The Cherrick family of St. Louis is making a lasting impact on the future of Jewish learning in Israel and around the world. Jordan B. and Lorraine S. Cherrick, along with their daughter Rachel M. Cherrick, have established a new endowment fund to support an annual lecture series at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, focused on strengthening Jewish identity and continuity through the power of Jewish studies.

The Adam Cherrick & Bernard Cherrick Memorial Lecture Series, named in memory of the Cherricks’ late son and a beloved cousin, will launch on June 5 with a talk by Bar-Ilan’s Professor Eliyahu Assis, titled “More than Words: Living Out Biblical Justice.”

The lecture will be broadcast live on the YouTube channel and Facebook page of the Faculty of Jewish Studies.

Live YouTube Broadcast  | <<Live Facebook Broadcast

The series is made possible by an initial gift of more than $100,000 from the Cherrick family of St. Louis. It honors Adam Cherrick z”l, the late son of Jordan and Lorraine, and Bernard Cherrick z”l, Jordan’s cousin, friend and religious mentor. Bernard Cherrick was a vice president of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a London rabbi who immigrated to Israel in 1947 after an impressive academic and religious career.

Jordan Cherrick, a lifelong St. Louis resident and graduate of Yeshiva University (summa cum laude) and Boston University School of Law, was a devoted student of Rabbi Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik z”l, whose teachings deeply influenced his life.

“We are gratified that the Adam Cherrick & Bernard Cherrick Memorial Lecture Series will transmit the highest level of a broad range of Jewish educational topics and serve to bolster Jewish identity and continuity,” Jordan Cherrick said. “Our family chose Bar-Ilan University to host the annual lecture due to the university’s acclaimed Jewish Studies program, which truly stands out among its peers at other higher education institutions across Israel. Bar-Ilan advances the vibrancy of Judaism in the context of the religious and ethical model established by Rabbi Soloveitchik himself, rooted in his belief that Torah and secular studies are both essential for leading a genuine religious Jewish life in modern times.”

Lorraine Cherrick, a Yale alumna and Boston University School of Law graduate, is executive president, general counsel, and secretary of CSI Leasing, Inc., a global equipment finance firm based in St. Charles. Their daughter, Rachel Cherrick, is a Barnard College and Washington University alumna who advises corporate leaders on mental health at Spring Health, a national behavioral health company.

Each year, the Dean of Bar-Ilan’s Faculty of Jewish Studies will select a distinguished scholar to deliver the lecture on campus in Ramat Gan. The series will span a wide range of topics in Jewish Studies, including:

• Biblical and modern Hebrew
• Yiddish, Ladino and other Jewish languages
• Tanach, Halacha and Talmud
• Jewish philosophy, ethics, theology, and mysticism
• Jewish history, culture, literature, music and art
• Hasidism and Kabbalah
• Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions
• Jewish feminism and archeology
• Science, geography and Jewish life in Israel

“We deeply appreciate not only the Cherricks’ generosity but their vision,” said Jessica Feldan, CEO of American Friends of Bar-Ilan University. ““The Cherrick family has recognized that Bar-Ilan — a Jewish university with Jewish values — is the ideal home for actualizing that vision. Students at Bar-Ilan, the only major research university in Israel with a Jewish studies requirement, graduate with a deeper understanding of what it means to be Jewish and to have a Jewish state. This lecture series promises to take the university’s impact on Israeli and global Jewish identity to even greater heights.”

Assis, who will give the first lecture, is a full professor in Bar-Ilan’s Department of Bible. He has previously served as department head, dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, and chaired the Bible Studies Committee at Israel’s Ministry of Education. His scholarship focuses on literary analysis of biblical texts, especially the books of Joshua, Judges and the Twelve Minor Prophets.

The lecture series is being overseen by Professor Michael Avioz, current dean of the Faculty of Jewish Studies. A specialist in biblical historiography and early interpretation, his work focuses on the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, prophetic literature and the writings of Josephus.