Local

During the Super Bowl on Sunday night, February 9, Chazaq featured Halftime for Torah with four inspirational speakers. The first speaker, Rabbi Gavriel Friedman, well-known inspirational speaker, said that we don’t want to be ordinary. We want to be great. This game features greatness in football. How do we become great? You can become great if you understand what greatness means. In Parshas VaEira, the names of Moshe and Aharon are listed two different ways, with Aharon first and Moshe second, and with Moshe first and Aharon second. This is because they were equal like one. They were each the best they could be. “I have to be the best me.” Being great means maximizing who we are and fulfilling our purpose in this world. So, we have to make sure to work on growing each day to be the best we can be.

On Tuesday night, January 28, a crowd gathered at Yiboneh Shul in Emek Refaim to hear an incredible parshah shiur given by Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz, Rav of Kehillas Ohr Somayach and Senior Lecturer at Yeshivas Ohr Somayach.

 On Motza’ei Shabbos, February 1, community members, shul members, and alumni of Yeshiva Kesser Torah gathered at the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills for a beautiful melaveh malkah. Rabbi Avraham Dovid Garber, Rav of Yeshiva Kesser Torah, welcomed everyone and noted that the yeshivah has been in Kew Gardens Hills for 30 years. Today, it boasts 25 minyanim daily, 136 minyanim weekly, 619 minyanim monthly, and over 7,000 minyanim yearly. All of our t’filos should be answered!

On Friday morning, January 23, Rabbi Berel Wein, Senior Rabbi of Beit Knesset HaNasi and world-renowned author and lecturer, shared an inspiring shiur on Parshas VaEira at his shul. He began by sharing the difference between self-confidence and arrogance. Arrogance means belittling the challenge and saying you can do it. Self-confidence means admitting it is a hard job but saying that, nevertheless, you can do it.

On Wednesday, January 22, Yeshiva Primary celebrated their second-grade students receiving their first chumashim. In Hebrew classes in Yeshiva Primary, the students are arranged by levels. Many of the students came to the yeshivah over the past couple of years from public school.

On Tuesday afternoon, January 21, this writer had the privilege of attending a beautiful sold-out performance titled “Somebody’s Boy” at the Jerusalem Theater, produced by Regal Productions for women and girls to benefit the chesed organization Zir Chemed [pronounced Tzir Chemed]. This annual professional production included several night shows and one matinee.