The highlight of my year has always been spending Yom Kippur at AISH. From the very first day that I began this journey, Yom Kippur has stood out as the moment that touches my soul more deeply than anything else. This year was my eleventh Yom Kippur with AISH, and the experience was just as special and powerful as the first time.
There are so many reasons why it is so meaningful. The first is our extraordinary student body. They are so inspiring and so uplifting. Over these eleven years, our numbers have not just doubled or tripled, they have quadrupled and in some areas grown tenfold. We have been forced to move into larger spaces to hold everyone. We have had to divide the minyanim so that there was room for all who wanted to join. The growth of our community has been breathtaking.
For me, there is always one moment that stands above the rest. On the first night of Yom Kippur, when we sing Adon Olam, Master of the World, the words and the melody rise together in such a way that it pierces my heart. The song is so moving and so beautiful. When I hear the voices of our students filling the room with devotion, I cannot help but reflect on their journeys. Some arrived not even able to read or write Hebrew. Now they stand confidently reading from ancient texts, arguing over the words of our sages, and living with Jewish pride. Year after year, I watch them blossom. New students arrive, older students leave to make their mark on the world, and the cycle repeats. It is one of the most inspiring things in my life.
There is another reason Yom Kippur at AISH is unlike anywhere else. AISH embodies the idea of teshuva. If there is a place in the world that truly understands and believes in repentance, it is AISH. Teshuva itself is one of the greatest gifts God has given to humanity. If God commands us to act in a certain way and we fail, logic would suggest that the punishment should be immediate. Yet God in His infinite mercy tells us that we can change. He gives us the ability to turn away from evil and choose good. That gift is extraordinary. It means that no matter how far one has strayed, there is always a path back.
As I sat in the beit midrash surrounded by students, I could not help but think about the larger picture facing the Jewish people. We are approaching the second anniversary of October 7th, that terrible Simchat Torah when so many Jews were murdered and slaughtered by our enemies. It is impossible to separate the personal inspiration of Yom Kippur from the reality of what our nation has endured in these past two years.
Earlier this week, we watched a press conference in Washington between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu. The eyes of the world are on them, filled with hope that the conflict might finally come to an end. This conflict has already cost us the lives of over a thousand of our young soldiers, each of whom gave their life to defend the Jewish people. As the Prime Minister has said so often, they fought like lions. They reminded us of the warriors of our history, whether Joshua leading our people into the land, or King David battling our enemies, or the many heroes of our tradition who carried the Jewish people through darkness.
In thinking about their sacrifice, I found myself asking what we are meant to learn from these last two years. Why did we as a people have to endure this? Why was this suffering placed before us? The answer, I believe, is found in the pages of our Torah.
Abraham faced trial after trial, unable to have a child until late in life, and then was asked to sacrifice the very child he was finally given. Our tradition teaches that he faced ten tests, each one forging him into the father of our people. Joseph, righteous and pure, was cast into slavery, imprisoned in Egypt, and betrayed by those closest to him. Out of those hardships came his strength, his vision, and his leadership. Moses, who was hidden away in the palace of Pharaoh among a hostile and anti-Semitic family, discovered his courage the moment he saw an Egyptian beating a Jew. That courage would carry him to become the greatest leader we have ever known.
King David, whom I have always admired deeply, faced betrayal at every turn. His father-in-law sought his death. His own son tried to kill him. His enemies were relentless. Yet he achieved greatness, composed psalms that continue to comfort us, and united the Jewish people. Queen Esther lived in the palace of a grotesque and drunken king, yet she held fast to her Jewish identity and saved our nation. Time and again, the Torah and our history teach us that adversity is the forge of greatness.
That is why I believe that these past two years, as painful as they have been, have also revealed the beauty of our people. I look around the Jewish world, and I see strength. I see unity. I see Jews who have stood tall, even at great personal cost. Influencers, business leaders, and ordinary individuals have lost contracts, followers, and deals, all because they chose to support Israel and the Jewish people without compromise. That kind of courage is the mark of greatness.
At AISH, we made a choice. We could have turned inward, avoided controversy, and kept quiet. Instead, we launched AISH HA’AM, a party for the World Zionist Congress, as a clear statement that we will always stand with Israel. We refuse to accept the false division that some try to create between Judaism and Israel. They are inseparable. To be a Jew is to be connected to Israel. To love Israel is to love the Jewish people.
This is why it is so troubling to see figures like Zoran Mamdani, who publicly declares his embrace of the Jews only if they abandon Israel. That is not an embrace. That is antisemitism wrapped in deceptive words. We cannot allow such voices to define us. We must define ourselves through the values that have carried us for thousands of years.
These values are the essence of AISH. We must pursue wisdom to understand who we are as Jews. We must love one another with sincerity and devotion. We must take responsibility for each other, for our people, and for our future. That is what it means to be a Jew.
I have said many times that there is nothing stronger in the world than the broken heart of a Jew. These two years have proven that truth once again. Out of heartbreak has come resilience. Out of suffering has come strength. Out of division has come unity.
As I look back on this Yom Kippur, I see the Jewish people standing tall. We are great. We are amazing. We are awesome. We are here to remind the world what morality and ethics are all about. We are here to show that the Almighty loves us and that we know how to love each other. Our task now is to pursue unity at all costs.
The world may be against us, but we are not defined by the world. We are defined by our covenant with God and with one another. That is what has carried us through our history. That is what will carry us forward.
