Hebrew Academy of Cleveland Honors Rabbi Benzion Klatzko

[Music] let's get to our next honoree and I wanted to really you know for someone like me that's been around I haven't seen the rabbi class go since he was a kid practically and he has grown into a powerhouse in claudius role if you're not familiar with him and his activities and being a good Jewish institution the Hebraic Annamayya Cleveland and especially being a good Cleveland institution where we take credit for everything and everybody okay we are responsible for all of his good work and even said it to me before right he even admitted it to me before but of course he does have extremely wonderful parents that have been ballet festered in this community Judy and Naphtali clásico everybody knows them very well and it's from those you know it's from those roots that he comes but if you're not familiar with some of the activities that he does I'll show you a couple of them because I just grabbed things off the website here but one of the things is Akiva tours where he takes young men and women to Erica stroll on trips and he has an incredible passion and ability to ignite Jewish souls and really inspire everybody the general community as well I mean because he has really had the opportunity go ahead and do that he also has a website if you're not familiar with it called Shabbat comm where they have and if you take a look at the the numbers here forty-three thousand members three hundred and seventy-five thousand Shabbat meals in three thousand six hundred sixty three cities and a hundred and thirteen countries where he goes ahead and he matches up people who want to come for Shabbos meal with people who wanna host of Shabbos meal so the reach that he has is incredible and I'll tell you an incredible story that I just heard today I was on the phone with a very close friend of mine many of you know him in Detroit and I said you ever heard this guy you know been seen on clásico and he says yeah sure everybody know when he's a powerhouse he's Easter many she says you know I'll tell you something he says I just yesterday had someone at my Shabbos table and you know somebody that that you know has not previously been committed but he says you know Gary I just this is the sixth Shabbos that I'm keeping and he said yes I like how did you come to it he says well I started in part I started in partners in Turin Detroit and then I went to the shaba telling them this this guy this rabbi clásico spoke and he so inspired me I figured you know what let me try to keep a Shabbos and then it was a second Shabbos he says now I'm up the six-shot bust him in the Roewe this is from just hearing rabbi clásico one time so that's it's amazing to be able to have that kind of influence on that and of course it took a community to raise rabbi Klotz go so we can all be proud of him as well but certainly has wonderful parents and that's where it comes from and I just want to show you one more picture and then I'm gonna go ahead and we'll make the presentation here take a look at this photo now that you take a look at this photo when you would think boy that is a very nice Shover breakfast that's setup right that's a really nice shower bucket setup that's not a chévre buckets that is setup that is the weekly Shabbos meal at the class goes so I know how busy all of you are I know how many kids you are and how many you have to handle they have 11 I know that you had 30 people for Shabbos they have between 75 and 100 each week okay you had 30 people for Pesach you know it's incredible what one person can do and you know where the press me the most about Rabbi clásico you know reading everything that he's done and you've seen some of the things that he's done you know what impressed me the most upon them when he wrote down like you know things to mention about him his last words was he has the most amazing wife imaginable and she deserves a lot of this credit there as well so with that we'd like to make a presentation to Rabbi Ben C unclassy oh if you would come up rabbi clasp go and let me just read the inscription while we've got to hear the alumnus award presented to rabbi Ben C hunk latsko for his outstanding commitment to our butts of Torah basically this base gonna corrupt Destler Cleveland Hebrew Academy Cleveland 71st scholarship tribute dinner Mazel Tov rabbi clásico [Applause] purchase the Russia Shiva the in a limb of the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland Ave Maria me ma Rossi when I was asked to accept the alumnus award I was thinking there has to be another word for the alumnus award besides the alumnus award doesn't really get to the heart to the soul of what is trying to be accomplished I was speaking to some of my students and I said you know what do you have to look forward to in life what you have to look forward to a beautiful home a white picket fence Alexis a swimming pool perhaps I say us you know we have something much more precious much more fun to look forward to something that is so enjoyable that it can't be quantified and you take one word and it sums it all up and that word is called nauseous not class it's just nothing like it you think of yourself on Pesach and your children and maybe grandchildren and they're sitting around the table and you're about to say Kaddish you're about to say kiddush and you look at their faces and you look at what you have accomplished and you see them in a terror that they've become and you're filled with not us but net huh they seem savvy leshawna it just is no feeling like it the alumnus award is actually a knockouts award it's not us it's a school saying we put so much effort into a building into them to their Robin into the teachers into the curriculum there are bills that come up each month there are difficulties just today I was visiting and there was a false alarm a false fire alarm the whole school had to pile out there's one thing after the next and and just what do you think why what is it all for your that one word not house it's all worth it so the alumnus award it's just it's just one more person out of many many many people who could be standing in this place today giving the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland novice because the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland deserves that knock us for the effort and the patience and the dedication and the love that they've given to their to I'll meet them in their tell me those I also want to say that to accept the alumnus award someone had to send me to the Hebrew Academy in the first place and therefore I want to give a special ourselves to my parents you see it's critical that the message that the child gets at home is the same message that they receiving at school and where there's no consistency it's very confusing for the child and the fact that the my parents and the school together were feeding me and my siblings the same message of our satire and has said is a tribute to them so please give it up for dr. and mrs. Glasgow in addition let's be frank as as nice as the pictures look and as large as the table is someone has to put food on the table and someone has to tolerate husband who's flying all over the world someone has to give that personal physic and it's not just the power behind the throne but it is the energy and love behind the idealist that together allows us to do great things in this world and it's interesting that both of the wives of the honorees name are