At a New York Board of Rabbis event yesterday I was privileged to learn from Father Gabriel Nadaf, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Nazareth. Father Nadaf has been persecuted by Muslim leaders for his urging Arab Christians to enter the Israeli Defense Forces. Nadaf wants Christians to become integrated into Israeli society, where they have lived so well under the State of Israel. For these words he has received numerous death threats as well as threats to his economic security. Abbas has urged Greek Orthodox patriarch to eliminate Nadaf’s position, thereby depriving him of his livelihood, because of Nadaf’s belief that Christian Arabs must ally themselves with their Jewish bretheren and actively support their homeland of Israel.

It was such a blessing to get to meet and learn from Father Nadaf, who met us at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue because of the security of that building. I cannot imagine his life, in which he is constantly surrounded by security, his home surrounded by surveillance and his son was beat up to the point of near-death because of Father Nadaf’s views. Father Nadaf reports that thankfully his son is almost healed from the attack and in 1 month he will enlist in the Israeli Defense Forces.

I wish there were more non-Jews like Father Nadaf in Israel, so that he was not a lone voice living each day in danger. I understand that others are afraid of speaking out, and what I found most impressive about Father Nadaf is that he is not afraid. As he pointed out, he already has a $3 million bounty on his head from Hamas so “enough of doing things in secret.” I pray that Father Nadaf will be a leader within the Greek Orthodox Church for years to come, hopefully one day having the blessing of becoming the Patriarch. We need more Father Nadafs!

To Newsday’s credit, their article about the Jerusalem shooting (“Five Murdered at Morning Prayers”) was much better than most. It humanized Rabbi Mosheh Twersky (z”l), speaking of his connections to Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (z”l) and of his love for Torah. It also mentioned the strong condemnation of the attack from the Obama administration and its praise from Hamas. However, one thing that surprised me was a bullet point at the top of the second page, stating Israel vows to retaliate for deaths of the ‘innocent.’ Innocent in quotation marks? The implication appears to be that these rabbis and the Druze policeman were not innocent, or perhaps the authors of the article are asserting that this event was (as Abbas stated) a result of the “provocation” of the IDFs action in blocking Muslims from ascending the Temple Mount. I hope this is not the case, for if it is then the authors are sorely mistaken.

As I learned yesterday, this synagogue was specifically targeted because it was Haredi (ultra-orthodox). Haredim do not serve in the Israeli army and they do not carry guns with them to worship, as the modern orthodox do. They also tend not to be Zionist, or at least political Zionists. The two brothers who orchestrated the attack knew that they could not target a right-wing, Zionist synagogue because the worshipers carry guns and they would have been shot dead on the spot.* The fact that they targeted an ultra-orthodox synagogue illustrates that they were not going after Zionists or the people who are calling for a return to Jewish control of the Temple Mount. Rather, they were going after whichever Jews were vulnerable enough against whom to launch a successful attack. That is why I compared the perpetrators to Amalek because the nation of Amalek did the exact same thing against the Israelites: attacking the weak and the vulnerable.

I hope that Newsday recognizes this mistake. To write ‘innocent’ implies that the victims were not innocent, which is an implication Newsday should NOT be making. This was not an attack against soldiers-rather it was an attack against innocent civilians who have immigrated to the land of Israel to make it their home. I hope Newsday is more careful with its use of punctuation in the future.

*I learned this from Rabbi Art Vernon of Congregation Shaaray Shalom in West Hempstead who has family in Har Nof, where the shooting occurred.

When I attended Tuesday morning minyan (our prayer service) I was told about a horrific shooting at the Torat Moshe Yeshiva in Har Nof. Two Palestinian cousins, using meat cleavers and a gun, stormed the yeshiva and killed 4 people, including the Rosh Kollel (Head of the Yeshiva). 3 of the 4 were dual citizens with America. We said Psalm 130 at the end of services in solidarity with Israel.

This attack brought two images to my mind. First, the fact that I have been able to pray to God every morning at services without fear of an attack. I cannot imagine being in the middle of a prayer to God, in a state of great fervor and vulnerability, and all of a sudden being attacked by a terrorist. Secondly, it reminded me of when I attended a Heritage Retreats program in Santa Barbara, California, for which the unstated goal was to get participants to sign up for a year of yeshiva in Har Nof. While the yeshiva they wanted us to attend was Machon Shlomo, it made me think about what if I had decided to study in yeshiva and there was a terrorist attack down the street? What would have been my reaction to hearing the sound of the gun or people being butchered to death? How would I have reacted hearing that talleism (prayer shawls) were covered in blood?

