When I came to Aish, it had been six years since our founder and creative inspiration, Rav Noach Weinberg zt’l had passed away. I had met Rabbi Weinberg a few times over the years and as a young man, I even had the honor of hearing one of his talks in his office. I knew he was a great man who had exhorted his students to take responsibility for all Jews and to act on the love that all Jews must have for one another. In a sense, I understood enough at that time that the acceptance of leading Aish was something special that needed to be taken to the next level. I don’t think I fully appreciated how important or truly sacred that task was to become.
This Sunday marks the sixteenth anniversary of Rabbi Weinberg’s passing. I urge all of you to attend the international commemoration event online this Sunday for Rabbi Weinberg’s legacy. You can find more information at aish.com/ravnoach. For the past ten years, we have worked as a team in Jerusalem to concretize Rabbi Weinberg’s dreams into reality. To strengthen our movement which has literally transformed the Jewish world. I want to share with you a recent important accomplishment that many of you may have missed.
One of the greatest strengths of Rabbi Weinberg was his ability to inspire others to lead. As President John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” So many watched Rabbi Weinberg’s passionate drive to serve the Almighty and his fellow man that they wanted to lead as he had. As a result, many organizations that went on to change the world were started in the halls of Aish. Many Jewish leaders were forged in the cauldron of passionate Judaism that was provided at Aish. Yet, as a movement, we had one shortcoming. We didn’t always recognize how much more powerful we were as those around us started these new entities.
So many Jewish organizations serve as incubators for new ideas yet when our students want to go out on their own, we feel a bit of rejection. It is hard to let go. I spoke to many Aish alumni who felt that we had not properly appreciated what they set out to do. They felt that when they left our physical hallways they were left behind. This is one of the reasons I have felt so passionately driven to transform Aish into a fully functioning movement as opposed to just a really good Jewish organization. I’d like to share an example of what I view as potentially one of the greatest examples of our more recent success.
Aish Israel was a phenomenal effort started by two brilliant creative students of Rabbi Weinberg. When I first came to Aish I was constantly cornered by Rabbi Etiel Goldwicht and Rabbi Shimmy Kaufman. It seemed like every day they had a new incredible idea about where Aish should be headed. They had started a massively successful engagement effort for Israelis. Perhaps their most successful programs were Mothers with Meaning, a grassroots effort led by Israeli mothers across Israel, and Triumph, an incubator for young Israeli entrepreneurs combining professional mentorship with learning Jewish wisdom to guide their success. At some point we reached a juncture where Aish Israel wanted to explore new creative ways to take its efforts to the next level and needed more independence to achieve its hopes and dreams.
After consultation with our leadership and our spiritual leader, Aish Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits, we set out to create a plan to enable them to spin off in the most successful way possible. Their new organization is called VLU and as of January 1, 2025, they were fully independent. You can learn more about this powerhouse new entity at vlu.co.il.
As it is not easy to successfully achieve a transition such as this, Aish is giving significant funding in their first year to help them get off the ground. I have had many conversations with donors and educators alike. So many of them were trying to understand the catch. What does Aish truly get out of allowing a program, and two of our most talented Rabbis, to walk out the door, especially after that we invested millions of dollars into it? For me the answer is simple. We get a movement.
There are so many incredible Jews and organizations operating across the globe. I want all of you to feel that you have a home at Aish. We have three core values that we will never abandon. Responsibility – Wisdom – Love. We take responsibility for our brothers and sisters as well as all humanity. We believe Jewish wisdom is the key to personal growth and closeness to the Almighty. Every action we take and the relationships that we make must be suffused with love. Anyone who identifies with these three principles is a part of our family.
That is why we started a political party to run in the upcoming World Zionist Congress elections. To give everyone a vote. If you look at our candidates you will see that by far and away we have the youngest grouping in the elections. We must teach young Jews to lead. I urge all of you to register on our website aish.com/vote to actualize your support for a strong Jewish future.
As we mark Rav Noach’s yahrzeit, I believe we can look him in the eye and say:
We have not forgotten.
We are building a movement that will shape the Jewish future.
We are taking responsibility for our people.
We will leave no Jew behind.
May we continue to make our Rebbe and the Almighty proud every single day.
עם ישראל חי
