After four and a half years of studying in Israel, Alpert returned to New York last summer with his wife, Rivky, and two young sons, Yosef and Mordechai and enrolled in the fall at Lander College for Men (LCM), as a finance major.   

“Coming from yeshiva, I wanted to keep up my education in Jewish studies. My situation is unique in that I am attending college at a relatively later stage in life and it took time to readjust. However, Lander provided assistance and personal attention with regard to my circumstances.  It was the perfect place for me. Their Torah study program is top notch and the college offers a very good secular education as well.”

Alpert, who lives in Far Rockaway, N.Y., has completed one year at LCM and has some intense work ahead of him. So far, he is on the fast track to making that happen. He is currently interning at Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance as a trainee in financial planning, an opportunity he found while attending Touro College’s Parnassah Expo career fair this past spring. “My main focus is getting a good job, and to do that, I am interning at a good company.”

Alpert is also pursuing the Judaic program. “Lander College has a well-organized and highly academic rabbinical track that awards a rabbinical ordination after completion. This is a great opportunity as I am looking to further my religious studies to a higher level.”

Despite the inherent stress one would expect from fulfilling simultaneous roles as father and student, Alpert, with the unwavering support of his wife and extended family, has embraced his roles with unbridled enthusiasm and is grateful to LCM’s faculty and administration. “I am really thankful to them. They came at the right time and place. It is good for my family to see that I am happy.”