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Roni Amiel
12467iiA Weekly Connection
A Weekly Connection
Ilana Levy
Jamie and Ilana had been friends since 2019. In 2021, they both moved to far off towns. Despite the distance, they made a promise to stay connected, but busy schedules made it difficult. One day, while scrolling through her phone, Ilana stumbled upon a quote about the importance of spiritual growth. She remembered their conversations about faith and tradition. Inspired, she called Jamie. “Hey, Jamie! I was thinking… what if we started learning Torah together? Just for thirty minutes a week over the phone?” Ilana suggested, her voice filled with excitement. Jamie’s eyes lit up. “That sounds amazing! I’ve been wanting to dive deeper into my Judaism, but I haven’t made the time.” They decided to kick off their weekly sessions on a Wednesday evening. Ilana prepared a cozy spot in her living room, a cup of tea in hand, while Jamie settled into her favorite armchair. They dialed in, and as Jamie's familiar voice filled her ears, Ilana felt a wave of comfort wash over her. “Let’s start with Bereshit,” Jamie said, her voice warm and inviting. “The beginning of creation.” As they read together, the words leaped off the page, sparking lively discussions about the world, choices, and their own lives. They took turns sharing insights, laughter echoing through the line as they connected the ancient text to their modern experiences. As the weeks turned into months, their phone calls became a cherished ritual. They explored themes of family, community, and resilience, weaving their own stories into the tapestry of the Torah. Jamie often shared her experiences in Cleveland, while Ilana spoke about her family and her dreams for the future. Their weekly calls became a lifeline, reminding them of the importance of friendship and spiritual growth. Through their shared journey, Jamie and Ilana had created a beautiful connection that transcended distance, strengthening not only their bond but their understanding of themselves and their faith. Read moreTest Header Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing
Test Header Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing
Miriam Uvsitzky
My heart overflows as I write about a connection that has grown far beyond any traditional mentorship. One year ago, fate brought Jan and me together, and in that time, something truly magical has blossomed. While my "official" title may be mentor, I find myself humbled and moved by how often our roles beautifully blur. Jan's brilliant spirit has taught me as much as I could ever hope to teach her. Her boundless curiosity sparkles in her eyes, and her dedication to community service speaks volumes about her beautiful soul. When she masters a new translation or shares a precious piece of her life's wisdom, her voice is full of joy that fills the room – and my heart. Our weekly meetings have become a sacred ritual, where family stories and personal shares weave naturally into our learning. Before we even open a book, we open our hearts, speaking not as mentor and student, but as sisters bound by a shared love of learning and life itself. This year has already blessed me with the joy of introducing Jan to my children and grandchildren. She once called me a "rockstar," but I must humbly disagree. I am simply one Jewish soul fortunate enough to find Jan. Every moment we spend together is a gift I cherish, every lesson a treasure we both hold dear. In seeking to teach, I found a connection that enriches both our lives in ways I never could have imagined. With deepest gratitude and love, Mimi P.S. Jan, you are the true rockstar in this beautiful duet of ours! Read moreTest submissions from OM Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry
Test submissions from OM Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum. Read moreTest Header1111 Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum. Read moreTest for Published
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Test Story list...!!!OUR SON’S PARTNER
OUR SON’S PARTNER
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Laurie Young
Rabbi Gewirtz, I cannot tell you how happy our family is with our thirteen-yearold son’s learning partner, Moshe Kaff. Not only has Avraham enjoyed learning these past few months over the phone from our home in Mercer Island, Washington, to Lakewood, New Jersey, but Avraham even stayed at Moshe’s house on his way to summer camp last month. Moshe insisted on hosting Avraham and showing him around Lakewood, a big treat for Avraham. Recently, I asked Moshe if he would try learning mishnayos with our eight-year-old. He agreed to give it a test run. Now Asher, too, has been trying to learn as many days as possible with Moshe. He enjoys it that much. Many, many thanks for your program. Read morePROGRESSING
PROGRESSING
Joseph Goldenson
A year ago I didn’t know the alef-bet. I kvell to myself because I can actually read now, not too fast, but when I get going, I can really cover ground! I really look forward to learning each week. David has given me so much insight and knowledge, and he treats me like a mensch instead of like some heathen. Partners in Torah is a wonderful opportunity to become somewhat informed, and this program whet my whistle to strive to take more classes. I learn from my kids, who are part of Partners in Torah, and they learn from me. My daughters live a Torah life, and I am very proud of them. I emulate them in my own way. Now that I know how to put on tefillin and a tallit, my kids gave me a gorgeous bag, red with a lion on it, embroidered with my Hebrew name, Yosef ben David. Read moreMISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Rob G.
Hooray! My apartment is kashered (98 percent anyway)! All the mezuzahs are up on my doors (all three) with kosher scrolls, the lights all have timers, and I even bought a “kosher lamp.” As for driving on Shabbos and using the elevator on Shabbos (I currently live on the twelfth floor), I’m still working on these. It’s okay, I need the exercise. I hope that I’ve covered all of my bases, but for now, I can relax. Yippee! Just thought you’d like to know in case you’d like to visit sometime. Please know that you’re always welcome. Good Shabbos! Read moreA MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
Diane Torgersen
Tobie and I have “been together” via Partners in Torah for almost five years. She has been unbelievably committed to our relationship and my biggest supporter in learning about Judaism. I discovered that both my parents were Jews when I was in my sixties. I have had the wonderful good fortune to have found a rabbi who has been totally supportive of me, teaching me and helping me feel accepted into my local Jewish community. I applied for membership in Partners in Torah, and this has been the perfect combination to speed my education along. I have said many times that I have had “many Jewish mothers.” Tobie and I have studied many things together, including the weekly parashah, and are now studying Pirkei Avos together. She has been generous in teaching me about the holidays with stories and examples from her own family. She sent me an excellent Hebrew letters booklet when I was struggling to learn Hebrew. She, her daughters, and even her kind husband listened to me stumble through the letters as I tried to read and say them. Thanks to all of them and my rabbi, I can now read most Hebrew. Tobie has become a wonderful friend and Jewish sister to me. She has shared her life, her family, and her stories with me. It has been an exquisite pleasure to have learned about her life and to have gained her help in understanding Judaism and in understanding my own parents, who had hidden their lives for so many years. I have said so many times that our relationship has been a match surely made in heaven! I thank Partners in Torah for their organization, which can make such a tremendous difference in a person’s life. With sincere thanks, Diane Read moreTHERE'S ALWAYS ROOM TO LEARN
THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM TO LEARN
Ruth Schepartz
After my bat mitzvah, I pretty much dropped out of the Jewish scene except for attending synagogue on the High Holidays with my parents. In the last few months I’ve found that my interest in Jewish studies has increased. Actually, it went from being nonexistent to quite enthusiastic. I went searching for a forum but really didn’t know where to go until I expressed my interest to a friend, who suggested Partners in Torah. I called the coordinator of the Partners in Torah program near me, Dena Mayerfeld — a delightful person who welcomed me with open arms. After walking into my first Partners in Torah session in Passaic, I was greeted by a man with the widest smile I’ve ever seen, Rabbi Eli Gewirtz (Eli to everyone he meets). The next step was for Dena to find a partner well suited to me. That’s when I met Debbie. Wow. She is so wonderful. The mother of six kids, one a newborn, she still makes time to come and work with me once a week. She is truly a dynamo. My biggest problem is decid-ing what to study. She seems to be so well versed in so many fields, I didn’t know where to start. Right now the Hebrew language seems to be in the forefront. Learning with a tutor is an incredible opportunity. But the other thing that totally blows me away is that any question I have about Judaism, she’s right there to answer — and trust me, I keep her hopping with all of my questions. After every session, they end the evening with an interesting discussion on the Torah portion for that coming week. When I don’t get it, I have no qualms about going right to Debbie, Dena, the speaker, or even Eli and saying, “Excuse me, but what was all that about?” They usually laugh and then sit down to explain it to me thoroughly. You know, after all is said and done, no matter what I choose to study, the most important thing I’ve learned is that we may be different, but that’s okay. There’s always room to learn. And what could be more important than learning about Judaism? It gives you the opportunity to fill your mind with knowledge and your heart with wonderful people. Who could ask for anything more? Read moreMOTHER OF A RABBI
MOTHER OF A RABBI
Frayda Glass
Yes, I am a rabbi’s mother. But I never had a bat mitzvah and I received very little training in the Hebrew language, Torah study, the prayers, the ethical teachings, and on and on. I am so proud of my son and all that he has become in our Jewish community, but I am frequently embarrassed at my own lack of education during our services. My mentor, Cheryl Jacobson, has been a perfect partner for me. For the first three consecutive years of our work together we read each of the parashiyot via three different editions of the Chumash, and she helped me complete my introductory work in Hebrew. We are currently studying and translating from The Path of the Just and the book of Joshua, while at the same time continuing my Hebrew studies using Ha-Yesod. I cannot tell you how many times she has kept me from throwing up my hands and saying I was giving up on learning Hebrew because I was just too old. More importantly, she has always kept me on track while making me laugh. I am so grateful for my wonderful teacher and for all that I have learned being her Partner in Torah. Next year, we will study the siddur, and soon when my son looks down from the bimah, his mother will be fully taking part in the prayers. Thank you so much! Read moreMY FIBER-OPTIC SCHOLAR
MY FIBER-OPTIC SCHOLAR
Mark Ahdoot
Over three years ago when I signed up with Partners in Torah, Rabbi Benjamin Zeilingold called me for our introductory chat. He knew from my application that I worked for NASA and he seemed pleased to have a Partner in Torah student from Iran who was an aerospace engineer. From Rabbi Ben’s voice and slight British accent I pictured him as an intellectual professor. I began studying with him and I was amazed by how intelligent and sophisticated he was. After a while, he invited my wife and me to his son’s wedding, which would be held near my home in the Baltimore area. I was very anxious to meet him and his family. When we arrived at the wedding, I kept inquiring as to Rabbi Ben’s whereabouts, and finally I found him. I guessed correctly about his being a university professor, but was taken aback by the holiness of his glowing features. I felt even more blessed, then, to know him and very privileged to learn from such an educated scholar. His in-depth knowledge continues to amaze me. From time to time, we engage in intellectual discussions such as about new discoveries in space technology or interesting points in Torah. For example, I learned about Noah and the mishap with his grandson, which I had never known about, and then I learned the philosophy behind wearing tzitzit and why this is one of the mitzvot. On many occasions, he answered questions I’ve had since childhood. Last week he explained something that had been lingering in my mind for over thirty-six years. When I got married in 1972, right after the chuppah our rabbi told my bride and me to go into a room, close the door, and stay there together for seven minutes. My wife and I did not quite understand the meaning of this. We wanted to go and mingle with our guests. We’d always wondered about it. When I asked Rabbi Ben, he explained that this was the time for reflection, time to grasp the sanctity of the momentous event that had just taken place. He even explained what the reason could be for being in the room for seven minutes! Over a year ago, I introduced my brother, who is a gynecologist, to the Partners in Torah program. Since joining, he was motivated to become a mohel and has by this point performed over forty circumcisions. It looks like Partners in Torah can touch everyone. Read moreMY APPETITE'S GROWING