The brutality of attacking when people are praying to God also reminded me of the attacks of the Yom Kippur War. For some reason, our holy moments of prayer, when we are not focused on this world but rather on our relationship with God, become used against us as a source of vulnerability. It reminds me of Amalek, attacking our ancestors when they were offguard, unprepared. Not only is it cowardly, but more importantly it is barbaric and sickening. I pray for better times in Israel but also that Israel (in the words of Warren Kozak, who I heard last night), sends “a strong response.” To not do so will (unfortunately, in my opinion) show our enemies that they have a green light for future terrorist attacks.

My Road to the Rabbinate

Thank you to Terry Ginzburg, Evelyn Rubin and the Sisterhood, for giving me the privilege of speaking about my time at The Jewish Theological Seminary.  It is a great honor to me to be part of a congregation that strongly values its connection to The Jewish Theological Seminary and that has been a generous financial contributor to the school at which I was recently ordained.

I think it is fitting that we honor our Sisterhood Women of Achievement on this Shabbat. This Torah portion is dedicated to Sarah, our first matriarch, who did so much to establish our people. Following in the example of Sarah, Marian Sadick and Cindy Tannenbaum have done so much to strengthen our Sisterhood and give back to Conservative institutions of higher learning.

I grew up in a close-knit, loving family for whom attending weekly synagogue services and celebrating Jewish holidays were extremely important. My parents and my siblings are essential contributors to my strong Jewish identity.  I also attended a community Jewish day school and loved learning Hebrew and Judaics as well as getting to know students of each Jewish denomination.

When I began college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I wanted to become a lawyer.  I planned to get a double major in History and Political Science and then enroll in Law School at Harvard or Stanford.  My first semester I took a Hebrew class that would change those plans.  The course was about the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightnment.  I read the works of Jewish poets who, though largely secular, knew their Bible cold, wrote in beautiful Hebrew and had strong connections to the Land of Israel.  At that time a thought, or as we learned at JTS, a kal vahomer, entered my mind.  I thought, if those secular Jews still had strong roots to their history and tradition, how much more so should I as someone who was religious?  From this class, I decided to change from majoring in Political Science to majoring in Hebrew and Judaic Studies.  In such, my journey to the rabbinate began.

For me, the choice to attend The Jewish Theological Seminary for rabbinical school was a no-brainer-in fact I did not apply anywhere else.  The childhood rabbi who was my greatest role model, Rabbi Lee Buckman, graduated from the Seminary.  Rabbi Buckman taught me Bible one-on-one in high school, and his passion for Jewish education and generosity in giving his time to further my education were strong influences on me.  I wanted to go to a school where I could have both great breadth and depth in Jewish education, where I could become a teacher with a strong Jewish knowledge base and be a role model to others like Rabbi Buckman was to me.  When I visited classes during the JTS Prospective Students Weekend, I was impressed to discover the friendliness of the students and their excitement for Jewish learning.  It seemed like a perfect fit for me, and I was overjoyed when I was accepted and admitted to JTS.

In rabbinical school, I had the opportunity to learn from many of the top scholars of Jewish texts.  I learned Midrash from Rabbi Burt Visotzky, the author of key commentaries on Proverbs and Leviticus, who I also joined in interfaith work with Christian and Muslim groups.  I was also fortunate to learn Medieval Jewish History from Dr. Benjamin Gampel, a world renowned scholar of Medieval Spanish Jewry.  In addition, I learned Jewish Law Codes from Rabbi Joel Roth and Rabbi David Golinkin.  It was exciting to learn from these professors, who in addition to being top-notch scholars are master storytellers and are able to relate their scholarly material to their students.

Another highlight of my time in rabbinical school was being with a class of intelligent peers who shared my thirst for Jewish knowledge and for making a difference in Jewish communities throughout the world.  We had a close class community, especially during our year in Israel, when we studied at the Schechter Institute.  That year, we had monthly Shabbat dinner as a class, and we went on a number of hikes and explorations (tiyulim) of Israel.  It was powerful to spend 6 years with like-minded people in a strong Jewish community.

