Mar 26, 2009 -- The Yeshiva University High Schools Annual Dinner of Tribute at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City on March 22 honored Rabbi Hyman and Ann Arbesfeld, YU Benefactors with deep roots in the YU community. Rabbi and Mrs. Arbesfeld endowed the Abraham Arbesfeld Kollel Yom Rishon and the Millie Arbesfeld Midreshet Yom Rishon in memory of Rabbi Arbesfeld’s parents. They also established a Kollel Fellowship at YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in memory of Ann’s parents, Benjamin and Rose Berger. Rabbi Arbesfeld graduated from Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB) and Yeshiva College, and received semikhah [ordination] from RIETS. Mrs. Arbesfeld served as the president of YU Women’s Organization for 10 years and continues her involvement as a member of its executive council. The Arbesfeld children are alumni of YUHS and the Arbesfeld grandchildren currently attend the high schools. “We could not be more satisfied with what the schools have done for our children’s education, ego and esteem,” Saul Stromer YH’78, who has two children at the high schools, said in his welcoming remarks. “A Yeshiva University High School education is like vitamins—it fortifies you for the rest of your life.” The program also singled out the hard work of two faculty members: Rabbi Baruch Pesach Mendelson, in his bar-mitzvah year at YUHSB, and Deena Rabinovich at YUHSG. Rabbi Mendelson serves as the rebbe of the Advanced Honors Masmidim track in 11th grade at YUHSB. He was awarded the Joseph S. and Caroline Gruss Excellent Teachers Fund Award and the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education from the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York. Mrs. Rabinovich serves as the YUHSG Israel guidance coordinator and teaches Chumash to the 11th grade. A graduate of Stern College for Women, she is an EdD candidate at YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. Mrs. Rabinovich is a 2007 recipient of the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education and the 1996 Joseph S. and Caroline Gruss Excellent Teachers Fund Award. In his address, President Richard M. Joel told the enthusiastic crowd that everyone in the room was partners in the continuum of building the next generation of the Jewish people. “There’s nothing more important for us, for Klal Yisroel [the people of Israel], or for the world,” President Joel said. “It’s a lot of work, a lot of money, and a lot of staying on the course, but we’re going to do it together.”