MY APPETITE'S GROWING
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Alan Morinis
ears now. We’ve worked our way through several volumes of Talmud, having just finished Maseches Megillah, and now we’re on Taanis. When I started this learning, I really didn’t have much in hand in the way of learning skills, nor even a clear idea how to learn, or even really why to learn. Because of developing a personal relationship with my well-skilled, experienced, and patient Partner through Partners in Torah, the doors of learning have opened wide for me. I still struggle with some of the learning skills, but I am supported every step of the way, and that has resulted in much learning and a real appetite for more. I see how I am growing and changing in my everyday life because of my learning relationship, and it would not have happened without Partners in Torah. Todah rabbah, Alan Read moreYANKEE HOSPITALITY
YANKEE HOSPITALITY
Bob Sterling
All of my life I have been haunted by the question: What is this life about, anyway? Well, now that I had my Brooklyn Shabbos experience, my question has finally been answered. You and your community showed me by example what this life is all about. I have never seen such warmth and love within a family and extended community. On a personal note, I just walked into my townhouse, and I am smiling from ear to ear at my great personal accomplishment in pushing my way through the fear of doing something new and different. I am ecstatic and grateful to you for allowing me to have this experience. I don’t know where the expression “Southern hospitality” came from, but after meeting you I need to coin a new expression, called “Yankee hospitality.” It is too soon to tell, but I know that this weekend will have a strong and positive impact on whatever time I have left in this world. Again, I am very grateful to you and your family. With warmth, Bob Read moreLEARNING AT LAST
LEARNING AT LAST
Michael (chaim Dovid) O Keefe
I’m a numbers person, but I will do my best to write my story on my mobile phone while I’m between things. Nothing magical about my story, just good traditional teaching of my once-lost heritage. Yacov Miller and his beautiful family reached out to me and invited me to learn what I knew next to nothing about. The value of these teachings is instrumental and sweet. The truth is that a beautiful thing happened in my life when I became connected to Yacov. Partners in Torah brought tefillin, mezuzahs, tzitzis, skullcaps, Jewish calendars, Jewish holidays, menorahs, the Sabbath, and most of all the Torah into my house. I am learning. About Judaism. Thank you to all who participate. See ya in Monsey for Passover, G-d willing. Sincerely, Chaim Dovid Read moreSERVICING THE WORLD
SERVICING THE WORLD
Jessica Erlbaum
Each week when I light my Shabbos candles, I thank Hashem for bringing me to the time in my life where I observe Shabbos, and for the people and programs that brought me to this point. As I’m saying these tefillos, I picture Partners in Torah front and center as my guide. My time as a student with Partners in Torah was the perfect first step for my formal adult Jewish learning. The one-on-one learning was exactly what I needed, providing me with classes tailored to my own needs and interests on terms that I was comfortable with. When I started Partners in Torah, I was a twenty-year-old working in the Jewish community with the intention of going to Reform rabbinical school. Though I was committed to the Jewish community and to being a Jewish leader, I had limited background in Jewish education and ritual observance. While I was not looking to take on any more observance, I decided to attend Partners in Torah with the objective of learning from an authentic Jewish perspective which would help me in my future endeavors. The personal connection I made with my chavrusa was so important to my own development, since I gained not only a teacher, but a friend and a role model. My learning answered questions that I didn’t even know I had and gave me knowledge that I hadn’t known I lacked. The more I learned of the emes of Torah and the more I was exposed to the unbelievable community of Torah-observant Jews, the clearer it became to me that I was now on a path toward a life of greater purpose and refined knowledge. This path eventually led me to learn in Israel and to ultimately become shomeres mitzvos. Partners in Torah is truly the remedy for a world lacking in kindness, wisdom, good character, personal development, and truth. The selfless service to the Jewish people which I witnessed on both personal and professional levels is unprecedented. My family and I are eternally grateful. Read moreTRULY AMAZING
TRULY AMAZING
Brent Sims
This morning I did the entire shacharis in Hebrew. I studied the applicable Torah portion afterwards. Tonight we’ll have homemade challah at our Shabbos eve meal (kosher, of course). Tomorrow I’ll daven, study a chapter of Pirkei Avos, and probably study some Rashi, too. I’m current on my Omer count. While it was Rabbi Yossie, my first Torah Partner, and Israel Zwick, my second Torah Partner, who have led me to this point, Partners in Torah made it all possible. I can’t thank you enough. This has been a truly amazing experience. Good Shabbos, Brent Read moreWON’T LET HIM STOP TEACHING
WON’T LET HIM STOP TEACHING
Jonathan Porges
I started doing the over-the-phone Judaism lessons about two weeks ago. My tutor and I have been going over history, starting with Genesis. I’m still not a religious zealot, but I’ve been enjoying the lessons. The guy you set me up with has been having trouble getting off the phone with me, because I won’t let him stop the lessons. He’s been telling me a lot of interesting things that I didn’t know about Judaism. He hasn’t focused mainly on the religion, but instead on the history, the varied interpretations of the Torah, metaphysical, spiritual, and esoteric knowledge. I’m actually cutting short a trip to Mexico for a scuba dive next weekend so that I won’t miss the week’s lesson. Thanks! Read moreEXPLAINING THE WORLD TO MY CHILDREN
EXPLAINING THE WORLD TO MY CHILDREN
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David Magerman
I want to tell you how Partners in Torah has impacted my life. I began this journey as a nonobservant Conservative Jew. I grew up with the typical Conservative Jewish education. I had a bar mitzvah celebration, but after that, I became one of the many High Holiday– Passover Jews. Once I left for college, you could no longer even say that. My connection to Judaism was in name only. My father died while I was in college. While I mourned him in the human sense of the word, I had no idea what my obligations as a son mourning his father were from a Jewish perspective. I knew what Kaddish was, but it didn’t mean anything to me. When I got married, my connection to Judaism grew, but only a little. My wife came from a kosher home, and so we kept a kosher home. My wife’s family celebrated all of the Jewish holidays, so we attended those celebrations. But that was the extent of Jewish observance. And, in any case, it was largely uninformed. I went along with it because that was my obligation as a husband. It didn’t go any further than that. When I had my first child, and he began to walk and talk, I realized that someday he was going to ask me questions that I could not answer. He was going to want to know what the meaning of life was and what the meaning of death was, and he was going to look to me for guidance about how to live his life. All I knew was a form of secular humanism, and I seemed inadequate to the task. I didn’t believe in anything in particular, and I was worried that I wasn’t going to be up to the task of explaining the world to my children. Everything began to change when we went on a family trip to Israel to visit my Torah-observant cousin’s family for his oldest son’s bar mitzvah. It was my first time back to Israel since I was a teenager, and I had a strong reaction to the whole experience: being in Israel, being with my cousin’s family, and being among a community of Torah-observant people. I had a strong feeling of belonging, but without any knowledge or understanding to back it up. Knowing that my ignorance kept me from belonging made me very sad, and a friend of my cousin suggested that, if I wanted to start learning, there was an organization called Partners in Torah that could help. When I returned to the States, I made a few radical changes in my life. I started attending morning minyans at my local Conservative shul. I started attended services on Saturday mornings. And I called up Partners in Torah and enrolled in the TelePartners program. I began learning with my chavruta, Daniel Altman, only a few weeks after I returned from Israel. We talked about what I wanted to study. I am an obligation-oriented person, always have been. So, I decided I wanted to know the rules. We settled on studying Kitzur Shulchan Aruch. We started from the beginning, but as every holiday, major or minor, approached, we jumped forward to the laws of that holiday. It was exactly the kind of program I needed to give me a sense of what daily life in an observant home would be like. My learning with Daniel was probably very similar to the way other TelePartners’ chavruta situations developed. We learned every week. If I had a scheduling conflict, Daniel always tried to accommodate my schedule. Once in a blue moon, he’d ask me to reciprocate. But generally, it was like clockwork, every Thursday from three to four p.m., I’d close my door at my office and learn Torah law. Let me describe the impact learning with Partners in Torah has had on my life today. I have slowly begun to take on the obligations of a Torah-observant Jew. I have taken on the obligation of saying the Shema twice a day. I start every day by putting on tefillin and reciting the Birchot HaShachar, saying the Shema and the Shemoneh Esrei. I end every day saying the Shema and the Shemoneh Esrei. I wear tzitzit every day. I don’t eat nonkosher meat, even out of the house. I learn Torah with four different chavrutas, including one from Partners in Torah and others from my community. I have begun attending services at a local Orthodox shul. More important, I have committed myself to living my life by Torah law. I don’t know all of the laws, and maybe I never will. But I understand that my life is governed by Torah law, and I make an effort to make decisions in my daily life based on that law. These are all of the steps I have taken in my daily life to begin to satisfy my obligations as a Torah-observant Jew. It is no longer a question of whether I am a Conservative Jew or an Orthodox Jew. I now know that I am a Jew who was born with the obligation to know and believe the Torah is true and with the obligation to observe all of the 613 mitzvot. That I am not observing them all as of yet just makes me human. Through my learning process, which started with Daniel Altman and will continue for the rest of my life, I will strive to add more observances. I may never get to 613, and I may never understand all of their intricacies of observance, but I understand that it is my obligation to observe all of them. Partners in Torah and Jewish learning have transformed my view of my relationship to Hashem, to the world, to my community, and to my family. It has made me aware of the impact that a lack of a Torah education has had on my life. Having three children has made me keenly aware of my obligation to pass on the lessons I have learned to my children before they are too old to easily adapt to a life of observant Judaism. The combination of these lessons has compelled me to take up the cause of promoting Jewish education. I have become a supporter of and active consultant to the Partners in Torah program, using my business experience and professional skills to help the organization run more efficiently and effectively. I have started my own charitable foundation, the Kohelet Foundation, whose mission is to increase enrollment in day school education by improving the business models of the schools. I have been devoting my time, on nearly a fulltime basis, to carrying out the mission of my foundation and making sure that as many kids as possible learn Torah Judaism when they should, as children, so they don’t have to spend their adult years playing catch-up. I am enormously indebted to Daniel Altman, Rabbi Gewirtz, and the Partners in Torah organization for bringing me to this level of understanding of my purpose in life, for making me aware of the obligations that I have that I never knew about, and for giving me the awareness to raise my children in an atmosphere of Torah observance so that I will fulfill what I consider to be my most important mission as a Jewish father: V’shinantam levanecha, to teach my children the words that Hashem has commanded us. With the utmost respect, gratitude, and love, David Magerman Read moreLETTING IT RIPPLE OUTWARD
LETTING IT RIPPLE OUTWARD
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Eric Schwartz
