new model that represents a three-way partnership involving the donor acting as bridge between a local high school and Yeshiva University,” said Ari Rockoff, director at the Department of Community Partnership’s Center for Jewish Future (CJF) at Yeshiva University. The Ecksteins, who live in Nassau County, have a longstanding relationship with both Yeshiva University and HANC. Beryl Eckstein, has served as an Executive Board member at HANC for many years and is currently on the CJF Advisory Board. Beryl and Doreen are both graduates of Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women and have three children who all attended HANC and Yeshiva University. Their oldest son, Dani, graduated Yeshiva College in 2007; their middle son, David, graduated Yeshiva College in 2009 and is now studying for ordination at YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS); and their daughter, Rebecca, is graduating YU’s Stern College this year. There are many other family connections to the university, dating back two generations. “Doreen and I would like to take this opportunity to thank both HANC and Yeshiva University for all that they have done to educate our children and for inspiring and instilling in them a love of Torah Im Derech Eretz,” said Eckstein. “We can think of no better way to acknowledge our appreciation than to help afford other HANC graduates the opportunity to experience the formative world of Torah Umadda at YU.” The scholarships, which will be distributed over a period of five years beginning with the 2013-14 academic year and extending through the 2017-18 academic year, will be awarded to a new group of students per year, over the course of the next three years. Scholarships will be given to HANC students who are accepted to YU and qualify for financial aid. The scholarships awarded will be largely need-based. Recipients of these scholarship funds will have spent at least a year studying in Israel and agree to complete their YU undergraduate education on a YU campus in New York. The number of students to receive scholarship support, and the amount of support, will be determined by YU’s Office of Student Financial Aid. In line with Yeshiva University’s mission to educate and nurture future Jewish leadership, and in following the Jewish principle of Hakarot Hatov (expressing gratitude), YU-HANC Scholars will sign an ethical agreement calling upon them to “give back” to HANC and Yeshiva University. The “give back” to HANC will be based on the talents of the particular student. Examples include: one-on-one or small group learning sessions in Jewish Studies, secular studies tutoring in the student’s area of expertise, etc. Each YU-HANC Scholar will return to HANC twice during the academic year. Additionally, students will be asked to contribute financially to YU after they have graduated and are successfully employed so that they can help support the future studies of YU students. “HANC and Yeshiva University share in the mission of bringing wisdom to life by combining the the timeless teachings of Torah with the finest, contemporary academic education,” said Rabbi Shlomo Adelman, principal of HANC. “It is with a profound sense of hakrat hatov that we thank the Ecksteins for their generosity in providing this special gift and opportunity for our graduates to continue in this path of Torah Im Derech Eretz.”