Welcome and Divrei Bracha by Rav Shlomo Katz, Rabbi Sam Shor and Rabbi Avi Berman | Torah Efrat 2026

Okay, good evening everyone. Should be a good week of no more form is and only good news for Israel. >> Thank you everyone for being here with us. Our shul is very humbled and honored to partner again with our dearest dearest from the OU ouit Israel to try to open our hearts and prepare for whatever it is will be this week. But it's a very it's to have partners like the OU is a very big it's a big big and I thank for this privilege. I also want to thank everyone from the that prepared for the evening. All the being in the presence of two of my of my dearest friends, Rabbi Burman and Rabbi Sam Shaw, who I know for many, many years, never ceases to amaze me how much Hashem loves me. And it's a great to be together and we should have the to do many more things together in good health for many years. >> I want to share one short idea which is to me the the I feel like the purpose of of an evening like this and we'll be privileged to be hearing from from some great great teachers in AmIel today. Yesterday in Potir we were learning the Mishna in Perhe Mishnah that described 10 miracles that took place in the beta mikdash and the Mishna lists eight miracles that took place in the beta mikdash ends off with two miracles that took place in how it basically spread out from the mikdash and went all over miraes. One of the miracles that I'm sure you've all heard of before that the Mishna lists is a very it's it's a beautiful fourword description of what it was like to be in the beta mikdash and the words areim that when we sat when we walked into the beta mikdash I said yesterday in chabas it kind of felt if any of you have been here on like hosana raba or something like that, right? You can't really move around that much. When you'd walk in, you'd be so bananura tells us actually means like you'd be floating like uh crowd surfing. If I don't know if people in here knows what that know what that means. It's a little bit of a different demographic, but you know, crowd surfing. Your feet didn't reach the ground. You'd be passed around. there be such a foot so many people in the beta mikdash that you couldn't even put your feet on the ground but what would happen the miracle was that when I would bow down for suddenly there was space logically this doesn't add up like many things that would happen to bet the size of the aron but says the magnets it's like we learned yesterday he says doesn't just mean that suddenly there was space for me to how do you say that in English? >> To prostrate yourself. It means that there was a I had there was space. This is what happened. I would have more space in my heart for all those that were next to me. I I had more space in my heart for them. And every year we come back to these days and we're saying, "Please enlighten us. What does really mean? Says the mad of it really means having more space in your heart for someone else. When I'm standing on my own ground, it's when I'm tell myself there's space. I give us a that the Torah we're going to be learning tonight. We'll do exactly that. And we shouldn't ever have to spend time imagining what it was like to be in the beta mdash. that'll be and it's my my my privilege as I mentioned before to call upon my dear Rabbi Sam Short director of Torah initiatives of the ouetarim Okay. It's a great school to be here this evening once again in Ephratz in this beautiful midach. Just want to take a a moment of personal privilege to say a few thank yous for all those that helped make this evening come together. First and foremost, I want to thank the incredible team here at Sher Davidid led by their distinguished maras and his entire team who as always are incredibly helpful and just a real to be able to call friends and more than friends, brothers and sisters. So we thank you all. I also of course want to thank my phenomenal OU Israel colleagues. Most specifically, I want to point out and acknowledge I don't want to I don't want to go every name by name, but I want to acknowledge Rabbi Jeremy Pllo, who in his and his trademark Anas literally put heart and soul into coordinating most of the logistics for this evening, much more than I did. So, Jeremy, thank you for all you do for all for so many in your own unique quiet and and confident way. So, thank you. I also want to thank Ryak of Greenberg of NCSY here in Gition who put together for the first time a teen track here at Torah France. So we're very excited to have a program of Limitur for teens here this evening in parallel to everything that's going on for us us adults here. And I want to also acknowledge my colleague Revisson Zarowski who is organizing and leading a mothers and daughters tract downstairs as well. So there's probably 50 more people here with us on the various youth tracks between the pairs of mothers and daughters and the teens in addition to everyone here with us here in the main room. So it's a it's a pretty full facility here this evening. Um and of course all of our incredible oel colleagues and volunteers who were here throughout the afternoon to help make sure everything was in place for this special evening together this evening. Just want to share a quick idea. You know our kazal teach us that msiach will be born on on tishab and that was an idea that always challenged me and we'll come back to that idea. What does it mean that mashiach is born is to be born on tishab but there's another gamarra that says the gammor that says the mashiach will only come when the last coin falls from our pocket. So what does that mean? So in a very beautiful short Torah explains that as follows. He says the following. He says what does it mean that is what the what's going to fall out? It's not just a coin falling out of our pocket proverbial pocket. It's that the world will be rid of what heretics. And what's the problem with having heretics in the world? And why do heretics and the presence of heretics present prevent the coming of Mashiachim? What is the definition of someone who's truly anoris? Someone who says someone who doesn't believe in miracles. someone who cannot who fails to acknowledge the miraculous in our lives and rather but rather they try to explain all the miracles that we all witness day in day out as simply being the ways of nature the way of nature my friends I think over these past few years so many of us we've all been blessed to experience so many miracles it's and it's it's really. And and and you see, by the way, the the miraculous to of those miracles is that so many more of our brothers and sisters who for so long denied those miracles have suddenly had an awakening, come closer to Torah, come closer to Shalom. And please God, that's a simmon. I truly believe deep in my heart that that's a sim that Mashiach is just around the corner and in these days ahead of us as we prepare for tishab is not only a time to reflect on the loss that we've experienced so many tragic events in our past but tab is really the moment for us to what reccalibrate the way we see the world and the and declare unequivocally that we believe that miracles can happen. Miracles happen every day. That we're