Hi! We haven’t missed a single week since I’ve reported last. We are learning the second volume of Strive for Truth! by Rav Dessler; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, and Loving Kindness adapted from the Chafetz Chaim. We learn some from each at most sessions. I am still so blessed to be able to learn with Sol, and he says the same. I know he’s not be-ing patronizing, since we are learning mussar (a joke!). My wife and seventeen-year-old son are going to Israel next month at the request of my son before he goes away for four years in the U.S. Army. My wife is a Messianic Jew and has been a strong influence in my son’s religious views. I have tried to learn with him consistently over the years, but he is often reluctant. I am sure his connection to Yiddishkeit is in no small way due to Partners in Torah. I could have nagged and bribed and used the often-tried methods of influence that failed for people like myself. But I believe the sight of me running to the phone on the night I learn and my enthusiastic involvement did strong kiruv here, unbeknownst to anyone. No one in the family has said anything, but in thinking about it now, I can see the ripple effect of Torah that we all hope to witness. I have to run, it’s Shabbos tonight and I alone in my home am shomer Shabbos (as best I can). Soon, b’ezras Hashem, that will ripple too. Kol tuv, Eric Read moreETERNAL THANKS
ETERNAL THANKS
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Cm
I can’t thank you enough for what your program has done for me. I started learning with my Partner three years ago and, although it was a very bumpy and emotional ride, this story has a happy ending. When I started learning with him, I had never heard the word “Shabbos” before in my life, never seen someone wrapping tefillin, nor had any idea what it was. I had heard the word “kosher” before, but I never met anyone who kept even the lowest level of kashrus. Three years ago I was dating a shiksa and I was planning to intermarry as my mother had. Fast-forward three years...and I just finished my five-month-long stay in yeshivah, where I was able to speak to two gedolim about mys-tical issues. You have done a tremendous honor in restoring the Yiddishkeit that was lost in my family for many years. According to the gedolim I met, I’m descended from some of the greatest tzaddikim throughout Jewish history. Years ago my illustrious rabbinical family was removed from their greatness, but you have done a tremendous honor in bringing their descendant back into Torah society. No matter how great my ancestors were, they needed a vessel to bring my family back to Torah and mitzvos. My Partner’s kiruv abilities were amazing, and without his coaching I don’t think I would have made it to yeshivah. Through a series of miracles, my sister, who was almost engaged to a gentile, was able to get on the derech, too, and now she is engaged to a Jew. May my story be a source of strength for your institution, and may the merit of my ancestors provide you with many blessings. Thank you and keep up the great work! Read moreTHE BEST IS YET TO COME
THE BEST IS YET TO COME
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Rabbi Manes Kogan
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz, I am writing to thank you and the leadership of Partners in Torah for your tireless work in providing Torah learning opportunities for myself and for thousands of others. I myself grew up in a nonobservant family which called itself traditional. When I grew up, “traditional” was the term we used to refer to someone who sat with his family around a Pesach table, who went to shul for the High Holidays, who fasted on Yom Kippur, and, in my case and in my brother’s, to someone whose parents sent him to a Zionist secular school and learned a good deal of Hebrew. An important part of that tradition was to “have” your bar mitzvah when you turned thirteen. To that extent, my parents took me to one of the main Conservative shuls in Buenos Aires, where I was trained to lead services, to chant the haftarah, to read from the Torah, and to put on tefillin. My early involvement with the secular youth group associated with my Jewish day school took me to Israel, where I finished high school, and upon my return to Argentina, I enrolled myself in the Conservative Seminary in Buenos Aires, one of the two available non-Orthodox institutions for training Jewish teachers. After three years of study I entered rabbinical school, and after five more years I got my rabbinical ordination and became a member of the Rabbinical Assembly, the rabbinical association for Conservative rabbis. While studying at the Seminario, my level of observance slowly started increasing, but I always looked at myself as a “searcher,” even after I had my own congregation, first in Argentina, then in the Dominican Republic, and then in the United States of America, in Roanoke, Virginia. It was in Roanoke that I first got in touch with Partners in Torah. I was serving as the rabbi of Beth Israel Synagogue, the Conservative shul in Roanoke, when one of my congregants, Arnold Masinter, brought to my attention a bookmark of Partners in Torah. I suggested that he call, and he got matched with his Torah partner. The positive influence of Partners in Torah on Arnold and on one of his thenemployees, who also joined the program, prompted me to call and ask for my own Torah Partner. A week later, the rosh kollel of KarlinStolin in Boro Park called me, and since that time, almost eight years ago, we have been Partners. My family and I have visited the Machlis family a few times in the past years and stayed with them for Shabbat, and our daughters developed a friendship. However, my main gain was in a deep and sweet (I don’t have better words to describe it) Torah study, which led me to new levels of Torah observance. Partners in Torah provided me with the greatest gift of all, the gift of Torah, a gift which broadened my mind, opened new doors for me, and made me believe that the best is yet to come. Partners in Torah did all of the above in a compassionate, yet professional, nonjudgmental way, reminding me always that we are all Jews, and that we all have a chelek in Hashem’s Torah. For all of this, Rabbi Gewirtz, I want to reiterate my personal sense of gratitude and appreciation to you and to Partners in Torah for everything you have done and continue to do for me and for many others like myself. May you go from strength to strength, and may Hashem crown your efforts with many blessings! Read moreDEDICATING AN HOUR
DEDICATING AN HOUR
Sol Handler
Our partnership started in March of 2005, with Henry making the grand proposal that we study Chumash, Mishnah, and Gemara. Ever since, we have studied for one hour every Friday morning at six a.m., alternating between Chumash, Mishnah, and Gemara, except for an occasional week when there was an emergency or one of us was away on travel. We are nearing the end of Chumash Bereishis, have finished Mishnayos Avos and are well into Mishnayos Berachos, and are nearing the end of the first perek of Gemara Bava Metzia. Who was it who said significant progress can be made from just one hour of study? That person was right, especially if it is a dedicated hour, each week. Usually, every Friday morning, my phone call is picked up punctually at six a.m. on the first ring by Henry, who always has a friendly greeting. One Friday morning, the phone rang a number of times before it was answered. Henry gave his usual friendly greeting, and the study session went very well, as usual: focused, concentrated, and with interesting questions and discussions. It wasn’t until later that day that I remembered that this was supposed to have been a scheduled day off, on which I had mistakenly called. But Henry never let on and the study session had proceeded with its full intensity and embellishments, as if nothing was amiss! This study journey has been wonderful and is continuing, with G-d’s help, up the proverbial Jacob’s Ladder, to who-knows-what destination. Thank You, G-d; thank you, Partners in Torah; and thank you, Henry Read moreWRESTLING WITH FIRST PRINCIPLES
WRESTLING WITH FIRST PRINCIPLES
Michael V.
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz, Please accept — and pass on to the donor — my sincere thanks for the ability to begin putting on tefillin each day so swiftly and affordably! I was raised a Reform Jew by dedicated and well-meaning parents and, although they are committed to Judaism to this day, the circumstances of my upbringing didn’t allow for much in the way of Jewish education. I met a wonderful woman in college and we were married soon after. We were always devoted to the idea of having a Jewish family, and Heather had a Reform conversion. She is truly a Jewish soul, and my bashert. For the next seven years, the best way that I could describe our Jewish practice is as a nondenominational wrestling with first principles. On the one hand, we imagined that — based on our upbringing or conversion — our Jewish practice was obliged to be within the boundaries of “liberal Judaism,” and we strove to find more rigorous and “rewarding” ways of practicing in this context. But we were plagued by the idea that, as Jews, Hashem had commanded us to be mindful of certain things. And each time we took on a new mitzvah — or part of a mitzvah — we were stunned by the sense of holiness growing within our lives. The growing realization was that we didn’t want to choose practices that were “rewarding,” but rather, that each time we chose to follow Hashem’s commandments for His sake, the reward sort of mysteriously took care of itself. In any case, my wife is at the moment in the final stages of a halachic conversion, and after having been separated for quite a long time at this point, we are looking forward to a halachic wedding soon! But back to the tefillin. It’s truly exciting to me that there are other people out there for whom the mitzvah of tefillin is so important that someone like me can telephone and have a pair sent, not in a week, but overnight. I love to relate this story because it is fun to tell, but also because it’s an affirmation of the urgency of performing this mitzvah, and of mitzvot in general. It’s not that the world would have ended if I hadn’t begun to put on tefillin for an extra week, but that the idea of not waiting any longer than absolutely necessary to begin doing so is significant, simply defies reason. In addition to the fulfillment of the mitzvah, and the feeling that I’m only beginning to discover its power and mysteries, putting on tefillin has already begun to unlock the power and mystery of my family’s past. I am named for my great-grandfather Max (Michoel), who died only about six weeks before I was born. He was the patriarch of my family, and came to the United States as a child, in 1906. I have seen photographs of his parents, and he was clearly raised in a religious family in Ukraine. I know that my grandfather and his siblings were confirmed in Cleveland’s largest Reform synagogue, and so I had always assumed that the keeping of mitzvot was something that my family had left on the other side of the ocean. However, on my next visit to see family after I began wearing tefillin, I was surprised when my grandfather gave me a small cloth bag. Inside I found tefillin belonging to my great-grandfather, my namesake. Not only did he own a pair (which I had never known), but they are also clearly worn from years of use. Although the tefillin are not kosher at present, I look forward to finding a good sofer who can advise me on whether or not they can be restored. How wonderful would it be to wear my great-grandfather’s tefillin! There are many reasons to keep the mitzvot — most of all because we are commanded to sanctify Hashem’s creation by doing them. But I am also convinced that sustained observance is the best explanation for the endurance of the Jewish people throughout the generations, against all odds. Please accept my sincere thanks for helping someone of such modest education and modest means to take on the mitzvah of tefillin with such ease and alacrity. Sincerely, Michael Read moreCHANCE OF A LIFETIME
CHANCE OF A LIFETIME
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Sruly Shain
My Partners in Torah story is honestly not much of a story. No miraculous turnaround or drastic changes have occurred. No wildly contrasting before and after pictures have been taken. But this — as you will see — is exactly my point. I began learning with my Partner — let’s call him Sam — about a year ago. Sam was attending college out of town, and has since graduated. His crowd of friends was very diverse. Being the warm person that he is, Sam was very close with a large assortment of his peers. Put this popularity together with the fact that Sam had a very minimal Jewish upbringing, and this is what you get: an easily influenced young man, who sees many different paths of life before him. He has no reason to feel compelled to pursue a specifically Jewish lifestyle over any other. Sam and I studied a book over the past year which explained why the Jewish way is the best way. But the book was really just a springboard for our very intense discussions on Judaism. As we were about to complete the book, we had another intense discussion, this time debating who had gained more out of our partnership over the past year. Fast-forward to last week: Sam is now teaching Hebrew classes for young children. He asked if I could arrange for a local study partner for him in his area. He has also been dating a fine Jewish girl for the last few months. Some people may feel that unless the story ends with “....and now he’s married, learning in a kollel in Yerushalayim,” it’s not that cool. The truth is, though, that with the help and guidance of Partners in Torah, this young man is moving forward to becoming a more affiliated Jew. He is now interested in advancing his Torah knowledge, and in discovering his Jewish roots. I think that’s fantastic! Partners in Torah is giving this young man a chance. A chance which he has been incredibly lucky to get. I know it sounds like a cliché here, but it’s true: This, if anything, is his “chance of a lifetime.” I am very thankful to be affiliated with this great program. And you never know... Maybe one day my story will end with “....and now he’s married, learning in a kollel in Yerushalayim.” Read moreSEEKERS NO LONGER
