Ari Abramowitz & Jeremy Gimpel Receiving the Ari Fuld Lion of Zion Prize

we heard from uh Israel we heard from torati sale but we haven't heard so much yet about another Central another sexual facet of Ari's life we haven't heard about Eric's Israel so here's Ari fold telling us about a place that he loves that has a lot to do with why we're gathered here tonight about ertz Israel I am in a magical biblically magical we're Monday Monday afternoon I am in a magical biblically magical place and everybody who signs in invite your friends this is really you know the coming back to the land of Israel is biblical and it's amazing it's miraculous but I want to show you people I probably have not seen in 2000 years [Music] let me introduce you a couple of people here first of all Jeremy Campbell how you doing awesome all right and Aria brownwood's here you know there are people again who talk about building the land of Israel and there are people who do it Arya Bramley says who does it all right Larry folders this guy texts the Jewish people what are you doing listen to me this guy this guy right here is living out here and they're really developing this this place was empty nothing here nothing so you know I was I reached out to you re because you symbolized in my mind protector of Israel a fighter I'm not a galucha not an exile Jew but an Israel too what I know for sure is that I belong to this land nothing has changed we have to plant trees we have to build homes we have to build roads Zionism and Zionism and the Jewish connection to Eric Israel is the Jewish connection to Heritage but we're not here to make a point or to fight the better winner to fight the Arabs we're here for one reason love we love this land you know you hear these guys talking yeah what are they they're like blowing up you know fluffing air it's not they move here they put their own money in here the real self-sacrifice that I was shocked when I heard about the self-sacrifice I was mesmerized when I came out it's absolutely amazing here the big plan for this place and you know what this is about something really much deeper down than action these guys are living and breathing their their heart is beating this place it's just you should know that this Amazing Project is going on here literally on the Rolling Hills of gorgeous stunning Judea Israel people is my phone capturing this I don't know if this is attacking the Majestic View here I mean I'm I'm literally mesmerized here I'm mesmerized I don't have to close my eyes I'm going to meditative form right now this is truly unbelievable this is like truly amazing just take the camera off and look where we are I mean can you imagine being in this Wilderness and all of a sudden finding a little Oasis just to focus I mean I don't know if you can get the view from here and that building right up there you see that building right there that is the center that they're building and it's going to be a spiritual center everything from a Jewish study old Yeshiva to a minute meditation classes to A to Z I mean you know you're gonna be blind you got to be blind not to see this but I think that what you're doing here is a catalyst I think that this is what this is what the college world is waiting for eign and tonight we're here not to just uh as we said in the beginning not just to remember but to continue that emotion those feelings about Eric Israel and that's why we have the this amazing prize for the folks of the our goat farm tonight uh and we have a very special person that indeed is continuing the Derek of Ari fold and that's Ari fold's wife Miriam fult and please welcome her Dr Chaplin my name is [Applause] uh it's been four years since Ari was so brutally taken from this world Ari has inspired so many people to do to take action to fight for what they believe in Ari's message was as clear then as it is now Israel Shield Israel that's who we are and this is our mission to protect and love toratician to protect and love Ami sir Al to protect and love edit Islam um uh uh share uh it's so clear to see in this video that Ari took just a few years ago at habata how much he loved our Holy Land how inspired he was by those who made it their life's mission to love work and settle this land Our Land that's why it's so befitting that we choose to give the first ever Lion of Zion award to Ari and Jeremy of the arrow goat farm I hope that we can help them to keep doing what they're doing for to watch [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] don't run away so funny Jeremy they mode and I need the best thank you all at the Ari fold project thank you Miriam thank you Stephen thank you Isha thank you everyone that put this night together it's just um it's the greatest honor I've ever received but thank you um it's overwhelming being here I don't really know how to absorb it but I it's an opportunity for me to give honor and thanks and appreciation and credit to all the people that really deserve it because everything that I've accomplished is only because of the people that surround me and so I didn't move to that mountain alone I've done nothing alone if I'm getting an award to Gila gimpel he's getting it over my wife my best friend my partner and everything that we do um it's not that she allows me to do or face the sci in the world my mission in the world she is a full partner in everything that I do every plant that we planted every Torah that we teach every Mountain that we conquer everything that I've ever done dahila has been a full partner in everything and um well everyone knows that she's brilliant but she's also the most courageous the toughest the strongest the most giving the most self-sacrifice just just constantly giving Beyond herself a pillar of integrity and Truth just a model of how a Jewish woman should be in the world so thank you tahila for nothing in my life will be as it is without you um you'll see a little bit in Ronnie Moshe they're the other two partners all of the Beauty and the style and the the architecture they were the first Jews on that mountain and uh if there's any credit given to us then they deserve the credit as well um I mean the list is so long and so I don't have all night to thank all of my friends and all of my family but um Ari and I there's a long list of people we call them the team and it's people all over the world and it's people that are all in this together it's like um they're our best friends they're our biggest supporters they are um our biggest encouragement with us every step along