Emes Ve-Emunah: And Away We Go!

Monday, April 18, 2016

And Away We Go!

I’m off to the holy land. My wife and I will be in Ramat Bet Shemesh for Pesach with my son and his family. This will be my first Pesach in Israel (...my wife was there once before we were married) and everyone assures me that it is an amazing experience. I am looking forward to it… and to enjoying my grandchildren.

I will be Davening mostly in Maasas Mordechai on Nachal Dolev. If you are in the neighborhood. come on over and say hi.

Meanwhile, today is a travel day so there will be no new post. For extra credit... the above is a picture of my entire family (including the Israeli branch) ...all of my children; all of my grandchildren; my wife and me. It was taken last Chol HaMoed Sukkos in Highland Park, Illinois. Do you know any of these people? Which ones are the Israelis? Can you spot me? (Hint: I'm wearing an orange t-shirt and standing next to my wife - also wearing an orange t-shirt. She's the one in the skirt.)

Hope to ‘see’ you all right back here on Tuesday.

Comment Rules

Before you read the rules read this IMPORTANT MESSAGE: If you are having trouble accessing comments copy and past the following url: http://haemtza.blogspot.com That should get you you to the 'not secure' version of my blog where comments are visible. if that doesn't work, try a different browser. Firefox seems to work best. It can be downloaded at: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

1. Fill in your name or an alias. Do not leave blank or use the name 'guest' or 'anonymous'.

2. No Nivul Peh. Profanity will be deleted.

3. No personal attacks. Be kind in your comment even if you disagree.

4. To avoid automatic moderation - see here

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.