SEEKERS NO LONGER
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David Comins
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz, I have attended many secular seminars over the years where the terms “transformational” and “unrecognizable” are used to describe the experience. I never really believed the hype, but years after beginning at Partners in Torah and subsequently becoming Shabbos observant, my wife and I looked at each other one day and said, “Our life is truly unrecognizable!” We had been “seekers” for most of our adult life. We were both aware of being born Jewish but had extremely limited exposure to Yiddishkeit and were happily unaffiliated. We felt comfortable and pleased with our circumstances and surroundings, and yet... At nearly age fifty, my wife had felt the need to attach herself to a “higher power,” but had no natural path to follow. She made a concerted effort with the help of several friends to investigate the possible avenues for connecting to a higher power available in the metropolitan region; interestingly enough, though we visited several exotic houses of worship, including Christian ones; Orthodox Judaism wasn’t even on the list! We accepted an invitation from a friend for a Shabbos service in 1999. It was in an inner-city shul that had seen its heyday probably seventy-five years ago. The service was held in a dark basement on a cold February day, there were barely ten men there, we couldn’t sit together, and the whole thing was in a language we couldn’t read or understand. When we thanked our host but politely declined a return visit, she wisely urged us not to stop but to please get in touch with someone we both knew in Passaic who was skilled in outreach. Just at this time my wife was considering going to a Messianic Temple in Garfield, New Jersey, hoping to combine the best of Christianity and Judaism. Our new Passaic contact begged her not to go, describing in a long, impassioned e-mail the Jewish neshamah and how damaged it would become by being exposed to that other religion. He said that even though men have an obligation to go to shul, Judaism really thrives in the home. He invited us to his home for a Passover Seder. It was the first time either of us had been to a traditional Seder. I was touched by the tradition being passed down from the generations, as the grandparents as well as the host’s adorable eighteen-month-old son were there. It was on a weekday evening and only after we finished at two a.m. did we realize why he had asked if we wanted to stay over! There was something magical about that evening; perhaps it was that the two of us, coming from small families and having no children of our own, felt the glowing love of a Jewish family for the first time, a family who could reach out to strangers and make them feel welcomed. We asked our host where to go from here. He suggested both a weekend Gateways seminar and acquiring a chavrusa through Partners in Torah. We dutifully followed his advice. Actually, my wife, Chaya, enrolled first, and after a couple of weeks I decided to join, too, so as not to be left too far behind. I’m not sure I had ever spoken with an Orthodox man before. I had a preconception that my chavrusa would be bookish, without humor or a sense of the world. How wrong I was! I was fortunate enough to have a chavrusa who seemed to know everyone in town, was outgoing and funny, and had an incredible family. It took me a while to wrap my head around the fact that a man who had seven children, a responsible job, and other learning obligations would willingly give up an evening each week to tutor a stranger. For free, no less! The rest of the story can be told rather quickly. My wife and I both took to our studies eagerly. After a few weeks of learning and being invited to a few Shabbos meals and melaveh malkahs, we felt like we were more connected to people in Passaic that we had ever been in our twenty years in our Montclair, New Jersey, hometown! After less than a year we decided to move to this holy community, and miraculously bought a wonderful new home and sold our old one very quickly. When we were chosen to be honored by Partners in Torah as “Partners of the Year” in 2000, my wife had a beautiful idea. Our wedding twenty-one years prior had not been a Jewish one and, now that we were moving to the community, it would be special if we could sanctify our marriage with a genuine chuppah ceremony. She reasoned that at the Partners in Torah’s annual fund-raising breakfast there’d already be a hall, the crowd, and some food; all we’d need to add would be a chuppah, the music, and we’d be all set! Rabbi Gewirtz loved the idea and we’ll never forget how he and his team transformed the grounds of the Ohel Rivkah school into a place of holiness and sanctity and allowed us to enter into a true Jewish marriage. Looking back, that was the best day of our lives. We felt the love of our friends, family, and new neighbors that we’ve grown close to over the years. After the year at Partners in Torah, I joined a yeshivah in Passaic, where I’ve learned regularly ever since. Chaya learns as well, and we aspire to keep growing and emulating the people at Partners in Torah and other neighbors, whose highest calling is to do good for others and share their love of Yiddishkeit. May the organization continue to grow and thrive for many years to come! Best wishes, David and Chaya Comins Read moreLIVING MY DREAM
LIVING MY DREAM
Moshe T.
My story is not unique, but meaningful to me. Until I was twentyfive, I led the life of a traditional, non-Orthodox Jew. You know how it goes. My family went to “temple” for Rosh HaShanah and fasted on Yom Kippur. We celebrated Chanukah and Passover. Through a series of events I was led to Partners in Torah, where I was embraced and helped to find my way in Yiddishkeit and in life. I was born and raised in the suburbs of New York. My father was raised in a traditional non-Orthodox home from the Lower East Side. My mother was a nonaffiliated Catholic. She had no connection to her religion. My father insisted that he wanted his children to be “raised” Jewish. I’m not quite sure what he had in mind. Perhaps he wanted me to have a Jewish identity. But my father knew enough to be aware that I was born Catholic because Judaism follows the religion of the mother. The plot thickens... When I was eight days old I had a bris. The blue card was signed by a prominent mohel with a note that read, “With intent to convert.” A year later, after my first birthday, I was taken to a mikveh, where I was “converted” by three “Orthodox” rabbis. I will return to this process later in my story. I was privileged to attend Orthodox yeshivahs for almost ten years. They were smaller coed schools that somehow understood my background. I was never counted for a minyan or asked to lead the davening. And I understood that, but on a minimal level. It was very confusing for me to wear a kippah and tzitzis all day at school only to throw them off as soon as I got home. Many of my friends lived in the same town as the yeshivah, but I had to commute every day. Then when I was ten years old, I got to spend Shabbos at a friend’s house. The Goldberg family made me feel right at home. I loved to see the interaction between all of the family members. I enjoyed listening to divrei Torah. My dream became to one day move to this same place and raise my own family there. For high school, I attended a nonsectarian private school. My connection to Yiddishkeit began to dwindle, yet I maintained my family’s traditional values of not eating pork or seafood and not mixing meat and milk. In life we can often look back and pinpoint a small handful of life-changing events. My college years seemed to have most of them. I attended a major Catholic university, where I was required to take classes given by clergy. This put my own knowledge about Judaism to the test. It also brought me closer and sparked the pintele Yid inside. I knew that I had to learn more. Little by little, I began taking on more halachos. I began to eat only glatt kosher meat, although I cooked it in my parents’ nonkosher pots and pans. I bought different sefarim and Jewish books, but never felt satisfied. Meanwhile, I interned at a financial services company in Manhattan. I was there several days a week helping stockbrokers. Sam Miller was the only Orthodox broker in the office. Suddenly, I felt myself drawn to him and began asking him questions pertaining to Judaism and Torah on a daily basis. One day Sam asked me if I would be interested in learning with a partner for an hour a week. He told me to call 1-800-STUDY-42. This was my introduction to Partners in Torah. The next day I called. I was given the option to connect with a phone partner (calling card included) or I could meet with someone in person in the same town as that of my old yeshivah! I was overjoyed to return to my old stomping ground, where I had spent my first Shabbos and hung out with all my friends. Throughout my years at Partners in Torah, I was teamed up with several partners, all of whom were special in their own way. David was one Partner who helped change my life. Returning to the beginning of my story, when I discussed my bris and being converted, I told David that I had always doubted as to how “Orthodox” rabbis could have agreed to convert a baby who was being raised in the home of a non-Jewish mother and nonobservant father. David was sensitive and agreed to help me have my documentation reviewed with Rabbi Gewirtz. Rabbi Gewirtz reviewed the documents with his colleagues and confirmed that there was no way to be 100 percent sure this type of conversion was legitimate and that they had their doubts. In short, if I wanted to lead a life of being shomer Shabbos and shomer mitzvos, I would have to convert. At that point, I had already been keeping Shabbos and kosher for some time. Rabbi Gewirtz agreed to help me any way he could, and so did David. However, I knew that if I wanted to become Jewish I needed to leave no stone unturned. I had several unsuccessful attempts at contacting a local rabbi whom I was told could help me. Finally, I had a friend of mine who was related to him call him on my behalf. The rav explained he did not know me well enough to help me. Immediately, I began searching for other rabbanim who could help. My closest friends at Partners in Torah were the only ones who knew about my struggle. They all helped me in different ways, and I sure that I’m not even aware of everything that they did on my behalf. Almost a year later, I ran into Rabbi Gewirtz. I told him that I had not been successful in finding a rabbi to help with my conversion process, but I would not stop searching. I also told him that I enjoyed learning an hour a week at Partners in Torah, but my neshamah yearned for more. I told him about a learning program at nearby yeshivah for baalei teshuvah. Rabbi Gewirtz encouraged me to go there. That week I met with the rosh yeshivah, Rabbi Cohen, for the first time. I felt compelled to reveal my situation and told him that I was very much interested in learning but that I could not be counted for a minyan or called to the Torah for an aliyah. Rabbi Cohen didn’t hesitate to offer his help. I was elated; finally somebody would be able to help me with my conversion process. I immediately started learning at the yeshivah, and an hour a week of learning turned into an hour a day. Then three hours a day, then five, until I was learning three sedarim a day. Almost ten hours a day! I loved it, but it was not easy and it was quite a challenge. Getting up at five a.m. to drive to the yeshivah for shacharis. Trying to take a nap between sedarim, and then not getting home until ten or eleven p.m. But I realized that I was also lucky, because my early yeshivah background helped me absorb the various Talmudic topics that we covered. It gave me a leg up on my learning. Finally, after six long months, the moment of truth arrived. Rabbi Cohen called me late one evening to let me know that the next day I would finally be Jewish. The seventeenth of Tammuz was my new birthday. That was my first fast as a bona fide Jew. There are not enough trees to print enough paper to fill with the words of thanks I have to all of my friends and rabbis, especially Rabbi Gewirtz and Partners in Torah. Today I am living my dream. I have been married for five years and live with my own family in the same town where I went to yeshivah. My children are not only Jewish from birth, but they are also frum from birth. Who would have dreamed of that? Read moreMY ROLE MODEL CHANA RIVKA
