My wife and I have traveled to the West Coast many times under the auspices of the Seattle Kollel and Torah Umesorah. Both of these organizations are justly famous for their work in spreading Torah to our Jewish brethren.
The Seattle Kollel, under the guidance of Rosh Kollel Rabbi Avraham David, has reached northward hundreds of miles from Seattle -- through the State of Washington and into British Columbia, encompassing the cities of Vancouver and Victoria -- and southward hundreds of miles through southern Washington and into the State of Oregon. Gracing this vast stretch of territory is a chain of highly trained and motivated rabbis bringing Torah to spiritually-hungry Jews. Over the years, we have had the privilegeto conduct programs in these far-flung islands (and some are literally islands!) of Jewish life.
Torah Umesorah, through holy emissarieslike Rabbis Nate Segal, Tzvi Bloom and Dovid Merkin, has nurtured these programs and helped set up our participation.
Last spring, we had a memorable Shabbos in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is not exactly a Torah metropolis, but there are many wonderful Jews there, as we found out. Rabbi and Rebbetzin Yechezkel Lewin, imports from Jerusalem, were in charge of the outreach effort, and we met some amazing people, like Charlie Marpet, a passionate and thoughtful Jew who is a mainstay of the community.
And then there are the Malis!Can you imagine this: about twenty-five miles outside Eugene, on the side of a mountain, lives a wonderful family! The father, Alex, was born in Russia, emigrated to Israel and met his basherte, his chosen mate, in Ohio. They bought land in Oregon and settled in this remote and rustic environment. As the family grew, the Malis became more and more observant. They are raising six wonderful children, all of whom are educated at home until college.The family also takes abundant advantage of Torah learning over the internet. Their only son walks with tzitzis out and the older children are learning Torah in Israel! The father commutes twenty-five miles each day to Eugene, where he is the proprietor of Alexander’s Great Falafel– under the supervision of a rabbi from the Portland Kollel – a landmark on the campus of the University of Oregon! Customers say things like, “Not even when I was in the Middle East did I have falafel this good. This man makes the BEST falafels on the planet!”
In these days leading up to Shavuos, the day on which we as a Nation accepted the Torah, it is good for us to think about such wonderful people and to see the tremendous appetite among the Children of Israelfor a life of mitzvos. May we all elevate ourselves as we climb the steps of Sefiras ha Omer ever higher until we, as a Nation, embrace the Torah. Then the entire world will be filled with holiness and every creation will know that “Hashem echad, u’shmo echad! … G-d is One and His Name is One!”
My wife and I have traveled to the West Coast many times under the auspices of the Seattle Kollel and Torah Umesorah. Both of these organizations are justly famous for their work in spreading Torah to our Jewish brethren.
The Seattle Kollel, under the guidance of Rosh Kollel Rabbi Avraham David, has reached northward hundreds of miles from Seattle -- through the State of Washington and into British Columbia, encompassing the cities of Vancouver and Victoria -- and southward hundreds of miles through southern Washington and into the State of Oregon. Gracing this vast stretch of territory is a chain of highly trained and motivated rabbis bringing Torah to spiritually-hungry Jews. Over the years, we have had the privilegeto conduct programs in these far-flung islands (and some are literally islands!) of Jewish life.
Torah Umesorah, through holy emissarieslike Rabbis Nate Segal, Tzvi Bloom and Dovid Merkin, has nurtured these programs and helped set up our participation.
Last spring, we had a memorable Shabbos in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene is not exactly a Torah metropolis, but there are many wonderful Jews there, as we found out. Rabbi and Rebbetzin Yechezkel Lewin, imports from Jerusalem, were in charge of the outreach effort, and we met some amazing people, like Charlie Marpet, a passionate and thoughtful Jew who is a mainstay of the community.
And then there are the Malis!Can you imagine this: about twenty-five miles outside Eugene, on the side of a mountain, lives a wonderful family! The father, Alex, was born in Russia, emigrated to Israel and met his basherte, his chosen mate, in Ohio. They bought land in Oregon and settled in this remote and rustic environment. As the family grew, the Malis became more and more observant. They are raising six wonderful children, all of whom are educated at home until college.The family also takes abundant advantage of Torah learning over the internet. Their only son walks with tzitzis out and the older children are learning Torah in Israel! The father commutes twenty-five miles each day to Eugene, where he is the proprietor of Alexander’s Great Falafel– under the supervision of a rabbi from the Portland Kollel – a landmark on the campus of the University of Oregon! Customers say things like, “Not even when I was in the Middle East did I have falafel this good. This man makes the BEST falafels on the planet!”
In these days leading up to Shavuos, the day on which we as a Nation accepted the Torah, it is good for us to think about such wonderful people and to see the tremendous appetite among the Children of Israelfor a life of mitzvos. May we all elevate ourselves as we climb the steps of Sefiras ha Omer ever higher until we, as a Nation, embrace the Torah. Then the entire world will be filled with holiness and every creation will know that “Hashem echad, u’shmo echad! … G-d is One and His Name is One!”
And then there are the Malis!Can you imagine this: about twenty-five miles outside Eugene, on the side of a mountain, lives a wonderful family! The father, Alex, was born in Russia, emigrated to Israel and met his basherte, his chosen mate, in Ohio. They bought land in Oregon and settled in this remote and rustic environment. As the family grew, the Malis became more and more observant. They are raising six wonderful children, all of whom are educated at home until college.The family also takes abundant advantage of Torah learning over the internet. Their only son walks with tzitzis out and the older children are learning Torah in Israel! The father commutes twenty-five miles each day to Eugene, where he is the proprietor of Alexander’s Great Falafel– under the supervision of a rabbi from the Portland Kollel – a landmark on the campus of the University of Oregon! Customers say things like, “Not even when I was in the Middle East did I have falafel this good. This man makes the BEST falafels on the planet!”
