Winter 2021(5782)

Why would anyone want to take on a role with such an overload of responsibility?

The gabbai’s klap is a tool, nurtured by tradition and minhag, that when used judiciously can help ensure that everything goes right.

With the release of Pew’s latest report some months ago, we asked some of the same contributors [from the 2013 report] to analyze the newest findings while reflecting back on their suggestions from eight years ago.

There has to be a concerted effort from our rabbis, lay leaders and the Orthodox media to impress upon our communities . . .  what a tragedy the Jewish nation is experiencing outside the safe walls in which we are ensconced.

For the most part, a child raised in a healthy, happy home does not have a desire to go elsewhere.

Today American Orthodox Jewry is vibrant, confident and politically savvy. But its current state is, in no small part, due to the efforts of a number of determined and fearless individuals who were dedicated to the cause of Klal Yisrael.

Jewish Action writer Faigy Grunfeld discusses the role of the shtadlan throughout Jewish history with Dr. Henry Abramson.

As long as Jews have lived in the Diaspora there have been prominent members of the Jewish community who have advocated for Jewish interests with those in positions of authority.

Seeing how a small group of students ultimately altered the course of Jewish history was a dream come true for Birnbaum.

Irving Bunim was larger than life, a galvanizing figure because his motivation was always pure. He had no ego.

Klein, as a recently arrived refugee, demonstrated that even in America, economic success does not preclude commitment to Torah observance.

While strengthening Orthodox Judaism was a high priority for Rabbi Karasick, that effort wasn’t without its challenges.

Asked by a senior official at Morgan Stanley how he had made his money, he answered without hesitation, “God gave it to me.”

“There’s the Jewish People—and Jewish people,” the larger Jewish community and individual, often unsung Jews. “He understood both.”

I distinctly remember two [Pesach] Sedarim where my grandfather was not at the table. He was in his study on the phone dealing with issues of pikuach nefesh.

Many said of Mike that they never met someone who suffered as he did from another Jew’s pain, and those closest to him attest that he was never the same after what he had experienced in the DP camps.

Mike Tress’s passion brought Agudath Israel of America into existence; his cousin Rabbi Moshe Sherer’s strategic acumen, administrative savvy, and unrivalled people skills forged Agudath Israel into a large, highly effective organization.

Through Feuerstein’s vision and efforts, Orthodox Jews moved to the forefront of Jewish communal life, among other arenas. Statesman-like, Feuerstein led by example.

Rabbi Miller played an active role as a volunteer, often as the public face and voice of the Jewish community, on behalf of the JCRC, Holocaust survivors, Soviet Jews and other causes, as well as several Orthodox and Zionist organizations.

Harold Jacobs, and other young activists in the emerging class of postwar American Orthodox leaders, forged new paths of influence both in the Jewish community and beyond.