Libi BaMizrach

Shortly before Shabbos in Israel, I received the sad news of the passing of a special lady whom I had come to know and admire greatly, Mrs. Jean Gluck ע"ה. I wished that I could be there to honor her by accompanying her on her final journey, but I am confident that she would be happy to know that, Baruch Hashem, we are now living in Eretz Yisrael, and I was unable to attend. Instead, I thought to put down some thoughts that might in some small way contribute to giving her a proper eulogy, along with the many other many well-deserved tributes that I am sure will be expressed, given her prominence and that of, יבדלח"א, her wonderful husband Eugen. I thought of her often over Shabbos, and of what a blessing she was to so many, in her long and productive life.   My former congregants know that I was always amazed at how the Parshat Shavua unfailingly provided timely inspiration for whatever was transpiring.   Parshas Naso was no exception.   There were tw...

It was a turtle, of all things. There I was, walking to shul on the morning of our first Shabbos in Lavon, when a small turtle incongruously appeared on the side of the road.  The closest lake is the Kinneret, some 25 miles to the East; high up in the mountains of the Galille is not a place that one would expect a turtle to roam.  But there it was, meandering down the street at its own pace, oblivious of the absurdity that it presented to those who chose to notice.  Turns out, however, that it was somewhat of an omen. I really did not know what to expect on our first Shabbos in Lavon.   We discovered a Beit Knesset on the yishuv, but our first day there, on the last day of Pesach, was not encouraging.   I arrived for the Tefilla with my two sons and two sons-in-law, and figured that by bringing half a minyan with us, the odds of having a tefilla b’tzibbur were not too shabby. No such luck.  No one was there but us crickets. I tried to l...

It has finally happened.  I write to you today from our wonderful new home in Lavon , a lovely community in the Galilee just north of Karmiel.   We have finally joined our brothers and sisters in Israel and are thrilled to be the first Shomer Shabbos family in this beautiful Yishuv, which features breathtaking views.  Views not only of the surrounding hills and valleys, but more importantly to me, of the variety and depth of commitment to many Jewish values that even "secular" Israelis have just under the surface.  Rub these "ignorant", "hostile to Torah Jews" just a little bit in the right way, and you'll find their neshama shining beautifully underneath. But I'm getting ahead of myself. It was a privilege to have been part of the spiritual leadership of the Queens Jewish Community, and the decade we spent in Forest Hills was a very special chapter in our lives.  We are grateful to have had the opportunity to serve the community and...

This was a great week for the Orthodox Union (OU).  Despite enormous pressures that were brought to bear on the organization and its officers, they took the time, deliberated, and came up with a wise and compassionate decision, and re-affirmed my confidence in them.  I write this week to celebrate this great moment – but first, a bit of background. From my earliest youth, the OU has been a major part of my life.  Long before most had heard of virtually any other Kashrus organization, we were trained, “if you want to know that a product was kosher, look for the OU symbol”.  I assumed that the OU was a Kashrus organization, and that was the extent of it.  I didn’t know how wrong I was. As a young adult, I encountered the OU in a whole new light when I became an NCSY advisor on an Israel program.   The care and concern for all of Klal Yisrael, the innovative, spirited, the deeply spiritual way in which they demonstrated the importance of outreach an...

 I recently heard the devastating news of the passing of Rebbetzin Mira Cohen Wein, and I felt moved to write some words of chizuk to my esteemed Rav and teacher, who is going through this tragedy now for the second time.   It is self-evident to me that the wonderful teacher and mother-lode of inspiration who has greatly benefitted us all with much needed chizuk over the years, should surely be the beneficiary of whatever Chizuk we can offer to him in his time of need. Although I met the Rebbetzin (and her predecessor Rebbetzin Jackie Wein) only very briefly, I was deeply impressed.  All the more so given the difficulty of being a zivug sheni (Second marriage spouse).  I hope that Rav Wein will take solace in knowing how much he means not only to his family, his direct talmidim and congregants, regular readers of his columns, books and essays, listeners to his shiurim, tapes, and lectures, but to many thousands of others who see him as a unique and special voice that...

It is a Friday afternoon in Yerushalayim, and I do not have much time to write and edit this piece.  Nevertheless, since I received some requests from acquaintances to comment on the malicious and awful events yesterday of the Peleg Yerushalayim group, may their name be blotted out, I wanted to at least write something. Readers of this blog know that I am very much for needed change in the Chareidi world, particularly in regard to their stance of total rejection of army service for any young man, no matter what up until now.   While I believe that we very much need a cadre of special scholarly students who devote their lives to Torah only, surely times have changed greatly since the 1950s.  Then, in the post Holocaust era, many Gedolim felt that all hands were needed on deck.  Furthermore, the army was (in those days) actively trying to reeducate young men away from "Galut mentality" and religious observance; they argued that no young men should be allo...

This is the most painful "essay"  I have ever published on this blog.   It is a Hesped (Eulogy) that I delivered at the funeral of my very dear father in law, Rabbi Monni Weisberger ע"ה, this past Sunday. It is followed by an achingly beautiful tribute written by my dear daughter Diti on this occasion.  This is then followed by the very heartfelt and well-received words that my dear son Shimshon said at the funeral ----------      As a Rabbi, I have had the dubious honor of writing and delivering many hespedim. People I knew well, people I knew not so well; people I loved dearly, people I had a more distant relationship with…I had to find the right words to say to honor them and the loved ones they left behind at such a tragic time. It was always a difficult task, but I felt Hashem helping me to put the right words in my unworthy mouth.      But this is different. . . and so much harder.  I feel at such a loss to find a...