- National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education | Since 1940A multifaceted charity that protects, feeds, and educates thousands of children and families throughout the New York metro area and across the nation. Our Divisions
- Released Time students
- A child with two teddy bears
- Learning at Hadar Hatorah
- Chai Tots preschoolers
Education
Brings the joy of Judaism to public school students across New York City. Just one hour a week for a lifetime of joy and connection.
Visit Released Time
Since 1962, the world’s first yeshivah for the returning Jew. A gateway for men from all backgrounds to enter the world of Torah, in the heart of Crown Heights.
Visit Hadar Hatorah
Where young Jewish women learn, live, and love Judaism. Courses range from basic Hebrew to the Torah’s deepest mystical teachings.
Visit Machon L’Yahadus
A warm and nurturing environment for each child to celebrate their own individuality through exploration and learning. Three Brooklyn locations: Park Slope, Prospect Heights and Windsor Terrace.
Visit Chai Tots
The Jonas M. & Sadie Rennert Jewish Summer Fellowship: an immersive six-week retreat in the Catskill Mountains for Jewish college and graduate students, with full scholarships, marrying Hebrew language skill-building to thoughtful study of core Jewish texts, practices, and ideas.
Visit the Jewish Summer Fellowship
Camps
Established in 1953 with a special blessing from the Rebbe. 600 campers in six divisions each summer, on more than 300 acres in the Catskill Mountains, including the BJJ Teen Camp and the Sunshine Circle program for girls with special needs.
Visit Camp Emunah
Day camps in Brooklyn and Queens for Jewish public school children during school vacations, packed with exciting trips, engaging programs, games, and Torah learning.
Visit Machane Yisrael
The Rebbetzin Chave Hecht Legacy Fund: summer camp scholarships and Jewish day school tuition assistance, so that financial hardship never stands in the way of a child’s Jewish education.
Visit Keren Chave
Social Services
Grocery and clothing vouchers, rent and utility assistance, school and camp scholarships, and weekly food distribution. Quick, effective and dignified assistance to all sectors of the community.
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Since 1953, bringing happiness and healing to sick kids of every background, with toys, pediatric playrooms and hospital programs. Happy Kids Heal Faster!
Visit Toys for Hospitalized Children
Founded in 1988 to protect our community from the devastating effects of substance abuse, through prevention education in schools, parenting workshops and referrals to counseling.
Visit Operation Survival
For more than 60 years, serving the greater New York Jewish community with marriage counseling, mediation and Gittin.
Learn More
Redeeming captives. Helping Jews facing imprisonment and their families meet the cost of legal defense. All donations are tax deductible.
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Brand new Sheva Brachos outfits and accessories for Kallahs, chosen at a private appointment, just like a regular shop but without the price tags.
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1940
The Previous Rebbe founds the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education.
1941
The Released Time Program begins. More than a quarter of a million Jewish boys and girls have learned through it since.
1953
Camp Emunah opens its doors. The same year, Toys for Hospitalized Children begins with a red fire truck for a boy in the hospital.
1962
Hadar Hatorah opens, the world’s first yeshivah for the returning Jew.
1972
The NCFJE opens a school for young Jewish women, known today as Machon L’Yahadus.
1979
The NCFJE helps rescue over one thousand Jewish children from Iran.
1985
The Largest Menorah is lit for the first time at Grand Army Plaza.
1988
Operation Survival is founded to fight substance abuse in Crown Heights and beyond.
1991
Camp Emunah opens its BJJ Teen Camp, Bnos Yaakov Yehuda, in honor of Rabbi Yaakov Yehuda Hecht.
2009
The Pidyon Shevuyim Fund is established to help Jews facing imprisonment and their families meet the cost of legal defense.
2022
Keren Chave is founded in memory of Rebbetzin Chave Hecht, carrying forward her life’s work so that every Jewish child can go to a Jewish day school and summer camp.
Today
The NCFJE continues to operate the programs developed under Rabbi J. J. Hecht, providing fast, discreet, and dignified assistance to families throughout the Jewish community.
“That’s how he was. He jumped in, even if the water was freezing.”
Rebbetzin Chave Hecht
Our Founders
Rebbetzin Chave Hecht
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Soon after its founding, Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht was appointed to lead the NCFJE and broaden the range and intensity of its activities. He was the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s right-hand man, and a leading Chabad rabbi, educator, writer and radio commentator. Rebbetzin Chave Hecht, who began as a Released Time teacher at 17, founded Camp Emunah and devoted nearly eight decades to Jewish education.