the way and it's like we're um A brotherhood where a fellowship we are an army and Ari fold was a general in our army and we moved to the farm in just weeks later he was taken from us and it was such a trauma for all of us but somehow his spirit continues to give us to continues to give us light and I think about this movement of people that are all working together to support each other to continue in furthering the story of the Jewish people continue to strengthen Israel what brings us all together what is that Common Thread that sort of ties us all in this amazing tapestry of this movement of people that are so committed to Eric's Israeli inspired like Ari fold and for me I've been trying to think of the answer of that when I heard that we were going to get this and I tried to channel what with the message that Ari would want me to share tonight you know the first time where rni really became friends we were arrested together in a demonstration for kivate Tom we sat next to each other in the police car and that's when we realized oh we're on the team and at least for me and for my connection with Ari and for everyone here in this evening it's an unreasonable faith and belief in the destiny of the Jewish people we as a people were chosen we as a people who are chosen to live by the Torah we were chosen to raise families by the Torah to build communities founded upon the Torah to build a country based on the values of the Torah that would build a society that will be so special and so unique so kadosh that God's presence will literally dwell Among Us in that Society will inspire the entire world and so today you know modern Society they're like do as little as possible and try to get as much as you can and I feel like Ari's message such a Torah message it was due as much as you possibly can carry the biggest responsibility that you can manage and carry the load for the Jewish people and keep on going and it's like when you're young you can just carry yourself learn to do that that's good get a little bit older and carry the responsibility for your family then maybe your community hopefully eventually for your country it's like pick up the biggest rock that you can find hoisted on your shoulders and start walking up the mountain and then when you get to the top of the mountain and you finally put it down you should know that you're building your salon you are building God's Kingdom on Earth and then when you're done go back down that mountain and find another rock and maybe this time it'll be bigger and the more responsibility each Jew takes to push the story forward the more yerushalayim is being built in our days and on that path you'll find your strength you'll find your growth you'll find your happiness you'll find a fire that still Burns that Ari clearly had that he was sharing with all of us if life is easy you're living it wrong a Torah from Ari fold that has resonated around the world Ari lived that ideal in his life there were times where the responsibility that he shouldered for Israel and the Jewish people was personally overwhelming for him and then in his death he became the Jewish idea he became the lion of Zion a warrior for Israel a defender of the Jewish people a guardian of the Torah a protector of the land of Israel he was one of Israel's greatest spokesman a teacher of Torah who lived the Torah who lived a shining example of what it is to be a proud Jew inherits Israel a light to everyone around him and so I only hope one day to be worthy of this award but there is one Jew that I know that is worthy of this award there's one and his deepest desire is to align himself with all of those wonderful things and ideals that Ari fold represents in his own way he lives them out every day at the edge of Jewish settlement in Israel and so please stand up for the lion of Zion Arya bramowitz [Applause] Jeremy and I agreed uh sorry Jeremy I'm gonna have to lift this up a little bit [Laughter] Jeremy and I agree that our entire speeches would be dedicated to explaining why the other guy does not deserve the prize and then he comes and introduces me like that and um you know I think Ari probably would have started with a joke so I'm going to start with a little bit of a joke right now as Solomon occasion as this is uh because What's Happening Now sort of reminds me of that you may have heard the joke there's a rabbi standing before his congregation on Yom Kippur and he stands before them he says please Kyle holy congregation I'm I'm nothing please forgive me I'm nothing please forgive me and then the husband gets up and says please holy holy congregation forgive me I too I'm nothing I'm nothing and then the Gabby gets up and he says holy friends I beg of you to forgive me please I'm nothing and then the cause and Whispers to the rabbi look who thinks he's nothing that that's a little bit of what I feel like is happening now because when I hear Jeremy giving the credits to everybody else and saying how unworthy he feels I'm like look who thinks he's unworthy I'm the Unworthy one because what can I do what can I do last night when I sat down to sort of write my thoughts I found that I just kept on coming up with disclaimers about why I'm unworthy or maybe not unworthy just not worthy not nearly as worthy as so many people here in this place right now that serving the food even that are true Lions of Zion and um so you know it's not the prize I can say that for sure it's not the prize or the award that I feel unworthy about if you want to give me the prize of being a a great Abba or a decent husband I can wrap my mind around that but the Ari fold line of Zion prize that's way beyond my pay grade that's beyond what I can wrap my mind around and here is my little girl tabash that is grabbing this energy [Music] [Applause] okay this is did it is this a distraction or can I continue like this so um so I needed inspiration right for what I was going to share with you right now because I was so lost in in myself so what did I do I did something that I've done before many times in the past and I went to watch an Ari full video which I suggest you do if you're ever looking for inspiration do it randomly haphazardly watch an Ari full video and which video did I click on out of all of his videos I believe this was the last video that he broadcast the last tour idea he broadcast to the world and it was the Torah portion that we just read this past Shabbat it was the Torah portion of vallec where uh where Mercer Avenue is handing the mantle of leadership it's