ORT began in 1880 and spent the next 130 years expanding and adapting to the needs of the global Jewish community. One key milestone in that remarkable history was the day in 1922 when ORT came to America, specifically to New York.

The New York area we know today has a lot in common with the one the early ORTists would have known.

• In their time, the population was more diverse than any place else in the world as people arrived from all over the world – just as they do today.

• In their time, Holland Tunnel connected New York to New Jersey while the Bronx River Parkway wound its way through Westchester County – just as they do today.

• In their time, education, communal responsibility and charitable giving served as the cornerstones of American Jewish life – just as they do today.

And the ORT of today - even after 90 years of expansion and evolution has a lot in common with the one earlier New Yorkers would have known.

• In their time, ORT was based in the New York - as it is today

• In their time, ORT organizations in the United States were supporting the global ORT network - as they are today

• In their time, ORT needed the help of men and women who wanted to make a difference - as it does today.

Want to know more? Read about ORT America and about the programs ORT America supports around the world.  Come to a local event or contact us to find out about our new programs, new places the ORT network has been established, what we want to do in the future and how you can help us keep educating individuals, impacting communities and improving the world.