Message from the Desk of Rabbi Steven Burg
Dear Aish Family,
Greetings from a relatively quiet Israel. Thankfully we have a ceasefire in place and the over 4000 rockets that have been shot at Israel have ceased for the time being. It did not take our dedicated staff of our Aish Yeshiva Leadership Academy long to put together an amazingly fun and spiritual trip to Northern Israel. Check out the photos below.
Although the terrorist missiles have ceased to drop in Israel, the bombs of antisemitism have started to explode around the world. Young Jews are finding themselves in situations of danger on increasingly hostile campuses around North and Latin America. For the first time in their lives, many of these millennials are faced with the decision of whether to hide their Jewishness or not. This is intolerable!
As part of our AISHVision 2030 expansion to all parts of social media, we ran a forum on antisemitism on Clubhouse. Clubhouse is the latest social media rage taking over the world. The discussion was hosted by our fantastic Aish CMO, Jamie Geller and superstar Rabbi to the millenial universe, Ari Soshtain. I was asked to kick off the program and talk about why it was important for Aish to be convening this important conversation given that our focus is on the spiritual health of the Jewish Nation.
This was not the only forum in which this important question was raised. I had the honor of speaking yesterday to our top donor circle, alongside Brigadier General Amir Avivi, about the results of the recent conflict in Israel. Indeed, why was Aish, the inspirational and educational juggernaut of the Jewish world talking about the current physical threats against the Jewish people?
In both forums, I talked about the legacy which our founder, Rabbi Noah Weinberg. of blessed memory, instilled within us. Moses was the greatest teacher of Jewish wisdom who walked the earth. The Almighty entrusted him with delivering the Torah to the Jews. He was also the leader who saved us from genocide in Egypt where they had made killing Jewish babies into a sport. One cannot worry about the spiritual well-being of a Jew without being concerned with the physical state of our brothers and sisters. It is actually that simple.
I hope and pray that all of you are safe. I hope and pray that all of you are Judaically inspired. I hope and pray that the Almighty will bring peace and spirituality to His Nation. Aish will always be there alongside every Jew uplifting and protecting. The Nation of Israel is alive and well. !עם ישראל חי
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Steve Burg
