This past week, the Jewish world celebrated Purim. The irony was not lost on any of us. Purim commemorates the last time an evil Persian tyrant attempted to annihilate the Jewish people. The Megillah tells the story of a regime fueled by hatred and obsessed with destroying the Jewish nation.
Thousands of years later, the echoes feel hauntingly familiar.
For decades, the Ayatollah’s regime has openly chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.” The hatred was never hidden. It was shouted from podiums and broadcast proudly to the world. Jewish history teaches us that when tyrants announce their intentions, the Jewish people must listen carefully.
This week, the world witnessed a powerful moment. Israel and the United States stood together and moved decisively against a regime that has threatened both nations and destabilized the region for decades. The timing was striking as Jews everywhere celebrated the story of Purim.
The Jewish people have faced tyrants before. The Jewish people have watched those tyrants fall.
The message of Purim remains eternal. Evil rises in every generation. Courage rises to meet it. The Jewish people endure.
Here in Israel, I am proud to report that our students are safe and doing very well. Their spirits remain remarkably high. They celebrated Purim together with tremendous joy while carefully following all safety protocols, including maintaining immediate access to bomb shelters.
There is also a slightly eerie feeling in the Old City and around the Kotel, as things are shut down to visitors just as they were almost exactly 6 years ago to the day, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I could not be prouder of our Aish staff and educators. Under Rabbi Dovid Rosman’s leadership, the entire team’s dedication to ensuring that every student feels supported, protected, and inspired even during challenging moments has been exceptional.
Members of the Aish family are also serving courageously on the front lines. Many Aish students, staff, alumni, and children of our staff, are currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces. Others proudly serve in the United States Armed Forces and in militaries around the world.
Jewish soldiers stationed far from home often search for a connection to their heritage. Aish.com has become one of the primary sources of Judaism for Jewish soldiers serving in uniform. Messages arrive regularly from bases around the world thanking Aish for providing Jewish wisdom, strength, and connection.
Please keep these brave men and women in your prayers as we navigate this difficult conflict.
For nearly eleven years, I have written this weekly email. I write op-eds, and I appear on television. I speak publicly about the challenges facing the Jewish people. This email is different. This email is my ongoing conversation with the Aish family.
This week, I would like to use that conversation for a very direct request. Our annual All In for Aish campaign is now underway.
For more than fifty years, Aish has been there for the Jewish people in the farthest reaches of the world. Jews encounter Aish in many ways. Some discover us through our global branches. Others encounter us online through Aish.com. Many walk through our doors in Jerusalem for a class, a conversation, or simply to reconnect.
During the past two-and-a-half years, since October 7, the importance of this work has become unmistakably clear.
Millions of Jews woke up after October 7 to a painful reality. People they believed were friends and allies on October 6 suddenly revealed hostility on October 8. Jews across the world began searching for answers, identity, strength, and connection.
More than seventy percent of Jews in North America have little or no connection to Judaism, the Jewish people, or Israel. That reality places an enormous responsibility on organizations that are prepared to reach them.
Aish accepts that responsibility every single day.
Millions of people engage with our content daily. Our videos, articles, classes, and programs reach Jews who are searching, questioning, and often feeling alone.
Our mission is clear. We go looking for the Jews that no one else is reaching.
Those Jews are our constituency. Those Jews are our responsibility. Those Jews are our future.
The All In for Aish campaign allows us to continue that mission.
I want to ask you personally to be part of it.
Please click the link in this email and make a generous gift. Your support allows us to produce powerful content, reach unaffiliated Jews, inspire Jewish pride, and strengthen Jewish identity at a moment when the Jewish world urgently needs it.
Every donation expands our reach. Every gift allows another Jew to reconnect. Every act of generosity strengthens the Jewish future.
We are so proud of our students who have taken upon themselves the assignment of finishing all of the Talmud, in addition to helping us raise the money we need to continue achieving our mission. We will be aiming to learn the entirety of the Babylonian Talmud over the duration of the two-day campaign.
Aish works every day to provide exactly that.
None of this work happens without partners like you. Your support allows us to keep showing up for the Jewish people wherever they are..
I also want to express a personal note of gratitude.
My dear friend David Cutler, a friend of many years, has recently joined Aish as the Executive Director of EFG, the Eber Family Gesher initiative. David approached me with an idea that I initially found very difficult to accept. He suggested creating a page where people who feel personally connected to this weekly email and to my work at Aish could express their support.
I will be honest. The idea is deeply humbling and more than a little embarrassing for me. Writing this column each week has always felt like a conversation, not a personal appeal.
David convinced me that some people might want a way to respond directly.
If this weekly email brings you inspiration or connection, I would be deeply grateful if you would take a moment to click the link and leave a personal message of support along with your gift. Your encouragement means more to me than you can imagine.
Thank you for believing in Aish. Thank you for caring about the Jewish future. Thank you for being part of this remarkable global family.
This email comes directly back to me, and I read the messages you send. Thousands of you write regularly with thoughts, ideas, and encouragement. I treasure those messages.
Thank you in advance for standing with us and helping us build a stronger, prouder, and more inspired Jewish future.
