January 21, 2026 • ג' שבט תשפ״ו | | |
RCA Updates
RCA Member Spotlight
In Our RCA Family
Chomer Lidrush
Manning the Media
| |
|
1) The Rabbi Steven M. Dworken Rabbinic Continuing Education Program has been renewed at the RCA through a generous gift by the Dworken family. This program will serve as an umbrella for the RCA’s many shiurim, continuing education programs, and affinity groups. Rabbi Dworken, z”l, served as the Executive Vice President of the RCA from 1993 - 2003. He was known for his close connection to the chaveirim and unwavering support on their behalf. He launched many rabbinic careers, including my own, and we are greatly indebted to him.
2) Pre-Tu b'Shevat Shiur featuring R. Yaakov Shapira, Rosh Yeshiva of Mercaz HaRav. This shiur will inaugurate the RCA's Torat Haaretz program, and is a part of the RCA's Rabbi Steven M. Dworken Continuing Education Program. The shiur, which will mark the 23rd Yartzeit of Rabbi Dworken, z"l, will take place on Wed., January 28th at 1:00pm EST. Register Here.
3) Tradition Presents: Rabbi Soloveitchik's Jewish Philosophy of Man
TRADITION is proud to present an online digital library of remastered and edited recordings, made available to us courtesy of the Toras HaRov Foundation, along with a digital book containing transcripts and lecture summaries correlating this material with the Rav’s teachings in his published writings. Perhaps most significantly, material here develops his understanding of loneliness as a central Jewish concept in a manner that will provide new insights into the “The Lonely Man of Faith,” published in the pages of TRADITION just a few years after these lectures were delivered. A Jewish Philosophy of Man has been edited by our chaver R. Mark Smilowitz. See below.
4) Rabbinic Mental Health: The RCA is keenly focused on the mental health of its hard-working membership. Please take advantage of the initiatives below. If you have contacts who may be interested in supporting further initiatives, please contact me as soon as possible.
- The RCA's Mental Health Line, Click Here
- Webinar: When the Rabbi is Struggling: Personal Stories of Mental Health
February 11th, 2:00pm EST
See the flyer below
5) See below for exciting updates about the Elevate and Inspire and the Rabbinic Exchange Program with Barkai
| | |
We’re spotlighting some of our chaverim and the important work they do. This week, we spoke with Rabbi Moshe Rube, who was born in San Diego and raised in Cincinnati and Long Island. Moshe earned his Semichah from RIETS, and served for five years as the rabbi of Knesseth Israel in Birmingham, Alabama, followed by a tenure as the Senior Rabbi of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation in New Zealand. He is currently preparing to assume a new post in Canberra, the capital of Australia.
Outside of his rabbinic work, Rabbi Rube is a trained singer and an enthusiast of gymnastics, dance, swimming, and parkour.
We asked him 12 questions about his career as a rabbi –– see his answers below.
1) If you weren’t a rabbi, what would you be?
An acrobat, and/or playing Tevye on Broadway.
2) What’s the first thing you do when you sit down to write a shabbos derasha?
Oh I never sit down. That would never work for me. I walk around, live a regular life, watch a few YouTube videos, have as much meaningful experience in the real world as I can, and usually an idea about something personally relevant – something I yearn to explore – will come into my head. I then freely think about the events of the parsha (again, usually while walking around), and a connection will form. Only then do I feel ready to start researching deeply. This way, my drashot feel personally meaningful and fun for me to say over. On the weeks when I’m most successful at it, the congregation seems to respond really well.
In my last congregation, in Auckland, New Zealand, I would give drashot after returning from the multi-day hikes New Zealand is so famous for, relating the challenges, thoughts, lessons learned and fun times I had to the parsha. Those drashot garnered the most smiles and (sometimes) applause from the congregation
3) Most memorable rabbinic moment?
At a funeral, right before the eulogy, I was told that the deceased had a special love for the song “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen. So, I sang it along with all the attendees after the eulogy.
His family absolutely loved it and at that moment I made friends with them for life.
See the rest of our “Spotlight” with Rabbi Rube Here.
| | |
In Our RCA Family
- Mazel Tov to our chaver Ronald and Judy Schwarzberg on the birth of a granddaughter, born to their children Shayna and Noam Itzhak
- Out condolences to the family of our chaver Joel Lehrfield, z"l on his passing
| | |
Chomer Lidrush
Some ideas to turn your gears heading into the parsha.
| |
1) Lev Melachim - How Could Hashem Harden Paroah's Heart?
Rav Shlomo Goren asks the classic question – how could Hashem “harden Paroah’s heart”, removing his free will, and then punish him for the decisions he makes in such a state? If Paroah was coerced by Heaven to refuse Moshe, how could he — and the nation of Mitzrayim — be justly punished?
Rav Goren mentions the traditional approaches to the issue – including that of the Rambam – but also includes his own take, and it’s amazing. He distinguishes between two distinct "tracks" of free will inherent in any king, based on the pasuk in Mishlei: "Like streams of water is the heart of a king in the hand of Hashem" (21:1).
