Hannukah Wishes from Rabbi Ebstein

Dear friends,

At a recent Bar Mitzvah celebration at Robinson's Arch, there was something special in the air. The family and close friends gathered at 8 am, and the Bar Mitzvah boy looked happy but nervous.  He carefully laid his tefillin for the first time, with some help from the Rabbi, and accurately and confidently read his Torah portion and chanted the blessings.  His grandparents beamed with pride, and his siblings marveled at their little brother who had reached the age of mitzvot.  We sang, we danced and praised God for having brought us to this joyous moment.  It was a special time in the life of this family, and a moment they will always cherish.  The Rabbi was me, and the boy was my youngest child, Matan.                                                                            

Yes, finally, the shoe was on the other foot and I loved every minute of it. And just to make sure I could fully experience this joy simply as a parent, I chose to have a close rabbinic friend call my son up to the Torah for his first aliyah, and then bless him with the special mishebeirach.

I must say that I greatly enjoyed the experience that so many of you have had or are about to. I enjoyed being the parent, and I was grateful that my wife and I and all of our children were present along with my parents and father-in-law.  I enjoyed being at the Kotel and I was grateful that men and women could pray together.  I was (and am) so proud of my son. It simply was a magical moment in a magical location.

Today, we take for granted the ability to pray at Robinson's Arch, but that was not always the case. In 1998 and 1999, in reaction to violence and harassment of various pluralistic groups praying in the back of the Kotel plaza, the Masorti Movement entered into negotiations with the Prime Minister's Office to enable the movement to conduct services on the Herodian Street located underneath Robinson's Arch. By some miracle, we were granted permission to daven there and to store Torahs, prayer books, tables, chairs, etc. in a storage shed just inside the Jerusalem Archaeological Gardens, also known as the Davidson Center.  For so many families from around the world, it has changed the nature of their celebrations.  No longer do the women need to strain to get a glimpse of their loved one having a Bar Mitzvah on the men's side of the Kotel Plaza.  And countless are the sweet voices of young girls chanting Torah passages and blessings at Robinson's Arch, something which never happened before 1999.    

During this season of Hannukah, when we celebrate religious freedom, I am very appreciative of the opportunity to pray to God on the Herodian street underneath Robinson's Arch, next to the holiest site in Judaism in the holiest city in the world, Jerusalem. While there are still challenges ahead of us with regard to full religious freedom in the State of Israel, I am grateful for this very important achievement. May we all be blessed by God to celebrate our simchas in peace, spiritual tranquility and joy, both inside Jerusalem and elsewhere.

Best wishes for a very joyous and illuminating Hannukah.

David

Rabbi David H. Ebstein

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