In addition, I am grateful for the number of internships that JTS helped me acquire during my time in rabbinical school.  I was a rabbinic intern at the Jewish Council of Urban Affairs in Chicago, where I worked on criminal justice reform and learned from top social justice activists.  I was also an education intern at Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn, for which I created a Mitzvah Fair and helped develop a professional development program for Hebrew High teachers.  In addition, I served as a student chaplain at Bellevue Hospital, where I administered care to prison psych patients as well as to those in the detox and cardiac units.  I also was blessed to serve at a number of High Holiday pulpits, including one in London, England.  I was able to be exposed to such a rich variety of internships which have and will continue to enhance my work as a rabbi because I was a student at JTS.

I have spoken about the opportunities given to me.  I was very fortunate to receive generous financial aid all 6 years that I attended JTS.  For the first 5 years, I received a scholarship from a family in the Detroit area.  My final year I received a fellowship from the Legacy Heritage Foundation to serve a small congregation in Flint, Michigan.  Although I always had 2-3 jobs in addition, the aide paid for approximately half of my total costs of tuition, room and board, which is not cheap in New York City.  Without this aide, I would not have been able to fulfill my lifelong calling of becoming a rabbi.

I was asked to speak about my road to the rabbinate, and that’s why so much of this is about me, but really it’s about you.  My dream has been actualized in coming to the Jericho Jewish Center, where I have been so warmly welcomed.  I have been privileged to meet in real life people who made my dream a reality.  It is because of people like you in this room that I have the opportunity to do what I enjoy most: teach Torah and build community.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support that you have given and continue to give to institutions like JTS which enrich Jewish communities throughout the world.  I thank each and every one of you who have ever contributed to JTS and to the Conservative Movement.  Rabbinical school is a challenging 5-6 year program, and so many students need financial help.  Your help truly makes a difference.  Thank you.

Reading about the skirmishes and shootings at The Temple Mount is deeply upsetting to me. I remember visiting the Temple Mount twice during my year in Israel (2008-09). The first time, as I was waiting to go up the ramp by the Kotel (Western Wall), a couple secular Israeli soldiers gave me a hard time. One said that going up to the Temple Mount will make me tamei (ritually impure) to which I replied that I am already tamei (as are we all) for having entered a cemetery. Another chided me for going before the coming of Mashiach (The Messiah) but I was stubborn and went anyway. When I reached the top of the Mount, I was astonished to see how beautiful The Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa were from up close. While I could not enter these Muslim holy sites or pray on the Mount, I appreciated seeing the richness of all that was up there.

During my year in Israel I also went to numerous Christian holy sites with a roommate (tomb of the virgin Mary, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Gethsemane, The church of all nations right by the Mount of Olives) a number of which are in East Jerusalem. I enjoyed walking around and listening to Arabic music blasting from speakers. Certainly I took precautions (wearing a baseball cap over my kippah) but I was able to go see some amazing sites.

I worry about being able to see these sites in the future. My father was able to enter the mosques on the Temple Mount. I was able to see the mosques through ascending to the Temple Mount but not to enter them. Will my children be able to ascend to the Temple Mount at all? I hope it will be the case, but it remains to be seen. I pray for an end to this violence so that all people can worship wherever they choose in the Holy Land.

I’ve been meaning to write about the conversion bill in Israel ever since I heard Rabbi Uri Regev speak this past Monday at the Institute for Adult Jewish Studies. Rabbi Regev illustrated that the majority of Israelis do not want conversions to be regulated by the Chief Rabbinate, yet the Chief Rabbis, Rabbi David Lau and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef will not relinquish control of it. Numerous measures have been tried, one of which was to have more liberal Orthodox city rabbis (including Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat) sit on batei din (Jewish courts) for conversion, but there has been resistance to each attempt. The problem is that numerous Israelis are not considered Jewish by the Chief Rabbinate, whether because of patrilineal descent or a prior conversion that the Rabbinate does not accept. Such individuals cannot get married in Israel, yet if they get married outside of the land and return their marriage will be accepted. In this post I want to focus on those who have converted to Judaism.

Unfortunately, converts sometimes get hit from two angles: either their conversion was invalid because it was not done by the “right rabbi” (this could be a Reform, Conservative or even Orthodox rabbi who does not have the authority invested by the Chief Rabbinate) or their conversion can be considered valid by an Orthodox rabbi in the diaspora but not by the Interior Ministry of Israel (which interestingly accepts Reform and Conservative conversions in the Diaspora).