MY ROLE MODEL CHANA RIVKA
Orly Shor
I joined Partners in Torah two years ago. In my initial conversation with Partners in Torah, I was very candid in explaining our family background and history: I told them that my husband was a convert, I have three kids, we keep Shabbat and kosher, the kids go to Jewish preschool but I don’t observe the laws of tzniut or cover my hair. I joined Partners in Torah because I had just had a baby and I couldn’t push myself to get to shul, so it was hard for me to follow the weekly parashah. I wanted to cover the parashah in my session with a partner, as well as learn and expound on other Jewish subjects. But most of all, I was looking for a role model. My family is living a Jewish life in a place where there are very few observant Jews (you can count them on two hands) and I needed inspiration. I was matched with Chana Rivka — a mother to fourteen kids who had just had a baby herself and was looking to learn with someone. To tell you a little bit more about myself: I have a PhD in psychology and I’m working as a change management consultant in IBM. My job takes me on extensive travel all over the States. I am away from my home a lot, and often have meetings late into the night. In the two years that Chana Rivka learned with me, she would call me on a weekly basis at each hotel that I stayed in, no matter what the time difference was. (She would even call at midnight her time if need be to make sure I would not miss a class.) Alone in the hotel, away from my family, away from anything holy, it was the call I was always waiting for. A piece of light in the midst of my material life. During the time Chana Rivka learned with me, our conversation also turned to personal issues — family, marriage, and the home. I wanted to do more, but didn’t want to have it forced on me. (In my initial conversation with the organization I mentioned that I would hang up the phone if someone would pressure me to cover my hair.) In her gentle way, Chana Rivka kept giving me her guidance and support, and a year ago I began covering my hair and observing the laws of tzniut. Chana Rivka made sure that we learned thoroughly all the rules of family purity. I bought a book she recommended and every class we learned a chapter. I had my fourth child four months ago. Chana Rivka came to visit me when my baby was a month old. It was the first time I met her. There is so much to tell about her. I’ve learned so much from her. Her support and guidance went ten million years beyond the initial parashah classes I was looking for. She is such an inspiring, selfless woman. My role model. Read moreTEFILLIN IN OHIO
TEFILLIN IN OHIO
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Ilya
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz, My name is Ilya, and I am a junior at Miami University of Ohio. For the last week, I have had the immense pleasure of praying with tefillin every day, something I could never have imagined myself doing just a year ago. Thanks to the incredible commitment you and others like you have made to reach out to the nonobservant Jewish community, I have come quite a distance in both my understanding and practice of the commandments of the Torah, although I know I have distance yet to go. Thank you and all your supporters for helping me afford my first set of tefillin. Respectfully, Ilya Read moreMY OWN LIVING STORY
MY OWN LIVING STORY
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Rebecca Hale
I live in Incline Village, Nevada, which sits directly on the north shore of Lake Tahoe, in the Sierra Mountains, with my husband of eleven years, Brian, and our two children, Madeleine and Dylan. It was my sister who first connected me with Partners in Torah, which is based in New York. It was really like a miracle to have some-one to learn with, because there are almost no knowledgeable Jewish women anywhere close to where I live right now. It is so hard at times to stay on track and handle all the influences that my family and I need to deal with. I studied with my first teacher, Rivka, for about six months. I enjoyed learning with her tremendously, but she had to take a break due to the arrival of baby number three. Rivka still calls me to check in periodically, and I often think of her with warm wishes and prayers. The next teacher assigned to me was Leba, which means love. This is a perfect name for her. The funniest thing about Leba is that she calls me very late at night, around midnight or one o’clock New York time. This is probably because she is very busy with her family, so I am thankful when I realize that she is making special time for me. We have studied very well together, and I feel like I’m progressing a lot with making the Torah my own living story. Learning one-on-one with another woman is an excellent way to study. Leba is very knowledgeable, and has been learning for a long time. Putting a special woman’s perspective on Torah is something that I believe a woman can really do best. For example, when we studied the story of Moshe, Leba pointed out to me that it was Moshe’s mother, Yocheved, and his sister, Miriam, who conceived and carried out the entire plan for Moshe’s rescue. They refused to be daunted by the anti-life forces that were confronting them in Egypt, and through their intelligent planning for the future, the survival of the Jewish people was once again secured. Leba is an extremely nurturing individual. She also has a very high respect for being b’simchah, happy, and I appreciate that because I do feel that life can be fun. Thank you very much, Partners in Torah! Read moreMEETING ON THE MOUNT
MEETING ON THE MOUNT
Sanford Kadish
Rav Chanina Goldfinger, of Brooklyn and Montreal, has been my Partners in Torah chavruta for about six years now. We’ve been together through so much, covering Masechtot Berachot and Sanhedrin. Chanina has patiently guided me through some more challenging sugyot, and I shared several of the margin notes from the Israeli Steinsaltz version of the Gemara. We had a wonderful experience when we actually had a chance to meet a couple of years ago in New Hampshire — a case of hashgachah pratit that must be shared. Chanina’s extended family was coming down from Montreal at the end of the summer to spend Shabbat at a ski resort in Lincoln, New Hampshire, and I was working in Manchester, New Hampshire. Prior to his family’s excursion, we arranged to meet on the following Sunday morning and spend the day together. Chanina had called me using a phone card, and I told him that I would call from my cell when I was close to Lincoln. Lo and behold, the cell service in the mountains in that northern area is often iffy. I kept trying to call and stopped at every resort, notably the one where I thought they had stayed. I checked every tourist stop in Lincoln, and there are several. After about an hour of traversing the area and inquiring to see if a Goldfinger family was registered at each resort (which again and again got me only the following, to be read with a good New England accent: “Goldfingah — like the James Bahnd movie — nevah stayed heah!”...), I was ready to head back to Manchester. Clearly better planning would have been advisable. Just on a lark, I stopped one last time at the major tourist information location. Lo and behold, I saw a full-sized copper minivan with Quebec plates and a mother and two daughters attired in the requisite skirts. “Mrs. Goldfinger?” I inquired. “I’m Sandy!” “Baruch Hashem — you found us!” she shouted joyfully. “Chanina is inside getting information. Go get him!” I had the stark realization then that I had never seen a picture of Rav Chanina. However, realizing that most everybody else in a tourist trap would likely be attired in short pants and a T-shirt, I ventured forth. Needless to say, there was only one person in the store with a kippah and tzitzit, so we embraced and sighed with relief. We spent the rest of the day together. Chanina had with him his family (all girls at that time — they have since added a son), his wife’s parents, and his sister-in-law, who was equipped with a camera for the incredible sights. It was a glorious day of sightseeing at White Mountain, viewing another of Hashem’s profound creations that clearly confound atheists. I gave his daughters horsie rides and finally got all of their names down pat. We shared thoughts which we had not discussed previously on the phone. Chanina had brought some incredible cookies from one of Montreal’s best bakeries, which I enjoyed the entire following week. Finally, we bid adieu and headed back home. It was a wonderful day and clearly worth sharing as one of those great stories. Read moreTHE BEST PART OF MY WEEK
THE BEST PART OF MY WEEK
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Jeff Kates
I have a suburban, Long Island, New York, liberal, scientific, Reform Judaism background. After college, I moved to a small southern city with a small Jewish community. At that point, I had some personal experiences that made me want to speak to an Orthodox rabbi. I called the phone number on a random Jewish charity fund-raising mailer that had arrived at my office and asked the man who answered, “Is there an Orthodox rabbi there I could speak to?” He responded in a heavily accented voice, “We are all rabbis here.” When I told him about my situation, he told me that I needed to call a 1-800 telephone number. He sounded busy and said no more. I followed through, and contacted an office in Jersey where I was told they would arrange for me to have a study partner. The result has been fantastic. I have studied with my Partner almost every Tuesday evening for the past eight years. When we study it is as if the world stops, and a new world of Torah begins. I never could have imagined that weekly Torah study would be one of the best parts of my week and my life. Eight years of study have rushed by. It seems like only yesterday that we began. I look forward to my Tuesday night studying. It is enlightening, uplifting, and a haven. It is wonderful to have a Partner in Torah. Read moreTORAH IN EL PASO
TORAH IN EL PASO
Larry Lesser
Out here on the western tip of Texas, structured opportunities for individualized learning with people with strong Judaic backgrounds are limited. Thanks to Partners in Torah, I began learning regularly with Akiva in the spring of 2006, starting with Pirkei Avot and then moving on to ArtScroll’s volume 3 of Seder Moed. Nearly each week, our session not only involves learning the actual content of the text but also helps me improve my Hebrew reading skills (so that I have a chance to keep up with my nine-year-old son, who is a student in El Paso’s small Jewish community day school). Akiva is patient and receptive to my varied questions (whether or not they directly relate to the mishnah at hand) and e-mails me during the week with answers on the rare occasions when he cannot supply them during our telephone call. While there are many differences in our backgrounds, it is heartening how this is not an obstacle — and is sometimes a strength — to our learning. It is meaningful that we not only learn together but also exchange holiday greetings and share in each other’s milestones. For most of the last year, our learning was dedicated to the merit of my father-in-law, z”l, and last year I was also touched to receive an invitation to the wedding of one of Akiva’s daughters. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend, but I got to see wedding pictures. I did have the pleasure of meeting Akiva in person when a spring 2007 academic conference I attended brought me to Brooklyn. After Havdalah, Akiva picked me up from the conference and brought me back to his house to do some in-person learning, meet some of his family, and enjoy delicious refreshments. While time will tell whether El Paso is meant to be a long-term home for me and my family — we’ve been here since 2004 and I have a tenured position at the university here — I am so grateful that Partners in Torah offers an avenue for continued Jewish learning and growth between any two cities that telephones can connect. Read moreJUST A LITTLE LOST
JUST A LITTLE LOST
Doreen Deney
I want to share the story of how I met my Torah Partner. I live in Florida but was in New Jersey for a few weeks this past June. I have never driven in New York and was told it could be a very frightening experience. Still, I wanted to meet my telephone study partner, who lives in Brooklyn, because she and I work so well together and I have been learning so much from her. Wanting to put a face to the name and the chance to meet my Partner in person, I took the challenge and actually drove through Manhattan, over the Brooklyn Bridge, and into lands I had never before ventured. I only got a little lost, but eventually I found my way. My meeting with my Torah Partner was a wonderful experience, and I am so glad I got to spend some time with her in person. It’s funny, but as I write this, I realize that the story I’ve just told you is a metaphor for my experience with Judaism, in the sense that I am “just a little lost but I am slowly finding my way.” And that’s thanks in large part to my Partner in Torah. Thanks for putting us together and giving me a chance to explore my heritage with such a wonderfully knowledgeable and giving mentor. Read moreLAYING TEFILLIN IN MISSISSIPPI
LAYING TEFILLIN IN MISSISSIPPI
Roman K.
