Honoring Mr. & Mrs. Yosef

Annual Melaveh Malkah February 11, 2017 אור לט"ז שבט תשע"ז Honoring Mr. & Mrs. Yosef Raymond WELCOME TO THE AHAVAS SHALOM ANNUAL MELAVEH MALKAH FOR 5777 This year, we are delighted to honor Mr. & Mrs. Yosef and Esther Raymond On the cover: Last year it was beer, but it is clear that we have something else here this year. What is it and what does it have to do with this year’s honorees? The “door prizes” on the women’s side were donated by a donor from the USA that insists on remaining anonymous—even though this is the fifth year that this donor has donated the “door prizes” for the women. To our anonymous donor we again say “Thank you very much!” Please note that the door prizes are for women with paid seats only. Sign up for the Ahavas Shalom email list by sending a blank email to [email protected] Website: www.ahavasshalom.org Audio Store: store.ahavasshalom.org This journal was produced by Lev Seltzer 02-999-8923 A special Thank You to Leah Seltzer for allowing her husband to spend dozens of hours producing this journal! 2 INTERVIEW WITH YOSEF RAYMOND Interviewed by Alan Lindsey A: Tell me about your early years Y: I was born in 1978 in Edgware, North West London, an active Jewish community. I davened at the Yeshurun shul and had a great kesher with Dayan Lopian z”l. I went to two local Jewish schools. As a teenager I worked at PHAB (Physically Handicapped: Able Bodied) helping disabled young people. First I studied at a college for business studies and then obtained my plumbing qualification. I worked for several firms before starting my own business which grew successfully. A: When did you come to Israel? Y: When I was about 20, I went on an Aish Hatorah Israel Fellowship trip, which led to my coming here to learn for four years at Aish Hatorah in the Old City. It was an amazing experience and was followed by four further years learning at Ohr Avraham in Ramat Beit Shemesh. A: How about Esther? How did you meet? Y: Esther was born in Israel. At age seven she went to live in Bournemouth, England. She studied beauty therapy and worked in that profession until she came to Israel. We actually came here at the same time, although we didn’t know it. She learned at the girls’ seminary of Aish Hatorah for as long as I did. She became close to Rebbetzen Weinberg, whose husband, Rabbi Israel Noach Weinberg, was Rosh Yeshiva of Aish. Esther helped her in whatever needed to be done. Later, Esther worked with Aish Hatorah, organising their annual fellowship and yeshiva programmes. We were introduced in 2006 and married soon after. Her work enabled me to continue learning at the Ohr Avraham Kolel. We were living in Ramat Eshkol and moved here in 2009. A: Tell me about your family Y: We have B’H five children Racheli 8, Yehuda 7, Tamar 5, Yehoshua 4 and Levi 2. My parents live in Netanya , my sister and brother-in-law live in Zichron Yaakov. My other brother is currently living in USA. 3 A: Whenever I see you, you are always holding a sefer. Torah learning is obviously very important in your life. Y: Yes, I learn every morning with the Beit Zvi Kollel on the semicha programme and in the evenings as well. I finished the two year semicha programme on Hilchas Nidda and have just started the next semicha programme. A: Do you have time for anything else apart from your family and work?! Y: I am very keen on Jewish music, particularly the more traditional neshamadik nigunim. I enjoy building games and going out in the countryside with my children. My oldest son, Yehuda, and I go biking most Friday mornings. A: You are well known in Ahavas Shalom and do many things for the shul, tell me about them. Y: I help with the shul’s property maintenance and buying seforim for the shul. Something I really enjoy doing! I also give a musser vort at the shul’s Kiddush Club on Shabbas morning. I think this is a wonderful opportunity for everyone davening in the shul to meet and relax in a torahdik atmosphere. Esther is involved with other ladies in a shul Purim project making mishloach manot. A: Do you have any wishes? Y: I wish that Moshiach would come and reveal Hashem’s greatness to the world through the Jewish People. A: What do you want to achieve? Y : To be great in Torah learning! A: Thank you and hazlocho! Members of the Bet Zvi Semicha program, including Yosef Raymond (back row) 4 FROZEN IN THOUGHT As a small