Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family,

By now you have surely heard of the daring and heroic rescue of 2 of the hostages, Fermand Marman and Louis Har. They were abducted from Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak on Oct. 7, and they had been held in the living quarters of a Gazan family. Many hostages were held in tunnels, and many were and are held in full view of Gazan residences. That strip of misery could have avoided so much destruction by simply agreeing to live peacefully, side by side with a Jewish State. They have brought about all its current destruction by using their own people as pawns as they prolong the cruel and savage hostage drama. When Amalek took 600 families of women and children hostage at the end of Shmuel Aleph, Dovid had no one with whom to negotiate. He defeated the enemy and returned all the hostages to safety. Of course, Dovid didn’t have the New York Times, CNN, morally obtuse academics and politicians preventing him from doing what he had to do to free the captives.

Beit Elazraki, the children’s home in Netanya that Alisa and I visit every year, is our last stop on our mission next week. They just sent 16 kids to Daytona Florida to run in a fundraiser-half marathon for the hostages. This is one of many worthy organizations that we will be visiting and supporting on this trip. You can help with this endeavor by donating to our Chesed fund, with an earmark for Israel advocacy (www.ozny.org/sponsor). Also, we were very pleased to host Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb this past Shabbos, at OZ. He is the Rav of a shul in Beit Shemesh and heads a program called TZALASH, which caters to the religious needs of the full spectrum of those who train and fight in the IDF. I ask you to consider his organization as well in your support of the amazing work that is being done all over Israel in this difficult time. May God shine His graces upon this incredible nation, and send her a speedy salvation and a safe return of all the hostages. His articles and classes are available online at YUTorah and Har Etzio Virtual Bet Medrash.

Stay safe and healthy

Rabbi Allen Schwartz

Rabbi Allen Schwartz

Congregation Ohab Zedek

118 West 95^th Street | New York, NY  10025-6604

Phone 212.749-5150, ext 200

E-mail ras@ozny.org

Website:  www.ozny.org