- Ohr HaTorah Day School
-
Ohr HaTorah Day School Location Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Coordinates 49°51′32″N 97°11′20″W / 49.859°N 97.189°WCoordinates: 49°51′32″N 97°11′20″W / 49.859°N 97.189°W Information School type Private Jewish day school Grades Grades N–8 Language Hebrew, English Ohr HaTorah Day School was an Orthodox Jewish day school, located in the River Heights neighbourhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It existed between 1998 - 2011.
The school was founded in 1998 by a group of parents who were interested in a combination of high-level in both Torah studies and general studies, which was perceived not available in other schools in Winnipeg.
The school combined Judaic, Hebrew and general studies, emphasizing Torah values and Zionism. Ohr HaTorah was funded by parents' tuition, the Manitoba Education Ministry, the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and Torah Umesorah.
Ohr HaTorah Day School also operated a full-day day care and a nursery school. Most of the nursery school students continued at Ohr HaTorah, while a minority moved on to other Jewish or public schools.
Ohr HaTorah started the 2008–09 academic year with about 60 students, ranging in age from 2 years to grade 4, after a 100% growth between 2003 and 2007, despite the drop in enrollment in other Jewish schools in Winnipeg. However, in 2009 the grade school was closed and the school was left with only the pre-school and Kindergarten classes, numbering about 40 students. In June 2011 the school was completely shut down, due to financial difficulty and lack of enrollment.
The most recent principal of Ohr HaTorah was Rabbi Uriel Malka, who moved to Winnipeg with his family from Denver in 2008 and was originally from Israel. Rabbi Malka served as Principal until 2009 and was later killed in the 2010 Mount Carmel forest fire. He and his wife were emissaries of the Jewish Agency. He replaced Rabbi David Weksler, who is currently the principal of the Givat Shmuel elementary school. Rabbi Weksler had replaced Rabbi Amihai Bannett, who was the first emissary of the Jewish Agency in the school and is currently the educational director of Israel Connect, an international educational organization.
Rabbi Yaacov Benamou was the first principal of the school, along with his tenure as Senior Rabbi at the Herzlia-Adas Yeshurun Synagogue, which hosted Ohr HaTorah.
List of Principals of Ohr HaTorah
Principal Term Rabbi Yaacov Benamou 1998-2003 Rabbi Amihai Bannett 2003-2005 Rabbi David Weksler 2005-2008 Rabbi Uriel Malka 2008-2009 Categories:- Manitoba school stubs
- Jewish organization stubs
- Educational institutions established in 1998
- Educational institutions disestablished in 2011
- Elementary schools in Winnipeg
- Jewish schools in Canada
- Jews and Judaism in Manitoba
- Modern Orthodox Jewish day schools
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