so unreal that this was his last Torah that he shared most Robin who is handing the the mantle of leadership to yahushua and I wish I could give over the entire 18-minute tournament I don't have I don't have the time for that's all the Crux of what Ari was sharing is the Moshe rabenu said to Yoshua don't be afraid don't be filled with fear this isn't about you this isn't about you this is about the mission this is about the why that's what it is think about Mushroom in the entire Haggadah where we learn about yet not once is mushroom's name mentioned during the Agata think about we don't know where his cave air is we don't know where he was buried he didn't want them to know because he didn't want people to go and dominate his because it's missing the points making it about him and that's what he was saying my leadership isn't about me and your leadership isn't about you it's about omnis Trail it's about the why revelio destler says the greatest service of Hashem lies in the refinement of motivation why we do what we do and anyone who knew Ari knew that he was so totally encompassed with his why with the why with his love for his Israel Israel and his love of the nation of Israel of the land of Israel and of the god of Israel he was so consumed with that that there was so little of him left to even have to call Ari he was so part he was a soul of the nation that's who he was his he belonged to all of us and when he left the world it's almost like he was released his light was released to the entire world and uh and that's what real humility is I heard humility uh to be humble what is it to be a humble person I heard it to find a humble person is someone who does not think less of himself but of himself less and Ari folk could not have possibly thought of himself less he was so consumed with teaching shirim morning and night burning the candle constantly at both ends teaching shearing to Young Jews from around the world to inspire them with a love for erits Israel going and helping IDF shoulders and when he wasn't helping them and giving them food he was serving alongside them in the most heroic way imaginable that's where he fold was and uh and to be given the this this award to me it's like we're being handed such a responsibility you know much the the sages of Israel say that um the stages of Israel say that Moshe rabenu was the son and yahushua was the Moon right he only Yeshua reflected this beautiful light the mushroom shined and actually Eve hero just told me today that nowhere in the Torah in the Tana does Yeshua ever take credit for anything does he say anything in his own name he was just shining the reflection of moshe's light and that's what I feel like this award really is to a large degree Ari was a son he was really a son not just for me and Jeremy but for so many of us here and I can even hear Ari's voice saying don't say that I'm not the son and to him I say look who thinks he's not the son right the fact is that Ari was a son to all of us to so many of us here and it's upon us that's how I see this this award it's upon us to continue shining that light because his light was bright and it's even brighter now that he's left the world and he had a a light of of courage and a faith and of love and uh and when he came to the farm I remember just being so Starstruck I was like just so honored I even remember the last time I saw Ari I was entering the southern entrance of a fraud he was driving out and I looked him and I said that I just see a guy like Ari fold driving his car out of a front just walking around like a hero of Israel I remember thinking that even then and so when he came to the farm and he was his compliments were just like sunshine on on a plant that's like been in the dark because we've been facing a lot of huge huge huge challenges from all these different angles from the Supreme Court and from the Arabs and from the leftists and then Ari fold comes and he was just so encouraging and I remember one of the things he told us that was really inspiring to him is that when we came out to the farm we didn't build fences or security systems because a lot of people said that's what we need to do we need to do that it would be irresponsible not to do that and we have very limited resources so if we were to put all of our money into building fences and security systems okay we're done but what are we even protecting and so we said no we're not going to do that because it's one thing to take the Jew out of the Exile and it's another thing to take the Exile out of the Jew and Ari fold was all about taking the Exile out of the Jew and it was his courage that really has been a tremendous focal point for for Jeremy and myself and so many of us here in in moving forward in that way because you know when he sent the spies into erity's throne he told them to see if the cities or what well fortified that was what they were supposed to see and Rashi said right well fortified I mean big walls fences security systems and Rashi says that if they were well fortified it means that they're weak why because they're putting their faith in their walls and their security systems we said we don't need to do that we're not going to do that why because we're strong and we're not strong because of our weapons and we're not strong because of our muscles we're strong because Hashem is with us and that was Ari's message that lives on in us so um so I want to I want to thank I want to thank my wife but thank you for ruining the possibility of me doing that there's no way I could match that thanks so Shayna I love you everything that Jeremy said is exactly how I feel about you and more I want to thank my parents for making me who I am for constantly barraging my brain with the stories of our ancestors who loved the land of Israel making my entire life about the land of Israel and for supporting me when I was moving out to be alone on a Mountaintop two kilometers from my closest neighbor me and a bunch of sheep and they supported me through that so I want to thank all of you and I want to thank the team the team someone like yishai Fleischer who in my mind I was likely he deserved this prize more than us you're sorry you're the you're the MC anyways anyways there's a there's so much that I want to say but again this isn't about me it's not about us this is about Ami Israel this is about Hashem and may we continue to reflect that light that Ari shined to the world made that light illuminate the entire world and Inspire the building of the beta mitas [Applause]