Shoshana cloud stars culture Shauna to rose among thorns its beauty it's elegant it's simple and yet it's powerful at the same time Asia's Kyle Miam so please give it up for my wife Shani I was in the University of Albany and a student came over to me and he said rabbi you have a lot to say it's true he said I don't have a lot of time though and I want to hear one idea that will ignite me that will turn me on to this kite and if you could boil it down to one idea perhaps even one word I'm game and if not I don't have time for a binnacle sermons and I said it can be done and it actually must be done Yiddish kite in a word and that word is empathy Yiddish kite in a word is empathy your pain is my pain your concern is my concern if you're sad it makes me sad the reason that I cottage Baro who put us in mitts Ryan into that Carabas Oh to suffer was in order to for us to feel the suffering of the next person so that when we leave meet Ryan we will have empathy the very first mitzvah that's given after that Sarah so dippers in partial fishbottom it's how to treat an avid empathy you were above them remember what it's like to be an either half the Masai guerre he gave him a year's embarrassment so I'm empathy Yiddish kite in the word is empathy Hillel on one foot he was asked what is it or about he says modest Anja Locka Locka vocalist Ovid empathy if something bothers you then don't do it to your friend remember his pain is your pain his pleasures your pleasure and you are responsible for him that's the collie Sharla Ravens Ellison and empathy is colorblind empathy doesn't say and only feel I only feel your pain if you have the same hash kapha as me if you wear the same hat as me I only feel your pain if you dive in the same know such as me empathy is Keisha HUD believe a fraud we stood around her seen eye and each person was able to look to their right and left Keisha hot blade the HUD pure empathy pure feeling like one heart beating together when I think of my time in Hebrew Academy and I did a real judgment on a fish I didn't take this award lightly I went through teacher by teacher and I discussed it with my wife my first-grade teacher my kindergarten second third and each one I tried to remember different stories different incidences that I had with that teacher that taught me something I thought it was a good exercise and also it allowed me to be market hog just a little bit more to the Hebrew Academy so how fitting was it that last night I was speaking to my wife about my kindergarten teacher mrs. golovkin and just today I'm going downstairs with with Elly Destler and we're walking around and who do we bump into him mrs. golovkin and she and she remembered me and she said she said she always saw certain things and she and and the love I mean this actually looks the same 40 years late it's amazing and I want to tell you my English teacher that year made a profound impression on me they don't live in town anymore that it was mrs. Lowenthal a tremendous tremendous mechanicus mrs. Lowenthal after every day when the kids were dismissed she would call me over and she would give me a little smiley face kindergarten gear sturdy Anka said we remember their stuff you have to have empathy for kids as well because they don't forget and I'm ever miss one break from first grade and Rabbi Fishman who could forget rabbi Fishman I think he's with us here how about Fishman remember rabbi Fishman singing every Friday allowing us to remember to remember the sitter I still sing caviola Shemin the tune the rabbi Fishman taught me outside he could have taken a break during recess instead he used to go outside make contests and make it fun and later on rabbi Fishman became the boyfriend from wish nice ball pen so I'd go over to his house to say over machine eyes and when I didn't know the words he would prob me you would he would give me him I really didn't know it that well to be honest but he helped me and he gave me credit for it and he was maha's with me and Rabbi Harry Mayer number am i hearing Maher I just bumped into him in Manhattan full of life made third grade so enjoyable rabbi side and fourth grade Matthias suka this is what your alumnus term that we remember every year who can forget fifth graders are by Fishman again sixth grade Rob a Mormon rabbit Levitan ski I just I just came over to Rabbi more miss Chavez and I said Rebbe I want to give you a shortcut I don't forget sixth grade I remember the Gemara is that you taught me because it was so clear it was the first year that it clicked and I will have a dance with all the simcha and I think he's still someone told me he's still he's out there and he's playing sports and he's with the guys and mocking I just saw him today at the fire drill and seventh grade I saw her by shining him and leaving I said rubbish linemen please don't leave yeah he's good you know yeah he couldn't stay I said I just want to let you know what I'm gonna say about you I sort of I shined him and he was so special to me the the Gemara that you taught me it was so meaningful it was a perfect segue into tells me Shiva and Rabbi Shimon used to say again and again I don't want you to forget me he used to say I was just saying I don't want you to forget me so I looked him in the eye just ah I said I didn't forget you I remember and I didn't forget you and of course I was rabbi Meisels who taught us Hamish and and he gave us just such a break Cuyahoga miles one of the great makaan some of our generation there's a lot I have to be marketize to many people but the school as a whole when I when I think about it and I think about how they taught me empathy how when I came into the school it wasn't a homogeneous group of people everyone didn't look the same there were students from all different backgrounds and each one was welcome and there were all embraced and they were not judged it was such a large tent it was the big tent that allowed everyone to feel welcome and comfortable that's so unique to the Ebro Academy of Cleveland and I think you know people say you know Shabbat calm it has reformed and Orthodox conservative and I try to think where did I why aren't I focusing on the from and it must be because I grew up with a school that had a big tent and that was colorblind and all just just showed love to each person and that was the impetus that was the catalyst to that and of course my parents are like that as well just being able to be blind to those differences and say Keisha hut believe akkad we love you all no matter how you are no matter how you how you practice no matter what new Sahadev and each and every one of you are the children of I cottage barf and Irish em loves you and because of that I'm so proud to accept this award being an alumnus of Huber Academy so I want to give everyone over here and particularly the hon Halle a tremendous bracha he should continue mciallella file to to produce alumnus who come back and and and sing your praises and learn those lessons and and and spread them to the masses it's the hope that Klaus all needs and without a doubt it is it is those lessons that have allowed me to continue growing it has a been taught as a yet thank you very much [Applause] robic latsko thank you much so much for joining us this evening and for helping us to realize how very fortunate we are thank you for emphasizing the importance of Malthus and empathy and of course at ov I don't know if you have a fan club officially but I know you have about 600 new members