On Thursday, while on a Zoom meeting with our CFO, I missed a call from LGHS, the high school that Chaya attends in Chicago. I paused the meeting and immediately called back to see if everything was ok. Thank G-d all was well; it was Chaya calling both me and Chavie, during school, which is highly unusual, to let us know that she did well on her “Gemer”, which is intensive testing on a broad range of Jewish knowledge. My heart was filled; happy for her success, joyous for her growth and delighted to hear a tone of satisfaction in her voice. It’s her third year away from home and she’s excelling as a shining example of a “Daughter of Israel”.

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayera, we read about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the wickedness of the people who brought it upon themselves. Lot, who lived in Sodom, was not exactly an angel, far from it, but being the nephew of Abraham and Sarah, having grown up in their home, he had a deeply embedded spark of kindness in his soul. So, despite the risk of being punished by his fellow citizens, he opened his home to the angels disguised as guests, being super hospitable to strangers, despite the danger associated with his actions. His record on “holiness” was abysmal, but he couldn’t shake off his childhood training to care for others and exude unbridled compassion.

I once read that “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them”. While I do not think that this is an absolute science, as many good parents have children who don’t necessarily follow in their footsteps, Chavie and I always strive to role model kindness for our children and to show them, by example, what we see as valuable in this chaotic world. Chaya works really hard in school; she is a deep thinker, inquisitive student, and always showing kindness especially to those struggling. Today I am celebrating the phone call of joy and the success of a young Jewish woman, I’m honored to call my daughter, who is excited about her heritage and working hard to grow evermore.

We impart values; we can only hope that they’re paying attention!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Poland where I visited Auschwitz together with Senator Steve Daines. It will take me some time to fully ingest, and write about, this experience, but I can say off the bat that it was life changing. While in Poland, I visited seventeen burial places of Tzadikim, holy rabbis who inspired Polish Jewry, and thirteen locations that are connected to the childhood of my Zayde, Reb Shimon Goldman. When I arrived in Staszow, where my grandfather was studying in 1938 and where he celebrated his Bar Mitzvah, I realized how hard it must have been for him and his parents. A twelve-year-old boy, two-hundred-miles away from home, at a time when travel wasn’t easy or safe, living at the Taharah Shtibel (where they prepared Jewish bodies for burial) at the local Jewish cemetery; it seems so rough for the family unit.

In this week’s Torah portion, Lech-Lecha, we read about Abraham and Sarah’s journey to, and arrival in, Israel. When Abraham realizes that his nephew Lot isn’t honest, he makes the heartbreaking decision to separate, “if you go left, I will go right, and if you go right, I will go left". Yet, later in the story, when Lot is taken captive during the fierce battle between the Four King alliance and the Five King alliance, Abraham doesn’t assess Lot’s goodness or perfect behavior, he does what families are meant to do, he fights back and brings him home. Abraham loved his family including his troubled nephew, and despite needing distance due to his immorality, he was there for him when needed without thinking twice. Our relationship with family isn’t about what brings us honor, rather it’s about the core bond that should be unbreakable.

My Zayde was my best friend. I studied with him weekly. I spoke with him for hours about everything. I adored him and he loved me so much. When he’d speak to me about his parents, grandparents, siblings, about his hometown of Shedlitz, his time in Stashov and Levertov, his visits with older siblings in Warsaw, there was a sparkle in his eye. He missed them so much and grasped for any detail he could remember about them, ultimately penning “From Shedlitz to Safety”. Walking on the streets of his youth allowed me to see the hardship of distance, of having a child, during uncertain times, living so far from home due to financial difficulties and their home being too small for the whole family. Visiting Poland made me realize that my Zayde, my hero, was a man with impeccable character, who didn’t allow a rough beginning of hardship, loss and devastation to take away his joy of life.

Abraham was a family man; be like Abraham!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!