First and foremost, I want to thank all of you. It has been well over ten years since I began writing this weekly email to you. In so many ways, it connects me to each of you. I cannot begin to tell you how happy and excited it makes me as I travel around the globe and hear from people who tell me they stay connected through this message to me, to AISH, and to the Jewish world. It truly means the world to me.
This email has kept me connected to you while also giving me space to think about the many issues that affect AISH and the Jewish people. For over a decade as CEO of AISH, I have taken this responsibility very seriously. Being a Jewish leader is not a given. It is a sacred duty filled with constant challenges that our people face more than any other nation. I am deeply grateful to Rav Noach Weinberg, zt’l, who founded AISH fifty years ago, and to his incredible partners. Rav Noach used to call everyone a partner. He meant it. Whether you were a student walking through our doors, a donor, or a reader of Aish.com, you were a partner in the mission to build a stronger Jewish world. I feel that same weight and privilege today, serving both the Jewish people and the Almighty.
Everything we do is because G-d gave us a sacred book and charged us to be the moral and ethical voice of humanity. The Jewish people have always taken that mission seriously. I was deeply moved by the recent passing of Rabbi Moshe Hauer, zt’l, Executive Vice President of the Orthodox Union, who died suddenly on Shemini Atzeret. His death shocked all of us. Though we did not overlap during my twenty-two years at the OU, I knew him and admired him. He was a man of peace who devoted himself to the unity of the Jewish people.
I often listened to his speeches where he would say, “Can’t we all just get along?” At the time, some may have thought it sounded idealistic. Yet looking back, I realize how right he was. Rabbi Hauer embodied the belief that the Jewish people must be united. When I worked on crystallizing AISH’s values into three words that represent fifty years of philosophy, I chose wisdom, responsibility, and love. Wisdom, because G-d gave us the Torah to guide us and connect us to Him. Responsibility, because every Aish student has understood that we must take responsibility for one another. Love, because unity without love is hollow. Disagreement is part of who we are, just as every page of the Talmud shows passionate debate. Rabbi Hauer was a man filled with love.
In memory of Rabbi Hauer, my dear friend, Rabbi Ephraim Goldberg of Boca Raton and I have agreed to gather Jewish leaders to honor his legacy of connection and peace. His belief in the power of Jewish unity was not naïve. It was prophetic.
As I reflect on the past weeks, after celebrating Sukkot with so many of you in Israel and rejoicing at the release of hostages, I find myself asking what comes next. What is next for the Jewish people, for Israel, and for the global Jewish community? There are challenges ahead that concern me deeply.
On Sunday, together with two other AISH educators, Rabbi Daniel Rowe and Shiffy Silverstone, I took part in a panel discussion on ILTV discussing how global Jewry, both in Israel and abroad, was affected by what took place on October 7th. The interview, which was an in-depth 30-minute piece, was featured on their channel as part of a special broadcast commemorating 2 years since the war began. We spoke about how Jews around the world have all been affected by the waves of antisemitism that rose up that day and what we can do individually and collectively to help each other and remind ourselves of our responsibilities to one another. We spoke about how we need to embrace all Jews with Wisdom and Love in order to stand against those who wish to divide us. This became a theme for the week.
After landing in New York on my way back from Israel, I joined an event organized by Rabbi Saj Freiberg of Aish’s Jewish Wisdom Society in Manhattan. He hosted a conversation between former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Elisha Wiesel, the son of the legendary Elie Wiesel, who was a close friend of AISH. I was invited to share remarks on the importance of the upcoming mayoral election. As a native New Yorker, this speaks to me personally. I am deeply troubled by the candidacy of Zohran Mamdani, whose rhetoric against Israel mirrors the hate we have seen from figures like Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.
Throughout history, anti-Semites have always found new excuses for their hatred. Whether it was the blood libel, the Black Plague, or blaming us for killing their messiah, they always cloaked their hate in falsehoods. Today it takes the form of anti-Zionism. People claim to have no problem with Jews, only with Israel. Yet their problem with Israel is not about policies of a sovereign state, but rather the very legitimacy of its existence. Israel is the home of the Jewish people, and attacking it is no different than attacking us.
After October 7th, when the world witnessed the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, many of us thought perhaps sympathy would awaken. Instead, we saw denial and justification. Universities became breeding grounds for hatred. Now, in New York, we face a candidate who cannot condemn calls to “globalize the Intifada.” That phrase represents the murder of Jews. It is evil. We cannot work with evil.
At that event, I said that standing in that synagogue with fellow Jews felt even more important than standing in the Knesset last week, because this is the fight of our time, the fight against those who hate us and disguise it as political criticism. At AISH, we are determined to ensure that every Jew understands the truth, that every young Jew seduced by lies about Israel is brought back to clarity, pride, and love for their people.
The next evening, I attended an event at the magnificent Chabad of Rutgers University, the largest Jewish campus center in America. I was invited by my friend Duvi Honig of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce to hear from Jack Ciattarelli, who is running for governor of New Jersey. The event was filled with students asking heartfelt questions about anti-Semitism on campus. Their courage inspired me. Jack Ciattarelli spoke powerfully about the need to fight hate, and I left deeply moved by the partnership and unity between AISH and Chabad.
We are facing an ancient enemy wearing new clothing. Our adversaries have learned to speak in the language of justice while spreading lies and hate. They seek to divide us, to make us doubt one another. We must not let them. We have been through so much these past two years. We have cried together and rejoiced together. We have prayed for our hostages and now celebrate those who have returned home. We continue to fight for the return of those still missing and for the dignity of a proper burial for those who have fallen. Only the Jewish people would fight so hard for such sacred closure.
We are a special nation. We are special in our love for each other, in our love for G-d, and in our sense of mission to make this world better. Our strength lies in our unity. We cannot let others sow seeds of hatred among us.
In memory of Rabbi Moshe Hauer, I commit that AISH will work every single day to bring the Jewish people together, to strengthen our love for one another, and to bring glory to G-d. Together, we will continue to fulfill our sacred mission on this earth.
Thank you. G-d bless. I love you all very much.
