YBA Orot Yehuda hosts Simchat Beit HaShoeva in Efrat

Natalie Sopinsky (second from L) with the YBA Orot Yehuda
Event Committee members

On Saturday night, Oct 11th, YBA Orot Yehuda sponsored a Simchat Beit HaShoeva at the local community center in Efrat. 

The event featured a huge concert performance of the Gatt Brothers, who gained fame as the "Israeli Simon & Garfunkle" for their renditions of The Boxer and other 70"s classics on the Israel version of "The Voice." 

While they may sound like Simon & Garfunkle, the Gatt Brothers look NOTHING like Simon & Garfunkle, dressed in their traditional Hassidic garb. 

YBA Orot Yehuda Rosh Yeshiva,
Rabbi Shlomo Kimche

Following the Gatt Brothers performance the bandstand was taken over by the YBA Orot Yehuda band, and the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Shomo Kimche took the microphone and invited everyone to stick around for dancing. 

There was a well-stocked sukkah by the entrance, with a looping photo montage of the yeshiva activities, and a short film showing the recent progress of the new building now under construction. The new campus is due to be completed by June 2015, and will have enough room to double the number of students in the school. 

YBA Orot Yehuda is widely praised as one of the best high schools in Israel for teen-aged Olim from North America, with a large percentage of English speaking students from Efrat, Gush Etzion, Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem. The school is a non-residential high school yeshiva, and the boys are bussed-in every day for the long day of learning (from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm). 

The committee responsible for planning the Simchat Beit HaShoeva was established by Natalie Sopinsky, Associate Director of AFYBA, and included the following mothers of current students: Elana Singer, Tiora Siman Tov,  Diana Rosenfelder, Leora Bejell, Chani Ugowitz, Tracy Zeit, and Eva Kesselman.