Page 44 - HaMizrachi #33 Sukkot 2021 USA

JEWS

with
VIEWS

Rabbi Reuven Orlee
Boshnack Gutman

ho would I have in my sukkah? evorah, the biblical judge and proph-
That’s a great question. I’d love to etess, had a unique ability to inspire
have the Neot Deshe, Rabbi Shmuel people to help their peers and their
Dov Asher Leiner, the son of the Mei
country. She recognized that in order to
We asked five WHashiloach, with whom I spend Densure a safe and secure Israel, everyone
hours each week while preparing, writing and had to share responsibility in both the spiritual
accomplished teaching his Torah. and practical realms.
Or Rabbi Yeshaya Shapira, brother of the Aish
Recognizing that the generation lacked
Kodesh, who compiled Rav Kook’s teachings on Torah knowledge and values, Devorah was
Jews from the Land of Israel, blending my love of the Land instrumental in educating the masses and
encouraging others to take part in this task.
of Israel with the world of chassidut.
Closer to home, I’d like to invite my grand- She also recognized that practical steps had to
around the parents, but especially Grandma Toby. Sukkot be taken to safeguard Israel’s security and was
a motivating force behind military action and
was her Yom Tov. She’d spend hours in the
world to weigh sukkah, just breathing its unique air, talking to encouraging shvatim (tribes) to take responsi-
bility for Israel’s defense.
Hashem, and inviting everyone, from friends and
acquaintances to judges, teachers and police Devorah did all this while publicly acknowl-
in on which officers, into the sukkah. edging Hashem’s hand in Israel’s success.
Most of all, I’d also like to be there with my
I would love the opportunity to ask Devorah
family. I’d like to be there, to be fully present in advice on her approach to inspiring a nation,
Jew throughout the sukkah, not thinking about anywhere else or creating a national kiddush Hashem, getting dif-
anyone who isn’t there with me but to be there
ferent groups to work together, and encouraging
with the people who are there. To give atten- responsibility and creativity in individuals and
history they tion and presence to the people who matter the as a whole.
most. תכּ ֻסּ ַבּ וּב ְשׁ ֵי ל ֵא ָר ְשׂ ִי ְבּ ח ָר ְז ֶא ָה ל ָכּ, “all of Israel
ֹ
would most like will dwell in the sukkah.” If I can be there in the
sukkah, everyone will be there with me too!
Orlee Guttman is Director of Strategic Partnerships
to invite to their at The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT)-Lev
Academic Center, an engineering, business and
Rabbi Reuven Boshnack is the co-director of health sciences college that offers men and women
sukkah for a OU-JLIC at Brooklyn College with his wife for the the opportunity to study Torah while pursuing
high-level academic degrees, with nearly 5,000
last 13 years. He received his semicha from RIETS,
cup of coffee. and holds a Masters in Education and a Masters students coming from Orthodox and Haredi com-
in Mental Health Counseling. A talmid of Rabbi
munities from Israel and around the world. Orlee is
Moshe Weinberger, he has taught Chassidut, Jewish a co-founder of the LevTech Entrepreneurship Center
thought and Jewish Law for the last 20 years in at JCT and directs JCT’s Cyber Elite Training Program
Brooklyn and Boca Raton. Rabbi Boshnack has writ- for Outstanding Graduates of Computer Science
ten three books on Jewish thought, on the writings and Software Engineering. Orlee made Aliyah from
of the Sfat Emet, the Izhbitzer and the Maharal. Montreal, Canada in 2015.

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