deserving to experience miracles. And please God to welcome Mashia Senu in the days ahead. is my incredible. Speaking of someone who always sees the world in a positive way and sees the miracles day in day out is my incredible Swiss to introduce my uh my partner in crime, my dear O Israel colleague, our fearless leader, Rabbi Avi Burman, the executive director of O Israel you have here also you have here also the for when he gets here I'm going to go out and look for him Rabbi Rosenwag in the dedication. Everyone community. I want to thank the uh fund family, the uh brothers, some that are residents here in Neph, uh for constantly dedicating these Torah events in memory of their incredible parents that have this of knowing David and Norma. Uh us having these events and seeing the Torah continue from generation to generation really is a tremendous. So, thank you very much to the fun family. Um, I want to thank Rabbi Sam Shore for putting on this event together with uh all the other UI Israel team. I want to thank Shaina for making making sure that I get the right notes to thank the right people. Thank you, Shaya. Uh, and for everything else. Um and of course Rabbi uh Mosha Venovitz who runs our NCS Hawaii collo program in betme where we have right now 500 brim that is sitting and learning Torah for six weeks coming from the United States getting a flavor of Islia will come and they will not have to go back to the exile. Um I didn't hear it loud enough. Amen. >> It's a little more like it. Um, so I want to tell you that uh there's a very special lady, a young lady here in the crowd that we went on a journey together over the last number of weeks uh over a month and uh for the last uh four years we've been going on that journey. Um and when I stand here and look at Rabbi Schlommo cats uh he brings to my mind two things. One is that we have this of celebrating every year together in Ghana Palon unless there's some storm or war then we go to the but in Ghana Palon every year. Uh and to be honest it's one of the highlights of the year. I get to stand with cats with 5,000 Jews and all we want to do is thank God for the incredible miracle the state of Israel and for all the great things that that does for us. and you stand there at that that literally the peak of the year and uh then I say wait a second when's the other time that I meet Rav Schlommo every year and that is right before tishab uh here inul and I say how is it that you know such a a a down moment in the year and such a high moment of the year I have this of sharing with Rabbi Schlommoatz and then last year we uh took that to the next level and we tried to uh see Dishmaya produce a tishaba video that was our third since uh Nina Broer started doing these videos with me. Um and it was literally about a tremendous yearning for beta mcdash and us standing around beta mikdash and around shamim and and and uh the old city and really looking at and uh me asking for proteia to please give me protectia when uh dash is built as a coin that he'll uh make sure to uh get me in there to get my carbon in before others. Um so and he agreed. I have it in uh on video. I have it on video. Um but we produced a video that received over close to 100,000 views um with the feedback that was coming from all over the world of people that that told us that we were able to bring them to the to the emotional feeling that they were hoping to receive on tishab. And this year Nina came over to me and she's like a I think the nation is in a different place now. And uh what we did was is for two days in the in the video it seems like one day. I'm giving you a scoop. It was really two days. But um we went from place to place across Israel and people that are preparing for beta mdash and those that are building the doors for beta mcdash literally building them already and women that are weaving the uh for the uh wall of kadeshim uh for the door of kadeshim for people that are literally chiseling out the stones for betash uh the motor and I'm not going to give it all away. But uh literally a video that I sat in my office today with my staff and we watched the almost final version, still making a couple uh corrections there. And we were all in tears. And those tears brought me back to that moment of me meeting Rupam Catz at the high and at the low. And I said, you know, we're going to enter tishabove this year in a very different way. I think we're going to enter tishabove this year hopefully with beta mikdash. But if not with beta mdash kas shalom we're definitely going to be in a place where we are all uh not only taking the 10 miracles that mentioned um and understanding that there is going to happen hopefully very very soon but understanding that the heart of the nation that the people are are ready the people are literally preparing we're talking about people that are investing years and years of their lives tens and tens of people that we're we're seeing on groups and seeing in in in chats and seeing online and seeing everyone and not embarrassed anymore. You see the amount of people that are walking around with with beta mcdash pins and see the amount of people that are talking bet mikdash uh you know secular people that work work on our computers in the U that are coming over to me and asking me for more explanation what what is this beta mikdash that's going to be uh it's no longer a small community that is talking about it and um I say to myself that we we no longer want to be part of a generation that just woke up one morning and said, "Okay, that's right. Tomorrow's tissue. We'll sit on the floor tonight. We'll sit on the floor tomorrow because we yearning to something. We don't know what what is going to be, and we have no idea when it's going to be." Um, I think that what we're seeing is uh literally the uh and I'm looking at the women's side, you can understand it better than we could. Uh of of the the deep moments of pain uh right before the baby comes out, right before Mashiach comes. And uh these these special moments are moments that we're going to look back and uh hopefully in 20 30 years we're going to be talking to 15 and 20 year olds and we're going to explain to them what what the world was what what the world was like without beta mikdash because they're not going to be able to grasp it. Uh so we're seeing a world that is changing and we're seeing a world that is literally uh ready for the next stage. So us being here tonight is another message that we wantd already. So hopefully it'll come very soon and we won't have to sit on the floor and won't have to fast this year. Is the rabbi here? Oh um without further ado then I really want to introduce Rabbi Mik Rosen. is Rashiva in Wu and the Kal of Baron Institute for Advanced tomic studies. A distinguished student of Rashar and Salvich and Ravar Likenstein. He's widely recognized as one of the leading Torah scholars of our generation through his decades of teaching and scholarship. Rabbi Rosen Rosenwag has inspired countless students and countless uh continues to make a profound impact on the Torah learning around the world. Uh the dedication's opening keynote is dedicated anonymously in appreciation the incredible work of u Israel staff.