Bruriah’s 50th to be marked at JEC gala

As part of its 73rd annual gala dinner, on Monday, June 3, the Jewish Educational Center of Elizabeth will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Bruriah High School for Girls.

Bruriah is part of the JEC’s complex of Modern Orthodox schools and synagogues, founded by the late Rabbi Pinchas Teitz and currently presided over by his son, Rabbi Elazar Teitz. JEC is a beneficiary agency of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ.

The June 3 program will include a special memorial tribute to the late Chaya Newman, Bruriah’s longtime principal and a pioneer in yeshiva education for Jewish high school girls. Under the almost four decades of her leadership, the school population grew to some 400 students, drawn from throughout New Jersey as well as Brooklyn, Staten Island, and Manhattan. Students have come from as far as Florida, Texas, Illinois, and, most recently, Chile.

Also to be honored at the dinner is Chanie Moskowitz, the outgoing principal of the Rav Teitz Mesivta Academy, the JEC boys’ high school. Moskowitz, who will be recognized as Educator of the Year, is leaving after 17 years at the Jec and will be succeeded by Rabbi Peretz Hochbaum.

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Ephraim and Amy Bassan of Elizabeth will receive the Lev Tov Award, for their service to the JEC as a whole, and their work with the international AMIT women’s service organization.

The keynote address will be given by Rabbi Chaim Wasserman, who is flying in from Israel for the occasion. The organizers say they are expecting former staff members and alumni from around the world to attend.

JEC associate dean Rabbi Eliyahu Teitz said that Bruriah students’ reputation “is synonymous with an excellent academic profile, coupled with a deep commitment to a modern Torah lifestyle, the Land of Israel, and communal responsibility.” Graduates, he said, “may be found in communities throughout the world, and in every place they make their unique mark that is representative of a strong Bruriah education.”

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary, said Teitz, “we can be proud of the example that Bruriah has set in educating our young women, and I look forward to further progress and achievement by our staff and students alike.”