To Whom It May Concern: First of all, please forgive me for the delay in expression of my sincere appreciation and thank you for the tefillin that I received from your organization two and a half weeks ago. I would like to thank both you and specifically the donor for the amazing gift of tefillin. Without the donation I would not have been able to afford them at this time, and doing the mitzvah every day for the last two weeks has been very rewarding. I was at first adamant about first saving the money to buy a pair (I am a college student), but after much consideration I realized that the sooner I am able to wear them the better. An interesting occurrence happened when I got the tefillin. The day the pair arrived I was leaving to go to Mississippi to help rebuild after Katrina. It so happened that the five people from the local Hillel that I was going with and I were going to stay for the week with an organization called CORE, Christian Organization Relief Effort, in Ocean Springs by Gulfport. Like most everybody else down South, these people are a religious group of Christians that got together to do missionary work in the form of relief. We were sent to them because the new NECHAMA organization was not set up yet in New Orleans. I was very concerned and very selfconscious about taking the pair of tefillin with me into this situation, but there was no way I would leave them behind now that I had them, and I felt that I must put them on every day that was allowed, with no delay. So I decided to take them down with me and hopefully have the courage to put them on every morning. Each morning after breakfast, when 99.5 percent of the Christians there, all very nice people, had their devotion service in the church right by the camp, I would sneak off and lay tefillin. By the end of the week I was comfortable enough to even wear a yarmulke on Shabbos (I had worn a baseball cap until then) in full view of the entire Christian camp. The purpose of this story is to say that although one might think that the more one does according to the Torah and rabbis, the harder life becomes — and that one must live with constantly looking different and for that reason be ashamed — I think that wearing the tefillin made me stronger and more confident about being a Jew and being proud of it. That week in Mississippi was meaningful for me because we helped people, but also even more so because in putting on tefillin I was able to start each day of hard physical labor knowing that I had connected with my Jewish faith. I would like to once more express gratitude for the tefillin and extend a yasher koach to the donor and to your organization for what you provide to college students, many of whom are in the process of finding where they belong Jewishly, and in the greater world, which often comes hand in hand. I would also like to extend a very big yasher koach to Rabbi Aryeh Cohen from the Minneapolis Kollel, whom I first met at the Maimonides Program and who got me the tefillin from your organization. Sincerely, Roman Read moreTHE SANDY SPRINGS JEWISH “WRAPPERS”
THE SANDY SPRINGS JEWISH “WRAPPERS”
Don Memberg
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz, Please extend my heartfelt thank-you to your organization and to the donor who made it possible for me to get these beautiful and kosher tefillin. As president of our small and special congregation, I have found inspiration to become even more involved in my Jewish heritage. I had been borrowing tefillin since my own tefillin from my bar mitzvah have needed replacement. At our congregation, we started the “Sandy Springs Jewish Wrappers,” and encourage coming to services on Sunday morning to “wrap” tefillin, then “rap” right after at a breakfast and learning session with the rabbi. It is catching on. I’ve attached a copy of our jingle for your enjoyment. Here in the neighborhood of Sandy Springs, we are now on the Atlanta synagogue map! I hope you’ll soon be getting lots of other calls for tefillin as more and more people, like me, look for a more meaningful journey of Jewish learning and discovery. Sincerely, Don Memberg, President Congregation Anshei Chesed Read moreLIFE AND THE PARASHAH
LIFE AND THE PARASHAH
D.s.
Hesh and I have been studying the weekly parashah. He is very good at this. Sometimes I do all the talking and other times he does all the talking. Usually I play the role of the one who takes notes and listens. My wife always wants to know what Hesh had to say about the weekly parashah. All my friends know about Hesh and they too sometimes ask, “What does Hesh say about this?” Oh, I even have had a couple of rabbis I know asking about Hesh’s insight on the weekly parashah. Since we have been studying together, I have noticed that my life for that week kinda coincides with the parashah. I don’t know why, it just does. Wow, did you guys know that Partners in Torah did that? It may be Hashem’s way of telling me that I made a good choice with Partners in Torah. I finally got to meet Hesh in person last year. As we traveled from Spain to Dallas, we stopped over in New York. We met and talked as we waited for the plane. He met my wife and daughter. I have sent him a couple of family movies of ourselves. The relationship has become a friendship. Read moreTORAH: MY EMOTIONAL SUPERGLUE
TORAH: MY EMOTIONAL SUPERGLUE
Aharon Birenbaum
This is my last month of Partners in Torah. I am leaving to learn in yeshivah in Eretz Yisrael at the end of August. I must say thank you for something I appreciate incredibly. First of all, I would like to thank Partners in Torah on a personal level. My Partner, Shimi, has, over the past two years, grown to be one of my closest friends and confidants. I am so glad to have met him through your amazing organization. It was a godsend. Our one-hour sessions in Mesillat Yesharim, and then later Nefesh Shimshon, were the highlights of my week. Sometimes we would just discuss Torah, life, and Hashem, and carry on late into the night. Shimi influenced me greatly, and I cannot adequately describe his incredible patience and sensitivity in dealing with me and in listening to me vent my frustrations. I cannot express my gratitude to Partners in Torah for setting us up, granting us the time on the phone, and the (light) badgering to get started. On a more global scale, I am privileged to be a participant in such an amazing program. The support the mentors provide is unquantifiable. More than anything else, the secular world screams out for friendship. Deep care, trust, and commitment are rare to come by in this dark pit of an atheistic world we live in. To have a true friend is so important. How much more so when this friend becomes a mentor and teaches life lessons and shares values! As I have learned through Shimi, nothing serves as emotional superglue as much as Torah. I’m sure your work is not easy. From finding the mentors to nagging the participants, from fund-raising to chizuk, Partners in Torah seems like it is trudging uphill both ways. However, let me be one to say thank you, for your dedication, your perseverance; your efforts have not gone unnoticed. I wish the organization, its supporters, its volunteers, its participants, and all of klal Yisrael much success, blessing, advancement in Torah, growth in middos, and all other great things. Read moreTHE TEFILLIN CONNECTION
THE TEFILLIN CONNECTION
Stephen F.
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz, My name is Stephen and I am sophomore at MIT. I am writing to you in order to send a heartfelt thank-you for the tefillin that I received from your organization a week ago. I thought perhaps your benefactors might like to hear the story of my religious “journey” over the last two years. My family is Reform but active. I was born and raised in Kansas City, a city with many virtues; however, diversity in Jewish identification and practice is not one of them. Growing up, I strongly identified with “being Jewish,” but that was only within the limited context of my experience, which was attending services on the High Holidays, celebrating Chanukah and Pesach, and attending bar mitzvahs of friends and family. I would say that I always “believed” in Hashem, but not in a critical manner and not in a way that influenced my decisions. In providing this description, I would like to firmly assert that I am in no way trying to criticize the Reform movement, but rather just explain that it simply did not engage me. My views changed largely because I attended school in Massachusetts and was exposed to Jews from a variety of backgrounds at MIT Hillel. To condense a rather long story, I decided over time that it was valuable for me to observe mitzvot in the Torah. Shabbat was a given because it was my gateway to learning about Judaism, and it quickly became my favorite component of observant Jewish life. I was more skeptical in my approach to prayer. I prided myself on my approach to Judaism as being highly selfmotivated. The first “book” on the reading list was the Torah, of course. Inspired to read for myself the Toraitic injunctions to keep kosher, observe the Sabbath, act charitably, and the like, I strengthened my conviction to observe sometimes less-than-convenient laws. I couldn’t find a Torah reference to prayer, though. This made me confused. Why should I do something thrice a day if it’s not even in the Torah? I thought. Well, the Torah is not the full story, of course. Prayer, I learned, was formalized by our Sages in the second century as a substitute for the Temple service. For me, this was a bit of a letdown. Then there was the issue of tefillin. I thought they were — in a word — weird. I actually consciously rejected them. It is a commandment to have the words of G-d as a sign on my hand. Why did this mean something ritualistic as opposed to the pragmatic message of “using” one’s hands to perform tikun ha’olam? I read the Torah on my own, and the latter was the meaning that I had devised...it made sense to me. I raised this issue to my Orthodox friends. They told me that tefillin are a symbol and a reminder to use your hands to perform good deeds. I wasn’t convinced...because I have found that at MIT and in other places, the Reform community tended to be much more active with social action than the Orthodox community was. In short, the tefillin confused me. They seemed to stand for a good idea in principle, but it seemed to me that the emphasis on ritual detracted from what I perceived to be the “big picture.” Two things changed my mind. One was the first time I actually put on tefillin, which was at an AIPAC program over the summer. I made a friend named Amir, who knew a friend of mine in Cambridge. One morning that I had woken up early, he asked me if I would join him for services. Later, he asked me if I had ever worn tefillin. No, I said. Cautiously he asked me if he could show me how to lay them, and I agreed. This made him very excited and he told me that this was a big deal. This story isn’t one of those types of baal teshuvah–type stories where I suddenly, upon putting them on, had some powerful connection to Hashem. Actually, it was highly anticlimactic and confusing because it took me about fifteen minutes to get them on. In some ways, the process still seemed more like a ritual than a meaningful connection, but through Amir, I found a much more earnest and what appeared to be sincere desire to “be” Jewish than what I perceived among Orthodox students in my own community. The second experience was my Birthright trip. During the trip, one of the rabbis whom I got to know through several conversations provided me with the contact information for your organization. My attitude toward tefillin changed. Yes, they were ritualistic, and yes, I did not understand them, but the ritual became something much more. In the ritual, I sensed an amazingly powerful connection to my people’s history... It amazed me to think that tefillin had been used as a way for Jews to connect to G-d for so many generations. It also became a motivation for me to pray, which I have begun to do about once a day. I kept in contact with Amir and spent a Shabbos as a guest with him once. I told him that it meant a lot to me that he showed me how to put on tefillin six months earlier. He told me that one of his friends at his high school had taught him how to use them, and that a year later he had died of cancer. You can imagine how shaken I was to hear that. He told me that when he puts them on, he remembers the friend. I felt strangely connected to the person Amir was describing through the shared experience bound in teaching a peer how to use the sacred objects. I still believe that there are other ways to observe the commandment in Deuteronomy 6:8, but I felt a strange but personal desire to make this traditional mitzvah my own. I thought perhaps the benefactors of my subsidized tefillin might like to hear this story. Best regards, Stephen Read moreA SPIRITUAL DOMINO EFFECT
A SPIRITUAL DOMINO EFFECT
T.e.
