Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family,

Alisa joins me in expressing our profound gratitude for the wonderfully warm Mazel Tov wishes we have received for Mindy and Yoni’s son. It’s hard to believe that our baby has had a baby. Every child born to our family is a slap of revenge at what the Germans did to my father’s parents’...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

We just boarded our flight to JFK. It’s never easy to say good-bye to our family in Israel. We attended smachot here and we look forward to soon celebrating smachot in New York as well.

I caught a sunrise minyan today at the Sanz Shul in Netanya that started at 4:55am. Travel in Israel is very precarious right now because of President Biden’s visit, so we had to get a very early start.

I have been...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Greetings from Netanya and Chodesh Tov!

We had a festive Rosh Chodesh tefilla and breakfast at Beit Elazraki today and I’m sending some pictures and videos. Beit Elazraki is a microcosm of what we’ve seen in...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Greetings from Netanya!

We enjoyed a beautiful Bat Mitzvah celebration with our granddaughter Meira and her family. I attached a picture of Chani and her family below. (Chani was two years old when we came to OZ.)

My morning davening experience in Netanya has been quite interesting. Alisa and I are staying at Beit Elazraki, a children’s home in the Kiryat Sanz section...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

I share perspective today regarding two events in Israel. The first cuts to the heart of every Israeli. The ghoulish violence that took the lives of three Israeli and made orphans of 16 children in Elad, is broadly celebrated across Palestinian populations. Murderers of Israelis are handsomely...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Those who complete the entire book of Tehillim on a monthly basis completed today’s recitation with chapter 17, which ends with a prayer to behold God and to see His countenance in an awakened state, in charity. Some actually have the custom of reciting this verse whenever giving charity.

By rights, we should all selfishly cling to our own means of survival and support, as early man did, and as...Read more...

Dear Friends:

I am happy to announce that the Annual Dinner & Community Celebration will be held on March 28, 2022. Look for invitations in the mail shortly.

We welcome David & Nicole Debora as our Guests of Honor & Couple of the Year - they have quietly been reliable supporters of our shul for many years. Esther Rimokh and Heather Conn have distinguished themselves by their leadership in selfless acts...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Today was an historic day at the United Nations. For only the second time, an Israeli led resolution passed in the General Assembly with 114 co-sponsors, declaring holocaust denial an international crime. Very moving supportive statements were made by the Russian Federation, Germany, the European Union, The United States, Czech...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

Tu B’shvat in a leap year always seems to take us by surprise. We’re hardly thinking of nature’s renewal when sunset still starts with a '4' and sunrise is at 7:16 am. Even Israel is experiencing an unusually cold and wet spell this past week. But with Adar just around the corner we know...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

When we left Egypt in Parshas Bo, we were still runaway slaves until we crossed the Yam Suf in Parshas Beshallach.  Our daily prayers recall that we saw Egypt itself die on the shores that brought us to safety. That was when our full belief in God and Moshe was manifest in the singing of “Az Yashir” that closes our daily praises of our...Read more...

Dear OZ family,

As you already know, I am sorry to announce the passing of an old friend, Irving Polsky. I met Irving a few weeks before starting at OZ back in 1988, when he was sitting shiva for his mother. Their son, David was a little boy and Irving was sitting with his younger brother, Daniel.

Irving and Daniel were both very intelligent and artistic and they both demonstrated the finest qualities of...Read more...