What “Lev Melachim B’Yad Hashem practically means is that a king, as a human being, has full autonomy over his personal moral choices. He can choose to be kind or cruel in his private life, just like any other person. But a ruler has another “type” of free will: that of the political domain. As the representative of the state, the king’s "public heart" is no longer his own. It becomes a vessel for Divine Providence, directed by God to reflect the spiritual standing and the "merit" of the nation he leads.
The Egyptian people were "wicked and cursed," steeped in the abominations of the land and culture. While the Bris Bein HaBesarim spoke of a “general” national destiny, individual Egyptians still had the choice not to participate in the cruelty. And they chose to be oppressors. Because Mitzrayim deserved punishment for their collective cruelty, Hashem "steered" Paroah’s national policy. Had it been up to Paroah’s personal survival instinct, he likely would have relented after Makas Dam alone. But to ensure the people faced justice, God removed Paroah’s political autonomy. His refusal to let the Jews go was not a personal whim, but a Divine "steering" of the state to ensure the wicked nation met its final downfall.
Key Takeaway for a Drashah: A leader is not merely an individual; they are a conduit for the collective spiritual state of the people. When a nation is worthy, God "inclines the heart of the king" toward goodness. When a nation is steeped in moral bankruptcy and loathsomeness, the leadership is Divinely guided toward a path of consequence.
2) From Slaves to Servants
When did Bnei Yisrael transition from being slaves of Egypt to servants of Hashem? The pasukim of the korban Pesach contain a linguistic puzzle that actually pinpoints this exact moment. In 12:9-10, some issurim connected with the korban are phrased with the word “al” ("do not eat it partially roasted... do not leave any over until morning"), while others use “lo.” Why the inconsistency in the Torah's language?
The Meshech Chochmah explains that “al” connotes a request that something not happen, while “lo” expresses a direct command that something is forbidden. The restrictions around eating the korban Pesach use “al” because they were given before makkos bechoros – before we became Hashem's servants. At that point, we were still Mitzrayim’s slaves, so the Torah phrases these as requests rather than absolute commands. But commands given after makkos bechoros use “lo”, the language of direct commandment, because at that moment, everything changed.
At makkos bechoros, when the knowledge and awareness of Hashem struck even those who were firstborn from the father but not the mother – something that was impossible for “just anyone” to have known – the Mitzrim finally recognized that Bnei Yisrael were not servants of Egypt, but of Hashem. From that point forward, we became His people, subject to His commandments. The shift from “al” to “lo” marks the precise moment of our national transformation—from Egyptian bondage to Divine service. (Meshech Chochmah, Shemos 12:9-10.)
Note: this might work very well in a shiur as well as – or perhaps instead of – a drashah.
3) See Last Year’s Chomer here.
| |
In "A Century of Rewarding Palestinian Terror," published in Mosaic, Douglas J. Feith argues that the international response to Palestinian violence follows a destructive 100-year pattern: terrorist atrocities are met with political concessions, which inadvertently incentivizes future bloodshed. Feith argues that modern Western governments are repeating these historical errors in the wake of the Gaza war, and concludes that for over a century, the West has lacked the moral confidence and "strength of purpose" to discourage disorder. By treating Arab violence as a byproduct of "fear" rather than a chosen political strategy, international actors continue to feed the "jungle-like" environment they claim to want to civilize. See article (free account required) or PDF here. | | |
• • •
Read something that made you think? We’d love to read it, too – and then feature it! Drop us a line.
Did our chomer help you over Yom Tov? Want to see more of less of an idea? Let us know!
| | |
TORAT HAARETZ PROGRAM
PRE-TU B'SHEVAT SHIUR
Featuring Rav Yaakov Shapira
| | |
Wednesday, January 28, 2026
1:00pm EST
| WHEN THE RABBI IS STRUGGLING: PERSONAL STORIES OF MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES | | |
SPOTTED: A REVIEW OF OUR ELEVATE & INSPIRE SPEAKERS BUREAU
by Rachel Isaacs, Rebbetzin at Beth Joseph Congregation, Phoenix, AZ
| | |
“Hi! Our shul just took part in the RCA elevate and inspire scholar in residence program. We invited Rabbi Dr Schwartz and it was an amazing experience for our community. Rabbi Dr Schwartz delivered 4 talks and each was unique, thought out, engaging, practical, and left everyone with take-home lessons and points to ponder and discuss further. Each topic was a conversation starter! He was very personable and even after all the lectures he gave, people would’ve loved even more! Thank you to the RCA for this wonderful program! We really appreciated it!”
With 14 speakers and growing, the Elevate and Inspire Program is a great and affordable way to have great speakers come to your community. For more information about bringing in a speaker or becoming a speaker, Click Here.
| | |
AN RCA/BARKAI SHABBAT IN ISRAEL: A UNIQUE AND POWERFUL EXPERIENCE
by our chaver R. Wes Kalmar
| | |
I want to thank Barkai and the RCA for the opportunity to participate in an amazing partnership. In making a shidduch between our community in Milwaukee and the community of Kfar HaOranim in Israel, Rabbi David Fine matched up myself and Rav Rashi Tvito, Kfar HaOranim’s rabbi of 16 years. Rav Rashi joined us in Milwaukee for an unforgettable weekend in May, right before the RCA convention. I and my wife Jessica got to return the favor for Parshat Shemot.
