For over three decades, the Agudath Israel’s Summer of Torah women’s lecture series has been an integral part of the summer season. The biweekly shiurim are held at the Regency Estates in Woodridge, New York, and have drawn crowds of women, who come to expand both their social and hashkafic horizons.
As one participant explained, “The Summer of Torah lecture series is the highlight of my summer. It allows me to connect with like-minded women who wish to carry this inspiration through to the rest of the year.”
The event focuses on uniting women with the goal of enhancing their lives with Torah and inspiration. This year, due to the threat of COVID-19, Torah Projects focused on uniting the women virtually by livestreaming the speeches for those who were unable to attend the socially distanced sessions in the Regency.
Over 5,000 women tuned in, via livestream and in-person, to enhance their summer with lectures by Rabbi Yehuda Yona Rubinstein, Mrs. Chani Juravel, Mrs. Esther Wein, and Rabbi Jonathan Rietti. The lectures carried the theme of relationships, with emphasis placed on bein adam l’chaveiro and elevating our everyday relationships to create the ultimate relationship with Hashem.
While the set-up may not have been the standard, this year’s Summer of Torah displayed the commitment these women have to Yiddishkeit and that despite all the uncertainty facing the world today, the focus should always be self-improvement.
Torah Projects is indebted to Mrs. Faigy Ackerman, the program coordinator and the rest of the committee as well as the team of volunteers in the Regency that worked each week on setup and on site logistics. We are very grateful as well to Torah Anytime for their efforts in arranging the livestream thereby enabling many more to benefit from the program.
Click here to watch the playback of these speeches.