The Musnitzkys have already distinguished themselves as leaders in their native Johannesburg. Adam, a graduate of Yeshiva College and the University of the Witswatersrand, spent over a decade in leadership positions in Bnei Akiva. This included being their Camp Director and being deeply involved in their many informal education projects. He also spent five years as the Director of Informal Jewish Education at the King David Schools. More recently, he was the chairman of the Or Zarua Young Adults minyan and the founder of “I Heart Jew,” an organization dedicated to helping Jewish singles find their match. Despite his long and impressive record of communal leadership, this will be Adam’s first long term, intensive yeshiva experience. He is looking to the make the most of his time studying, and then to take what he has learned to make a profound impact on the community.
Yocheved, a graduate of Beth Jacob Girls High School and the University of the Witswatersrand, is a former Vice Chair of the South African Union of Jewish Students and a counselor at Gan Israel. She also organizes classes at the Keter Torah shul. She previously spent a summer at Midreshet Rachel v’Chaya, and is excited to return as a married woman with lofty goals of using the knowledge and skills she will gain to not only benefit her family, but also the Jewish People. She dreams of revolutionizing high school education for girls.
Adam and Yocheved, the first couple from South Africa to receive the fellowship (but far from our first South African students), said that they “are honored and feel very privileged to have received the Shapell’s Fellowship and are very excited for the opportunity.” They look forward to all that they (and their young son, Yonatan) will gain from a year focused on their family’s Torah and leadership growth.