[COMMUNICATED CONTENT] Nine years ago, in a nondescript basement apartment, three growth-seeking girls were determined to have a meaningful Tish B’Av. Gathering like-minded friends and enlisting Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein to share a few words, they sat on the floor together to mourn a nation’s unfathomable loss- and thus, Ohr Naava was born.

Almost a decade later, it comes as no surprise that all its branches and functions, Ohr Naava’s Tisha B’Av Program is perhaps its biggest event of the year, inspiring over five thousand women and girls who walk through the doors on that day.

Ohr Naava- founded in loving memory of Naava Katlowitz a”h- rose to meet the challenged. Each year, the groundbreaking organization creates a hard-hitting, transformative program designed to help attendees relive the destruction and appreciate the scope of the calamity. Featuring an impressive array of dynamic, powerful speakers the program has consistently transposed a dreary day characterized by lack of food into a transcendent 24 hours packed with depth, meaning and growth.

This year promises to be no different. Both the night and the day programs will be held at the Ohr Naava Center, located at 2201 East 23rd Street (corner Avenue V). Commencing with a mournful reading of Eicha at 8:40 pm, the night segment will continue with a keynote address by Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, “Days are Coming, There Will Be a Hunger in the World”. In the morning, July 16 2013, at 11 am, will be a moving Kinos reading with Rabbi Wallerstein, followed by a nonstop lineup of renowned speakers, including Rabbis Label Lam, Rabbi Motti Miller, Rabbi Shmuel Skaist, as well as Mr. Charlie Harary and Mrs. Ivy Kalazan. In addition, at two points during the day, the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Video (parts A and B) will be shown.

At the day’s climatic end, Rabbi Shmuel Skaist will deliver a riveting presentation “From Mourning to Morning” followed by a communal break-fast, where attendees can culminate with friends their hopes and dreams for a next- year Tisha B’Av that will look very different.

This way giving an opportunity for those fasting at home or unable to get out to the shiur, to being Ohr Naava’s inspiration to their own home.

And for those who can’t attend in person, all the shiurim can be viewed LIVE from the comfort of their homes, and can also be viewed retroactively, by visiting www.ohrnaava.com.

“We wish we could be in Yerushalayim,” says a wishful Rabbi Wallerstein, Ohr Naava’s legendary Founder and Director. “But until then, we’re proud to offer our community a first-of-its-kind, incredibly meaningful, all- day program. When we learn to feel the loss- only then we can rebuild.”