This past Shabbos, I had the absolute honor of serving as a scholar-in-residence at the Great Neck Synagogue, which truly stands as one of the great synagogues in our community. The weekend was organized by our own Associate Director at AISH Global Rachel Spinner, who orchestrated a wonderful and inspiring Shabbos. AISH’s Director of Strategic Partnerships Rabbi Yisrael Katz came in from Israel, and Yitzy Spinner, Rachel’s husband, who serves as the Chazzan of the Shul, did a wonderful and beautiful job leading the services.
I hadn’t been there in over a decade, and it felt profoundly moving to return and reconnect with so many familiar faces. I treasure these opportunities for countless reasons. The honor of being there with Rabbi Dale Polakoff, who is one of the great pulpit rabbis of our generation, reminded me very deeply of my own father, who was a pulpit rabbi for forty-five years.
Pulpit rabbis have always been the unsung heroes of the Jewish world. They stand on the front lines every single day. I remember my father receiving calls in the middle of the night when someone in the community passed away and immediately getting up to help make arrangements, offer comfort, and provide strength. They guide their communities through everything that life throws at them, including these rough past few years that we have all lived through, from COVID, to October 7th war and the relentless waves of antisemitism and hatred for Israel. They are the heroes who keep our people strong.
I shared one story at Great Neck that happened only two weeks ago. After the World Zionist Congress, which I shared so much about with all of you, I felt a heaviness on my shoulders. We played an active role this year as an organization, and AISH had a number of delegates present. The experience was powerful yet also deeply painful. I watched Jews argue over every issue imaginable. I saw the widening gap between left and right up close. The tension was thick in the air. The convention ended abruptly on a cliffhanger because of a major protest nearby, and they could not even finalize a structure for the next five years. The infighting weighed heavily on me.
On the Friday after the congress, I sat quietly, feeling uncharacteristically down. My phone suddenly rang, and I saw the name Rabbi Kenneth Hain. He had been the longtime rabbi of Beth Shalom, had retired, and now lives in Israel. We had not spoken in quite some time. He knew my father well. He told me that he had been watching the work we were doing at AISH and felt that we were on the right path. He said he wanted to encourage me to continue to build AISH in this direction. His words lifted me in a way I cannot fully describe. Divine timing is real, and sometimes G-d sends His messengers through the compassion of a pulpit rabbi who simply wants to lift a friend.
The best pulpit rabbis are those who look out for others and create a sense of extended family within their community. My father’s shul was that kind of family, and this is what I felt again with Rabbi Polakoff and the beautiful Great Neck Synagogue community. The different minyanim interacted so naturally. The warmth of the people, the incredible Friday night dinner, the opportunity to speak at multiple minyanim, and again in the afternoon all contributed to a truly uplifting Shabbos.
During the Friday night dinner, I shared AISH values, which I do wherever I go. I always speak about current events because none of us can ignore the reality of what we are facing. I also focus on our core values of wisdom, of love, and of responsibility. After the meal, one participant approached me regarding the discussion of love. I had spoken about the role of Abraham in building the Jewish people on the foundation of love of G-d and love of each other. He admitted honestly that the theme of love felt a bit hokey to him and difficult to grasp. I explained that the most powerful response to hate is love. Jewish destiny must never be built on hate. Other movements have risen on the fuel of hate, and they always collapse, though only after causing tremendous destruction. Abraham built something eternal because he built a movement of love that has endured for thirty-five centuries.
I recalled the previous World Zionist Congress 3 years ago, when I served as resolution chair at the height of the judicial reform debates. The screaming and yelling from across the aisles shook me. It also clarified something for me. We cannot survive with that kind of internal division. That moment of clarity became even sharper after October 7. Our people were forced into each other’s arms. Jews who had never spoken to each other before were suddenly united in purpose, pain, and determination. Tens of thousands of reservists put families and careers on hold to defend Am Yisrael. The world watched as we declared firmly that we would never abandon Jews, whether living or murdered. The world has punished us for that moral clarity, yet our unity in those first months was one of the most extraordinary moments in modern Jewish history.
I spoke about this unity during my recent media appearances. I was blessed to join my old friend Nahum Segal, one of the legendary Jewish media personalities. He taught me Jewish history in my senior year of high school, and we share a long connection. We discussed how AISH is pursuing the unaffiliated Jewish population on social media because every Jew is there. We are witnessing the heartbreaking consequences of not reaching them sooner, as some young Jews have been swept into ideologies hostile to Israel. We spoke openly about candidates in New York City who hold deep hostility toward Israel and about young Jews who support such candidates without understanding the danger. We must reach them with love.
I appeared on another news program this week, addressing the hatred on the right. There has been so much talk about hatred on the left these past two years. Now we see a surge of hatred from the opposite direction. I expressed how disturbing it is that a media figure like Tucker Carlson could grill Senator Ted Cruz so aggressively, even though Senator Cruz has been a steadfast friend to Israel and the Jewish people, yet offer gentle treatment to someone like Nick Fuentes, who openly praises Hitler. The inconsistency is shocking. The world seems to forget that Hitler’s hatred murdered millions of people, including six million of our brothers and sisters. Stalin’s hatred butchered millions more. Hatred destroys civilizations. The world today is turning much of that hatred toward Israel and the Jewish people.
The single truth that has crystallized for me in these last two years is that Judaism cannot exist without Israel, and Israel cannot exist without the Jewish people. Everything is tied together. Israel is not merely a homeland. It is an essential pillar of our faith. We must support Israel. We must support the Jewish people. We must love each other. The painful reality is that many Jews do not understand this. They are still our brothers and sisters and still part of our family. This is why love must be at the center of our mission.
I told the man in Great Neck that we must speak about love and actualize love. We must love every Jew. Many times, I enter a room, look around, and ask myself whether I can love every single Jew present. This is the test that each of us must adopt. It cannot be limited to our friends or those in our synagogue or fellow parents in a Yeshiva day school. Love must extend to every Jew without exception. More importantly, each Jew must know that we love them. This is how we unify Israel. This is how we unify the Jewish people. This is how we survive a level of hatred not seen since the Second World War.
The irony of Israel being compared to the Nazis at this moment is staggering. We know who the Nazis were. We know what their hatred produced. The world can twist words all it wants. Our task is to remain unified, strong, and loving toward one another.
I encourage every one of you to find a Jew you do not know and invite them for Shabbos. The Shabbos Project, which was created by one of the most loving Jews in the world, the Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein, was celebrated last week and reminded us of the beauty of reaching beyond our usual circles. Many of us host the same guests again and again. The time has come to open our homes and our hearts to Jews we have never met. Tell them they are your brothers and sisters. Show them love. Show them that we are united in making the world a better place.
When G-d sees His children unite, He stands with them in the strongest way.
