Issue 03 · SEPTEMBER 2026
A Note from CEO, Dov Ben-Shimon
Dear Friends,
As we step into 5787, I’m filled with hope for what this year holds for our World ORT family. That hope is already showing up everywhere I look.
I see it in our award-winning student from South Africa, practicing Tikkun Olam and building a better world with his own hands. I see it in Venezuela, where a school that has waited years to join our network is finally formally affiliated with us. And I feel it in Ukraine where, despite horrific conditions, our students and teachers show up every day to learn, because they refuse to let anything take their future from them. I’ll hear more firsthand from our educators on ORT Live, scheduled for October 15, when they share stories from the field — I hope you’ll join us.
This is what makes our network extraordinary: no matter where our students are, they carry forward this spirit of hope. That’s only possible because of you.
Shanah Tovah u’Metukah, a sweet and meaningful new year, to you and your family.
Dov Ben-Shimon
CEO, World ORT
Featured Story:
Venezuela Officially Joins the World ORT Network, First New School in Four Years
Colegio UE Moral y Luces “Herzl Bialik” in Caracas is now part of the World ORT family. It’s the first new school affiliation in four years, and it comes full circle: World ORT had a deep history in Venezuela, running Jewish education and trade workshops until 2005, before the connection quieted. Students stayed close through World ORT’s Ecology Summer Schools, and now that bond is official.
The timing matters. In June, two earthquakes struck Venezuela. No one at the school was physically harmed, but the disaster damaged the school’s facilities and shook the wider community. This affiliation gives the school something it needs now more than ever: the backing of a global network as it rebuilds.
“This affiliation has been years in the making, but its timing could not be more meaningful,” said Dov Ben-Shimon, World ORT CEO. “Venezuela’s Jewish community is still recovering from the earthquakes that struck in June, and welcoming Colegio UE Moral y Luces ‘Herzl Bialik’ into our global family means this school no longer faces that recovery alone.”
Network Spotlight:
Starting School Underground in Ukraine
September 1 marked the first day of school in Ukraine. But schools did not open in the way anyone hoped. With attacks continuing to escalate, ORT schools in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Odessa were advised that only the newest first graders and graduating eleventh graders would mark the start of their year underground in shelters. Everyone else is back to online learning until further notice.
A child who started school in September 2019, at age 5 or 6, is now 12 or 13. Their entire education has unfolded between a pandemic and a war, one disruption folding into the next with barely a breath in between.
We recognize ORT Ukraine’s strength and resilience amid such unimaginable circumstances. Please join us in congratulating the schools, students, and families on the start of the new school year, as we take a look at these remarkable photos from their first day.
Fundraising Focus
Sharing Gratitude: A Letter from Lithuania
While you often hear about the impact we’re making across our network, sometimes the story is best told by the schools themselves. Director Dr. Ruth Reches of Vilnius Sholom Aleichem ORT High School in Lithuania writes that the World ORT partnership “has made a real and lasting difference to our students, our teachers, and our entire school community.”
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Thursday, October 15 at 11:00 AM EST
Join Us for ORT live: A New Online Series
We’re excited to introduce ORTlive, a new online series hosted by World ORT CEO Dov Ben-Shimon. In our first episode, Dov sits down with three educators from three countries to talk about equal access to educational excellence.
In Case You Missed It:
ORT South Africa Student Takes First Place in Harmatz Award for Social Responsibility
Teen tennis player, Luke, set out to coach kids on the court. But in the process, he built something bigger. His students didn’t just get better at tennis. They got fitter, and happier. That effort earned him first place in the World ORT Gina and Joseph Harmatz Award for Social Responsibility.
The award celebrates students who live out Tikkun Olam, our shared duty to heal and repair the world. This year brought a record number of entries, from students across seven different countries with ORT schools and programs. Luke, from ORT South Africa, had the project that stood above them all. We couldn’t be prouder. Read his full story, and learn more about the second and third place winners, online
By the Numbers
80,000+
Students
200,000+
Beneficiaries
30+
Countries
What’s Next
That’s September. Thanks for reading, we’ll see you in October.