Rabbi's Blog

Dear OZ family,

Today, the 24^th of Elul, is the 78^th yahrzeit of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan HaKohen z'l, also known as the Chofetz Chaim. A long obituary that appeared in the New York Times put his age at 106. He received the name Chofetz Chaim because of his incessant battles against slander, gossip and tail-bearing. In addition to his ground-breaking work on the daily laws of the Shulchan Aruch, known as the Mishna Berurah, he codified the laws of proper speech in a two volume work known as “Chofetz Chaim”. The origins of this name is traced to Tehillim 34:12-14 and reads as follows:  “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you what it is to fear the Lord. Who is the man who wants life, who desires years of good fortune? Guard your tongue from evil, your lips from deceitful speech.”

We all want life, and especially at Rosh Hashana time we are all thinking of how to best vouchsafe a good life. I wrote some days back that YU (where I teach) did not have a mask mandate. They do now, as three students tested positive. That is a small number out of over 2,000 students, but they are taking strong measures for safety. With this in mind, and after much thoughtful deliberation and consideration, we have decided to include a mask mandate regardless of vaccination status for all services on Rosh Hashana & Yom Kippur. While the Sukkah Minyan is almost closed out, we will again host a well-spaced and quick moving Vasikin / Sunrise Service. The logic of masking is that the extended time of the association of a larger crowd, coupled with people coming from different communities, as well as numerous people who invariably come in without reservations, are data that have driven us to the conclusion to take this measure at this time.

We hope that everyone’s reaction to this will take into account the advice of Tehillim 34. May we all be blessed with good health, long days, safety and serenity and may our service be pleasing before the Creator.

Be safe.  Be healthy.  Be excellent.

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 | Fax 212.663-3635

E-mail ras@ozny.org

Website:  www.ozny.org