As I completed my weekly message to you and boarded my plane to return from LA, I saw the devastating news.
On Wednesday night, two Jews, Yaron and Sarah, were murdered outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C.
From Jerusalem to New York, from Paris to Panama, our hearts are broken.
When a Jew is targeted anywhere in the world, every Jew feels it, every Jewish heart aches.
This is not just another tragedy. This is the horrifying result of letting lies and hatred spread unchecked on college campuses, on social media, in the streets of our cities. The lies about Israel. The lies about the Jewish people. They are not just words. They are weapons.
Tonight, we saw the cost.
Antisemitism is not theoretical. It’s not academic. It is real. It is violent. It is deadly.
We must name it. Loudly. Unequivocally. Relentlessly.
We must confront it, wherever it hides, however it disguises itself. No more silence. No more excuses. No more looking away.
In Israel, we cry with you. In synagogues, in schools, in homes around the world, we cry with you.
We are one people, bound together across continents and generations. When one Jew bleeds, we all bleed. When we mourn, we mourn as one family.
May the memories of those we lost tonight forever be a blessing.
May our grief give birth to resolve.
To stand taller.
To speak louder.
To be prouder.
To never, ever stop fighting for our people.
To never stop celebrating our people.
This past Sunday, I had the great privilege of attending a very personal and meaningful event. My daughter-in-law, Sydney Burg, graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. It was a beautiful day, a moment of pride for our family, and a truly joyous occasion. We were seated in the vast crowd, surrounded by thousands of others, waiting for the names to be called and the diplomas to be distributed.
As I sat there, I found myself behind a large and lively family from Latin America. They were warm, cheerful, and clearly there in support of someone they loved deeply. After some time, one of them caught my eye. He looked at me and simply said, “Am Yisrael Chai.” I responded in kind, “Am Yisrael Chai.” That moment opened the door to something extraordinary.
We began to speak. I learned that they were from Panama and Bogotá. One of the elders explained that they had all come together to support their niece, who had tragically lost her father. This act of unity, of familial support and love, was a display of pure Jewish values. We look out for each other. We show up for each other. That’s who we are.
As we talked more, he asked about what I do. When I told him that I work for Aish, his face lit up. He began calling over other members of the family. He opened WhatsApp and started showing me messages and Torah content from Aish Latino. One by one, they shared how they had connected to Jewish wisdom through Aish. From different countries, different backgrounds, but one source of inspiration and learning. I was completely overwhelmed.
There I was, in the middle of a huge crowd at a graduation, and suddenly I wasn’t a stranger anymore. I was part of something larger, a family that spans continents and cultures, united by the love of Torah and the mission of Aish.
At Aish, we don’t just talk about values, we live them.
Wisdom. Love. Responsibility.
That same night, I was back in Manhattan, at a reunion of the incredible West Side Institutional Synagogue community. Led by the amazing Rabbi Daniel Sherman and inspired by Bari and Donny Erber, who organized a solidarity mission to Israel through Aish, we gathered to reminisce, reconnect, and reignite our shared passion and purpose.
We spoke about the lives we touched, raising money for widows and orphans, showing up for each other in times of pain, and standing shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in Israel. I shared with them a powerful new project we’re launching, a Tisha B’Av film, produced by Jamie Geller, about the orphans of October 7th, because we can never, ever forget them.
Then I headed to Los Angeles to have a beautiful dinner with two incredible partner couples, Phil Lieberman and Lori Miller, and Lisa and Igor Korbatov. As we sat and spoke about everything Aish is working on, I shared with them one of our most exciting initiatives: The expansion of our Women’s seminary and the major capital campaign we are embarking on to support it. One of the couples paused and asked, “Isn’t it unusual to have a yeshiva also build a seminary?”
I told them, “At Aish, we believe women’s education is absolutely crucial. That’s one of the reasons we made Jamie Geller our International Spokesperson. This project will create a seminary with 200 beds, located in the heart of Jerusalem on King George Street. A bold and proud statement that Torah education for women matters.”
They were incredibly moved. I continued to explain: This flows directly from our values: wisdom, love, and responsibility. We take responsibility for the future of Jewish women’s education, we do it with love, and we teach wisdom. That’s the Aish way.
Every time I speak now, I emphasize those values:
- Wisdom: The Jewish people must be educated. We must know who we are and why we are here.
- Love: We must end the fighting among ourselves. We must love each other. That’s the only way forward.
- Responsibility: We carry each other. We carry the world. That is the Jewish legacy.
All of you, our dear Aish family, you are living these values. You email me. You tell me how you are teaching, loving, and supporting one another. Every note, every story, moves me more than I can express.
Last week, Bari Erber, who spoke at our staff conference, asked me how her talk went in front of the Rosh Yeshiva and the Aish team. I told her, “You have no idea.” At Aish, we don’t just give speeches. We embody what we say. We don’t have donors, we have partners. Rabbi Noach Weinberg, of blessed memory, never wanted donors. He wanted people to live the mission.
So thank you. Thank you for believing. Thank you for partnering. Thank you for carrying this movement forward. Let’s keep building. Let’s keep growing. Let’s make this the greatest Jewish movement of our generation.
I love you all. Have a beautiful, meaningful Shabbat Shalom.