This question of “When is a convert considered Jewish?” is often one of the most painful and difficult questions because it depends on according to whom. In reality it should not be so difficult. The Shulchan Arukh, the preeminent code of Jewish law, says that after someone accepts becoming part of the Jewish people, is taught some of the easier commandments and some of the more difficult commandments, goes before a beit din (Jewish court of 3) and immerses in a mikveh (body of natural water). At this point said individual is considered Jewish. There are NO strings attached to this whatsoever! It is time that the Chief Rabbinate and the Interior Ministry both get into agreement on this basic principle so that our converts, who have made great sacrifices to become Jews, do not suffer further pain and humiliation.

For the latest article on the conversion bill from The Jewish Week, please see the below:

http://www.thejewishweek.com/editorial-opinion/gary-rosenblatt/conversions-vote-loosens-grip-chief-rabbinate

I was disturbed this week to read in The Jewish Week about an Orthodox rabbi (Rabbi Purzansky)’s comparison of the Jewish Week to Der Strumer, the Nazi propaganda newspaper of the 1930s. I recognize that this rabbi was bothered by The Jewish Week mentioning that he shared the company of Rabbi Freundel, who was arrested and charged with voyeurism. Nevertheless, the fact that the preeminent Jewish paper in New York was compared to a paper which incited people against Jews was shocking. It took me back to my days at the University of Wisconsin, when I was by Capitol Hill seeing a protest of the Iraq War. One of the signs that I saw had a picture of President George W Bush on one side, an equals sign and then a picture of Adolf Hitler on the other.

Hyperbolic, sensationalist statements like this anger me because they show the short-sightedness of those who communicate them. Making an absurd comparison is a way to engender animosity, destroying relationships and completely misinforming the audience. The better approach is to step back and attempt to engage the other in dialogue, understanding his or her perspective. While people may want to see these statements (after all, they sell papers), they cause so much harm and unnecessary damage. I wonder what would have happened if Rabbi Purzansky had taken a moment of introspection, realizing that The Jewish Week was not trying to link him to Rabbi Freundel. Maybe he would have called the editor and had a lengthy conversation that would have led to the editor publishing that no such connection was intended. The outcome would have been the same without the irreparable damage that it caused.

When I think about marriage, I think about all the changes it brings. Two individuals join together to become one new whole. There is so much newness that results from this situation: a new name, a new home, a new status both socially and on one’s tax returns. So much excitement yet also some uncertainty as to what the future will bring.

An enormous, completely life-changing journey is at the heart of  this week’s Torah portion, as in the first line, God tells Avram and Sarai לך לך מארצך וממולדתך ומבית אביך אל הארץ אשר אראך  “You go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you.”  Why would this couple choose to make such a journey, leaving the land, people and way of life familiar to them to venture into the unknown?  Why would anybody do this?  The medieval commentator Rashi said that the purpose of Avram going on this journey is ולטובתך להנאתך, “for his betterment and his own good,” as God will make him the father of a great nation in this new land.  In accordance with Rashi, I see Avram’s faith and trust in God’s word as enabling him to have this life-changing, beneficial journey.

Rashi’s view is expanded upon by the Slonimer Hasidic rabbi Shalom Noach Barozovsky in his recent book Netivot Shalom.  Netivot Shalom references Isaac Luria, who stated that each person has a unique destiny to follow.  For Luria, everyone’s life conditions are different because each of us has work specifically set aside for us to do.    Netivot Shalom expands on this by stating that we cannot be another, only ourselves, and we must use our full self to develop spiritually and engage in תקון עולם, repairing the world.  In progressing on our life journeys, we, like Avram and Sarai, are striving to fulfill what we are sent out to accomplish.

What a beautiful concept: that each of us, like Avram and Sarai, has a personal path to follow that will lead us to our destination.   We are challenged like Avram and Sarai to and continue working towards a better future. Avram and Sarai’s dilemma in this parsha is our dilemma today: to have faith and trust in God as we continue to meet life’s challenges.  This is extremely difficult to do because we have no idea where the next step of the journey will lead us, and this requires us to continually make choices.

This concept ties directly into an auf ruf, the celebration of an upcoming marriage. Marriage is such a beautiful thing-two individuals becoming one household and pledging loyalty, commitment and love to each other. At the same time, marriage is an example of lekh lecha, of entering into new territory which one has not previously explored. Especially in a first marriage, neither party of the couple is sure what the future will bring. However, what both members of the couple have is faith in working together towards a strong future, the same faith that Avram and Sarai had when beginning their journey.

