schools

YU boys high lands $1-million scholar fund

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In honor of the centennial celebration of the Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy/Yeshiva University High School for Boys (YUHSB), Hyman Arbesfeld has made a $1 million gift to establish the Abraham Arbesfeld Scholarship Fund, named in honor of his late father.

Arbesfeld is a YU Guardian and a Benefactor and vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS). He has a long, personal history with YU. In 1945, he entered YUHSB, encouraged by his father to study Torah rather than attend the Bronx High School of Science, which was the boy’s first choice. As a scholarship recipient, he was so grateful for the opportunity to attend that he never missed a day of classes in four years.

“I was lucky enough to go through my entire YU education, from high school to RIETS, supported by scholarships,” said Arbesfeld. “I made this gift in honor of my father because without his encouragement and love, I would not have had the rich Jewish life that I have been so fortunate to lead. This gift will reassure families that they can send their sons to the high school without worrying about tuition, just the way my scholarships reassured my father.”

Arbesfeld attended Yeshiva College and received semicha from RIETS. He and his wife Ann established the Benjamin and Rose Berger Kollel Fellowship at RIETS (in honor of Ann’s parents) and two study groups, the Abraham Arbesfeld Kollel Yom Rishon for men and the Millie Arbesfeld Midreshet Yom Rishon program for women.