This week I attended the annual Aish Jewish Wisdom Society dinner where we honored Aish partners, Jonathan and Ifat Shelon. It was an incredible gathering where so many Jews came together who have made the study of Torah a priority in their lives. The theme of the night was Jewish resilience and Aish alumnus Shabbos Kestenbaum spoke passionately about his fight against antisemitism on the Harvard campus.
In my welcoming remarks, I put the events of this past year in perspective. I did not realize how my words would become my theme for the week. I spoke about how important it is for the Jewish people to fight against the tsunami of hate that we have encountered over the past year, and that the secret to winning this war must be centered on our identity as Jews. If we don’t understand who the Jewish people are and what makes our contribution to the world special, then we will forget what we are fighting for.
You can watch the entirety of Rabbi Burg’s speech at the JWS event here.
This became clear as Shabbos, who studied at Aish for two and a half years, spoke about the impact the Torah teachings of Aish founder, Rabbi Noach Weinberg, zt’l had on his advocacy. The secret power of Judaism lies within the beauty of the Torah. Jewish wisdom empowers humanity to be the best version of itself. It makes us kinder and wiser. It makes us view the world through the prism of morality and ethics. It makes us good.
I spent a good part of the remainder of the week traveling to meetings with Aish partners. I had the same conversations many times over, focusing on the efforts of Aish to help Jews live Jewish lives to win the global war on antisemitism that we find ourselves engaged in. My close friend, Mrs. Robin Broidy, was so taken by a new book called “What is Aish?” written by Rabbi Tzvi Gluckin, Senior Editor and Social Media and New Content Development, that she wrote me a beautiful memo filled with ideas about how to get this message out. She highlighted two of the paragraphs that I wrote in the foreword. (You can buy the book here.)
“Aish is a movement rooted in the idea that if you know something, you have an obligation to teach it. If Jewish wisdom – even something basic, even a simple idea – has impacted you or made a difference in your life, you need to share that wisdom with someone else. …Rabbi Noah Weinberg (the founder of Aish)… understood that when you hear something and it makes sense to you, you must tell it over. If you discover something like the secret of happiness, the definition of love, or the tools to infuse your life with purpose and meaning – which comprise some of Rabbi Weinberg’s core teachings - how can you possibly keep it a secret? In effect, it is our job to share.”
We have the truth! The Jewish people know the secret to living the best life possible and we should not be embarrassed to share it with the world!
Finally this week, we had the most beautiful kickoff event for the launch of our World Zionist Congress party Aish Ha’am. It was an online event attended by over 1000 people. It was so beautiful to see all the different faces that make up our slate. Expertly hosted by Rabbi Elliot Mathias and Jamie Geller, (who had the most incredible energy for being on the air at 3 am Israel time!!!), the diversity that is Aish Ha’am was breathtaking. Every featured candidate was asked why they joined Aish – and I encourage you to watch the video. Every single leader said that to fight the hate you MUST know who you are. Aish does that every day with love and passion. I would encourage all of you to join Aish Ha’am at aish.com/vote and be part of this dynamic movement.
My friends, I started my week at the Jewish Agency board meetings in Israel. I stopped off at the Jewish Wisdom Society dinner in New York. I continued into Florida and then joined thousands of you online at the Aish Ha’am kickoff event and my message stayed consistent and clear. To fight the hate you must know who you are. Aish is here to teach what it means to be a Jew. Help us spread this message. So many young Jews don’t understand the greatness of their heritage. As a result, they have chosen to attack our people and Israel.
We watched lost Jews in the United States Senate this week attack Israel and try to stop the US government from sending weapons to our brothers and sisters that they need to defend themselves. We cannot hate these Jews. We must reach out to them and offer to study with them. Show them the beauty of Torah and they will realize how special we are. They will realize that morality and goodness are with our Nation. Let us all commit to making the Jewish People Great again by ensuring that Jewish wisdom finds its way to everyone’s heart.
