Associate Dean of Simon Wiesenthal Center Visits Yeshiva

The Yeshiva had the honor of welcoming one of its most devoted friends this week, Rabbi Abraham Cooper on an informal visit with his wife, Roz.  As Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, Rabbi Cooper has been instrumental in bringing a number of visitors from diverse backgrounds to get a taste of the Yeshiva over the years. This includes a former member of the Japanese parliament, previously a sworn enemy of Israel, who became one of Israel’s true friends, and a delegation of Muslim leaders from Indonesia who lit Chanukah candles at the Yeshiva, dancing with our Hesderniks around the Bet Midrash.

The Coopers’ relationship with the Drori family and Kiryat Shemona goes back to 1974 when, as a young couple, they came to Israel to do volunteer work after the Yom Kippur War and spent an entire summer in what was then a small, remote, poverty-stricken town, taking care of a large group of new immigrants.