ORT Argentina celebrates 70th anniversary at Gala Dinner

02.11.06

02 November 2006 ORT Argentina Gala Dinner ORT Argentina has celebrated its 70th anniversary with a Gala Dinner that raised more than $100,000 for student scholarships. Representatives of the Israeli Embassy, Jewish Agency, Argentinas Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce and Jewish community were among the 550 people who attended the glittering evening at the Hilton Hotel in Buenos Aires. ORT Argentina President Norma Werthein addressed the guests without notes. I am speaking from the heart, Mrs Werthein said, because after more than 20 years of involvement with ORT my feelings are so strong. She recounted the history of ORT Argentina, from a small, Yiddish-speaking operation for European immigrants and refugees to todays widely respected schools with more than 7,000 students making it the most prestigious non-profit Jewish organisation in the country. And she looked to the future, outlining new projects such as the development of distance learning through the ORT Argentina Virtual Campus, sending ORT Argentina students on next years March of the Living, and the need to expand the two existing campuses to meet an increasing demand for places. Institute of Technology Principal Oscar Waisgold, ORT Argentina Chief Financial Officer Dr Adrian Moscovich, ORT Almagro Principal Diana Grimbe, ORT Argentina National Director Baruj Zaidenknop, ORT Argentina General Secretary Graciela Kirszman, ORT Belgrano Principal Viviana Jasid, Buenos Aires Board of Private Education Director General Luis Liberman and Pedagogic Director Beatriz Jauregui, Dr Jose Grunberg and ORT Uruguay Director Charlotte de Grunberg. After her speech, Luis Grynwald, President of AMIA (the Jewish community of Buenos Aires), presented her with a plaque to commemorate ORTs anniversary. Like most other lay leaders of the Jewish community, Mr Grynwalds children were educated by ORT. Other features of the evening included a short video produced by ORT students that showed the evolution of ORTs activities and a quiz about ORT, the scoring of which was managed by a computer programme designed by ORT students. The winning table is pictured above. ORT Argentina President Mrs Norma Werthein. At the end of the evening, Mrs Werthein was joined by members of the Board of ORT Argentina and senior staff to light a candle on a large cake in the shape of the iconic tower that tops the ORT offices in Buenos Aires.