I use this teaching in celebration of your coming marriage because I know you will have the same success in setting out on your life journey that Avram and Sarai did. You will be there for one another at all moments in life, bringing goodness and blessing into everything you do. While you do not know where the future will lead you, by being at each other’s side, you will achieve great things. May your marriage next week bring you everything you have ever hoped for and dreamed about as you walk through life together. May you go forth in love and devotion to one another and may all your deeds be blessed. Shabbat Shalom.

On a beautiful fall day, 20 of us drove to Caumsett State Park for a calm, beautiful hike. On the hike we noticed the changing colors of the leaves as Fall begins to set in on Long Island. When we reached the ocean we paused to appreciate the ocean and the beauty of our natural surroundings. We also gathered “mermaid stones” on the seashore and saw some clams which had washed up on shore. We did a short teaching on the power of rain in Judaism before returning back to our cars. Caumsett is known as one of the most beautiful places on Long Island, and we most certainly discovered this to be the case on our hike! All ages were represented, from 7 to 77. We are now taking a break until the spring when we will be back to hike Bear Mountain amongst other sites.

Based off requests I received, I am adding my Israel Sermon from Rosh Hashanah as a post:

Jewish Unity

It is so wonderful to see so many people gathered together today to join us in worship. Parents are united with children, grandparents with grandchildren, uncles and aunts with nephews and nieces. I want to be sure that everyone knows that you always have a place here at the new Jericho Jewish Center. The brochure that we provide is just the tip of the iceberg of what we are offering during this year. Please be frequent visitors and please give me your input as to what you’d like to see at your Jericho Jewish Center.

When I was growing up spending Shabbat with my parents, one of the highlights was always discussing the rabbi’s sermon at lunch. My parents loved getting my thoughts on the sermon and sharing their own. My father especially loved when the sermon was about Israel, referring to it as a “red meat sermon.”

This year I cannot imagine a rabbi not speaking about Israel on the High Holidays. So much has happened in such a short time, much of it tragic and upsetting. I think back to June 12, 11 days after I was married, when the 3 yeshiva boys were captured by Hamas. Those 3 boys were the classmates of family friends in Efrat, who I had had the pleasure of staying with twice. When the boys were captured, I was travelling to San Diego to be with my wife and her parents, and I did not learn about the situation until I attended a Sephardi shul on Shabbat morning. When they said to pray for yeshiva boys who had been captured, I was in shock. I remembered celebrating 3 years prior when Gilad Shalit was released; thinking that the days of captured soldiers was a thing of the past. As we now know, Naftali Frankel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach were murdered by Hamas, along with Hadar Golin. We also know that Hamas systematically built a network of tunnels into Israel with the desire of kidnapping Israeli civilians and taking them through the tunnels on this very Rosh Hashanah. Thankfully, Israel discovered and destroyed these tunnels before Hamas could carry out its plan.

Israelis had a summer running back and forth between their homes and bomb shelters after hearing sirens about rocket launchings. Thankfully the Iron Dome destroyed most of the rockets before they landed. Israel distributed leaflets warning those in Gaza to evacuate their homes, while Hamas kept them in their homes and set up its facilities in schools and hospitals. Israelis had large public funerals to mourn their dead while Hamas encouraged them to be martyrs.

We also had a summer filled with terrible anti-Semitic actions, including the murder of 4 people outside the Jewish Museum in Brussels, a rabbi who was attacked by 4 youths in Berlin for wearing a kippah and rallies in European cities in which “Death to the Jews” was chanted-just as it was chanted in 1896 at the Alfred Dreyfus trial. We saw the beheading of two American journalists and one British journalist by the Islamic State-one of whom happened to also be an Israeli citizen. We saw war crimes and terrorist atrocities committed by Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shabab in Somalia and by the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq-all of which are sending a simple message: convert to Islam or die. We see Iran ever closer to building a nuclear weapon.

Why am I talking about this today? Many of you have read the newspapers, seen the reports on television and know the details of Operation Protective Edge and the anti-Semitism in Europe far better than I do. My job is not to be a news reporter or to offer a picture of doom-and-gloom for the New Year: rather it is to address the events of the day and find a hopeful message from them. How do we combat anti-Semitism and anti-Israel reports in the media? Two words: JEWISH UNITY. Let’s look at a few examples.

