From the CEO

While I have been doing this for years, one of the media articles from this past week moved me tremendously. I was asked by Greg Wehner of Fox News to join a conversation regarding the attack on Israel by Iran.

Already for more than half a year Israel has been at war. Last night something unprecedented took place. Iran, for the first time in history, directly attacked Israel.

The headlines are full of declarations by Iran and its proxies to attack Israel in horrific ways that have not yet been seen. Many are asking me what will be with the future of Jewry and Israel. It is within this spirit that I want to depart from my regular style of reporting on the important work within Aish and tell you what’s in my heart.

Later in the week, I attended the Hertog Forum for National Security war briefing by American and Israeli political and military leaders in Washington with my good friend Dr. Avishai Neuman.

We reached out to the group that is representing the families of the hostages to suggest how important it would be to try to get the entire Jewish world to pray together for their loved ones. The result was a program that brought Jews from every corner of the globe to say the Shema prayer, the central prayer of the Jewish people, together.

Reconnecting with old friends is one of my favorite parts of my job. There is nothing like revisiting someone or a group from your past to see how they’ve grown and where they are today.

Aish eagerly offered to host the former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. at the Dan Family Aish World Center when we were approached regarding his visit to Israel. We had hosted the “Champ” once before and have come to know him as a staunch supporter of Israel.

The founder of the Aish movement, Rav Noach Weinberg, was often quoted as saying “ If you don’t know what you are willing to die for, you haven’t really begun to live”. So many Jews have demonstrated that they are willing to die for one another. We are a family and family defends one another when attacked.

It was quite a week. It was a week of hugs and tears. It was a week of recommitting to the leadership of the Jewish people. It was a week of remembering what it means to be a Jew.

One of the highlights of working at Aish is attending the weddings of our students and staff. This past Sunday night our dynamic Aish New York Project Manager, Jessica Eckstein got married to Yudi Schechter.

Everywhere I go, people are taken by our efforts to bring Jewish wisdom to the masses. I was blessed to be in Los Angeles for a brief trip where I got to meet Rabbi Mayer Schmukler and Dr. Matt Hintze, two phenomenal educators.

There is nothing more satisfying than seeing work that has taken years to accomplish come to fruition. I had such a moment this past week when nearly nine years of dedicated efforts at Aish seemed to come together in the most magnificent way at the first annual Aish Legacy Summit in Miami.

From Brooklyn I headed to Washington DC for a long overdue trip. I have been traveling to DC for the past few decades to represent the Jewish people on varying levels of political engagement.

As I have said often, Aish cannot accomplish our important work alone. So I was overjoyed to get a call from my close friend and Aish Executive Board Member, Louis Mayberg.

A few nights ago I was asked by a local group in Bergen County New Jersey to share words of Torah on a zoom for a group that recites Psalms together for the soldiers and captives in Israel. I was honored by the request and immediately accepted. A few hours later, one of the organizers informed me that Maurice Shnaider, the uncle of Shiri and Yarden Bibas who were brutally kidnapped with their small children Kfir and Ariel, would join us on the zoom.

This week we lost a member of our Aish Israel community. Captain Ron Afrimi grew up as a secular Israeli. In high school Ron majored in music and after graduation enlisted in the IDF.

Our goal was to make the acquisition of Jewish wisdom, which has been responsible for the establishment of ethics and morality across the globe for the past 3500 years, part and parcel of the definition of what it means to be Jewish.

At the base, the Torah was completed and every student had a chance to dance with the new Torah. Our students brought tremendous spirit and joy to the event.

Eight years ago on 11 Tevet on the Hebrew calendar, we received a call that one of our dearest faculty members, Rabbi Reuven Biermacher HY”D was slaughtered as he left the Old City of Jerusalem.

At the end of the night we had a chance to hear from President Biden who expressed his support for Israel and the Jewish Nation.

We must make a strong case for the fact that Judaism brought morality and ethics to the world. We must recapture their passion and utilize it to make the world a better place.

This past week I traveled to seven cities in five days with Aish’s indefatigable Executive Director, Rabbi Ben Gonsher.

This past week I spent time with two career politicians, one Israeli and one American who were deeply soulful gentlemen.

300,000 Jews traveled to Washington to tell the world that they stand shoulder to shoulder with the Jews of Israel. The spirit of the Jewish Nation can never be broken. Am Yisroel Chai!

As this unprecedented situation continues with over 200 of our Jewish brothers and sisters in captivity, we are quickly learning who our friends are around the world.

One of the highlights amongst all the sorrow has been the incredible amount of kindness that has come as a result of so many Jews being displaced from their homes.

With the help of a small group of dedicated partners who care deeply for the Jewish nation, the heads of Aish Israel, Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht and Rabbi Shimmy Kaufman leapt into action coordinating a “Global Day of Prayer for the Hostages and the Missing.

Our hearts are broken over the pain that the Jewish Nation has suffered. Yet, there is an inner resolve among us all that we must now move forward and support the IDF as they seek the return of the captives.

So many emotions have run through my heart over the past few days: incredible sadness at what has transpired; tremendous pride at the heroes who raced down south to save Jews; and, an unbreakable commitment to do whatever I can do strengthen the Jewish people.

This week has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. From my perch overlooking the Western Wall I have watched millions of Jews stream into the Old City of Jerusalem.