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!

You wouldn’t know it from watching the weather since Tuesday, but Sunday into Monday we experienced quite a storm. While Bozeman was blanketed with nine or so inches (at least at our home), our friend Chaya in Montana City, near Helena, reminded me that we were ok compared to the seventeen inches at her place and other areas in the state. Driving through town on Monday morning was kinda jaw-dropping, seeing downed trees everywhere, including on top of cars, blocking streets, and, in parts of town, downed power lines. The wet snow did its thing but most of the trees survived even if losing some of their branches.

You gotta have solid roots.

This week’s Torah portion, Noach, tells us about the great flood that decimated the universe, sixteen-hundred-and-fifty-six-years after it was created. G-d told Noah to enter the ark that he had built, take along his family and representatives of the animal kingdom, and the ark will ensure their survival while floating above the water. Noah spent twelve decades constructing his water floatation device, encouraging humanity to change their ways, hoping they’d believe him that a deadly flood was coming. Yet, they scoffed carelessly and didn’t believe him. They too could’ve survived had they created the foundation for their survival, but they weren’t willing to give up on their immoral lifestyle, choosing base desires over a meaningful life.

Modern society’s brain rot and dysfunction is due in large part to spiritual flimsiness. People don’t know what they believe, they don’t know what principles in their life are unbreakable come-what-may, and they are unwilling to stand up to peer pressure and threats of “canceling” ‘because of their foundational values. A tree with weak roots won’t only lose its branches, it will be uprooted and die forever. Noah could’ve joined the “everyone does it” world of grotesque ideas, but he had a foundation and that foundation led to his survival and to the eventual renewal of the entire world.

Flexibility is awesome with a strong core!

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!