To the generous benefactor of the tefillin, Words cannot sufficiently express my gratitude to the donor who made this mitzvah possible. Without the support system of a family, taking on many mitzvahs at once can be a great financial strain. I want the donor to know that not only is he helping me to fulfill the mitzvah of tefillin, but his generosity has also cleared the way for me to fulfill many other mitzvahs as well, creating a spiritual domino effect that will continue for the rest of my life. Every mezuzah, every kosher meal, every pair of tzitzit will be bolstered by your generosity. Every day as I put on these tefillin I will do my best to remember the generosity of the anonymous donor and the person in whose honor this was done. Thank you for doing this great service for me and the Jewish people as a whole. Read moreA VIRTUAL MEZUZAH HANGING
A VIRTUAL MEZUZAH HANGING
Vivian Lerer
I have been learning with my Partner for a little over two years. It has been an inspiring journey for the both of us. She had a limited background in Judaism, consisting mainly of memories from her grandparents’ Seder and her grandmother’s candelabra, which she inherited. Her original quest was to learn how to read Hebrew, and that allowed me to segue into many areas, such as the chagim, the parashiyot, and customs and ceremonies. She now lights candles and says Modeh Ani and Shema each day. Through mutual consent, my Partner and I decided to do our learning using Skype and a webcam, facilitating our experience and making it more personal. I encouraged her to get a mezuzah and have someone — in this case a Chabad rabbi — put it up on her front door. As we continued our learning and explored the three parashiyot of Shema, I encouraged her to consider putting up additional mezuzot. She received two as a gift from a friend and purchased a third. Unfortunately, getting someone to hang them on the doors presented a logistical problem, so I suggested we make use of our webcams and engage in a virtual mezuzah hanging. I sent her notes on the placement of the mezuzah, and we had a sort of dress rehearsal before the actual placement on the lintel. When she felt completely confident about the procedure she put it in place and said the berachah. She was so touched and truly felt a moment of spirituality. This is the area we are working on now, spirituality Read moreSAME NAME, SAME HERITAGE
SAME NAME, SAME HERITAGE
Rachel B. Rubin
My Torah Partner and I have been learning together for the past three years. As soon as we were matched, I felt incredibly fortunate. Aside from being the same age and sharing the same first name, we had a similar outlook in life, yet hers was infused with an understanding of Judaism and Torah which I did not yet possess. Rachael Avigdor and I first met face-to-face at the Partner Appreciation Dinner in May of 2006. I spent the night in her house in Brooklyn — we watched an empowering Jewish movie, walked around Williamsburg, and enjoyed seeing one another face-to-face. Since then we have met numerous times — at Rabbi Gewirtz’s house for Shabbos, at her parents’ house for Shabbos several months later, for a friend’s wedding, and, most recently, for my own wedding. I felt extremely blessed to have my Torah Partner attend my wedding; she was an amazing presence and really brought to life the lessons we had learned together about marriage and partnership. My Torah Partner is a wonderful teacher and friend, and she is also one of the people I admire the most in the world. She truly lives her life by the Torah, always doing her best and helping others. She is an inspiration and I feel truly blessed to have her in my life. Read moreINNOVATIVE OUTREACH
INNOVATIVE OUTREACH
Rebecca Wolf-lippmann
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz, I am more than delighted with your innovative outreach program for teaching Torah to the entire Jewish community of all denominations. I am blessed to have an Orthodox Partner in Torah, Marilyn Silverman, who lives in Spring Valley, New York. I am a Reform Jewess who observes kashrut, Shabbat, and festivals, in addition to teaching Torah on a rotation basis at Temple Sinai in Delray Beach, Florida, where I am vice president of religious activities. Aside from Shabbat, one of the highlights of my life is my weekly Thursday night chat with Marilyn. Thank you for making this possible. B’shalom, Rebecca Read moreA TRIBUTE TO MY TORAH PARTNER: KEN YIRBU
A TRIBUTE TO MY TORAH PARTNER: KEN YIRBU
Steve Lerman
It all started with my business client and friend Eli Shindler, who asked me one day if I would maybe consider doing weekly telephone learning with a study partner. Um, possibly, I replied, if I have the time, maybe, um...let me think about it...maybe. I had no idea (although I should have) that possibly-let-me-thinkabout-it-maybe to an observant Jew who is committed to regular Torah study means absolutely!-now!-definitely. Not thirty seconds later he handed me the phone and I found myself talking to Partners in Torah, and thus began a series of events that has changed my life. After talking to me at length, Partners in Torah teamed me up with Gedalya Engel, who was since honored by the organization as a chaver tov. He certainly has been a chaver tov to me! Gedalya and I finally connected by phone and in no time at all I knew that Partners in Torah had chosen the right chavrusa. I felt comfortable immediately and we had a terrific conversation about learning and what to learn. I decided that since I had never really gotten a good read on Chumash with Rashi, this was the place where I would like to start. We started learning near Simchas Torah, and we have had only a few missed sessions. Considering both our schedules, this itself is remarkable and shows our commitment to learning. We vary the topics for special weeks such as Purim and Pesach, which makes the learning that much more interesting. But Gedalya’s impact doesn’t stop there. In December of last year, my eighty-seven-year-old mother passed away after a long illness. One evening during shivah a new face appeared in the house, and I knew who it was even before he spoke. Of course, once he spoke it was obvious: this was the owner of the same voice I learned with each week. Gedalya had come to pay me a shivah call all the way from Brooklyn to Plainview. It was ironic to meet for the first time at a shivah, and it was a meeting that I will not forget. He got my address from Eli Shindler, even though the two had not met before this (never mind how they made contact; as Harry Golden wrote, “All Jews meet in a basement once a week”). That same evening Eli and others from Geri-Care, the company that Eli owns, also paid me a shivah call, and that’s when we learned that Geri-Care is a sponsor of the St. Louis Shabbaton that Gedalya and Chany Engel help run. The conversation turned to the Shabbaton, and my daughter Erica found it all very interesting. The next week found her on the bus to St. Louis, where she had a wonderful time and became fast friends with Chany. Now Erica also has a chavrusa, Chava Lea Abramson, and is learning each week and giving us all lots of nachas. Gedalya’s warmth and friendship have enriched my family. Through this experience, I have come to feel much closer to my Jewish heritage. I have gleaned wonderful lessons from Rashi’s insight, and also learned just how daunting Rashi’s task was (“Rashi didn’t have ArtScroll,” as Gedalya points out; baruch Hashem, we do). And I also learn from Gedalya’s knowledge and experience, and his love for what he does — which is so contagious — and I am tremendously grateful. For such chavrusas, ken yirbu! Read moreI'M IMPRESSED!
I'M IMPRESSED!
Freddy Sayegh
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz, I could count on one hand the number of people who have been able to make an impact on my life. You, my friend, are one of them. Though we have only recently met I feel like I have known you forever. There are not many things that impress me in this world, but I am both impressed and jealous of your love for klal Yisrael, which is contagious and inspiring. I can’t help but think about what the world would be like if we had more rabbis such as you leading am Yisrael. I could easily write a few pages telling you how much I love being a part of your program and how much I look forward to studying with my Partner every week. But I won’t bore you, because I know anything that I write you must have already heard a thousand times over. I only wish there was a way for me to thank you enough. Since I cannot come up with any good ideas, I will be open to suggestions. If there is anything you feel I could do to help you promote PIT, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will always do my best. Hazak u’baruch! Sincerely, Freddy Read moreMY FAVORITE DAYS OF THE WEEK
MY FAVORITE DAYS OF THE WEEK
Irv Yitzhak Frumberg
I am new to Partners in Torah and only recently came back to my Jewish beliefs since my return from Israel in 1976. The Partner you have set me up with, Greg Wall, who lives in New Jersey, has not only been a good partner, but has become a true friend. Living in California makes it difficult for me to attend your Annual Partner Appreciation Dinner on May 2. This is just a brief letter expressing my personal appreciation to you and your organization. I have started to attend minyan services on Monday and Thursday mornings, and to attend as many Shabbat services as I can at the synagogue we joined only a few months ago. I haven’t been a member of a synagogue since 1968, when I joined to have my firstborn learn for his bar mitzvah. The reason I attend the synagogue then is because those are the days when the Torah is taken out to be read from and I’m able to give it a kiss when it passes by me. I kiss it to show my reawakening love for it and my rekindled affection for Hashem. I also figure it can’t hurt to be looked upon with a little kindness from the One Above. Shalom and todah rabbah, Irv Read moreHOME AWAY FROM HOME
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Robert E. Goodman
In the summer of 2002, I found a flyer for Partners in Torah at the Aish HaTorah center in Rockville, Maryland, that I frequently attended. It seemed like an interesting program to study over the phone. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I tried it. I called the Partners in Torah office and they asked me all sorts of questions about my current Jewish observance, religious background, and what I wanted to study. I was initially matched with someone who I was never able to connect with, so I called up Partners in Torah again to see if I could get a new Partner. I was immediately matched with Bruce Listhaus of Flatbush, Brooklyn. I was naturally apprehensive about studying with someone I had never met who had likewise never met me. I see now how courageous Bruce and I both were to try this experiment. As Bruce can tell you, becoming more observant was new to me, rather scary, and even anxiety producing. I wanted to study Jewish texts with the utmost intellectual honesty, but I was not on a specific observance track to change my religious outlook from the Conservative Judaism I grew up with to the Orthodox Judaism that I now practice. Hashem moves in mysterious ways, and it has clearly been bashert for Bruce and I to be Partners. Bruce and I became fast friends immediately and even closer friends during our continuing seven-year partnership. Our studying together has given me a deeper understanding of our Jewish texts and prayers, the Jewish calendar, the holidays and their ritual significance, the importance of keeping a kosher and shomer Shabbos home, and much more. Bruce has helped me to understand and internalize so much about my Jewishness that saying “thanks” is not enough. I am amazed that so much time has passed so quickly, that I have learned so much, that I have come so far, and that we have shared so many significant and emotional milestones, like his son’s bar mitzvah, the marriage of one of his daughters, and the death of my dad, Charles Goodman. As a study partner, Bruce was not obligated to help and be so kind as to attend the funeral and make shivah calls, but as a friend, Bruce felt he did. That is just the kind of man, the kind of friend that Bruce Listhaus is to everyone who knows him and loves him. I have been made to feel as a welcome guest in the Listhaus home. I have watched their children grow up and mature, and now see their grandchildren doing the same. After seven years and hundreds of study sessions, many Shabbosos spent in their home, celebrating their family simchahs together, and celebrating of the completion the Siyum HaShas at Madison Square Garden, whenever I call the Listhaus home, the phone is picked up with the usual shout to Bruce, “It’s Rob!” and Bruce is quick to pick up the phone. The Listhauses are a truly loving and nurturing family and I am honored to be their friend. I owe a great deal to Bruce for introducing me to his vibrant Jewish community that is the congregation of Agudas Yisroel Bais Binyomin. When I come to Flatbush, I feel as if I have a second home. I owe this to Bruce for introducing me to so many kind, generous, warm, and friendly people. Now, whenever I walk into the beis midrash to daven or study, I am immediately greeted with warm smiles and friendly handshakes by many of Bruce’s friends — and now my friends, too. I carry the goodwill examples shown to me by Agudas Yisroel Bais Binyomin into my own Jewish community and welcome the stranger in whatever ways that I can. Over the course of the last seven-plus years, I have traveled lightyears in my Jewish faith and observance. I know that I owe all this to Bruce and Judy Listhaus and their family, to the congregation of Agudas Yisroel Bais Binyomin, and most of all to the tireless good souls at Partners in Torah for making this possible and for showing me the beauty, love, and value of Torah. Read moreFINDING ANSWERS
