This Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. it will be a great zechut for the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County to host Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon at Cong. Bnai Yeshurun in Teaneck. As so many within the broader community know, Rav Rimon, chief rabbi of Gush Etzion, rosh yeshiva of Machon Lev, and nasi of World Mizrachi, is one of the leading poskim in Eretz Yisrael and marbitzei Torah, with dozens of sefarim which present halacha in a clear and accessible way in a manner which can both engage the relative neophyte and illuminate seasoned talmidei chachamim.

And yet, Rav Rimon is truly so much more. Since the disengagement from Gush Katif, Rav Rimon, who was able to find thousands of job placements for the evacuees, has been perhaps the leading rabbinic figure in the land of Israel with respect to addressing massive social challenges.

To me, and so many rabbinic colleagues, he is the embodiment of Chazal’s mandate to synthesize immersion in Torah with chesed, כל מי שיש בידו תורה וגמילות חסדים כמי שיש לו אלו-ה (See: Avodah Zarah 17b), and that one’s engagement with chesed should be commensurate to one’s stature in Talmud Torah.

All of this has taken on even greater proportions over the last year, as Rav Rimon’s direct engagement with the frontline soldiers in battle, and supporting the ravaged communities which were brutally assaulted on Oct. 7 through his organization Sulamot, has changed countless lives of the world’s brothers and sisters in Israel and throughout the Jewish world.

In Bergen County, the RCBC has been privileged to partner, through Rav Rimon and Sulamot, with the exceptional community of Kerem Shalom, the community in Israel closest to Gaza and Egypt, directly opposite Rafah, whose story of heroism and bravery on Oct. 7 has been an inspiration to us all. Many of us took a mission there this past February and participated in their delegation last month to Bergen County, when four of the heroes of Kerem Shalom spoke of the miracles and mesirut nefesh which they experienced on that day, during which the community raised hundreds of thousands of dollars toward the $1 million we are investing in rebuilding Kerem Shalom.

We will never allow the Nazis of Hamas to leave a Jewish community judenrein, and we know that if Jewish people cannot live safely in Kerem Shalom, we will not be safe in Tel Aviv, Ra’anana, or in truth, Teaneck, Bergenfield and Englewood as well.

The RCBC and the Bergen County Kerem Shalom Unity Initiative urge the community to join them on the next leg of this partnership on their forthcoming mission from Aug. 5-8, based in Yerushalayim, in partnership with Mizrachi and Sulamot, during which mission members will visit Kerem Shalom and the Gaza border, hear from inspirational speakers such as Rav Doron Perez and Miriam Peretz, and do joint tours with friends from Kerem Shalom in the Yerushalayim area of the newest excavations in the Kotel areas, as well as have many volunteering opportunities for those who continue to bear the impact of the war.

As part of the mission, there will be a siyum in Kerem Shalom in memory of the kedoshim of Kerem Shalom — Amichai Weitzen and Yedidya Raziel —on the mishnayot of Seder Kodashim, currently being learned by representatives of 11 shuls throughout Bergen County: Ahavat Achim, Beth Aaron, Beth Tefillah of Paramus, Bnai Yeshurun, Chabad of Teaneck, Jewish Center of Teaneck, Kesher, Netivot Shalom, Ohr Saadya, Young Israel of Fort Lee and Young Israel of Teaneck, in conjunction with a siyum of Seder Zeraim by the members of Kerem Shalom to reflect how the sacrifice of these kedoshim will, with Hashem’s help, allow for a rebirth of Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael.

The RCBC and the Bergen County Kerem Shalom Unity Initiative look forward to welcoming Rav Rimon to the community this Wednesday to hear words of optimism and inspiration in this most challenging time, and to formally launch the August mission, the next leg of the groups’ partnership with our brothers and sisters in Kerem Shalom.

For more information regarding joining the Bergen County unity mission and supporting Kerem Shalom, including serving as the siyum sponsor, contact Rabbi Fridman
at [email protected]