Max Steinberg, a lone soldier from Los Angeles, was killed in battle along with 12 other soldiers in the Gaza Strip. Max had no family or friends living in Israel. There was concern about him having a suitable and proper funeral on Mount Herzl. What happened? 30,000 people showed up to honor Max’s life and his dedication to service in the Israeli Defense Forces. 30,000 people! Saying that Max had no family in Israel is not true: the entire people of Israel was his family! What makes it even more incredible is the 20,000 who came to lone soldier Nissim Carmeli’s funeral two nights before. These were two powerful acts demonstrating Israelis standing together as one people.

Another sign of unity in Israel was Israeli and Americans’ reactions towards Operation Protective Edge. The Knesset, Israel’s governing body, is often divided on every matter, yet the Jewish votes in the Knesset were almost unanimous in their support of Operation Protective Edge. It did not matter whether one was right or left wing: when the reports on the kidnappings and on the tunnels came out, there was support across the board to act. I also saw this in our country. Those who are often dovish on Israel wrote in support of the military efforts: one even wrote “I’m done apologizing for Israel.” People were able to put aside their legitimate disagreements on governmental policies, recognizing that Israel’s well-being was at stake. Unfortunately, it often takes danger to lead to unity, and this situation was no exception to that.

A third way we saw Jewish unity this summer was through participation at Israel rallies throughout the country. There were numerous rallies in Manhattan, one of which had over 10,000 attendees, as well as a rally at the Mid Island Y. This summer, we literally stood for Israel. We made banners, sang together and heard engaging speakers who called us to action: If Not Now When?

How do we begin a new year at a point of uncertainty for Israel and for Jewry? We do so with an optimistic outlook, actively working towards a better future. We do so by “not giving up hope,” in the words of Racheli Frankel, whose son was one of the 3 yeshiva boys killed. If Racheli Frankel can still be hopeful for the future after the tragedy she went through, how much more so do we need to be. These examples of Jewish unity demonstrate to us that by working together, we can send a strong, powerful message that Jews of all stripes stick together.

There are multiple ways that you can help our congregation stand unified with Israel. One is by joining us on Sunday October 26 at our Musical Arts Gala concert. This concert features Israeli artist Rita, dubbed “The Israeli Madonna.” A portion of the proceeds from the concert will benefit the lone soldier organization A Hero in Heaven. Not only will you be supporting Israeli music but you also will be supporting an organization that helps those who choose to make Aliyah and serve in the Israeli Defense Forces.

Another way you can show Jewish unity is through visiting Israel and making your own personal connection to the Land of Milk and Honey. The Jericho Jewish Center is planning a trip to Israel in the Fall or Winter of 2015-16. This trip is open to all, whether you have been to Israel 50 times or have not yet had the pleasure of going, and the itinerary will be determined in part by the participants. Our opening meeting is at the synagogue on Wednesday October 29, and we hope to see you there.

A third way for us to all stand together is to continue to educate ourselves about the situation in Israel. Whether you are a member of AIPAC, JStreet, ZOA or another organization, there are numerous programs and resources devoted towards education about Israel’s political situation. I do not care if you are right-wing, as I am, left-wing or in the center: what I DO care about is that you care about our community and the worldwide Jewish community. As Elie Wiesel said, “The peril facing mankind today is indifference.” There are numerous speakers about Israel at the Mid Island Y and at various congregations in town, as well as a plethora of media sources that you can use to educate yourself about Israel. I am hoping to attend the AIPAC Policy Conference this March to continue my education about the situation in Israel.

A fourth avenue we can take is to support Israel financially. Israel was hit hard economically by the war this summer, especially through a lack of tourism. To do our part to help make up for this, we raised over half a million dollars in Israel Bonds. While our Israel Bonds event was in August, there is no end limit to when one can purchase a bond or make a donation to strengthen the Israeli economy, and I encourage all to do so.

I pray that the coming year will present numerous opportunities for us to come together as one people. I pray that we will fulfill the motto that “Wherever we stand, we stand with Israel,” for we are am yisrael, the people of Israel. Let us not lose sight of the biblical precept that though few in number, we are a strong and mighty nation, prepared to encounter the challenges that face us. May this truly be a year of renewed peoplehood, of being empowered to act together for a better future. AM YISRAEL CHAI! The People of Israel live!