FINDING ANSWERS
Binyamin Brager
Dear Partners in Torah, I’m sure you hear this all the time, and it is something that is brought by Chazal, but I have certainly gained very much from my Partner in Torah. We have only been learning for a few months (Mesillas Yesharim), but I have seen that I have gained so much, and this sefer lends itself to bringing on some very relevant questions, especially for the newcomer to Yiddishkeit. As a baal teshuvah myself, through learning with my Partner I am reliving the exploration of many of those nagging questions that I had (and to some extent, still have) when I was just starting out on my journey of learning Torah. There are so many things that are so simple when you learn them, yet we haven’t thought to dwell on them in the least bit. Learning with my Partner has helped to revitalize my own beliefs and attitudes, and hopefully is giving strength and knowledge to my Partner, which will enable him to have a better relationship with himself and with Hashem. Thank you, Partners in Torah, for such a wonderful organization that does so much for the frum community, as well as for the not-yetfrum Partners. Best regards, Binyamin Read moreKEEP YOUR EYE ON THE TARGET
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE TARGET
David Hager
I live in New York and I signed up for Partners in Torah just before landing a very demanding job in real estate law. After taking the job, I was afraid that maybe the commitment to learn with a Partner every week would be too much for me. But I decided to continue and see how it would work out. That was a long time ago. It’s been approximately seven years that my chavruta, Ofer Gamliel, and I have been studying together. Ofer lives in Indigo, California, near Palm Springs. We study once a week and to date we have finished several masechtot of Gemara and many areas of halachah. Ofer is a professional commercial pilot, trained in Israel by the IDF as an F-16 fighter jet pilot. A few years ago, Ofer was flying to upstate New York for his company and had an hour stopover in Newark International Airport. Thus I finally got the opportunity to meet Ofer, with whom I had been speaking on the phone for so many years. The meeting at Newark was inspiring. When we sat there together, Ofer shared with me something that is very interesting: When a fighter jet pilot flying at full speed passes a stationary object, he will see that object only after it’s behind him. That is, one’s brain cannot process the information fast enough; by the time the pilot can process the information and see the object, the jet has already passed it. I think that this is a message to us as well. We travel through life at extreme speed; we are so busy with our daily activities. Unfortunately, we often do not see what is in front of us until it has already passed. Thanks to Partners in Torah, we can slow down just a bit and focus on opportunities of learning, teaching, and growing — such as those weekly transcontinental phone calls I have had for many years and hope to continue for many years to come. Read moreSTICKING TO THE SCHEDULE
STICKING TO THE SCHEDULE
Aviva Ghatan (of Blessed Memory)
On a recent Tuesday morning my special break from the world was scheduled for ten thirty. After getting four young girls on the bus by eight a.m., I bathed the littlest Ghatan and we were off for an exercise walk. I was detained on the way and found myself running late. I also found myself running with a stroller down Ocean Parkway (quite a sight). When I finally reached home, I quickly ran up the stairs. At exactly ten thirty I reached my Partner, an established middle-aged professional. Still huffing and puffing, I explained (so she wouldn’t call an ambulance) why I was so out of breath. My Partner was so touched that she too was out of breath. She said, “I am so happy this hour means as much to you as it does to me. I’m amazed at what you went through to be on time for me.” Needless to say, I now understand the importance of having a zeman kavua, a set time for study. It’s important that we both honor it “religiously” (no pun intended). In life it is not always what we say alone that has an effect on people but what we do. I wish you all hatzlachah in all your endeavors, and may this special mitzvah of taking your time to spread Torah, and taking it seriously, be a protection for you and your loved ones. Read moreAN END OF YEAR ACCOUNTING
AN END OF YEAR ACCOUNTING
Shayna Dena Rupp
Dear Rabbi Gewirtz and PIT Staff, Thank you so much for providing me with such a special privilege of being a Partner in Torah. It is a unique opportunity for one's own spiritual growth. I never thought I would nd one hour a week to commit myself for this learning session, but Hashem has cer tainly given me special si- yata diShmaya to find it. Sometimes even on erev Shabbos , or (can you imagine?) on erev Pesach . At the end of each year as I make a spiritual accounting, I am struck by and inspired by this thought: I don t know what I'm coming with to the day of reckoning, but Hashem,Tuesday mornings from eleven to noon, almost every week, are all Yours! May all our efforts bear fruit. May you merit enormous hatzlachah in this special endeavor. Read moreNOT JUST A PARTNER - ALSO A FRIEND
NOT JUST A PARTNER - ALSO A FRIEND
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Anonymous
I am writing to you to thank you for all you have done and are doing. I was a mentor in Partners in Torah for two years, and I see the great impact it makes on people’s lives. I taught in a day school and, through Partners in Torah, the parents of one of my students made their home kosher, and others are on their way up. I started this off when I was single. I was hesitant to do it. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to answer my Partner’s questions. And who was I, anyway, a twenty-year-old, to teach a woman old enough to be my mother or grandmother? I realized it’s not the age that matters; it’s the relationship that counts. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Now I’m getting married and moving, but I look forward to continuing it after my wedding when things settle down. I would encourage everyone to try it. Based on my experience, these are a few things that I feel can make it easier to get started: • Sit with another mentor the first few times and observe how she does it. When I did that, I saw it wasn’t so intimidating. • Keep in mind that your Partner has come to learn because he or she wants to know. He is coming to understand, not to argue. • Don’t be afraid they’ll ask questions that you can’t answer. They’ll honor the fact that you’ll get back to them. Time and time again, I found words I did not think I had. Hashem puts the right words in your mouth. • Keep in mind that you are coming as a partner — a friend. It’s important to show care and concern. I encourage everyone to get involved. Once you start you won’t want to stop. It will become a meaningful part of your life. I looked forward to going as much as my partner did. It’s a two-way thing. You both gain. Good luck! Read moreRIFKA, MY TORAH TEACHER
RIFKA, MY TORAH TEACHER
Sabrina Woodru
My name is Sabrina, and I am learning Hebrew and how to get the most out of Shabbos from my Partners in Torah teacher, Rifka. I need to tell you about her. You see, I came to learn so that my last words to my family, friends, and Hashem might be in Hebrew, the language of my people. Although I have had many blessings in my life, health is not one of them. But sometimes knowing when to begin counting the sunrises is a blessing in itself. I want to leave them, my most precious blessings, my babies, more than memories. I want them to have a Jewish life, as they have Jewish souls. Read moreMEGA BIRTHRIGHT EVENT
MEGA BIRTHRIGHT EVENT
Rabbi Eli Gewirtz
I’m writing from Israel, where I am still on a high from the Birthright Israel “Mega Event” I attended this past Sunday in Latrun. As we’ve done in the past, Partners in Torah set up an information booth, along with fifty or so other vendors who come to sell their wares. Our wares, baruch Hashem, went over quite well. Over eight hundred people signed up for a partner! Part of the Mega Event featured a concert and rah-rah session where they heard a variety of speeches — including one from the prime minister. The atmosphere was not terribly spiritual and there were components that our staff could certainly have managed without. While the concert was going on some distance away, exhibitors broke away to daven maariv. With my fingers pressed tightly against my ears to block out the background noise, I made it through until Shema Koleinu, where I included a tefillah for the over seven thousand acheinu b’nei Yisrael who were there. Whatever kavanah I was able to muster was shattered when the crowd suddenly broke out in song, which was at first barely audible and then turned into a frenzy. Unaccustomed to instant gratification as I was, the tears started to flow when I caught the words: “Anachnu maaminim b’nei maaminim... — We are believers the sons of believers and Hashem in Heaven is the only Source we can ever rely upon.” I knew that most of them had no idea what the words meant, but I couldn’t help but think (I know, I was supposed to be davening) that despite the mundane nature of the event, the message of the need to turn to our common Father was somehow getting through. And if we all share the same Father, they’re obviously our brothers and sisters. Though I’d love to stay in Israel for another month or two, I expect to return home early next week and face the daunting and exciting challenge that Hashem has put on our lap with these college students. Recognizing that Hashem in Heaven is the only Source we can ever rely upon, I nevertheless welcome anyone who would like to be involved — on any level — with this possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Read moreRETURNING THE GIFT
RETURNING THE GIFT
Stacey Baron
Several years ago I was matched up with a partner locally here in Baltimore. My partner instilled in me a love of Yiddishkeit that I still have today. She encouraged me to go to Neve Yerushalayim, and she laid the groundwork for me to build and cultivate my identity in the Torah outlook. She still serves as a mentor for me, as well as a friend. Since then I’ve built a family, bli ayin hara, and in turn I touched another partner. About three years ago, Partners in Torah contacted me with a name of a girl to learn with. She was just starting out and wanted to learn halachah. We hit it off well, and I encouraged her to learn more. She went to Neve Yerushalayim during semester and summer breaks until she graduated. I just had the zechus and nachas to wish her a mazel tov on her wedding last Thursday in Yerushalayim. I was so happy that the chesed someone showered on me had additional influence on this lovely girl. Read morePARTNER ENCOUNTERS
PARTNER ENCOUNTERS
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