The end of the Hebrew year is fast approaching. We are about to enter Av and Elul, two awe-inspiring months of national and personal introspection. There are many ways that we Jews act during these months.
The mainstream media have their own customs when it comes to the end of their year. They give out many awards in various categories. One of the most famous is their Person of the Year.
Following this media custom, but in the Hebrew calendar, I would like to make an early nomination for the Jewish People of the Year 5763 - people who I feel are well deserving of the title. My nomination is Tony Gelbart and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founders and directors of the Nefesh B?Nefesh organization.
Rabbi Fass, a young dynamic communal rabbi and educator had reached so many in the Boca Raton (Florida) area in his short time there. Destined for a long and successful rabbinic career in America, the tragic news reached him that an Arab terrorist had murdered a young relative of his who was on his way to school. Fass decided that the time for passivity was over and that a pro-active action plan had to be instituted immediately. He decided to lead by example.
Fass knew he needed a visionary partner to help his plans come true. He had to look no further then a member of his congregation Mr. Tony Gelbart. Gelbart, one of the unsung heroes of the Jewish people, has a long track record of pro-Israel and communal activism. This extended into his business ventures that always aimed at what was best for the Israeli economy and the Israeli people. Whether it was enhancing Israeli exports entry into the United States market or investing funds in Israeli companies.
This formidable duo decided that the best response to the ongoing intifada had to be one that made a long-term contribution to Israel and Israeli society - so they founded Nefesh B?Nefesh.
While tehillim and prayer meetings were good, and community and synagogue solidarity missions boosted our spirits, and Israel fairs helped some affected merchants, they were all short-term remedies. Fass and Gelbart envisioned the lifting of the ?golden curtain? over the Goldyne Medinah, and the streaming of thousands of North American Jews back to their homeland as the only viable long-term answer to Israel?s needs.
Fass and Gelbart did not stop with the vision. They translated the vision into reality. By the time 5763 ends, they will have enabled approximately 1,500 North Americans to truly call Israel home. These new immigrants are here for longer than a mission, longer than a summer, longer than a year of study? they are here for good. One gasps when one thinks of the impact that these highly educated immigrants will make on Israeli society. We wish them all well.
I was fortunate to be at Ben-Gurion airport to greet the arrival of the first plane of olim for this summer. It brought tears to my eyes and most of those in attendance, and ?memories? of great aliyot throughout the past hundred or so years came flooding back. It is North America?s turn. Every great aliyah of a community from the Diaspora had its leaders and North America is no exception.
In a year that has seen so much suffering and sadness, from our enemies that seek our physical destruction, from a year that has not seen an end to internal communal strife in Israel and the Diaspora communities, Nefesh B?Nefesh, a cross-denominational organization, can teach us so much about how to positively answer our enemies and about the cancer of assimilation and lack of internal harmony. Nefesh B?Nefesh is a beacon shining very bright.
So I once again nominate the modern day Moses and Joshua combination of Tony Gelbart and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, who are leading the Jewish people out of the American wilderness and into the Holy Land, as the Jewish Persons of the Year 5763.
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Daniel Meyer writes from Jerusalem.
The mainstream media have their own customs when it comes to the end of their year. They give out many awards in various categories. One of the most famous is their Person of the Year.
Following this media custom, but in the Hebrew calendar, I would like to make an early nomination for the Jewish People of the Year 5763 - people who I feel are well deserving of the title. My nomination is Tony Gelbart and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founders and directors of the Nefesh B?Nefesh organization.
Rabbi Fass, a young dynamic communal rabbi and educator had reached so many in the Boca Raton (Florida) area in his short time there. Destined for a long and successful rabbinic career in America, the tragic news reached him that an Arab terrorist had murdered a young relative of his who was on his way to school. Fass decided that the time for passivity was over and that a pro-active action plan had to be instituted immediately. He decided to lead by example.
Fass knew he needed a visionary partner to help his plans come true. He had to look no further then a member of his congregation Mr. Tony Gelbart. Gelbart, one of the unsung heroes of the Jewish people, has a long track record of pro-Israel and communal activism. This extended into his business ventures that always aimed at what was best for the Israeli economy and the Israeli people. Whether it was enhancing Israeli exports entry into the United States market or investing funds in Israeli companies.
This formidable duo decided that the best response to the ongoing intifada had to be one that made a long-term contribution to Israel and Israeli society - so they founded Nefesh B?Nefesh.
While tehillim and prayer meetings were good, and community and synagogue solidarity missions boosted our spirits, and Israel fairs helped some affected merchants, they were all short-term remedies. Fass and Gelbart envisioned the lifting of the ?golden curtain? over the Goldyne Medinah, and the streaming of thousands of North American Jews back to their homeland as the only viable long-term answer to Israel?s needs.
Fass and Gelbart did not stop with the vision. They translated the vision into reality. By the time 5763 ends, they will have enabled approximately 1,500 North Americans to truly call Israel home. These new immigrants are here for longer than a mission, longer than a summer, longer than a year of study? they are here for good. One gasps when one thinks of the impact that these highly educated immigrants will make on Israeli society. We wish them all well.
I was fortunate to be at Ben-Gurion airport to greet the arrival of the first plane of olim for this summer. It brought tears to my eyes and most of those in attendance, and ?memories? of great aliyot throughout the past hundred or so years came flooding back. It is North America?s turn. Every great aliyah of a community from the Diaspora had its leaders and North America is no exception.
In a year that has seen so much suffering and sadness, from our enemies that seek our physical destruction, from a year that has not seen an end to internal communal strife in Israel and the Diaspora communities, Nefesh B?Nefesh, a cross-denominational organization, can teach us so much about how to positively answer our enemies and about the cancer of assimilation and lack of internal harmony. Nefesh B?Nefesh is a beacon shining very bright.
So I once again nominate the modern day Moses and Joshua combination of Tony Gelbart and Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, who are leading the Jewish people out of the American wilderness and into the Holy Land, as the Jewish Persons of the Year 5763.
--------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Meyer writes from Jerusalem.