Dear Friends

This will be the last weekly update for a while, as yeshiva is over, and as I head off now for 12 days to Senegal, Africa with AJWS and a large group of rabbinical students.  We will be encountering the realities of the developing world first-hand, and I will be there as the scholar-in-residence to learn relevant Torah texts with these future rabbis, and to reflect with them on our experiences.   I hope on my return to report to you on what I know will be a transformative trip for these rabbinical students and for myself.

I will leave you with a Thought on the Parsha  - my remarks from our Semikha Ceremony this last Sunday.  It was a truly moving experience, as we sent off 8 new rabbis to positions of leadership in the Jewish community.  Everyone spoke beautifully, and in particular, the remarks by the students -(now) Rabbi Aaron Finkelstein and (now) Rabbi Mishael Zion were so eloquent and pitch perfect that everyone present knew what rabbis and what leaders we have to be proud of.  Mazel Tov to each one of them:  Rabbi Aaron Finkelstein, Rabbi Josh Frankel, Rabbi Avi Rosenfeld, Rabbi Ben Vago, Rabbi Dan Vinik, Rabbi Seth Winberg, Rabbi Eytan Yammer, and Rabbi Mishael Zion!  Mazel Tov, Mazel Tov! You can hear some of the amazing speeches here. 

I do hope, also, to be continuing to send you a Thought on the Parsha each week, to be resumed on my return from Senegal.

Shabbat Shalom!