What an intense and powerful Shabbat it was. The davening was beautiful in the Ahavat Yisrael Beit Knesset, where the Edut HaMizrach davening and ruach mixed with nusach sefard and Ashkenazic notes as well. I delivered a drasha and shiur in Hebrew, both firsts for me, and thanked the people of Israel for their sacrifice and strength of the past 2+ years. It was truly amazing to see the work that Rav Rashi and his wife, Dr. Ariella Tvito, are doing in this chiloni Israeli community. It is a very unique situation in which a rabbi who went to Chevron and learned with Rav Shlomo Zalman is the rav for a community of 500 families, the overwhelming majority of which are not Shomer Shabbat.
We met amazing people from the community all Shabbat long, including the former Ramatkal, and traded stories about our lives. The most powerful meetings that we had were at the homes of four different families who have experienced tremendous losses in these past two years of war. This included meeting with the family of a 31 year old killed in Lebanon, a 39 year old father of four killed in an weapons accident, the wife and teenage daughters of a 47 year old who took his own life while suffering PTSD after multiple stints in Gaza, and the most injured chayal in the country and his family. To all of these families we tried to offer support and hugs from the US, letters from our congregants and the message that their loved ones are not forgotten.
The partnership between our communities is meant to strengthen the bonds between Chul and Israel and we are working on ways to bridge the distance in meaningful ways. We are working on ways to keep up the connections with some of these families we visited by memorializing, remembering, or helping their loved ones. It is a challenge to find ways to bring the communities together but one that feels worth tackling. The value of this program to myself and my community has been great. I hope that more of our chevreh will participate in this partnership in the future. If you are interested, you can contact David Fine at rabbidavidfine@gmail.com
| | |
NISHMA RESEARCH
The Cost of Frum Life...Is It Really Getting Worse?
by Mark Trencher
| | |
What are the factors that affect costs; overall finances (how many are doing OK; how many are not doing OK?); the impact of children’s education costs; housing costs in Orthodox neighborhoods; kosher food prices; competitiveness and “showiness”; whether and how incomes are keeping up; is the Orthodox situation getting worse, including compared to the U.S. as a whole?; and, finally, to what extent are people holding up under cost pressures?
Click Here to access the Orthonomics Podcast where this study is discussed.
Contact Mark Trencher for questions or comments.
| | | | |
REVIEW: Pathways to God
by Rami Schwartz, Click Here
REVIEW: Studies in Rabbinic Narratives
by Yitzchak Blau, Click Here
A Jewish Philosophy of Man
by Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Click Here
PODCAST: Jewish Philosophy of Man: Introduction
Click Here
| | |
TEHILLIM FOR SYDNEY
From our friends at the Rabbinical Association of Australia (SupportSydney.org)
| | |
For Refuah Shleimah
Chaya Mushka bat Shterna Sara
Elon ben Ora
Elon ben Shimshon
Gefen ben Esther
Levi Zev ben Elisheva Rochel
Moshe ben Binyamin
Moshe Yonatan ben Tzipporah
Shoshana bat Mina
Toba bat Feige
Yaakov ben Ethel
Yaakov Yisroel ben Sara
Yacov Dov ben Pnina
Yehuda Leib ben Manya
Yonatan ben Tziporah
Yosef ben Shterna Sarah
| | SERIOUSLY INJURED SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS | | With thanks to Rav Dovid Fine | | •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• | |
- Who We Are
-
Click here to order the RCA Madrikh
-
RCA - Assistance in Contract Negotiations, Apply Here
-
Exclusive 20% Kodesh Press Discount Code for RCA Members (certain exclusions apply): RCA20
-
Exclusive 15% Koren Publishers Discount Code for RCA Members (certain exclusions apply): RabbiRCA
-
The RCA Siddur Avodat Halev is available from Koren Publications at a discount by contacting shlomop@korenpub.com
-
Interest free loans of up to $5000 are available to RCA chaverim through the Rabbi Myron and Sarah Rakowitz Fund. Please contact Menachem Penner for more information.
-
Burial plots are available in the RCA section of Eretz haChaim Cemetery in Bet Shemesh. Contact Dovy Grunbaum, 1-866-437-2210, for details.
-
RCA Guidelines and Protocols on Child Safety and Sexual Abuse in a Congregational Setting
-
To sign up for the RCA Health Insurance Plan contact Jay Wildstein at the Grober-Imbey Insurance Agency, 516-872-9500 x3027
-
RCA Retirement Plan Resources Click Here. For information about the RCA Retirement Plan contact Steven Greenbaum, Altigro Pension Services, at 973-439-0200, ext. 224.
| | | | |