child I remember being excited while anticipating Tu b’shevat. This was because in our school they passed out these small paper bags full of buckser, and there was something mystical about it. The only thing I knew about this unique fruit was the story in the gemora about Choni Hama’agal who planted a carob seed and then slept for 70 years. I always wondered if there was some Rav Avrohom Baruch Zachariash connection between that story, this fruit and Tu B’shevat. Rav Shimshon Refael Hirsch in his collected writings discussing Tu B’shevat, gave me the key to understand the connection. In explaining Tu B’shevat he discusses that we find the celebration of the new year of the trees comes at a time that there is—so to speak—nothing to celebrate. We are in the deepest part of the winter, with more cold months ahead of us. One would assume that this is the end of the cycle of production. But instead, we look at this time of decay as the beginning of the cycle of creation. Why is this? Rav Hirsch explains that during the process of growing grain, one must abide by halacha. One must make sure to not transgress kelayim while planting and that every stage from the first bud has to be governed by halacha. We have bikurim, at the harvest we have trumos and maasaros, and even in the preparation of the staple of life, bread, again we must take off part, remembering that we have an obligation not only to Hashem but to our fellow man. These lofty gestures, go hand in hand with our needs for survival and sustenance, to temper the beast in human nature. Not only do the mitzvos hold our primal instincts at bay, but they move the acts to higher levels of holiness. This indeed is the key to all of our avodas hashem: to take the mundane and infuse it with spirituality. It seems to me that to do that, one must remove himself from the swirl of activity of our daily lives, when there are no other influences or disturbances 5 affecting him. This is needed to contemplate life and gain a focus in regard to what life is about and how to achieve it. The ideal time for this is the dead of winter, when there is nothing going on and a person has the ability to let his spirit soar and become inspired to Yom Iyun meet the world and its challenges. One can gain, at that time, the foresight needed, and be empowered to carry out his inspiration. Foresight is necessary to achieve spiritual excellence. The carob tree is unique in that man toils in it while expecting no immediate benefit from his labor. All his work is only going to benefit others. This represents the way that our lives are supposed to be lead. The way to get ourselves to that point is by internalizing the lesson of Tu’Bishvat. As the pasuk Checking Esrogim before Sukkos 5777 says, “a man is likened to the tree of the field” Rabbi Hirsch writes “...he can rise, his eyes cheerful and joyful to G-d, and does not need to flee from the neighborhood of the sanctuary. To be able to abide in the sphere of G-d, even with his physical satisfactions and Semicha Siyum 6 enjoyments, this is the highest perfection of morality endowed man upon Earth.” One of the benefits of a shul is that it allows a person to grow in this way. It seems to me that although a person can achieve this goal in other ways, the sanctuary of the synagogue, a place where one focuses on the spiritual, is a primary place which allows man to connect to his purpose. We at Ahavas Shalom try to give that venue, allowing each and every person to become detached from the physical, and be gladdened to be in a haven of spirituality. Our goal is to take this ideal, which we received in shul and convert it into energy, which we can bring it into all of our activities. Top: The Rav with some “suspect” pieces during Matzoh Baking Right: Dancing with the children in the Ahavas Shalom Sukkah Below: After the Rav picks the winning ticket, Aryeh Beer announces Dovid Yudkovsky as the winner of the Summer Raffle Grand Prize 7 MESSAGE FROM THE VAAD Shavua Tov and Welcome to our Annual Melaveh Malkah! This year we finally received Section 46 approval, allowing donations to the Shul to be recognized for tax de- ductions. This has been a long process stretching over many years and requiring overcoming many obstacles and we are happy to finally be able to offer this to our members and friends.

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