Dear TVT Community,

For 36 years, so many have given their time, talent, generosity, and care to help TVT grow. Some of their contributions are familiar. Others happen quietly, behind the scenes, or in moments known only to the people whose lives they touched.

This year’s TVT Fund campaign invites us to get to know some of those people through their own TVT stories.

Our inspiration comes from the Jewish tradition of the Lamed Vavniks: 36 hidden righteous people whose goodness helps sustain the world. They are the unsung heroes—people who do good without seeking recognition. In TVT’s 36th year, this tradition offers a meaningful way to celebrate the people who have helped sustain our school, often without expecting thanks.

Earlier this fall, we invited our community to nominate people from any chapter of TVT’s history whose contributions deserved to be known. Drawing from those nominations, we selected 36 individuals to take part in this year’s campaign.

Thirty-six gives this campaign its shape, but it cannot capture everyone who deserves our gratitude. We could not include every nominee, and there are countless others whose contributions have made a lasting difference. Every member of this community has a place in TVT’s story. Through these 36 voices, we hope to celebrate the school that so many people have helped build.

Beginning today, the 36th day of TVT's 36th school year, you will hear from our 36 Lamed Vavniks, with an email arriving in your inbox Sunday–Friday mornings. They will share how their TVT stories began, the relationships and experiences that have stayed with them, and what makes this school special to them. Some voices will be familiar; others may introduce you to a chapter of TVT you have never known.

Their reflections offer a personal look at the lasting value of a TVT education: the learning that opens possibilities, the relationships that continue long after graduation, and the Jewish identity and sense of responsibility students carry into their lives. Through your support of the TVT Fund, you help sustain these experiences for our students today and for those who will follow.

We begin where TVT’s story began—with Irving “Papa” Gelman, the man whose vision and determination made this school possible.

In 1991, Irving “Papa” Gelman founded Tarbut V’Torah with 36 students and a promise: that Jewish education would endure in Orange County. Established in memory of his daughter Naomi, TVT gave that promise a home. It was a school where children could learn deeply, grow in their Jewish identity, and carry their heritage into the future.

The name Tarbut V’Torah connected this new school to the Tarbut school Papa had attended as a child in Poland. He understood firsthand what a Jewish education could give a young person: knowledge, identity, and a foundation that could remain with them throughout their life. At TVT, he wanted generations of children to have that same foundation.

Papa’s vision brought others into the work. Families, educators, and benefactors helped the school grow, building a campus, expanding opportunities for students, and making a TVT education accessible to more families. What began with 36 students became a community sustained by many people who shared his belief in its future.

Today, Papa’s promise lives in the daily life of our school: in students asking difficult questions, discovering their abilities, celebrating Shabbat, and learning what it means to take responsibility for one another. It lives in the relationships formed here and in the Jewish learning and values our graduates carry with them.

In our 36th year, we begin by honoring the person who made that beginning possible. Each of us has an opportunity to help his promise endure.

Help carry Papa’s promise forward with a gift to the TVT Fund.